DP Tool Club 8/CDASC08.ISO/VRAC/E17INFO.ZIP/EMACS-17

GNU Info File | 1993-07-18 | 48.4 KB | 1,185 lines

This is Info file ../info/emacs, produced by Makeinfo-1.54 from the
input file emacs.texi.


File: emacs,  Node: Lossage,  Next: Bugs,  Prev: Quitting,  Up: Top

Dealing with Emacs Trouble
==========================

   This section describes various conditions in which Emacs fails to
work normally, and how to recognize them and correct them.

* Menu:

* DEL Gets Help::       What to do if DEL doesn't delete.
* Stuck Recursive::     `[...]' in mode line around the parentheses.
* Screen Garbled::      Garbage on the screen.
* Text Garbled::        Garbage in the text.
* Unasked-for Search::  Spontaneous entry to incremental search.
* Emergency Escape::    Emergency escape--
                          What to do if Emacs stops responding.
* Total Frustration::   When you are at your wits' end.


File: emacs,  Node: DEL Gets Help,  Next: Stuck Recursive,  Up: Lossage

If DEL Fails to Delete
----------------------

   If you find that DEL enters Help like `Control-h' instead of
deleting a character, your terminal is sending the wrong code for DEL.
You can work around this problem by changing the keyboard translation
table (*note Keyboard Translations::.).


File: emacs,  Node: Stuck Recursive,  Next: Screen Garbled,  Prev: DEL Gets Help,  Up: Lossage

Recursive Editing Levels
------------------------

   Recursive editing levels are important and useful features of Emacs,
but they can seem like malfunctions to the user who does not understand
them.

   If the mode line has square brackets `[...]' around the parentheses
that contain the names of the major and minor modes, you have entered a
recursive editing level.  If you did not do this on purpose, or if you
don't understand what that means, you should just get out of the
recursive editing level.  To do so, type `M-x top-level'.  This is
called getting back to top level.  *Note Recursive Edit::.


File: emacs,  Node: Screen Garbled,  Next: Text Garbled,  Prev: Stuck Recursive,  Up: Lossage

Garbage on the Screen
---------------------

   If the data on the screen looks wrong, the first thing to do is see
whether the text is really wrong.  Type `C-l', to redisplay the entire
screen.  If the screen appears correct after this, the problem was
entirely in the previous screen update.

   Display updating problems often result from an incorrect termcap
entry for the terminal you are using.  The file `etc/TERMS' in the Emacs
distribution gives the fixes for known problems of this sort.
`INSTALL' contains general advice for these problems in one of its
sections.  Very likely there is simply insufficient padding for certain
display operations.  To investigate the possibility that you have this
sort of problem, try Emacs on another terminal made by a different
manufacturer.  If problems happen frequently on one kind of terminal
but not another kind, it is likely to be a bad termcap entry, though it
could also be due to a bug in Emacs that appears for terminals that
have or that lack specific features.


File: emacs,  Node: Text Garbled,  Next: Unasked-for Search,  Prev: Screen Garbled,  Up: Lossage

Garbage in the Text
-------------------

   If `C-l' shows that the text is wrong, try undoing the changes to it
using `C-x u' until it gets back to a state you consider correct.  Also
try `C-h l' to find out what command you typed to produce the observed
results.

   If a large portion of text appears to be missing at the beginning or
end of the buffer, check for the word `Narrow' in the mode line.  If it
appears, the text is still present, but temporarily off-limits.  To
make it accessible again, type `C-x n w'.  *Note Narrowing::.


File: emacs,  Node: Unasked-for Search,  Next: Emergency Escape,  Prev: Text Garbled,  Up: Lossage

Spontaneous Entry to Incremental Search
---------------------------------------

   If Emacs spontaneously displays `I-search:' at the bottom of the
screen, it means that the terminal is sending `C-s' and `C-q' according
to the poorly designed xon/xoff "flow control" protocol.

   If this happens to you, your best recourse is to put the terminal in
a mode where it will not use flow control, or give it so much padding
that it will never send a `C-s'.  (One way to increase the amount of
padding is to set the variable `baud-rate' to a larger value.  Its
value is the terminal output speed, measured in the conventional units
of baud.)

   If you don't succeed in turning off flow control, the next best thing
is to tell Emacs to cope with it.  To do this, call the function
`enable-flow-control'.

   Typically there are particular terminal types with which you must use
flow control.  You can conveniently ask for flow control on those
terminal types only, using `enable-flow-control-on'.  For example, if
you find you must use flow control on VT-100 and H19 terminals, put the
following in your `.emacs' file:

     (enable-flow-control-on "vt100" "h19")

   When flow control is enabled, you must type `C-\' to get the effect
of a `C-s', and type `C-^' to get the effect of a `C-q'.  (These
aliases work by means of keyboard translations; see *Note Keyboard
Translations::.)


File: emacs,  Node: Emergency Escape,  Next: Total Frustration,  Prev: Unasked-for Search,  Up: Lossage

Emergency Escape
----------------

   Because at times there have been bugs causing Emacs to loop without
checking `quit-flag', a special feature causes Emacs to be suspended
immediately if you type a second `C-g' while the flag is already set,
so you can always get out of GNU Emacs.  Normally Emacs recognizes and
clears `quit-flag' (and quits!) quickly enough to prevent this from
happening.

