Re: Global keymap not found

[Tassilo Horn <tsdh@gnu.org>]

Albrecht Mehl <AlbrechtMehl.spamgrab@iesy.net> writes:

Hi Albrecht,

> This is my first day with emacs and I am struggling with the manual.
> At a certain point the key 'C-u' is used in an example ... but I do
> not know what command it is bound to as I am reading the manual not
> chapter by chapter,

Welcome to Emacs which describes itself as self-documenting.  You can
always ask it to tell you what commant is bound to a given key using
`C-h k' followed by the key.

,----[ C-h k C-u ]
| C-u runs the command universal-argument (found in global-map), which is an
| interactive compiled Lisp function in ‘simple.el’.
| 
| It is bound to C-u.
| 
| (universal-argument)
| 
| Begin a numeric argument for the following command.
| Digits or minus sign following C-u make up the numeric argument.
| C-u following the digits or minus sign ends the argument.
| C-u without digits or minus sign provides 4 as argument.
| Repeating C-u without digits or minus sign
|  multiplies the argument by 4 each time.
| For some commands, just C-u by itself serves as a flag
| which is different in effect from any particular numeric argument.
| These commands include C-SPC and M-x start-kbd-macro.
`----

There are many other such commands describing different aspects of
emacs.  For an overview, just type `C-h C-h', the help for the help.

> but look for topics important for me. So I look for the global key
> map. In 48.3.1 Keymaps the global keymap is mentioned, but no link to
> it given.
>
>   Where can I find the global keymap?

You can use the `describe-variable' (C-h v) to get the value and
documentation for a variable such as `global-map'.  However, the value
of keymaps is not really meant for human consumption.  Instead, type
`C-h b' to get the list of all keybindings which are available in the
current buffer right now in the order of precedence.  Alternatively,
`C-h m' describes all the current major-mode and all minor-modes active
in the current buffer.  The description include also all the key
bindings.

> This question seems to be quite simple compared to the other ones in
> this group, maybe it is embarassing to ask it; but better asking than
> not knowing how to go on.

No, not embarassing at all.  Emacs given you everything you can possibly
want for helping yourself, so learning Emacs' interactive help system as
early as possible will save you hours over hours of google searches and
searches in the manual.  It is documented in

  (info "(emacs)Help") ;; <-- C-x C-e here!

You can copy that expression above somewhere into an emacs buffer, e.g.,
*scratch*, and press `C-x C-e' after the closing paren.  That will bring
you to the info docs on the help system.

Bye,
Tassilo