Info Catalog calc: Basic Commands calc: Introduction calc: Stack Basics

calc: Help Commands

 
 4.2 Help Commands
 =================
 
 The ‘?’ key (‘calc-help’) displays a series of brief help messages.
 Some keys (such as ‘b’ and ‘d’) are prefix keys, like Emacs’s <ESC> and
 ‘C-x’ prefixes.  You can type ‘?’ after a prefix to see a list of
 commands beginning with that prefix.  (If the message includes ‘[MORE]’,
 press ‘?’ again to see additional commands for that prefix.)
 
    The ‘h h’ (‘calc-full-help’) command displays all the ‘?’ responses
 at once.  When printed, this makes a nice, compact (three pages) summary
 of Calc keystrokes.
 
    In general, the ‘h’ key prefix introduces various commands that
 provide help within Calc.  Many of the ‘h’ key functions are
 Calc-specific analogues to the ‘C-h’ functions for Emacs help.
 
    The ‘h i’ (‘calc-info’) command runs the Emacs Info system to read
 this manual on-line.  This is basically the same as typing ‘C-h i’ (the
 regular way to run the Info system), then, if Info is not already in the
 Calc manual, selecting the beginning of the manual.  The ‘C-x * i’
 command is another way to read the Calc manual; it is different from ‘h
 i’ in that it works any time, not just inside Calc.  The plain ‘i’ key
 is also equivalent to ‘h i’, though this key is obsolete and may be
 replaced with a different command in a future version of Calc.
 
    The ‘h t’ (‘calc-tutorial’) command runs the Info system on the
 Tutorial section of the Calc manual.  It is like ‘h i’, except that it
 selects the starting node of the tutorial rather than the beginning of
 the whole manual.  (It actually selects the node “Interactive Tutorial”
 which tells a few things about using the Info system before going on to
 the actual tutorial.)  The ‘C-x * t’ key is equivalent to ‘h t’ (but it
 works at all times).
 
    The ‘h s’ (‘calc-info-summary’) command runs the Info system on the
 Summary node of the Calc manual.  Summary.  The ‘C-x * s’ key is
 equivalent to ‘h s’.
 
    The ‘h k’ (‘calc-describe-key’) command looks up a key sequence in
 the Calc manual.  For example, ‘h k H a S’ looks up the documentation on
 the ‘H a S’ (‘calc-solve-for’) command.  This works by looking up the
 textual description of the key(s) in the Key Index of the manual, then
 jumping to the node indicated by the index.
 
    Most Calc commands do not have traditional Emacs documentation
 strings, since the ‘h k’ command is both more convenient and more
 instructive.  This means the regular Emacs ‘C-h k’ (‘describe-key’)
 command will not be useful for Calc keystrokes.
 
    The ‘h c’ (‘calc-describe-key-briefly’) command reads a key sequence
 and displays a brief one-line description of it at the bottom of the
 screen.  It looks for the key sequence in the Summary node of the Calc
 manual; if it doesn’t find the sequence there, it acts just like its
 regular Emacs counterpart ‘C-h c’ (‘describe-key-briefly’).  For
 example, ‘h c H a S’ gives the description:
 
      H a S runs calc-solve-for:  a `H a S' v  => fsolve(a,v)  (?=notes)
 
 which means the command ‘H a S’ or ‘H M-x calc-solve-for’ takes a value
 ‘a’ from the stack, prompts for a value ‘v’, then applies the algebraic
 function ‘fsolve’ to these values.  The ‘?=notes’ message means you can
 now type ‘?’ to see additional notes from the summary that apply to this
 command.
 
    The ‘h f’ (‘calc-describe-function’) command looks up an algebraic
 function or a command name in the Calc manual.  Enter an algebraic
 function name to look up that function in the Function Index or enter a
 command name beginning with ‘calc-’ to look it up in the Command Index.
 This command will also look up operator symbols that can appear in
 algebraic formulas, like ‘%’ and ‘=>’.
 
    The ‘h v’ (‘calc-describe-variable’) command looks up a variable in
 the Calc manual.  Enter a variable name like ‘pi’ or ‘PlotRejects’.
 
    The ‘h b’ (‘calc-describe-bindings’) command is just like ‘C-h b’,
 except that only local (Calc-related) key bindings are listed.
 
    The ‘h n’ or ‘h C-n’ (‘calc-view-news’) command displays the “news”
 or change history of Emacs, and jumps to the most recent portion
 concerning Calc (if present).  For older history, see the file
 ‘etc/CALC-NEWS’ in the Emacs distribution.
 
    The ‘h C-c’, ‘h C-d’, and ‘h C-w’ keys display copying, distribution,
 and warranty information about Calc.  These work by pulling up the
 appropriate parts of the “Copying” or “Reporting Bugs” sections of the
 manual.
 

Info Catalog calc: Basic Commands calc: Introduction calc: Stack Basics