Log of a learning curve, was Re: Log of a newbie /2/16/99

[Will <wlestes@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

> A note about the help system.  Maybe I'm thick, but when I type c-h
> and follow it with a term to search for, I get plunked down in that
> blasted History again!  IMHO, what should happen when I type c-h is
> that I get into a window that lists the help that I have asked for.
> Apparently, one has to type another command before the help windowwill

that's right: to start info one types C-h i. to read the FAQ, one
types C-h F (upper case F there) etc.

(and to find out what a particular key does, one types C-h k followed
by the key one wants to know about.)

> display.  Now, I know you are all saying, "Why can't this dame figure
> out what the Hell she's doing?"  

Ann, you're at least trying to read the docs and figure things out on
your own. that (at least for me) is more than sufficient to answer
your questions. also, i know that when i give you an answer, you'll
actually pay attention. so relax and keep plugging away at everything.

> Part of the reason I can't is that I'm confused about context help and
> regular help.  Is context help for just emacspeak?  And please, don't

what do you mean by "context" and "regular" help?

[snip]
> encounter with others who are not programmers.  You need to understand
> this before writing any type of tutorial.

by the way, ann, did you have a chance to go through the emacs
tutorial? (it's on C-h t, if you havent found it already.)

> Another thing that is confusing me is that I can save files, but I
> want to "close the window" before going on to the next task.  Do I
> just leave the buffer open?  Does it close when I type c-x 1 when I'm
> in the next task, and what if I have four tasks running and I only
> want to "close off" one of the four?  this is for files, not

you can have as many buffers open as you like. (memory limitations of
course apply.) if you want to get rid of a buffer you can use C-x k to
"kill" that buffer. If you want to find out what buffers you have
open, you can use the key C-x C-b (list-buffers) which gives a kind of
menu of all open buffers. C-x 1 only changes the appearance of buffers
on the window. it makes the current buffer occupy all the screen space
available. it does not effect whether buffers are killed.

> Again, I think we are dealing with language problems here.  I want to

you're probably right here. and btw, emacs is like no other
editor--except those editors which are copies of emacs. so it's not
just a "Linux" issue, but a lisp/emacs/AI/... language issue. (emacs
was written originally at the MIT AI labs.)

hth,

--Will

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