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1 @c This is part of the Emacs manual.
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2 @c Copyright (C) 1985, 86, 87, 93, 94, 95, 1997 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
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3 @c See file emacs.texi for copying conditions.
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4 @node MS-DOS, Manifesto, Antinews, Top
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5 @appendix Emacs and MS-DOS
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6 @cindex MS-DOG
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7 @cindex MS-DOS peculiarities
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8
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9 This section briefly describes the peculiarities of using Emacs under
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10 the MS-DOS ``operating system'' (also known as ``MS-DOG''). If you
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11 build Emacs for MS-DOS, the binary will also run on Windows 3.X, Windows
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12 NT, Windows 9X, or OS/2 as a DOS application; the information in this
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13 chapter applies for all of those systems, if you use an Emacs that was
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14 built for MS-DOS.
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15
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16 Note that it is possible to build Emacs specifically for Windows NT or
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17 Windows 9X. If you do that, most of this chapter does not apply;
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18 instead, you get behavior much closer to what is documented in the rest
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19 of the manual, including support for long file names, multiple frames,
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20 scroll bars, mouse menus, and subprocesses. However, the section on
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21 text files and binary files does still apply. There are also two
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22 sections at the end of this chapter which apply specifically for Windows
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23 NT and 9X.
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24
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25 @menu
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26 * Input: MS-DOS Input. Keyboard and mouse usage on MS-DOS.
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27 * Display: MS-DOS Display. Fonts, frames and display size on MS-DOS.
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28 * Files: MS-DOS File Names. File name conventions on MS-DOS.
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29 * Text and Binary:: Text files on MS-DOS use CRLF to separate lines.
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30 * Printing: MS-DOS Printing. How to specify the printer on MS-DOS.
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31 * I18N: MS-DOS and MULE. Support for internationalization on MS-DOS.
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32 * Processes: MS-DOS Processes. Running subprocesses on MS-DOS.
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33 * Windows Processes:: Running subprocesses on Windows.
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34 * Windows System Menu:: Controlling what the ALT key does.
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35 @end menu
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36
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37 @node MS-DOS Input
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38 @section Keyboard and Mouse on MS-DOS
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39
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40 @cindex Meta (under MS-DOS)
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41 @cindex Hyper (under MS-DOS)
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42 @cindex Super (under MS-DOS)
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43 @vindex dos-super-key
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44 @vindex dos-hyper-key
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45 The PC keyboard maps use the left @key{ALT} key as the @key{META} key.
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46 You have two choices for emulating the @key{SUPER} and @key{HYPER} keys:
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47 choose either the right @key{CTRL} key or the right @key{ALT} key by
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48 setting the variables @code{dos-hyper-key} and @code{dos-super-key} to 1
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49 or 2 respectively. If neither @code{dos-super-key} nor
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50 @code{dos-hyper-key} is 1, then by default the right @key{ALT} key is
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51 also mapped to the @key{META} key. However, if the MS-DOS international
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52 keyboard support program @file{KEYB.COM} is installed, Emacs will
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53 @emph{not} map the right @key{ALT} to @key{META}, since it is used for
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54 accessing characters like @kbd{~} and @kbd{@@} on non-US keyboard
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55 layouts; in this case, you may only use the left @key{ALT} as @key{META}
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56 key.
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57
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58 @kindex C-j @r{(MS-DOS)}
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59 @vindex dos-keypad-mode
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60 The variable @code{dos-keypad-mode} is a flag variable that controls
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61 what key codes are returned by keys in the numeric keypad. You can also
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62 define the keypad @key{ENTER} key to act like @kbd{C-j}, by putting the
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63 following line into your @file{_emacs} file:
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64
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65 @smallexample
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66 ;; Make the Enter key from the Numeric keypad act as C-j.
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67 (define-key function-key-map [kp-enter] [?\C-j])
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68 @end smallexample
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69
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70 @kindex DEL @r{(MS-DOS)}
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71 @kindex BS @r{(MS-DOS)}
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72 The key that is called @key{DEL} in Emacs (because that's how it is
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73 designated on most workstations) is known as @key{BS} (backspace) on a
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74 PC. That is why the PC-specific terminal initialization remaps the
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75 @key{BS} key to act as @key{DEL}; the @key{DEL} key is remapped to act
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76 as @kbd{C-d} for the same reasons.
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77
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78 @kindex C-g @r{(MS-DOS)}
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79 @kindex C-BREAK @r{(MS-DOS)}
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80 @cindex quitting on MS-DOS
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81 Emacs built for MS-DOS recognizes @kbd{C-@key{BREAK}} as a quit
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82 character, just like @kbd{C-g}. This is because Emacs cannot detect
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83 that you have typed @kbd{C-g} until it is ready for more input. As a
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84 consequence, you cannot use @kbd{C-g} to stop a running command
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85 (@pxref{Quitting}). By contrast, @kbd{C-@key{BREAK}} @emph{is} detected
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86 as soon as you type it (as @kbd{C-g} is on other systems), so it can be
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87 used to stop a running command and for emergency escape
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88 (@pxref{Emergency Escape}).
