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4.4 Lesson 3: get Help and return to your work ¶

A Help buffer is another piece of work you can visit. It need not replace the document you were editing. We will keep a second text buffer available, then inspect a command without running it.

1. Press C-x b, enter an unused name such as evox-tutorial-notes, and press RET. Run M-x text-mode RET and type I can return to my document by name..
2. Use C-x b and your original practice buffer’s name to return. Its text and position are still available. C-e m and C-e l confirm where you are.
3. From the practice document, press C-h k C-e l. Emacs describes the current-line reading key instead of executing it as the requested action. Spoken key Help selects the *Help* buffer and can remove other windows. Your practice document is still open. C-e h reads Help again; it selects Help rather than speaking it from the document’s window.
4. Press C-e m to check which buffer is selected. If it is *Help*, read there directly; otherwise use C-x b to select *Help* by name. Do not switch windows merely because Help appeared. Press q while in Help when finished, then select the practice buffer with C-x b if necessary. Check its name and line before editing.
5. Press C-h m from the practice buffer, not from Help. It describes that buffer’s modes and commands. Mode Help need not select its text for you; use the same check-and-select procedure to read it and return.

The information comes from your running Emacs, so it is particularly useful when a package or personal binding differs from this manual. A buffer and a window are different: switching buffers chooses content, while C-x o selects another window. A changed layout does not mean a buffer was closed. You do not have to recreate a split to finish this exercise: returning by buffer name is enough. Find help while you work explains how to read and leave ordinary Help and the distinct return route used by settings-menu Help.

• Try it