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3125 lines
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3125 lines
126 KiB
Plaintext
GNU Emacs FAQ: Introduction
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This is the introduction to a list of frequently asked questions (FAQ)
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about GNU Emacs with answers.
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The FAQ is posted to reduce the noise level in the `gnu.emacs.help'
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newsgroup (which is also the `help-gnu-emacs' mailing list) which results
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from the repetition of frequently asked questions, wrong answers to these
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questions, corrections to the wrong answers, corrections to the
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corrections, debate, name calling, etc. Also, it serves as a repository of
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the canonical "best" answers to these questions. However, if you know a
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better answer or even a slight change that improves an answer, please tell
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us!
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If you know the answer to a question in the FAQ list, please reply to the
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question by e-mail instead of posting. Help reduce noise!
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The FAQ is crossposted to `comp.emacs' because some sites do not receive
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the `gnu.*' newsgroups. The FAQ is also crossposted to `news.answers'.
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Full instructions for getting the latest FAQ are in question 22.
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It has been so long since the FAQ was last edited and released that the
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maintainers decided to take a two-step approach. This edition corrects
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many basic inaccuracies in the old FAQ, most of them having to do with ftp
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sites and version numbers. In addition, we have deleted a number of
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questions that are no longer relevant with the release of GNU Emacs 19.
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Many questions specific to recent releases of GNU Emacs 19 remain
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unanswered in this version of the FAQ; the maintainers will spend time over
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the next month or two adding new questions (and answers), based in no small
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part on the questions that have come across help-gnu-emacs in recent
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months.
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There is no diff file for this version of the FAQ, as many things have
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changed since it was last updated.
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Please suggest new questions, answers, wording changes, deletions, etc.
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The most helpful form for suggestions is a context diff (i.e., the output
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of `diff -c'). Include `FAQ' in the subject of messages sent to us about
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the FAQ list.
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Please do not send questions to us just because you do not want to disturb
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a lot of people and you think we would know the answer. We do not have
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time to answer questions individually. :-(
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--
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Reuven M. Lerner <reuven@the-tech.mit.edu> and the FAQ team (a full list is
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at the bottom of the FAQ).
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
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Notation Used in FAQ
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1: What do these mean: C-h, M-C-a, RET, "ESC a", etc.?
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2: What does "M-x command" mean?
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3: How do I read topic XXX in the on-line manual?
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4: What do these mean: etc/SERVICE, src/config.h, lisp/default.el?
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5: What are FSF, LPF, OSF, GNU, RMS, FTP, and GPL?
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General Questions
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6: What is the LPF?
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7: What is the real legal meaning of the GNU copyleft?
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8: What are appropriate messages for gnu.emacs.help, gnu.emacs.bug,
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comp.emacs, etc.?
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9: Where can I get old postings to gnu.emacs.help and other GNU groups?
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10: Where should I report bugs and other problems with GNU Emacs?
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11: How do I unsubscribe to this mailing list?
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12: What is the current address of the FSF?
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On-line Help, Printed Manuals, Other Sources of Help
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13: I'm just starting GNU Emacs; how do I do basic editing?
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14: How do I find out how to do something in GNU Emacs?
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15: How do I get a printed copy of the GNU Emacs manual?
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16: Where can I get documentation on GNU Emacs Lisp?
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17: How do I install a piece of Texinfo documentation?
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18: How do I print a Texinfo file?
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19: Can I view Info files without using GNU Emacs?
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20: What informational files are available for GNU Emacs?
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21: Where can I get help in installing GNU Emacs?
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22: Where can I get the latest version of this document (the FAQ list)?
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Status of Emacs
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23: Where does the name "Emacs" come from?
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24: What is the latest version of GNU Emacs?
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25: What is different about GNU Emacs 19?
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Common Things People Want To Do
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26: How do I set up a .emacs file properly?
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27: How do I debug a .emacs file?
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28: How do I make Emacs display the current line (or column) number?
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29: How do I turn on abbrevs by default just in mode XXX?
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30: How do I turn on auto-fill mode by default?
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31: How do I make Emacs use a certain major mode for certain files?
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32: How do I search for, delete, or replace unprintable (8-bit or control)
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characters?
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33: How can I highlight a region of text in Emacs?
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34: How do I control Emacs's case-sensitivity when searching/replacing?
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35: How do I make Emacs wrap words for me?
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36: Where can I get a better spelling checker for Emacs?
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37: How can I spell-check TeX or *roff documents?
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38: How do I change load-path?
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39: How do I use an already running Emacs from another window?
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40: How do I make Emacs recognize my compiler's funny error messages?
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41: How do I indent switch statements like this?
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42: How can I make Emacs automatically scroll horizontally?
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43: How do I make Emacs "typeover" or "overwrite" instead of inserting?
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44: How do I stop Emacs from beeping on a terminal?
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45: How do I turn down the bell volume in Emacs running under X Windows?
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46: How do I tell Emacs to automatically indent a new line to the
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indentation of the previous line?
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47: How do I show which parenthesis matches the one I'm looking at?
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48: In C mode, can I show just the lines that will be left after #ifdef
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commands are handled by the compiler?
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49: Is there an equivalent to the `.' (dot) command of vi?
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50: What are the valid X resource settings (i.e., stuff in .Xdefaults)?
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51: How do I execute a piece of Emacs Lisp code?
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52: How do I change Emacs's idea of the tab character's length?
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53: How do I insert `>' at the beginning of every line?
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54: How do I insert `_^H' before each character in a paragraph to get an
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underlined paragraph?
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55: How do I repeat a command as many times as possible?
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56: How do I make Emacs behave like this: when I go up or down, the cursor
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should stay in the same column even if the line is too short?
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57: How do I tell Emacs to iconify itself?
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58: How do I use regexps (regular expressions) in Emacs?
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59: How do I perform a replace operation across more than one file?
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60: Where is the documentation for `etags'?
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Bugs/Problems
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61: Does Emacs have problems with files larger than 8 megabytes?
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62: How do I get rid of the ^M junk in my shell buffer?
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63: Why do I get `Process shell exited abnormally with code 1'?
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64: Where is the termcap/terminfo entry for terminal type `emacs'?
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65: Why does Emacs spontaneously start displaying `I-search:' and beeping?
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66: Why can't Emacs talk to certain hosts (or certain hostnames)?
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67: Why does Emacs say `Error in init file'?
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68: Why does Emacs ignore my X resources (my .Xdefaults file)?
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69: Why does Emacs take 20 seconds to visit a file?
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70: How do I edit a file with a `$' in its name?
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71: Why does shell mode lose track of the shell's current directory?
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72: Are there any security risks in GNU Emacs?
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Difficulties Building/Installing/Porting Emacs
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73: What should I do if I have trouble building Emacs?
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74: How do I stop Emacs from failing when the executable is stripped?
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75: Why does linking Emacs with -lX11 fail?
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Finding/Getting Emacs and Related Packages
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76: Where can I get GNU Emacs on the net (or by snail mail)?
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77: How do I find a GNU Emacs Lisp package that does XXX?
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78: Where can I get GNU Emacs Lisp packages that don't come with Emacs?
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79: How do I submit code to the Emacs Lisp Archive?
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80: Where can I get other up-to-date GNU stuff?
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81: What is the difference between GNU Emacs and Epoch?
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82: What is the difference between GNU Emacs and XEmacs (formerly "Lucid
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Emacs")?
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83: Where can I get Emacs for my PC running MS-DOS?
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84: Where can I get Emacs for my PC running Microsoft Windows?
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85: Where can I get Emacs for my PC running OS/2?
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86: Where can I get Emacs for my Atari ST?
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87: Where can I get Emacs for my Amiga?
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88: Where can I get Emacs for my Apple computer?
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89: Where do I get Emacs that runs on VMS under DECwindows?
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90: Where can I get modes for Lex, Yacc/Bison, Bourne shell, Csh, C++,
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Objective C, Pascal, and Awk?
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91: What is the IP address of XXX.YYY.ZZZ?
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Major Emacs Lisp Packages, Emacs Extensions, and Related Programs
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92: VM (View Mail) -- another mail reader within Emacs
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93: Supercite -- mail and news citation package within Emacs
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94: Gnus -- news reader within Emacs
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95: Calc -- poor man's Mathematica within Emacs
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96: Ange-FTP -- transparent FTP access for Emacs's file access routines
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97: VIP -- vi emulation for Emacs
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98: AUC TeX -- enhanced LaTeX mode with debugging facilities
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99: Hyperbole -- extensible hypertext management system within Emacs
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100: BBDB -- personal Info Rolodex integrated with mail/news readers
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101: Ispell -- spell checker in C with interface for Emacs
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102: XEmacs -- alternative Emacs 19 with better X interface; formerly
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known as Lucid Emacs or lemacs.
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103: Patch -- program to apply "diffs" for updating files
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Changing Key Bindings and Handling Key Binding Problems
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104: How do I bind keys (including function keys) to commands?
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105: Why does Emacs say `Key sequence XXX uses invalid prefix characters'?
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106: Why doesn't this [terminal or window-system setup] code work in my
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.emacs file, but it works just fine after Emacs starts up?
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107: How do I use function keys under X Windows?
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108: How do I tell what characters or symbols my function or arrow keys
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emit?
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109: How do I set the X key "translations" for Emacs?
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110: How do I handle C-s and C-q being used for flow control?
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111: How do I bind `C-s' and `C-q' (or any key) if these keys are filtered
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out?
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112: Why does the `Backspace' key invoke help?
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113: Why doesn't Emacs look at the stty settings for Backspace vs. Delete?
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114: How do I "swap" two keys?
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115: How do I produce C-XXX with my keyboard?
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116: What if I don't have a Meta key?
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117: What if I don't have an Escape key?
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118: Can I make my `Compose Character' key behave like a Meta key?
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119: How do I bind a combination of modifier key and function key?
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120: Why doesn't my Meta key work in an xterm window?
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121: Why doesn't my ExtendChar key work as a Meta key under HP-UX 8.0?
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122: Where can I get key bindings to make Emacs emulate WordStar?
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123: Where can I get an XEDIT emulator for Emacs?
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Using Emacs with Alternate Character Sets
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124: How do I make Emacs display 8-bit characters?
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125: How do I input 8-bit characters?
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126: Where can I get an Emacs that can handle kanji characters?
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127: Where can I get an Emacs that can handle Chinese?
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128: Where is an Emacs that can handle Semitic (right-to-left) alphabets?
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Mail and News
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129: How do I change the included text prefix in mail/news followups?
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130: How do I save a copy of outgoing mail?
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131: Why doesn't Emacs expand my aliases when sending mail?
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132: Why does Rmail think all my saved messages are one big message?
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133: How can I sort the messages in my Rmail folder?
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134: Why does Rmail need to write to /usr/spool/mail?
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135: How do I recover my mail files after Rmail munges their format?
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136: How do I make Emacs automatically start my mail/news reader?
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137: How do I read news under Emacs?
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138: Why doesn't Gnus work via NNTP?
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139: How do I view text with embedded underlining (e.g., ClariNews)?
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140: How do I save all the items of a multi-part posting in Gnus?
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141: Why does Gnus put the subjects in replies beyond the 80th column?
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142: How do I make Gnus start up faster?
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143: How do I catch up all newsgroups in Gnus?
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144: Why can't I kill in Gnus on the Newsgroups/Keywords/Control line?
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145: How do I get rid of flashing messages in Gnus for slow connections?
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146: Why is catch up slow in Gnus?
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147: Why does Gnus hang for a long time when posting?
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148: Why don't my news postings in Gnus get past the local machine?
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149: Why doesn't Gnus generate the `Lines:' header?
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150: How do I kill all articles in Gnus but those matching a pattern?
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------------------------------------------------------------
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If you are viewing this text in a GNU Emacs Buffer, you can type "M-2 C-x
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$" to get an overview of just the questions. Then, when you want to look
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at the text of the answers, just type "C-x $".
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To search for a question numbered XXX, type "M-C-s ^XXX:", followed by a
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C-r if that doesn't work, then type ESC to end the search.
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Full instructions for getting the latest FAQ are in question 22, or use
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anonymous FTP to the-tech.mit.edu.
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Notation Used in FAQ
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Skip this section and then come back if you don't understand some of the
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later answers.
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1: What do these mean: C-h, M-C-a, RET, "ESC a", etc.?
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C-x means press the `x' key while holding down the Control key. M-x
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means press the `x' key while holding down the Meta key. M-C-x means
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press the `x' key while holding down both the Control key and the Meta
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key. C-M-a is a synonym for M-C-a. RET, LFD, DEL, ESC, and TAB
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respectively refer to pressing the Return, Linefeed (aka Newline),
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Delete, Escape, and Tab keys and are equivalent to C-m, C-j, C-?, C-[,
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and C-i. SPC means press the Space bar.
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Key sequences longer than one key (and some single-key sequences) are
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inside double quotes or on lines by themselves. Any real spaces in such
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a key sequence should be ignored; only SPC really means press the space
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key.
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The ASCII code sent by C-x (except for C-?) is the value that would be
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sent by pressing just `x' minus 96 (or 64 for uppercase `X') and will be
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from 0 to 31. The ASCII code sent by M-x is the sum of 128 and the ASCII
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code that would be sent by pressing just the `x' key. Essentially, the
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Control key turns off bits 5 and 6 and the Meta key turns on bit 7.
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For further information, see `Characters' and `Keys' in the on-line
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manual.
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NOTE: C-? (aka DEL) is ASCII code 127. It is a misnomer to call C-? a
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"control" key, since 127 has both bits 5 and 6 turned ON. Also, on very
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few keyboards does Control-? generate ASCII code 127.
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2: What does "M-x command" mean?
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"M-x command" means type M-x, then type the name of the command, then
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type RET.
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M-x (by default) invokes the command `execute-extended-command'. This
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command allows you to run any Emacs command if you can remember the
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command's name. If you can't remember the command's name, you can type
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TAB and SPC for completion, "?" for a list of possibilities, and M-p and
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M-n to see previous commands entered. An Emacs "command" is any
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"interactive" Emacs function.
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NOTE: Your system administrator may have bound other key sequences to
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invoke execute-extended-command. A function key labeled `Do' is a good
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candidate for this.
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To run non-interactive Emacs functions, see question 51.
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3: How do I read topic XXX in the on-line manual?
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When we refer you to topic XXX in the on-line manual, you can read this
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manual node inside Emacs (assuming nothing is broken) by typing this:
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C-h i m emacs RET m XXX RET
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This invokes Info, the GNU hypertext documentation browser. If you don't
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already know how to use Info, type "?" from within Info.
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If we refer to topic XXX:YYY, type this:
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C-h i m emacs RET m XXX RET m YYY RET
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WARNING: Your system administrator may not have installed the Info files,
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or may have installed them improperly. In this case you should complain.
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4: What do these mean: etc/SERVICE, src/config.h, lisp/default.el?
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These are files that come with GNU Emacs. The GNU Emacs distribution is
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divided into subdirectories; the important ones are `etc', `lisp', and
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`src'.
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If you use GNU Emacs, but don't know where it is kept on your system,
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start Emacs, then type "C-h v data-directory RET". The directory name
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displayed by this will be the full pathname of the installed `etc'
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directory.
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Some of these files are available individually via FTP or e-mail; see
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question 20. All are available in the source distribution.
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WARNING: Your system administrator may have removed the src directory and
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many files from the etc directory.
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5: What are FSF, LPF, OSF, GNU, RMS, FTP, and GPL?
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FSF == Free Software Foundation
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LPF == League for Programming Freedom
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OSF == Open Software Foundation
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GNU == GNU's Not Unix
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RMS == Richard Matthew Stallman
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FTP == File Transfer Protocol
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GPL == GNU General Public Licence
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NOTE: Avoid confusing the FSF, the LPF, and the OSF. The LPF opposes
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look-and-feel copyrights and software patents. The FSF aims to make high
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quality free software available for everyone. The OSF is a consortium of
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computer vendors which develops commercial software for Unix systems.
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NOTE: The word "free" in the title of the Free Software Foundation refers
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to "freedom," not "zero dollars." Anyone can charge any price for
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GPL-covered software that they want to. However, in practice, the
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freedom enforced by the GPL leads to low prices, because you can always
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get the software for less money from someone else, because everyone has
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the right to resell or give away GPL-covered software.
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General Questions
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6: What is the LPF?
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The LPF opposes the expanding danger of software patents and
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look-and-feel copyrights. To get more information, feel free to contact
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the LPF via e-mail or otherwise. You may also contact Joe Wells
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<jbw@cs.bu.edu>; he will be happy to talk with you about the LPF.
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You can find more information about the LPF in the file etc/LPF. More
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papers describing the LPF's views are available on the Internet and also
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from the LPF:
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Anonymous FTP:
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/prep.ai.mit.edu:pub/lpf/
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/archive.cis.ohio-state.edu:pub/lpf/
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Anonymous UUCP:
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osu-cis!~/lpf/*
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7: What is the real legal meaning of the GNU copyleft?
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The real legal meaning of the GNU General Public Licence (copyleft) will
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only be known if and when a judge rules on its validity and scope. There
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has never been a copyright infringement case involving the GPL to set any
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precedents. Please take any discussion regarding this issue to the
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newsgroup gnu.misc.discuss, which was created to hold the extensive flame
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wars on the subject.
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RMS writes:
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The legal meaning of the GNU copyleft is less important than the
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spirit, which is that Emacs is a free software project and that work
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pertaining to Emacs should also be free software. "Free" means that
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all users have the freedom to study, share, change and improve Emacs.
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To make sure everyone has this freedom, pass along source code when you
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distribute any version of Emacs or a related program, and give the
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recipients the same freedom that you enjoyed.
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8: What are appropriate messages for gnu.emacs.help, gnu.emacs.bug,
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comp.emacs, etc.?
