Editor commands are initiated by one or more key sequences . A single key sequence usually involves holding down one of two specially defined modifier keys, while at the same time pressing another key which is usually a character key.
The two modifier keys referred to are the
Control
(
Ctrl
) key and the
Meta
key which is usually
Alt
.
When using Emacs emulation on a keyboard without an
Alt
key, the
Escape
(
Esc
) key can be used instead. Note that
Esc
must be typed
before
pressing the required character key, and not held down.
When using MS Windows editor emulation, the
Alt
key cannot be used as Meta, and
Esc
is the cancel gesture, so LispWorks provides an alternate gesture to access editor commands:
Ctrl+M
. For example, to invoke the command
Find Source for Dspec
, type
Ctrl+M X Find Source for Dspec
To continue the search, type
Ctrl+M ,
.
An example of a single key sequence command is
Ctrl+A
which moves the current point to the start of the line. This command is issued by holding down the
Control
key while at the same time pressing
A
.
Some key sequences may require more than one key sequence. For example, the key sequence to save the current buffer to a file is
Ctrl+X Ctrl+S
. Another multi-key sequence is
Ctrl+X S
which saves all buffers to their relevant files. Note that in this case you do not press the
Control
key while pressing
S
.
A few commands require both the
Ctrl
and
Alt
key to be held down while pressing the character key.
Alt+Ctrl+L
, used to select the previous buffer displayed, is one such command. If the
Esc
or
Ctrl+M
key is being used in place of the
Alt
key, then this key should be pressed
before
the
Ctrl+L
part of the key sequence.