   When you resume Emacs after a suspension caused by multiple `C-g', it
asks two questions before going back to what it had been doing:

     Auto-save? (y or n)
     Abort (and dump core)? (y or n)

Answer each one with `y' or `n' followed by RET.

   Saying `y' to `Auto-save?' causes immediate auto-saving of all
modified buffers in which auto-saving is enabled.

   Saying `y' to `Abort (and dump core)?' causes an illegal instruction
to be executed, dumping core.  This is to enable a wizard to figure out
why Emacs was failing to quit in the first place.  Execution does not
continue after a core dump.  If you answer `n', execution does
continue.  With luck, GNU Emacs will ultimately check `quit-flag' and
quit normally.  If not, and you type another `C-g', it is suspended
again.

   If Emacs is not really hung, just slow, you may invoke the double
`C-g' feature without really meaning to.  Then just resume and answer
`n' to both questions, and you will arrive at your former state.
Presumably the quit you requested will happen soon.

   The double-`C-g' feature is turned off when Emacs is running under
the X Window System, since the you can use the window manager to kill
Emacs or to create another window and run another program.


File: emacs,  Node: Total Frustration,  Prev: Emergency Escape,  Up: Lossage

Help for Total Frustration
--------------------------

   If using Emacs (or something else) becomes terribly frustrating and
none of the techniques described above solve the problem, Emacs can
still help you.

   First, if the Emacs you are using is not responding to commands, type
`C-g C-g' to get out of it and then start a new one.

   Second, type `M-x doctor RET'.

   The doctor will help you feel better.  Each time you say something to
the doctor, you must end it by typing RET RET.  This lets the doctor
know you are finished.


File: emacs,  Node: Bugs,  Next: Service,  Prev: Lossage,  Up: Top

Reporting Bugs
==============

   Sometimes you will encounter a bug in Emacs.  Although we cannot
promise we can or will fix the bug, and we might not even agree that it
is a bug, we want to hear about bugs you encounter in case we do want
to fix them.

   To make it possible for us to fix a bug, you must report it.  In
order to do so effectively, you must know when and how to do it.

* Menu:

* Criteria:  Bug Criteria.     Have you really found a bug?
* Understanding Bug Reporting::     How to report a bug effectively.
* Checklist::             Steps to follow for a good bug report.
* Sending Patches::         How to send a patch for GNU Emacs.


File: emacs,  Node: Bug Criteria,  Next: Understanding Bug Reporting,  Up: Bugs

When Is There a Bug
-------------------

   If Emacs executes an illegal instruction, or dies with an operating
system error message that indicates a problem in the program (as
opposed to something like "disk full"), then it is certainly a bug.

   If Emacs updates the display in a way that does not correspond to
what is in the buffer, then it is certainly a bug.  If a command seems
to do the wrong thing but the problem corrects itself if you type
`C-l', it is a case of incorrect display updating.

   Taking forever to complete a command can be a bug, but you must make
certain that it was really Emacs's fault.  Some commands simply take a
long time.  Type `C-g' and then `C-h l' to see whether the input Emacs
received was what you intended to type; if the input was such that you
*know* it should have been processed quickly, report a bug.  If you
don't know whether the command should take a long time, find out by
looking in the manual or by asking for assistance.

   If a command you are familiar with causes an Emacs error message in a
case where its usual definition ought to be reasonable, it is probably a
bug.

   If a command does the wrong thing, that is a bug.  But be sure you
know for certain what it ought to have done.  If you aren't familiar
with the command, or don't know for certain how the command is supposed
to work, then it might actually be working right.  Rather than jumping
to conclusions, show the problem to someone who knows for certain.

   Finally, a command's intended definition may not be best for editing
with.  This is a very important sort of problem, but it is also a
matter of judgment.  Also, it is easy to come to such a conclusion out
of ignorance of some of the existing features.  It is probably best not
to complain about such a problem until you have checked the
documentation in the usual ways, feel confident that you understand it,
and know for certain that what you want is not available.  If you are
not sure what the command is supposed to do after a careful reading of
the manual, check the index and glossary for any terms that may be
unclear.

   If you still do not understand, that indicates a bug in the manual,
which you should report.  The manual's job is to make everything clear
to people who are not Emacs experts--including you.  It is just as
important to report documentation bugs as program bugs.

   If the on-line documentation string of a function or variable
disagrees with the manual, one of them must be wrong; that is a bug.


File: emacs,  Node: Understanding Bug Reporting,  Next: Checklist,  Prev: Bug Criteria,  Up: Bugs

Understanding Bug Reporting
---------------------------

   When you decide that there is a bug, it is important to report it
and to report it in a way which is useful.  What is most useful is an
exact description of what commands you type, starting with the shell
command to run Emacs, until the problem happens.

   The most important principle in reporting a bug is to report *facts*,
not hypotheses or categorizations.  It is always easier to report the
facts, but people seem to prefer to strain to posit explanations and
report them instead.  If the explanations are based on guesses about
how Emacs is implemented, they will be useless; we will have to try to
figure out what the facts must have been to lead to such speculations.
Sometimes this is impossible.  But in any case, it is unnecessary work
for us.