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The file etc/MAILINGLISTS discusses the purpose of each GNU mailing-list.
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(See question 20 on how to get a copy.) For those which are gatewayed
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with newsgroups, it lists both the newsgroup name and the mailing list
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address.
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comp.emacs is for discussion of Emacs programs in general. This includes
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GNU Emacs along with various other implementations like JOVE, MicroEmacs,
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Freemacs, MG, Unipress, CCA, and Epsilon..
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Many people post GNU Emacs questions to comp.emacs because they don't
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receive any of the gnu.* newsgroups. Arguments have been made both for
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and against posting GNU-Emacs-specific material to comp.emacs. You have
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to decide for yourself.
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Messages advocating "non-free" software are considered unacceptable on
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any of the gnu.* newsgroups except for gnu.misc.discuss, which was
|
|
created to hold the extensive flame-wars on the subject. "non-free"
|
|
software includes any software for which the end user can't freely modify
|
|
the source code and exchange enhancements. Be careful to remove the
|
|
gnu.* groups from the `Newsgroups:' line when posting a followup that
|
|
recommends such software.
|
|
|
|
gnu.emacs.bug is a place where bug reports appear, but avoid posting bug
|
|
reports to this newsgroup (see question 10).
|
|
|
|
9: Where can I get old postings to gnu.emacs.help and other GNU groups?
|
|
|
|
The FSF has maintained archives of all of the GNU mailing lists for many
|
|
years, although there may be some unintentional gaps in coverage. The
|
|
archive is not particularly well organized or easy to retrieve individual
|
|
postings from, but pretty much everything is there. The archive is
|
|
available via anonymous ftp at
|
|
|
|
/prep.ai.mit.edu:pub/gnu/MailingListArchives/
|
|
|
|
10: Where should I report bugs and other problems with GNU Emacs?
|
|
|
|
The correct way to report GNU Emacs bugs is by e-mail to
|
|
bug-gnu-emacs@prep.ai.mit.edu. Anything sent here also appears in the
|
|
newsgroup gnu.emacs.bug, but please use e-mail instead of news to submit
|
|
the bug report. This way a reliable return address is available so you
|
|
can be contacted for further details.
|
|
|
|
RMS explains:
|
|
|
|
Sending bug reports to help-gnu-emacs (which has the effect of posting
|
|
on gnu.emacs.help) is undesirable because it takes the time of an
|
|
unnecessarily large group of people, most of whom are just users and
|
|
have no idea how to fix these problem. bug-gnu-emacs reaches a much
|
|
smaller group of people who are more likely to know what to do and have
|
|
expressed a wish to receive more messages about Emacs than the others.
|
|
|
|
However, RMS says there are circumstances when it is okay to post to
|
|
gnu.emacs.help:
|
|
|
|
If you have reported a bug and you don't hear about a possible fix,
|
|
then after a suitable delay (such as a week) it is okay to post on
|
|
gnu.emacs.help asking if anyone can help you.
|
|
|
|
If you are unsure whether you have a bug, RMS describes how to tell:
|
|
|
|
... if Emacs crashes, that is a bug. If Emacs gets compilation errors
|
|
while building, that is a bug. If Emacs crashes while building, that
|
|
is a bug. If Lisp code does not do what the documentation says it
|
|
does, that is a bug.
|
|
|
|
11: How do I unsubscribe to this mailing list?
|
|
|
|
If you are receiving a GNU mailing list named `XXX', you might be able to
|
|
unsubscribe to it by sending a request to the address
|
|
`XXX-request@prep.ai.mit.edu'. However, this will not work if you are
|
|
not listed on the main mailing list, but instead receive the mail from a
|
|
distribution point. In that case, you will have to track down at which
|
|
distribution point you are listed. Inspecting the `Received:' headers on
|
|
the mail messages may help, along with liberal use of the `EXPN' or
|
|
`VRFY' sendmail commands through `telnet <site-address> smtp'. Ask your
|
|
postmaster for help.
|
|
|
|
12: What is the current address of the FSF?
|
|
|
|
E-mail address: gnu@prep.ai.mit.edu
|
|
Phone number: (617) 876-3296
|
|
Postal address:
|
|
Free Software Foundation, Inc.
|
|
675 Massachusetts Avenue
|
|
Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
|
|
|
|
For details on how to order, see the file etc/ORDERS.
|
|
|
|
|
|
On-line Help, Printed Manuals, Other Sources of Help
|
|
|
|
13: I'm just starting GNU Emacs; how do I do basic editing?
|
|
|
|
Type "C-h t" to invoke the self-paced tutorial. Typing just C-h is how
|
|
to enter the help system.
|
|
|
|
WARNING: Your system administrator may have changed C-h to act like DEL
|
|
to deal with local keyboards. You can use M-x help-for-help instead to
|
|
invoke help. To discover what key (if any) invokes help on your system,
|
|
type "M-x where-is RET help-for-help RET". This will print a
|
|
comma-separated list of key sequences in the echo area. Ignore the last
|
|
character in each key sequence listed. Each of the resulting key
|
|
sequences invokes help.
|
|
|
|
NOTE: Emacs help works best if it is invoked by a single key whose value
|
|
should be stored in the variable help-char. Andrew Arensburger
|
|
<arensb@kong.gsfc.nasa.gov> wrote a patch that allows the help facility
|
|
to work properly when invoked by multiple character sequences.
|
|
|
|
14: How do I find out how to do something in GNU Emacs?
|
|
|
|
There are several methods for finding out how to do things in Emacs.
|
|
|
|
* The complete text of the Emacs manual is available on-line via the Info
|
|
hypertext reader. Type "C-h i" to invoke Info.
|
|
|
|
* You can order a hardcopy of the manual from the FSF. See question 15.
|
|
|
|
* You can get a printed reference card listing commands and keys to
|
|
invoke them. You can order one from the FSF for $1 (or 10 for $5), or
|
|
you can print your own from the etc/refcard.tex or etc/refcard.ps files
|
|
in the Emacs distribution.
|
|
|
|
* You can list all of the commands whose names contain a certain word
|
|
(actually which match a regular expression) using "C-h a" (M-x
|
|
command-apropos).
|
|
|
|
* You can list all of the functions and variables whose names contain a
|
|
certain word using M-x apropos.
|
|
|
|
* There are many other commands in Emacs for getting help and
|
|
information. To get a list of these commands, type "C-h C-h C-h".
|
|
|
|
15: How do I get a printed copy of the GNU Emacs manual?
|
|
|
|
You can order a printed copy of the GNU Emacs manual from the FSF. For
|
|
details see the file etc/ORDERS.
|
|
|
|
The full TeX source for the manual also comes in the `man' directory of
|
|
the Emacs distribution, if you're daring enough to try to print out this
|
|
420 page manual yourself (see question 18).
|
|
|
|
If you absolutely have to print your own copy, and you don't have TeX,
|
|
you can get a PostScript version via anonymous FTP:
|
|
|
|
/ftp.cs.ubc.ca:pub/archive/gnu/manuals_ps/emacs-19.21.ps.gz
|
|
|
|
This site requests that you please CONFINE ANY MAJOR FTPING TO LATE
|
|
EVENINGS OR EARLY MORNINGS OUR TIME (Pacific time zone, GMT-8). A DVI
|
|
version is also available via FTP:
|
|
|
|
/prep.ai.mit.edu:pub/gnu/emacs-manual-6.0.dvi.gz
|
|
|
|
and all prep mirrors (See question 80 for a list).
|
|
|
|
A WWW version of the Emacs manual is available on the World-Wide Web at
|
|
URL
|
|
|
|
http://asis01.cern.ch/infohtml/emacs/emacs.html
|
|
|
|
See also question 14 for how to view the manual on-line.
|
|
|
|
16: Where can I get documentation on GNU Emacs Lisp?
|
|
|
|
Within Emacs, you can type "C-h f" to get the documentation for a
|
|
function, "C-h v" for a variable.
|
|
|
|
For more information, obtain the GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual.
|
|
Details on ordering it from FSF are in file etc/ORDERS.
|
|
|
|
For on-line use, a set of pregenerated Info files is available with the
|
|
Texinfo source for the Emacs Lisp manual via anonymous FTP at
|
|
|
|
/prep.ai.mit.edu:pub/gnu/elisp-manual-19-2.3.tar.gz
|
|
|
|
and all prep mirrors (See question 80 for a list).
|
|
|
|
You can also create the Info files from the Texinfo source. See question
|
|
17 for details on how to install these files on-line.
|
|
|
|
A WWW version of the Emacs Lisp Reference Manual is available at
|
|
|
|
http://www.cs.indiana.edu/usr/local/www/elisp/lispref/elisp_toc.html
|
|
|
|
An introduction to Emacs Lisp is available at
|
|
|
|
http://www.cs.indiana.edu/usr/local/www/elisp/elisp-intro.html
|
|
|
|
Of course, you can also print this 760-page manual yourself. For
|
|
instructions on how to do this, see question 18.
|
|
|
|
17: How do I install a piece of Texinfo documentation?
|
|
|
|
First, you must turn the Texinfo files into Info files. You may do this
|
|
within Emacs, using "M-x texinfo-format-buffer", or with the standalone
|
|
`makeinfo' program, available as part of the latest Texinfo package via
|
|
anonymous ftp from:
|
|
|
|
/prep.ai.mit.edu:pub/gnu/texinfo-3.1.tar.gz
|
|
|
|
and all prep mirrors (See question 80 for a list).
|
|
|
|
For information about the Texinfo format, read the Texinfo manual which
|
|
comes with Emacs. This manual also comes installed in Info format, so
|
|
you can read it on-line.
|
|
|
|
Neither texinfo-format-buffer nor makeinfo installs the resulting Info
|
|
files in Emacs's Info tree. To install Info files:
|
|
|
|
1. Move the files to the `info' directory in the installed Emacs
|
|
distribution. See question 4 if you don't know where that is.
|
|
|
|
2. Edit the file info/dir in the installed Emacs distribution, and add a
|
|
line for the top level node in the Info package that you are
|
|
installing. Follow the examples already in this file. The format is:
|
|
|
|
* Topic: (relative-pathname). Short description of topic.
|
|
|
|
If you want to install Info files and you don't have the necessary
|
|
privileges, you have several options:
|
|
|
|
* Info files don't actually need to be installed before being used. You
|
|
can feed a file name to the Info-goto-node command (invoked by pressing
|
|
"g" in Info mode) by typing the name of the file in parentheses. This
|
|
goes to the node named `Top' in that file. For example, to view a Info
|
|
file named `XXX' in your home directory, you can type this:
|
|
|
|
C-h i g (~/XXX) RET
|
|
|
|
* You can create your own Info directory. You can tell Emacs where the
|
|
Info directory is by adding its pathname to the value of the variable
|
|
Info-default-directory-list. For example, to use a private Info
|
|
directory which is a subdirectory of your home directory named `Info',
|
|
you could put this in your .emacs file:
|
|
|
|
(setq Info-default-directory-list
|
|
(cons "~/Info" Info-default-directory-list))
|
|
|
|
You will need a top-level Info file named `dir' in this directory which
|
|
has everything the system dir file has in it, except it should list
|
|
only entries for Info files in that directory. You might not need it
|
|
if all files in this directory were referenced by other `dir' files.
|
|
The node lists from all dir files in Info-default-directory-list are
|
|
merged by the Info system.
|
|
|
|
18: How do I print a Texinfo file?
|
|
|
|
NOTE: You can't get nice printed output from Info files; you must still
|
|
have the original Texinfo source file for the manual you want to print.
|
|
|
|
1. Make sure the first line of the Texinfo file looks like this:
|
|
|
|
\input texinfo
|
|
|
|
You may need to alter `texinfo' to the full pathname of the
|
|
texinfo.tex file, which comes with Emacs as man/texinfo.tex (or copy
|
|
or link it into the current directory).
|
|
|
|
2. tex XXX.texinfo
|
|
|
|
3. texindex XXX.??
|
|
|
|
The `texindex' program comes with Emacs as man/texindex.c.
|
|
|
|
4. tex XXX.texinfo
|
|
|
|
5. Print the DVI file XXX.dvi in the normal way for printing DVI files at
|
|
your site.
|
|
|
|
To get more general instructions, retrieve the latest Texinfo package
|
|
mentioned in question 17.
|
|
|
|
19: Can I view Info files without using GNU Emacs?
|
|
|
|
Yes, the `info', `xinfo', `tkinfo', and `ivinfo' programs do this. Info
|
|
uses curses, xinfo uses standard X11 libraries, tkinfo uses Tk/Tcl and
|
|
ivinfo uses InterViews. You can get Info as part of the latest Texinfo
|
|
package (see question 17). xinfo is available separately:
|
|
|
|
/prep.ai.mit.edu:pub/gnu/xinfo-1.01.01.tar.gz
|
|
|
|
and all prep mirrors (See question 80 for a list).
|
|
|
|
ivinfo is available in a comp.sources.misc archive or from Tom Horsley
|
|
<tom@ssd.csd.harris.com>. tkinfo is available by anonymous ftp from:
|
|
|
|
/ptolemy.eecs.berkeley.edu:pub/misc/tkinfo-0.6.tar.Z
|
|
/ftp.aud.alcatel.com:tcl/code/tkinfo-0.6.tar.gz
|
|
|
|
For ivinfo, you need Stanford's InterViews C++ X library, available via
|
|
anonymous ftp from interviews.stanford.edu. (A FAQ on InterViews is
|
|
available at that site in pub/FAQ.)
|
|
|
|
20: What informational files are available for GNU Emacs?
|
|
|
|
This isn't a frequently asked question, but it should be! A variety of
|
|
informational files about GNU Emacs and relevant aspects of the GNU
|
|
project are available for you to read.
|
|
|
|
The following files are available in the `etc' directory of the GNU Emacs
|
|
distribution, and also the latest versions are available individually via
|
|
anonymous FTP (prep.ai.mit.edu:pub/gnu/GNUinfo/):
|
|
|
|
APPLE -- Why the FSF doesn't support GNU Emacs on Apple computers
|
|
DISTRIB -- GNU Emacs Availability Information,
|
|
including the popular "Free Software Foundation Order Form"
|
|
FTP -- How to get GNU Software by Internet FTP or by UUCP
|
|
GNU -- The GNU Manifesto
|
|
INTERVIEW -- Richard Stallman discusses his public-domain
|
|
UNIX-compatible software system with BYTE editors
|
|
MACHINES -- Status of GNU Emacs on Various Machines and Systems
|
|
MAILINGLISTS -- GNU Project Electronic Mailing Lists
|
|
SERVICE -- GNU Service Directory
|
|
SUN-SUPPORT -- including "Using Emacstool with GNU Emacs"
|
|
|
|
These files are available in the `etc' directory of the GNU Emacs
|
|
distribution:
|
|
|
|
COPYING -- GNU Emacs General Public License
|
|
NEWS -- GNU Emacs news, a history of user-visible changes
|
|
LPF -- Why you should join the League for Programming Freedom
|
|
FAQ -- GNU Emacs Frequently Asked Questions (You're reading it)
|
|
|
|
These files are available via anonymous FTP (prep.ai.mit.edu:pub/gnu/):
|
|
|
|
tasks -- GNU Task List
|
|
standards.text -- GNU Coding Standards
|
|
|
|
In addition, all of the above files are available directly from the FSF
|
|
via e-mail. Of course, please try to get them from a local source first
|
|
(See question 80 for a list).
|
|
|
|
These additional files are available from the FSF via e-mail:
|
|
|
|
* GNU's Bulletin, January 1994
|
|
GNU's Who
|
|
GNU's Bulletin
|
|
What Is the Free Software Foundation?
|
|
What Is Copyleft?
|
|
Donations Translate Into Free Software
|
|
Cygnus Matches Donations!
|
|
GNUs Flashes
|
|
What Is the LPF?
|
|
News from the LPF
|
|
Free Software Support
|
|
Project GNU Wish List
|
|
Towards a New Strategy of OS Design
|
|
Part 1: A More Usable Approach to OS Design
|
|
Part 2: A Look at Some of the Hurd's Beasts
|
|
Second Annual GNU Seminar in Japan
|
|
GNU and other Free Software in Japan
|
|
Freely Available Texts
|
|
OCEAN Integrated-Circuit Design System
|
|
Hundred Acre Consulting Expands
|
|
Project GNU Status Report
|
|
GNU Documentation
|
|
GNU Software Available Now
|
|
Source Code CD-ROM
|
|
Compiler Tools Binaries CD-ROM
|
|
Tape & CD-ROM Subscription Service
|
|
How to Get GNU Software
|
|
The Deluxe Distribution
|
|
MS-DOS Distribution
|
|
Free Software for Microcomputers
|
|
FSF T-shirt
|
|
Thank GNUs
|
|
Free Software Foundation Order Form
|
|
* Legal issues about contributing code to GNU
|
|
* GNU Project Status Report
|
|
|
|
A collection of past GNU's Bulletins is available via anonymous FTP from:
|
|
|
|
/ftp.funet.fi:pub/gnu/Bulletins/
|
|
|
|
The latest bulletin is available on the World-Wide Web at URL:
|
|
|
|
http://info.desy.de/gnu/www/gnu_bulletin_9401/gnu_bulletin_9401_toc.html
|
|
|
|
21: Where can I get help in installing GNU Emacs?
|
|
|
|
Look in etc/SERVICE for names of companies and individuals who will sell
|
|
you this type of service. An up-to-date version of the SERVICE file is
|
|
available on prep.ai.mit.edu (also see question 20).
|
|
|
|
You might also try the help-gnu-emacs mailing list, which is also known
|
|
as the gnu.emacs.help newsgroup, although many installation questions can
|
|
easily be answered by looking at the PROBLEMS file (in the top-level
|
|
directory when you unpack the Emacs source).
