This manual is for GNU Info (version 4.8, 14 December 2004), a program for viewing documents in Info format (usually created from Texinfo source files).
Copyright © 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being “A GNU Manual,” and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled “GNU Free Documentation License.”(a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: “You have freedom to copy and modify this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.”
This documentation is different from the documentation for the Info reader that is part of GNU Emacs. If you do not know how to use Info, but have a working Info reader, you should read the Emacs documentation first, as it includes more background information and a thorough tutorial.
Info is a program which is used to view Info files on an ASCII
terminal. Info files are the result of processing Texinfo files
with the program makeinfo or with one of the Emacs commands, such
as M-x texinfo-format-buffer. Texinfo itself is a documentation
system that uses a single source file to produce both on-line
information and printed output. You can typeset and print the files
that you read in Info.
GNU Info accepts several options to control the initial node being viewed, and to specify which directories to search for Info files. Here is a template showing an invocation of GNU Info from the shell:
info [option]... [menu-item...]
The program accepts the following options:
--apropos=stringYou can invoke the apropos command from inside Info; see Searching Commands.
--directory directory-path-d directory-path--directory
multiple times; once for each directory which contains Info files. The
list of directories searched by Info is constructed from the value of
the environment variable INFOPATH; --directory causes the
named directory-path to be prepended to that list. The value of
INFOPATH is a list of directories usually separated by a colon;
on MS-DOS/MS-Windows systems, the semicolon is used. If you do not
define INFOPATH, Info uses a default path defined when Info was
built as the initial list of directories. If the value of
INFOPATH ends with a colon (or semicolon on MS-DOS/MS-Windows),
the initial list of directories is constructed by appending the
build-time default to the value of INFOPATH.
--dribble=dribble-file--file filename-f filenamedir; if you use this option, Info will start with
(filename)Top as the first file and node.
If filename is an absolute file name, or begins with ./ or
../, Info looks for filename only in the directory of the
specified filename, and adds the directory of filename to
the value of INFOPATH. In contrast, if filename is in the
form of a relative file name, but without the ./ or ../
prefix, Info will only look for it in the directories specified in
INFOPATH. In other words, Info does not treat file names
which lack ./ and ../ prefix as relative to the current
directory.
In every directory Info tries, if filename is not found, Info
looks for it with a number of known extensions of Info files1. For every
known extension, Info looks for a compressed file, if a regular file
isn't found. Info supports files compressed with gzip,
bzip2, compress and yabba programs; it calls
gunzip, bunzip2, uncompress and unyabba,
accordingly, to decompress such files. Compressed Info files are
assumed to have .z, .gz, .bz2, .Z, or
.Y extensions, possibly in addition to one of the known Info
files extensions2.
--help-h--index-search stringThis command can also be invoked from inside Info; see Searching Commands.
--node nodename-n nodename--file3. You may specify --node multiple times; for
an interactive Info, each nodename is visited in its own window,
for a non-interactive Info (such as when --output is given) each
nodename is processed sequentially.
--output filename-o filename- for filename specifies
the standard output.
--raw-escapes--no-raw-escapes-R--no-raw-escapes to make Info remove them.
--restore=dribble-file--show-options--usage-OM-x goto-invocation command (see goto-invocation) from inside
Info.
--speech-friendly-b--subnodes--output. It means to recursively output the nodes appearing in
the menus of each node being output. Menu items which resolve to
external Info files are not output, and neither are menu items which are
members of an index. Each node is only output once.
--version--vi-keysvi and Less. The default key bindings are generally
modeled after Emacs.
(See Custom Key Bindings,
for a more general way of altering GNU Info's key bindings.)
--where--location-wdir), the second argument is a menu item in the first argument's
node, etc. You can easily move to the node of your choice by specifying
the menu names which describe the path to that node. For example,
info emacs buffers
first selects the menu item `Emacs' in the node `(dir)Top', and then selects the menu item `Buffers' in the node `(emacs)Top'.
To avoid searching the dir files and just show some arbitrary file, use `-f' and the filename, as in `info -f ./foo.info'.
The index search and the search for the node which describes program invocation and command-line options begins after processing all the command-line menu items. Therefore, the Info file searched for the index or the invocation node is the file where Info finds itself after following all the menu items given on the command line. This is so `info emacs --show-options' does what you'd expect.
Many people find that reading screens of text page by page is made easier when one is able to indicate particular pieces of text with some kind of pointing device. Since this is the case, GNU Info (both the Emacs and standalone versions) have several commands which allow you to move the cursor about the screen. The notation used in this manual to describe keystrokes is identical to the notation used within the Emacs manual, and the GNU Readline manual. See User Input, if you are unfamiliar with the notation.4
The following table lists the basic cursor movement commands in Info.
