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852 lines
41 KiB
Plaintext
@c This is part of the Emacs manual.
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@c Copyright (C) 1985,86,87,93,94,95,1997,2000,2001
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@c Free Software Foundation, Inc.
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@c See file emacs.texi for copying conditions.
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@node MS-DOS, Manifesto, Mac OS, Top
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@appendix Emacs and MS-DOS
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@cindex MS-DOG
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@cindex MS-DOS peculiarities
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This section briefly describes the peculiarities of using Emacs under
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the MS-DOS ``operating system'' (also known as ``MS-DOG''). If you
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build Emacs for MS-DOS, the binary will also run on Windows 3.X, Windows
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NT, Windows 9X/ME, Windows 2000, or OS/2 as a DOS application; the
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information in this chapter applies for all of those systems, if you use
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an Emacs that was built for MS-DOS.
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Note that it is possible to build Emacs specifically for Windows NT/2K
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or Windows 9X/ME. If you do that, most of this chapter does not apply;
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instead, you get behavior much closer to what is documented in the rest
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of the manual, including support for long file names, multiple frames,
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scroll bars, mouse menus, and subprocesses. However, the section on
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text files and binary files does still apply. There are also two
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sections at the end of this chapter which apply specifically for the
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Windows version.
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@menu
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* Keyboard: MS-DOS Keyboard. Keyboard conventions on MS-DOS.
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* Mouse: MS-DOS Mouse. Mouse conventions on MS-DOS.
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* Display: MS-DOS Display. Fonts, frames and display size on MS-DOS.
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* Files: MS-DOS File Names. File name conventions on MS-DOS.
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* Text and Binary:: Text files on MS-DOS use CRLF to separate lines.
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* Printing: MS-DOS Printing. How to specify the printer on MS-DOS.
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* I18N: MS-DOS and MULE. Support for internationalization on MS-DOS.
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* Processes: MS-DOS Processes. Running subprocesses on MS-DOS.
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* Windows Processes:: Running subprocesses on Windows.
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* Windows System Menu:: Controlling what the ALT key does.
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@end menu
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@node MS-DOS Keyboard
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@section Keyboard Usage on MS-DOS
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@kindex DEL @r{(MS-DOS)}
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@kindex BS @r{(MS-DOS)}
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The key that is called @key{DEL} in Emacs (because that's how it is
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designated on most workstations) is known as @key{BS} (backspace) on a
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PC. That is why the PC-specific terminal initialization remaps the
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@key{BS} key to act as @key{DEL}; the @key{DELETE} key is remapped to act
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as @kbd{C-d} for the same reasons.
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@kindex C-g @r{(MS-DOS)}
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@kindex C-BREAK @r{(MS-DOS)}
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@cindex quitting on MS-DOS
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Emacs built for MS-DOS recognizes @kbd{C-@key{BREAK}} as a quit
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character, just like @kbd{C-g}. This is because Emacs cannot detect
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that you have typed @kbd{C-g} until it is ready for more input. As a
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consequence, you cannot use @kbd{C-g} to stop a running command
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(@pxref{Quitting}). By contrast, @kbd{C-@key{BREAK}} @emph{is} detected
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as soon as you type it (as @kbd{C-g} is on other systems), so it can be
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used to stop a running command and for emergency escape
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(@pxref{Emergency Escape}).
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@cindex Meta (under MS-DOS)
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@cindex Hyper (under MS-DOS)
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@cindex Super (under MS-DOS)
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@vindex dos-super-key
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@vindex dos-hyper-key
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The PC keyboard maps use the left @key{ALT} key as the @key{META} key.
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You have two choices for emulating the @key{SUPER} and @key{HYPER} keys:
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choose either the right @key{CTRL} key or the right @key{ALT} key by
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setting the variables @code{dos-hyper-key} and @code{dos-super-key} to 1
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or 2 respectively. If neither @code{dos-super-key} nor
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@code{dos-hyper-key} is 1, then by default the right @key{ALT} key is
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also mapped to the @key{META} key. However, if the MS-DOS international
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keyboard support program @file{KEYB.COM} is installed, Emacs will
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@emph{not} map the right @key{ALT} to @key{META}, since it is used for
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accessing characters like @kbd{~} and @kbd{@@} on non-US keyboard
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layouts; in this case, you may only use the left @key{ALT} as @key{META}
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key.
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@kindex C-j @r{(MS-DOS)}
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@vindex dos-keypad-mode
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The variable @code{dos-keypad-mode} is a flag variable that controls
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what key codes are returned by keys in the numeric keypad. You can also
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define the keypad @key{ENTER} key to act like @kbd{C-j}, by putting the
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following line into your @file{_emacs} file:
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@smallexample
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;; @r{Make the @key{ENTER} key from the numeric keypad act as @kbd{C-j}.}
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(define-key function-key-map [kp-enter] [?\C-j])
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@end smallexample
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@node MS-DOS Mouse
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@section Mouse Usage on MS-DOS
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@cindex mouse support under MS-DOS
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Emacs on MS-DOS supports a mouse (on the default terminal only).
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The mouse commands work as documented, including those that use menus
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and the menu bar (@pxref{Menu Bar}). Scroll bars don't work in
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MS-DOS Emacs. PC mice usually have only two buttons; these act as
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@kbd{Mouse-1} and @kbd{Mouse-2}, but if you press both of them
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together, that has the effect of @kbd{Mouse-3}. If the mouse does have
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3 buttons, Emacs detects that at startup, and all the 3 buttons function
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normally, as on X.
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Help strings for menu-bar and pop-up menus are displayed in the echo
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area when the mouse pointer moves across the menu items.