   For example, suppose that you type `C-x C-f /glorp/baz.ugh RET',
visiting a file which (you know) happens to be rather large, and Emacs
prints out `I feel pretty today'.  The best way to report the bug is
with a sentence like the preceding one, because it gives all the facts
and nothing but the facts.

   Do not assume that the problem is due to the size of the file and
say, "When I visit a large file, Emacs prints out `I feel pretty
today'." This is what we mean by "guessing explanations".  The problem
is just as likely to be due to the fact that there is a `z' in the file
name.  If this is so, then when we got your report, we would try out
the problem with some "large file", probably with no `z' in its name,
and not find anything wrong.  There is no way in the world that we
could guess that we should try visiting a file with a `z' in its name.

   Alternatively, the problem might be due to the fact that the file
starts with exactly 25 spaces.  For this reason, you should make sure
that you inform us of the exact contents of any file that is needed to
reproduce the bug.  What if the problem only occurs when you have typed
the `C-x C-a' command previously?  This is why we ask you to give the
exact sequence of characters you typed since starting to use Emacs.

   You should not even say "visit a file" instead of `C-x C-f' unless
you *know* that it makes no difference which visiting command is used.
Similarly, rather than saying "if I have three characters on the line,"
say "after I type `RET A B C RET C-p'," if that is the way you entered
the text.


File: emacs,  Node: Checklist,  Next: Sending Patches,  Prev: Understanding Bug Reporting,  Up: Bugs

Checklist for Bug Reports
-------------------------

   The best way to send a bug report is to mail it electronically to the
Emacs maintainers at `[e-mail]'.

   If you'd like to read the bug reports, you can find them on the
repeater newsgroup `gnu.emacs.bugs'; keep in mind, however, that as a
spectator you should not criticize anything about what you see there.
The purpose of bug reports is to give information to the Emacs
maintainers.  Spectators are welcome only as long as they do not
interfere with this.

   Please do not post bug reports using netnews; mail is more reliable
than netnews about reporting your correct address, which we may need in
order to ask you for more information.

   If you can't send electronic mail, then mail the bug report on paper
to this address:

GNU Emacs Bugs
Free Software Foundation
675 Mass Ave
Cambridge, MA 02139

   We do not promise to fix the bug; but if the bug is serious, or
ugly, or easy to fix, chances are we will want to.

   To enable maintainers to investigate a bug, your report should
include all these things:

   * The version number of Emacs.  Without this, we won't know whether
     there is any point in looking for the bug in the current version
     of GNU Emacs.

     You can get the version number by typing `M-x emacs-version RET'.
     If that command does not work, you probably have something other
     than GNU Emacs, so you will have to report the bug somewhere else.

   * The type of machine you are using, and the operating system name
     and version number.

   * The operands you gave to the `configure' command when you installed
     Emacs.

   * A complete list of any modifications you have made to the Emacs
     source.  (We may not have time to investigate the bug unless it
     happens in an unmodified Emacs.  But if you've made modifications
     and don't tell us, then you are sending us on a wild goose chase.)

     Be precise about these changes.  A description in English is not
     enough--send a context diff for them.

     Adding files of your own (such as a machine description for a
     machine we don't support) is a modification of the source.

   * Details of any other deviations from the standard procedure for
     installing GNU Emacs.

   * The complete text of any files needed to reproduce the bug.

     If you can tell us a way to cause the problem without visiting any
     files, please do so.  This makes it much easier to debug.  If you
     do need files, make sure you arrange for us to see their exact
     contents.  For example, it can often matter whether there are
     spaces at the ends of lines, or a newline after the last line in
     the buffer (nothing ought to care whether the last line is
     terminated, but try telling the bugs that).

   * The precise commands we need to type to reproduce the bug.

     The easy way to record the input to Emacs precisely is to to write
     a dribble file.  To start the file, execute the Lisp expression

          (open-dribble-file "~/dribble")

     using `M-ESC' or from the `*scratch*' buffer just after starting
     Emacs.  From then on, Emacs copies all your input to the specified
     dribble file until the Emacs process is killed.

   * For possible display bugs, the terminal type (the value of
     environment variable `TERM'), the complete termcap entry for the
     terminal from `/etc/termcap' (since that file is not identical on
     all machines), and the output that Emacs actually sent to the
     terminal.

     The way to collect the terminal output is to execute the Lisp
     expression

          (open-termscript "~/termscript")

     using `M-ESC' or from the `*scratch*' buffer just after starting
     Emacs.  From then on, Emacs copies all terminal output to the
     specified termscript file as well, until the Emacs process is
     killed.  If the problem happens when Emacs starts up, put this
     expression into your `.emacs' file so that the termscript file
     will be open when Emacs displays the screen for the first time.

     Be warned: it is often difficult, and sometimes impossible, to fix
     a terminal-dependent bug without access to a terminal of the type
     that stimulates the bug.

   * A description of what behavior you observe that you believe is
     incorrect.  For example, "The Emacs process gets a fatal signal,"
     or, "The resulting text is as follows, which I think is wrong."

     Of course, if the bug is that Emacs gets a fatal signal, then one
     can't miss it.  But if the bug is incorrect text, the maintainer
     might fail to notice what is wrong.  Why leave it to chance?