Each entry consists of the key sequence you should type to execute the
cursor movement, the M-x5 command name (displayed in parentheses), and a short
description of what the command does. All of the cursor motion commands
can take a numeric argument (see universal-argument. With a
numeric argument, the motion commands are simply executed that
many times; for example, a numeric argument of 4 given to
next-line causes the cursor to move down 4 lines. With a
negative numeric argument, the motion is reversed; an argument of -4
given to the next-line command would cause the cursor to move
up 4 lines.
next-line)prev-line)beginning-of-line)end-of-line)forward-char)backward-char)forward-word)backward-word)beginning-of-node)end-of-node)move-to-window-line)M-r moves the cursor to the start of the line in the
center of the window. With a numeric argument of n, M-r
moves the cursor to the start of the nth line in the window.
Sometimes you are looking at a screenful of text, and only part of the current paragraph you are reading is visible on the screen. The commands detailed in this section are used to shift which part of the current node is visible on the screen.
Scrolling commands are bound differently when `--vi-keys' operation is in effect (see –vi-keys). These key bindings are designated with “vi-like operation”.
scroll-forward)The default scroll size is one screen-full, but it can be changed by
invoking the (scroll-forward-page-only-set-window) command,
`z' under `--vi-keys', with a numeric argument.
scroll-forward-page-only)The <NEXT> key is known as the <PageDown> key on some
keyboards.
scroll-forward-page-only-set-window, vi-like operation)scroll-forward and scroll-backward commands and their
ilk.
scroll-backward)scroll-forward.
If you are at the start of a node, <DEL> takes you to the
“previous” node, so that you can read an entire manual from finish to
start by repeating <DEL>. The default scroll size can be changed by
invoking the (scroll-backward-page-only-set-window) command,
`w' under `--vi-keys', with a numeric argument.
scroll-backward-page-only)scroll-forward-page-only. Does not scroll beyond the start of
the current node. The default scroll size can be changed by invoking
the(scroll-backward-page-only-set-window) command, `w' under
`--vi-keys', with a numeric argument.
scroll-backward-page-only-set-window, vi-like operation)scroll-forward and scroll-backward commands.
down-line, vi-like operation)up-line, vi-like operation)scroll-half-screen-down, vi-like operation)scroll-half-screen-up, vi-like operation)The scroll-forward and scroll-backward commands can also
move forward and backward through the node structure of the file. If
you press <SPC> while viewing the end of a node, or <DEL> while
viewing the beginning of a node, what happens is controlled by the
variable scroll-behavior. See scroll-behavior, for more information.
The scroll-forward-page-only and scroll-backward-page-only
commands never scroll beyond the current node.
The <PREVIOUS> key is the <PageUp> key on many keyboards. Emacs refers to it by the name <PRIOR>. When you use <PRIOR> or <PageUp> to scroll, Info never scrolls beyond the beginning of the current node.
If your keyboard lacks the <DEL> key, look for a key called <BS>, or `BackSpace', sometimes designated with an arrow which points to the left, which should perform the same function.
redraw-display)toggle-wrap)C-x w. When a line which needs more
space than one screen width to display is displayed, a `$' appears
in the rightmost column of the screen, and the remainder of the line is
invisible. When long lines are truncated, the modeline displays the
`$' character near its left edge.
This section details the numerous Info commands which select a new node to view in the current window.
The most basic node commands are `n', `p', `u', and `l'. Note that the commands to select nodes are mapped differently when `--vi-keys' is in effect; these keybindings are designated below as “vi-like operation”.
When you are viewing a node, the top line of the node contains some Info pointers which describe where the next, previous, and up nodes are. Info uses this line to move about the node structure of the file when you use the following commands:
next-node)The <NEXT> key is known as the <PgDn> key on some
keyboards.
prev-node)The <PREVIOUS> key is known as the <PgUp> key on some
keyboards.
up-node)You can easily select a node that you have already viewed in this window by using the `l' command—this name stands for “last”, and actually moves backwards through the history of visited nodes for this window. This is handy when you followed a reference to another node, possibly to read about a related issue, and would like then to resume reading at the same place where you started the excursion.
Each node where you press `l' is discarded from the history. Thus, by the time you get to the first node you visited in a window, the entire history of that window is discarded.
history-node)Two additional commands make it easy to select the most commonly selected nodes; they are `t' and `d'.
top-node)dir-node)Here are some other commands which immediately result in the selection of a different node in the current window:
first-node)last-node)global-next-node)global-prev-node)You can get the same behavior as global-next-node and
global-prev-node while simply scrolling through the file with
<SPC> and <DEL>; See scroll-behavior, for
more information.
goto-node) g(emacs)Buffers
finds the node `Buffers' in the Info file emacs.
goto-invocationIf you need to find the Invocation node of a program that is documented
in another Info file, you need to visit that file before invoking
`I'. For example, if you are reading the Emacs manual and want to
see the command-line options of the makeinfo program, type g
(texinfo) <RET> and then I makeinfo <RET>. If you don't
know what Info file documents the command, or if invoking `I'
doesn't display the right node, go to the `(dir)' node (using the
`d' command) and invoke `I' from there.
menu-sequence) G Texinfo,Overview,Reporting Bugs <RET>
displays the node `Reporting Bugs' in the Texinfo manual. (You don't actually need to type the menu items in their full length, or in their exact letter-case. However, if you do type the menu items exactly, Info will find it faster.)