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89
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90 @cindex mouse support under MS-DOS
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91 Emacs on MS-DOS supports a mouse (on the default terminal only).
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92 The mouse commands work as documented, including those that use menus
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93 and the menu bar (@pxref{Menu Bar}). Scroll bars don't work in
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94 MS-DOS Emacs. PC mice usually have only two buttons; these act as
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95 @kbd{Mouse-1} and @kbd{Mouse-2}, but if you press both of them
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96 together, that has the effect of @kbd{Mouse-3}.
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97
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98 @cindex Windows clipboard support
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99 Emacs built for MS-DOS supports clipboard operations when it runs on
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100 Windows. Commands that put text on the kill ring, or yank text from the
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101 ring, check the Windows clipboard first, just as Emacs does on X Windows
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102 (@pxref{Mouse Commands}). Only the primary selection and the cut buffer
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103 are supported by MS-DOS Emacs on Windows; the secondary selection always
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104 appears as empty.
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105
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106 Due to the way clipboard access is implemented by Windows, the
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107 length of text you can put into the clipboard is limited by the amount
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108 of free DOS memory that is available to Emacs. Usually, up to 620KB of
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109 text can be put into the clipboard, but this limit depends on the system
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110 configuration and is lower if you run Emacs as a subprocess of
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111 another program. If the killed text does not fit, Emacs prints a
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112 message saying so, and does not put the text into the clipboard.
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113
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114 Null characters also cannot be put into the Windows clipboard. If the
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115 killed text includes null characters, Emacs does not put such text into
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116 the clipboard, and prints in the echo area a message to that effect.
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117
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118 @vindex dos-display-scancodes
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119 The variable @code{dos-display-scancodes}, when non-@code{nil},
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120 directs Emacs to display the ASCII value and the keyboard scan code of
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121 each keystroke; this feature serves as a complement to the
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122 @code{view-lossage} command, for debugging.
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123
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124 @node MS-DOS Display
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125 @section Display on MS-DOS
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126 @cindex faces under MS-DOS
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127 @cindex fonts, emulating under MS-DOS
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128
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129 Display on MS-DOS cannot use font variants, like bold or italic,
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130 but it does support
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131 multiple faces, each of which can specify a foreground and a background
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132 color. Therefore, you can get the full functionality of Emacs packages
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133 that use fonts (such as @code{font-lock}, Enriched Text mode, and
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134 others) by defining the relevant faces to use different colors. Use the
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135 @code{list-colors-display} command (@pxref{Frame Parameters}) and the
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136 @code{list-faces-display} command (@pxref{Faces}) to see what colors and
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137 faces are available and what they look like.
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138
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139 The section @ref{MS-DOS and MULE}, later in this chapter, describes
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140 how Emacs displays glyphs and characters which aren't supported by the
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141 native font built into the DOS display.
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142
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143 @cindex frames on MS-DOS
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144 Multiple frames (@pxref{Frames}) are supported on MS-DOS, but they all
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145 overlap, so you only see a single frame at any given moment. That
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146 single visible frame occupies the entire screen. When you run Emacs
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147 from MS-Windows DOS box, you can make the visible frame smaller than
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148 the full screen, but Emacs still cannot display more than a single
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149 frame at a time.
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150
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151 @cindex frame size under MS-DOS
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152 @findex mode4350
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153 @findex mode25
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154 The @code{mode4350} command switches the display to 43 or 50
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155 lines, depending on your hardware; the @code{mode25} command switches
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156 to the default 80x25 screen size.
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157
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158 By default, Emacs only knows how to set screen sizes of 80 columns by
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159 25, 28, 35, 40, 43 or 50 rows. However, if your video adapter has
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160 special video modes that will switch the display to other sizes, you can
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161 have Emacs support those too. When you ask Emacs to switch the frame to
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162 @var{n} rows by @var{m} columns dimensions, it checks if there is a
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163 variable called @code{screen-dimensions-@var{n}x@var{m}}, and if so,
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164 uses its value (which must be an integer) as the video mode to switch
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165 to. (Emacs switches to that video mode by calling the BIOS @code{Set
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166 Video Mode} function with the value of
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167 @code{screen-dimensions-@var{n}x@var{m}} in the @code{AL} register.)