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Highlighting of mouse-sensitive text (@pxref{Mouse References}) is also
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supported.
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@cindex mouse, set number of buttons
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@findex msdos-set-mouse-buttons
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Some versions of mouse drivers don't report the number of mouse
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buttons correctly. For example, mice with a wheel report that they
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have 3 buttons, but only 2 of them are passed to Emacs; the clicks on
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the wheel, which serves as the middle button, are not passed. In
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these cases, you can use the @kbd{M-x msdos-set-mouse-buttons} command
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to tell Emacs how many mouse buttons to expect. You could make such a
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setting permanent by adding this fragment to your @file{_emacs} init
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file:
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@example
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;; @r{Treat the mouse like a 2-button mouse.}
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(msdos-set-mouse-buttons 2)
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@end example
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@cindex Windows clipboard support
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Emacs built for MS-DOS supports clipboard operations when it runs on
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Windows. Commands that put text on the kill ring, or yank text from the
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ring, check the Windows clipboard first, just as Emacs does on the X
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Window System (@pxref{Mouse Commands}). Only the primary selection and
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the cut buffer are supported by MS-DOS Emacs on Windows; the secondary
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selection always appears as empty.
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Due to the way clipboard access is implemented by Windows, the
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length of text you can put into the clipboard is limited by the amount
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of free DOS memory that is available to Emacs. Usually, up to 620KB of
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text can be put into the clipboard, but this limit depends on the system
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configuration and is lower if you run Emacs as a subprocess of
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another program. If the killed text does not fit, Emacs outputs a
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message saying so, and does not put the text into the clipboard.
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Null characters also cannot be put into the Windows clipboard. If the
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killed text includes null characters, Emacs does not put such text into
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the clipboard, and displays in the echo area a message to that effect.
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@vindex dos-display-scancodes
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The variable @code{dos-display-scancodes}, when non-@code{nil},
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directs Emacs to display the @acronym{ASCII} value and the keyboard scan code of
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each keystroke; this feature serves as a complement to the
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@code{view-lossage} command, for debugging.
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@node MS-DOS Display
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@section Display on MS-DOS
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@cindex faces under MS-DOS
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@cindex fonts, emulating under MS-DOS
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Display on MS-DOS cannot use font variants, like bold or italic,
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but it does support
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multiple faces, each of which can specify a foreground and a background
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color. Therefore, you can get the full functionality of Emacs packages
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that use fonts (such as @code{font-lock}, Enriched Text mode, and
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others) by defining the relevant faces to use different colors. Use the
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@code{list-colors-display} command (@pxref{Frame Parameters}) and the
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@code{list-faces-display} command (@pxref{Faces}) to see what colors and
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faces are available and what they look like.
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@xref{MS-DOS and MULE}, later in this chapter, for information on
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how Emacs displays glyphs and characters that aren't supported by the
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native font built into the DOS display.
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@cindex cursor shape on MS-DOS
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When Emacs starts, it changes the cursor shape to a solid box. This
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is for compatibility with other systems, where the box cursor is the
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default in Emacs. This default shape can be changed to a bar by
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specifying the @code{cursor-type} parameter in the variable
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@code{default-frame-alist} (@pxref{Creating Frames}). The MS-DOS
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terminal doesn't support a vertical-bar cursor, so the bar cursor is
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horizontal, and the @code{@var{width}} parameter, if specified by the
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frame parameters, actually determines its height. For this reason,
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the @code{bar} and @code{hbar} cursor types produce the same effect on
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MS-DOS. As an extension, the bar cursor specification can include the
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starting scan line of the cursor as well as its width, like this:
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@example
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'(cursor-type bar @var{width} . @var{start})
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@end example
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@noindent
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In addition, if the @var{width} parameter is negative, the cursor bar
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begins at the top of the character cell.
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@cindex frames on MS-DOS
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The MS-DOS terminal can only display a single frame at a time. The
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Emacs frame facilities work on MS-DOS much as they do on text-only
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terminals (@pxref{Frames}). When you run Emacs from a DOS window on
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MS-Windows, you can make the visible frame smaller than the full
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screen, but Emacs still cannot display more than a single frame at a
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time.
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@cindex frame size under MS-DOS
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@findex mode4350
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@findex mode25
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The @code{mode4350} command switches the display to 43 or 50
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lines, depending on your hardware; the @code{mode25} command switches
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to the default 80x25 screen size.
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By default, Emacs only knows how to set screen sizes of 80 columns by
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25, 28, 35, 40, 43 or 50 rows. However, if your video adapter has
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special video modes that will switch the display to other sizes, you can
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have Emacs support those too. When you ask Emacs to switch the frame to
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@var{n} rows by @var{m} columns dimensions, it checks if there is a
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variable called @code{screen-dimensions-@var{n}x@var{m}}, and if so,
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uses its value (which must be an integer) as the video mode to switch
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to. (Emacs switches to that video mode by calling the BIOS @code{Set
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Video Mode} function with the value of
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@code{screen-dimensions-@var{n}x@var{m}} in the @code{AL} register.)
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For example, suppose your adapter will switch to 66x80 dimensions when
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put into video mode 85. Then you can make Emacs support this screen
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size by putting the following into your @file{_emacs} file:
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@example
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(setq screen-dimensions-66x80 85)
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@end example
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Since Emacs on MS-DOS can only set the frame size to specific
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supported dimensions, it cannot honor every possible frame resizing
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request. When an unsupported size is requested, Emacs chooses the next
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larger supported size beyond the specified size. For example, if you
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ask for 36x80 frame, you will get 40x80 instead.