If any of the menu items you type are not found, Info stops at the last
entry it did find and reports an error.
kill-node)view-file) C-x C-f filename
is equivalent to typing
g(filename)*
list-visited-nodes)select-visited-node)GNU Info allows you to search for a sequence of characters throughout an entire Info file, search through the indices of an Info file, or find areas within an Info file which discuss a particular topic.
search)search-backward, vi-like operation)search-case-sensitivelysearch-next)search-previous)isearch-forward)isearch-backward)index-search)next-index-match)The most basic searching command is `s' or `/'
(search). The `s' command prompts you for a string in the
echo area, and then searches the remainder of the Info file for an
occurrence of that string. If the string is found, the node containing
it is selected, and the cursor is left positioned at the start of the
found string. Subsequent `s' commands show you the default search
string within `[' and `]'; pressing <RET> instead of
typing a new string will use the default search string. Under
`--vi-keys' (see –vi-keys), using the `n' or `N'
commands is a faster way of searching for the same string.
Incremental searching is similar to basic searching, but the string is looked up while you are typing it, instead of waiting until the entire search string has been specified.
Both incremental and non-incremental search by default ignore the case
of letters when comparing the Info file text with the search string.
However, an uppercase letter in the search string makes the search
case-sensitive. You can force a case-sensitive non-incremental search,
even for a string that includes only lower-case letters, by using the
`S' command (search-case-sensitively). The `n' and
`N' commands operate case-sensitively if the last search command
was `S'.
The most efficient means of finding something quickly in a manual is
the `i' command (index-search). This command prompts for
a string, and then looks for that string in all the indices of the
current Info manual. If it finds a matching index entry, it displays
the node to which that entry refers and prints the full text of the
entry in the echo area. You can press `,'
(next-index-match) to find more matches. A good Info manual
has all of its important concepts indexed, so the `i' command
lets you use a manual as a reference.
If you don't know what manual documents something, try the M-x index-apropos command. It prompts for a string and then looks up that string in all the indices of all the Info documents installed on your system. It can also be invoked from the command line; see –apropos.
We have already discussed the `Next', `Prev', and `Up' pointers which appear at the top of a node. In addition to these pointers, a node may contain other pointers which refer you to a different node, perhaps in another Info file. Such pointers are called cross references, or xrefs for short.
Cross references have two major parts: the first part is called the label; it is the name that you can use to refer to the cross reference, and the second is the target; it is the full name of the node that the cross reference points to.
The target is separated from the label by a colon `:'; first the label appears, and then the target. For example, in the sample menu cross reference below, the single colon separates the label from the target.
* Foo Label: Foo Target. More information about Foo.
Note the `.' which ends the name of the target. The `.' is not part of the target; it serves only to let Info know where the target name ends.
A shorthand way of specifying references allows two adjacent colons to stand for a target name which is the same as the label name:
* Foo Commands:: Commands pertaining to Foo.
In the above example, the name of the target is the same as the name of
the label, in this case Foo Commands.
You will normally see two types of cross reference while viewing nodes: menu references, and note references. Menu references appear within a node's menu; they begin with a `*' at the beginning of a line, and continue with a label, a target, and a comment which describes what the contents of the node pointed to contains.
Note references appear within the body of the node text; they begin with
*Note, and continue with a label and a target.
Like `Next', `Prev', and `Up' pointers, cross references can point to any valid node. They are used to refer you to a place where more detailed information can be found on a particular subject. Here is a cross reference which points to a node within the Texinfo documentation: See Writing an Xref, for more information on creating your own texinfo cross references.
The following table lists the Info commands which operate on menu items.
menu-digit)last-menu-item)menu-item)This table lists the Info commands which operate on cross references.
xref-item)Finally, the next few commands operate on menu or note references alike:
move-to-next-xref)select-reference-this-line) to select the menu or note reference.
move-to-prev-xref)On DOS/Windows only, the Shift-<TAB> key is an alias for
M-<TAB>. This key is sometimes called `BackTab'.
select-reference-this-line)A window is a place to show the text of a node. Windows have a view area where the text of the node is displayed, and an associated mode line, which briefly describes the node being viewed.
GNU Info supports multiple windows appearing in a single screen; each window is separated from the next by its modeline. At any time, there is only one active window, that is, the window in which the cursor appears. There are commands available for creating windows, changing the size of windows, selecting which window is active, and for deleting windows.
A mode line is a line of inverse video which appears at the bottom of an Info window. It describes the contents of the window just above it; this information includes the name of the file and node appearing in that window, the number of screen lines it takes to display the node, and the percentage of text that is above the top of the window. It can also tell you if the indirect tags table for this Info file needs to be updated, and whether or not the Info file was compressed when stored on disk.
Here is a sample mode line for a window containing an uncompressed file named dir, showing the node `Top'.
