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Specialized

§ 19: Using emacs

The emacs editor is very popular because it has many options available to the user is command driven. (Most experienced users can work faster with command driven than with mouse driven editors.) To enter commands in emacs, use the Control key (sometimes labeled Ctrl) or the Meta key (sometimes labeled Alt or Edit). If you don't have a Meta key, then use the [Esc] key. Rather than write out Meta or Control each time we use a command, we will use C-"character" to designate the Control key and M-"character" to designate the Meta key. The "character" tells you to press that character down while holding either the Control or Meta key.

Before we get into the advantages of using emacs to edit files, let's open a sample.doc with the command emacs filename so you can edit sample.doc again.
> emacs sample.doc

You can also open emacs without a document using
> emacs

Now you are ready to explore emacs.

  1. Moving in emacs
  2. Making Changes
  3. Cutting and Pasting
  4. Buffers and Saving
  5. Modes
  6. Multiple Windows
  7. Help with emacs
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Comments and questions to Dr. Elias N. Houstis at enh@cs.purdue.edu.