Useful Describe Keys in Emacs
Jun 18, 2017 19:31 · 234 words · 2 minutes read
What captures the beauty of Emac’s self-documenting nature is the describe system of commands. If you know what you’re looking for, then describe will explain what it is
– Mastering Emacs
Many a times in GNU Emacs you get stuck trying to figure out what some key strokes do. Sometimes, you get someone’s config(emacs.d/init.el) file and you wonder what those goddamn minor/ major modes do. Well, Emacs inbuilt describe system makes work easier as it helps you, the user, know what stuff does. Below, I list some of the most important key bindings in GNU Emacs which you’ll probably (maybe) use in your daily interaction with GNU Emacs:
C-h m
/M-x describe-mode
: Running this command will display the major mode and any minor modes enabled in the current buffer along with any key-bindings introduced by said modesC-h k
/M-x describe-key
: Describe key-binding.C-h v
/M-x describe-variable
: Describes a variable.C-h f
/M-x describe-function
: Describes a function and any other relevant details pertaining that function. Here’s an example of what is displayed by runningM-x describe-function
followed bylist-packages
:
list-packages is an interactive autoloaded compiled Lisp function in
‘package.el’.
(list-packages &optional NO-FETCH)
:around advice: fullframe-command-on-advice
Display a list of packages.
This first fetches the updated list of packages before
displaying, unless a prefix argument NO-FETCH is specified.
The list is displayed in a buffer named ‘*Packages*’.
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References:
1. Mastering Emacs by Mickey Petersen