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12.1 Echo Area Functions

It is considered poor taste to perform text operations on the echo area buffer to display messages; the message function should be used instead. A command must use this function or set buffer-modified for the Echo Area buffer to nil to cause Hemlock to leave text in the echo area after the command’s execution.

Function: clear-echo-area ¶

Clears the echo area.

Hemlock Variable: Message Pause (initial value 0.5) ¶

Function: message control-string &rest format-arguments ¶

Function: loud-message control-string &rest format-arguments ¶

Displays a message in the echo area. The message is always displayed on a fresh line. message pauses for Message Pause seconds before returning to assure that messages are not displayed too briefly to be seen. Because of this, message is the best way to display text in the echo area.

loud-message is like message, but it first clears the echo area and beeps.

Hemlock Variable: *echo-area-window* ¶

Hemlock Variable: echo-area-buffer ¶

echo-area-buffer contains the buffer object for the echo area, which is named Echo Area. This buffer is usually in Echo Area mode. echo-area-window contains a window displaying echo-area-buffer. Its modeline is the status line, see the beginning of this chapter.

Variable: *echo-area-stream* ¶

This is a buffered Hemlock output stream (make-hemlock-output-stream) which inserts text written to it at the point of the echo area buffer. Since this stream is buffered a force-output must be done when output is complete to assure that it is displayed.