Info Catalog elisp: Disabling Commands elisp: Command Loop elisp: Keyboard Macros

elisp: Command History

 
 20.15 Command History
 =====================
 
 The command loop keeps a history of the complex commands that have been
 executed, to make it convenient to repeat these commands.  A “complex
 command” is one for which the interactive argument reading uses the
 minibuffer.  This includes any ‘M-x’ command, any ‘M-:’ command, and any
 command whose ‘interactive’ specification reads an argument from the
 minibuffer.  Explicit use of the minibuffer during the execution of the
 command itself does not cause the command to be considered complex.
 
  -- Variable: command-history
      This variable’s value is a list of recent complex commands, each
      represented as a form to evaluate.  It continues to accumulate all
      complex commands for the duration of the editing session, but when
      it reaches the maximum size (Minibuffer History), the
      oldest elements are deleted as new ones are added.
 
           command-history
           ⇒ ((switch-to-buffer "chistory.texi")
               (describe-key "^X^[")
               (visit-tags-table "~/emacs/src/")
               (find-tag "repeat-complex-command"))
 
    This history list is actually a special case of minibuffer history
 (Minibuffer History), with one special twist: the elements are
 expressions rather than strings.
 
    There are a number of commands devoted to the editing and recall of
 previous commands.  The commands ‘repeat-complex-command’, and
 ‘list-command-history’ are described in the user manual (
 (emacs)Repetition).  Within the minibuffer, the usual minibuffer
 history commands are available.
 

Info Catalog elisp: Disabling Commands elisp: Command Loop elisp: Keyboard Macros