1736
|
1 GNU Emacs FAQ: Introduction
|
|
2
|
11822
|
3 This is the introduction to a list of frequently asked questions (FAQ)
|
|
4 about GNU Emacs with answers.
|
|
5
|
|
6 The FAQ is posted to reduce the noise level in the `gnu.emacs.help'
|
|
7 newsgroup (which is also the `help-gnu-emacs' mailing list) which results
|
|
8 from the repetition of frequently asked questions, wrong answers to these
|
|
9 questions, corrections to the wrong answers, corrections to the
|
|
10 corrections, debate, name calling, etc. Also, it serves as a repository of
|
|
11 the canonical "best" answers to these questions. However, if you know a
|
|
12 better answer or even a slight change that improves an answer, please tell
|
|
13 us!
|
|
14
|
|
15 If you know the answer to a question in the FAQ list, please reply to the
|
597
|
16 question by e-mail instead of posting. Help reduce noise!
|
134
|
17
|
11822
|
18 The FAQ is crossposted to `comp.emacs' because some sites do not receive
|
|
19 the `gnu.*' newsgroups. The FAQ is also crossposted to `news.answers'.
|
|
20
|
|
21 Full instructions for getting the latest FAQ are in question 22.
|
|
22
|
|
23 It has been so long since the FAQ was last edited and released that the
|
|
24 maintainers decided to take a two-step approach. This edition corrects
|
|
25 many basic inaccuracies in the old FAQ, most of them having to do with ftp
|
|
26 sites and version numbers. In addition, we have deleted a number of
|
|
27 questions that are no longer relevant with the release of GNU Emacs 19.
|
|
28
|
|
29 Many questions specific to recent releases of GNU Emacs 19 remain
|
|
30 unanswered in this version of the FAQ; the maintainers will spend time over
|
|
31 the next month or two adding new questions (and answers), based in no small
|
|
32 part on the questions that have come across help-gnu-emacs in recent
|
|
33 months.
|
|
34
|
|
35 There is no diff file for this version of the FAQ, as many things have
|
|
36 changed since it was last updated.
|
|
37
|
|
38 Please suggest new questions, answers, wording changes, deletions, etc.
|
|
39 The most helpful form for suggestions is a context diff (i.e., the output
|
|
40 of `diff -c'). Include `FAQ' in the subject of messages sent to us about
|
|
41 the FAQ list.
|
|
42
|
|
43 Please do not send questions to us just because you do not want to disturb
|
|
44 a lot of people and you think we would know the answer. We do not have
|
|
45 time to answer questions individually. :-(
|
|
46
|
|
47 --
|
|
48 Reuven M. Lerner <reuven@the-tech.mit.edu> and the FAQ team (a full list is
|
|
49 at the bottom of the FAQ).
|
1736
|
50
|
597
|
51 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
52
|
1736
|
53 Notation Used in FAQ
|
|
54
|
|
55 1: What do these mean: C-h, M-C-a, RET, "ESC a", etc.?
|
|
56 2: What does "M-x command" mean?
|
|
57 3: How do I read topic XXX in the on-line manual?
|
|
58 4: What do these mean: etc/SERVICE, src/config.h, lisp/default.el?
|
|
59 5: What are FSF, LPF, OSF, GNU, RMS, FTP, and GPL?
|
|
60
|
|
61 General Questions
|
|
62
|
11822
|
63 6: What is the LPF?
|
1736
|
64 7: What is the real legal meaning of the GNU copyleft?
|
|
65 8: What are appropriate messages for gnu.emacs.help, gnu.emacs.bug,
|
|
66 comp.emacs, etc.?
|
|
67 9: Where can I get old postings to gnu.emacs.help and other GNU groups?
|
|
68 10: Where should I report bugs and other problems with GNU Emacs?
|
|
69 11: How do I unsubscribe to this mailing list?
|
|
70 12: What is the current address of the FSF?
|
597
|
71
|
1736
|
72 On-line Help, Printed Manuals, Other Sources of Help
|
|
73
|
|
74 13: I'm just starting GNU Emacs; how do I do basic editing?
|
|
75 14: How do I find out how to do something in GNU Emacs?
|
|
76 15: How do I get a printed copy of the GNU Emacs manual?
|
|
77 16: Where can I get documentation on GNU Emacs Lisp?
|
|
78 17: How do I install a piece of Texinfo documentation?
|
|
79 18: How do I print a Texinfo file?
|
|
80 19: Can I view Info files without using GNU Emacs?
|
|
81 20: What informational files are available for GNU Emacs?
|
|
82 21: Where can I get help in installing GNU Emacs?
|
|
83 22: Where can I get the latest version of this document (the FAQ list)?
|
|
84
|
|
85 Status of Emacs
|
|
86
|
|
87 23: Where does the name "Emacs" come from?
|
|
88 24: What is the latest version of GNU Emacs?
|
11822
|
89 25: What is different about GNU Emacs 19?
|
|
90
|
|
91 Common Things People Want To Do
|
|
92
|
|
93 26: How do I set up a .emacs file properly?
|
|
94 27: How do I debug a .emacs file?
|
|
95 28: How do I make Emacs display the current line (or column) number?
|
|
96 29: How do I turn on abbrevs by default just in mode XXX?
|
|
97 30: How do I turn on auto-fill mode by default?
|
|
98 31: How do I make Emacs use a certain major mode for certain files?
|
|
99 32: How do I search for, delete, or replace unprintable (8-bit or control)
|
1736
|
100 characters?
|
11822
|
101 33: How can I highlight a region of text in Emacs?
|
|
102 34: How do I control Emacs's case-sensitivity when searching/replacing?
|
|
103 35: How do I make Emacs wrap words for me?
|
|
104 36: Where can I get a better spelling checker for Emacs?
|
|
105 37: How can I spell-check TeX or *roff documents?
|
|
106 38: How do I change load-path?
|
|
107 39: How do I use an already running Emacs from another window?
|
|
108 40: How do I make Emacs recognize my compiler's funny error messages?
|
|
109 41: How do I indent switch statements like this?
|
|
110 42: How can I make Emacs automatically scroll horizontally?
|
|
111 43: How do I make Emacs "typeover" or "overwrite" instead of inserting?
|
|
112 44: How do I stop Emacs from beeping on a terminal?
|
|
113 45: How do I turn down the bell volume in Emacs running under X Windows?
|
|
114 46: How do I tell Emacs to automatically indent a new line to the
|
1736
|
115 indentation of the previous line?
|
11822
|
116 47: How do I show which parenthesis matches the one I'm looking at?
|
|
117 48: In C mode, can I show just the lines that will be left after #ifdef
|
1736
|
118 commands are handled by the compiler?
|
11822
|
119 49: Is there an equivalent to the `.' (dot) command of vi?
|
|
120 50: What are the valid X resource settings (i.e., stuff in .Xdefaults)?
|
|
121 51: How do I execute a piece of Emacs Lisp code?
|
|
122 52: How do I change Emacs's idea of the tab character's length?
|
|
123 53: How do I insert `>' at the beginning of every line?
|
|
124 54: How do I insert `_^H' before each character in a paragraph to get an
|
1736
|
125 underlined paragraph?
|
11822
|
126 55: How do I repeat a command as many times as possible?
|
|
127 56: How do I make Emacs behave like this: when I go up or down, the cursor
|
1736
|
128 should stay in the same column even if the line is too short?
|
11822
|
129 57: How do I tell Emacs to iconify itself?
|
|
130 58: How do I use regexps (regular expressions) in Emacs?
|
|
131 59: How do I perform a replace operation across more than one file?
|
|
132 60: Where is the documentation for `etags'?
|
1736
|
133
|
|
134 Bugs/Problems
|
597
|
135
|
11822
|
136 61: Does Emacs have problems with files larger than 8 megabytes?
|
|
137 62: How do I get rid of the ^M junk in my shell buffer?
|
|
138 63: Why do I get `Process shell exited abnormally with code 1'?
|
|
139 64: Where is the termcap/terminfo entry for terminal type `emacs'?
|
|
140 65: Why does Emacs spontaneously start displaying `I-search:' and beeping?
|
|
141 66: Why can't Emacs talk to certain hosts (or certain hostnames)?
|
|
142 67: Why does Emacs say `Error in init file'?
|
|
143 68: Why does Emacs ignore my X resources (my .Xdefaults file)?