-----Info: (dir)Top, 40 lines --Top-------------------------------------
^^ ^ ^^^ ^^
(file)Node #lines where
When a node comes from a file which is compressed on disk, this is indicated in the mode line with two small `z''s. In addition, if the Info file containing the node has been split into subfiles, the name of the subfile containing the node appears in the modeline as well:
--zz-Info: (emacs)Top, 291 lines --Top-- Subfile: emacs-1.Z-------------
Truncation of long lines (as opposed to wrapping them to the next display line, see toggle-wrap) is indicated by a `$' at the left edge of the mode line:
--$--Info: (texinfo)Top, 480 lines --Top-- Subfile: texinfo-1-----------
When Info makes a node internally, such that there is no corresponding info file on disk, the name of the node is surrounded by asterisks (`*'). The name itself tells you what the contents of the window are; the sample mode line below shows an internally constructed node showing possible completions:
-----Info: *Completions*, 7 lines --All---------------------------------
It can be convenient to view more than one node at a time. To allow
this, Info can display more than one window. Each window has its
own mode line (see The Mode Line) and history of nodes viewed in that
window (see history-node).
next-window)split-window)automatic-tiling
can cause all of the windows on the screen to be resized for you
automatically (see automatic-tiling).
delete-window)keep-one-window)scroll-other-window)grow-window)tile-windows)automatic-tiling can cause
tile-windows to be called when a window is created or deleted.
See automatic-tiling.
The echo area is a one line window which appears at the bottom of the screen. It is used to display informative or error messages, and to read lines of input from you when that is necessary. Almost all of the commands available in the echo area are identical to their Emacs counterparts, so please refer to that documentation for greater depth of discussion on the concepts of editing a line of text. The following table briefly lists the commands that are available while input is being read in the echo area:
echo-area-forward)echo-area-backward)echo-area-beg-of-line)echo-area-end-of-line)echo-area-forward-word)echo-area-backward-word)echo-area-delete)echo-area-rubout)On some keyboards, this key is designated <BS>, for
`BackSpace'. Those keyboards will usually bind <DEL> in the
echo area to echo-area-delete.
echo-area-abort)echo-area-newline)echo-area-quoted-insert)echo-area-insert)echo-area-tab-insert)On DOS/Windows only, the Shift-<TAB> key is an alias for
M-<TAB>. This key is sometimes called `BackTab'.
echo-area-transpose-chars)The next group of commands deal with killing, and yanking text6. For an in-depth discussion of killing and yanking, see Killing and Deleting.
echo-area-kill-word)echo-area-backward-kill-word)On some keyboards, the Backspace key is used instead of
DEL, so M-<Backspace> has the same effect as
M-<DEL>.
echo-area-kill-line)echo-area-backward-kill-line)echo-area-yank)echo-area-yank-pop)Sometimes when reading input in the echo area, the command that needed input will only accept one of a list of several choices. The choices represent the possible completions, and you must respond with one of them. Since there are a limited number of responses you can make, Info allows you to abbreviate what you type, only typing as much of the response as is necessary to uniquely identify it. In addition, you can request Info to fill in as much of the response as is possible; this is called completion.
The following commands are available when completing in the echo area:
echo-area-complete)echo-area-possible-completions) bar
foliate
food
forget
and you have typed an `f', followed by `?', Info will pop up a window showing a node called `*Completions*' which lists the possible completions like this:
3 completions:
foliate food
forget
i.e., all of the choices which begin with `f'. Pressing <SPC>
or <TAB> would result in `fo' appearing in the echo area, since
all of the choices which begin with `f' continue with `o'.
Now, typing `l' followed by `TAB' results in `foliate'
appearing in the echo area, since that is the only choice which begins
with `fol'.
echo-area-scroll-completions-window)
In general, we recommend that you use TeX to format the document and
print sections of it, by running tex on the Texinfo source file.
However, you may wish to print out the contents of a node as a quick
reference document for later use, or if you don't have TeX installed.
Info provides you with a command for doing this.
INFO_PRINT_COMMAND. If the variable does not
exist, the node is simply piped to lpr (on DOS/Windows, the
default is to print the node to the local printer device, PRN).
The value of INFO_PRINT_COMMAND may begin with the `>'
character, as in `>/dev/printer', in which case Info treats the
rest as the name of a file or a device. Instead of piping to a command,
Info opens the file, writes the node contents, and closes the file,
under the assumption that text written to that file will be printed by
the underlying OS.
GNU Info contains several commands which self-document GNU Info:
get-help-window)*Help*, and place
a node containing a quick reference card into it. This window displays
the most concise information about GNU Info available.
get-info-help-node)(info)Help. The Info file
info.texi distributed with GNU Info contains this node. Of
course, the file must first be processed with makeinfo, and then
placed into the location of your Info directory.
Here are the commands for creating a numeric argument:
universal-argument)add-digit-to-numeric-arg) C-u 3 2 C-l
or
M-3 2 C-l
add-digit-to-numeric-arg- doesn't work when you type in the echo area, because you need to be able to insert the `-' character itself; use M-- instead, if you need to specify negative arguments in the echo area.