|
|
|
|
22: Where can I get the latest version of this document (the FAQ list)?
|
|
|
|
The GNU Emacs FAQ is available in several ways:
|
|
|
|
* Via USENET. If you can read news, the FAQ should be available in your
|
|
news spool, in both the gnu.emacs.help and comp.emacs newsgroups.
|
|
Every news reader should allow you to read any news article that is
|
|
still in the news spool, even if you have read the article before. You
|
|
may need to read the instructions for your news reader to discover how
|
|
to do this. In `rn', this command will do this for you at the article
|
|
selection level:
|
|
|
|
?GNU Emacs FAQ?rc:m
|
|
|
|
In Gnus, you should type "C-u c-x c-s" from the *Summary* buffer or
|
|
"C-u SPC" from the *Newsgroup* buffer to view all articles in a
|
|
newsgroup.
|
|
|
|
If the FAQ articles have expired and been deleted from your news spool,
|
|
it might (or might not) do some good to complain to your news
|
|
administrator, because the most recent FAQ should not expire before for
|
|
a while.
|
|
|
|
* Via anonymous FTP. You can fetch the FAQ articles via anonymous FTP
|
|
from the-tech.mit.edu, in ~ftp/pub/GNU-Emacs/.
|
|
|
|
* In the GNU Emacs distribution. Since GNU Emacs 18.56, the latest
|
|
available version of the FAQ at the time of release has been part of
|
|
the GNU Emacs distribution as file etc/FAQ.
|
|
|
|
* Via the World-Wide Web. Point your favorite Web browser (Mosaic, Lynx,
|
|
w3-mode) to one of the following URLs:
|
|
|
|
http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/GNU-Emacs-FAQ/top.html
|
|
http://scwww.ucs.indiana.edu/FAQ/Emacs/
|
|
|
|
* If all goes well, this FAQ should also be available via anonymous ftp
|
|
and e-mail from rtfm.mit.edu, the main repository for FAQs and other
|
|
items posted to news.answers. However, we are omitting explicit
|
|
directions on how to retrieve the FAQ from rtfm.mit.edu, since it's
|
|
possible that it won't end up there right away. (We're new at this
|
|
FAQ-posting business.) Instructions on how to retrieve the FAQ from
|
|
rtfm.mit.edu should be in the next version of the FAQ.
|
|
|
|
* As the very last resort, you can e-mail a request to
|
|
gnu-emacs-faq-maintainers@bigbird.bu.edu. Don't do this unless you
|
|
have made a serious effort to obtain the FAQ list via one of the
|
|
methods listed above.
|
|
|
|
Status of Emacs
|
|
|
|
23: Where does the name "Emacs" come from?
|
|
|
|
Emacs originally was an acronym for Editor MACroS. RMS says he "picked
|
|
the name `Emacs' because `E' was not in use as an abbreviation on ITS at
|
|
the time." The first Emacs was a set of macros written in 1976 at MIT by
|
|
RMS for the editor TECO (Text Editor and COrrector (originally Tape
|
|
Editor and COrrector)) under ITS on a PDP-10. RMS had already extended
|
|
TECO with a "real-time" full screen mode with active keys. Emacs was
|
|
started by Guy Steele <gls@think.com> as a project to unify the many
|
|
divergent TECO command sets and key bindings at MIT.
|
|
|
|
Many people have said that TECO code looks a lot like line noise. See
|
|
alt.lang.teco if you are interested. Someone has written a TECO
|
|
implementation in Emacs Lisp; it would be an interesting project to run
|
|
the original TECO Emacs inside of GNU Emacs.
|
|
|
|
24: What is the latest version of GNU Emacs?
|
|
|
|
GNU Emacs 19.27 is the current version as of 6 September, 1994.
|
|
|
|
25: What is different about GNU Emacs 19?
|
|
|
|
To find out what has changed in recent versions, type C-h n (M-x
|
|
view-emacs-news). The oldest changes are at the bottom of the file, so
|
|
you might want to read it starting there, rather than at the top.
|
|
|
|
The most obvious changes have to do with the user interface -- GNU Emacs
|
|
19 is fully X-aware, and provides pull-down menus and scroll bars. Emacs
|
|
19 also supports fonts and colors, including context-specific
|
|
highlighting of source code and other types of buffers.
|
|
|
|
Other changes include a line number mode, which displays the current line
|
|
number in the mode line, and default bindings for arrow and paging keys
|
|
that work.
|
|
|
|
Lower-level changes include a smarter memory allocation scheme (Emacs now
|
|
returns memory to the operating system when you kill buffers), a better
|
|
byte-compiler, and a source-level Emacs Lisp debugger.
|
|
|
|
There are also a number of new Lisp packages, ranging from dunnet (an
|
|
Adventure-like program) to mldrag (allows you to drag the mode line up
|
|
and down with the mouse buttons) to gud (Grand Unified Debugger mode, for
|
|
many flavors of debuggers). A number of popular Lisp packages, such as
|
|
SuperCite and the calendar/diary, are also included.
|
|
|
|
Common Things People Want To Do
|
|
|
|
26: How do I set up a .emacs file properly?
|
|
|
|
See `Init File' in the on-line manual.
|
|
|
|
WARNING: In general, new Emacs users should not have .emacs files,
|
|
because it causes confusing non-standard behavior. Then they send
|
|
questions to help-gnu-emacs asking why Emacs isn't behaving as
|
|
documented. :-)
|
|
|
|
27: How do I debug a .emacs file?
|
|
|
|
First start Emacs with the `-debug-init' command-line option. This
|
|
option enables the Emacs Lisp debugger before evaluating your .emacs
|
|
file, and places you in the debugger if something goes wrong. The top
|
|
line in the trace-back buffer will be the error message, and the second
|
|
or third line of that buffer will display the Lisp code from your .emacs
|
|
that caused the problem.
|
|
|
|
You can also evaluate an individual function or argument to a function in
|
|
your .emacs file by moving the cursor to the end of the function or
|
|
argument and typing "C-x C-e" (M-x eval-last-sexp).
|
|
|
|
Use "C-h v" (M-x describe-variable) to check the value of variables which
|
|
you are trying to set or use.
|
|
|
|
28: How do I make Emacs display the current line (or column) number?
|
|
|
|
To find out what line of the buffer you are on right now, do "M-x
|
|
what-line". Use "M-x goto-line" to go to a specific line. To find the
|
|
current column number, type "M-ESC (current-column)".
|
|
|
|
If you use these commands often, you might want to bind them to a key.
|
|
See question 104 for instructions on how to do that.
|
|
|
|
Typing "C-x l" (or M-x count-lines-page) will also tell you what line you
|
|
are on, provided the buffer isn't separated into "pages" with C-l
|
|
characters. In that case, it will only tell you what line of the current
|
|
"page" you are on.
|
|
|
|
To have Emacs automatically display the current line number of the point
|
|
in the mode line, do "M-x line-number-mode". You can also put the form
|
|
|
|
(setq line-number-mode t)
|
|
|
|
in your .emacs file to achieve this whenever you start Emacs. Note that
|
|
Emacs will not display the line number if the buffer is larger than the
|
|
value of the variable line-number-display-limit.
|
|
|
|
None of the vi emulation modes provide the `set number' capability of vi
|
|
(as far as we know).
|
|
|
|
29: How do I turn on abbrevs by default just in mode XXX?
|
|
|
|
Put this in your .emacs file:
|
|
|
|
(condition-case ()
|
|
(quietly-read-abbrev-file)
|
|
(file-error nil))
|
|
|
|
(add-hook 'XXX-mode-hook
|
|
(function
|
|
(lambda ()
|
|
(setq abbrev-mode t))))
|
|
|
|
30: How do I turn on auto-fill mode by default?
|
|
|
|
To turn on auto-fill mode just once for one buffer, use "M-x
|
|
auto-fill-mode". To turn it on for every buffer in, for example, Text
|
|
mode, do this:
|
|
|
|
(add-hook 'text-mode-hook 'turn-on-auto-fill)
|
|
|
|
If you want auto-fill mode on in all major modes, do this:
|
|
|
|
(setq-default auto-fill-hook 'do-auto-fill)
|
|
|
|
31: How do I make Emacs use a certain major mode for certain files?
|
|
|
|
If you want to use XXX mode for all files which end with the extension
|
|
`.YYY', this will do it for you:
|
|
|
|
(setq auto-mode-alist (cons '("\\.YYY\\'" . XXX-mode) auto-mode-alist))
|
|
|
|
Otherwise put this somewhere in the first line of any file you want to
|
|
edit in XXX mode:
|
|
|
|
-*-XXX-*-
|
|
|
|
Emacs 19 also includes a new variable, interpreter-mode-alist, that
|
|
specifies which mode to use when loading a shell script. (Emacs
|
|
determines which interpreter you're using by examining the first line of
|
|
the file.) This feature only applies when the file name doesn't indicate
|
|
which mode to use. Use "C-h v" (or M-x describe-variable) to learn more
|
|
about this variable.
|
|
|
|
32: How do I search for, delete, or replace unprintable (8-bit or control)
|
|
characters?
|
|
|
|
To search for a single character that appears in the buffer as, for
|
|
example, `\237', you can type "C-s C-q 2 3 7". (This assumes the value
|
|
of search-quote-char is 17 (i.e., C-q).) Searching for ALL unprintable
|
|
characters is best done with a "regexp" search. The easiest regexp to
|
|
use for the unprintable chars is the complement of the regexp for the
|
|
printable chars.
|
|
|
|
Regexp for the printable chars: [\t\n\r\f -~]
|
|
|
|
Regexp for the unprintable chars: [^\t\n\r\f -~]
|
|
|
|
To type some of these special characters in an interactive argument to
|
|
isearch-forward-regexp or re-search-forward, you need to use C-q. (`\t',
|
|
`\n', `\r', and `\f' stand respectively for TAB, LFD, RET, and C-l.) So,
|
|
to search for unprintable characters using re-search-forward:
|
|
|
|
M-x re-search-forward RET [^ TAB C-q LFD C-q RET C-q C-l SPC -~] RET
|
|
|
|
Using isearch-forward-regexp:
|
|
|
|
M-C-s [^ TAB RET C-q RET C-q C-l SPC -~]
|
|
|
|
To delete all unprintable characters, simply use replace-regexp:
|
|
|
|
M-x replace-regexp RET [^ TAB C-q LFD C-q RET C-q C-l SPC -~] RET RET
|
|
|
|
Replacing is similar to the above. To replace all unprintable characters
|
|
with a colon, use:
|
|
|
|
M-x replace-regexp RET [^ TAB C-q LFD C-q RET C-q C-l SPC -~] RET : RET
|
|
|
|
NOTE: * You don't need to quote TAB with either isearch or typing
|
|
something in the minibuffer.
|
|
|
|
33: How can I highlight a region of text in Emacs?
|
|
|
|
If you are using a windowing system such as X, you can cause the region
|
|
to be highlighted when the mark is active by including
|
|
|
|
(transient-mark-mode t)
|
|
|
|
in your .emacs. There are also the following packages for content- based
|
|
highlighting:
|
|
|
|
hilit19.el
|
|
font-lock.el
|
|
|
|
34: How do I control Emacs's case-sensitivity when searching/replacing?
|
|
|
|
For searching, the value of the variable case-fold-search determines
|
|
whether they are case sensitive:
|
|
|
|
(setq case-fold-search nil) ; make searches case sensitive
|
|
(setq case-fold-search t) ; make searches case insensitive
|
|
|
|
Similarly, for replacing the variable case-replace determines whether
|
|
replacements preserve case.
|
|
|
|
To change the case sensitivity just for one major mode, use the major
|
|
mode's hook. For example:
|
|
|
|
(add-hook 'XXX-mode-hook
|
|
(function
|
|
(lambda ()
|
|
(setq case-fold-search nil))))
|
|
|
|
35: How do I make Emacs wrap words for me?
|
|
|
|
Use auto-fill mode, activated by typing "M-x auto-fill-mode". The
|
|
default maximum line width is 70, determined by the variable fill-column.
|
|
To learn how to turn this on automatically, see question 30.
|
|
|
|
36: Where can I get a better spelling checker for Emacs?
|
|
|
|
Use Ispell. See question 101.
|
|
|
|
37: How can I spell-check TeX or *roff documents?
|
|
|
|
Use Ispell. See question 101. Ispell can handle TeX and *roff
|
|
documents.
|
|
|
|
38: How do I change load-path?
|
|
|
|
In general, you should only *add* to the load-path. You can add
|
|
directory /XXX/YYY to the load path like this:
|
|
|
|
(setq load-path (cons "/XXX/YYY/" load-path))
|
|
|
|
To do this relative to your home directory:
|
|
|
|
(setq load-path (cons "~/YYY/" load-path)
|
|
|
|
39: How do I use an already running Emacs from another window?
|
|
|
|
The `emacsclient' program is for editing a file using an already running
|
|
Emacs rather than starting up a new Emacs. It does this by sending a
|
|
request to the already running Emacs, which must be expecting the
|
|
request.
|
|
|
|
* Setup
|
|
|
|
Emacs must have executed the `server-start' function for emacsclient to
|
|
work. This can be done either by a command line option:
|
|
|
|
emacs -f server-start
|
|
|
|
or by invoking server-start from the .emacs file:
|
|
|
|
(if (some conditions are met) (server-start))
|
|
|
|
When this is done, Emacs starts a subprocess running a program called
|
|
`server'. `server' creates a Unix domain socket in the user's home
|
|
directory named `.emacs_server'.
|
|
|
|
To get your news reader, mail reader, etc., to invoke emacsclient, try
|
|
setting the environment variable EDITOR (or sometimes VISUAL) to the
|
|
value `emacsclient'. You may have to specify the full pathname of the
|
|
emacsclient program instead. Examples:
|
|
|
|
# csh commands:
|
|
setenv EDITOR emacsclient
|
|
setenv EDITOR /usr/local/emacs/etc/emacsclient # using full pathname
|
|
|
|
# sh command:
|
|
EDITOR=emacsclient ; export EDITOR
|
|
|
|
* Normal use
|
|
|
|
When emacsclient is run, it connects to the `.emacs_server' socket and
|
|
passes its command line options to `server'. When `server' receives
|
|
these requests, it sends this information on the the Emacs process,
|
|
which at the next opportunity will visit the files specified. (Line
|
|
numbers can be specified just like with Emacs.) The user will have to
|
|
switch to the Emacs window by hand. When the user is done editing a
|
|
file, the user can type "C-x #" (or M-x server-edit) to indicate this.
|
|
If there is another buffer requested by emacsclient, Emacs will switch
|
|
to it; otherwise emacsclient will exit, signaling the calling program
|
|
to continue.
|
|
|
|
NOTE: `emacsclient' and `server' must be running on machines which
|
|
share the same filesystem for this to work. The pathnames that
|
|
emacsclient specifies should be correct for the filesystem that the
|
|
Emacs process sees. The Emacs process should not be suspended at the
|
|
time emacsclient is invoked. emacsclient should either be invoked from
|
|
another X window or from a shell window inside Emacs itself.
|
|
|
|
There is an enhanced version of emacsclient/server called `gnuserv' by
|
|
Andy Norman <ange@hplb.hpl.hp.com> which is available in the Emacs Lisp
|
|
Archive. gnuserv uses Internet domain sockets, so it can work across
|
|
most network connections. It also supports the execution of arbitrary
|
|
Emacs Lisp forms and also does not require the client program to wait
|
|
for completion. It is available via anonymous FTP (Emacs Lisp Archive:
|
|
packages/gnuserv.shar).
|
|
|
|
40: How do I make Emacs recognize my compiler's funny error messages?
|
|
|
|
The variable compilation-error-regexp-alist helps control how Emacs
|
|
parses your compiler output. It is a list of triples of the form:
|
|
|
|
(REGEXP FILE-IDX LINE-IDX)
|
|
|
|
where REGEXP, FILE-IDX and LINE-IDX are strings. To help determine what
|
|
the constituent elements should be, load compile.el and then use
|
|
|
|
C-h v compilation-error-regexp-alist RET
|
|
|
|
to see the current value. A good idea is to look at compile.el itself as
|
|
the comments included for this variable are quite useful -- the regular
|
|
expressions required for your compiler's output may be very close to one
|
|
already provided. Once you have determined the proper regexps, use the
|
|
following to inform Emacs of your changes:
|
|
|
|
(setq compilation-error-regexp-alist
|
|
(cons '(REGEXP FILE-IDX LINE-IDX)
|
|
compilation-error-regexp-alist))
|
|
|
|
41: How do I indent switch statements like this?
|
|
|
|
Many people want to indent their switch statements like this:
|
|
|
|
f()
|
|
{
|
|
switch(x) {
|
|
case A:
|
|
x1;
|
|
break;
|
|
case B:
|
|
x2;
|
|
break;
|
|
default:
|
|
x3;
|
|
}
|
|
}
|
|
|
|
The solution at first appears to be: set c-indent-level to 4 and
|
|
c-label-offset to -2. However, this will give you an indentation spacing
|
|
of four instead of two.
|
|
|
|
The solution is to use cc-mode (available from the Emacs Lisp Archive)
|
|
and add the following line:
|
|
|
|
(c-set-offset 'case-label '+)
|
|
|
|
There appears to be no way to do this with the old c-mode.
|
|
|
|
42: How can I make Emacs automatically scroll horizontally?
|
|
|
|
Use hscroll.el by Wayne Mesard <wmesard@esd.sgi.com>.
|
|
|
|
43: How do I make Emacs "typeover" or "overwrite" instead of inserting?
|
|
|
|
M-x overwrite-mode (a minor mode).
|
|
|
|
On some workstations, the "Insert" key toggles insert and overwrite
|
|
modes.
|
|
|
|
44: How do I stop Emacs from beeping on a terminal?
