Emacs: What is Major Mode
What is a Major Mode
Each buffer/file is associated with one major mode.
A “major mode” is a collection of emacs behaviors, designed for specific task.
Example of major modes:
- programing languages:
emacs-lisp-mode
,python-mode
,ruby-mode
,js-mode
etc. dired
[see Emacs: File Manager, dired]shell
[see Emacs: Run Shell in Emacs]image-mode
[see Emacs: View Image File]eww
[see Emacs: Eww Web Browser]
Switch to a Major Mode
Each major mode typically has a associated command.
Just call the command.
For example, Alt+x shell
.
Typically, if a mode is named “xyz-mode”, the command to turn it on is named “xyz” or “xyz-mode”.
To turn “off” a major mode, just switch to another major mode. There's always one major mode on.
fundamental-mode
The most basic major mode is fundamental-mode
.
So, in a sense if you want to “turn off” all major modes, just Alt+x fundamental-mode
.
How to Get a List of Major Modes
Alt+x apropos-command
, then type “-mode”. (it's not a complete list, because some major mode's name does not end in “mode”)
Or, Alt+x
describe-variable
, then
type
auto-mode-alist. It'll list major modes associated with file name extension.
[see Emacs: Set Default Major Mode]