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Many af commands operate on an arbitrary contiguous part of the current buffer. To specify the text for such a command to operate on, you set the mark at one end of it, and move point to the other end. The text between point and the mark is called the region.
You can move point or the mark to adjust the boundaries of the region. It doesn't matter which one is set first chronologically, or which one comes earlier in the buffer. Once the mark has been set, it remains where you put it until you set it again at another place. Each af buffer has its own mark, so that when you return to a buffer that had been selected previously, it has the same mark it had before.
Many commands that insert messages (or text in the minibuffer), such as
C-y (yank) and C-x i (insert-file), position
point and the mark at opposite ends of the inserted text, so that the
region contains the text just inserted.
12.1 Setting the Mark Commands to set the mark. 12.2 Operating on the Region Ways you can operate on the region. 12.3 Using the Region in Typeout Things you can do with the region in typeout. 12.4 Using the Region in the Minibuffer Region operations in the minibuffer.
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There are two commands to set the mark in a buffer. These commands work identically in mail buffers, typeout, and the minibuffer.
set-mark-command).
exchange-point-and-mark).
For example, suppose you wish to save part of a mail buffer to a folder,
using the C-x + (save-region) command, which operates on
the messages in the region. You can first go to the beginning of the
messages to be saved, type C-SPC to put the mark there, move
to the end, and then type C-x +. Or, you can set the mark at the
end of the text, move to the beginning, and then type C-x +.
The most common way to set the mark is with the C-SPC command
(set-mark-command). This sets the mark where point is. Then you
can move point away, leaving the mark behind.
Af doesn't show you where the mark is located. You have to remember.
The usual solution to this problem is to set the mark and then use it
soon, before you forget where it is. Alternatively, you can see where
the mark is with the command C-x C-x
(exchange-point-and-mark) which puts the mark where point was and
point where the mark was. The extent of the region is unchanged, but
point is now at the previous position of the mark.
C-x C-x is also useful when you are satisfied with the position of point but want to move the mark; do C-x C-x to put point at that end of the region, and then move it. A second use of C-x C-x, if necessary, puts the mark at the new position with point back at its original position.
There is no such character as C-SPC in ASCII; when you type
SPC while holding down CTRL, what you get on most ordinary
terminals is the character C-@. This key is actually bound to
set-mark-command. But unless you are unlucky enough to have a
terminal where typing C-SPC does not produce C-@, you
might as well think of this character as C-SPC. If you are
on a terminal where C-SPC doesn't work, you could use
M-SPC instead; it is also bound to set-mark-command.
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Once you have a region in a mail buffer, here are some of the commands
that operate on the region. Note that these commands all have the word
region in their names.
kill-region).
See section 14. Killing and Yanking.
copy-region-as-kill). See section 14. Killing and Yanking.
save-region).
This command handles the argument in the same way as M-+
(save-message). See section 11.1 Saving Messages.
print-region). This command handles the argument in the same
way as M-p (print-message). See section 11.2 Printing Messages.
pipe-region). Again, this command handles
the argument in the same way as M-| (pipe-message)
See section 11.3 Piping Messages.
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Typeout is only used to display text, and not to edit or delete anything.
For that reason, there are no commands which operate on the region available
in typeout. It is still possible to set the mark in the typeout buffer; but
the only thing you can do with it is to use C-x C-x
(exchange-point-and-mark) to move back to the mark.
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The minibuffer supports the mark and region, but only a subset of the commands which are available in a mail buffer to process the region. Since the minibuffer deals with text rather than messages, the region delimits a block of text in the minibuffer.
Just like any other buffer, the minibuffer has its own mark. The mark is not preserved between uses of the minibuffer, or when you move between minibuffer history entries, so you will usually need to set the mark in the minibuffer before you use it.
There are two commands which operate on the region in the minibuffer:
kill-region).
See section 14.5 Killing and Yanking in the Minibuffer.
copy-region-as-kill). See section 14.5 Killing and Yanking in the Minibuffer.
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