45.4 Motion and Syntax

This section describes functions for moving across characters in certain syntax classes. None of these functions exists in Emacs version 18 or earlier.

Function: skip-syntax-forward syntaxes &optional limit buffer

This function moves point forward across characters having syntax classes mentioned in syntaxes. It stops when it encounters the end of the buffer, or position limit (if specified), or a character it is not supposed to skip. Optional argument buffer defaults to the current buffer if omitted.

Function: skip-syntax-backward syntaxes &optional limit buffer

This function moves point backward across characters whose syntax classes are mentioned in syntaxes. It stops when it encounters the beginning of the buffer, or position limit (if specified), or a character it is not supposed to skip. Optional argument buffer defaults to the current buffer if omitted.

Function: backward-prefix-chars &optional buffer

This function moves point backward over any number of characters with expression prefix syntax. This includes both characters in the expression prefix syntax class, and characters with the ‘p’ flag. Optional argument buffer defaults to the current buffer if omitted.