The ? key
(calc-help) displays a series of brief help
messages. Some keys (such as b and d) are
prefix keys, like Emacs' <ESC> and C-x prefixes.
You can type ? after a prefix to see a list of
commands beginning with that prefix. (If the message includes
‘[MORE]’,
press ? again to see additional commands for that
prefix.)
The h h
(calc-full-help) command displays all the
? responses at once. When printed, this makes a nice,
compact (three pages) summary of Calc keystrokes.
In general, the h key prefix introduces various commands that provide help within Calc. Many of the h key functions are Calc-specific analogues to the C-h functions for Emacs help.
The h i
(calc-info) command runs the Emacs Info system to
read this manual on-line. This is basically the same as typing
C-h i (the regular way to run the Info system), then,
if Info is not already in the Calc manual, selecting the
beginning of the manual. The C-x * i command is
another way to read the Calc manual; it is different from h
i in that it works any time, not just inside Calc. The
plain i key is also equivalent to h i,
though this key is obsolete and may be replaced with a different
command in a future version of Calc.
The h t
(calc-tutorial) command runs the Info system on the
Tutorial section of the Calc manual. It is like h i,
except that it selects the starting node of the tutorial rather
than the beginning of the whole manual. (It actually selects the
node “Interactive Tutorial” which tells a few things
about using the Info system before going on to the actual
tutorial.) The C-x * t key is equivalent to h
t (but it works at all times).
The h s
(calc-info-summary) command runs the Info system on
the Summary node of the Calc manual. See Summary. The C-x * s key is
equivalent to h s.
The h k
(calc-describe-key) command looks up a key sequence
in the Calc manual. For example, h k H a S looks up
the documentation on the H a S
(calc-solve-for) command. This works by looking up
the textual description of the key(s) in the Key Index of the
manual, then jumping to the node indicated by the index.
Most Calc commands do not have traditional Emacs documentation
strings, since the h k command is both more convenient
and more instructive. This means the regular Emacs C-h
k (describe-key) command will not be useful
for Calc keystrokes.
The h
c (calc-describe-key-briefly) command reads a
key sequence and displays a brief one-line description of it at
the bottom of the screen. It looks for the key sequence in the
Summary node of the Calc manual; if it doesn't find the sequence
there, it acts just like its regular Emacs counterpart C-h
c (describe-key-briefly). For example, h
c H a S gives the description:
H a S runs calc-solve-for: a `H a S' v => fsolve(a,v) (?=notes)
which means the command H a S or
H M-x calc-solve-for takes a value
‘a’ from the
stack, prompts for a value ‘v’, then applies the algebraic
function fsolve to these values. The
‘?=notes’
message means you can now type ? to see additional
notes from the summary that apply to this command.
The h f
(calc-describe-function) command looks up an
algebraic function or a command name in the Calc manual. Enter an
algebraic function name to look up that function in the Function
Index or enter a command name beginning with
‘calc-’ to
look it up in the Command Index. This command will also look up
operator symbols that can appear in algebraic formulas, like
‘%’ and
‘=>’.
The h v
(calc-describe-variable) command looks up a variable
in the Calc manual. Enter a variable name like pi or
PlotRejects.
The h b
(calc-describe-bindings) command is just like
C-h b, except that only local (Calc-related) key
bindings are listed.
The h
n or h C-n (calc-view-news) command
displays the “news” or change history of Calc. This
is kept in the file README, which Calc looks for in the same
directory as the Calc source files.
The h C-c, h C-d, and h C-w keys display copying, distribution, and warranty information about Calc. These work by pulling up the appropriate parts of the “Copying” or “Reporting Bugs” sections of the manual.