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The variables @code{screen-dimensions-@var{n}x@var{m}} are used only
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when they exactly match the specified size; the search for the next
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larger supported size ignores them. In the above example, even if your
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VGA supports 38x80 dimensions and you define a variable
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@code{screen-dimensions-38x80} with a suitable value, you will still get
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40x80 screen when you ask for a 36x80 frame. If you want to get the
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38x80 size in this case, you can do it by setting the variable named
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@code{screen-dimensions-36x80} with the same video mode value as
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@code{screen-dimensions-38x80}.
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Changing frame dimensions on MS-DOS has the effect of changing all the
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other frames to the new dimensions.
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@node MS-DOS File Names
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@section File Names on MS-DOS
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@cindex file names under MS-DOS
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@cindex init file, default name under MS-DOS
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MS-DOS normally uses a backslash, @samp{\}, to separate name units
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within a file name, instead of the slash used on other systems. Emacs
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on MS-DOS permits use of either slash or backslash, and also knows
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about drive letters in file names.
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On MS-DOS, file names are case-insensitive and limited to eight
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characters, plus optionally a period and three more characters. Emacs
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knows enough about these limitations to handle file names that were
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meant for other operating systems. For instance, leading dots @samp{.}
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in file names are invalid in MS-DOS, so Emacs transparently converts
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them to underscores @samp{_}; thus your default init file (@pxref{Init
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File}) is called @file{_emacs} on MS-DOS. Excess characters before or
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after the period are generally ignored by MS-DOS itself; thus, if you
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visit the file @file{LongFileName.EvenLongerExtension}, you will
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silently get @file{longfile.eve}, but Emacs will still display the long
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file name on the mode line. Other than that, it's up to you to specify
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file names which are valid under MS-DOS; the transparent conversion as
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described above only works on file names built into Emacs.
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@cindex backup file names on MS-DOS
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The above restrictions on the file names on MS-DOS make it almost
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impossible to construct the name of a backup file (@pxref{Backup
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Names}) without losing some of the original file name characters. For
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example, the name of a backup file for @file{docs.txt} is
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@file{docs.tx~} even if single backup is used.
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@cindex file names under Windows 95/NT
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@cindex long file names in DOS box under Windows 95/NT
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If you run Emacs as a DOS application under Windows 9X, Windows ME, or
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Windows 2000, you can turn on support for long file names. If you do
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that, Emacs doesn't truncate file names or convert them to lower case;
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instead, it uses the file names that you specify, verbatim. To enable
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long file name support, set the environment variable @env{LFN} to
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@samp{y} before starting Emacs. Unfortunately, Windows NT doesn't allow
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DOS programs to access long file names, so Emacs built for MS-DOS will
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only see their short 8+3 aliases.
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@cindex @env{HOME} directory under MS-DOS
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MS-DOS has no notion of home directory, so Emacs on MS-DOS pretends
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that the directory where it is installed is the value of the @env{HOME}
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environment variable. That is, if your Emacs binary,
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@file{emacs.exe}, is in the directory @file{c:/utils/emacs/bin}, then
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Emacs acts as if @env{HOME} were set to @samp{c:/utils/emacs}. In
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particular, that is where Emacs looks for the init file @file{_emacs}.
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With this in mind, you can use @samp{~} in file names as an alias for
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the home directory, as you would on GNU or Unix. You can also set
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@env{HOME} variable in the environment before starting Emacs; its
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value will then override the above default behavior.
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Emacs on MS-DOS handles the directory name @file{/dev} specially,
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because of a feature in the emulator libraries of DJGPP that pretends
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I/O devices have names in that directory. We recommend that you avoid
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using an actual directory named @file{/dev} on any disk.
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@node Text and Binary
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@section Text Files and Binary Files
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@cindex text and binary files on MS-DOS/MS-Windows
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GNU Emacs uses newline characters to separate text lines. This is the
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convention used on GNU and Unix.
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@cindex end-of-line conversion on MS-DOS/MS-Windows
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MS-DOS and MS-Windows normally use carriage-return linefeed, a
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two-character sequence, to separate text lines. (Linefeed is the same
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character as newline.) Therefore, convenient editing of typical files
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with Emacs requires conversion of these end-of-line (EOL) sequences.
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And that is what Emacs normally does: it converts carriage-return
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linefeed into newline when reading files, and converts newline into
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carriage-return linefeed when writing files. The same mechanism that
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handles conversion of international character codes does this conversion
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also (@pxref{Coding Systems}).
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@cindex cursor location, on MS-DOS
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@cindex point location, on MS-DOS
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One consequence of this special format-conversion of most files is
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that character positions as reported by Emacs (@pxref{Position Info}) do
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not agree with the file size information known to the operating system.
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In addition, if Emacs recognizes from a file's contents that it uses
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newline rather than carriage-return linefeed as its line separator, it
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does not perform EOL conversion when reading or writing that file.
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Thus, you can read and edit files from GNU and Unix systems on MS-DOS
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with no special effort, and they will retain their Unix-style
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end-of-line convention after you edit them.
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The mode line indicates whether end-of-line translation was used for
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the current buffer. If MS-DOS end-of-line translation is in use for the
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buffer, a backslash @samp{\} is displayed after the coding system
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mnemonic near the beginning of the mode line (@pxref{Mode Line}). If no
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EOL translation was performed, the string @samp{(Unix)} is displayed
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instead of the backslash, to alert you that the file's EOL format is not
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the usual carriage-return linefeed.