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168 For example, suppose your adapter will switch to 66x80 dimensions when
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169 put into video mode 85. Then you can make Emacs support this screen
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170 size by putting the following into your @file{_emacs} file:
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171
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172 @example
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173 (setq screen-dimensions-66x80 85)
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174 @end example
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175
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176 Since Emacs on MS-DOS can only set the frame size to specific
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177 supported dimensions, it cannot honor every possible frame resizing
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178 request. When an unsupported size is requested, Emacs chooses the next
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179 larger supported size beyond the specified size. For example, if you
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180 ask for 36x80 frame, you will get 40x80 instead.
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181
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182 The variables @code{screen-dimensions-@var{n}x@var{m}} are used only
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183 when they exactly match the specified size; the search for the next
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184 larger supported size ignores them. In the above example, even if your
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185 VGA supports 38x80 dimensions and you define a variable
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186 @code{screen-dimensions-38x80} with a suitable value, you will still get
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187 40x80 screen when you ask for a 36x80 frame. If you want to get the
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188 38x80 size in this case, you can do it by setting the variable named
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189 @code{screen-dimensions-36x80} with the same video mode value as
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190 @code{screen-dimensions-38x80}.
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191
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192 Changing frame dimensions on MS-DOS has the effect of changing all the
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193 other frames to the new dimensions.
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194
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195 @node MS-DOS File Names
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196 @section File Names on MS-DOS
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197 @cindex file names under MS-DOS
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198 @cindex init file, default name under MS-DOS
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199
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200 MS-DOS normally uses a backslash, @samp{\}, to separate name units
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201 within a file name, instead of the slash used on other systems. Emacs
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202 on MS-DOS permits use of either slash or backslash, and also knows
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203 about drive letters in file names.
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204
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205 On MS-DOS, file names are case-insensitive and limited to eight
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206 characters, plus optionally a period and three more characters. Emacs
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207 knows enough about these limitations to handle file names that were
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208 meant for other operating systems. For instance, leading dots @samp{.}
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209 in file names are invalid in MS-DOS, so Emacs transparently converts
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210 them to underscores @samp{_}; thus your default init file (@pxref{Init
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211 File}) is called @file{_emacs} on MS-DOS. Excess characters before or
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212 after the period are generally ignored by MS-DOS itself; thus, if you
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213 visit the file @file{LongFileName.EvenLongerExtension}, you will
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214 silently get @file{longfile.eve}, but Emacs will still display the long
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215 file name on the mode line. Other than that, it's up to you to specify
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216 file names which are valid under MS-DOS; the transparent conversion as
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217 described above only works on file names built into Emacs.
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218
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219 @cindex backup file names on MS-DOS
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220 The above restrictions on the file names on MS-DOS make it almost
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221 impossible to construct the name of a backup file (@pxref{Backup
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222 Names}) without losing some of the original file name characters. For
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223 example, the name of a backup file for @file{docs.txt} is
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224 @file{docs.tx~} even if single backup is used.
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225
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226 @cindex file names under Windows 95/NT
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227 @cindex long file names in DOS box under Windows 95/NT
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228 If you run Emacs as a DOS application under Windows 9X, you can
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229 turn on support for long file names. If you do that, Emacs doesn't
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230 truncate file names or convert them to lower case; instead, it uses the
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231 file names that you specify, verbatim. To enable long file name
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232 support, set the environment variable @code{LFN} to @samp{y} before
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233 starting Emacs. Unfortunately, Windows NT doesn't allow DOS programs to
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234 access long file names, so Emacs built for MS-DOS will only see their
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235 short 8+3 aliases.
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236
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237 @cindex @code{HOME} directory under MS-DOS
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238 MS-DOS has no notion of home directory, so Emacs on MS-DOS pretends
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239 that the directory where it is installed is the value of @code{HOME}
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240 environment variable. That is, if your Emacs binary,
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241 @file{emacs.exe}, is in the directory @file{c:/utils/emacs/bin}, then
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242 Emacs acts as if @code{HOME} were set to @samp{c:/utils/emacs}. In
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243 particular, that is where Emacs looks for the init file @file{_emacs}.
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244 With this in mind, you can use @samp{~} in file names as an alias for
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245 the home directory, as you would in Unix. You can also set @code{HOME}
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246 variable in the environment before starting Emacs; its value will then
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247 override the above default behavior.
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248
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249 Emacs on MS-DOS handles the directory name @file{/dev} specially,
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250 because of a feature in the emulator libraries of DJGPP that pretends
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251 I/O devices have names in that directory. We recommend that you avoid
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252 using an actual directory named @file{/dev} on any disk.
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253
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254 @node Text and Binary
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255 @section Text Files and Binary Files
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256 @cindex text and binary files on MS-DOS/MS-Windows
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257
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258 GNU Emacs uses newline characters to separate text lines. This is the
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259 convention used on Unix, on which GNU Emacs was developed, and on GNU
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260 systems since they are modeled on Unix.