|
|
|
|
Martin R. Frank <martin@cc.gatech.edu> writes:
|
|
|
|
Tell Emacs to use the `visible bell' instead of the audible bell, and
|
|
set the visible bell to nothing.
|
|
|
|
Put this in your TERMCAP environment variable:
|
|
|
|
... :vb=: ...
|
|
|
|
And evaluate this:
|
|
|
|
(setq visible-bell t)
|
|
|
|
45: How do I turn down the bell volume in Emacs running under X Windows?
|
|
|
|
You can adjust the bell volume and duration for all programs with the
|
|
shell command xset.
|
|
|
|
Invoking xset without any arguments produces some basic information,
|
|
including the following:
|
|
|
|
usage: xset [-display host:dpy] option ...
|
|
To turn bell off:
|
|
-b b off b 0
|
|
To set bell volume, pitch and duration:
|
|
b [vol [pitch [dur]]] b on
|
|
|
|
46: How do I tell Emacs to automatically indent a new line to the
|
|
indentation of the previous line?
|
|
|
|
One solution is Indented Text Mode (M-x indented-text-mode).
|
|
|
|
If you have auto-fill mode on (a minor mode, see question 30), you can
|
|
tell Emacs to prefix every line with a certain character sequence, the
|
|
"fill prefix." Type the prefix at the beginning of a line, position
|
|
point after it, and then type "C-x ." (set-fill-prefix) to set the fill
|
|
prefix. Thereafter, auto-filling will automatically put the fill prefix
|
|
at the beginning of new lines, and M-q (fill-paragraph) will maintain any
|
|
fill prefix when refilling the paragraph.
|
|
|
|
NOTE: If you have paragraphs with different levels of indentation, you
|
|
will have to set the fill prefix to the correct value each time you move
|
|
to a new paragraph. To avoid this hassle, try one of the many packages
|
|
available from the Emacs Lisp Archive. Look up `fill' and `indent' in
|
|
the Lisp Code Directory for guidance.
|
|
|
|
47: How do I show which parenthesis matches the one I'm looking at?
|
|
|
|
GNU Emacs 19 comes with paren.el, which (when loaded) will automatically
|
|
highlight matching parentheses whenever point (i.e., the cursor) is
|
|
located over one. To load paren automatically, include the line
|
|
|
|
(require 'paren)
|
|
|
|
in your .emacs file.
|
|
|
|
Alternatives to paren include:
|
|
|
|
* If you're looking at a right parenthesis (or brace or bracket) you can
|
|
delete it and reinsert it. Emacs will blink the cursor on the matching
|
|
parenthesis.
|
|
|
|
* M-C-f (forward-sexp) and M-C-b (backward-sexp) will skip over one set
|
|
of balanced parentheses, so you can see which parentheses match. (You
|
|
can train it to skip over balanced brackets and braces at the same time
|
|
by modifying the syntax table.)
|
|
|
|
* Here is some Emacs Lisp that will make the % key show the matching
|
|
parenthesis, like in vi. In addition, if the cursor isn't over a
|
|
parenthesis, it simply inserts a % like normal.
|
|
|
|
;; By an unknown contributor
|
|
|
|
(global-set-key "%" 'match-paren)
|
|
|
|
(defun match-paren (arg)
|
|
"Go to the matching parenthesis if on parenthesis otherwise insert %."
|
|
(interactive "p")
|
|
(cond ((looking-at "\\s\(") (forward-list 1) (backward-char 1))
|
|
((looking-at "\\s\)") (forward-char 1) (backward-list 1))
|
|
(t (self-insert-command (or arg 1)))))
|
|
|
|
48: In C mode, can I show just the lines that will be left after #ifdef
|
|
commands are handled by the compiler?
|
|
|
|
M-x hide-ifdef-mode. (This is a minor mode.)
|
|
|
|
49: Is there an equivalent to the `.' (dot) command of vi?
|
|
|
|
(`.' is the redo command in vi. It redoes the last insertion/deletion.)
|
|
|
|
No, not really.
|
|
|
|
You can type "C-x ESC ESC" (repeat-complex-command) to reinvoke commands
|
|
that used the minibuffer to get arguments. In repeat-complex-command you
|
|
can type M-p and M-n to scan through all the different complex commands
|
|
you've typed.
|
|
|
|
To repeat something on each line, use keyboard macros. (See `Keyboard
|
|
Macros' in the on-line manual.)
|
|
|
|
50: What are the valid X resource settings (i.e., stuff in .Xdefaults)?
|
|
|
|
See Emacs man page, or "Resources X" in the on-line manual.
|
|
|
|
You can also use a resource editor, such as editres (for X11R5 and
|
|
onwards), to look at the resource names for the menu bar, assuming Emacs
|
|
was compiled with the X toolkit.
|
|
|
|
51: How do I execute a piece of Emacs Lisp code?
|
|
|
|
There are a number of ways to execute (called "evaluate") an Emacs Lisp
|
|
"form":
|
|
|
|
* If you want it evaluated every time you run Emacs, put it in a file
|
|
named `.emacs' in your home directory.
|
|
|
|
* You can type the form in the *scratch* buffer, and then type LFD (or
|
|
C-j) after it. The result of evaluating the form will be inserted in
|
|
the buffer.
|
|
|
|
* In Emacs-Lisp mode, typing M-C-x evaluates a top-level form before or
|
|
around point.
|
|
|
|
* Typing "C-x C-e" in any buffer evaluates the Lisp form immediately
|
|
before point and prints its value in the echo area.
|
|
|
|
* Typing M-ESC or M-x eval-expression allows you to type a Lisp form in
|
|
the minibuffer which will be evaluated.
|
|
|
|
* You can use M-x load-file to have Emacs evaluate all the Lisp forms in
|
|
a file. (To do this from Lisp use the function `load' instead.)
|
|
|
|
These functions are also used for evaluating Lisp forms:
|
|
|
|
load-library, eval-region, eval-current-buffer, require, autoload
|
|
|
|
52: How do I change Emacs's idea of the tab character's length?
|
|
|
|
Set the variable default-tab-width. For example, to set tab stops every
|
|
10 characters, insert the following in your .emacs file:
|
|
|
|
(setq default-tab-width 10)
|
|
|
|
53: How do I insert `>' at the beginning of every line?
|
|
|
|
Type "M-x replace-regexp RET ^ RET > RET".
|
|
|
|
To do this only in the region, type "C-x n n M-x replace-regexp RET ^ RET
|
|
> RET C-x w".
|
|
|
|
WARNING: The command narrow-to-region (C-x n n) is disabled by default
|
|
because it can be very confusing (i.e., "Oh no! Where did my file go?").
|
|
|
|
54: How do I insert `_^H' before each character in a paragraph to get an
|
|
underlined paragraph?
|
|
|
|
M-x underline-region.
|
|
|
|
55: How do I repeat a command as many times as possible?
|
|
|
|
Use "C-x (" and "C-x )" to make a keyboard macro that invokes the command
|
|
and then type "M-0 C-x e".
|
|
|
|
WARNING: any messages your command prints in the echo area will be
|
|
suppressed.
|
|
|
|
56: How do I make Emacs behave like this: when I go up or down, the cursor
|
|
should stay in the same column even if the line is too short?
|
|
|
|
M-x picture-mode. (This is a minor mode, in theory anyway ...)
|
|
|
|
57: How do I tell Emacs to iconify itself?
|
|
|
|
"C-z" iconifies Emacs when running in X and suspends Emacs otherwise.
|
|
See `Misc X' in the on-line manual.
|
|
|
|
58: How do I use regexps (regular expressions) in Emacs?
|
|
|
|
See `Regexps' in the on-line manual.
|
|
|
|
WARNING: The "or" operator is `\|', not `|', and the grouping operators
|
|
are `\(' and `\)'. Also, the string syntax for a backslash is "\\".
|
|
Thus, the string syntax for a regular expression like xxx\(foo\|bar\) is
|
|
"xxx\\(foo\\|bar\\)". Notice the duplicated backslashes!
|
|
|
|
WARNING: Unlike in Unix grep, sed, etc., a complement character set
|
|
([^...]) can match a newline character (LFD aka C-j aka \n), unless
|
|
newline is mentioned as one of the characters not to match.
|
|
|
|
WARNING: The character syntax regexps (e.g., `\sw') are not meaningful
|
|
inside character set regexps (e.g., `[aeiou]'). (This is actually
|
|
typical for regexp syntax.)
|
|
|
|
59: How do I perform a replace operation across more than one file?
|
|
|
|
The "tags" feature of Emacs includes the command tags-query-replace which
|
|
performs a query-replace across all the files mentioned in the TAGS file.
|
|
See `Tags:Tags Search' in the on-line manual.
|
|
|
|
In addition, Martin Boyer has written a package named global-replace
|
|
which will perform a query-replace across all the files mentioned in the
|
|
*compilation* buffer (usually done after a `grep'), which is available
|
|
via anonymous FTP:
|
|
|
|
/ireq-robot.hydro.qc.ca:pub/emacs/lisp/compile.el.z
|
|
/ireq-robot.hydro.qc.ca:pub/emacs/lisp/global-replace.el.z
|
|
/ireq-robot.hydro.qc.ca:pub/emacs/lisp/query.el.z
|
|
|
|
NOTE: These files are compressed using GNU zip ("gzip"); you can get a
|
|
copy from gzip from prep and its mirrors (see question 80).
|
|
|
|
60: Where is the documentation for `etags'?
|
|
|
|
The `etags' man page should be in the same place as the `emacs' man page.
|
|
|
|
Quick command-line switch descriptions are also available. For example,
|
|
`etags -H'.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bugs/Problems
|
|
|
|
61: Does Emacs have problems with files larger than 8 megabytes?
|
|
[This problem has been solved better in Emacs 19.29 because the buffer
|
|
size limit is now 16 times as large.]
|
|
|
|
Most installed versions of GNU Emacs will use 24-bit signed integers (and
|
|
24-bit pointers) internally. This limits the file size that Emacs can
|
|
handle to 8,388,607 bytes (2^23 - 1).
|
|
|
|
Leonard N. Zubkoff <lnz@lucid.com> suggests putting the following two
|
|
lines in src/config.h before compiling Emacs to allow for 26-bit integers
|
|
and pointers (and thus filesizes of up to 33,554,431 bytes):
|
|
|
|
#define VALBITS 26
|
|
#define GCTYPEBITS 5
|
|
|
|
WARNING: This method may result in `ILLEGAL DATATYPE' and other random
|
|
errors on some machines.
|
|
|
|
David Gillespie <daveg@csvax.cs.caltech.edu> gives an explanation of why
|
|
Emacs uses 24 bit integers and pointers:
|
|
|
|
Emacs is largely written in a dialect of Lisp; Lisp is a freely-typed
|
|
language in the sense that you can put any value of any type into any
|
|
variable, or return it from a function, and so on. So each value must
|
|
carry a "tag" along with it identifying what kind of thing it is, e.g.,
|
|
integer, pointer to a list, pointer to an editing buffer, and so on.
|
|
Emacs uses standard 32-bit integers for data objects, taking the top 8
|
|
bits for the tag and the bottom 24 bits for the value. So integers
|
|
(and pointers) are somewhat restricted compared to true C integers and
|
|
pointers.
|
|
|
|
Emacs uses 8-bit tags because that's a little faster on byte-oriented
|
|
machines, but there are only really enough tags to require 6 bits.
|
|
|
|
62: How do I get rid of the ^M junk in my shell buffer?
|
|
|
|
Try typing "M-x shell-strip-ctrl-m RET" while in shell-mode to make them
|
|
go away. If that doesn't work, you have several options:
|
|
|
|
For tcsh, put this in your `.cshrc' (or `.tcshrc') file:
|
|
|
|
if ($?EMACS) then
|
|
if ("$EMACS" == t) then
|
|
if ($?tcsh) unset edit
|
|
stty nl
|
|
endif
|
|
endif
|
|
|
|
Or put this in your .emacs_tcsh file:
|
|
|
|
unset edit
|
|
stty nl
|
|
|
|
Alternatively, use csh in your shell buffers instead of tcsh. One way
|
|
is:
|
|
|
|
(setq explicit-shell-file-name "/bin/csh")
|
|
|
|
and another is to do this in your .cshrc (or .tcshrc) file:
|
|
|
|
setenv ESHELL /bin/csh
|
|
|
|
(You must start Emacs over again with the environment variable properly
|
|
set for this to take effect.)
|
|
|
|
63: Why do I get `Process shell exited abnormally with code 1'?
|
|
|
|
The most likely reason for this message is that the `env' program is not
|
|
properly installed. Compile this program for your architecture, and
|
|
install it with a+x permission in the architecture-dependent Emacs
|
|
program directory. (You can find what this directory is at your site by
|
|
inspecting the value of the variable exec-directory by typing "C-h v
|
|
exec-directory RET".)
|
|
|
|
You should also check for other programs named `env' in your path (e.g.,
|
|
SunOS has a program named /usr/bin/env). We don't understand why this
|
|
can cause a failure and don't know a general solution for working around
|
|
the problem in this case.
|
|
|
|
The `make clean' command will remove `env' and other vital programs, so
|
|
be careful when using it.
|
|
|
|
It has been reported that this sometimes happened when Emacs was started
|
|
as an X client from an xterm window (i.e., had a controlling tty) but the
|
|
xterm was later terminated.
|
|
|
|
See also PROBLEMS (in the top-level directory when you unpack the Emacs
|
|
source) for other possible causes of this message.
|
|
|
|
64: Where is the termcap/terminfo entry for terminal type `emacs'?
|
|
|
|
The termcap entry for terminal type `emacs' is ordinarily put in the
|
|
TERMCAP environment variable of subshells. It may help in certain
|
|
situations (e.g., using rlogin from shell buffer) to add an entry for
|
|
`emacs' to the system-wide termcap file. Here is a correct termcap entry
|
|
for `emacs':
|
|
|
|
emacs:tc=unknown:
|
|
|
|
To make a terminfo entry for `emacs', use `tic' or `captoinfo'. You need
|
|
to generate /usr/lib/terminfo/e/emacs. It may work to simply copy
|
|
/usr/lib/terminfo/d/dumb to /usr/lib/terminfo/e/emacs.
|
|
|
|
Having a termcap/terminfo entry will not enable the use of full screen
|
|
programs in shell buffers. Use M-x terminal-emulator for that instead.
|
|
|
|
A workaround to the problem of missing termcap/terminfo entries is to
|
|
change terminal type `emacs' to type `dumb' or `unknown' in your shell
|
|
start up file. `csh' users could put this in their .cshrc files:
|
|
|
|
if ("$term" == emacs) set term=dumb
|
|
|
|
65: Why does Emacs spontaneously start displaying `I-search:' and beeping?
|
|
|
|
Your terminal (or something between your terminal and the computer) is
|
|
sending C-s and C-q for flow control, and Emacs is receiving these
|
|
characters and interpreting them as commands. (The C-s character
|
|
normally invokes the isearch-forward command.) For possible solutions,
|
|
see question 110.
|
|
|
|
66: Why can't Emacs talk to certain hosts (or certain hostnames)?
|
|
|
|
The problem may be that Emacs is linked with a wimpier version of
|
|
gethostbyname than the rest of the programs on the machine. This is
|
|
often manifested as a message on startup of `X server not responding.
|
|
Check your DISPLAY environment variable.' or a message of `Unknown host'
|
|
from open-network-stream.
|
|
|
|
On a Sun, this may be because Emacs had to be linked with the static C
|
|
library. The version of gethostbyname in the static C library may only
|
|
look in /etc/hosts and the NIS (YP) maps, while the version in the
|
|
dynamic C library may be smart enough to check DNS in addition to or
|
|
instead of NIS. On a Motorola Delta running System V R3.6, the version
|
|
of gethostbyname in the standard library works, but the one that works
|
|
with NIS doesn't (the one you get with -linet). Other operating systems
|
|
have similar problems.
|
|
|
|
Try these options:
|
|
|
|
* Explicitly add the host you want to communicate with to /etc/hosts.
|
|
|
|
* Relink Emacs with this line in src/config.h:
|
|
|
|
#define LIBS_SYSTEM -lresolv
|
|
|
|
* Replace gethostbyname and friends in libc.a with more useful versions
|
|
such as the ones in libresolv.a. Then relink Emacs.
|
|
|
|
* If you are actually running NIS, make sure that `ypbind' is properly
|
|
told to do DNS lookups with the correct command line switch.
|
|
|
|
* Use tcp.el and tcp.c from Gnus. This has the additional advantage that
|
|
you can use numeric IP addresses instead of names. open-network-stream
|
|
currently can't handle numeric addresses. Brian Thomson
|
|
<thomson@hub.toronto.edu> has a enhancement to open-network-stream to
|
|
allow it to handle numeric addresses.
|
|
|
|
67: Why does Emacs say `Error in init file'?
|
|
|
|
An error occurred while loading either your .emacs file or the
|
|
system-wide lisp/default.el file. For information on how to debug your
|
|
.emacs file, see question 27.
|
|
|
|
It may be the case that you may need to load some package first, or use a
|
|
hook that will be evaluated after the package is loaded. A common case
|
|
of this is explained in question 106.
|
|
|
|
68: Why does Emacs ignore my X resources (my .Xdefaults file)?
|
|
|
|
As of version 19, Emacs searches for X resources in the files specified
|
|
by the XFILESEARCHPATH, XUSERFILESEARCHPATH, and XAPPLRESDIR environment
|
|
variables, emulating the functionality provided by programs written using
|
|
Xt.
|
|
|
|
XFILESEARCHPATH and XUSERFILESEARCHPATH should be a list of file names
|
|
separated by colons; XAPPLRESDIR should be a list of directory names
|
|
separated by colons.
