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(emacs)Pages

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Pages
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   Files are often thought of as divided into "pages" by the "formfeed"
character (ASCII control-L, octal code 014).  When you print hardcopy
for a file, this character forces a page break; thus, each page of the
file goes on a separate page on paper.  Most Emacs commands treat the
page-separator character just like any other character: you can insert
it with `C-q C-l', and delete it with <DEL>.  Thus, you are free to
paginate your file or not.  However, since pages are often meaningful
divisions of the file, Emacs provides commands to move over them and
operate on them.

`C-x ['
     Move point to previous page boundary (`backward-page').

`C-x ]'
     Move point to next page boundary (`forward-page').

`C-x C-p'
     Put point and mark around this page (or another page)
     (`mark-page').

`C-x l'
     Count the lines in this page (`count-lines-page').

   The `C-x [' (`backward-page') command moves point to immediately
after the previous page delimiter.  If point is already right after a
page delimiter, it skips that one and stops at the previous one.  A
numeric argument serves as a repeat count.  The `C-x ]' (`forward-page')
command moves forward past the next page delimiter.

   The `C-x C-p' command (`mark-page') puts point at the beginning of
the current page and the mark at the end.  The page delimiter at the
end is included (the mark follows it).  The page delimiter at the front
is excluded (point follows it).  In Transient Mark mode, this command
activates the mark.

   `C-x C-p C-w' is a handy way to kill a page to move it elsewhere.
If you move to another page delimiter with `C-x [' and `C-x ]', then
yank the killed page, all the pages will be properly delimited once
again.  The reason `C-x C-p' includes only the following page delimiter
in the region is to ensure that.

   A numeric argument to `C-x C-p' is used to specify which page to go
to, relative to the current one.  Zero means the current page.  One
means the next page, and -1 means the previous one.

   The `C-x l' command (`count-lines-page') is good for deciding where
to break a page in two.  It displays in the echo area the total number
of lines in the current page, and then divides it up into those
preceding the current line and those following, as in

     Page has 96 (72+25) lines

Notice that the sum is off by one; this is correct if point is not at
the beginning of a line.

   The variable `page-delimiter' controls where pages begin.  Its value
is a regexp that matches the beginning of a line that separates pages.
The normal value of this variable is `"^\f"', which matches a formfeed
character at the beginning of a line.