|
|
144 69: Why does Emacs take 20 seconds to visit a file?
|
|
145 70: How do I edit a file with a `$' in its name?
|
|
146 71: Why does shell mode lose track of the shell's current directory?
|
|
147 72: Are there any security risks in GNU Emacs?
|
1736
|
148
|
|
149 Difficulties Building/Installing/Porting Emacs
|
|
150
|
11822
|
151 73: What should I do if I have trouble building Emacs?
|
|
152 74: How do I stop Emacs from failing when the executable is stripped?
|
|
153 75: Why does linking Emacs with -lX11 fail?
|
1736
|
154
|
|
155 Finding/Getting Emacs and Related Packages
|
597
|
156
|
11822
|
157 76: Where can I get GNU Emacs on the net (or by snail mail)?
|
|
158 77: How do I find a GNU Emacs Lisp package that does XXX?
|
|
159 78: Where can I get GNU Emacs Lisp packages that don't come with Emacs?
|
|
160 79: How do I submit code to the Emacs Lisp Archive?
|
|
161 80: Where can I get other up-to-date GNU stuff?
|
|
162 81: What is the difference between GNU Emacs and Epoch?
|
|
163 82: What is the difference between GNU Emacs and XEmacs (formerly "Lucid
|
|
164 Emacs")?
|
|
165 83: Where can I get Emacs for my PC running MS-DOS?
|
|
166 84: Where can I get Emacs for my PC running Microsoft Windows?
|
|
167 85: Where can I get Emacs for my PC running OS/2?
|
|
168 86: Where can I get Emacs for my Atari ST?
|
|
169 87: Where can I get Emacs for my Amiga?
|
|
170 88: Where can I get Emacs for my Apple computer?
|
|
171 89: Where do I get Emacs that runs on VMS under DECwindows?
|
|
172 90: Where can I get modes for Lex, Yacc/Bison, Bourne shell, Csh, C++,
|
|
173 Objective C, Pascal, and Awk?
|
|
174 91: What is the IP address of XXX.YYY.ZZZ?
|
1736
|
175
|
|
176 Major Emacs Lisp Packages, Emacs Extensions, and Related Programs
|
597
|
177
|
11822
|
178 92: VM (View Mail) -- another mail reader within Emacs
|
|
179 93: Supercite -- mail and news citation package within Emacs
|
|
180 94: Gnus -- news reader within Emacs
|
|
181 95: Calc -- poor man's Mathematica within Emacs
|
|
182 96: Ange-FTP -- transparent FTP access for Emacs's file access routines
|
|
183 97: VIP -- vi emulation for Emacs
|
|
184 98: AUC TeX -- enhanced LaTeX mode with debugging facilities
|
|
185 99: Hyperbole -- extensible hypertext management system within Emacs
|
|
186 100: BBDB -- personal Info Rolodex integrated with mail/news readers
|
|
187 101: Ispell -- spell checker in C with interface for Emacs
|
|
188 102: XEmacs -- alternative Emacs 19 with better X interface; formerly
|
|
189 known as Lucid Emacs or lemacs.
|
|
190 103: Patch -- program to apply "diffs" for updating files
|
134
|
191
|
1736
|
192 Changing Key Bindings and Handling Key Binding Problems
|
|
193
|
11822
|
194 104: How do I bind keys (including function keys) to commands?
|
|
195 105: Why does Emacs say `Key sequence XXX uses invalid prefix characters'?
|
|
196 106: Why doesn't this [terminal or window-system setup] code work in my
|
597
|
197 .emacs file, but it works just fine after Emacs starts up?
|
11822
|
198 107: How do I use function keys under X Windows?
|
|
199 108: How do I tell what characters or symbols my function or arrow keys
|
|
200 emit?
|
|
201 109: How do I set the X key "translations" for Emacs?
|
|
202 110: How do I handle C-s and C-q being used for flow control?
|
|
203 111: How do I bind `C-s' and `C-q' (or any key) if these keys are filtered
|
|
204 out?
|
|
205 112: Why does the `Backspace' key invoke help?
|
|
206 113: Why doesn't Emacs look at the stty settings for Backspace vs. Delete?
|
|
207 114: How do I "swap" two keys?
|
|
208 115: How do I produce C-XXX with my keyboard?
|
|
209 116: What if I don't have a Meta key?
|
|
210 117: What if I don't have an Escape key?
|
|
211 118: Can I make my `Compose Character' key behave like a Meta key?
|
|
212 119: How do I bind a combination of modifier key and function key?
|
|
213 120: Why doesn't my Meta key work in an xterm window?
|
|
214 121: Why doesn't my ExtendChar key work as a Meta key under HP-UX 8.0?
|
|
215 122: Where can I get key bindings to make Emacs emulate WordStar?
|
|
216 123: Where can I get an XEDIT emulator for Emacs?
|
597
|
217
|
1736
|
218 Using Emacs with Alternate Character Sets
|
597
|
219
|
11822
|
220 124: How do I make Emacs display 8-bit characters?
|
|
221 125: How do I input 8-bit characters?
|
|
222 126: Where can I get an Emacs that can handle kanji characters?
|
|
223 127: Where can I get an Emacs that can handle Chinese?
|
|
224 128: Where is an Emacs that can handle Semitic (right-to-left) alphabets?
|
597
|
225
|
1736
|
226 Mail and News
|
597
|
227
|
11822
|
228 129: How do I change the included text prefix in mail/news followups?
|
|
229 130: How do I save a copy of outgoing mail?
|
|
230 131: Why doesn't Emacs expand my aliases when sending mail?
|
|
231 132: Why does Rmail think all my saved messages are one big message?
|
|
232 133: How can I sort the messages in my Rmail folder?
|
|
233 134: Why does Rmail need to write to /usr/spool/mail?
|
|
234 135: How do I recover my mail files after Rmail munges their format?
|
|
235 136: How do I make Emacs automatically start my mail/news reader?
|
|
236 137: How do I read news under Emacs?
|
|
237 138: Why doesn't Gnus work via NNTP?
|
|
238 139: How do I view text with embedded underlining (e.g., ClariNews)?
|
|
239 140: How do I save all the items of a multi-part posting in Gnus?
|
|
240 141: Why does Gnus put the subjects in replies beyond the 80th column?
|
|
241 142: How do I make Gnus start up faster?
|
|
242 143: How do I catch up all newsgroups in Gnus?
|
|
243 144: Why can't I kill in Gnus on the Newsgroups/Keywords/Control line?
|
|
244 145: How do I get rid of flashing messages in Gnus for slow connections?
|
|
245 146: Why is catch up slow in Gnus?
|
|
246 147: Why does Gnus hang for a long time when posting?
|
|
247 148: Why don't my news postings in Gnus get past the local machine?
|
|
248 149: Why doesn't Gnus generate the `Lines:' header?
|
|
249 150: How do I kill all articles in Gnus but those matching a pattern?
|
|
250
|
|
251 ------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
252
|
|
253 If you are viewing this text in a GNU Emacs Buffer, you can type "M-2 C-x
|
|
254 $" to get an overview of just the questions. Then, when you want to look
|
|
255 at the text of the answers, just type "C-x $".
|
|
256
|
|
257 To search for a question numbered XXX, type "M-C-s ^XXX:", followed by a
|
|
258 C-r if that doesn't work, then type ESC to end the search.
|
|
259
|
|
260 Full instructions for getting the latest FAQ are in question 22, or use
|
|
261 anonymous FTP to the-tech.mit.edu.
|
134
|
262
|
1736
|
263 Notation Used in FAQ
|
134
|
264
|
1736
|
265 Skip this section and then come back if you don't understand some of the
|
|
266 later answers.
|
11822
|
267
|
1736
|
268 1: What do these mean: C-h, M-C-a, RET, "ESC a", etc.?
|
11822
|
269
|
|
270 C-x means press the `x' key while holding down the Control key. M-x
|
|
271 means press the `x' key while holding down the Meta key. M-C-x means
|
|
272 press the `x' key while holding down both the Control key and the Meta
|
|
273 key. C-M-a is a synonym for M-C-a. RET, LFD, DEL, ESC, and TAB
|
|
274 respectively refer to pressing the Return, Linefeed (aka Newline),
|
|
275 Delete, Escape, and Tab keys and are equivalent to C-m, C-j, C-?, C-[,
|
|
276 and C-i. SPC means press the Space bar.
