1.6.4 Modelines

A modeline is the line displayed at the bottom of each window where Hemlock shows information about the buffer displayed in that window. Here is a typical modeline:

Hemlock USER: (Fundamental Fill)  /usr/slisp/hemlock/user.mss

This tells us that the file associated with this buffer is “/usr/slisp/hemlock/user.mss”, and the Current Package for Lisp interaction commands is the "USER" package. The modes currently present are Fundamental and Fill; the major mode is always displayed first, followed by any minor modes. If the buffer has no associated file, then the buffer name will be present instead:

Hemlock PLAY: (Lisp)  Silly:

In this case, the buffer is named Silly and is in Lisp mode. The user has set Current Package for this buffer to "PLAY".

Hemlock Variable: Maximum Modeline Pathname Length (initial value nil) ¶

This variable controls how much of a pathname Hemlock displays in a modeline. Some distributed file systems can have very long pathnames which leads to the more particular information in a pathname running off the end of a modeline. When set, the system chops off leading directories until the name is less than the integer value of this variable. Three dots, ..., indicate a truncated name. The user can establish this variable buffer locally with the Defhvar command.

If the user has modified the buffer since the last time it was read from or save to a file, then the modeline contains an asterisk (*) between the modes list and the file or buffer name:

Hemlock USER: (Fundamental Fill)  * /usr/slisp/hemlock/user.mss

This serves as a reminder that the buffer should be saved eventually.

There is a special modeline known as the status line which appears as the Echo Area’s modeline. Hemlock and user code use this area to display general information not particular to a buffer — recursive edits, whether you just received mail, etc.