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Emacs also has conventional nonincremental search commands, which require you to type the entire search string before searching begins.
Search for string.
Search backward for string.
To start a nonincremental search, first type C-s RET. This enters the minibuffer to read the search string; terminate the string with RET, and then the search takes place. If the string is not found, the search command signals an error.
When you type C-s RET, the C-s invokes incremental
search as usual. That command is specially programmed to invoke the
command for nonincremental search, search-forward
, if the
string you specify is empty. (Such an empty argument would otherwise
be useless.) C-r RET does likewise, invoking the command
search-backward
.