|
|
277
|
|
278 Key sequences longer than one key (and some single-key sequences) are
|
|
279 inside double quotes or on lines by themselves. Any real spaces in such
|
|
280 a key sequence should be ignored; only SPC really means press the space
|
|
281 key.
|
|
282
|
1736
|
283 The ASCII code sent by C-x (except for C-?) is the value that would be
|
|
284 sent by pressing just `x' minus 96 (or 64 for uppercase `X') and will be
|
|
285 from 0 to 31. The ASCII code sent by M-x is the sum of 128 and the ASCII
|
|
286 code that would be sent by pressing just the `x' key. Essentially, the
|
|
287 Control key turns off bits 5 and 6 and the Meta key turns on bit 7.
|
11822
|
288
|
|
289 For further information, see `Characters' and `Keys' in the on-line
|
|
290 manual.
|
|
291
|
|
292 NOTE: C-? (aka DEL) is ASCII code 127. It is a misnomer to call C-? a
|
1736
|
293 "control" key, since 127 has both bits 5 and 6 turned ON. Also, on very
|
|
294 few keyboards does Control-? generate ASCII code 127.
|
11822
|
295
|
1736
|
296 2: What does "M-x command" mean?
|
11822
|
297
|
134
|
298 "M-x command" means type M-x, then type the name of the command, then
|
|
299 type RET.
|
11822
|
300
|
1736
|
301 M-x (by default) invokes the command `execute-extended-command'. This
|
|
302 command allows you to run any Emacs command if you can remember the
|
|
303 command's name. If you can't remember the command's name, you can type
|
11822
|
304 TAB and SPC for completion, "?" for a list of possibilities, and M-p and
|
|
305 M-n to see previous commands entered. An Emacs "command" is any
|
|
306 "interactive" Emacs function.
|
|
307
|
134
|
308 NOTE: Your system administrator may have bound other key sequences to
|
1736
|
309 invoke execute-extended-command. A function key labeled `Do' is a good
|
134
|
310 candidate for this.
|
11822
|
311
|
|
312 To run non-interactive Emacs functions, see question 51.
|
|
313
|
1736
|
314 3: How do I read topic XXX in the on-line manual?
|
11822
|
315
|
|
316 When we refer you to topic XXX in the on-line manual, you can read this
|
1736
|
317 manual node inside Emacs (assuming nothing is broken) by typing this:
|
11822
|
318
|
1736
|
319 C-h i m emacs RET m XXX RET
|
11822
|
320
|
|
321 This invokes Info, the GNU hypertext documentation browser. If you don't
|
|
322 already know how to use Info, type "?" from within Info.
|
|
323
|
|
324 If we refer to topic XXX:YYY, type this:
|
|
325
|
1736
|
326 C-h i m emacs RET m XXX RET m YYY RET
|
11822
|
327
|
1736
|
328 WARNING: Your system administrator may not have installed the Info files,
|
11822
|
329 or may have installed them improperly. In this case you should complain.
|
|
330
|
1736
|
331 4: What do these mean: etc/SERVICE, src/config.h, lisp/default.el?
|
11822
|
332
|
1736
|
333 These are files that come with GNU Emacs. The GNU Emacs distribution is
|
|
334 divided into subdirectories; the important ones are `etc', `lisp', and
|
|
335 `src'.
|
11822
|
336
|
134
|
337 If you use GNU Emacs, but don't know where it is kept on your system,
|
11822
|
338 start Emacs, then type "C-h v data-directory RET". The directory name
|
1736
|
339 displayed by this will be the full pathname of the installed `etc'
|
|
340 directory.
|
11822
|
341
|
|
342 Some of these files are available individually via FTP or e-mail; see
|
1736
|
343 question 20. All are available in the source distribution.
|
11822
|
344
|
|
345 WARNING: Your system administrator may have removed the src directory and
|
|
346 many files from the etc directory.
|
|
347
|
1736
|
348 5: What are FSF, LPF, OSF, GNU, RMS, FTP, and GPL?
|
11822
|
349
|
134
|
350 FSF == Free Software Foundation
|
|
351 LPF == League for Programming Freedom
|
|
352 OSF == Open Software Foundation
|
|
353 GNU == GNU's Not Unix
|
597
|
354 RMS == Richard Matthew Stallman
|
134
|
355 FTP == File Transfer Protocol
|
|
356 GPL == GNU General Public Licence
|
11822
|
357
|
597
|
358 NOTE: Avoid confusing the FSF, the LPF, and the OSF. The LPF opposes
|
|
359 look-and-feel copyrights and software patents. The FSF aims to make high
|
11822
|
360 quality free software available for everyone. The OSF is a consortium of
|
|
361 computer vendors which develops commercial software for Unix systems.
|
|
362
|
597
|
363 NOTE: The word "free" in the title of the Free Software Foundation refers
|
11822
|
364 to "freedom," not "zero dollars." Anyone can charge any price for
|
|
365 GPL-covered software that they want to. However, in practice, the
|
|
366 freedom enforced by the GPL leads to low prices, because you can always
|
|
367 get the software for less money from someone else, because everyone has
|
|
368 the right to resell or give away GPL-covered software.
|
134
|
369
|
|
370
|
1736
|
371 General Questions
|
134
|
372
|
11822
|
373 6: What is the LPF?
|
|
374
|
|
375 The LPF opposes the expanding danger of software patents and
|
|
376 look-and-feel copyrights. To get more information, feel free to contact
|
|
377 the LPF via e-mail or otherwise. You may also contact Joe Wells
|
|
378 <jbw@cs.bu.edu>; he will be happy to talk with you about the LPF.
|
|
379
|
|
380 You can find more information about the LPF in the file etc/LPF. More
|
|
381 papers describing the LPF's views are available on the Internet and also
|
1736
|
382 from the LPF:
|
11822
|
383
|
1736
|
384 Anonymous FTP:
|
11822
|
385 /prep.ai.mit.edu:pub/lpf/
|
1736
|
386 /archive.cis.ohio-state.edu:pub/lpf/
|
|
387 Anonymous UUCP:
|
|
388 osu-cis!~/lpf/*
|
11822
|
389
|
1736
|
390 7: What is the real legal meaning of the GNU copyleft?
|
11822
|
391
|
|
392 The real legal meaning of the GNU General Public Licence (copyleft) will
|
|
393 only be known if and when a judge rules on its validity and scope. There
|
|
394 has never been a copyright infringement case involving the GPL to set any
|
|
395 precedents. Please take any discussion regarding this issue to the
|
|
396 newsgroup gnu.misc.discuss, which was created to hold the extensive flame
|
|
397 wars on the subject.
|
|
398
|
1736
|
399 RMS writes:
|
11822
|
400
|
|
401 The legal meaning of the GNU copyleft is less important than the
|
|
402 spirit, which is that Emacs is a free software project and that work
|
|
403 pertaining to Emacs should also be free software. "Free" means that
|
|
404 all users have the freedom to study, share, change and improve Emacs.
|
|
405 To make sure everyone has this freedom, pass along source code when you
|
|
406 distribute any version of Emacs or a related program, and give the
|
|
407 recipients the same freedom that you enjoyed.
|
|
408
|
1736
|
409 8: What are appropriate messages for gnu.emacs.help, gnu.emacs.bug,
|
11822
|
410 comp.emacs, etc.?
|
|
411
|
1736
|
412 The file etc/MAILINGLISTS discusses the purpose of each GNU mailing-list.
|
|
413 (See question 20 on how to get a copy.) For those which are gatewayed
|
|
414 with newsgroups, it lists both the newsgroup name and the mailing list
|
|
415 address.
|
11822
|
416
|
|
417 comp.emacs is for discussion of Emacs programs in general. This includes
|
|
418 GNU Emacs along with various other implementations like JOVE, MicroEmacs,
|
|
419 Freemacs, MG, Unipress, CCA, and Epsilon..
|
|
420
|
1736
|
421 Many people post GNU Emacs questions to comp.emacs because they don't
|
|
422 receive any of the gnu.* newsgroups. Arguments have been made both for
|
|
423 and against posting GNU-Emacs-specific material to comp.emacs. You have
|
|
424 to decide for yourself.
