1.3 Notations Used in This Manual

This section describes the various notations that are used throughout the Calc manual.

In keystroke sequences, uppercase letters mean you must hold down the shift key while typing the letter. Keys pressed with Control held down are shown as C-x. Keys pressed with Meta held down are shown as M-x. Other notations are RET for the Return key, SPC for the space bar, TAB for the Tab key, DEL for the Delete key, and LFD for the Line-Feed key. The DEL key is called Backspace on some keyboards, it is whatever key you would use to correct a simple typing error when regularly using Emacs.

(If you don’t have the LFD or TAB keys on your keyboard, the C-j and C-i keys are equivalent to them, respectively. If you don’t have a Meta key, look for Alt or Extend Char. You can also press ESC or C-[ first to get the same effect, so that M-x, ESC x, and C-[ x are all equivalent.)

Sometimes the RET key is not shown when it is “obvious” that you must press RET to proceed. For example, the RET is usually omitted in key sequences like M-x calc-keypad RET.

Commands are generally shown like this: p (calc-precision) or C-x * k (calc-keypad). This means that the command is normally used by pressing the p key or C-x * k key sequence, but it also has the full-name equivalent shown, e.g., M-x calc-precision.

Commands that correspond to functions in algebraic notation are written: C (calc-cos) [cos]. This means the C key is equivalent to M-x calc-cos, and that the corresponding function in an algebraic-style formula would be ‘cos(x)’.

A few commands don’t have key equivalents: calc-sincos [sincos].