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261
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262 @cindex end-of-line conversion on MS-DOS/MS-Windows
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263 MS-DOS and MS-Windows normally use carriage-return linefeed, a
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264 two-character sequence, to separate text lines. (Linefeed is the same
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265 character as newline.) Therefore, convenient editing of typical files
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266 with Emacs requires conversion of these end-of-line (EOL) sequences.
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267 And that is what Emacs normally does: it converts carriage-return
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268 linefeed into newline when reading files, and converts newline into
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269 carriage-return linefeed when writing files. The same mechanism that
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270 handles conversion of international character codes does this conversion
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271 also (@pxref{Coding Systems}).
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272
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273 @cindex cursor location, under MS-DOS
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274 @cindex point location, under MS-DOS
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275 One consequence of this special format-conversion of most files is
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276 that character positions as reported by Emacs (@pxref{Position Info}) do
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277 not agree with the file size information known to the operating system.
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278
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279 @vindex file-name-buffer-file-type-alist
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280 Some kinds of files should not be converted, because their contents
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281 are not really text. Therefore, Emacs on MS-DOS distinguishes certain
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282 files as @dfn{binary files}, and reads and writes them verbatim. (This
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283 distinction is not part of MS-DOS; it is made by Emacs only.) These
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284 include executable programs, compressed archives, etc. Emacs uses the
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285 file name to decide whether to treat a file as binary: the variable
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286 @code{file-name-buffer-file-type-alist} defines the file-name patterns
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287 that indicate binary files. Note that if a file name matches one of the
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288 patterns for binary files in @code{file-name-buffer-file-type-alist},
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289 Emacs uses the @code{no-conversion} coding system (@pxref{Coding
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290 Systems}) which turns off @emph{all} coding-system conversions, not only
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291 the EOL conversion.
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292
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293 In addition, if Emacs recognizes from a file's contents that it uses
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294 newline rather than carriage-return linefeed as its line separator, it
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295 does not perform conversion when reading or writing that file. Thus,
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296 you can read and edit files from Unix or GNU systems on MS-DOS with no
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297 special effort, and they will be left with their Unix-style EOLs.
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298
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299 @findex find-file-text
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300 @findex find-file-binary
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301 You can visit a file and specify whether to treat a file as text or
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302 binary using the commands @code{find-file-text} and
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303 @code{find-file-binary}. End-of-line conversion is part of the general
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304 coding system conversion mechanism, so another way to control whether to
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305 treat a file as text or binary is with the commands for specifying a
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306 coding system (@pxref{Specify Coding}). For example,
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307 @kbd{C-x @key{RET} c undecided-unix @key{RET} C-x C-f foobar.txt}
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308 visits the file @file{foobar.txt} without converting the EOLs.
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309
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310 The mode line indicates whether end-of-line translation was used for
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311 the current buffer. Normally a colon appears after the coding system
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312 letter near the beginning of the mode line. If MS-DOS end-of-line
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313 translation is in use for the buffer, this character changes to a
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314 backslash.
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315
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316 @cindex untranslated file system
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317 @findex add-untranslated-filesystem
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318 When you use NFS or Samba to access file systems that reside on
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319 computers using Unix or GNU systems, Emacs should not perform
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320 end-of-line translation on any files in these file systems--not even
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321 when you create a new file. To request this, designate these file
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322 systems as @dfn{untranslated} file systems by calling the function
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323 @code{add-untranslated-filesystem}. It takes one argument: the file
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324 system name, including a drive letter and optionally a directory. For
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325 example,
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326
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327 @example
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328 (add-untranslated-filesystem "Z:")
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329 @end example
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330
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331 @noindent
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332 designates drive Z as an untranslated file system, and
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333
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334 @example
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335 (add-untranslated-filesystem "Z:\\foo")
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336 @end example
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337
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338 @noindent
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339 designates directory @file{\foo} on drive Z as an untranslated file
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340 system.
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341
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342 Most often you would use @code{add-untranslated-filesystem} in your
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343 @file{_emacs} file, or in @file{site-start.el} so that all the users at
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344 your site get the benefit of it.
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345
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346 @findex remove-untranslated-filesystem
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347 To countermand the effect of @code{add-untranslated-filesystem}, use
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348 the function @code{remove-untranslated-filesystem}. This function takes
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349 one argument, which should be a string just like the one that was used
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350 previously with @code{add-untranslated-filesystem}.
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351
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352 @node MS-DOS Printing
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353 @section Printing and MS-DOS
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354
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355 Printing commands, such as @code{lpr-buffer} (@pxref{Hardcopy}) and
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356 @code{ps-print-buffer} (@pxref{Postscript}) can work in MS-DOS by
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357 sending the output to one of the printer ports, if a Unix-style @code{lpr}
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358 program is unavailable. A few DOS-specific variables control how this
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359 works.
