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Chapter 17: Minibuffers

A minibuffer is a special buffer that Emacs commands use to read arguments more complicated than the single numeric prefix argument. These arguments include file names, buffer names, and command names (as in M-x). The minibuffer is displayed on the bottom line of the screen, in the same place as the echo area, but only while it is in use for reading an argument.

  • Intro to Minibuffers Basic information about minibuffers.
  • Text from Minibuffer How to read a straight text string.
  • Object from Minibuffer How to read a Lisp object or expression.
  • Minibuffer History Recording previous minibuffer inputs so the user can reuse them.
  • Completion How to invoke and customize completion.
  • Yes-or-No Queries Asking a question with a simple answer.
  • Multiple Queries Asking a series of similar questions.
  • Minibuffer Misc Various customization hooks and variables.