Article View: comp.editors
Article #3261Re: vi vs. emacs
From: Nate Hess
Date: Thu, 11 Aug 1988 16:32
Date: Thu, 11 Aug 1988 16:32
72 lines
3637 bytes
3637 bytes
In article <700@buengc.BU.EDU> bph@buengc.bu.edu (Blair P. Houghton) writes:
>In article <2679@mipos3.intel.com> I write:
>>In article <661@buengc.BU.EDU> bph@buengc.bu.edu (Blair P. Houghton) writes:
>>>I once went into the info mode of Emacs, saw the menu of commands [...]
>>
>>Did you try going into the on-line tutorial? (C-h t)
>>
>Yeah, it was a worse abomination. Someone had left the write-protect off
>the original version, and I couldn't even read half the instructions.
Hmmm. Doesn't sound like the fault of Emacs, at all. Get someone to
fix the write-protectedness of the file.
>Plus, if I'm looking for something to quickly alleviate a lapse
>of function, I don't want to have to go on a major hunt through
>the tutorial.
>
> --Blair
> "No help is better than Emacs 'help.'"
Emacs' help is better than the help for any editor I have seen. Try
typing 'C-h C-h C-h' (in response to prompts for additional help), and
you get something like:
You have typed C-h, the help character. Type a Help option:
A command-apropos. Give a substring, and see a list of commands
(functions interactively callable) that contain
that substring. See also the apropos command.
B describe-bindings. Display table of all key bindings.
C describe-key-briefly. Type a command key sequence;
it prints the function name that sequence runs.
F describe-function. Type a function name and get documentation of it.
I info. The info documentation reader.
K describe-key. Type a command key sequence;
it displays the full documentation.
L view-lossage. Shows last 100 characters you typed.
M describe-mode. Print documentation of current major mode,
which describes the commands peculiar to it.
N view-emacs-news. Shows emacs news file.
S describe-syntax. Display contents of syntax table, plus explanations
T help-with-tutorial. Select the Emacs learn-by-doing tutorial.
V describe-variable. Type name of a variable;
it displays the variable's documentation and value.
W where-is. Type command name; it prints which keystrokes
invoke that command.
C-c print Emacs copying permission (General Public License).
C-d print Emacs ordering information.
C-n print news of recent Emacs changes.
C-w print information on absence of warranty for GNU Emacs.
There is an entire, indexed, cross-referenced Emacs manual available
on-line if you type 'i' at this point. This goes into Info mode, which
allows you to browse documentation quickly and easily. There is a
"primer for first timers" available once you get into Info mode. Give
it a try.
There are some editors (vi, for example) that are user-hostile. There
are some users that are system-hostile. (Hi, Blair!) You can either
bitch and complain, or you can experiment and *learn*.
"If you plant ice, you're gonna harvest wind..."
--woodstock
--
"How did you get your mind to tilt like your hat?"
...!{decwrl|hplabs!oliveb|pur-ee|qantel|amd}!intelca!mipos3!nate
<domainish> : nate@mipos3.intel.com ATT : (408) 765-4309
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Path: arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!utzoo!attcan!uunet!littlei!omepd!mipos3!nate From: nate@mipos3.intel.com (Nate Hess) Newsgroups: comp.editors Subject: Re: vi vs. emacs Summary: Help *is* available in Emacs Keywords: help Message-ID: <2716@mipos3.intel.com> Date: 11 Aug 88 16:32:28 GMT References: <16697@brl-adm.ARPA> <517@uva.UUCP> <661@buengc.BU.EDU> <2679@mipos3.intel.com> <700@buengc.BU.EDU> Reply-To: nate@mipos3.intel.com (Nate Hess) Organization: Intel Corporation, Santa Clara, CA Lines: 72