The next, larger number is the total number of characters in the buffer. Afterward in parentheses comes the position expressed as a percentage of the total size. The characters between those two positions are the visible ones. See section Narrowing . Numeric Arguments Any Emacs command can be given a numeric argument .
Some commands interpret the argument as a repetition count.
With these commands, no argument is equivalent to an argument of one. Negative arguments are allowed. Often they tell a command to move or act backwards. With C-u , you can type the argument digits without holding down shift keys. To type a negative argument, start with a minus sign.