Next: Variables Commands, Previous: Def Cmds in Detail, Up: Def Cmds in Detail [Contents][Index]
This section describes the commands for describing functions and similar entities:
@deffn category name arguments…
The @deffn
command is the general definition command for
functions, interactive commands, and similar entities that may take
arguments. You must choose a term to describe the category of entity
being defined; for example, “Function” could be used if the entity is
a function. The @deffn
command is written at the beginning of a
line and is followed on the same line by the category of entity being
described, the name of this particular entity, and its arguments, if
any. Terminate the definition with @end deffn
on a line of its
own.
For example, here is a definition:
@deffn Command forward-char nchars Move point forward @var{nchars} characters. @end deffn
This shows a rather terse definition for a “command” named
forward-char
with one argument, nchars.
@deffn
prints argument names such as nchars in italics or
upper case, as if @var
had been used, because we think of these
names as metasyntactic variables—they stand for the actual argument
values. Within the text of the description, write an argument name
explicitly with @var
to refer to the value of the argument. In
the example above, we used ‘@var{nchars}’ in this way.
The template for @deffn
is:
@deffn category name arguments… body-of-definition @end deffn
@defun name arguments…
The @defun
command is the definition command for functions.
@defun
is equivalent to ‘@deffn Function
…’.
For example,
@defun set symbol new-value Change the value of the symbol @var{symbol} to @var{new-value}. @end defun
shows a rather terse definition for a function set
whose
arguments are symbol and new-value. The argument names on
the @defun
line automatically appear in italics or upper case as
if they were enclosed in @var
. Terminate the definition with
@end defun
on a line of its own.
The template is:
@defun function-name arguments… body-of-definition @end defun
@defun
creates an entry in the index of functions.
@defmac name arguments…
The @defmac
command is the definition command for macros.
@defmac
is equivalent to ‘@deffn Macro …’ and
works like @defun
.
@defspec name arguments…
The @defspec
command is the definition command for special
forms. (In Lisp, a special form is an entity much like a function,
see Special Forms in GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual.)
@defspec
is equivalent to ‘@deffn {Special Form}
…’ and works like @defun
.
Next: Variables Commands, Previous: Def Cmds in Detail, Up: Def Cmds in Detail [Contents][Index]