I'm assuming this is the syntax table stuff. Put the following in a java file and put your cursor after the `)' following the /* ouch */ comment. You will see that XEmacs thinks the matching paren is the start of the function! andy public class myfoo { public RecoveryCoordinator register_resource(Resource res) throws Inactive { // enlist resources here TransactionManagerImpl tm = TxHelper.getTransactionManager(); try { tm.registerDynamicResource(new String("ForeignResource"), null /* ouch */); } catch { throw new NO_IMPLEMENT(); } } }