Here is a brief summary of the various functions discussed in this chapter.
describe-function
describe-variable
Print the documentation for a function or variable.
Conventionally bound to C-h f and C-h v.
find-tag
Find the file containing the source for a function or variable and
switch buffers to it, positioning point at the beginning of the item.
Conventionally bound to M-. (that's a period following the
META key).
save-excursion
Save the location of point and mark and restore their values after the
arguments to save-excursion have been evaluated. Also, remember
the current buffer and return to it.
push-mark
Set mark at a location and record the value of the previous mark on the
mark ring. The mark is a location in the buffer that will keep its
relative position even if text is added to or removed from the buffer.
goto-char
Set point to the location specified by the value of the argument, which
can be a number, a marker, or an expression that returns the number of
a position, such as (point-min).
insert-buffer-substring
Copy a region of text from a buffer that is passed to the function as
an argument and insert the region into the current buffer.
mark-whole-buffer
Mark the whole buffer as a region. Normally bound to C-x h.
set-buffer
Switch the attention of Emacs to another buffer, but do not change the
window being displayed. Used when the program rather than a human is
to work on a different buffer.
get-buffer-create
get-buffer
Find a named buffer or create one if a buffer of that name does not
exist. The get-buffer function returns nil if the named
buffer does not exist.
Please take a moment to fill out
this visitor survey You can help support this site by
visiting the advertisers that sponsor it! (only once each, though)