|
11822
|
425
|
|
426 Messages advocating "non-free" software are considered unacceptable on
|
|
427 any of the gnu.* newsgroups except for gnu.misc.discuss, which was
|
|
428 created to hold the extensive flame-wars on the subject. "non-free"
|
|
429 software includes any software for which the end user can't freely modify
|
|
430 the source code and exchange enhancements. Be careful to remove the
|
|
431 gnu.* groups from the `Newsgroups:' line when posting a followup that
|
|
432 recommends such software.
|
|
433
|
1736
|
434 gnu.emacs.bug is a place where bug reports appear, but avoid posting bug
|
11822
|
435 reports to this newsgroup (see question 10).
|
|
436
|
1736
|
437 9: Where can I get old postings to gnu.emacs.help and other GNU groups?
|
11822
|
438
|
1736
|
439 The FSF has maintained archives of all of the GNU mailing lists for many
|
|
440 years, although there may be some unintentional gaps in coverage. The
|
|
441 archive is not particularly well organized or easy to retrieve individual
|
11822
|
442 postings from, but pretty much everything is there. The archive is
|
|
443 available via anonymous ftp at
|
|
444
|
|
445 /prep.ai.mit.edu:pub/gnu/MailingListArchives/
|
|
446
|
1736
|
447 10: Where should I report bugs and other problems with GNU Emacs?
|
11822
|
448
|
1736
|
449 The correct way to report GNU Emacs bugs is by e-mail to
|
|
450 bug-gnu-emacs@prep.ai.mit.edu. Anything sent here also appears in the
|
|
451 newsgroup gnu.emacs.bug, but please use e-mail instead of news to submit
|
|
452 the bug report. This way a reliable return address is available so you
|
|
453 can be contacted for further details.
|
11822
|
454
|
1736
|
455 RMS explains:
|
11822
|
456
|
1736
|
457 Sending bug reports to help-gnu-emacs (which has the effect of posting
|
|
458 on gnu.emacs.help) is undesirable because it takes the time of an
|
|
459 unnecessarily large group of people, most of whom are just users and
|
|
460 have no idea how to fix these problem. bug-gnu-emacs reaches a much
|
|
461 smaller group of people who are more likely to know what to do and have
|
|
462 expressed a wish to receive more messages about Emacs than the others.
|
11822
|
463
|
1736
|
464 However, RMS says there are circumstances when it is okay to post to
|
|
465 gnu.emacs.help:
|
11822
|
466
|
|
467 If you have reported a bug and you don't hear about a possible fix,
|
|
468 then after a suitable delay (such as a week) it is okay to post on
|
1736
|
469 gnu.emacs.help asking if anyone can help you.
|
11822
|
470
|
1736
|
471 If you are unsure whether you have a bug, RMS describes how to tell:
|
11822
|
472
|
1736
|
473 ... if Emacs crashes, that is a bug. If Emacs gets compilation errors
|
11822
|
474 while building, that is a bug. If Emacs crashes while building, that
|
|
475 is a bug. If Lisp code does not do what the documentation says it
|
|
476 does, that is a bug.
|
|
477
|
1736
|
478 11: How do I unsubscribe to this mailing list?
|
11822
|
479
|
|
480 If you are receiving a GNU mailing list named `XXX', you might be able to
|
|
481 unsubscribe to it by sending a request to the address
|
1736
|
482 `XXX-request@prep.ai.mit.edu'. However, this will not work if you are
|
3591
|
483 not listed on the main mailing list, but instead receive the mail from a
|
1736
|
484 distribution point. In that case, you will have to track down at which
|
11822
|
485 distribution point you are listed. Inspecting the `Received:' headers on
|
|
486 the mail messages may help, along with liberal use of the `EXPN' or
|
1736
|
487 `VRFY' sendmail commands through `telnet <site-address> smtp'. Ask your
|
|
488 postmaster for help.
|
11822
|
489
|
1736
|
490 12: What is the current address of the FSF?
|
11822
|
491
|
1736
|
492 E-mail address: gnu@prep.ai.mit.edu
|
|
493 Phone number: (617) 876-3296
|
|
494 Postal address:
|
|
495 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
|
|
496 675 Massachusetts Avenue
|
|
497 Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
|
11822
|
498
|
|
499 For details on how to order, see the file etc/ORDERS.
|
1736
|
500
|
|
501
|
|
502 On-line Help, Printed Manuals, Other Sources of Help
|
|
503
|
|
504 13: I'm just starting GNU Emacs; how do I do basic editing?
|
11822
|
505
|
|
506 Type "C-h t" to invoke the self-paced tutorial. Typing just C-h is how
|
|
507 to enter the help system.
|
|
508
|
|
509 WARNING: Your system administrator may have changed C-h to act like DEL
|
|
510 to deal with local keyboards. You can use M-x help-for-help instead to
|
|
511 invoke help. To discover what key (if any) invokes help on your system,
|
|
512 type "M-x where-is RET help-for-help RET". This will print a
|
|
513 comma-separated list of key sequences in the echo area. Ignore the last
|
|
514 character in each key sequence listed. Each of the resulting key
|
|
515 sequences invokes help.
|
|
516
|
|
517 NOTE: Emacs help works best if it is invoked by a single key whose value
|
|
518 should be stored in the variable help-char. Andrew Arensburger
|
|
519 <arensb@kong.gsfc.nasa.gov> wrote a patch that allows the help facility
|
|
520 to work properly when invoked by multiple character sequences.
|
|
521
|
1736
|
522 14: How do I find out how to do something in GNU Emacs?
|
11822
|
523
|
134
|
524 There are several methods for finding out how to do things in Emacs.
|
11822
|
525
|
|
526 * The complete text of the Emacs manual is available on-line via the Info
|
1736
|
527 hypertext reader. Type "C-h i" to invoke Info.
|
11822
|
528
|
1736
|
529 * You can order a hardcopy of the manual from the FSF. See question 15.
|
11822
|
530
|
|
531 * You can get a printed reference card listing commands and keys to
|
|
532 invoke them. You can order one from the FSF for $1 (or 10 for $5), or
|
|
533 you can print your own from the etc/refcard.tex or etc/refcard.ps files
|
|
534 in the Emacs distribution.
|
|
535
|
1736
|
536 * You can list all of the commands whose names contain a certain word
|
11822
|
537 (actually which match a regular expression) using "C-h a" (M-x
|
|
538 command-apropos).
|
|
539
|
1736
|
540 * You can list all of the functions and variables whose names contain a
|
|
541 certain word using M-x apropos.
|
11822
|
542
|
|
543 * There are many other commands in Emacs for getting help and
|
|
544 information. To get a list of these commands, type "C-h C-h C-h".
|
|
545
|
1736
|
546 15: How do I get a printed copy of the GNU Emacs manual?
|
11822
|
547
|
|
548 You can order a printed copy of the GNU Emacs manual from the FSF. For
|
|
549 details see the file etc/ORDERS.
|
|
550
|
1736
|
551 The full TeX source for the manual also comes in the `man' directory of
|
597
|
552 the Emacs distribution, if you're daring enough to try to print out this
|
11822
|
553 420 page manual yourself (see question 18).
|
|
554
|
|
555 If you absolutely have to print your own copy, and you don't have TeX,
|
|
556 you can get a PostScript version via anonymous FTP:
|
|
557
|
|
558 /ftp.cs.ubc.ca:pub/archive/gnu/manuals_ps/emacs-19.21.ps.gz
|
|
559
|
|
560 This site requests that you please CONFINE ANY MAJOR FTPING TO LATE
|
|
561 EVENINGS OR EARLY MORNINGS OUR TIME (Pacific time zone, GMT-8). A DVI
|
1736
|
562 version is also available via FTP:
|
11822
|
563
|
|
564 /prep.ai.mit.edu:pub/gnu/emacs-manual-6.0.dvi.gz
|
|
565
|
|
566 and all prep mirrors (See question 80 for a list).
|
|
567
|
|
568 A WWW version of the Emacs manual is available on the World-Wide Web at
|
|
569 URL
|
|
570
|
|
571 http://asis01.cern.ch/infohtml/emacs/emacs.html
|
|
572
|
|
573 See also question 14 for how to view the manual on-line.
|
|
574
|
1736
|
575 16: Where can I get documentation on GNU Emacs Lisp?
|
11822
|
576
|
1736
|
577 Within Emacs, you can type "C-h f" to get the documentation for a
|
|
578 function, "C-h v" for a variable.