`C-g' is used to abort the reading of a multi-character key sequence, to cancel lengthy operations (such as multi-file searches) and to cancel reading input in the echo area.
abort-key)The `q' command of Info simply quits running Info. Under `--vi-keys' (see –vi-keys), you can also exit with `:q' or `ZZ'.
quit)If the operating system tells GNU Info that the screen is 60 lines tall, and it is actually only 40 lines tall, here is a way to tell Info that the operating system is correct.
On MS-DOS/MS-Windows, this command actually tries to change the dimensions of the visible screen to the value you type in the echo area.
Finally, Info provides a convenient way to display footnotes which might be associated with the current node that you are viewing:
show-footnotes)automatic-footnotes. See automatic-footnotes.
GNU Info contains several variables whose values are looked at by various Info commands. You can change the values of these variables, and thus change the behavior of Info to more closely match your environment and Info file reading manner.
There are two ways to set the value of a variable: interactively, using
the set-variable command described below, or in the #var
section of the .infokey file. See Custom Key Bindings.
Here is a list of the variables that you can set in Info.
automatic-footnotesOn, footnotes appear and disappear automatically;
else, they appear at the bottom of the node text. This variable is
Off by default. When a node is selected, a window containing
the footnotes which appear in that node is created, and the footnotes
are displayed within the new window. The window that Info creates to
contain the footnotes is called `*Footnotes*'. If a node is
selected which contains no footnotes, and a `*Footnotes*' window
is on the screen, the `*Footnotes*' window is deleted. Footnote
windows created in this fashion are not automatically tiled so that
they can use as little of the display as is possible.
automatic-tilingOn, creating or deleting a window resizes other
windows. This variable is Off by default. Normally, typing
`C-x 2' divides the current window into two equal parts. When
automatic-tiling is set to On, all of the windows are
resized automatically, keeping an equal number of lines visible in each
window. There are exceptions to the automatic tiling; specifically, the
windows `*Completions*' and `*Footnotes*' are not
resized through automatic tiling; they remain their original size.
errors-ring-bellOn, errors cause the bell to ring. The default
setting of this variable is On.
gc-compressed-filesOn, Info garbage collects files which had to be
uncompressed. The default value of this variable is Off.
Whenever a node is visited in Info, the Info file containing that node
is read into core, and Info reads information about the tags and nodes
contained in that file. Once the tags information is read by Info, it
is never forgotten. However, the actual text of the nodes does not need
to remain in core unless a particular Info window needs it. For
non-compressed files, the text of the nodes does not remain in core when
it is no longer in use. But de-compressing a file can be a time
consuming operation, and so Info tries hard not to do it twice.
gc-compressed-files tells Info it is okay to garbage collect the
text of the nodes of a file which was compressed on disk.
ISO-LatinOn, Info accepts and displays ISO Latin characters.
By default, Info assumes an ASCII character set. ISO-Latin tells
Info that it is running in an environment where the European standard
character set is in use, and allows you to input such characters to
Info, as well as display them.
scroll-behaviorContinuous. There
are three possible values for this variable:
Continuousglobal-next-node) and `[' (global-prev-node)
commands.
Next OnlyPage Onlyscroll-behavior is
Page Only, no scrolling command can change the node that is being
viewed.
scroll-stepscroll-step has a
nonzero value, Info attempts to scroll the node text by that many lines;
if that is enough to bring the cursor back into the window, that is what
is done. The default value of this variable is 0, thus placing the
cursor (and the text it is attached to) in the center of the window.
Setting this variable to 1 causes a kind of “smooth scrolling” which
some people prefer.
show-index-matchOn, the portion of the matched search string is
highlighted in the message which explains where the matched search
string was found. The default value of this variable is On.
When Info displays the location where an index match was found,
(see next-index-match), the portion of the
string that you had typed is highlighted by displaying it in the inverse
case from its surrounding characters.
visible-bellOn, GNU Info attempts to flash the screen instead of
ringing the bell. This variable is Off by default. Of course,
Info can only flash the screen if the terminal allows it; in the case
that the terminal does not allow it, the setting of this variable has no
effect. However, you can make Info perform quietly by setting the
errors-ring-bell variable to Off.
For those whose editor/pager of choice is not Emacs and who are not entirely satisfied with the –vi-keys option (see –vi-keys), GNU Info provides a way to define different key-to-command bindings and variable settings from the defaults described in this document.
On startup, GNU Info looks for a configuration file in the invoker's
HOME directory called .info7. If it is present, and
appears to contain Info configuration data, and was created with the
current version of the infokey command, then Info adopts the
key bindings and variable settings contained therein.
The .info file contains compact, non-textual data for reasons of
efficiency and because its design was lifted wholesale from the GNU Less
program, which also does it that way. It must be created by compiling a
textual source file using the infokey command.
infokey compiles a source file ($HOME/.infokey8 by default) containing Info customizations into a binary format ($HOME/.info by default). GNU Info reads the binary file at startup to override the default key bindings and variable definitions. Synopsis:
infokey [option...] [input-file]
Besides the standard --help and --version, the only option is --output file. This tells infokey to write the binary data to file instead of $HOME/.info.