     Even if the problem you experience is a fatal signal, you should
     still say so explicitly.  Suppose something strange is going on,
     such as, your copy of the source is out of sync, or you have
     encountered a bug in the C library on your system.  (This has
     happened!)  Your copy might crash and the copy here would not.  If
     you *said* to expect a crash, then when Emacs here fails to crash,
     we would know that the bug was not happening.  If you don't say to
     expect a crash, then we would not know whether the bug was
     happening.  We would not be able to draw any conclusion from our
     observations.

     If the manifestation of the bug is an Emacs error message, it is
     important to report not just the text of the error message but a
     backtrace showing how the Lisp program in Emacs arrived at the
     error.  To make the backtrace, execute the Lisp expression `(setq
     debug-on-error t)' before the error happens (that is to say, you
     must execute that expression and then make the bug happen).  This
     causes the Lisp debugger to run, showing you a backtrace.  Copy
     the text of the debugger's backtrace into the bug report.

     This use of the debugger is possible only if you know how to make
     the bug happen again.  Do note the error message the first time
     the bug happens, so if you can't make it happen again, you can
     report at least the error message.

   * Check whether any programs you have loaded into the Lisp world,
     including your `.emacs' file, set any variables that may affect the
     functioning of Emacs.  Also, see whether the problem happens in a
     freshly started Emacs without loading your `.emacs' file (start
     Emacs with the `-q' switch to prevent loading the init file.)  If
     the problem does *not* occur then, you must report the precise
     contents of any programs that you must load into the Lisp world in
     order to cause the problem to occur.

   * If the problem does depend on an init file or other Lisp programs
     that are not part of the standard Emacs system, then you should
     make sure it is not a bug in those programs by complaining to
     their maintainers first.  After they verify that they are using
     Emacs in a way that is supposed to work, they should report the
     bug.

   * If you wish to mention something in the GNU Emacs source, show the
     portion in its context.  Don't just give a line number.

     The line numbers in the development sources don't match those in
     your sources.  It would take extra work for the maintainers to
     determine what code is in your version at a given line number, and
     we could not be certain.

   * Additional information from a debugger might enable someone to
     find a problem on a machine which he does not have available.
     However, you need to think when you collect this information if
     you want it to be useful.

     For example, many people send just a backtrace, but that is never
     useful by itself.  A simple backtrace with arguments conveys
     little about what is happening inside GNU Emacs, because most of
     the arguments listed in the backtrace are pointers to Lisp
     objects.  The numeric values of these pointers have no
     significance whatever; all that matters is the contents of the
     objects they point to (and most of the contents are themselves
     pointers).

     To provide useful information, you need to show the values of Lisp
     objects in Lisp notation.  Do this for each variable which is a
     Lisp object, in several stack frames near the bottom of the stack.
     Look at the source to see which variables are Lisp objects,
     because the debugger thinks of them as integers.

     To show a variable's value in Lisp syntax, first print its value,
     then use the GDB command `pr' to print the Lisp object in Lisp
     syntax.  (If you must use another debugger, call the function
     `debug_print' with the object as an argument.)

   Here are some things that are not necessary:

   * A description of the envelope of the bug--this is not necessary
     for a reproducible bug.

     Often people who encounter a bug spend a lot of time investigating
     which changes to the input file will make the bug go away and which
     changes will not affect it.

     This is often time consuming and not very useful, because the way
     we will find the bug is by running a single example under the
     debugger with breakpoints, not by pure deduction from a series of
     examples.  You might as well save time by not doing this.

     Of course, if you can find a simpler example to report *instead* of
     the original one, that is a convenience.  Errors in the output
     will be easier to spot, running under the debugger will take less
     time, etc.

     However, simplification is not vital; if you don't want to do this,
     please report the bug with your original test case.

   * A patch for the bug.

     A patch for the bug is useful if it is a good one.  But don't omit
     the necessary information, such as the test case, on the
     assumption that a patch is all we need.  We might see problems
     with your patch and decide to fix the problem another way, or we
     might not understand it at all.

     And if we can't understand what bug you are trying to fix, or why
     your patch should be an improvement, we mustn't install it.  A
     test case will help us to understand.

     *Note Sending Patches::, for guidelines on how to make it easy for
     us to understand and install your patches.

   * A guess about what the bug is or what it depends on.

     Such guesses are usually wrong.  Even experts can't guess right
     about such things without first using the debugger to find the
     facts.


File: emacs,  Node: Sending Patches,  Prev: Checklist,  Up: Bugs

Sending Patches for GNU Emacs
-----------------------------

   If you would like to write bug fixes or improvements for GNU Emacs,
that is very helpful.  When you send your changes, please follow these
guidelines to make it easy for the maintainers to use them.

   If you don't follow these guidelines, your information might still be
useful, but using it will take extra work.  Maintaining GNU Emacs is a
lot of work in the best of circumstances, and we can't keep up unless
you do your best to help.

   * Send an explanation with your changes of what problem they fix or
     what improvement they bring about.  For a bug fix, just include a
     copy of the bug report, and explain why the change fixes the bug.

     (Referring to a bug report is not as good as including it, because
     then we will have to look it up, and we have probably already
     deleted it if we've already fixed the bug.)