|
11822
|
579
|
|
580 For more information, obtain the GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual.
|
|
581 Details on ordering it from FSF are in file etc/ORDERS.
|
|
582
|
|
583 For on-line use, a set of pregenerated Info files is available with the
|
|
584 Texinfo source for the Emacs Lisp manual via anonymous FTP at
|
|
585
|
|
586 /prep.ai.mit.edu:pub/gnu/elisp-manual-19-2.3.tar.gz
|
|
587
|
|
588 and all prep mirrors (See question 80 for a list).
|
|
589
|
|
590 You can also create the Info files from the Texinfo source. See question
|
|
591 17 for details on how to install these files on-line.
|
|
592
|
|
593 A WWW version of the Emacs Lisp Reference Manual is available at
|
|
594
|
|
595 http://www.cs.indiana.edu/usr/local/www/elisp/lispref/elisp_toc.html
|
|
596
|
|
597 An introduction to Emacs Lisp is available at
|
|
598
|
|
599 http://www.cs.indiana.edu/usr/local/www/elisp/elisp-intro.html
|
|
600
|
|
601 Of course, you can also print this 760-page manual yourself. For
|
|
602 instructions on how to do this, see question 18.
|
|
603
|
1736
|
604 17: How do I install a piece of Texinfo documentation?
|
11822
|
605
|
|
606 First, you must turn the Texinfo files into Info files. You may do this
|
|
607 within Emacs, using "M-x texinfo-format-buffer", or with the standalone
|
|
608 `makeinfo' program, available as part of the latest Texinfo package via
|
|
609 anonymous ftp from:
|
|
610
|
|
611 /prep.ai.mit.edu:pub/gnu/texinfo-3.1.tar.gz
|
|
612
|
|
613 and all prep mirrors (See question 80 for a list).
|
|
614
|
597
|
615 For information about the Texinfo format, read the Texinfo manual which
|
11822
|
616 comes with Emacs. This manual also comes installed in Info format, so
|
|
617 you can read it on-line.
|
|
618
|
|
619 Neither texinfo-format-buffer nor makeinfo installs the resulting Info
|
|
620 files in Emacs's Info tree. To install Info files:
|
|
621
|
1736
|
622 1. Move the files to the `info' directory in the installed Emacs
|
11822
|
623 distribution. See question 4 if you don't know where that is.
|
|
624
|
597
|
625 2. Edit the file info/dir in the installed Emacs distribution, and add a
|
|
626 line for the top level node in the Info package that you are
|
11822
|
627 installing. Follow the examples already in this file. The format is:
|
|
628
|
597
|
629 * Topic: (relative-pathname). Short description of topic.
|
11822
|
630
|
597
|
631 If you want to install Info files and you don't have the necessary
|
1736
|
632 privileges, you have several options:
|
11822
|
633
|
1736
|
634 * Info files don't actually need to be installed before being used. You
|
597
|
635 can feed a file name to the Info-goto-node command (invoked by pressing
|
|
636 "g" in Info mode) by typing the name of the file in parentheses. This
|
1736
|
637 goes to the node named `Top' in that file. For example, to view a Info
|
|
638 file named `XXX' in your home directory, you can type this:
|
11822
|
639
|
597
|
640 C-h i g (~/XXX) RET
|
11822
|
641
|
1736
|
642 * You can create your own Info directory. You can tell Emacs where the
|
11822
|
643 Info directory is by adding its pathname to the value of the variable
|
|
644 Info-default-directory-list. For example, to use a private Info
|
|
645 directory which is a subdirectory of your home directory named `Info',
|
|
646 you could put this in your .emacs file:
|
|
647
|
|
648 (setq Info-default-directory-list
|
|
649 (cons "~/Info" Info-default-directory-list))
|
|
650
|
|
651 You will need a top-level Info file named `dir' in this directory which
|
|
652 has everything the system dir file has in it, except it should list
|
|
653 only entries for Info files in that directory. You might not need it
|
|
654 if all files in this directory were referenced by other `dir' files.
|
|
655 The node lists from all dir files in Info-default-directory-list are
|
|
656 merged by the Info system.
|
|
657
|
1736
|
658 18: How do I print a Texinfo file?
|
11822
|
659
|
1736
|
660 NOTE: You can't get nice printed output from Info files; you must still
|
|
661 have the original Texinfo source file for the manual you want to print.
|
11822
|
662
|
597
|
663 1. Make sure the first line of the Texinfo file looks like this:
|
11822
|
664
|
597
|
665 \input texinfo
|
11822
|
666
|
1736
|
667 You may need to alter `texinfo' to the full pathname of the
|
597
|
668 texinfo.tex file, which comes with Emacs as man/texinfo.tex (or copy
|
|
669 or link it into the current directory).
|
11822
|
670
|
597
|
671 2. tex XXX.texinfo
|
11822
|
672
|
597
|
673 3. texindex XXX.??
|
11822
|
674
|
1736
|
675 The `texindex' program comes with Emacs as man/texindex.c.
|
11822
|
676
|
597
|
677 4. tex XXX.texinfo
|
11822
|
678
|
|
679 5. Print the DVI file XXX.dvi in the normal way for printing DVI files at
|
|
680 your site.
|
|
681
|
597
|
682 To get more general instructions, retrieve the latest Texinfo package
|
1736
|
683 mentioned in question 17.
|
11822
|
684
|
1736
|
685 19: Can I view Info files without using GNU Emacs?
|
11822
|
686
|
|
687 Yes, the `info', `xinfo', `tkinfo', and `ivinfo' programs do this. Info
|
|
688 uses curses, xinfo uses standard X11 libraries, tkinfo uses Tk/Tcl and
|
|
689 ivinfo uses InterViews. You can get Info as part of the latest Texinfo
|
|
690 package (see question 17). xinfo is available separately:
|
|
691
|
|
692 /prep.ai.mit.edu:pub/gnu/xinfo-1.01.01.tar.gz
|
|
693
|
|
694 and all prep mirrors (See question 80 for a list).
|
|
695
|
1736
|
696 ivinfo is available in a comp.sources.misc archive or from Tom Horsley
|
11822
|
697 <tom@ssd.csd.harris.com>. tkinfo is available by anonymous ftp from:
|
|
698
|
|
699 /ptolemy.eecs.berkeley.edu:pub/misc/tkinfo-0.6.tar.Z
|
|
700 /ftp.aud.alcatel.com:tcl/code/tkinfo-0.6.tar.gz
|
|
701
|
|
702 For ivinfo, you need Stanford's InterViews C++ X library, available via
|
|
703 anonymous ftp from interviews.stanford.edu. (A FAQ on InterViews is
|
|
704 available at that site in pub/FAQ.)
|
|
705
|
1736
|
706 20: What informational files are available for GNU Emacs?
|
11822
|
707
|
597
|
708 This isn't a frequently asked question, but it should be! A variety of
|
|
709 informational files about GNU Emacs and relevant aspects of the GNU
|
|
710 project are available for you to read.
|
11822
|
711
|
|
712 The following files are available in the `etc' directory of the GNU Emacs
|
|
713 distribution, and also the latest versions are available individually via
|
|
714 anonymous FTP (prep.ai.mit.edu:pub/gnu/GNUinfo/):
|
|
715
|
|
716 APPLE -- Why the FSF doesn't support GNU Emacs on Apple computers
|
134
|
717 DISTRIB -- GNU Emacs Availability Information,
|
|
718 including the popular "Free Software Foundation Order Form"
|
|
719 FTP -- How to get GNU Software by Internet FTP or by UUCP
|
|
720 GNU -- The GNU Manifesto
|
|
721 INTERVIEW -- Richard Stallman discusses his public-domain
|
11822
|
722 UNIX-compatible software system with BYTE editors
|
134
|
723 MACHINES -- Status of GNU Emacs on Various Machines and Systems
|
|
724 MAILINGLISTS -- GNU Project Electronic Mailing Lists
|
|
725 SERVICE -- GNU Service Directory
|
1736
|
726 SUN-SUPPORT -- including "Using Emacstool with GNU Emacs"
|
11822
|
727
|
1736
|
728 These files are available in the `etc' directory of the GNU Emacs
|
134
|
729 distribution:
|
11822
|
730
|
134
|
731 COPYING -- GNU Emacs General Public License
|
11822
|
732 NEWS -- GNU Emacs news, a history of user-visible changes
|
597
|
733 LPF -- Why you should join the League for Programming Freedom
|
|
734 FAQ -- GNU Emacs Frequently Asked Questions (You're reading it)
|
11822
|
735
|
|
736 These files are available via anonymous FTP (prep.ai.mit.edu:pub/gnu/):
|
|
737
|
597
|
738 tasks -- GNU Task List
|
|
739 standards.text -- GNU Coding Standards
|
11822
|
740
|
134
|
741 In addition, all of the above files are available directly from the FSF
|
11822
|
742 via e-mail. Of course, please try to get them from a local source first
|
|
743 (See question 80 for a list).
