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<a name="Functions-Commands"></a>
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<p>
Next: <a href="Variables-Commands.html#Variables-Commands" accesskey="n" rel="next">Variables Commands</a>, Up: <a href="Def-Cmds-in-Detail.html#Def-Cmds-in-Detail" accesskey="u" rel="up">Def Cmds in Detail</a> &nbsp; [<a href="index.html#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="Command-and-Variable-Index.html#Command-and-Variable-Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]</p>
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<hr>
<a name="Functions-and-Similar-Entities"></a>
<h4 class="subsection">16.5.1 Functions and Similar Entities</h4>

<p>This section describes the commands for describing functions and similar
entities:
</p>
<dl compact="compact">
<dd><a name="index-deffn"></a>
</dd>
<dt><code>@deffn <var>category</var> <var>name</var> <var>arguments</var>&hellip;</code></dt>
<dd><p>The <code>@deffn</code> command is the general definition command for
functions, interactive commands, and similar entities that may take
arguments.  You must choose a term to describe the category of entity
being defined; for example, &ldquo;Function&rdquo; could be used if the entity is
a function.  The <code>@deffn</code> command is written at the beginning of a
line and is followed on the same line by the category of entity being
described, the name of this particular entity, and its arguments, if
any.  Terminate the definition with <code>@end deffn</code> on a line of its
own.
</p>
<p>For example, here is a definition:
</p>
<div class="example">
<pre class="example">@deffn Command forward-char nchars
Move point forward @var{nchars} characters.
@end deffn
</pre></div>

<p>This shows a rather terse definition for a &ldquo;command&rdquo; named
<code>forward-char</code> with one argument, <var>nchars</var>.
</p>
<p><code>@deffn</code> prints argument names such as <var>nchars</var> in slanted
type in the printed output, because we think of these names as
metasyntactic variables&mdash;they stand for the actual argument values.
Within the text of the description, however, write an argument name
explicitly with <code>@var</code> to refer to the value of the argument.
In the example above, we used &lsquo;<samp>@var{nchars}</samp>&rsquo; in this way.
</p>
<p>In the extremely unusual case when an argument name contains
&lsquo;<samp>--</samp>&rsquo;, or another character sequence which is treated specially
(see <a href="Conventions.html#Conventions">Conventions</a>), use <code>@code</code> around the special
characters.  This avoids the conversion to typographic en-dashes and
em-dashes.
</p>
<p>The template for <code>@deffn</code> is:
</p>
<div class="example">
<pre class="example">@deffn <var>category</var> <var>name</var> <var>arguments</var>&hellip;
<var>body-of-definition</var>
@end deffn
</pre></div>

<a name="index-defun"></a>
</dd>
<dt><code>@defun <var>name</var> <var>arguments</var>&hellip;</code></dt>
<dd><p>The <code>@defun</code> command is the definition command for functions.
<code>@defun</code> is equivalent to &lsquo;<samp>@deffn Function &hellip;</samp>&rsquo;.
Terminate the definition with <code>@end defun</code> on a line of its own.
Thus, the template is:
</p>
<div class="example">
<pre class="example">@defun <var>function-name</var> <var>arguments</var>&hellip;
<var>body-of-definition</var>
@end defun
</pre></div>

<a name="index-defmac"></a>
</dd>
<dt><code>@defmac <var>name</var> <var>arguments</var>&hellip;</code></dt>
<dd><p>The <code>@defmac</code> command is the definition command for macros.
<code>@defmac</code> is equivalent to &lsquo;<samp>@deffn Macro &hellip;</samp>&rsquo; and
works like <code>@defun</code>.
</p>
<a name="index-defspec"></a>
</dd>
<dt><code>@defspec <var>name</var> <var>arguments</var>&hellip;</code></dt>
<dd><p>The <code>@defspec</code> command is the definition command for special
forms.  (In Lisp, a special form is an entity much like a function;
see <a href="http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/elisp/Special-Forms.html#Special-Forms">Special Forms</a> in <cite>GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual</cite>.)
<code>@defspec</code> is equivalent to &lsquo;<samp>@deffn {Special Form}
&hellip;</samp>&rsquo; and works like <code>@defun</code>.
</p></dd>
</dl>

<p>All these commands create entries in the index of functions.
</p>

<hr>
<div class="header">
<p>
Next: <a href="Variables-Commands.html#Variables-Commands" accesskey="n" rel="next">Variables Commands</a>, Up: <a href="Def-Cmds-in-Detail.html#Def-Cmds-in-Detail" accesskey="u" rel="up">Def Cmds in Detail</a> &nbsp; [<a href="index.html#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="Command-and-Variable-Index.html#Command-and-Variable-Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]</p>
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