|
|
|
|
Emacs searches for X resources
|
|
|
|
+ specified on the command line, with the `-xrm RESOURCESTRING'
|
|
option,
|
|
+ then in the value of the XENVIRONMENT environment variable,
|
|
- or if that is unset, in the file named ~/.Xdefaults-HOSTNAME if it
|
|
exists
|
|
(where HOSTNAME is the hostname of the machine Emacs is running on),
|
|
+ then in the screen-specific and server-wide resource properties
|
|
provided by the server,
|
|
- or if those properties are unset, in the file named ~/.Xdefaults
|
|
if it exists,
|
|
+ then in the files listed in XUSERFILESEARCHPATH,
|
|
- or in files named LANG/Emacs in directories listed in XAPPLRESDIR
|
|
(where LANG is the value of the LANG environment variable), if
|
|
the LANG environment variable is set,
|
|
- or in files named Emacs in the directories listed in XAPPLRESDIR
|
|
- or in ~/LANG/Emacs (if the LANG environment variable is set),
|
|
- or in ~/Emacs,
|
|
+ then in the files listed in XFILESEARCHPATH.
|
|
|
|
69: Why does Emacs take 20 seconds to visit a file?
|
|
|
|
The usual cause is that the master lock file, `!!!SuperLock!!!' has been
|
|
left in the lock directory somehow. Delete it.
|
|
|
|
Mark Meuer <meuer@geom.umn.edu> says that NeXT NFS has a bug where an
|
|
exclusive create succeeds but returns an error status. This can cause the
|
|
same problem. Since Emacs's file locking doesn't work over NFS anyway,
|
|
the best solution is to recompile Emacs with CLASH_DETECTION undefined.
|
|
|
|
70: How do I edit a file with a `$' in its name?
|
|
|
|
When entering a filename in the minibuffer, Emacs will attempt to expand
|
|
a `$' followed by a word as an environment variable. To suppress this
|
|
behavior, type "$$" instead.
|
|
|
|
71: Why does shell mode lose track of the shell's current directory?
|
|
|
|
Emacs has no way of knowing when the shell actually changes its
|
|
directory. This is an intrinsic limitation of Unix. So it tries to
|
|
guess by recognizing `cd' commands. If you type `cd' followed by a
|
|
directory name with a variable reference (`cd $HOME/bin') or with a shell
|
|
metacharacter (`cd ../lib*'), Emacs will fail to correctly guess the
|
|
shell's new current directory. A huge variety of fixes and enhancements
|
|
to shell mode for this problem have been written to handle this problem.
|
|
Check the Lisp Code Directory (see question 77).
|
|
|
|
You can tell Emacs the shell's current directory with the command "M-x
|
|
dirs".
|
|
|
|
72: Are there any security risks in GNU Emacs?
|
|
|
|
* the `movemail' incident (No, this is not a risk.)
|
|
|
|
In his book "The Cuckoo's Egg," Cliff Stoll describes this in chapter
|
|
4. The site at LBL had installed the `etc/movemail' program setuid
|
|
root. (As of version 19, movemail is in your architecture-specific
|
|
directory; type "C-h v directory RET" to see what it is.) Since
|
|
`movemail' had not been designed for this situation, a security hole
|
|
was created and users could get root privileges.
|
|
|
|
`movemail' has since been changed so that even if it is installed
|
|
setuid root this security hole will not be a result.
|
|
|
|
We have heard unverified reports that the Internet worm took advantage
|
|
of this configuration problem.
|
|
|
|
* the file-local-variable feature (Yes, a risk, but easy to change.)
|
|
|
|
There is an Emacs feature that allows the setting of local values for
|
|
variables when editing a file by including specially formatted text
|
|
near the end of the file. This feature also includes the ability to
|
|
have arbitrary Emacs Lisp code evaluated when the file is visited.
|
|
Obviously, there is a potential for Trojan horses to exploit this
|
|
feature.
|
|
|
|
If you set the variable inhibit-local-variables to a non-nil value,
|
|
Emacs will display the special local variable settings of a file that
|
|
you visit and ask you if you really want them. This variable is not
|
|
mentioned in the manual.
|
|
|
|
It is wise to do this in lisp/site-init.el before building Emacs:
|
|
|
|
(setq inhibit-local-variables t)
|
|
|
|
If Emacs has already been built, the expression can be put in
|
|
lisp/default.el instead, or an individual can put it in their own
|
|
.emacs file.
|
|
|
|
The ability to exploit this feature by sending e-mail to an Rmail user
|
|
was fixed sometime after Emacs 18.52. However, any new package that
|
|
uses find-file or find-file-noselect has to be careful about this.
|
|
|
|
For more information, see `File Variables' in the on-line manual
|
|
(which, incidentally, does not describe how to disable the feature).
|
|
|
|
* synthetic X events (Yes, a risk, use MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 or better.)
|
|
|
|
Emacs accepts synthetic X events generated by the SendEvent request as
|
|
though they were regular events. As a result, if you are using the
|
|
trivial host-based authentication, other users who can open X
|
|
connections to your X workstation can make your Emacs process do
|
|
anything, including run other processes with your privileges.
|
|
|
|
The only fix for this is to prevent other users from being able to open
|
|
X connections. The standard way to prevent this is to use a real
|
|
authentication mechanism, such as MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1. If using the
|
|
`xauth' program has any effect, then you are probably using
|
|
MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1. Your site may be using a superior authentication
|
|
method; ask your system administrator.
|
|
|
|
If real authentication is not a possibility, you may be satisfied by
|
|
just allowing hosts access for brief intervals while you start your X
|
|
programs, then removing the access. This reduces the risk somewhat by
|
|
narrowing the time window when hostile users would have access, but
|
|
DOES NOT ELIMINATE THE RISK.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Difficulties Building/Installing/Porting Emacs
|
|
|
|
73: What should I do if I have trouble building Emacs?
|
|
|
|
First look in the file PROBLEMS (in the top-level directory when you
|
|
unpack the Emacs source) to see if there is already a solution for your
|
|
problem. Next check the FAQ (you're reading it). If you don't find a
|
|
solution, then report your problem via e-mail to
|
|
bug-gnu-emacs@prep.ai.mit.edu. Please do not post it to gnu.emacs.help
|
|
or e-mail it to help-gnu-emacs@prep.ai.mit.edu. For further guidelines,
|
|
see question 8.
|
|
|
|
74: How do I stop Emacs from failing when the executable is stripped?
|
|
|
|
Don't do that.
|
|
|
|
This problem has been reported on SGI Indigo machines running Irix 4.0.*
|
|
and RS/6000 machines. Scott Henry <scotth@hoshi.corp.SGi.COM> posted a
|
|
patch that fixes the problem for Irix.
|
|
|
|
75: Why does linking Emacs with -lX11 fail?
|
|
|
|
Emacs needs to be linked with the static version of the X11 library,
|
|
libX11.a. This may be missing.
|
|
|
|
Under OpenWindows, you may need to use `add_services' to add the
|
|
`OpenWindows Programmers' optional software category from the CD-ROM.
|
|
|
|
Under HP-UX 8.0, you may need to run `update' again to load the X11-PRG
|
|
`fileset'. This may be missing even if you specified `all filesets' the
|
|
first time. If libcurses.a is missing, you may need to load the
|
|
`Berkeley Development Option' {???}.
|
|
|
|
If you are building the MIT X11 sources, you may need to modify your
|
|
`site.cf' file to get static versions of the libraries. (Info from David
|
|
Zuhn <zoo@cygnus.com>.)
|
|
|
|
Other systems may have similar problems. You can always define
|
|
CANNOT_DUMP and link with the shared libraries instead.
|
|
|
|
To get the Xmenu stuff to work, you need to find a copy of MIT's
|
|
liboldX.a.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Finding/Getting Emacs and Related Packages
|
|
|
|
76: Where can I get GNU Emacs on the net (or by snail mail)?
|
|
|
|
Look in the files etc/DISTRIB and etc/FTP for information on nearby
|
|
archive sites and etc/ORDERS for mail orders. If you don't already have
|
|
GNU Emacs, see question 20 for how to get these files.
|
|
|
|
The latest version is always available via anonymous FTP at MIT:
|
|
|
|
/prep.ai.mit.edu:pub/gnu/emacs-19.27.tar.gz
|
|
|
|
See question 80 for information on where to get other GNU software.
|
|
|
|
77: How do I find a GNU Emacs Lisp package that does XXX?
|
|
|
|
A listing of Emacs Lisp packages, called the Lisp Code Directory, is
|
|
being maintained by Dave Brennan <brennan@hal.com>. You can search
|
|
through this list to learn if someone has written something that fits
|
|
your needs.
|
|
|
|
This list is file LCD-datafile.Z in the Emacs Lisp Archive (see the next
|
|
question for retrieval instructions). The files lispdir.el.Z and
|
|
lispdir.doc in the archive contain Lisp code and information to help you
|
|
use the list. Once you have installed lispdir.el and LCD-datafile, then
|
|
you can use the `M-x lisp-dir-apropos' command to search the listing.
|
|
For example, the command `M-x lisp-dir-apropos RET ange-ftp RET' produces
|
|
this output:
|
|
|
|
GNU Emacs Lisp Code Directory Apropos -- "ange-ftp"
|
|
"~/" refers to archive.cis.ohio-state.edu:pub/gnu/emacs/elisp-archive/
|
|
|
|
ange-ftp (4.18) 15-Jul-1992
|
|
Andy Norman, <ange@hplb.hpl.hp.com>
|
|
~/packages/ange-ftp.tar.Z
|
|
transparent FTP Support for GNU Emacs
|
|
auto-save (1.19) 01-May-1992
|
|
Sebastian Kremer, <sk@thp.uni-koeln.de>
|
|
~/misc/auto-save.el.Z
|
|
Safer autosaving with support for ange-ftp and /tmp
|
|
ftp-quik (1.0) 28-Jul-1993
|
|
Terrence Brannon, <tb06@pl122f.eecs.lehigh.edu>
|
|
~/modes/ftp-quik.el.Z
|
|
Quik access to dired'ing of ange-ftp and normal paths
|
|
|
|
78: Where can I get GNU Emacs Lisp packages that don't come with Emacs?
|
|
|
|
First, check the Lisp Code Directory to find the name of the package you
|
|
are looking for (see question 77). Next, check local archives and the
|
|
Emacs Lisp Archive to find a copy of the relevant files. If you still
|
|
haven't found it, you can send e-mail to the author asking for a copy.
|
|
|
|
You can access the Emacs Lisp Archive via anonymous FTP:
|
|
|
|
/archive.cis.ohio-state.edu:pub/gnu/emacs/elisp-archive/
|
|
/ftp.cs.umn.edu:pub/elisp-archive/
|
|
/calypso-2.oit.unc.edu:pub/gnu/elisp-archive/
|
|
/ftp.uu.net:packages/gnu/emacs-lisp/
|
|
/gatekeeper.dec.com:pub/GNU/elisp-archive/
|
|
/nic.switch.ch:mirror/elisp-archive/
|
|
/ftp.diku.dk:pub/elisp-archive/
|
|
/quepasa.cs.tu-berlin.de:pub/gnu/elisp/
|
|
/faui43.informatik.uni-erlangen.de:pub/gnu/elisp-archive/
|
|
/ftp.uni-mainz.de:pub/gnu/elisp-archive/
|
|
/nic.funet.fi:pub/gnu/emacs/elisp-archive/
|
|
/src.doc.ic.ac.uk:gnu/EmacsBits/elisp-archive/
|
|
|
|
Retrieve and read the file README first.
|
|
|
|
NOTE: * The archive maintainers do not have time to answer individual
|
|
requests for packages or the list of packages in the archive. If
|
|
you cannot use FTP or UUCP to access the archive yourself, try to
|
|
find a friend who can, but please don't ask the maintainers.
|
|
|
|
* Any files with names ending in `.Z', `.z', or `.gz' are
|
|
compressed, so you should use `binary' mode in FTP to retrieve
|
|
them. You should also use binary mode whenever you retrieve any
|
|
files with names ending in `.elc'.
|
|
|
|
79: How do I submit code to the Emacs Lisp Archive?
|
|
|
|
Guidelines and procedures for submission to the archive can be found in
|
|
the file GUIDELINES in the archive directory (see question 78). It
|
|
covers documentation, copyrights, packaging, submission, and the Lisp
|
|
Code Directory Record. Anonymous FTP uploads are not permitted.
|
|
Instead, all submissions are mailed to elisp-archive@cis.ohio-state.edu.
|
|
The lispdir.el package has a function named submit-lcd-entry which will
|
|
help you with this.
|
|
|
|
80: Where can I get other up-to-date GNU stuff?
|
|
|
|
The most up-to-date official GNU stuff is normally kept on
|
|
prep.ai.mit.edu and is available for anonymous FTP in the pub/gnu
|
|
directory. Read the files etc/DISTRIB and etc/FTP for more information
|
|
(see question 20 for retrieval instructions).
|
|
|
|
The following sites are all mirror images of the GNU distribution area:
|
|
|
|
/col.hp.com:mirrors/gnu/
|
|
/ftp.uu.net:packages/gnu/
|
|
/ftp.win.tue.nl:pub/gnu/
|
|
/gatekeeper.dec.com:pub/GNU/
|
|
/nic.funet.fi:pub/gnu/
|
|
/src.doc.ic.ac.uk:gnu/ (available via FTP, NIFTP, FTAM)
|
|
/utsun.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp:ftpsync/prep/
|
|
/wuarchive.wustl.edu:systems/gnu/
|
|
|
|
The directory at ftp.uu.net is a mirror of prep.ai.mit.edu:pub/gnu,
|
|
except that files larger than one megabyte are split into multiple parts.
|
|
If you have trouble transferring large files, you should try here. A
|
|
file normally named `XXX' is split into files XXX-split/part[0-9][0-9],
|
|
and there will be a file named XXX-split/README which contains the list
|
|
of parts (especially helpful when FTP-ing by e-mail), their checksums,
|
|
and reassembly instructions.
|
|
|
|
81: What is the difference between Emacs and Epoch?
|
|
|
|
Epoch was a modified version of GNU Emacs. It was merged
|
|
into XEmacs (formerly "Lucid Emacs"), and the Epoch redisplay, now
|
|
being totally rewritten, is slated to be merged into Emacs when the
|
|
rewrite is done.
|
|
|
|
82: What is the difference between Emacs and XEmacs (formerly "Lucid
|
|
Emacs")?
|
|
|
|
XEmacs is a modified version of GNU Emacs.
|
|
|
|
A comparison between the two versions, written by the XEmacs
|
|
maintainers, had been included here. Richard Stallman removed it
|
|
from this copy of the FAQ because it was unfair. It was (1)
|
|
one-sided, listing only advantages of XEmacs and not advantages of
|
|
the principal version of Emacs, (2) biased, stating the opinions
|
|
of the XEmacs maintainers, and (3) out of date, listing as advantages of
|
|
XEmacs features which in fact both versions have.
|
|
|
|
83: Where can I get Emacs for my PC running MS-DOS?
|
|
|
|
Recent releases of GNU Emacs 19 should compile right out of the box on
|
|
PCs with a 386 or better, running MS-DOS 3.0 or later. You will need the
|
|
following:
|
|
|
|
Compiler: djgpp version 1,11 maint 4 or later. You can get the latest
|
|
version by grabbing everything in the following directory
|
|
(using anonymous ftp):
|
|
|
|
oak.oakland.edu:pub/msdos/djdpp
|
|
|
|
Tar: One DOS version of tar is available via anonymous ftp from
|
|
|
|
ftp.urc.tue.nl:pub/unixtools/dos
|
|
|
|
However, not all DOS versions of tar work equally well, so you
|
|
might have to try others if this one gives you trouble.
|
|
|
|
Utilities: chmod, make, mv, sed, rm.
|
|
|
|
All of these utilities are available via anonymous ftp from
|
|
the site
|
|
|
|
ftp.iro.umontreal.ca:pub/Internet/gnuish
|
|
|
|
You should grab the files futil4ax.zoo (contains chmod.exe,
|
|
mv.exe, and rm.exe), sed106ax.zoo (contains sed.exe), and
|
|
gzip07ax.zoo (contains gzip.exe).
|
|
|
|
The file etc/MSDOS contains some information on the differences between
|
|
the Unix and MS-DOS versions of GNU Emacs.
|
|
|
|
If you would prefer not to compile Emacs by yourself, you can get
|
|
binaries for Emacs 19.24 via anonymous ftp from the following two sites:
|
|
|
|
ftp.demon.co.uk:pub/ibmpc/editors/emacs19.24
|
|
ftp.imada.ou.dk:pub/mirrors/msdos/emacs-19.24
|
|
|
|
You might also be interested in Demacs, which runs under MS-DOS (*not*
|
|
Microsoft Windows; see question 84) on 386- and 486-based PCs. Demacs is
|
|
a port of Nemacs (see question 126), rather than a straight port of GNU
|
|
Emacs 18 or 19.
|
|
|
|
Demacs was developed using an MS-DOS version of gcc called djgpp by
|
|
D. J. Delorie <dj@ctron.com> which can compile and run large programs
|
|
under MS-DOS, but not under MS Windows. Demacs was derived from Nemacs
|
|
rather than straight from GNU Emacs. You can get the most recent version
|
|
of Demacs via anonymous ftp from ftp.sigmath.osaka-u.ac.jp in
|
|
pub/Msdos/Demacs/*.
|
|
|
|
For a list of other MS-DOS implementations of Emacs (and Emacs
|
|
look-alikes), consult the list of "Emacs implementations and literature,"
|
|
available via anonymous ftp from rtfm.mit.edu in pub/usenet/comp.emacs.
|
|
|
|
84: Where can I get Emacs for my PC running Microsoft Windows?