The format of the source file read by infokey is most easily illustrated by example. For instance, here is a sample .infokey source file suitable for aficionados of vi or less:
#info
j next-line
k prev-line
l forward-char
h backward-char
\kd next-line
\ku prev-line
\kr forward-char
\kl backward-char
\ scroll-forward
\kD scroll-forward-page-only
b scroll-backward
\kU scroll-backward-page-only
g beginning-of-node
\kh beginning-of-node
G end-of-node
\ke end-of-node
\t select-reference-this-line
- history-node
n next-node
p prev-node
u up-node
t top-node
d dir-node
#var
scroll-step=1
The source file consists of one or more sections. Each section starts with a line that identifies the type of section. Possible sections are:
#info#info by itself. If this is the first section in the source
file, the #info line can be omitted. The rest of this section
consists of lines of the form:
string whitespace action [ whitespace [ # comment ] ] newline
Whitespace is any sequence of one or more spaces and/or tabs. Comment
is any sequence of any characters, excluding newline. string is
the key sequence which invokes the action. action is the name of
an Info command. The characters in string are interpreted
literally or prefixed by a caret (^) to indicate a control
character. A backslash followed by certain characters specifies input
keystrokes as follows:
\b\e\n\r\t\ku\kd\kl\kr\kU\kD\kh\ke\kx\mxBackslash followed by any other character indicates that character is to
be taken literally. Characters which must be preceded by a backslash
include caret, space, tab, and backslash itself.
#echo-area#echo-area by itself. The rest of this section has a syntax
identical to that for the key definitions for the Info area, described
above.
#var#var by itself. Following this line is a list of variable
assignments, one per line. Each line consists of a variable name
(See Variables,) followed by = followed by a value.
There may be no white space between the variable name and the =,
and all characters following the =, including white space,
are included in the value.
Blank lines and lines starting with # are ignored, except for
the special section header lines.
Key bindings defined in the .info file take precedence over GNU
Info's default key bindings, whether or not `--vi-keys' is used. A
default key binding may be disabled by overriding it in the .info
file with the action invalid. In addition, all default
key bindings can be disabled by adding this line anywhere in the
relevant section:
#stop
This will cause GNU Info to ignore all the default key commands for that section.
Beware: #stop can be dangerous. Since it disables all default
key bindings, you must supply enough new key bindings to enable all
necessary actions. Failure to bind any key to the quit command,
for example, can lead to frustration.
The order in which key bindings are defined in the .info file is
not important, except that the command summary produced by the
get-help-window command only displays the first key that
is bound to each command.
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If your document contains nontrivial examples of program code, we recommend releasing these examples in parallel under your choice of free software license, such as the GNU General Public License, to permit their use in free software.
', vi-like operation: Node Commands,: Searching Commands-: Miscellaneous Commands--subnodes, command line option: Invoking Info/: Searching Commands0 ... 9, vi-like operation: Miscellaneous Commands0, in Info windows: Selecting Xrefs<: Node Commands>: Node Commands?, in Info windows: Miscellaneous Commands?, in the echo area: The Echo Area?, vi-like operation: Searching Commands[: Node Commands]: Node Commandsabort-key: Miscellaneous Commandsadd-digit-to-numeric-arg: Miscellaneous Commandsautomatic-footnotes: Variablesautomatic-tiling: Variablesb, in Info windows: Cursor Commandsb, vi-like operation: Scrolling CommandsBackTab, in Info windows: Selecting XrefsBackTab, in the echo area: The Echo Areabackward-char: Cursor Commandsbackward-word: Cursor Commandsbeginning-of-line: Cursor Commandsbeginning-of-node: Cursor CommandsBS (backspace): Scrolling CommandsC-a, in Info windows: Cursor CommandsC-a, in the echo area: The Echo AreaC-b, in Info windows: Cursor CommandsC-b, in the echo area: The Echo AreaC-b, vi-like operation: Scrolling CommandsC-CENTER: Node CommandsC-d, in the echo area: The Echo AreaC-d, vi-like operation: Scrolling CommandsC-e, in Info windows: Cursor CommandsC-e, in the echo area: The Echo AreaC-e, vi-like operation: Scrolling CommandsC-End: Cursor CommandsC-f, in Info windows: Cursor CommandsC-f, in the echo area: The Echo AreaC-f, vi-like operation: Scrolling