   * Always include a proper bug report for the problem you think you
     have fixed.  We need to convince ourselves that the change is
     right before installing it.  Even if it is correct, we might have
     trouble understanding it if we don't have a way to reproduce the
     problem.

   * Include all the comments that are appropriate to help people
     reading the source in the future understand why this change was
     needed.

   * Don't mix together changes made for different reasons.  Send them
     *individually*.

     If you make two changes for separate reasons, then we might not
     want to install them both.  We might want to install just one.  If
     you send them all jumbled together in a single set of diffs, we
     have to do extra work to disentangle them--to figure out which
     parts of the change serve which purpose.  If we don't have time
     for this, we might have to ignore your changes entirely.

     If you send each change as soon as you have written it, with its
     own explanation, then the two changes never get tangled up, and we
     can consider each one properly without any extra work to
     disentangle them.

   * Send each change as soon as that change is finished.  Sometimes
     people think they are helping us by accumulating many changes to
     send them all together.  As explained above, this is absolutely
     the worst thing you could do.

     Since you should send each change separately, you might as well
     send it right away.  That gives us the option of installing it
     immediately if it is important.

   * Use `diff -c' to make your diffs.  Diffs without context are hard
     to install reliably.  More than that, they are hard to study; we
     must always study a patch to decide whether we want to install it.
     Unidiff format is better than contextless diffs, but not as easy
     to read as `-c' format.

     If you have GNU diff, use `diff -cp', which shows the name of the
     function that each change occurs in.

   * Write the change log entries for your changes.  This is both to
     save us the extra work of writing them, and to help explain your
     changes so we can understand them.

     The purpose of the change log is to show people where to find what
     was changed.  So you need to be specific about what functions you
     changed; in large functions, it's often helpful to indicate where
     within the function the change was.

     On the other hand, once you have shown people where to find the
     change, you need not explain its purpose. Thus, if you add a new
     function, all you need to say about it is that it is new.  If you
     feel that the purpose needs explaining, it probably does--but the
     explanation will be much more useful if you put it in comments in
     the code.

     Please read the `ChangeLog' file to see what sorts of information
     to put in, and to learn the style that we use.  If you would like
     your name to appear in the header line showing who made the
     change, send us the header line.

   * When you write the fix, keep in mind that we can't install a
     change that would break other systems.  Please think about what
     effect your change will have if compiled on another type of system.

     Sometimes people send fixes that *might* be an improvement in
     general--but it is hard to be sure of this.  It's hard to install
     such changes because we have to study them very carefully.  Of
     course, a good explanation of the reasoning by which you concluded
     the change was correct can help convince us.

     The safest changes are changes to the configuration files for a
     particular machine.  These are safe because they can't create new
     bugs on other machines.

     Please help us keep up with the workload by designing the patch in
     a form that is clearly safe to install.


File: emacs,  Node: Service,  Next: Command Arguments,  Prev: Bugs,  Up: Top

How To Get Help with GNU Emacs
==============================

   If you need help installing, using or changing GNU Emacs, there are
two ways to find it:

   * Send a message to a suitable network mailing list.  First try
     `[e-mail]', and if that brings no response,
     try `[e-mail]'.

   * Look in the service directory for someone who might help you for a
     fee.  The service directory is found in the file named
     `etc/SERVICE' in the Emacs distribution.


File: emacs,  Node: Command Arguments,  Next: Antinews,  Prev: Service,  Up: Top

Command Line Options and Arguments
**********************************

   GNU Emacs supports command line arguments to request various actions
when invoking Emacs.  These are for compatibility with other editors and
for sophisticated activities.  We don't recommend using them for
ordinary editing.

   Arguments that are not options specify files to visit.  Emacs visits
the specified files while it starts up.  (The last file name on your
command line is the one you see displayed, but the rest are all there in
other buffers.)

   You can use options to specify other things, such as the size and
position of the Emacs window if you are running it under the X Window
System.  A few arguments support advanced usage, like running Lisp
functions on files in batch mode.

   There are two kinds of options: "ordinary options" and "initial
options".  Ordinary options can appear in any order and can be
intermixed with file names to visit.  These and file names are called
"ordinary arguments".  Emacs processes all of these in the order they
are written.  Initial options must come at the beginning of the command
line.

* Menu:

* Ordinary Arguments::    Arguments to visit files, load libraries,
              and call functions.
* Initial Options::     Arguments that must come at the start of the command.
* Command Example::     Examples of using command line arguments.
* Resume Arguments::    Specifying arguments when you resume a running Emacs.

* Display X::           Changing the default display and using remote login.
* Font X::            Choosing a font for text, under X.
* Colors X::            Choosing colors, under X.
* Window Size X::       Start-up window size, under X.
* Borders X::            Internal and external borders, under X.
* Icons X::             Choosing what sort of icon to use, under X.
* Resources X::         Advanced use of classes and resources, under X.


File: emacs,  Node: Ordinary Arguments,  Next: Initial Options,  Up: Command Arguments

Ordinary Arguments
==================

   Here is a table of the ordinary arguments and options:

`FILE'
     Visit FILE using `find-file'.  *Note Visiting::.