|
|
|
|
There are currently two ports of Emacs that runs under Microsoft Windows:
|
|
|
|
* Oemacs
|
|
|
|
Current version of Oemacs4.1 is based on Emacs-19.19 and runs in either
|
|
MS-DOS or Microsoft Windows. There is rumor that the author Darryl
|
|
Okahata <darrylo@sr.hp.com> would not update unless there is
|
|
demonstrated interest. It is nearly a full porting of GNU Emacs except
|
|
that shell-mode does not work due to the limitation of MS-DOS.
|
|
Anonymous ftp information:
|
|
|
|
/oak.oakland.edu:pub/msdos/oemacs/
|
|
|
|
* The other uses a proprietary X Windows emulator and therefore
|
|
the FSF does not think it deserves publicity.
|
|
|
|
85: Where can I get Emacs for my PC running OS/2?
|
|
|
|
Emacs 19.27 is ported for emx on OS/2 2.0 or 2.1.
|
|
|
|
Anonymous FTP info:
|
|
|
|
hobbes.nmsu.edu:os2/2_x/unix/emacs27
|
|
|
|
86: Where can I get Emacs for my Atari ST?
|
|
|
|
(does anyone know?)
|
|
|
|
87: Where can I get Emacs for my Amiga?
|
|
|
|
Amiga software is available through Aminet, a set of interconnected FTP
|
|
sites and other file accessing services for Amiga software. The primary
|
|
sites for Aminet are ftp.wustl.edu (128.252.135.4) and ftp.cdrom.com
|
|
(192.153.46.2). In the directory pub/aminet/util/gnu, there are
|
|
|
|
a1.26-emacs-bin.lha -- Amiga GNU Emacs V1.26, binaries
|
|
a1.26-emacs-src.lha -- Amiga GNU Emacs V1.26, sources
|
|
|
|
There are also quite a few Emacs related files/programs. Please search
|
|
the index of Aminet.
|
|
|
|
We have no access to an Amiga, so please send in your experience and
|
|
comments on the implementation.
|
|
|
|
88: Where can I get Emacs for my Apple computer?
|
|
|
|
The FSF is a participant in a boycott of Apple because of Apple's "look
|
|
and feel" copyright suits. See the file etc/APPLE for more details.
|
|
Because of this boycott, the FSF doesn't include support in GNU software
|
|
for Apple computers such as the Macintosh.
|
|
|
|
Please don't help people port or develop software for Apple computers.
|
|
|
|
89: Where do I get Emacs that runs on VMS under DECwindows?
|
|
|
|
Version 19.27 has a VMS directory containing installation instructions, a
|
|
makefile, and various .com files. But according to Richard Levitte
|
|
<levitte@e.kth.se>, it does not run out of the box. Even if it does, the
|
|
VMSNOTES indicates that the Emacs on VMS is going to have much more
|
|
limited functionality. Richard Levitte has a patched 19.22 that
|
|
supposedly has subprocess and networking functionality just as on Unix,
|
|
with virtually the same lisp interface. The source is available via
|
|
anonymous ftp at
|
|
|
|
ftp.vms.stacken.kth.se:GNU-VMS/Beta/EMACS-19_22-********.TAR-GZ
|
|
|
|
where ******** is the release date of the kit. You should also read
|
|
http://www.e.kth.se/elev/levitte/gnu/emacs.html for more information.
|
|
|
|
90: Where can I get modes for Lex, Yacc/Bison, Bourne shell, Csh, C++,
|
|
Objective C, Pascal, and Awk?
|
|
|
|
Most of these modes are now available in standard Emacs distribution. To
|
|
get additional modes, look in the Lisp Code Directory (see question 77).
|
|
For C++, if you use lisp-dir-apropos, you must specify the pattern like
|
|
this:
|
|
|
|
M-x lisp-dir-apropos RET c\+\+ RET
|
|
|
|
Note that Barry Warsaw's cc-mode now works for C, C++, and Objective-C
|
|
code. You can get the latest version (4.85, as of this writing) from the
|
|
Emacs Lisp Archive.
|
|
|
|
91: What is the IP address of XXX.YYY.ZZZ?
|
|
|
|
If you are at a site with a deficient nameserver, you may need to know
|
|
the IP address of a host to FTP files from it. You can get this
|
|
information in two ways:
|
|
|
|
* By telnet:
|
|
|
|
telnet nic.ddn.mil hostnames (or `telnet 192.112.36.5 101')
|
|
@ whois
|
|
Whois: host XXX.YYY.ZZZ
|
|
|
|
* By e-mail:
|
|
|
|
To: service@nic.ddn.mil
|
|
Subject: host XXX.YYY.ZZZ
|
|
or: whois XXX.YYY.ZZZ
|
|
or: help
|
|
|
|
or:
|
|
|
|
To: resolve@cs.widener.edu
|
|
body: site XXX.YYY.ZZZ
|
|
|
|
Information from Brendan Kehoe <brendan@cs.widener.edu>.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Major Emacs Lisp Packages, Emacs Extensions, and Related Programs
|
|
|
|
This section lists version numbers, FTP sites, mailing lists, newsgroups,
|
|
and other information for many important packages, extensions, and
|
|
related programs. There is some overlap with the Lisp Code Directory,
|
|
but these entries give more detailed information.
|
|
|
|
If you know of any other packages that are so substantial that they
|
|
deserve to be mentioned here, please let us know. Having its own mailing
|
|
list or newsgroup or more than half a megabyte of source code are good
|
|
signs.
|
|
|
|
92: VM (View Mail) -- another mail reader within Emacs
|
|
|
|
Author: Kyle Jones <kyle@uunet.uu.net>
|
|
Latest version: 5.72 (beta)
|
|
Anonymous FTP:
|
|
/ftp.uu.net:networking/mail/vm-5.72beta.tar.gz
|
|
Newsgroups and mailing lists:
|
|
Info-VM:
|
|
gnu.emacs.vm.info (newsgroup)
|
|
info-vm-request@uunet.uu.net (for subscriptions)
|
|
info-vm@uunet.uu.net (for submissions)
|
|
Bug-VM:
|
|
gnu.emacs.vm.bug (newsgroup)
|
|
bug-vm-request@uunet.uu.net (for subscriptions)
|
|
bug-vm@uunet.uu.net (for submissions)
|
|
|
|
93: Supercite -- mail and news citation package within Emacs
|
|
|
|
Author: Barry Warsaw <bwarsaw@cen.com>
|
|
Latest version: 3.54 (comes with GNU Emacs 19)
|
|
3.1 (available from the Emacs Lisp Archive)
|
|
Anonymous FTP:
|
|
/archive.cis.ohio-state.edu:pub/gnu/emacs/elisp-archive/packages/sc3.1.tar.Z
|
|
Mailing list: supercite-request@anthem.nlm.nih.gov (for subscriptions)
|
|
supercite@anthem.nlm.nih.gov (for submissions)
|
|
NOTE: Superyank is an old version of Supercite.
|
|
|
|
94: Gnus -- news reader within Emacs
|
|
|
|
Author: Masanobu Umeda <umerin@mse.kyutech.ac.jp>
|
|
Latest version: 4.1 (comes with GNU Emacs 19)
|
|
Anonymous FTP:
|
|
/src.doc.ic.ac.uk:gnu/EmacsBits/elisp-archive/packages/gnus-4.1.tar.Z
|
|
/archive.cis.ohio-state.edu:pub/gnu/emacs/elisp-archive/packages/gnus-4.1.tar.Z
|
|
Newsgroups and mailing lists:
|
|
English-only:
|
|
gnu.emacs.gnus (newsgroup)
|
|
info-gnus-english-request@cis.ohio-state.edu (for subscriptions)
|
|
info-gnus-english@cis.ohio-state.edu (for submissions)
|
|
Japanese (and some English):
|
|
info-gnus-request@flab.fujitsu.co.jp (for subscriptions)
|
|
info-gnus@flab.fujitsu.co.jp (for submissions)
|
|
|
|
95: Calc -- poor man's Mathematica within Emacs
|
|
|
|
Author: Dave Gillespie <daveg@csvax.cs.caltech.edu>
|
|
Latest version: 2.02c
|
|
Anonymous FTP:
|
|
/prep.ai.mit.edu:pub/gnu/calc-2.02c.tar.gz
|
|
NOTE: Unlike Wolfram Research, Dave has never threatened to sue
|
|
anyone for having a program with a similar command language to
|
|
Calc. :-)
|
|
|
|
96: Ange-FTP -- transparent FTP access for Emacs's file access routines
|
|
|
|
Author: Andy Norman <ange@hplb.hpl.hp.com>
|
|
Latest version: 1.56 (comes with GNU Emacs 19)
|
|
Anonymous FTP:
|
|
/archive.cis.ohio-state.edu:pub/gnu/emacs/elisp-archive/packages/ange-ftp.tar.Z
|
|
Mailing lists:
|
|
Ange-FTP Lovers:
|
|
ange-ftp-lovers-request@anorman.hpl.hp.com (for subscriptions)
|
|
ange-ftp-lovers@anorman.hpl.hp.com (for submissions)
|
|
/ftp.reed.edu:pub/mailing-lists/ange-ftp/ (archives)
|
|
Ange-FTP Announcements:
|
|
ange-ftp-lovers-announce@anorman.hpl.hp.com
|
|
NOTE: now supports VMS, CMS, and MTS ftp servers
|
|
|
|
97: VIP -- vi emulation for Emacs
|
|
|
|
Author: Aamod Sane <sane@cs.uiuc.edu>
|
|
Latest version: 4.3
|
|
Anonymous FTP:
|
|
/cs.uiuc.edu:pub/vip4.3.tar.Z
|
|
/archive.cis.ohio-state.edu:pub/gnu/emacs/elisp-archive/modes/vip-mode.tar.Z
|
|
NOTE: This version much more closely emulates vi than the one
|
|
distributed with Emacs.
|
|
|
|
98: AUC TeX -- enhanced LaTeX mode with debugging facilities
|
|
|
|
Author: Kresten Krab Thorup <krab@iesd.auc.dk>
|
|
Latest version: 9.1i
|
|
Anonymous FTP:
|
|
/iesd.auc.dk:pub/emacs-lisp/auctex-9.1i.tar.gz
|
|
Mailing list:
|
|
auc-tex-request@iesd.auc.dk (for subscriptions)
|
|
auc-tex@iesd.auc.dk (for submissions)
|
|
auc-tex_mgr@iesd.auc.dk (auc-tex development team)
|
|
|
|
99: Hyperbole -- extensible hypertext management system within Emacs
|
|
|
|
Author: Bob Weiner <rsw@cs.brown.edu>
|
|
Latest version: 3.15
|
|
Anonymous FTP:
|
|
/wilma.cs.brown.edu:pub/hyperbole/h3.15.tar.Z
|
|
Mailing lists:
|
|
hyperbole-announce -- Hyperbole release announcements only.
|
|
Subscriptions:
|
|
To: hyperbole-request@cs.brown.edu
|
|
Subject: Add <mailbox@domain.name> to hyperbole-announce
|
|
hyperbole -- Hyperbole discussion.
|
|
Subscriptions:
|
|
To: hyperbole-request@cs.brown.edu
|
|
Subject: Add <mailbox@domain.name> to hyperbole
|
|
Submissions:
|
|
hyperbole@cs.brown.edu
|
|
NOTE: Any member of the hyperbole mailing list is automatically a
|
|
member of the hyperbole-announce mailing list.
|
|
NOTE: No .UUCP or ! addresses are allowed on these mailing lists.
|
|
|
|
100: BBDB -- personal Info Rolodex integrated with mail/news readers
|
|
|
|
Author: Jamie Zawinski <jwz@lucid.com>
|
|
Latest released version: 1.50
|
|
Anonymous FTP:
|
|
/archive.cis.ohio-state.edu:pub/gnu/emacs/elisp-archive/packages/bbdb-1.50.tar.Z
|
|
Mailing lists:
|
|
info-bbdb-request@cs.uiuc.edu (for subscriptions)
|
|
info-bbdb@cs.uiuc.edu (for submissions)
|
|
bbdb-announce-request@cs.uiuc.edu (to be informed of new releases)
|
|
NOTE: BBDB does not work with VM 4. It does work with VM 5,
|
|
Rmail, Gnus, and MH-E.
|
|
|
|
101: Ispell -- spell checker in C with interface for Emacs
|
|
|
|
Author: Geoff Kuenning <geoff@itcorp.com>
|
|
Latest released version: 3.1.08
|
|
Anonymous FTP:
|
|
Master Sites:
|
|
/ftp.cs.ucla.edu:pub/ispell/ispell-3.1.08.tar.gz
|
|
/ftp.math.orst.edu:pub/ispell/ispell-3.1.08.tar.gz
|
|
Known Mirror Sites: (only directory names shown)
|
|
/ftp.th-darmstadt.de:pub/dicts/ispell/
|
|
/ftp.nl.net:pub/textproc/ispell/
|
|
|
|
NOTE: * Do not ask Geoff to send you the latest version of Ispell.
|
|
He does not have free e-mail.
|
|
|
|
* This Ispell program is distinct from GNU Ispell 4.0. GNU
|
|
Ispell 4.0 is no longer a supported product.
|
|
|
|
102: XEmacs -- alternative Emacs 19 with better X interface; formerly
|
|
known as Lucid Emacs or lemacs.
|
|
|
|
Primary Maintainer: Chuck Thompson <cthomp@cs.uiuc.edu>
|
|
Other Developers: Ben Wing <wing@netcom.com>
|
|
Richard Mlynarik <mly@adoc.xerox.com>
|
|
Jamie Zawinski <jwz@mcom.com>
|
|
Latest released version: 19.11
|
|
Anonymous FTP:
|
|
/ftp.cs.uiuc.edu:pub/xemacs/xemacs-19.11.tar.gz
|
|
Newsgroup and mailing lists:
|
|
Bugs:
|
|
alt.lucid-emacs.bug
|
|
bug-lucid-emacs-request@cs.uiuc.edu (for subscriptions)
|
|
bug-lucid-emacs@cs.uiuc.edu (for submissions)
|
|
Help:
|
|
alt.lucid-emacs.help
|
|
help-lucid-emacs-request@cs.uiuc.edu (for subscriptions)
|
|
help-lucid-emacs@cs.uiuc.edu (for submissions)
|
|
NOTE: The XEmacs FAQ is available via the World-Wide Web at URL
|
|
http://xemacs.cs.uiuc.edu/.
|
|
|
|
103: Patch -- program to apply "diffs" for updating files
|
|
|
|
Author: Larry Wall <lwall@netlabs.com>
|
|
Latest version: 2.1
|
|
Anonymous FTP:
|
|
/prep.ai.mit.edu:pub/gnu/patch-2.1.tar.gz
|
|
/ftp.funet.fi:pub/gnu/patch-2.1.tar.gz
|
|
/ftp.uni-stuttgart.de:pub/unix/gnu/patch-2.1.tar.gz
|
|
NOTE: See question 80 for other GNU distribution sites.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Changing Key Bindings and Handling Key Binding Problems
|
|
|
|
104: How do I bind keys (including function keys) to commands?
|
|
|
|
Keys can be bound to commands either interactively or by predefinition
|
|
(e.g. in the .emacs file). To interactively bind keys for all modes,
|
|
type `M-x global-set-key RET KEY CMD RET'; for the current major mode
|
|
only, type `M-x local-set-key RET KEY CMD RET' (see the Emacs on-line
|
|
documentation for further details).
|
|
|
|
To bind keys on starting Emacs or on starting any given mode, you can use
|
|
the following "trick." First bind the key interactively, then
|
|
immediately afterwards type `C-x ESC ESC C-a C-k C-g'. Now, the command
|
|
needed to bind the key is in the kill ring and can be yanked into the
|
|
.emacs file. If the key binding is global, no changes to the command are
|
|
required. For example,
|
|
|
|
(global-set-key (quote [f1]) (quote help-for-help))
|
|
|
|
can be place directly into the .emacs file. If the key binding is local,
|
|
the command is used in conjunction with the `add-hook' command. For
|
|
example, in tex-mode, a local binding might be
|
|
|
|
(add-hook 'tex-mode-hook
|
|
(function (lambda ()
|
|
(local-set-key (quote [f1]) (quote help-for-help))))
|
|
|
|
NOTE: * Control characters in key sequence position of the form yanked
|
|
from the kill ring are given in their graphic form - i.e. CTRL is
|
|
shown as `^', TAB as a set of spaces (usually 8), etc. You may
|
|
want to convert these into their vector or string forms.
|
|
|
|
* If some prefix key of the character sequence to be bound is
|
|
already bound as a complete key, then you must unbind it before
|
|
the new binding. For example, if `ESC {' is previously bound:
|
|
|
|
(global-unset-key [?\e ?{]) ;; or
|
|
(local-unset-key [?\e ?{])
|
|
|
|
* Aside from commands and "lambda lists," a vector or string also
|
|
can be bound to a key and thus treated as a macro. For example:
|
|
|
|
(global-set-key [f10] [?\C-x?\e?\e?\C-a?\C-k?\C-g]) ;; or
|
|
(global-set-key [f10] "\C-x\e\e\C-a\C-k\C-g")
|
|
|
|
See `Key Bindings' in the Emacs on-line documentation for further
|
|
details.
|
|
|
|
105: Why does Emacs say `Key sequence XXX uses invalid prefix characters'?
|
|
|
|
Usually one of two things has happened. In one case, the control
|
|
character in the key sequence has been misspecified (e.g. `C-f' used
|
|
instead of `\C-f' within a Lisp expression). In the other case, a
|
|
"prefix key" in the keystroke sequence you were trying to bind was
|
|
already bound as a "complete key." Historically, the `ESC [' prefix was
|
|
usually the problem, in which case you should evaluate either of these
|
|
forms before attempting to bind the key sequence:
|
|
|
|
(global-unset-key [?\e ?[]) ;; or
|
|
(global-unset-key "\e[")
|
|
|
|
106: Why doesn't this [terminal or window-system setup] code work in my
|
|
.emacs file, but it works just fine after Emacs starts up?