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@cindex DOS-to-Unix conversion of files
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To visit a file and specify whether it uses DOS-style or Unix-style
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end-of-line, specify a coding system (@pxref{Specify Coding}). For
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example, @kbd{C-x @key{RET} c unix @key{RET} C-x C-f foobar.txt}
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visits the file @file{foobar.txt} without converting the EOLs; if some
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line ends with a carriage-return linefeed pair, Emacs will display
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@samp{^M} at the end of that line. Similarly, you can direct Emacs to
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save a buffer in a specified EOL format with the @kbd{C-x @key{RET} f}
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command. For example, to save a buffer with Unix EOL format, type
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@kbd{C-x @key{RET} f unix @key{RET} C-x C-s}. If you visit a file
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with DOS EOL conversion, then save it with Unix EOL format, that
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effectively converts the file to Unix EOL style, like @code{dos2unix}.
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@cindex untranslated file system
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@findex add-untranslated-filesystem
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When you use NFS or Samba to access file systems that reside on
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computers using GNU or Unix systems, Emacs should not perform
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end-of-line translation on any files in these file systems---not even
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when you create a new file. To request this, designate these file
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systems as @dfn{untranslated} file systems by calling the function
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@code{add-untranslated-filesystem}. It takes one argument: the file
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system name, including a drive letter and optionally a directory. For
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example,
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@example
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(add-untranslated-filesystem "Z:")
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@end example
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@noindent
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designates drive Z as an untranslated file system, and
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@example
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(add-untranslated-filesystem "Z:\\foo")
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@end example
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@noindent
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designates directory @file{\foo} on drive Z as an untranslated file
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system.
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Most often you would use @code{add-untranslated-filesystem} in your
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@file{_emacs} file, or in @file{site-start.el} so that all the users at
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your site get the benefit of it.
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@findex remove-untranslated-filesystem
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To countermand the effect of @code{add-untranslated-filesystem}, use
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the function @code{remove-untranslated-filesystem}. This function takes
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one argument, which should be a string just like the one that was used
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previously with @code{add-untranslated-filesystem}.
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Designating a file system as untranslated does not affect character
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set conversion, only end-of-line conversion. Essentially, it directs
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Emacs to create new files with the Unix-style convention of using
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newline at the end of a line. @xref{Coding Systems}.
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@vindex file-name-buffer-file-type-alist
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@cindex binary files, on MS-DOS/MS-Windows
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Some kinds of files should not be converted at all, because their
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contents are not really text. Therefore, Emacs on MS-DOS distinguishes
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certain files as @dfn{binary files}. (This distinction is not part of
|
|
MS-DOS; it is made by Emacs only.) Binary files include executable
|
|
programs, compressed archives, etc. Emacs uses the file name to decide
|
|
whether to treat a file as binary: the variable
|
|
@code{file-name-buffer-file-type-alist} defines the file-name patterns
|
|
that indicate binary files. If a file name matches one of the patterns
|
|
for binary files (those whose associations are of the type
|
|
@code{(@var{pattern} . t)}, Emacs reads and writes that file using the
|
|
@code{no-conversion} coding system (@pxref{Coding Systems}) which turns
|
|
off @emph{all} coding-system conversions, not only the EOL conversion.
|
|
@code{file-name-buffer-file-type-alist} also includes file-name patterns
|
|
for files which are known to be DOS-style text files with
|
|
carriage-return linefeed EOL format, such as @file{CONFIG.SYS}; Emacs
|
|
always writes those files with DOS-style EOLs.
|
|
|
|
If a file which belongs to an untranslated file system matches one of
|
|
the file-name patterns in @code{file-name-buffer-file-type-alist}, the
|
|
EOL conversion is determined by @code{file-name-buffer-file-type-alist}.
|
|
|
|
@node MS-DOS Printing
|
|
@section Printing and MS-DOS
|
|
|
|
Printing commands, such as @code{lpr-buffer} (@pxref{Printing}) and
|
|
@code{ps-print-buffer} (@pxref{PostScript}) can work in MS-DOS and
|
|
MS-Windows by sending the output to one of the printer ports, if a
|
|
Posix-style @code{lpr} program is unavailable. The same Emacs
|
|
variables control printing on all systems, but in some cases they have
|
|
different default values on MS-DOS and MS-Windows.
|
|
|
|
@vindex printer-name @r{(MS-DOS)}
|
|
If you want to use your local printer, printing on it in the usual DOS
|
|
manner, then set the Lisp variable @code{lpr-command} to @code{""} (its
|
|
default value) and @code{printer-name} to the name of the printer
|
|
port---for example, @code{"PRN"}, the usual local printer port (that's
|
|
the default), or @code{"LPT2"}, or @code{"COM1"} for a serial printer.
|
|
You can also set @code{printer-name} to a file name, in which case
|
|
``printed'' output is actually appended to that file. If you set
|
|
@code{printer-name} to @code{"NUL"}, printed output is silently
|
|
discarded (sent to the system null device).
|
|
|
|
On MS-Windows, when the Windows network software is installed, you can
|
|
also use a printer shared by another machine by setting
|
|
@code{printer-name} to the UNC share name for that printer---for example,
|
|
@code{"//joes_pc/hp4si"}. (It doesn't matter whether you use forward
|
|
slashes or backslashes here.) To find out the names of shared printers,
|
|
run the command @samp{net view} at a DOS command prompt to obtain a list
|
|
of servers, and @samp{net view @var{server-name}} to see the names of printers
|
|
(and directories) shared by that server. Alternatively, click the
|
|
@samp{Network Neighborhood} icon on your desktop, and look for machines
|
|
which share their printers via the network.