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360
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361 @vindex dos-printer
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362 If you want to use your local printer, printing on it in the usual DOS
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363 manner, then set the Lisp variable @code{dos-printer} to the name of the
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364 printer port---for example, @code{"PRN"}, the usual local printer port
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365 (that's the default), or @code{"LPT2"} or @code{"COM1"} for a serial
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366 printer. You can also set @code{dos-printer} to a file name, in which
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367 case ``printed'' output is actually appended to that file. If you set
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368 @code{dos-printer} to @code{"NUL"}, printed output is silently
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369 discarded (sent to the system null device).
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370
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371 If you set @code{dos-printer} to a file name, it's best to use an
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372 absolute file name. Emacs changes the working directory according to
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373 the default directory of the current buffer, so if the file name in
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374 @code{dos-printer} is relative, you will end up with several such files,
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375 each one in the directory of the buffer from which the printing was
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376 done.
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377
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378 @findex print-buffer @r{(MS-DOS)}
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379 @findex print-region @r{(MS-DOS)}
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380 @vindex lpr-headers-switches @r{(MS-DOS)}
|
|
381 The commands @code{print-buffer} and @code{print-region} call the
|
|
382 @code{pr} program, or use special switches to the @code{lpr} program, to
|
|
383 produce headers on each printed page. MS-DOS doesn't normally have
|
|
384 these programs, so by default, the variable @code{lpr-headers-switches}
|
|
385 is set so that the requests to print page headers are silently ignored.
|
|
386 Thus, @code{print-buffer} and @code{print-region} produce the same
|
|
387 output as @code{lpr-buffer} and @code{lpr-region}, respectively. If you
|
|
388 do have a suitable @code{pr} program (for example, from GNU Textutils),
|
|
389 set @code{lpr-headers-switches} to @code{nil}; Emacs will then call
|
|
390 @code{pr} to produce the page headers, and print the resulting output as
|
|
391 specified by @code{dos-printer}.
|
|
392
|
|
393 @vindex print-region-function @r{(MS-DOS)}
|
|
394 @cindex lpr usage under MS-DOS
|
|
395 @vindex lpr-command @r{(MS-DOS)}
|
|
396 @vindex lpr-switches @r{(MS-DOS)}
|
|
397 Finally, if you do have an @code{lpr} work-alike, you can set
|
|
398 @code{print-region-function} to @code{nil}. Then Emacs uses @code{lpr}
|
|
399 for printing, as on other systems. (If the name of the program isn't
|
|
400 @code{lpr}, set the @code{lpr-command} variable to specify where to find
|
|
401 it.)
|
|
402
|
|
403 @findex ps-print-buffer @r{(MS-DOS)}
|
|
404 @findex ps-spool-buffer @r{(MS-DOS)}
|
|
405 @vindex dos-ps-printer
|
|
406 @vindex ps-lpr-command @r{(MS-DOS)}
|
|
407 @vindex ps-lpr-switches @r{(MS-DOS)}
|
|
408 A separate variable, @code{dos-ps-printer}, defines how PostScript
|
|
409 files should be printed. If its value is a string, it is used as the
|
|
410 name of the device (or file) to which PostScript output is sent, just as
|
|
411 @code{dos-printer} is used for non-PostScript printing. (These are two
|
|
412 distinct variables in case you have two printers attached to two
|
|
413 different ports, and only one of them is a PostScript printer.) If the
|
|
414 value of @code{dos-ps-printer} is not a string, then the variables
|
|
415 @code{ps-lpr-command} and @code{ps-lpr-switches} (@pxref{Postscript})
|
|
416 control how to print PostScript files. Thus, if you have a
|
|
417 non-PostScript printer, you can set these variables to the name and the
|
|
418 switches appropriate for a PostScript interpreter program (such as
|
|
419 Ghostscript).
|
|
420
|
|
421 For example, to use Ghostscript for printing on an Epson printer
|
|
422 connected to @samp{LPT2} port, put this on your @file{.emacs} file:
|
|
423
|
|
424 @example
|
|
425 (setq dos-ps-printer t) ; @r{Anything but a string.}
|
|
426 (setq ps-lpr-command "c:/gs/gs386")
|
|
427 (setq ps-lpr-switches '("-q" "-dNOPAUSE"
|
|
428 "-sDEVICE=epson"
|
|
429 "-r240x72"
|
|
430 "-sOutputFile=LPT2"
|
|
431 "-Ic:/gs"
|
|
432 "-"))
|
|
433 @end example
|
|
434
|
|
435 @noindent
|
|
436 (This assumes that Ghostscript is installed in the @file{"c:/gs"}
|
|
437 directory.)
