Summary

Now you know the basic commands for starting and stopping Emacs and for working with files. Chapter 2 builds on these commands to give you the skills you need for editing with Emacs. Table 1-4 summarizes the commands we covered in this chapter.

Table 1-4. File handling commands

Keystrokes

Command name

Action

C-x C-f File Open File

find-file

Find file and read it in a new buffer.

C-x C-v

find-alternate-file

Read an alternate file, replacing the one read with C-x C-f.

C-x iFile Insert File

insert-file

Insert file at cursor position.

C-x C-sFile Save (current buffer)

save-buffer

Save file.

C-x C-wFile Save Buffer As

write-file

Write buffer contents to file.

C-x C-cFile Exit Emacs

save-buffers-kill-emacs

Exit Emacs.

C-h

help-command

Enter the online help system.

C-h fHelp Describe Function

describe-function

Gives online help for a given command name.

C-h kHelp Describe Key

describe-key

Gives online help for a given keystroke sequence.

C-h tHelp Emacs Tutorial

help-with-tutorial

Start the Emacs tutorial.

C-h iHelp Browse Manuals

info-goto-emacs-command-node

Start the Info documentation reader.