86: How do I find a Emacs Lisp package that does XXX?
First of all, you should check to make sure that the package isn't
already available. For example, typing "M-x apropos RET wordstar RET"
lists all functions and variables containing the string "wordstar".
It is also possible that the package is on your system, but has not been
loaded. To see which packages are available for loading, look through
your computer's lisp directory (see question 4). The Lisp source to most
most packages contains a short description of how they should be loaded,
invoked, and configured -- so before you use or modify a Lisp package,
see if the author has provided any hints in the source code.
If a package does not come with Emacs, check the Lisp Code Directory,
maintained by Dave Brennan <brennan@hal.com>. The directory is contained
in the file LCD-datafile.Z, available from the Emacs Lisp Archive (see
question 87), and is accessed using the "lispdir" package, available from
the same site. Note that lispdir.el requires crypt++, which you can grab
from the Emacs Lisp Archive's "misc" subdirectory when you get
lispdir.el.
Once you have installed lispdir.el and LCD-datafile, you can use "M-x
lisp-dir-apropos" to search the listing. For example, "M-x
lisp-dir-apropos RET ange-ftp RET" produces this output:
GNU Emacs Lisp Code Directory Apropos -- "ange-ftp"
"~/" refers to archive.cis.ohio-state.edu:pub/gnu/emacs/elisp-archive/
ange-ftp (4.18) 15-Jul-1992
Andy Norman, <ange@hplb.hpl.hp.com>
~/packages/ange-ftp.tar.Z
transparent FTP Support for GNU Emacs
auto-save (1.19) 01-May-1992
Sebastian Kremer, <sk@thp.uni-koeln.de>
~/misc/auto-save.el.Z
Safer autosaving with support for ange-ftp and /tmp
ftp-quik (1.0) 28-Jul-1993
Terrence Brannon, <tb06@pl122f.eecs.lehigh.edu>
~/modes/ftp-quik.el.Z
Quik access to dired'ing of ange-ftp and normal paths
You actually don't need this the directory file if your computer is on
the Internet, since the latest version is retrieved automatically the
first time you type "M-x lisp-dir-apropos" in a particular Emacs session.
If you would prefer to use a local copy of LCD-datafile, be sure to set
the variable lisp-code-directory at the top of the lispdir.el source
code.
A version of the LCD is also available on the World-Wide Web at
http://www.cs.indiana.edu/LCD/cover.html