|
|
438
|
|
439 @node MS-DOS and MULE
|
|
440 @section International Support on MS-DOS
|
|
441 @cindex international support @r{(MS-DOS)}
|
|
442
|
|
443 Emacs on MS-DOS supports the same international character sets as it
|
|
444 does on Unix and other platforms (@pxref{International}), including
|
|
445 coding systems for converting between the different character sets.
|
|
446 However, due to incompatibilities between MS-DOS/MS-Windows and Unix,
|
|
447 there are several DOS-specific aspects of this support that users should
|
|
448 be aware of. This section describes these aspects.
|
|
449
|
|
450 @table @kbd
|
|
451 @item M-x dos-codepage-setup
|
|
452 Set up Emacs display and coding systems as appropriate for the current
|
|
453 DOS codepage.
|
|
454
|
|
455 @item M-x codepage-setup
|
|
456 Create a coding system for a certain DOS codepage.
|
|
457 @end table
|
|
458
|
|
459 @cindex codepage, MS-DOS
|
|
460 @cindex DOS codepages
|
|
461 MS-DOS is designed to support one character set of 256 characters at
|
|
462 any given time, but gives you a variety of character sets to choose
|
|
463 from. The alternative character sets are known as @dfn{DOS codepages}.
|
|
464 Each codepage includes all 128 ASCII characters, but the other 128
|
|
465 characters (codes 128 through 255) vary from one codepage to another.
|
|
466 Each DOS codepage is identified by a 3-digit number, such as 850, 862,
|
|
467 etc.
|
|
468
|
|
469 In contrast to X Windows, which lets you use several fonts at the same
|
|
470 time, MS-DOS doesn't allow use of several codepages in a single session.
|
|
471 Instead, MS-DOS loads a single codepage at system startup, and you must
|
|
472 reboot MS-DOS to change it@footnote{Normally, one particular codepage is
|
|
473 burnt into the display memory, while other codepages can be installed by
|
|
474 modifying system configuration files, such as @file{CONFIG.SYS}, and
|
|
475 rebooting.}. Much the same limitation applies when you run DOS
|
|
476 executables on other systems such as MS-Windows.
|
|
477
|
|
478 @cindex unibyte operation @r{(MS-DOS)}
|
|
479 If you invoke Emacs on MS-DOS with the @samp{--unibyte} option
|
|
480 (@pxref{Initial Options}), Emacs does not perform any conversion of
|
|
481 non-ASCII characters. Instead, it reads and writes any non-ASCII
|
|
482 characters verbatim, and sends their 8-bit codes to the display
|
|
483 verbatim. Thus, unibyte Emacs on MS-DOS supports the current codepage,
|
|
484 whatever it may be, but cannot even represent any other characters.
|
|
485
|
|
486 @vindex dos-codepage
|
|
487 For multibyte operation on MS-DOS, Emacs needs to know which
|
|
488 characters the chosen DOS codepage can display. So it queries the
|
|
489 system shortly after startup to get the chosen codepage number, and
|
|
490 stores the number in the variable @code{dos-codepage}. Some systems
|
|
491 return the default value 437 for the current codepage, even though the
|
|
492 actual codepage is different. (This typically happens when you use the
|
|
493 codepage built into the display hardware.) You can specify a different
|
|
494 codepage for Emacs to use by setting the variable @code{dos-codepage} in
|
|
495 your init file.
|
|
496
|
|
497 @cindex language environment, automatic selection on @r{MS-DOS}
|
|
498 Multibyte Emacs supports only certain DOS codepages, those that encode
|
|
499 a single ISO 8859 character set, and it knows which ISO character set
|
|
500 based on the codepage number. Emacs automatically creates a coding
|
|
501 system to support reading and writing files that use the current
|
|
502 codepage, and uses this coding system by default. The name of this
|
|
503 coding system is @code{cp@var{nnn}}, where @var{nnn} is the codepage
|
|
504 number.@footnote{The standard Emacs coding systems for ISO 8859 are not
|
|
505 quite right for the purpose, because typically the DOS codepage does not
|
|
506 match the standard ISO character codes. For example, the
|
|
507 letter @samp{@,{c}} (@samp{c} with cedilla) has code 231 in the standard
|
|
508 Latin-1 character set, but the corresponding DOS codepage 850 uses code
|
|
509 135 for this glyph.}
|
|
510
|
|
511 @cindex mode line @r{(MS-DOS)}
|
|
512 All the @code{cp@var{nnn}} coding systems use the letter @samp{D} (for
|
|
513 ``DOS'') as their mode-line mnemonic. Since both the terminal coding
|
|
514 system and the default coding system for file I/O are set to the proper
|
|
515 @code{cp@var{nnn}} coding system at startup, it is normal for the mode
|
|
516 line on MS-DOS to begin with @samp{-DD\-}. @xref{Mode Line}.
