Re: problems with color

[Anselm Helbig]

At 15 Dec 2005 19:28:22 -0800,
matheffex@gmail.com wrote:
> 
> Hi, I am using Emacs21.4 on a Debian Linux.
> When I use C-@ or other keybindings to set a mark, the background color
> of the marked region remains unchanged, while it does change when I
> select the region with mouse. This occurs both in console and X.
> So anybody can help? I will be very grateful.

Hi, 

This is normal behaviour, and it's reasonable, too. Once you have set
the `mark' in an emacs buffer (this is what you do with C-@ or
C-SPACE), there is always a `region'. It would be really annoying, if
the highlighting of the region was always on. 

There is something called transient-mark-mode that does what you
want. Put this in your .emacs:

        (transient-mark-mode 1)

But I think the default behaviour has some benefits: the mark does not
get unset if you do some minor edits, so you don't have to find the
position of the mark again. And the highlighting is not appropriate
when you use the rectangle functions (which i use a lot). 

If you want a more "standard" behaviour, in the sense how the
non-emacs-world sees it, you also might be interested in cua-mode,
which you can find here:

        http://www.cua.dk/

This gives you C-c, C-x and C-v for copy, cut and paste, and S-<arrow
keys> to define a region. It has some nice advanced features, too
(rectangle functions with correct highlighting, for one). 

Hope that helps.

Regards, 

Anselm