Extract from the Emacs Tutorial (see Help->Emacs Tutorial): "Emacs commands generally involve the CONTROL key (sometimes labeled CTRL or CTL) or the META key (sometimes labeled EDIT or ALT). Rather than write that in full each time, we'll use the following abbreviations: C- means hold the CONTROL key while typing the character Thus, C-f would be: hold the CONTROL key and type f. M- means hold the META or EDIT or ALT key down while typing . [COMP1100: Try the "Diamond" key in N114, N115, N116.] If there is no META, EDIT or ALT key, instead press and release the ESC key and then type . [COMP1100: This works too.] We write for the ESC key. Important note: to end the Emacs session, type C-x C-c. (Two characters.)" Emacs Text mode 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 .........|.........|.........|.........|.........|.........|.........| The display line in Emacs (the second-last line) shows the name of the file being displayed (in this case: basic.txt) and the mode in which it is operating (in this case: Text). In Text mode Emacs will format paragraphs neatly into lines that are 70 characters wide. This paragraph is in this form. Note that the lines are ragged at the right. This usually easier to read than putting in extra space characters so that the words are right-justified to column 70, as in the following paragraph. The display line in Emacs (the second-last line) shows the name of the file being displayed (in this case: basic.txt) and the mode in which it is operating (in this case: Text). In Text mode Emacs will format paragraphs neatly into lines that are 70 characters wide. This paragraph is in this form. Note that the lines are ragged at the right. This usually easier to read than putting in extra space characters so that the words are right-justified to column 70, as in this paragraph. A paragraph is often not neatly formatted, like this one. Sometimes lines are not completely full. Sometimes lines are overlong. Sometimes there are too many space characters between sentences. Sometimes lines are very long, and are in fact wider than the Emacs frame. In this case the last character on the line is the "\" character, to indicate that the next row in the frame is a continuation of the line. Note that the line counter in the Emacs display line keeps track of the correct number of lines in the file. There are two ways to get Emacs to format a paragraph. (1) Use the mouse to select the paragraph, and then use the mouse to select the Edit -> Fill button. (2) Place the cursor anywhere in the paragraph and type M-q. Either method will turn the previous paragraph into the following. A paragraph is often not neatly formatted, like this one. Sometimes lines are not completely full. Sometimes lines are overlong. Sometimes there are too many space characters between sentences. Sometimes lines are very long, and are in fact wider than the Emacs frame. In this case the last character on the line is the "\" character, to indicate that the next row in the frame is a continuation of the line. Note that the line counter in the Emacs display line keeps track of the correct number of lines in the file. The Fill operation to format a paragraph will preserve the left hand margin of the first line, and will use the left-hand margin of the second line to format the rest of the paragraph. This allows us to easily indent a paragraph, such as A paragraph is often not neatly formatted, like this one. Sometimes lines are not completely full. Sometimes lines are overlong. Sometimes there are too many space characters between sentences. Sometimes lines are very long, and are in fact wider than the Emacs frame. In this case the last character on the line is the "\" character, to indicate that the next row in the frame is a continuation of the line. Note that the line counter in the Emacs display line keeps track of the correct number of lines in the file. and to format "item lists" such as - A paragraph is often not neatly formatted, like this one. Sometimes lines are not completely full. Sometimes lines are overlong. Sometimes there are too many space characters between sentences. - Sometimes lines are very long, and are in fact wider than the Emacs frame. In this case the last character on the line is the "\" character, to indicate that the next row in the frame is a continuation of the line. Note that the line counter in the Emacs display line keeps track of the correct number of lines in the file. Finally a short line such as the following Example File: Emacs Text mode can be centred by placing the cursor anywhere in the line and typing M-s. While these mechanisms are very simple they mean that we can use Emacs to produce simple reports that are sensibly formatted and correctly spelled.