XEmacs Reference Manual - Dired Edit Go to the previous , next section. Editing in Dired Once the Dired buffer exists, you can switch freely between it and other Emacs buffers. Whenever the Dired buffer is selected, certain special commands are provided that operate on files that are listed.
Most Dired commands operate on the file described by the line that point is on.
Most Dired commands that operate on the current line's file also treat a numeric argument as a repeat count, meaning to act on the files of the next few lines. A negative argument means to operate on the files of the preceding lines, and leave point on the first of those lines. All the usual Emacs cursor motion commands are available in Dired buffers. Some special purpose commands are also provided. For extra convenience, SPC and n in Dired are equivalent to C-n .