1 Introduction

The LispWorks editor is built in the spirit of Emacs. As a matter of policy, the key bindings and the behavior of the LispWorks editor are designed to be as close as possible to the standard key bindings and behavior of GNU Emacs.

For users more familiar with Mac OS keys, an alternate keys and behaviour model is provided. This manual however, generally documents the Emacs model.

The LispWorks editor has the following features:

• It is a screen editor. This means that text is displayed by the screenful, with a screen normally displaying the text which is currently being edited.
• It is a real-time editor. This means that modifications made to text are shown immediately, and any commands issued are executed likewise.
• An on-line help facility is provided, which allows the user quick and easy access to command and variable definitions. Various levels of help are provided, depending on the type of information the user currently possesses.
• It is customizable . The editor can be customized both for the duration of an editing session, and on a more permanent basis.
• A range of commands are provided to facilitate the editing of Lisp programs.
• The editor is itself written in Lisp.

1.1 Using the editor within LispWorks