|
|
|
|
@cindex @samp{net use}, and printing on MS-Windows
|
|
@cindex networked printers (MS-Windows)
|
|
If the printer doesn't appear in the output of @samp{net view}, or
|
|
if setting @code{printer-name} to the UNC share name doesn't produce a
|
|
hardcopy on that printer, you can use the @samp{net use} command to
|
|
connect a local print port such as @code{"LPT2"} to the networked
|
|
printer. For example, typing @kbd{net use LPT2:
|
|
\\joes_pc\hp4si}@footnote{
|
|
Note that the @samp{net use} command requires the UNC share name to be
|
|
typed with the Windows-style backslashes, while the value of
|
|
@code{printer-name} can be set with either forward- or backslashes.}
|
|
causes Windows to @dfn{capture} the LPT2 port and redirect the printed
|
|
material to the printer connected to the machine @code{joes_pc}.
|
|
After this command, setting @code{printer-name} to @code{"LPT2"}
|
|
should produce the hardcopy on the networked printer.
|
|
|
|
With some varieties of Windows network software, you can instruct
|
|
Windows to capture a specific printer port such as @code{"LPT2"}, and
|
|
redirect it to a networked printer via the @w{@code{Control
|
|
Panel->Printers}} applet instead of @samp{net use}.
|
|
|
|
Some printers expect DOS codepage encoding of non-@acronym{ASCII} text, even
|
|
though they are connected to a Windows machine which uses a different
|
|
encoding for the same locale. For example, in the Latin-1 locale, DOS
|
|
uses codepage 850 whereas Windows uses codepage 1252. @xref{MS-DOS and
|
|
MULE}. When you print to such printers from Windows, you can use the
|
|
@kbd{C-x RET c} (@code{universal-coding-system-argument}) command before
|
|
@kbd{M-x lpr-buffer}; Emacs will then convert the text to the DOS
|
|
codepage that you specify. For example, @kbd{C-x RET c cp850-dos RET
|
|
M-x lpr-region RET} will print the region while converting it to the
|
|
codepage 850 encoding. You may need to create the @code{cp@var{nnn}}
|
|
coding system with @kbd{M-x codepage-setup}.
|
|
|
|
If you set @code{printer-name} to a file name, it's best to use an
|
|
absolute file name. Emacs changes the working directory according to
|
|
the default directory of the current buffer, so if the file name in
|
|
@code{printer-name} is relative, you will end up with several such
|
|
files, each one in the directory of the buffer from which the printing
|
|
was done.
|
|
|
|
@findex print-buffer @r{(MS-DOS)}
|
|
@findex print-region @r{(MS-DOS)}
|
|
@vindex lpr-headers-switches @r{(MS-DOS)}
|
|
The commands @code{print-buffer} and @code{print-region} call the
|
|
@code{pr} program, or use special switches to the @code{lpr} program, to
|
|
produce headers on each printed page. MS-DOS and MS-Windows don't
|
|
normally have these programs, so by default, the variable
|
|
@code{lpr-headers-switches} is set so that the requests to print page
|
|
headers are silently ignored. Thus, @code{print-buffer} and
|
|
@code{print-region} produce the same output as @code{lpr-buffer} and
|
|
@code{lpr-region}, respectively. If you do have a suitable @code{pr}
|
|
program (for example, from GNU Textutils), set
|
|
@code{lpr-headers-switches} to @code{nil}; Emacs will then call
|
|
@code{pr} to produce the page headers, and print the resulting output as
|
|
specified by @code{printer-name}.
|
|
|
|
@vindex print-region-function @r{(MS-DOS)}
|
|
@cindex lpr usage under MS-DOS
|
|
@vindex lpr-command @r{(MS-DOS)}
|
|
@vindex lpr-switches @r{(MS-DOS)}
|
|
Finally, if you do have an @code{lpr} work-alike, you can set the
|
|
variable @code{lpr-command} to @code{"lpr"}. Then Emacs will use
|
|
@code{lpr} for printing, as on other systems. (If the name of the
|
|
program isn't @code{lpr}, set @code{lpr-command} to specify where to
|
|
find it.) The variable @code{lpr-switches} has its standard meaning
|
|
when @code{lpr-command} is not @code{""}. If the variable
|
|
@code{printer-name} has a string value, it is used as the value for the
|
|
@code{-P} option to @code{lpr}, as on Unix.
|
|
|
|
@findex ps-print-buffer @r{(MS-DOS)}
|
|
@findex ps-spool-buffer @r{(MS-DOS)}
|
|
@vindex ps-printer-name @r{(MS-DOS)}
|
|
@vindex ps-lpr-command @r{(MS-DOS)}
|
|
@vindex ps-lpr-switches @r{(MS-DOS)}
|
|
A parallel set of variables, @code{ps-lpr-command},
|
|
@code{ps-lpr-switches}, and @code{ps-printer-name} (@pxref{PostScript
|
|
Variables}), defines how PostScript files should be printed. These
|
|
variables are used in the same way as the corresponding variables
|
|
described above for non-PostScript printing. Thus, the value of
|
|
@code{ps-printer-name} is used as the name of the device (or file) to
|
|
which PostScript output is sent, just as @code{printer-name} is used for
|
|
non-PostScript printing. (There are two distinct sets of variables in
|
|
case you have two printers attached to two different ports, and only one
|
|
of them is a PostScript printer.)