|
|
517
|
|
518 Since the codepage number also indicates which script you are using,
|
|
519 Emacs automatically runs @code{set-language-environment} to select the
|
|
520 language environment for that script (@pxref{Language Environments}).
|
|
521
|
|
522 If a buffer contains a character belonging to some other ISO 8859
|
|
523 character set, not the one that the chosen DOS codepage supports, Emacs
|
|
524 displays it using a sequence of ASCII characters. For example, if the
|
|
525 current codepage doesn't have a glyph for the letter @samp{@`o} (small
|
|
526 @samp{o} with a grave accent), it is displayed as @samp{@{`o@}}, where
|
|
527 the braces serve as a visual indication that this is a single character.
|
|
528 (This may look awkward for some non-Latin characters, such as those from
|
|
529 Greek or Hebrew alphabets, but it is still readable by a person who
|
|
530 knows the language.) Even though the character may occupy several
|
|
531 columns on the screen, it is really still just a single character, and
|
|
532 all Emacs commands treat it as one.
|
|
533
|
|
534 @vindex dos-unsupported-character-glyph
|
|
535 Not all characters in DOS codepages correspond to ISO 8859
|
|
536 characters---some are used for other purposes, such as box-drawing
|
|
537 characters and other graphics. Emacs cannot represent these characters
|
|
538 internally, so when you read a file that uses these characters, they are
|
|
539 converted into a particular character code, specified by the variable
|
|
540 @code{dos-unsupported-character-glyph}.
|
|
541
|
|
542 Emacs supports many other characters sets aside from ISO 8859, but it
|
|
543 cannot display them on MS-DOS. So if one of these multibyte characters
|
|
544 appears in a buffer, Emacs on MS-DOS displays a solid box instead of the
|
|
545 character.
|
|
546
|
|
547 @findex codepage-setup
|
|
548 By default, Emacs defines a coding system to support the current
|
|
549 codepage. To define a coding system for some other codepage (e.g., to
|
|
550 visit a file written on a DOS machine in another country), use the
|
|
551 @kbd{M-x codepage-setup} command. It prompts for the 3-digit code of
|
|
552 the codepage, with completion, then creates the coding system for the
|
|
553 specified codepage. You can then use the new coding system to read and
|
|
554 write files, but you must specify it explicitly for the file command
|
|
555 when you want to use it (@pxref{Specify Coding}).
|
|
556
|
|
557 These coding systems are also useful for visiting a file encoded using
|
|
558 a DOS codepage, using Emacs running on some other operating system.
|
|
559
|
|
560 @node MS-DOS Processes
|
|
561 @section Subprocesses on MS-DOS
|
|
562
|
|
563 @cindex compilation under MS-DOS
|
|
564 @cindex inferior processes under MS-DOS
|
|
565 @findex compile @r{(MS-DOS)}
|
|
566 @findex grep @r{(MS-DOS)}
|
|
567 Because MS-DOS is a single-process ``operating system,''
|
|
568 asynchronous subprocesses are not available. In particular, Shell
|
|
569 mode and its variants do not work. Most Emacs features that use
|
|
570 asynchronous subprocesses also don't work on MS-DOS, including
|
|
571 spelling correction and GUD. When in doubt, try and see; commands that
|
|
572 don't work print an error message saying that asynchronous processes
|
|
573 aren't supported.
|
|
574
|
|
575 Compilation under Emacs with @kbd{M-x compile}, searching files with
|
|
576 @kbd{M-x grep} and displaying differences between files with @kbd{M-x
|
|
577 diff} do work, by running the inferior processes synchronously. This
|
|
578 means you cannot do any more editing until the inferior process
|
|
579 finishes.
|
|
580
|
|
581 By contrast, Emacs compiled as native Windows application
|
|
582 @strong{does} support asynchronous subprocesses. @xref{Windows
|
|
583 Processes}.
|
|
584
|
|
585 @cindex printing under MS-DOS
|
|
586 Printing commands, such as @code{lpr-buffer} (@pxref{Hardcopy}) and
|
|
587 @code{ps-print-buffer} (@pxref{Postscript}), work in MS-DOS by sending
|
|
588 the output to one of the printer ports. @xref{MS-DOS Printing}.
|
|
589
|
|
590 When you run a subprocess synchronously on MS-DOS, make sure the
|
|
591 program terminates and does not try to read keyboard input. If the
|
|
592 program does not terminate on its own, you will be unable to terminate
|
|
593 it, because MS-DOS provides no general way to terminate a process.
