Operating Modes

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OPERATING MODES

Modes are switches (or states) that may be applied globally or on a per buffer basis whose settings determine how MicroEmacs operates. Modes affect operations within a buffer, global modes determine the modes of newly created buffers.

Commands to alter the operating state:

add-global-mode(3) Set a global buffer mode
add-mode(3) Set a local buffer mode
buffer-major-mode(3) Change the operating mode of a buffer
buffer-mode(2) (C-x m) Change a local buffer mode
delete-global-mode(3) Remove a global buffer mode
delete-mode(3) Remove a local buffer mode
global-mode(2) (esc m) Change a global buffer mode
named-buffer-mode(2) Change a named buffer mode
unmark-buffer(3) Remove buffer edited flag

Modes

The operating modes are defined as follows:

auto(2m) Automatic source file line type detection
autosv(2m) Automatic file save
backup(2m) Automatic file backup of last edit
binary(2m) Binary editor mode
cr(2m) File's carriage return (CR) style
crypt(2m) Encrypted file mode
ctrlz(2m) File's termination style
edit(2m) Buffer has be changed
exact(2m) Searching and sorting case sensitivity
fence(2m) Auto fence matching mode
hide(2m) Hide buffer
indent(2m) Automatic indentation
justify(2m) Justification Mode
lf(2m) File's line feed style
lock(2m) Pipe cursor position lock
magic(2m) Regular expression search
nact(2m) Buffer not active
narrow(2m) Buffer contains a narrow
over(2m) Over-strike Mode
pipe(2m) Incremental Pipe running
rbin(2m) Reduced binary editor mode
tab(2m) Tabulation mode
time(2m) File time stamping
undo(2m) Retain edit modifications
view(2m) Read only
wrap(2m) Line wrap entered text
xlate(2m) Translated buffer editor mode

Mode Line

The buffer modes may be shown on the mode line as single letter mnemonics as follows:

Auto, autosv, Backup, binary, crlf, crYpt, ctrlz, del, Dir, edit, Exact, fence, Hide, Indent, Justify, lock, Magic, nact, Narrow, Over, Pipe, Quiet, rbin, Save, Tab, time, Undo, usr1, usr2, usr3, usr4, usr5, usr6, usr7, usr8, View, Wrap.

Ref: Operating Modes File: me.0 Date: 2026/03/05