|
|
744
|
597
|
745 These additional files are available from the FSF via e-mail:
|
11822
|
746
|
|
747 * GNU's Bulletin, January 1994
|
|
748 GNU's Who
|
|
749 GNU's Bulletin
|
|
750 What Is the Free Software Foundation?
|
|
751 What Is Copyleft?
|
|
752 Donations Translate Into Free Software
|
|
753 Cygnus Matches Donations!
|
|
754 GNUs Flashes
|
|
755 What Is the LPF?
|
|
756 News from the LPF
|
|
757 Free Software Support
|
|
758 Project GNU Wish List
|
|
759 Towards a New Strategy of OS Design
|
|
760 Part 1: A More Usable Approach to OS Design
|
|
761 Part 2: A Look at Some of the Hurd's Beasts
|
|
762 Second Annual GNU Seminar in Japan
|
|
763 GNU and other Free Software in Japan
|
|
764 Freely Available Texts
|
|
765 OCEAN Integrated-Circuit Design System
|
|
766 Hundred Acre Consulting Expands
|
|
767 Project GNU Status Report
|
|
768 GNU Documentation
|
|
769 GNU Software Available Now
|
|
770 Source Code CD-ROM
|
|
771 Compiler Tools Binaries CD-ROM
|
|
772 Tape & CD-ROM Subscription Service
|
|
773 How to Get GNU Software
|
|
774 The Deluxe Distribution
|
|
775 MS-DOS Distribution
|
|
776 Free Software for Microcomputers
|
|
777 FSF T-shirt
|
|
778 Thank GNUs
|
|
779 Free Software Foundation Order Form
|
597
|
780 * Legal issues about contributing code to GNU
|
|
781 * GNU Project Status Report
|
11822
|
782
|
|
783 A collection of past GNU's Bulletins is available via anonymous FTP from:
|
|
784
|
1736
|
785 /ftp.funet.fi:pub/gnu/Bulletins/
|
|
786
|
11822
|
787 The latest bulletin is available on the World-Wide Web at URL:
|
|
788
|
|
789 http://info.desy.de/gnu/www/gnu_bulletin_9401/gnu_bulletin_9401_toc.html
|
|
790
|
1736
|
791 21: Where can I get help in installing GNU Emacs?
|
11822
|
792
|
1736
|
793 Look in etc/SERVICE for names of companies and individuals who will sell
|
|
794 you this type of service. An up-to-date version of the SERVICE file is
|
|
795 available on prep.ai.mit.edu (also see question 20).
|
11822
|
796
|
|
797 You might also try the help-gnu-emacs mailing list, which is also known
|
|
798 as the gnu.emacs.help newsgroup, although many installation questions can
|
|
799 easily be answered by looking at the PROBLEMS file (in the top-level
|
|
800 directory when you unpack the Emacs source).
|
|
801
|
1736
|
802 22: Where can I get the latest version of this document (the FAQ list)?
|
11822
|
803
|
597
|
804 The GNU Emacs FAQ is available in several ways:
|
11822
|
805
|
1736
|
806 * Via USENET. If you can read news, the FAQ should be available in your
|
11822
|
807 news spool, in both the gnu.emacs.help and comp.emacs newsgroups.
|
|
808 Every news reader should allow you to read any news article that is
|
|
809 still in the news spool, even if you have read the article before. You
|
|
810 may need to read the instructions for your news reader to discover how
|
|
811 to do this. In `rn', this command will do this for you at the article
|
|
812 selection level:
|
|
813
|
1736
|
814 ?GNU Emacs FAQ?rc:m
|
11822
|
815
|
|
816 In Gnus, you should type "C-u c-x c-s" from the *Summary* buffer or
|
|
817 "C-u SPC" from the *Newsgroup* buffer to view all articles in a
|
|
818 newsgroup.
|
|
819
|
1736
|
820 If the FAQ articles have expired and been deleted from your news spool,
|
|
821 it might (or might not) do some good to complain to your news
|
11822
|
822 administrator, because the most recent FAQ should not expire before for
|
|
823 a while.
|
|
824
|
1736
|
825 * Via anonymous FTP. You can fetch the FAQ articles via anonymous FTP
|
11822
|
826 from the-tech.mit.edu, in ~ftp/pub/GNU-Emacs/.
|
|
827
|
1736
|
828 * In the GNU Emacs distribution. Since GNU Emacs 18.56, the latest
|
11822
|
829 available version of the FAQ at the time of release has been part of
|
|
830 the GNU Emacs distribution as file etc/FAQ.
|
|
831
|
|
832 * Via the World-Wide Web. Point your favorite Web browser (Mosaic, Lynx,
|
|
833 w3-mode) to one of the following URLs:
|
|
834
|
|
835 http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/GNU-Emacs-FAQ/top.html
|
|
836 http://scwww.ucs.indiana.edu/FAQ/Emacs/
|
|
837
|
|
838 * If all goes well, this FAQ should also be available via anonymous ftp
|
|
839 and e-mail from rtfm.mit.edu, the main repository for FAQs and other
|
|
840 items posted to news.answers. However, we are omitting explicit
|
|
841 directions on how to retrieve the FAQ from rtfm.mit.edu, since it's
|
|
842 possible that it won't end up there right away. (We're new at this
|
|
843 FAQ-posting business.) Instructions on how to retrieve the FAQ from
|
|
844 rtfm.mit.edu should be in the next version of the FAQ.
|
|
845
|
1736
|
846 * As the very last resort, you can e-mail a request to
|
11822
|
847 gnu-emacs-faq-maintainers@bigbird.bu.edu. Don't do this unless you
|
|
848 have made a serious effort to obtain the FAQ list via one of the
|
|
849 methods listed above.
|
597
|
850
|
1736
|
851 Status of Emacs
|
597
|
852
|
1736
|
853 23: Where does the name "Emacs" come from?
|
11822
|
854
|
1736
|
855 Emacs originally was an acronym for Editor MACroS. RMS says he "picked
|
|
856 the name `Emacs' because `E' was not in use as an abbreviation on ITS at
|
11822
|
857 the time." The first Emacs was a set of macros written in 1976 at MIT by
|
|
858 RMS for the editor TECO (Text Editor and COrrector (originally Tape
|
|
859 Editor and COrrector)) under ITS on a PDP-10. RMS had already extended
|
|
860 TECO with a "real-time" full screen mode with active keys. Emacs was
|
|
861 started by Guy Steele <gls@think.com> as a project to unify the many
|
|
862 divergent TECO command sets and key bindings at MIT.
|
|
863
|
|
864 Many people have said that TECO code looks a lot like line noise. See
|
|
865 alt.lang.teco if you are interested. Someone has written a TECO
|
|
866 implementation in Emacs Lisp; it would be an interesting project to run
|
1736
|
867 the original TECO Emacs inside of GNU Emacs.
|
11822
|
868
|
1736
|
869 24: What is the latest version of GNU Emacs?
|
11822
|
870
|
|
871 GNU Emacs 19.27 is the current version as of 6 September, 1994.
|
|
872
|
|
873 25: What is different about GNU Emacs 19?
|
|
874
|
|
875 To find out what has changed in recent versions, type C-h n (M-x
|
|
876 view-emacs-news). The oldest changes are at the bottom of the file, so
|
|
877 you might want to read it starting there, rather than at the top.
|
|
878
|
|
879 The most obvious changes have to do with the user interface -- GNU Emacs
|
|
880 19 is fully X-aware, and provides pull-down menus and scroll bars. Emacs
|
|
881 19 also supports fonts and colors, including context-specific
|
|
882 highlighting of source code and other types of buffers.
|
|
883
|
|
884 Other changes include a line number mode, which displays the current line
|
|
885 number in the mode line, and default bindings for arrow and paging keys
|
|
886 that work.