|
|
594 Pressing @kbd{C-c} or @kbd{C-@key{BREAK}} might sometimes help in these
|
|
595 cases.
|
|
596
|
|
597 Accessing files on other machines is not supported on MS-DOS. Other
|
|
598 network-oriented commands such as sending mail, Web browsing, remote
|
|
599 login, etc., don't work either, unless network access is built into
|
|
600 MS-DOS with some network redirector.
|
|
601
|
|
602 @cindex directory listing on MS-DOS
|
|
603 @vindex dired-listing-switches @r{(MS-DOS)}
|
|
604 Dired on MS-DOS uses the @code{ls-lisp} package where other
|
|
605 platforms use the system @code{ls} command. Therefore, Dired on
|
|
606 MS-DOS supports only some of the possible options you can mention in
|
|
607 the @code{dired-listing-switches} variable. The options that work are
|
|
608 @samp{-A}, @samp{-a}, @samp{-c}, @samp{-i}, @samp{-r}, @samp{-S},
|
|
609 @samp{-s}, @samp{-t}, and @samp{-u}.
|
|
610
|
|
611 @node Windows Processes
|
|
612 @section Subprocesses on Windows 95 and NT
|
|
613
|
|
614 Emacs compiled as a native Windows application (as opposed to the DOS
|
|
615 version) includes full support for asynchronous subprocesses.
|
|
616 In the Windows version, synchronous and asynchronous subprocesses work
|
|
617 fine on both
|
|
618 Windows 95 and Windows NT as long as you run only 32-bit Windows
|
|
619 applications. However, when you run a DOS application in a subprocess,
|
|
620 you may encounter problems or be unable to run the application at all;
|
|
621 and if you run two DOS applications at the same time in two
|
|
622 subprocesses, you may have to reboot your system.
|
|
623
|
|
624 Since the standard command interpreter (and most command line utilities)
|
|
625 on Windows 95 are DOS applications, these problems are significant when
|
|
626 using that system. But there's nothing we can do about them; only
|
|
627 Microsoft can fix them.
|
|
628
|
|
629 If you run just one DOS application subprocess, the subprocess should
|
|
630 work as expected as long as it is ``well-behaved'' and does not perform
|
|
631 direct screen access or other unusual actions. If you have a CPU
|
|
632 monitor application, your machine will appear to be 100% busy even when
|
|
633 the DOS application is idle, but this is only an artifact of the way CPU
|
|
634 monitors measure processor load.
|
|
635
|
|
636 You must terminate the DOS application before you start any other DOS
|
|
637 application in a different subprocess. Emacs is unable to interrupt or
|
|
638 terminate a DOS subprocess. The only way you can terminate such a
|
|
639 subprocess is by giving it a command that tells its program to exit.
|
|
640
|
|
641 If you attempt to run two DOS applications at the same time in separate
|
|
642 subprocesses, the second one that is started will be suspended until the
|
|
643 first one finishes, even if either or both of them are asynchronous.
|
|
644
|
|
645 If you can go to the first subprocess, and tell it to exit, the second
|
|
646 subprocess should continue normally. However, if the second subprocess
|
|
647 is synchronous, Emacs itself will be hung until the first subprocess
|
|
648 finishes. If it will not finish without user input, then you have no
|
|
649 choice but to reboot if you are running on Windows 95. If you are
|
|
650 running on Windows NT, you can use a process viewer application to kill
|
|
651 the appropriate instance of ntvdm instead (this will terminate both DOS
|
|
652 subprocesses).
|
|
653
|
|
654 If you have to reboot Windows 95 in this situation, do not use the
|
|
655 @code{Shutdown} command on the @code{Start} menu; that usually hangs the
|
|
656 system. Instead, type @kbd{CTL-ALT-@key{DEL}} and then choose
|
|
657 @code{Shutdown}. That usually works, although it may take a few minutes
|
|
658 to do its job.
|
|
659
|
|
660 @node Windows System Menu
|
|
661 @section Using the System Menu on Windows
|
|
662
|
|
663 Emacs compiled as a native Windows application normally turns off the
|
|
664 Windows feature that tapping the @key{ALT}
|
|
665 key invokes the Windows menu. The reason is that the @key{ALT} also
|
|
666 serves as @key{META} in Emacs. When using Emacs, users often press the
|
|
667 @key{META} key temporarily and then change their minds; if this has the
|
|
668 effect of bringing up the Windows menu, it alters the meaning of
|
|
669 subsequent commands. Many users find this frustrating.
|
|
670
|
|
671 @vindex w32-pass-alt-to-system
|
|
672 You can reenable Windows's default handling of tapping the @key{ALT} key
|
|
673 by setting @code{w32-pass-alt-to-system} to a non-@code{nil} value.
|
|
674
|