|
|
|
|
The default value of the variable @code{ps-lpr-command} is @code{""},
|
|
which causes PostScript output to be sent to the printer port specified
|
|
by @code{ps-printer-name}, but @code{ps-lpr-command} can also be set to
|
|
the name of a program which will accept PostScript files. Thus, if you
|
|
have a non-PostScript printer, you can set this variable to the name of
|
|
a PostScript interpreter program (such as Ghostscript). Any switches
|
|
that need to be passed to the interpreter program are specified using
|
|
@code{ps-lpr-switches}. (If the value of @code{ps-printer-name} is a
|
|
string, it will be added to the list of switches as the value for the
|
|
@code{-P} option. This is probably only useful if you are using
|
|
@code{lpr}, so when using an interpreter typically you would set
|
|
@code{ps-printer-name} to something other than a string so it is
|
|
ignored.)
|
|
|
|
For example, to use Ghostscript for printing on an Epson printer
|
|
connected to the @samp{LPT2} port, put this in your @file{_emacs} file:
|
|
|
|
@example
|
|
(setq ps-printer-name t) ; Ghostscript doesn't understand -P
|
|
(setq ps-lpr-command "c:/gs/gs386")
|
|
(setq ps-lpr-switches '("-q" "-dNOPAUSE"
|
|
"-sDEVICE=epson"
|
|
"-r240x72"
|
|
"-sOutputFile=LPT2"
|
|
"-Ic:/gs"))
|
|
@end example
|
|
|
|
@noindent
|
|
(This assumes that Ghostscript is installed in the @file{"c:/gs"}
|
|
directory.)
|
|
|
|
@vindex dos-printer
|
|
@vindex dos-ps-printer
|
|
For backwards compatibility, the value of @code{dos-printer}
|
|
(@code{dos-ps-printer}), if it has a value, overrides the value of
|
|
@code{printer-name} (@code{ps-printer-name}), on MS-DOS and MS-Windows
|
|
only.
|
|
|
|
|
|
@node MS-DOS and MULE
|
|
@section International Support on MS-DOS
|
|
@cindex international support @r{(MS-DOS)}
|
|
|
|
Emacs on MS-DOS supports the same international character sets as it
|
|
does on GNU, Unix and other platforms (@pxref{International}), including
|
|
coding systems for converting between the different character sets.
|
|
However, due to incompatibilities between MS-DOS/MS-Windows and other systems,
|
|
there are several DOS-specific aspects of this support that you should
|
|
be aware of. This section describes these aspects.
|
|
|
|
@table @kbd
|
|
@item M-x dos-codepage-setup
|
|
Set up Emacs display and coding systems as appropriate for the current
|
|
DOS codepage.
|
|
|
|
@item M-x codepage-setup
|
|
Create a coding system for a certain DOS codepage.
|
|
@end table
|
|
|
|
@cindex codepage, MS-DOS
|
|
@cindex DOS codepages
|
|
MS-DOS is designed to support one character set of 256 characters at
|
|
any given time, but gives you a variety of character sets to choose
|
|
from. The alternative character sets are known as @dfn{DOS codepages}.
|
|
Each codepage includes all 128 @acronym{ASCII} characters, but the other 128
|
|
characters (codes 128 through 255) vary from one codepage to another.
|
|
Each DOS codepage is identified by a 3-digit number, such as 850, 862,
|
|
etc.
|
|
|
|
In contrast to X, which lets you use several fonts at the same time,
|
|
MS-DOS normally doesn't allow use of several codepages in a single
|
|
session. MS-DOS was designed to load a single codepage at system
|
|
startup, and require you to reboot in order to change
|
|
it@footnote{Normally, one particular codepage is burnt into the
|
|
display memory, while other codepages can be installed by modifying
|
|
system configuration files, such as @file{CONFIG.SYS}, and rebooting.
|
|
While there is third-party software that allows changing the codepage
|
|
without rebooting, we describe here how a stock MS-DOS system
|
|
behaves.}. Much the same limitation applies when you run DOS
|
|
executables on other systems such as MS-Windows.
|
|
|
|
@cindex unibyte operation @r{(MS-DOS)}
|
|
If you invoke Emacs on MS-DOS with the @samp{--unibyte} option
|
|
(@pxref{Initial Options}), Emacs does not perform any conversion of
|
|
non-@acronym{ASCII} characters. Instead, it reads and writes any non-@acronym{ASCII}
|
|
characters verbatim, and sends their 8-bit codes to the display
|
|
verbatim. Thus, unibyte Emacs on MS-DOS supports the current codepage,
|
|
whatever it may be, but cannot even represent any other characters.
|
|
|
|
@vindex dos-codepage
|
|
For multibyte operation on MS-DOS, Emacs needs to know which
|
|
characters the chosen DOS codepage can display. So it queries the
|
|
system shortly after startup to get the chosen codepage number, and
|
|
stores the number in the variable @code{dos-codepage}. Some systems
|
|
return the default value 437 for the current codepage, even though the
|
|
actual codepage is different. (This typically happens when you use the
|
|
codepage built into the display hardware.) You can specify a different
|
|
codepage for Emacs to use by setting the variable @code{dos-codepage} in
|
|
your init file.
|
|
|
|
@cindex language environment, automatic selection on @r{MS-DOS}
|
|
Multibyte Emacs supports only certain DOS codepages: those which can
|
|
display Far-Eastern scripts, like the Japanese codepage 932, and those
|
|
that encode a single ISO 8859 character set.
|
|
|
|
The Far-Eastern codepages can directly display one of the MULE
|
|
character sets for these countries, so Emacs simply sets up to use the
|
|
appropriate terminal coding system that is supported by the codepage.
|
|
The special features described in the rest of this section mostly
|
|
pertain to codepages that encode ISO 8859 character sets.
