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elisp: Documentation

 
 23 Documentation
 ****************
 
 GNU Emacs has convenient built-in help facilities, most of which derive
 their information from documentation strings associated with functions
 and variables.  This chapter describes how to access documentation
 strings in Lisp programs.
 
    The contents of a documentation string should follow certain
 conventions.  In particular, its first line should be a complete
 sentence (or two complete sentences) that briefly describes what the
 function or variable does.  Documentation Tips, for how to write
 good documentation strings.
 
    Note that the documentation strings for Emacs are not the same thing
 as the Emacs manual.  Manuals have their own source files, written in
 the Texinfo language; documentation strings are specified in the
 definitions of the functions and variables they apply to.  A collection
 of documentation strings is not sufficient as a manual because a good
 manual is not organized in that fashion; it is organized in terms of
 topics of discussion.
 
    For commands to display documentation strings, see Help
 (emacs)Help.
 

Menu

 
· Documentation Basics      Where doc strings are defined and stored.
· Accessing Documentation   How Lisp programs can access doc strings.
· Keys in Documentation     Substituting current key bindings.
· Describing Characters     Making printable descriptions of
                                 non-printing characters and key sequences.
· Help Functions            Subroutines used by Emacs help facilities.
 

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