A.5.2 Where the native mode is superseded

This section is directed to users of the native Texinfo mode switching to AUCTeX. It follows the summary of the native mode (see (texinfo)Texinfo Mode Summary) and lists which of its commands are no longer of use.

Insert commands

In the native Texinfo mode, frequently used Texinfo commands can be inserted with key bindings of the form C-c C-c k where k differs for each Texinfo command; c inserts @code, d inserts @dfn, k @kbd, etc.

In AUCTeX commands are inserted with the key binding C-c C-m instead which prompts for the macro to be inserted. For font selection commands (like @b, @i, or @emph) and a few related ones (like @var, @key or @code) there are bindings which insert the respective macros directly. They have the form C-c C-f k or C-c C-f C-k and call the function TeX-font. Type C-c C-f <RET> to get a list of supported commands.

Note that the prefix argument is not handled the same way by AUCTeX. Note also that the node insertion command from the native mode (texinfo-insert-@node) can still accessed from the Texinfo menu in AUCTeX.

Insert braces

In AUCTeX braces can be inserted with the same key binding as in the native Texinfo mode: C-c {. But AUCTeX uses its own function for the feature: TeX-insert-braces.

Insert environments

The native Texinfo mode does not insert full environments. Instead, it provides the function texinfo-insert-@end (mapped to C-c C-c e) for closing an open environment with a matching @end statement.

In AUCTeX you can insert full environments, i.e. both the opening and closing statements, with the function Texinfo-environment (mapped to C-c C-e).

Format info files with makeinfo and TeX

In the native Texinfo mode there are various functions and bindings to format a region or the whole buffer for info or to typeset the respective text. For example, there is makeinfo-buffer (mapped to C-c C-m C-b) which runs ‘makeinfo’ on the buffer or there is texinfo-tex-buffer (mapped to C-c C-t C-b) which runs TeX on the buffer in order to produce a DVI file.

In AUCTeX different commands for formatting or typesetting can be invoked through the function TeX-command-master (mapped to C-c C-c). After typing C-c C-c, you can select the desired command, e.g ‘Makeinfo’ or ‘TeX’, through a prompt in the mini buffer. Note that you can make, say ‘Makeinfo’, the default by adding this statement in your init file:

(add-hook 'Texinfo-mode-hook            (lambda () (setq TeX-command-default "Makeinfo"))) 

Note also that C-c C-c Makeinfo <RET> is not completely functionally equivalent to makeinfo-buffer as the latter will display the resulting info file in Emacs, showing the node corresponding to the position in the source file, just after a successful compilation. This is why, while using AUCTeX, invoking makeinfo-buffer might still be more convenient.

Note also that in the case of a multifile document, C-c C-c in AUCTeX will work on the whole document (provided that the file variable TeX-master is set correctly), while makeinfo-buffer in the native mode will process only the current buffer, provided at the @setfilename statement is provided.

Produce indexes and print

The native Texinfo mode provides the binding C-c C-t C-i (texinfo-texindex) for producing an index and the bindings C-c C-t C-p (texinfo-tex-print) and C-c C-t C-q (tex-show-print-queue) for printing and showing the printer queue. These are superseded by the respective commands available through C-c C-c (TeX-command-master) in AUCTeX: Index, Print, and Queue.

Kill jobs

The command C-c C-t C-k (tex-kill-job) in the native mode is superseded by C-c C-k (TeX-kill-job) in AUCTeX.