`+LINENUM FILE'
     Visit FILE using `find-file', then go to line number LINENUM in it.

`-l FILE'
`-load FILE'
     Load a file FILE of Lisp code with the function `load'.  *Note
     Lisp Libraries::.

`-f FUNCTION'
`-funcall FUNCTION'
     Call Lisp function FUNCTION with no arguments.

`-insert FILE'
     Insert the contents of FILE into the current buffer.  This is like
     what `M-x insert-buffer' does; *Note Misc File Ops::.

`-kill'
     Exit from Emacs without asking for confirmation.


File: emacs,  Node: Initial Options,  Next: Command Example,  Prev: Ordinary Arguments,  Up: Command Arguments

Initial Options
===============

   The initial options are recognized only at the beginning of the
command line.  If you use more than one of them, they must appear in the
order that they appear in this table.

`-t DEVICE'
     Use DEVICE as the device for terminal input and output.

`-d DISPLAY'
     When running with the X window system, use the display named
     DISPLAY to make the window that serves as Emacs's terminal.

`-batch'
     Run Emacs in "batch mode", which means that the text being edited
     is not displayed and the standard Unix interrupt characters such
     as `C-z' and `C-c' continue to have their normal effect.  Emacs in
     batch mode outputs to `stdout' only what would normally be printed
     in the echo area under program control.

     Batch mode is used for running programs written in Emacs Lisp from
     shell scripts, makefiles, and so on.  Normally the `-l' option or
     `-f' option will be used as well, to invoke a Lisp program to do
     the batch processing.

     `-batch' implies `-q' (do not load an init file).  It also causes
     Emacs to kill itself after all command options have been
     processed.  In addition, auto-saving is not done except in buffers
     for which it has been explicitly requested.

`-q'
`-no-init-file'
     Do not load your Emacs init file `~/.emacs'.

`-u USER'
`-user USER'
     Load USER's Emacs init file `~USER/.emacs' instead of your own.

   The init file can get access to the values of the command line
arguments as the elements of a list in the variable
`command-line-args'.  (The list contains only the arguments from the
first table above.  Emacs processes the arguments from the second table
before building the list.)  The init file can override the normal
processing of the other arguments by setting this variable.


File: emacs,  Node: Command Example,  Next: Resume Arguments,  Prev: Initial Options,  Up: Command Arguments

Command Argument Example
========================

   Here is an example of using Emacs with arguments and options.  It
assumes you have a Lisp program file called `hack-c.el' which, when
loaded, performs some useful operation on current buffer, expected to be
a C program.

     emacs -batch foo.c -l hack-c -f save-buffer -kill > log

This says to visit `foo.c', load `hack-c.el' (which makes changes in
the visited file), save `foo.c' (note that `save-buffer' is the
function that `C-x C-s' is bound to), and then exit to the shell that
this command was done with.  The initial option `-batch' guarantees
there will be no problem redirecting output to `log', because Emacs
will not assume that it has a display terminal to work with.


File: emacs,  Node: Resume Arguments,  Next: Display X,  Prev: Command Example,  Up: Command Arguments

Resuming Emacs with Arguments
=============================

   You can specify ordinary arguments for Emacs when you resume it after
a suspension.  To prepare for this, put the following code in your
`.emacs' file (*note Hooks::.):

     (add-hook 'suspend-hook 'resume-suspend-hook)

   As further preparation, you must execute the shell script
`emacs.csh' (if you use CSH as your shell) or `emacs.bash' (if you use
BASH as your shell).  These scripts define an alias named `edit', which
will resume Emacs give it new command line arguments such as files to
visit.

   Only ordinary arguments work properly when you resume Emacs.  Initial
arguments are not recognized.  It's too late to execute them anyway.

   Note that resuming Emacs (with or without arguments) must be done
from within the shell that is the parent of the Emacs job.  This is why
`edit' is an alias rather than a program or a shell script.  It is not
possible to implement a resumption command that could be run from other
subjobs of the shell; no way to define a command that could be made the
value of `EDITOR', for example.  Therefore, this feature does not take
the place of the the Emacs Server feature.  *Note Emacs Server::.

   The aliases use the Emacs Server feature if you appear to have a
server Emacs running.  However, they cannot determine this with complete
accuracy.  They may think that a server is still running when in
actuality you have killed that Emacs, because the file `/tmp/.esrv...'
still exists.  If this happens, find that file and delete it.


File: emacs,  Node: Display X,  Next: Font X,  Prev: Resume Arguments,  Up: Command Arguments

Specifying the Display Name
===========================

   The environment variable `DISPLAY' tells all X clients where to
display their windows.  Its value is set up by default in ordinary
circumstances, when you start an X server and run jobs locally.
Occasionally you may need to specify the display yourself; for example,
if you do a remote login and want to run a client program remotely,
displaying on your local screen.

   With Emacs, the main reason people change the default display is to
let them log into another system, run Emacs on that system, but have the
window displayed at their local terminal.  You might need to use login
to another system because the files you want to edit are there, or
because the Emacs executable file you want to run is there.