|
|
887
|
|
888 Lower-level changes include a smarter memory allocation scheme (Emacs now
|
|
889 returns memory to the operating system when you kill buffers), a better
|
|
890 byte-compiler, and a source-level Emacs Lisp debugger.
|
|
891
|
|
892 There are also a number of new Lisp packages, ranging from dunnet (an
|
|
893 Adventure-like program) to mldrag (allows you to drag the mode line up
|
|
894 and down with the mouse buttons) to gud (Grand Unified Debugger mode, for
|
|
895 many flavors of debuggers). A number of popular Lisp packages, such as
|
|
896 SuperCite and the calendar/diary, are also included.
|
1736
|
897
|
|
898 Common Things People Want To Do
|
|
899
|
11822
|
900 26: How do I set up a .emacs file properly?
|
|
901
|
1736
|
902 See `Init File' in the on-line manual.
|
11822
|
903
|
|
904 WARNING: In general, new Emacs users should not have .emacs files,
|
|
905 because it causes confusing non-standard behavior. Then they send
|
|
906 questions to help-gnu-emacs asking why Emacs isn't behaving as
|
|
907 documented. :-)
|
|
908
|
|
909 27: How do I debug a .emacs file?
|
|
910
|
|
911 First start Emacs with the `-debug-init' command-line option. This
|
|
912 option enables the Emacs Lisp debugger before evaluating your .emacs
|
|
913 file, and places you in the debugger if something goes wrong. The top
|
|
914 line in the trace-back buffer will be the error message, and the second
|
|
915 or third line of that buffer will display the Lisp code from your .emacs
|
|
916 that caused the problem.
|
|
917
|
|
918 You can also evaluate an individual function or argument to a function in
|
|
919 your .emacs file by moving the cursor to the end of the function or
|
|
920 argument and typing "C-x C-e" (M-x eval-last-sexp).
|
|
921
|
|
922 Use "C-h v" (M-x describe-variable) to check the value of variables which
|
|
923 you are trying to set or use.
|
|
924
|
|
925 28: How do I make Emacs display the current line (or column) number?
|
|
926
|
1736
|
927 To find out what line of the buffer you are on right now, do "M-x
|
|
928 what-line". Use "M-x goto-line" to go to a specific line. To find the
|
|
929 current column number, type "M-ESC (current-column)".
|
11822
|
930
|
|
931 If you use these commands often, you might want to bind them to a key.
|
|
932 See question 104 for instructions on how to do that.
|
|
933
|
|
934 Typing "C-x l" (or M-x count-lines-page) will also tell you what line you
|
|
935 are on, provided the buffer isn't separated into "pages" with C-l
|
|
936 characters. In that case, it will only tell you what line of the current
|
|
937 "page" you are on.
|
|
938
|
|
939 To have Emacs automatically display the current line number of the point
|
|
940 in the mode line, do "M-x line-number-mode". You can also put the form
|
|
941
|
|
942 (setq line-number-mode t)
|
|
943
|
|
944 in your .emacs file to achieve this whenever you start Emacs. Note that
|
|
945 Emacs will not display the line number if the buffer is larger than the
|
|
946 value of the variable line-number-display-limit.
|
|
947
|
1736
|
948 None of the vi emulation modes provide the `set number' capability of vi
|
11822
|
949 (as far as we know).
|
|
950
|
|
951 29: How do I turn on abbrevs by default just in mode XXX?
|
|
952
|
1736
|
953 Put this in your .emacs file:
|
11822
|
954
|
1736
|
955 (condition-case ()
|
11822
|
956 (quietly-read-abbrev-file)
|
1736
|
957 (file-error nil))
|
11822
|
958
|
|
959 (add-hook 'XXX-mode-hook
|
|
960 (function
|
|
961 (lambda ()
|
|
962 (setq abbrev-mode t))))
|
|
963
|
|
964 30: How do I turn on auto-fill mode by default?
|
|
965
|
|
966 To turn on auto-fill mode just once for one buffer, use "M-x
|
1736
|
967 auto-fill-mode". To turn it on for every buffer in, for example, Text
|
|
968 mode, do this:
|
11822
|
969
|
|
970 (add-hook 'text-mode-hook 'turn-on-auto-fill)
|
|
971
|
|
972 If you want auto-fill mode on in all major modes, do this:
|
|
973
|
1736
|
974 (setq-default auto-fill-hook 'do-auto-fill)
|
11822
|
975
|
|
976 31: How do I make Emacs use a certain major mode for certain files?
|
|
977
|
1736
|
978 If you want to use XXX mode for all files which end with the extension
|
|
979 `.YYY', this will do it for you:
|
11822
|
980
|
1736
|
981 (setq auto-mode-alist (cons '("\\.YYY\\'" . XXX-mode) auto-mode-alist))
|
11822
|
982
|
1736
|
983 Otherwise put this somewhere in the first line of any file you want to
|
|
984 edit in XXX mode:
|
11822
|
985
|
1736
|
986 -*-XXX-*-
|
11822
|
987
|
|
988 Emacs 19 also includes a new variable, interpreter-mode-alist, that
|
|
989 specifies which mode to use when loading a shell script. (Emacs
|
|
990 determines which interpreter you're using by examining the first line of
|
|
991 the file.) This feature only applies when the file name doesn't indicate
|
|
992 which mode to use. Use "C-h v" (or M-x describe-variable) to learn more
|
|
993 about this variable.
|
|
994
|
|
995 32: How do I search for, delete, or replace unprintable (8-bit or control)
|
|
996 characters?
|
|
997
|
1736
|
998 To search for a single character that appears in the buffer as, for
|
11822
|
999 example, `\237', you can type "C-s C-q 2 3 7". (This assumes the value
|
|
1000 of search-quote-char is 17 (i.e., C-q).) Searching for ALL unprintable
|
|
1001 characters is best done with a "regexp" search. The easiest regexp to
|
|
1002 use for the unprintable chars is the complement of the regexp for the
|
1736
|
1003 printable chars.
|
11822
|
1004
|
1736
|
1005 Regexp for the printable chars: [\t\n\r\f -~]
|
11822
|
1006
|
1736
|
1007 Regexp for the unprintable chars: [^\t\n\r\f -~]
|
11822
|
1008
|
1736
|
1009 To type some of these special characters in an interactive argument to
|
|
1010 isearch-forward-regexp or re-search-forward, you need to use C-q. (`\t',
|
|
1011 `\n', `\r', and `\f' stand respectively for TAB, LFD, RET, and C-l.) So,
|
|
1012 to search for unprintable characters using re-search-forward:
|
11822
|
1013
|
1736
|
1014 M-x re-search-forward RET [^ TAB C-q LFD C-q RET C-q C-l SPC -~] RET
|
11822
|
1015
|
1736
|
1016 Using isearch-forward-regexp:
|
11822
|
1017
|
1736
|
1018 M-C-s [^ TAB RET C-q RET C-q C-l SPC -~]
|
11822
|
1019
|
|
1020 To delete all unprintable characters, simply use replace-regexp:
|
|
1021
|
1736
|
1022 M-x replace-regexp RET [^ TAB C-q LFD C-q RET C-q C-l SPC -~] RET RET
|
11822
|
1023
|
|
1024 Replacing is similar to the above. To replace all unprintable characters
|
|
1025 with a colon, use:
|
|
1026
|
|
1027 M-x replace-regexp RET [^ TAB C-q LFD C-q RET C-q C-l SPC -~] RET : RET
|
|
1028
|
|
1029 NOTE: * You don't need to quote TAB with either isearch or typing
|
|
1030 something in the minibuffer.
|
|
1031
|
|
1032 33: How can I highlight a region of text in Emacs?
|
|
1033
|
|
1034 If you are using a windowing system such as X, you can cause the region
|
|
1035 to be highlighted when the mark is active by including
|
|
1036
|
|
1037 (transient-mark-mode t)
|
|
1038
|
|
1039 in your .emacs. There are also the following packages for content- based
|
|
1040 highlighting:
|
|
1041
|
|
1042 hilit19.el
|
|
1043 font-lock.el
|
|
1044
|
|
1045 34: How do I control Emacs's case-sensitivity when searching/replacing?
