count-words(2)

NAME

count-words - Count the number of words in a region

SYNOPSIS

n count-words (esc C-c)

DESCRIPTION

count-words counts the number of words in the current buffer and between the set-mark(2) position and the current cursor position. The command also gives statistics on the average characters per word, the number of characters and the number of lines. The output appears on the message line in a format such as:-

Buffer: 3959 Words (4.7), 23394 Chars, 274 Lines Region: 154 Words (5.2), 983 Chars, 10 Lines

The $result(5) variable is also set to the same output string.

The numeric argument n is used to modify the default behavior of the command, where the bits are defined as follows:

0x01


When clear the command gives the information in the form of a MicroEmacs list and does not print it to the message line; this interface is more useful to macros.

0x02


When set whole buffer information is included, i.e. the first half, when clear this information is not computed or included.

0x04


When set buffer region information is included, i.e. the second half; if the current buffer does not have a region an error is returned unless bit 0x08 is also set.

0x08


When set no error is thrown if buffer region information is requested but the buffer does not have a region, if bit 0x01 is clear -1 is returned for all 4 values.

When n is not specified, the default value is 0x0f, i.e. print both whole buffer and region information without error.

SEE ALSO

$result(5), buffer-info(2), set-mark(2).

(c) Copyright JASSPA 2025
Last Modified: 2024/10/06
Generated On: 2025/09/29