info-stnd: Searching Commands
1
1 6 Searching an Info File
1 ************************
1
1 GNU Info allows you to search for a sequence of characters throughout an
1 entire Info file. Here are the commands to do this:
1
1 's' ('search')
1 '/'
1 Read a string in the echo area and search for it, either as a
1 regular expression (by default) or a literal string. If the string
1 includes upper-case characters, the Info file is searched
1 case-sensitively; otherwise Info ignores the letter case. With a
1 numeric argument of N, search for Nth occurrence of the string.
1 Negative arguments search backwards.
1
1 '?' ('search-backward')
1 Read a string in the echo area and search backward through the Info
1 file for that string. If the string includes upper-case
1 characters, the Info file is searched case-sensitively; otherwise
1 Info ignores the letter case. With a numeric argument of N, search
1 for Nth occurrence of the string. Negative arguments search
1 forward.
1
1 'C-x n' ('search-next')
1 '}'
1 Search forwards for the string used for the last search command.
1 Case sensitivity and use of regular expressions are kept the same.
1 With a numeric argument of N, search for Nth next occurrence.
1
1 By default, the search starts at the position immediately following
11 the cursor. However, if the variable 'search-skip-screen' (⇒
'search-skip-screen' Variables.) is set, it starts at the
1 beginning of the next page, thereby skipping all visibly displayed
1 lines.
1
1 'C-x N' ('search-previous')
1 '{'
1 Just like 'search-next', but in reverse. You can use 'search-next'
1 and 'search-previous' together to move forward and backward through
1 matches. 'search-previous' usually goes to the place in the file
1 that was displayed before an immediately preceding 'search-next',
1 and vice versa.(1)
1
1 'R' ('toggle-regexp')
1 Toggle between using regular expressions and literal strings for
1 searching. Info uses so-called 'extended' regular expression
1 syntax (⇒(grep)Regular Expressions).
1
1 'S' ('search-case-sensitively')
1 Read a string in the echo area and search for it case-sensitively,
1 even if the string includes only lower-case letters. With a
1 numeric argument of N, search for Nth occurrence of the string.
1 Negative arguments search backwards.
1
1 'C-s' ('isearch-forward')
1 Interactively search forward through the Info file for a string as
1 you type it. If the string includes upper-case characters, the
1 search is case-sensitive; otherwise Info ignores the letter case.
1
1 'C-r' ('isearch-backward')
1 Interactively search backward through the Info file for a string as
1 you type it. If the string includes upper-case characters, the
1 search is case-sensitive; otherwise Info ignores the letter case.
1
1 'M-/' ('tree-search')
1 Recursively search this node and any subnodes listed in menus for a
1 string.
1
1 'M-}' ('tree-search-next')
1 'M-{' ('tree-search-previous')
1 Go forwards and backwards through the matches for an active tree
1 search.
1
1 The most basic searching command is 's' or '/' ('search'). The 's'
1 command prompts you for a string in the echo area, and then searches the
1 remainder of the Info file for an occurrence of that string. If the
1 string is found, the node containing it is selected, and the cursor is
1 left positioned at the start of the found string. Subsequent 's'
1 commands show you the default search string; pressing <RET> instead of
1 typing a new string will use the default search string.
1
1 "Incremental searching" is similar to basic searching, but the string
1 is looked up while you are typing it, instead of waiting until the
1 entire search string has been specified.
1
1 The tree search can be used from the 'dir' node to search through all
1 Info files installed on the system. It can also be used to search
1 through a particular chapter of a manual when you are not interested in
1 matches in other chapters.
1
1 If the 'highlight-searches' variable is set, matches from search
1 commands will be highlighted. ⇒'highlight-searches' Variables.
1 Use the 'M-x clear-search' command to clear any search highlights.
1
1 Both incremental and non-incremental search by default ignore the
1 case of letters when comparing the Info file text with the search
1 string. However, an uppercase letter in the search string makes the
1 search case-sensitive. You can force a case-sensitive non-incremental
1 search, even for a string that includes only lower-case letters, by
1 using the 'S' command ('search-case-sensitively'). The 'n' and 'N'
1 commands operate case-sensitively if the last search command was 'S'.
1
1 Normally, the search pattern should not be shorter than some
11 predefined limit. By default, this limit is set to 1 character. ⇒
min-search-length for more information on this.
1
1 ---------- Footnotes ----------
1
1 (1) This sometimes doesn't happen when 'search-skip-screen' is 'On',
1 and the search goes across nodes.
1