|
|
|
|
For the codepages which correspond to one of the ISO character sets,
|
|
Emacs knows the character set name based on the codepage number. Emacs
|
|
automatically creates a coding system to support reading and writing
|
|
files that use the current codepage, and uses this coding system by
|
|
default. The name of this coding system is @code{cp@var{nnn}}, where
|
|
@var{nnn} is the codepage number.@footnote{The standard Emacs coding
|
|
systems for ISO 8859 are not quite right for the purpose, because
|
|
typically the DOS codepage does not match the standard ISO character
|
|
codes. For example, the letter @samp{@,{c}} (@samp{c} with cedilla) has
|
|
code 231 in the standard Latin-1 character set, but the corresponding
|
|
DOS codepage 850 uses code 135 for this glyph.}
|
|
|
|
@cindex mode line @r{(MS-DOS)}
|
|
All the @code{cp@var{nnn}} coding systems use the letter @samp{D} (for
|
|
``DOS'') as their mode-line mnemonic. Since both the terminal coding
|
|
system and the default coding system for file I/O are set to the proper
|
|
@code{cp@var{nnn}} coding system at startup, it is normal for the mode
|
|
line on MS-DOS to begin with @samp{-DD\-}. @xref{Mode Line}.
|
|
Far-Eastern DOS terminals do not use the @code{cp@var{nnn}} coding
|
|
systems, and thus their initial mode line looks like the Emacs default.
|
|
|
|
Since the codepage number also indicates which script you are using,
|
|
Emacs automatically runs @code{set-language-environment} to select the
|
|
language environment for that script (@pxref{Language Environments}).
|
|
|
|
If a buffer contains a character belonging to some other ISO 8859
|
|
character set, not the one that the chosen DOS codepage supports, Emacs
|
|
displays it using a sequence of @acronym{ASCII} characters. For example, if the
|
|
current codepage doesn't have a glyph for the letter @samp{@`o} (small
|
|
@samp{o} with a grave accent), it is displayed as @samp{@{`o@}}, where
|
|
the braces serve as a visual indication that this is a single character.
|
|
(This may look awkward for some non-Latin characters, such as those from
|
|
Greek or Hebrew alphabets, but it is still readable by a person who
|
|
knows the language.) Even though the character may occupy several
|
|
columns on the screen, it is really still just a single character, and
|
|
all Emacs commands treat it as one.
|
|
|
|
@cindex IBM graphics characters (MS-DOS)
|
|
@cindex box-drawing characters (MS-DOS)
|
|
@cindex line-drawing characters (MS-DOS)
|
|
Not all characters in DOS codepages correspond to ISO 8859
|
|
characters---some are used for other purposes, such as box-drawing
|
|
characters and other graphics. Emacs maps these characters to two
|
|
special character sets called @code{eight-bit-control} and
|
|
@code{eight-bit-graphic}, and displays them as their IBM glyphs.
|
|
However, you should be aware that other systems might display these
|
|
characters differently, so you should avoid them in text that might be
|
|
copied to a different operating system, or even to another DOS machine
|
|
that uses a different codepage.
|
|
|
|
@vindex dos-unsupported-character-glyph
|
|
Emacs supports many other characters sets aside from ISO 8859, but it
|
|
cannot display them on MS-DOS. So if one of these multibyte characters
|
|
appears in a buffer, Emacs on MS-DOS displays them as specified by the
|
|
@code{dos-unsupported-character-glyph} variable; by default, this glyph
|
|
is an empty triangle. Use the @kbd{C-u C-x =} command to display the
|
|
actual code and character set of such characters. @xref{Position Info}.
|
|
|
|
@findex codepage-setup
|
|
By default, Emacs defines a coding system to support the current
|
|
codepage. To define a coding system for some other codepage (e.g., to
|
|
visit a file written on a DOS machine in another country), use the
|
|
@kbd{M-x codepage-setup} command. It prompts for the 3-digit code of
|
|
the codepage, with completion, then creates the coding system for the
|
|
specified codepage. You can then use the new coding system to read and
|
|
write files, but you must specify it explicitly for the file command
|
|
when you want to use it (@pxref{Specify Coding}).
|
|
|
|
These coding systems are also useful for visiting a file encoded using
|
|
a DOS codepage, using Emacs running on some other operating system.
|
|
|
|
@cindex MS-Windows codepages
|
|
MS-Windows provides its own codepages, which are different from the
|
|
DOS codepages for the same locale. For example, DOS codepage 850
|
|
supports the same character set as Windows codepage 1252; DOS codepage
|
|
855 supports the same character set as Windows codepage 1251, etc.
|
|
The MS-Windows version of Emacs uses the current codepage for display
|
|
when invoked with the @samp{-nw} option.
|
|
|
|
@node MS-DOS Processes
|
|
@section Subprocesses on MS-DOS
|
|
|
|
@cindex compilation under MS-DOS
|
|
@cindex inferior processes under MS-DOS
|
|
@findex compile @r{(MS-DOS)}
|
|
@findex grep @r{(MS-DOS)}
|
|
Because MS-DOS is a single-process ``operating system,''
|
|
asynchronous subprocesses are not available. In particular, Shell
|
|
mode and its variants do not work. Most Emacs features that use
|
|
asynchronous subprocesses also don't work on MS-DOS, including
|
|
Shell mode and GUD. When in doubt, try and see; commands that
|
|
don't work output an error message saying that asynchronous processes
|
|
aren't supported.
|
|
|
|
Compilation under Emacs with @kbd{M-x compile}, searching files with
|
|
@kbd{M-x grep} and displaying differences between files with @kbd{M-x
|
|
diff} do work, by running the inferior processes synchronously. This
|
|
means you cannot do any more editing until the inferior process
|
|
finishes.