CommandsC-g, in Info windows: Miscellaneous CommandsC-g, in the echo area: The Echo AreaC-h: Miscellaneous CommandsC-Home: Cursor CommandsC-k, in the echo area: The Echo AreaC-k, vi-like operation: Scrolling CommandsC-l: Scrolling CommandsC-LEFT: Cursor CommandsC-LEFT, in the echo area: The Echo AreaC-n: Cursor CommandsC-n, vi-like operation: Scrolling CommandsC-NEXT: Node CommandsC-p: Cursor CommandsC-p, vi-like operation: Scrolling CommandsC-PgDn: Node CommandsC-PgUp: Node CommandsC-PREVIOUS: Node CommandsC-q, in the echo area: The Echo AreaC-r: Searching CommandsC-RIGHT: Cursor CommandsC-RIGHT, in the echo area: The Echo AreaC-s: Searching CommandsC-t, in the echo area: The Echo AreaC-u: Miscellaneous CommandsC-u cancels typeahead, vi-like operation: Miscellaneous CommandsC-u, in the echo area, vi-like operation: The Echo AreaC-u, vi-like operation: Scrolling CommandsC-UP: Node CommandsC-v: Scrolling CommandsC-v, in the echo area, vi-like operation: The Echo AreaC-w: Scrolling CommandsC-x 0: Basic WindowsC-x 1: Basic WindowsC-x 2: Basic WindowsC-x ^: Basic WindowsC-x b: Node CommandsC-x C-b: Node CommandsC-x C-c: Miscellaneous CommandsC-x C-f: Node CommandsC-x DEL, in the echo area: The Echo AreaC-x g, vi-like operation: Node CommandsC-x k: Node CommandsC-x N: Searching CommandsC-x n: Searching CommandsC-x n, vi-like operation: Node CommandsC-x o: Basic WindowsC-x r, vi-like operation: Selecting XrefsC-x t: Basic WindowsC-x u, vi-like operation: Node CommandsC-y, in the echo area: The Echo AreaC-y, vi-like operation: Scrolling Commandsd: Node Commandsd, vi-like operation: Scrolling CommandsDEL, in Info windows: Scrolling CommandsDEL, in the echo area: The Echo Areadelete-window: Basic Windowsdescribe-command: Miscellaneous Commandsdescribe-key: Miscellaneous Commandsdescribe-variable: Variablesdir-node: Node CommandsDOWN (an arrow key): Cursor CommandsDOWN, vi-like operation: Scrolling Commandsdown-line: Scrolling Commandse, in Info windows: Cursor Commandsecho-area-abort: The Echo Areaecho-area-backward: The Echo Areaecho-area-backward-kill-line: The Echo Areaecho-area-backward-kill-word: The Echo Areaecho-area-backward-word: The Echo Areaecho-area-beg-of-line: The Echo Areaecho-area-complete: The Echo Areaecho-area-delete: The Echo Areaecho-area-end-of-line: The Echo Areaecho-area-forward: The Echo Areaecho-area-forward-word: The Echo Areaecho-area-insert: The Echo Areaecho-area-kill-line: The Echo Areaecho-area-kill-word: The Echo Areaecho-area-newline: The Echo Areaecho-area-possible-completions: The Echo Areaecho-area-quoted-insert: The Echo Areaecho-area-rubout: The Echo Areaecho-area-scroll-completions-window: The Echo Areaecho-area-tab-insert: The Echo Areaecho-area-transpose-chars: The Echo Areaecho-area-yank: The Echo Areaecho-area-yank-pop: The Echo AreaEnd: Cursor Commandsend-of-line: Cursor Commandsend-of-node: Cursor Commandserrors-ring-bell: VariablesESC C-f: Miscellaneous CommandsESC C-v, in Info windows: Basic WindowsESC C-v, in the echo area: The Echo Areaf: Selecting Xrefsf, vi-like operation: Scrolling CommandsF1: Miscellaneous Commandsfind-menu: Selecting Xrefsfirst-node: Node Commandsforward-char: Cursor Commandsforward-word: Cursor CommandsG: Node Commandsg: Node CommandsG, vi-like operation: Node Commandsg, vi-like operation: Node Commandsgc-compressed-files: Variablesget-help-window: Miscellaneous Commandsget-info-help-node: Miscellaneous Commandsglobal-next-node: Node Commandsglobal-prev-node: Node Commandsgoto-invocation: Node Commandsgoto-node: Node Commandsgrow-window: Basic Windowsh: Miscellaneous Commandsh, vi-like operation: Miscellaneous Commandshistory-node: Node CommandsHome: Cursor Commandsi: Searching CommandsI: Node Commandsindex-apropos: Searching Commandsindex-search: Searching Commandsisearch-backward: Searching Commandsisearch-forward: Searching CommandsISO-Latin: Variablesk, vi-like operation: Scrolling Commandskeep-one-window: Basic Windowskill-node: Node Commandsl: Node Commandslast-menu-item: Selecting Xrefslast-node: Node CommandsLEFT (an arrow key): Cursor CommandsLEFT, in the echo area: The Echo AreaLFD, vi-like operation: Scrolling Commandslist-visited-nodes: Node Commandsm: Selecting XrefsM-$, vi-like operation: The Echo AreaM--: Miscellaneous CommandsM-0 ... M-9: Miscellaneous CommandsM-0, in the echo area, vi-like operation: The Echo AreaM-0, vi-like operation: Selecting XrefsM-<: Cursor CommandsM->: Cursor CommandsM-b, in Info windows: Cursor CommandsM-b, in the echo area: The Echo AreaM-b, vi-like operation: Cursor CommandsM-BS, in the echo area: The Echo AreaM-d, in the echo area: The Echo AreaM-d, vi-like operation: Node CommandsM-DEL, in the echo area: The Echo AreaM-f, in Info