|
|
|
|
During startup, Emacs initializes itself according to a given code/file
|
|
order. If some of the code executed in your .emacs file needs to be
|
|
postponed until the initial terminal or window-system setup code has been
|
|
executed but is not, then you will experience this problem (this
|
|
code/file execution order is not enforced after startup).
|
|
|
|
To postpone the execution of Emacs Lisp code until after terminal or
|
|
window-system setup, treat the code as a "lambda list" and set the value
|
|
of either the `term-setup-hook' or `window-setup-hook' variable to this
|
|
"lambda function." For example,
|
|
|
|
(setq term-setup-hook
|
|
(function
|
|
(lambda ()
|
|
(cond ((string-match "\\`vt220" (or (getenv "TERM") ""))
|
|
;; Make vt220's "Do" key behave like M-x:
|
|
(global-set-key [do] 'execute-extended-command))
|
|
))))
|
|
|
|
For information on what Emacs does every time it is started, see the
|
|
lisp/startup.el file.
|
|
|
|
107: How do I use function keys under X Windows?
|
|
|
|
With Emacs 19, functions keys under X are bound like any other key. See
|
|
question 104 for details.
|
|
|
|
108: How do I tell what characters or symbols my function or arrow keys
|
|
emit?
|
|
|
|
Put the following in your .emacs file and type `M-x see-chars' to use:
|
|
|
|
(defun see-chars ()
|
|
"Display events received, terminated by a 3-second timeout."
|
|
(interactive)
|
|
(let (chars
|
|
(inhibit-quit t))
|
|
(message "Enter characters or other events, terminated by a 3-second
|
|
timeout.")
|
|
(while (not (sit-for 3))
|
|
(setq chars (nconc chars (list (read-event)))
|
|
quit-flag nil) ; quit-flag might be set by C-g.
|
|
(if (not (input-pending-p))
|
|
(message "Events received until now: %s..."
|
|
(key-description chars))))
|
|
(message "Events received: %s" (key-description chars))))
|
|
|
|
Alternatively, type "C-h c" then the function or arrow keys. The command
|
|
will return either a function key symbol or character sequence (see the
|
|
Emacs on-line documentation for an explanation). This works for other
|
|
keys as well.
|
|
|
|
109: How do I set the X key "translations" for Emacs?
|
|
|
|
Sorry, you can't; there are no "translations" to be set. Emacs is not
|
|
written using the Xt library. The only way to affect the behavior of
|
|
keys within Emacs is through `xmodmap' (outside Emacs) or `define-key'
|
|
(inside Emacs). The `define-key' command should be used in conjunction
|
|
with the `function-key-map' map. For instance,
|
|
|
|
(define-key function-key-map [M-tab] [?\M-\t])
|
|
|
|
defines the `META TAB' key sequence.
|
|
|
|
110: How do I handle C-s and C-q being used for flow control?
|
|
|
|
C-s and C-q are used in the XON/XOFF flow control protocol. This screws
|
|
up Emacs because it binds these characters to commands. Also, by default
|
|
Emacs will not honor them as flow control characters and may overwhelm
|
|
output buffers. Sometimes, intermediate software using XON/XOFF flow
|
|
control will prevent Emacs from ever seeing C-s and C-q.
|
|
|
|
Possible solutions:
|
|
|
|
* Disable the use of C-s and C-q for flow control.
|
|
|
|
You need to determine the cause of the flow control.
|
|
|
|
* your terminal
|
|
|
|
Your terminal may use XON/XOFF flow control to have time to display
|
|
all the characters it receives. For example, VT series terminals do
|
|
this. It may be possible to turn this off from a setup menu. For
|
|
example, on a VT220 you may select `No XOFF' in the setup menu. This
|
|
is also true for some terminal emulation programs on PCs.
|
|
|
|
When you turn off flow control at the terminal, you will also need to
|
|
turn it off at the other end, which might be at the computer you are
|
|
logged in to or at some terminal server in between.
|
|
|
|
If you turn off flow control, characters may be lost; using a printer
|
|
connected to the terminal may fail. You may be able to get around
|
|
this problem by modifying the `termcap' entry for your terminal to
|
|
include extra NUL padding characters.
|
|
|
|
* a modem
|
|
|
|
If you are using a dialup connection, the modems may be using
|
|
XON/XOFF flow control. It's not clear how to get around this.
|
|
|
|
* a router or terminal server
|
|
|
|
Some network box between the terminal and your computer may be using
|
|
XON/XOFF flow control. It may be possible to make it use some other
|
|
kind of flow control. You will probably have to ask your local
|
|
network experts for help with this.
|
|
|
|
* tty and/or pty devices
|
|
|
|
If your connection to Emacs goes through multiple tty and/or pty
|
|
devices, they may be using XON/XOFF flow control even when it is not
|
|
necessary.
|
|
|
|
Eirik Fuller <eirik@theory.tn.cornell.edu> writes:
|
|
|
|
Some versions of `rlogin' (and possibly telnet) do not pass flow
|
|
control characters to the remote system to which they connect. On
|
|
such systems, Emacs on the remote system cannot disable flow
|
|
control on the local system. Sometimes `rlogin -8' will avoid this
|
|
problem.
|
|
|
|
One way to cure this is to disable flow control on the local host
|
|
(the one running rlogin, not the one running rlogind) using the
|
|
stty command, before starting the rlogin process. On many systems,
|
|
`stty start u stop u' will do this.
|
|
|
|
Some versions of `tcsh' will prevent even this from working. One
|
|
way around this is to start another shell before starting rlogin,
|
|
and issue the stty command to disable flow control from that shell.
|
|
|
|
Use `stty -ixon' instead of `stty start u stop u' on some systems.
|
|
|
|
* Make Emacs speak the XON/XOFF flow control protocol.
|
|
|
|
You can make Emacs treat C-s and C-q as flow control characters by
|
|
evaluating the form
|
|
|
|
(enable-flow-control)
|
|
|
|
to unconditionally enable flow control or
|
|
|
|
(enable-flow-control-on "vt100" "h19")
|
|
|
|
(using your terminal names instead of "vt100" or "h19") to enable
|
|
selectively. These commands will automatically swap `C-s' and `C-q' to
|
|
`C-\' and `C-^'. Variables can be used to change the default swap keys
|
|
(`flow-control-c-s-replacement' and `flow-control-c-q-replacement').
|
|
|
|
If you are fixing this for yourself, simply put the form in your .emacs
|
|
file. If you are fixing this for your entire site, the best place to
|
|
put it is in the lisp/site-start.el file. Putting this form in
|
|
lisp/default.el has the problem that if the user's .emacs file has an
|
|
error, this will prevent lisp/default.el from being loaded and Emacs
|
|
may be unusable for the user, even for correcting their .emacs file
|
|
(unless they're smart enough to move it to another name).
|
|
|
|
For further discussion of this issue, read the file PROBLEMS (in the
|
|
top-level directory when you unpack the Emacs source).
|
|
|
|
111: How do I bind `C-s' and `C-q' (or any key) if these keys are filtered
|
|
out?
|
|
|
|
To bind `C-s' and `C-q', use either `enable-flow-control' or
|
|
`enable-flow-control-on'. See question 110 for usage and implementation
|
|
details.
|
|
|
|
To bind other keys, use `keyboard-translate'. See question 114 for usage
|
|
details. To do this for an entire site, you should swap the keys in
|
|
lisp/site-start.el. See question 110 for an explanation of why
|
|
lisp/default.el should not be used.
|
|
|
|
NOTE: * If you do this for an entire site, the users will be confused by
|
|
the disparity between what the documentation says and how Emacs
|
|
actually behaves.
|
|
|
|
112: Why does the `Backspace' key invoke help?
|
|
|
|
The `Backspace' key (on most keyboards) generates ASCII code 8. `C-h'
|
|
sends the same code. In Emacs by default `C-h' invokes help-command.
|
|
This is intended to be easy to remember since the first letter of "help"
|
|
is "h." The easiest solution to this problem is to use `C-h' (and
|
|
Backspace) for help and DEL (the Delete key) for deleting the previous
|
|
character.
|
|
|
|
For many people this solution may be problematic:
|
|
|
|
* They normally use Backspace outside of Emacs for deleting the previous
|
|
character typed. This can be solved by making DEL be the command for
|
|
deleting the previous character outside of Emacs. This command will do
|
|
this on many Unix systems:
|
|
|
|
stty erase '^?'
|
|
|
|
* The person may prefer using the Backspace key for deleting the previous
|
|
character because it is more conveniently located on their keyboard or
|
|
because they don't even have a separate Delete key. In this case, the
|
|
Backspace key should be made to behave like Delete. There are several
|
|
methods.
|
|
|
|
* Some terminals (e.g., VT3## terminals) allow the character generated by
|
|
the Backspace key to be changed from a setup menu.
|
|
|
|
* You may be able to get a keyboard that is completely programmable.
|
|
|
|
* Under X or on a dumb terminal, it is possible to swap the Backspace and
|
|
Delete keys inside Emacs:
|
|
|
|
(keyboard-translate ?\C-h ?\C-?)
|
|
|
|
See question 114 for further details of `keyboard-translate'.
|
|
|
|
* Another approach is to switch key bindings and put help on "C-x h"
|
|
instead:
|
|
|
|
(global-set-key [?\C-h] 'delete-backward-char)
|
|
(global-set-key [?\C-x ?h] 'help-command)
|
|
;; overrides mark-whole-buffer
|
|
|
|
Other popular key bindings for help are M-? and "C-x ?".
|
|
|
|
NOTE: * Don't try to bind DEL to help-command, because there are many
|
|
modes that have local bindings of DEL that will interfere.
|
|
|
|
113: Why doesn't Emacs look at the stty settings for Backspace vs. Delete?
|
|
|
|
Good question!
|
|
|
|
114: How do I "swap" two keys?
|
|
|
|
In Emacs 19, you can swap two keys (or key sequences) by using the
|
|
`keyboard-translate' function. For example, to turn `C-h' into DEL and
|
|
DEL to `C-h', use
|
|
|
|
(keyboard-translate ?\C-h ?\C-?) ; translate `C-h' to DEL
|
|
(keyboard-translate ?\C-? ?\C-h) ; translate DEL to `C-h'.
|
|
|
|
The first key sequence of the pair after the function identifies what is
|
|
produced by the keyboard; the second, what is matched for in the keymaps.
|
|
|
|
Keyboard translations are not the same as key bindings in keymaps. Emacs
|
|
contains numerous keymaps that apply in different situations, but there
|
|
is only one set of keyboard translations, and it applies to every
|
|
character that Emacs reads from the terminal. Keyboard translations take
|
|
place at the lowest level of input processing; the keys that are looked
|
|
up in keymaps contain the characters that result from keyboard
|
|
translation.
|
|
|
|
Also see `Keyboard Translations' in the on-line manual.
|
|
|
|
115: How do I produce C-XXX with my keyboard?
|
|
|
|
On terminals (but not under X), some common "aliases" are:
|
|
|
|
CTRL-2 or CTRL-SPC for C-@
|
|
CTRL-6 for C-^
|
|
CTRL-7 or CTRL-SHIFT-- for C-_
|
|
CTRL-4 for C-\
|
|
CTRL-5 for C-]
|
|
CTRL-/ for C-?
|
|
|
|
Often other aliases exist; use the `C-h c' command and try `CTRL' with
|
|
all of the digits on your keyboard to see what gets generated. You can
|
|
also try the `C-h w' command if you know the name of the command.
|
|
|
|
116: What if I don't have a Meta key?
|
|
|
|
Instead of typing "M-a", you can type "ESC a". In fact, Emacs converts
|
|
M-a internally into "ESC a" anyway (depending on the value of
|
|
meta-prefix-char). Note that you press "Meta" and "a" together, while
|
|
you press "ESC", release it, and then press "a".
|
|
|
|
117: What if I don't have an Escape key?
|
|
|
|
Type "C-[" instead. This should send ASCII code 27 just like an Escape
|
|
key would. "C-3" may also work on some terminal (but not under X). For
|
|
many terminals (notably DEC terminals) "F11" generates the "ESC" key. If
|
|
not, the following form can be used bind it:
|
|
|
|
(define-key function-key-map [f11] [?\e]) ; F11 is the documented ESC
|
|
; replacement on DEC terminals.
|
|
|
|
118: Can I make my `Compose Character' key behave like a Meta key?
|
|
|
|
On a dumb terminal such as a VT220, no. It is rumored that certain VT220
|
|
clones could have their Compose key configured this way. If you're using
|
|
X, you might be able to do this with the `xmodmap' program.
|
|
|
|
119: How do I bind a combination of modifier key and function key?
|
|
|
|
With Emacs 19 you can indicate modified function keys in vector format
|
|
through multi-prefixing the function key symbol. For example (from the
|
|
Emacs on-line documentation):
|
|
|
|
(global-set-key [?\C-x right] 'forward-page)
|
|
|
|
where "?\C-x" is the Lisp character constant for the character "C-x".
|
|
|
|
You can use the modifier keys CTRL, META, HYPER, SUPER, ALT and SHIFT
|
|
with function keys. To represent these modifiers, prepend the strings
|
|
"C-", "M-", "H-", "s-", "A-" and "S-" to the symbol name. Thus, here is
|
|
how to make "Hyper-Meta-RIGHT" move forward a word:
|
|
|
|
(global-set-key [H-M-right] 'forward-word)
|
|
|
|
NOTE: * Not all modifiers are permitted in all situations. HYPER, SUPER,
|
|
and ALT are available only under X (provided there are such
|
|
keys). Non-ASCII keys and mouse events (e.g. "C-=" and
|
|
"mouse-1") also fall under this category.
|
|
|
|
See question 104 for general key binding instructions.
|
|
|
|
120: Why doesn't my Meta key work in an xterm window?
|
|
|
|
Try all of these methods before asking for further help:
|
|
|
|
* You may have big problems using `mwm' as your window manager. {Does
|
|
anyone know a good generic solution to allow the use of the Meta key in
|
|
Emacs with mwm?}
|
|
|
|
* For X11: Make sure it really is a Meta key. Use `xev' to find out what
|
|
keysym your Meta key generates. It should be either Meta_L or Meta_R.
|
|
If it isn't, use xmodmap to fix the situation.
|
|
|
|
* Make sure the pty the xterm is using is passing 8 bit characters.
|
|
`stty -a' (or `stty everything') should show `cs8' somewhere. If it
|
|
shows `cs7' instead, use `stty cs8 -istrip' (or `stty pass8') to fix
|
|
it.
|
|
|
|
* If there is an rlogin connection between the xterm and the Emacs, the
|
|
`-8' argument may need to be given to rlogin to make it pass all 8 bits
|
|
of every character.
|
|
|
|
* If the Emacs is running under Ultrix, it is reported that evaluating
|
|
(set-input-mode t nil) helps.
|
|
|
|
* If all else fails, you can make xterm generate "ESC W" when you type
|
|
M-W, which is the same conversion Emacs would make if it got the M-W
|
|
anyway. In X11R4, the following resource specification will do this:
|
|
|
|
XTerm.VT100.EightBitInput: false
|
|
|
|
(This changes the behavior of the insert-eight-bit action.)
|
|
|
|
With older xterms, you can specify this behavior with a translation:
|
|
|
|
XTerm.VT100.Translations: #override \
|
|
Meta<KeyPress>: string(0x1b) insert()
|
|
|
|
You might have to replace `Meta' with `Alt'.
|
|
|
|
121: Why doesn't my ExtendChar key work as a Meta key under HP-UX 8.0?
|
|
|
|
This is a result of an internationalization extension in X11R4 and the
|
|
fact that HP is now using this extension. Emacs assumes that
|
|
XLookupString returns the same result regardless of the Meta key state
|
|
which is no longer necessarily true. Until Emacs is fixed, the temporary
|
|
kludge is to run this command after each time the X server is started but
|
|
preferably before any xterm clients are:
|
|
|
|
xmodmap -e 'remove mod1 = Mode_switch'
|
|
|
|
NOTE: This will disable the use of the extra keysyms systemwide, which
|
|
may be undesirable if you actually intend to use them.
|
|
|
|
122: Where can I get key bindings to make Emacs emulate WordStar?
|
|
|
|
There is a package `wordstar' by Jim Frost <jimf@saber.com> located under
|
|
the "misc" directory at the Emacs Lisp Archive.
|
|
|
|
123: Where can I get an XEDIT emulator for Emacs?
|
|
|
|
This question comes up once every couple of months. Searing for "xedit"
|
|
through most recent Lisp Code Directory fails to match any entries.
|
|
|
|
Using Emacs with Alternate Character Sets
|
|
|
|
124: How do I make Emacs display 8-bit characters?
|
|
|
|
GNU Emacs 19 has built-in support for 8-bit characters. Here is an
|
|
excerpt from the `European Display' page of the on-line manual:
|
|
|
|
Some European languages use accented letters and other special symbols.
|
|
The ISO 8859 Latin-1 character set defines character codes for many
|
|
European languages in the range 160 to 255.
|
|
|
|
Emacs can display those characters according to Latin-1, provided the
|
|
terminal or font in use supports them. The `M-x
|
|
standard-display-european' command toggles European character display
|
|
mode. With a numeric argument, `M-x standard-display-european' enables
|
|
European character display if and only if the argument is positive.
|
|
|
|
Some operating systems let you specify the language you are using by
|
|
setting a locale. Emacs handles one common special case of this: if
|
|
your locale name for character types contains the string `8859-1' or
|
|
`88591', Emacs automatically enables European character display mode
|
|
when it starts up.
|
|
|
|
125: How do I input 8-bit characters?