   The syntax of the `DISPLAY' environment variable is:

     HOST:DISPLAY.SCREEN

where HOST is the host name of the X Window System server machine,
DISPLAY is an arbitrarily-assigned number that distinguishes your
server (X terminal) from other servers on the same machine, and SCREEN
is a rarely-used field that allows an X server to control multiple
terminal screens.  The period and the SCREEN field are optional.  If
included, SCREEN is usually zero.

   If your host is named `glasperle' and your server is the first (or
perhaps the only) server listed in the configuration, your `DISPLAY' is
`glasperle:0.0'.

   You can specify the display name explicitly when you run Emacs,
either by changing the `DISPLAY' variable, or with the option `-d
DISPLAY' or `-display DISPLAY'.  These are initial options; they must
come at the beginning of the command line.  *Note Initial Options::.
Here is an example:

     emacs -display glasperle:0 &

   You can inhibit the direct use of X with the `-nw' option.  This is
also an initial option.  This option tells Emacs to display using
ordinary ASCII on its controlling terminal.

   Sometimes, security arrangements prevent a program on a remote system
from displaying on your local system.  In this case, trying to run Emacs
produces messages like:

     Xlib:  connection to "glasperle:0.0" refused by server

   You might be able to overcome this problem by using the `xhost'
command on the local system to give permission for access from your
remote machine.


File: emacs,  Node: Font X,  Next: Colors X,  Prev: Display X,  Up: Command Arguments

Font Specification Options
==========================

   By default, Emacs displays text in the font named `9x15', which
makes each character nine pixels wide and fifteen pixels high.  You can
specify a different font on your command line through the option `-fn
NAME'.  The `-font' option is a synonym for `-fn'.

   Here is how to specify the font `6x13':

     emacs -fn 6x13 &

You can also do this in your `.Xdefaults' file:

     emacs.font:      6x13

   Use only fixed width fonts--that is, fonts in which all characters
have the same width.  Emacs cannot yet handle display properly for
variable width fonts.  Fixed width fonts include the one named `fixed',
and fonts with names in the form NxN, such as `6x13', `8x13', and
`9x15'.  Under the font-naming conventions in X11 Release 4 or later,
any font with `m' or `c' in the eleventh field of the name is a fixed
width font.

   Here's how to use the `xlsfonts' program to list all the fixed width
fonts available on your system:

     xlsfonts -fn '*x*'
     xlsfonts -fn '*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-m*'
     xlsfonts -fn '*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-c*'

To see what a particular font looks like, use the `xfd' command.  For
example:

     xfd -fn 6x13

displays the entire font `6x13'.

   While running Emacs, you can set the font of the current frame
(*note Frame Parameters::.) or for a specific kind of text (*note
Faces::.).


File: emacs,  Node: Colors X,  Next: Window Size X,  Prev: Font X,  Up: Command Arguments

Window Color Options
====================

   On a color display, you can specify which color to use for various
parts of the Emacs display.  To find out what colors are available on
your system, look at the `/usr/lib/X11/rgb.txt' file.  If you do not
specify colors, the default for the background is white and the default
for all other colors is black.

   On a monochrome (black and white) display, the foreground is black,
the background is white, and the border is grey.  You can reverse the
foreground and background colors through the `-r' option or the
`reverseVideo' resource.

   Here is a list of the options for specifying colors:

`-fg COLOR'
     Specify the foreground color.

`-bg COLOR'
     Specify the background color.

`-bd COLOR'
     Specify the color of the border of the X window.

`-cr COLOR'
     Specify the color of the Emacs cursor which indicates where point
     is.

`-ms COLOR'
     Specify the color for the mouse cursor when the mouse is in the
     Emacs window.

   For example, to use a coral mouse cursor and a slate blue text
cursor, enter:

     emacs -ms coral -cr 'slate blue' &


File: emacs,  Node: Window Size X,  Next: Borders X,  Prev: Colors X,  Up: Command Arguments

Options for Window Geometry
===========================

   The `-geometry' option controls the size and position of the initial
Emacs frame.  Here is the format for specifying the window geometry:

     WIDTHxHEIGHT{+-}XOFFSET{+-}YOFFSET

where WIDTH specifies the number of characters displayed on a line,
HEIGHT specifies the number of lines displayed, a positive XOFFSET
specifies the distance from the left side of the screen, a negative
XOFFSET specifies the distance from the right side of the screen, a
positive YOFFSET specifies the distance from the top of the screen, and
a negative YOFFSET specifies the distance from the bottom of the screen.

   Emacs uses the same units as `xterm' does to interpret the geometry.
The WIDTH and HEIGHT are measured in characters, so a large font
creates a larger frame than a small font.  The XOFFSET and YOFFSET are
measured in pixels.

   Since the the mode line and the echo area occupy the last 2 lines of
the frame, the height of the initial text window is 2 less than the
height specified in your geometry.

   You do not have to specify all of the fields in the geometry
specification.  The default width for Emacs is 80 characters and the
default height is 24 characters.  You can omit either the width or the
height or both.

   If you omit both XOFFSET nor YOFFSET, the window manager decides
where to put the Emacs frame, possibly by letting you place it with the
mouse.  For example, `164x55' specifies a window 164 columns wide,
enough for two ordinary width windows side by side, and 55 lines tall.

   If you start the geometry with an integer, Emacs interprets it as the
width.  If you start with an `x' followed by an integer, Emacs
interprets it as the height.  Thus, `81' specifies just the width;
`x45' specifies just the height.