|
|
|
|
Spell checking also works, by means of special support for synchronous
|
|
invocation of the @code{ispell} program. This is slower than the
|
|
asynchronous invocation on other platforms
|
|
|
|
Instead of the Shell mode, which doesn't work on MS-DOS, you can use
|
|
the @kbd{M-x eshell} command. This invokes the Eshell package that
|
|
implements a Posix-like shell entirely in Emacs Lisp.
|
|
|
|
By contrast, Emacs compiled as a native Windows application
|
|
@strong{does} support asynchronous subprocesses. @xref{Windows
|
|
Processes}.
|
|
|
|
@cindex printing under MS-DOS
|
|
Printing commands, such as @code{lpr-buffer} (@pxref{Printing}) and
|
|
@code{ps-print-buffer} (@pxref{PostScript}), work in MS-DOS by sending
|
|
the output to one of the printer ports. @xref{MS-DOS Printing}.
|
|
|
|
When you run a subprocess synchronously on MS-DOS, make sure the
|
|
program terminates and does not try to read keyboard input. If the
|
|
program does not terminate on its own, you will be unable to terminate
|
|
it, because MS-DOS provides no general way to terminate a process.
|
|
Pressing @kbd{C-c} or @kbd{C-@key{BREAK}} might sometimes help in these
|
|
cases.
|
|
|
|
Accessing files on other machines is not supported on MS-DOS. Other
|
|
network-oriented commands such as sending mail, Web browsing, remote
|
|
login, etc., don't work either, unless network access is built into
|
|
MS-DOS with some network redirector.
|
|
|
|
@cindex directory listing on MS-DOS
|
|
@vindex dired-listing-switches @r{(MS-DOS)}
|
|
Dired on MS-DOS uses the @code{ls-lisp} package where other
|
|
platforms use the system @code{ls} command. Therefore, Dired on
|
|
MS-DOS supports only some of the possible options you can mention in
|
|
the @code{dired-listing-switches} variable. The options that work are
|
|
@samp{-A}, @samp{-a}, @samp{-c}, @samp{-i}, @samp{-r}, @samp{-S},
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@samp{-s}, @samp{-t}, and @samp{-u}.
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@node Windows Processes
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@section Subprocesses on Windows 9X/ME and Windows NT/2K
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Emacs compiled as a native Windows application (as opposed to the DOS
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version) includes full support for asynchronous subprocesses.
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In the Windows version, synchronous and asynchronous subprocesses work
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|
fine on both
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Windows 9X and Windows NT/2K as long as you run only 32-bit Windows
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|
applications. However, when you run a DOS application in a subprocess,
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|
you may encounter problems or be unable to run the application at all;
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|
and if you run two DOS applications at the same time in two
|
|
subprocesses, you may have to reboot your system.
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|
|
|
Since the standard command interpreter (and most command line utilities)
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|
on Windows 95 are DOS applications, these problems are significant when
|
|
using that system. But there's nothing we can do about them; only
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|
Microsoft can fix them.
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|
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If you run just one DOS application subprocess, the subprocess should
|
|
work as expected as long as it is ``well-behaved'' and does not perform
|
|
direct screen access or other unusual actions. If you have a CPU
|
|
monitor application, your machine will appear to be 100% busy even when
|
|
the DOS application is idle, but this is only an artifact of the way CPU
|
|
monitors measure processor load.
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|
|
|
You must terminate the DOS application before you start any other DOS
|
|
application in a different subprocess. Emacs is unable to interrupt or
|
|
terminate a DOS subprocess. The only way you can terminate such a
|
|
subprocess is by giving it a command that tells its program to exit.
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|
|
|
If you attempt to run two DOS applications at the same time in separate
|
|
subprocesses, the second one that is started will be suspended until the
|
|
first one finishes, even if either or both of them are asynchronous.
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|
|
|
If you can go to the first subprocess, and tell it to exit, the second
|
|
subprocess should continue normally. However, if the second subprocess
|
|
is synchronous, Emacs itself will be hung until the first subprocess
|
|
finishes. If it will not finish without user input, then you have no
|
|
choice but to reboot if you are running on Windows 9X. If you are
|
|
running on Windows NT/2K, you can use a process viewer application to kill
|
|
the appropriate instance of ntvdm instead (this will terminate both DOS
|
|
subprocesses).
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|
|
|
If you have to reboot Windows 9X in this situation, do not use the
|
|
@code{Shutdown} command on the @code{Start} menu; that usually hangs the
|
|
system. Instead, type @kbd{CTL-ALT-@key{DEL}} and then choose
|
|
@code{Shutdown}. That usually works, although it may take a few minutes
|
|
to do its job.
|
|
|
|
@node Windows System Menu
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|
@section Using the System Menu on Windows
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|
|
|
Emacs compiled as a native Windows application normally turns off the
|
|
Windows feature that tapping the @key{ALT}
|
|
key invokes the Windows menu. The reason is that the @key{ALT} also
|
|
serves as @key{META} in Emacs. When using Emacs, users often press the
|
|
@key{META} key temporarily and then change their minds; if this has the
|
|
effect of bringing up the Windows menu, it alters the meaning of
|
|
subsequent commands. Many users find this frustrating.
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|
|
|
@vindex w32-pass-alt-to-system
|
|
You can re-enable Windows' default handling of tapping the @key{ALT} key
|
|
by setting @code{w32-pass-alt-to-system} to a non-@code{nil} value.
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|
|
|
@ignore
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|
arch-tag: f39d2590-5dcc-4318-88d9-0eb73ca10fa2
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|
@end ignore
|