@comment  node-name,  next,  previous,  up
@node Help, Modes, Customization Basics, Top
@chapter Help
@cindex help


XEmacs provides a comprehensive Help facility. On the extreme right of
the menu-bar there is a @b{Help} menu. There are several help commands
provided by this menu. You can also use @kbd{C-h} for invoking the Help
facility. Type "?" for a list of keys you can type after typing
@kbd{C-h}. If you want more information on what your options are and
what kind of help you can get type "?" again. You will get a listing of
all the keys you can type and what they will do. Initially if you want
help, type @kbd{C-h} three times.

@comment  node-name,  next,  previous,  up
@menu
* The Help Menu::                   Items on the Help menu
@end menu

@node The Help Menu,  , Help, Help
@section Help menu 
@cindex help

When you click on the Help menu with any of the mouse buttons you will
get the following menu items:

@table @b
@item Info
Selecting this item will take you to the Info page which is the online
documentation browsing system. You can simply click on the highlighted
items and "Info" will take you to the document providing information
about that topic. 

@item Describe Mode
After you select this item, you will get a documentation on the major
and minor modes which are enabled in the buffer you are working
with. @xref{Modes}, for information on Modes.

@item Hyper Apropos...
After you select this item, you will see the following message in the
echo area:

@example
List symbols matching regexp:
@end example

@noindent
If you type "mode" and hit @key{RET}, you will get a list of all the
symbols (like functions and commands). You can now get documentation on
any of the given symbols by "clicking" on any of the symbols (i.e. drag
your mouse on the appropriate symbol and release the button). For
example, if you "click" on the 'auto-fill-mode' you will get the
following message in the window at the bottom:

@example
auto-fill-mode

Function, Command:

  Toggle auto-fill mode.
  With arg, turn auto-fill mode on if and only if arg is positive.
  In auto-fill mode, inserting a space at a column beyond `fill-column'
  automatically breaks the line at a previous space.

Variable:

  value = nil

  variable not documented
@end example

@item Command Apropos...
Selecting this item will prompt you for a string just like when you
select @b{Hyper Apropos...}. After you give a string name, you will get
a listing of all the functions and commands containing that string name
with a very short description about what that command does.

@item Full Apropos...
After you select this item, you will be prompted for a string name in
the echo area:

@example
Apropos (regexp):
@end example

@noindent
Now you can give any string name, for example "mode" and hit
@key{RET}. You will get a listing of all the variables and commands
containing that string i.e "mode" with a short description of its
function. 

@item List Keybindings
Select this item and you will get a listing of all the keys and the
commands that they execute. Depending on which Major mode your buffer is
in, you will get a listing of the special keybindings for that
particular buffer also. For example, if you are in "Texinfo" mode, part
of your list will contain:

@example
C-c C-c n	texinfo-insert-@@node
C-c C-c o	texinfo-insert-@@noindent
C-c C-c s	texinfo-insert-@@samp
C-c C-c t	texinfo-insert-@@table
C-c C-c v	texinfo-insert-@@var
C-c C-c x	texinfo-insert-@@example
C-c C-c @{	texinfo-insert-braces
@end example
@noindent
These keybindings apply only to "Texinfo" mode. @xref{Modes}, for more
information on various modes. 

@item Describe Key...
After you select this item, you will be see the following message in the
echo area:

@example
Describe Key:
@end example
After you type a command key sequence, full documentation of that
command will be displayed. For example if you type @kbd{C-g}, you will
see the following documentation for @kbd{C-g}:

@kindex C-g
@example
keyboard-quit:
Signal a `quit' condition.
@end example
This means that @kbd{C-g} will quit whatever command you gave earlier.

@kindex C-h d
@item Describe Function...
This menu item provides documentation for a function. After you select
this item, it will prompt you for a function name in the echo area:

@example
Describe function (default <some function name>):
@end example
@noindent
If you hit @key{RET} without giving a function name, you will get
documentation for that default function name, otherwise if you type a
function name and hit @key{RET}, you will get documentation for the
given function. 

@kindex C-h k
@item Describe Variable...
You can get documentation on any variable by selecting this menu
item. It is similar to @b{Describe Function} and will prompt you for a
variable name. 

@item Unix Manual...
After you select this item you will be prompted for a Unix command for
which you wish to see the man page. You will see the following message
in the echo area:

@example
Manual entry: (default <some name>)
@end example
@noindent
Now you can type any command, for example type @samp{who} and press
@key{RET}. You will get the man page for the Unix command @samp{who} which
lists who is on the system.

@item Emacs Tutorial
Select this item and you will get a tutorial on Emacs. It is good for new
users. 

@item Emacs News
Select this item and you will get a lot of historical and current news
on Emacs ! 

@end table

For more information on the Help facility, @xref{Help,,,,XEmacs
Reference Manual}.