   If you start with `+' or `-', that introduces an offset, which means
both sizes are omitted.  Thus, `-3' specifies the XOFFSET only.  (If
you give just one offset, it is always XOFFSET.)  `+3-3' specifies both
the XOFFSET and the YOFFSET, placing the frame near the bottom left of
the screen.

   You can specify a default for any or all of the fields in
`.Xdefaults' file, and then override selected fields through a
`-geometry' option.


File: emacs,  Node: Borders X,  Next: Icons X,  Prev: Window Size X,  Up: Command Arguments

Internal and External Borders
=============================

   An Emacs frame has an internal border and an external border.  The
internal border is an extra strip of the background color around all
four edges of the frame.  Emacs itself adds the internal border.  The
external border is added by the window manager outside the internal
border; it may contain various boxes you can click on to move or iconify
the window.

   When you specify the size of the frame, that does not count the
borders.  The frame's position is measured from the outside edge of the
external border.

   Use the `-ib N' option to specify an internal border N pixels wide.
The default is 1.  Use `-b N' to specify the width of the external
border (though the window manager may add to this on certain edges).
The default width of the external border is 2.


File: emacs,  Node: Icons X,  Next: Resources X,  Prev: Borders X,  Up: Command Arguments

Icons
=====

   Most window managers allow the user to "iconify" a frame, removing
it from sight, and leaving a small, distinctive "icon" window in its
place.  Clicking on the icon window will make the original frame visible
again.  If a user has many clients running at once, they can avoid
cluttering up their screen by iconifying all but the clients currently
in use.

   The `-i' and `-itype' option tells Emacs to use an icon window
containing a picture of the GNU gnu.  If omitted, Emacs lets the window
manager choose what sort of icon to use -- usually just a small
rectangle containing the frame's title.

   The `-iconic' option tells Emacs to begin running as an icon, rather
than opening a frame right away.  In this situation, the icon window
provides only indication that Emacs has started; the usual text frame
doesn't appear until you de-iconify it.


File: emacs,  Node: Resources X,  Prev: Icons X,  Up: Command Arguments

X Resources
===========

   Programs running under the X Window System organize their user
options under a hierarchy of classes and resources.  You can specify
default values for these options in your X resources file, usually named
`~/.Xdefaults'.

   Each line in the file specifies a value for one option or for a
collection of related options, for one program or for several programs
(perhaps even all programs).

   Programs define named resources with particular meanings.  They also
define how to group resources into named classes.  For instance, in
Emacs, the `internalBorder' resource controls the width of the internal
border, and the `borderWidth' resource controls the width of the
external border.  Both of these resources are part of the `BorderWidth'
class.  Case distinctions are significant in these names.

   In `~/.Xdefaults', you can specify a value for a single resource on
one line, like this:

     emacs.borderWidth: 2

Or you can use a class name to specify the same value for all resources
in that class.  Here's an example:

     emacs.BorderWidth: 2

   If you specify a value for a class, it becomes the default for all
resources in that class.  You can specify values for individual
resources as well; these override the class value, for those particular
resources.  Thus, this example specifies 2 as the default width for all
borders, but overrides this value with 4 for the external border:

     emacs.Borderwidth: 2
     emacs.borderwidth: 4

   The order in which the lines appear in the file does not matter.
Also, command-line options always override the X resources file.

   The string `emacs' in the examples above is also a resource name.
It actually represents the name of the executable file that you invoke
to run Emacs.  If Emacs is installed under a different name, it look
for resources under that name instead of `emacs'.

   You can tell Emacs to use a different name instead of the name of the
executable file, with the option `-rn NAME'.  Then that Emacs job uses
NAME instead of `Emacs' to look up all of its option values in the X
resource file.

   The resources that name Emacs invocations also belong to a class; its
name is `Emacs'.  To specify options for all Emacs jobs, no matter what
name is used to run them, write `Emacs' instead of `emacs', like this:

     Emacs.BorderWidth: 2
     Emacs.borderWidth: 4

   The following table lists the resource names that designate options
for Emacs, each with the class that it belongs to:

`background' (class `Background')
     Background color name.

`bitmapIcon' (class `BitMapIcon')
     Use kitchen sink icon if `on', let the window manager choose an
     icon if `off'.

`borderColor' (class `BorderColor')
     Color name for external border.

`borderWidth' (class `BorderWidth')
     Width in pixels of external border.

`cursorColor' (class `Foreground')
     Color name for text cursor (point).

`font' (class `Font')
     Font name for text.

`foreground' (class `Foreground')
     Color name for text.

`geometry' (class `Geometry')
     Window size and position.

`iconName' (class `Title')
     Name to display in icon.

`internalBorder' (class `BorderWidth')
     Width in pixels of internal border.

`paneFont' (class `Font')
     Font name for menu pane titles.

`pointerColor' (class `Foreground')
     Color of mouse cursor.

`reverseVideo' (class `ReverseVideo')
     Switch foreground and background default colors if `on', use
     colors as specified if `off'.

`selectionFont' (class `Font')
     Font name for menu items.

`title' (class `Title')
     Name to display in title bar of initial Emacs frame.