|
|
|
|
Again, from the `European Display' page of the on-line manual:
|
|
|
|
If you enter non-ASCII ISO Latin-1 characters often, you might find ISO
|
|
Accents mode convenient. When this minor mode is enabled, the
|
|
characters ``', `'', `"', `^', `/' and `~' modify the following letter
|
|
by adding the corresponding diacritical mark to it, if possible. To
|
|
enable or disable ISO Accents mode, use the command `M-x
|
|
iso-accents-mode'. This command affects only the current buffer.
|
|
|
|
To enter one of those six special characters, type the character,
|
|
followed by a space. Some of those characters have a corresponding
|
|
"dead key" accent character in the ISO Latin-1 character set; to enter
|
|
that character, type the corresponding ASCII character twice. For
|
|
example, `''' enters the Latin-1 character acute-accent (character code
|
|
0264).
|
|
|
|
126: Where can I get an Emacs that can handle kanji characters?
|
|
|
|
Nemacs 3.3.2 (Nihongo GNU Emacs) is a modified version of GNU Emacs 18.55
|
|
that handles kanji characters. It is available via anonymous FTP:
|
|
|
|
/crl.nmsu.edu:pub/misc/nemacs-3.3.2.tar.Z
|
|
/ftp.cs.titech.ac.jp:pub/gnu-rel/nemacs/nemacs-3.3.2.tar.gz
|
|
|
|
You might also need files for "wnn," a kanji input method
|
|
(wnn-4.0.3{-README,.tar.Z} {on which machine?}). You need a terminal (or
|
|
terminal emulator) that can display text encoded in JIS, Shift-JIS, or
|
|
EUC (Extended Unix Code), or the ability to run Nemacs as a direct X
|
|
Windows client.
|
|
|
|
127: Where can I get an Emacs that can handle Chinese?
|
|
|
|
Cemacs by Stephen G. Simpson <simpson@math.psu.edu> is a patch to Emacs
|
|
18.57 (the ctl-arrow patch) and some Emacs Lisp code that combined with
|
|
Cxterm allows using Chinese characters. It is available via anonymous
|
|
FTP:
|
|
|
|
/cs.purdue.edu:pub/ygz/cemacs.tar.Z
|
|
|
|
Cxterm, a patch to Emacs 18.57 that allows you to enter Chinese
|
|
characters, is available from the same place:
|
|
|
|
/cs.purdue.edu:pub/ygz/cxterm-11.5.1.tar.Z
|
|
|
|
128: Where is an Emacs that can handle Semitic (right-to-left) alphabets?
|
|
|
|
Joel M. Hoffman <joel@wam.umd.edu> writes:
|
|
|
|
A couple of years ago a wrote a hebrew.el file that allows
|
|
right-to-left editing of Hebrew. I relied on the hardware to display
|
|
the Hebrew letters, given the right codes, but not for any
|
|
right-to-left support; the hardware also doesn't have to send any
|
|
specific char. codes. Emacs keeps track of when the user is typing
|
|
Hebrew vs. English. (The VT-* terminals in Israel contain built-in
|
|
support for Hebrew.)
|
|
|
|
To get it to work I had to modify only a few lines of GNU Emacs's
|
|
source code --- just enough to make it 8-bit clean.
|
|
|
|
[and in a separate message:]
|
|
|
|
It doesn't produce time-order ["sefer" format] (I wouldn't recommend
|
|
trying that with Emacs, because converting time-order to screen-order
|
|
with arbitrarily long lines is a bit tricky), but I also concocted a
|
|
quick filter to convert screen-order into time-order. I'll be happy to
|
|
send you the requisite files if you want them. If you're using it for
|
|
anything large, however, you'll want something that works better.
|
|
|
|
Joel Hoffman has also written a "bi-directional bi-lingual Emacs-like"
|
|
editor for MS-DOS named Ibelbe (Itty Bitty Emacs-Like Bidirectional
|
|
Editor). Ibelbe is written in Turbo Pascal and comes with source code.
|
|
Here is the description:
|
|
|
|
Ibelbe looks like Emacs (it even has a minibuffer and filename
|
|
completion), and fully supports both right-to-left and left-to-right
|
|
editing. Other than an EGA monitor or better, no special hardware is
|
|
required. You will need an EGA Hebrew font to use Ibelbe with Hebrew.
|
|
|
|
Anonymous FTP:
|
|
/israel.nysernet.org:israel/computers/software/msdos/ibelbe.zip
|
|
/israel.nysernet.org:israel/computers/software/msdos/hebfont.zip
|
|
|
|
Joseph Friedman <yossi@deshaw.com, yossi@Neon.Stanford.EDU> has written
|
|
patches for Emacs 18.55 and 18.58 that provide Semitic language support
|
|
under X Windows.
|
|
|
|
Warren Burstein <warren@itex.jct.ac.il> says he has mapped 7-bit keys by
|
|
modifying self-insert-command "for Hebrew input on 7-bit keyboards."
|
|
|
|
A good suggestion is to query archie for files named with `hebrew'.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mail and News
|
|
|
|
129: How do I change the included text prefix in mail/news followups?
|
|
|
|
If you read mail with Rmail or news with Gnus, set the variable
|
|
mail-yank-prefix. For VM, set vm-included-text-prefix. For mh-e, set
|
|
mh-ins-buf-prefix.
|
|
|
|
For fancier control of citations, use Supercite. See question 93.
|
|
|
|
A related problem is how to prevent Emacs from including various headers
|
|
of the replied-to message. For this, you should set the value of
|
|
mail-yank-ignored-headers, which takes a regexp value.
|
|
|
|
130: How do I save a copy of outgoing mail?
|
|
|
|
You can either mail yourself a copy by including a `BCC:' header in the
|
|
mail message, or store a copy of the message directly to a file by
|
|
including an `FCC:' header.
|
|
|
|
If you use standard mail, you can automatically create a `BCC:' to
|
|
yourself by putting
|
|
|
|
(setq mail-self-blind t)
|
|
|
|
in your .emacs. You can automatically include an `FCC:' field by putting
|
|
something like the following in your .emacs file:
|
|
|
|
(setq mail-archive-file-name (expand-file-name "~/outgoing"))
|
|
|
|
The output file will be in Unix mail format, which can be read directly
|
|
by VM, but not always by Rmail. See question 132.
|
|
|
|
If you use mh-e add an FCC: or BCC: field to your components file.
|
|
|
|
It does not work to put `set record filename' in the .mailrc file.
|
|
|
|
131: Why doesn't Emacs expand my aliases when sending mail?
|
|
|
|
* You must separate multiple addresses in the headers of the mail buffer
|
|
with commas. This is because Emacs supports RFC822 standard addresses
|
|
like this one:
|
|
|
|
To: Willy Smith <wks@xpnsv.lwyrs.com>
|
|
|
|
However, you do not need to separate addresses with commas in your
|
|
.mailrc file.
|
|
|
|
WARNING: Emacs breaks up aliases in the .mailrc file into multiple
|
|
addresses both on commas and on whitespace, regardless of any use of
|
|
quotes. This is probably a bug. You can get around this by directly
|
|
setting the value of mail-aliases.
|
|
|
|
* Emacs normally only reads the `.mailrc' file once per session, when you
|
|
start to compose your first mail message. If you edit .mailrc, you can
|
|
type "M-ESC (build-mail-aliases) RET" to make Emacs reread .mailrc.
|
|
(You have to include the parentheses where they are shown!)
|
|
|
|
* Emacs does not interpret vendor-specific additions to the format of the
|
|
.mailrc file such as the `source' command. It also ignores any `set'
|
|
commands. The only commands it looks at are `alias' and `group'
|
|
commands.
|
|
|
|
* If you like, you can expand mail aliases as abbrevs, as soon as you
|
|
type them in. To enable this feature, execute the following:
|
|
|
|
(add-hook 'mail-setup-hook 'mail-abbrevs-setup)
|
|
|
|
132: Why does Rmail think all my saved messages are one big message?
|
|
|
|
A file created through the FCC: field in a message is in Unix Mail
|
|
format, not the format that Rmail uses (BABYL format). Rmail will try to
|
|
convert a Unix mail file into BABYL format on input, but sometimes it
|
|
makes errors. For guaranteed safety, you can make the saved- messages
|
|
file be an inbox for your Rmail file by using the function
|
|
set-rmail-inbox-list.
|
|
|
|
133: How can I sort the messages in my Rmail folder?
|
|
|
|
In Rmail, type C-c C-s C-h to get a list of sorting functions and their
|
|
key bindings.
|
|
|
|
134: Why does Rmail need to write to /usr/spool/mail?
|
|
|
|
This is the behavior of the `movemail' program which Rmail uses. This
|
|
indicates that movemail is configured to use lock files.
|
|
|
|
RMS writes:
|
|
|
|
Certain systems require lock files to interlock access to mail files.
|
|
On these systems, movemail must write lock files, or you risk losing
|
|
mail. You simply must arrange to let movemail write them.
|
|
|
|
Other systems use the flock system call to interlock access. On these
|
|
systems, you should configure movemail to use flock.
|
|
|
|
135: How do I recover my mail files after Rmail munges their format?
|
|
|
|
If you have just done rmail-input on a file and you don't want to save it
|
|
in Rmail's format (called BABYL), just kill the buffer (with C-x k).
|
|
|
|
If you typed M-x rmail and it read some messages out of your inbox and
|
|
you want to put them in a Unix mail file, use C-o on each message.
|
|
|
|
If you want to convert an existing file from BABYL format to Unix mail
|
|
format, use the command M-x unrmail: it will prompt you for the input and
|
|
output file names.
|
|
|
|
136: How do I make Emacs automatically start my mail/news reader?
|
|
|
|
To start Emacs in Gnus:
|
|
|
|
emacs -f gnus
|
|
|
|
in Rmail:
|
|
|
|
emacs -f rmail
|
|
|
|
A more convenient way to start with Gnus:
|
|
|
|
alias gnus 'emacs -f gnus'
|
|
gnus
|
|
|
|
It is probably unwise to automatically start your mail or news reader
|
|
from your .emacs file. This would cause problems if you needed to run
|
|
two copies of Emacs at one time. Also, this would make it difficult for
|
|
you to start Emacs quickly when you needed to.
|
|
|
|
137: How do I read news under Emacs?
|
|
|
|
Use M-x gnus. It is documented in Info (see question 14).
|
|
|
|
138: Why doesn't Gnus work via NNTP?
|
|
|
|
There is a bug in NNTP version 1.5.10, such that when multiple requests
|
|
are sent to the NNTP server, the server only handles the first one before
|
|
blocking waiting for more input which never comes. NNTP version 1.5.11
|
|
claims to fix this.
|
|
|
|
You can work around the bug inside Emacs like this:
|
|
|
|
(setq nntp-maximum-request 1)
|
|
|
|
You can find out what version of NNTP your news server is running by
|
|
telnetting to the NNTP port (usually 119) on the news server machine
|
|
(i.e., `telnet server-machine 119'). The server should give its version
|
|
number in the welcome message. Type `quit' to get out.
|
|
|
|
139: How do I view text with embedded underlining (e.g., ClariNews)?
|
|
|
|
Underlining appears like this:
|
|
|
|
_^Hu_^Hn_^Hd_^He_^Hr_^Hl_^Hi_^Hn_^Hi_^Hn_^Hg
|
|
|
|
You can destructively remove underlining with M-x ununderline-region.
|
|
|
|
For ClariNews articles, clari-clean.el by David N. Blank-Edelman
|
|
<dnb@meshugge.media.mit.edu> will remove both underlining and
|
|
overstriking automatically. It is available on the Lisp Code Directory
|
|
(see question 77).
|
|
|
|
140: How do I save all the items of a multi-part posting in Gnus?
|
|
|
|
Use gnus-uu. Type C-c C-v C-h in the Gnus summary buffer to see a list
|
|
of available commands.
|
|
|
|
141: Why does Gnus put the subjects in replies beyond the 80th column?
|
|
|
|
This is a feature. If you set gnus-thread-hide-subject to non-nil, Gnus
|
|
will only display the subject of the first posting in a thread, even if
|
|
some of the replies use different subjects. It hides the subjects by
|
|
putting them past the edge of the window and setting truncate lines to t.
|
|
|
|
If your screen looks messed up, then for some reason truncate-lines in
|
|
your `*Subject*' buffer has been set to nil. It should be set to t.
|
|
|
|
142: How do I make Gnus start up faster?
|
|
|
|
Remove all the newsgroups in which you have no interest from your .newsrc
|
|
file by using Gnus's C-k or C-w commands in the `*Newsgroup*' buffer,
|
|
perhaps after displaying all newsgroups with the L command.
|
|
Unsubscribing will not speed up Gnus.
|
|
|
|
143: How do I catch up all newsgroups in Gnus?
|
|
|
|
In the `*Newsgroup*' buffer, type the following magical incantation:
|
|
|
|
M-< C-x ( c y M-0 C-x )
|
|
|
|
Leave off the "M-<" if you only want to catch up from point to the end of
|
|
the `*Newsgroup' buffer.
|
|
|
|
144: Why can't I kill in Gnus on the Newsgroups/Keywords/Control line?
|
|
|
|
Gnus will complain that the `Newsgroups:', `Keywords:', and `Control:'
|
|
headers are `Unknown header field's.
|
|
|
|
For the `Newsgroups:' header, there is an easy workaround: kill on the
|
|
`Xref' header instead, which will be present on any cross-posted article
|
|
(as long as your site carries the cross-post group).
|
|
|
|
If you really want to kill on one of these headers, you can do it like
|
|
this:
|
|
|
|
(gnus-kill nil "^Newsgroups: .*\\(bad\\.group\\|worse\\.group\\)")
|
|
|
|
145: How do I get rid of flashing messages in Gnus for slow connections?
|
|
|
|
Set nntp-debug-read to nil.
|
|
|
|
146: Why is catch up slow in Gnus?
|
|
|
|
Because Gnus is marking crosspostings read. You can control this with
|
|
the variable gnus-use-cross-reference.
|
|
|
|
147: Why does Gnus hang for a long time when posting?
|
|
|
|
David Lawrence <tale@uunet.uu.net> explains:
|
|
|
|
The problem is almost always interaction between NNTP and C News. NNTP
|
|
POST asks C News's inews to not background itself but rather hang
|
|
around and give its exit status so it knows whether the post was
|
|
successful. (That wait will on some systems not return the exit status
|
|
of the waited for job is a different sort of problem.) It ends up
|
|
taking a long time because inews is calling relaynews, which often
|
|
waits for another relaynews to free the lock on the news system so it
|
|
can file the article.
|
|
|
|
My preferred solution is to change inews to not call relaynews, but
|
|
rather use newsspool. This loses some error-catching functionality,
|
|
but is for the most part safe as inews will detect a lot of the errors
|
|
on its own. The C News folks have sped up inews, too, so speed should
|
|
look better to most folks as that update propagates around.
|
|
|
|
148: Why don't my news postings in Gnus get past the local machine?
|
|
|
|
It could be that your Distribution: field is "local" or a synonym, or
|
|
your Path: field may be wrong. This piece of code may fix the latter
|
|
problem:
|
|
|
|
(setq gnus-use-generic-path t)
|
|
|
|
149: Why doesn't Gnus generate the `Lines:' header?
|
|
|
|
The posting software down the line from Gnus often generates a "Lines:"
|
|
header so Gnus doesn't have to. If you want it to, just add Lines to the
|
|
list in gnus-required-headers:
|
|
|
|
(add-hook 'gnus-startup-hook
|
|
'(lambda ()
|
|
(setq gnus-required-headers (cons 'Lines gnus-required-headers))))
|
|
|
|
150: How do I kill all articles in Gnus but those matching a pattern?
|
|
|
|
Example kill file code:
|
|
|
|
;; kill everything
|
|
(gnus-kill "subject" "" nil nil)
|
|
;; then restore stuff by our favorite poster
|
|
(gnus-kill "from" "good-guy"
|
|
(function
|
|
(lambda ()
|
|
(if (eq ?X (char-after (save-excursion
|
|
(beginning-of-line 1)
|
|
(point))))
|
|
(gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward 1))))
|
|
t)
|
|
|
|
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
Slightly modified by Richard Stallman
|
|
Copyright 1994 Reuven M. Lerner
|
|
Copyright 1992, 1993 Steven Byrnes
|
|
Copyright 1990, 1991, 1992 Joseph Brian Wells
|
|
|
|
This list of frequently asked questions about GNU Emacs with answers
|
|
("FAQ") may be translated into other languages, transformed into other
|
|
formats (e.g. Texinfo, Info, WWW, WAIS), and updated with new information.
|
|
|
|
The same conditions apply to any derivative of the FAQ as apply to the FAQ
|
|
itself. Every copy of the FAQ must include this notice or an approved
|
|
translation, information on who is currently maintaining the FAQ and how to
|
|
contact them (including their e-mail address), and information on where the
|
|
latest version of the FAQ is archived (including FTP information).
|
|
|
|
The FAQ may be copied and redistributed under these conditions, except that
|
|
the FAQ may not be embedded in a larger literary work unless that work
|
|
itself allows free copying and redistribution.
|
|
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
Special thanks to members of the FAQ team, who worked hard to ensure that
|
|
answers were up-to-date:
|
|
|
|
Ethan Bradford <ethanb@u.washington.edu>, Luis Fernandes
|
|
<elf@eccles.ee.ryerson.ca>, Denby Wong <3dw16@qlink.QueensU.CA>, Yair
|
|
Friedman <yair@cs.huji.ac.il>, Thi <ttn@netcom.com>, Richard Levitte
|
|
<levitte@e.kth.se>, "William G. Dubuque" <wgd@martigny.ai.mit.edu>,
|
|
and Guan-Hsong Hsu <ghsu@relay.nswc.navy.mil>.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|