GNU Info
(emacs)Mode Line
The Mode Line
=============
Each text window's last line is a "mode line", which describes what
is going on in that window. When there is only one text window, the
mode line appears right above the echo area; it is the next-to-last
line in the frame. The mode line starts and ends with dashes. On a
text-mode display, the mode line is in inverse video if the terminal
supports that; on a graphics display, the mode line has a 3D box
appearance to help it stand out.
Normally, the mode line looks like this:
-CS:CH BUF (MAJOR MINOR)--LINE--POS------
This gives information about the buffer being displayed in the window:
the buffer's name, what major and minor modes are in use, whether the
buffer's text has been changed, and how far down the buffer you are
currently looking.
CH contains two stars `**' if the text in the buffer has been edited
(the buffer is "modified"), or `--' if the buffer has not been edited.
For a read-only buffer, it is `%*' if the buffer is modified, and `%%'
otherwise.
BUF is the name of the window's "buffer". In most cases this is the
same as the name of a file you are editing. Note: Buffers.
The buffer displayed in the selected window (the window that the
cursor is in) is also Emacs's current buffer, the one that editing
takes place in. When we speak of what some command does to "the
buffer," we are talking about the current buffer.
LINE is `L' followed by the current line number of point. This is
present when Line Number mode is enabled (which it normally is). You
can optionally display the current column number too, by turning on
Column Number mode (which is not enabled by default because it is
somewhat slower). Note: Optional Mode Line.
POS tells you whether there is additional text above the top of the
window, or below the bottom. If your buffer is small and it is all
visible in the window, POS is `All'. Otherwise, it is `Top' if you are
looking at the beginning of the buffer, `Bot' if you are looking at the
end of the buffer, or `NN%', where NN is the percentage of the buffer
above the top of the window.
MAJOR is the name of the "major mode" in effect in the buffer. At
any time, each buffer is in one and only one of the possible major
modes. The major modes available include Fundamental mode (the least
specialized), Text mode, Lisp mode, C mode, Texinfo mode, and many
others. Note: Major Modes, for details of how the modes differ and
how to select one.
Some major modes display additional information after the major mode
name. For example, Rmail buffers display the current message number and
the total number of messages. Compilation buffers and Shell buffers
display the status of the subprocess.
MINOR is a list of some of the "minor modes" that are turned on at
the moment in the window's chosen buffer. For example, `Fill' means
that Auto Fill mode is on. `Abbrev' means that Word Abbrev mode is on.
`Ovwrt' means that Overwrite mode is on. Note: Minor Modes, for
more information. `Narrow' means that the buffer being displayed has
editing restricted to only a portion of its text. This is not really a
minor mode, but is like one. Note: Narrowing. `Def' means that a
keyboard macro is being defined. Note: Keyboard Macros.
In addition, if Emacs is currently inside a recursive editing level,
square brackets (`[...]') appear around the parentheses that surround
the modes. If Emacs is in one recursive editing level within another,
double square brackets appear, and so on. Since recursive editing
levels affect Emacs globally, not just one buffer, the square brackets
appear in every window's mode line or not in any of them. Note:
Recursive Edit.
Non-windowing terminals can only show a single Emacs frame at a time
(Note: Frames). On such terminals, the mode line displays the name of
the selected frame, after CH. The initial frame's name is `F1'.
CS states the coding system used for the file you are editing. A
dash indicates the default state of affairs: no code conversion, except
for end-of-line translation if the file contents call for that. `='
means no conversion whatsoever. Nontrivial code conversions are
represented by various letters--for example, `1' refers to ISO Latin-1.
Note: Coding Systems, for more information. If you are using an
input method, a string of the form `I>' is added to the beginning of
CS; I identifies the input method. (Some input methods show `+' or `@'
instead of `>'.) Note: Input Methods.
When you are using a character-only terminal (not a window system),
CS uses three characters to describe, respectively, the coding system
for keyboard input, the coding system for terminal output, and the
coding system used for the file you are editing.
When multibyte characters are not enabled, CS does not appear at
all. Note: Enabling Multibyte.
The colon after CS can change to another string in certain
circumstances. Emacs uses newline characters to separate lines in the
buffer. Some files use different conventions for separating lines:
either carriage-return linefeed (the MS-DOS convention) or just
carriage-return (the Macintosh convention). If the buffer's file uses
carriage-return linefeed, the colon changes to either a backslash (`\')
or `(DOS)', depending on the operating system. If the file uses just
carriage-return, the colon indicator changes to either a forward slash
(`/') or `(Mac)'. On some systems, Emacs displays `(Unix)' instead of
the colon even for files that use newline to separate lines.
You can customize the mode line display for each of the end-of-line
formats by setting each of the variables `eol-mnemonic-unix',
`eol-mnemonic-dos', `eol-mnemonic-mac', and `eol-mnemonic-undecided' to
any string you find appropriate. Note: Variables, for an explanation
of how to set variables.
Note: Optional Mode Line, for features that add other handy
information to the mode line, such as the current column number of
point, the current time, and whether new mail for you has arrived.
The mode line is mouse-sensitive; when you move the mouse across
various parts of it, Emacs displays help text to say what a click in
that place will do. Note: Mode Line Mouse.
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