windows: Cursor CommandsM-f, in the echo area: The Echo AreaM-f, vi-like operation: Selecting XrefsM-g, vi-like operation: Selecting XrefsM-h, in the echo area, vi-like operation: The Echo AreaM-h, vi-like operation: Miscellaneous CommandsM-l, in the echo area, vi-like operation: The Echo AreaM-r: Cursor CommandsM-SPC, vi-like operation: Scrolling CommandsM-t, vi-like operation: Node CommandsM-TAB, in Info windows: Selecting XrefsM-TAB, in the echo area: The Echo AreaM-v: Scrolling CommandsM-w, in the echo area, vi-like operation: The Echo AreaM-X, in the echo area, vi-like operation: The Echo AreaM-x, in the echo area, vi-like operation: The Echo AreaM-y, in the echo area: The Echo Areamenu-digit: Selecting Xrefsmenu-item: Selecting Xrefsmenu-sequence: Node Commandsmove-to-next-xref: Selecting Xrefsmove-to-prev-xref: Selecting Xrefsmove-to-window-line: Cursor Commandsn: Node Commandsn, vi-like operation: Searching CommandsNEXT: Scrolling Commandsnext-index-match: Searching Commandsnext-line: Cursor Commandsnext-node: Node Commandsnext-window: Basic WindowsO: Node Commandsp: Node CommandsPageDown: Scrolling CommandsPageUp: Scrolling Commandsprev-line: Cursor Commandsprev-node: Node Commandsprev-window: Basic WindowsPREVIOUS: Scrolling Commandsprint-node: Printing Nodesprinting characters, in the echo area: The Echo Areaq: Miscellaneous Commandsquit: Miscellaneous Commandsr: Selecting Xrefsredraw-display: Scrolling CommandsRET, in Info windows: Selecting XrefsRET, in the echo area: The Echo AreaRET, vi-like operation: Scrolling CommandsRIGHT (an arrow key): Cursor CommandsRIGHT, in the echo area: The Echo AreaS: Searching Commandss: Searching Commandsscroll-backward: Scrolling Commandsscroll-backward-page-only: Scrolling Commandsscroll-backward-page-only-set-window: Scrolling Commandsscroll-behavior: Variablesscroll-forward: Scrolling Commandsscroll-forward-page-only: Scrolling Commandsscroll-forward-page-only-set-window: Scrolling Commandsscroll-half-screen-down: Scrolling Commandsscroll-half-screen-up: Scrolling Commandsscroll-other-window: Basic Windowsscroll-step: Variablessearch: Searching Commandssearch-backward: Searching Commandssearch-case-sensitively: Searching Commandssearch-next: Searching Commandssearch-previous: Searching Commandsselect-reference-this-line: Selecting Xrefsselect-visited-node: Node Commandsset-screen-height: Miscellaneous Commandsset-variable: VariablesShift-TAB, in Info windows: Selecting XrefsShift-TAB, in the echo area: The Echo Areashow-footnotes: Miscellaneous Commandsshow-index-match: VariablesSPC, in Info windows: Scrolling CommandsSPC, in the echo area: The Echo Areasplit-window: Basic Windowst: Node CommandsTAB, in Info windows: Selecting XrefsTAB, in the echo area: The Echo Areatile-windows: Basic Windowstoggle-wrap: Scrolling Commandstop-node: Node Commandsu: Node Commandsu, vi-like operation: Scrolling Commandsuniversal-argument: Miscellaneous CommandsUP (an arrow key): Cursor CommandsUP, vi-like operation: Scrolling Commandsup-line: Scrolling Commandsup-node: Node Commandsview-file: Node Commandsvisible-bell: Variablesw, vi-like operation: Scrolling Commandswhere-is: Miscellaneous Commandsxref-item: Selecting Xrefsy, vi-like operation: Scrolling Commandsz, vi-like operation: Scrolling CommandsZZ, vi-like operation: Miscellaneous Commands[1] .info, -info, /index, and .inf.
[2] The MS-DOS version allows for the Info
extension, such as .inf, and the short compressed file
extensions, such as .z and .gz, to be merged into a single
extension, since DOS doesn't allow more than a single dot in the
basename of a file. Thus, on MS-DOS, if Info looks for bison,
file names like bison.igz and bison.inz will be found and
decompressed by gunzip.
[3] Of course, you can specify both the file and node
in a --node command; but don't forget to escape the open and
close parentheses and whitespace from the shell as in: info --node
"(emacs)Buffers".
[4] Here's a short summary. C-x means press the CTRL key and the key x. M-x means press the META key and the key x. On many terminals th META key is known as the ALT key. SPC is the space bar. The other keys are usually called by the names imprinted on them.
[5] M-x is also a command; it
invokes execute-extended-command. See Executing an extended command, for more detailed
information.
[6] Some people are used to calling these operations cut and paste, respectively.
[7] Due to the limitations of DOS filesystems, the MS-DOS version of Info looks for a file _info instead. If the HOME variable is not defined, Info additionally looks in the current directory.
[8] This file is named _infokey in the MS-DOS version, and is looked for in the current directory if HOME is undefined.