|
|
1046
|
1736
|
1047 For searching, the value of the variable case-fold-search determines
|
|
1048 whether they are case sensitive:
|
11822
|
1049
|
1736
|
1050 (setq case-fold-search nil) ; make searches case sensitive
|
|
1051 (setq case-fold-search t) ; make searches case insensitive
|
11822
|
1052
|
1736
|
1053 Similarly, for replacing the variable case-replace determines whether
|
|
1054 replacements preserve case.
|
11822
|
1055
|
1736
|
1056 To change the case sensitivity just for one major mode, use the major
|
|
1057 mode's hook. For example:
|
11822
|
1058
|
|
1059 (add-hook 'XXX-mode-hook
|
1736
|
1060 (function
|
11822
|
1061 (lambda ()
|
|
1062 (setq case-fold-search nil))))
|
|
1063
|
|
1064 35: How do I make Emacs wrap words for me?
|
|
1065
|
|
1066 Use auto-fill mode, activated by typing "M-x auto-fill-mode". The
|
|
1067 default maximum line width is 70, determined by the variable fill-column.
|
|
1068 To learn how to turn this on automatically, see question 30.
|
|
1069
|
|
1070 36: Where can I get a better spelling checker for Emacs?
|
|
1071
|
|
1072 Use Ispell. See question 101.
|
|
1073
|
|
1074 37: How can I spell-check TeX or *roff documents?
|
|
1075
|
|
1076 Use Ispell. See question 101. Ispell can handle TeX and *roff
|
|
1077 documents.
|
|
1078
|
|
1079 38: How do I change load-path?
|
|
1080
|
1736
|
1081 In general, you should only *add* to the load-path. You can add
|
|
1082 directory /XXX/YYY to the load path like this:
|
11822
|
1083
|
|
1084 (setq load-path (cons "/XXX/YYY/" load-path))
|
|
1085
|
1736
|
1086 To do this relative to your home directory:
|
11822
|
1087
|
|
1088 (setq load-path (cons "~/YYY/" load-path)
|
|
1089
|
|
1090 39: How do I use an already running Emacs from another window?
|
|
1091
|
1736
|
1092 The `emacsclient' program is for editing a file using an already running
|
|
1093 Emacs rather than starting up a new Emacs. It does this by sending a
|
11822
|
1094 request to the already running Emacs, which must be expecting the
|
|
1095 request.
|
|
1096
|
1736
|
1097 * Setup
|
11822
|
1098
|
1736
|
1099 Emacs must have executed the `server-start' function for emacsclient to
|
|
1100 work. This can be done either by a command line option:
|
11822
|
1101
|
1736
|
1102 emacs -f server-start
|
11822
|
1103
|
1736
|
1104 or by invoking server-start from the .emacs file:
|
11822
|
1105
|
1736
|
1106 (if (some conditions are met) (server-start))
|
11822
|
1107
|
1736
|
1108 When this is done, Emacs starts a subprocess running a program called
|
|
1109 `server'. `server' creates a Unix domain socket in the user's home
|
|
1110 directory named `.emacs_server'.
|
11822
|
1111
|
1736
|
1112 To get your news reader, mail reader, etc., to invoke emacsclient, try
|
|
1113 setting the environment variable EDITOR (or sometimes VISUAL) to the
|
|
1114 value `emacsclient'. You may have to specify the full pathname of the
|
|
1115 emacsclient program instead. Examples:
|
11822
|
1116
|
1736
|
1117 # csh commands:
|
|
1118 setenv EDITOR emacsclient
|
|
1119 setenv EDITOR /usr/local/emacs/etc/emacsclient # using full pathname
|
11822
|
1120
|
1736
|
1121 # sh command:
|
11822
|
1122 EDITOR=emacsclient ; export EDITOR
|
|
1123
|
1736
|
1124 * Normal use
|
11822
|
1125
|
1736
|
1126 When emacsclient is run, it connects to the `.emacs_server' socket and
|
|
1127 passes its command line options to `server'. When `server' receives
|
|
1128 these requests, it sends this information on the the Emacs process,
|
|
1129 which at the next opportunity will visit the files specified. (Line
|
|
1130 numbers can be specified just like with Emacs.) The user will have to
|
|
1131 switch to the Emacs window by hand. When the user is done editing a
|
11822
|
1132 file, the user can type "C-x #" (or M-x server-edit) to indicate this.
|
|
1133 If there is another buffer requested by emacsclient, Emacs will switch
|
|
1134 to it; otherwise emacsclient will exit, signaling the calling program
|
|
1135 to continue.
|
|
1136
|
|
1137 NOTE: `emacsclient' and `server' must be running on machines which
|
|
1138 share the same filesystem for this to work. The pathnames that
|
|
1139 emacsclient specifies should be correct for the filesystem that the
|
|
1140 Emacs process sees. The Emacs process should not be suspended at the
|
|
1141 time emacsclient is invoked. emacsclient should either be invoked from
|
|
1142 another X window or from a shell window inside Emacs itself.
|
|
1143
|
|
1144 There is an enhanced version of emacsclient/server called `gnuserv' by
|
|
1145 Andy Norman <ange@hplb.hpl.hp.com> which is available in the Emacs Lisp
|
|
1146 Archive. gnuserv uses Internet domain sockets, so it can work across
|
|
1147 most network connections. It also supports the execution of arbitrary
|
|
1148 Emacs Lisp forms and also does not require the client program to wait
|
|
1149 for completion. It is available via anonymous FTP (Emacs Lisp Archive:
|
|
1150 packages/gnuserv.shar).
|
|
1151
|
|
1152 40: How do I make Emacs recognize my compiler's funny error messages?
|
|
1153
|
|
1154 The variable compilation-error-regexp-alist helps control how Emacs
|
|
1155 parses your compiler output. It is a list of triples of the form:
|
|
1156
|
|
1157 (REGEXP FILE-IDX LINE-IDX)
|
|
1158
|
|
1159 where REGEXP, FILE-IDX and LINE-IDX are strings. To help determine what
|
|
1160 the constituent elements should be, load compile.el and then use
|
|
1161
|
|
1162 C-h v compilation-error-regexp-alist RET
|
|
1163
|
|
1164 to see the current value. A good idea is to look at compile.el itself as
|
|
1165 the comments included for this variable are quite useful -- the regular
|
|
1166 expressions required for your compiler's output may be very close to one
|
|
1167 already provided. Once you have determined the proper regexps, use the
|
|
1168 following to inform Emacs of your changes:
|
|
1169
|
|
1170 (setq compilation-error-regexp-alist
|
|
1171 (cons '(REGEXP FILE-IDX LINE-IDX)
|
|
1172 compilation-error-regexp-alist))
|
|
1173
|
|
1174 41: How do I indent switch statements like this?
|
|
1175
|
1736
|
1176 Many people want to indent their switch statements like this:
|
11822
|
1177
|
1736
|
1178 f()
|
|
1179 {
|
|
1180 switch(x) {
|
|
1181 case A:
|
|
1182 x1;
|
|
1183 break;
|
|
1184 case B:
|
|
1185 x2;
|
|
1186 break;
|
|
1187 default:
|
|
1188 x3;
|
|
1189 }
|
|
1190 }
|
11822
|
1191
|
|
1192 The solution at first appears to be: set c-indent-level to 4 and
|
|
1193 c-label-offset to -2. However, this will give you an indentation spacing
|
|
1194 of four instead of two.
|
|
1195
|
|
1196 The solution is to use cc-mode (available from the Emacs Lisp Archive)
|
|
1197 and add the following line:
|
|
1198
|
|
1199 (c-set-offset 'case-label '+)
|
|
1200
|
|
1201 There appears to be no way to do this with the old c-mode.
|
|
1202
|
|
1203 42: How can I make Emacs automatically scroll horizontally?
|
|
1204
|
|
1205 Use hscroll.el by Wayne Mesard <wmesard@esd.sgi.com>.
|
|
1206
|
|
1207 43: How do I make Emacs "typeover" or "overwrite" instead of inserting?
|
|
1208
|
1736
|
1209 M-x overwrite-mode (a minor mode).
|
11822
|
1210
|
|
1211 On some workstations, the "Insert" key toggles insert and overwrite
|
|
1212 modes.
|
|
1213
|
|
1214 44: How do I stop Emacs from beeping on a terminal?
|
|
1215
|
1736
|
1216 Martin R. Frank <martin@cc.gatech.edu> writes:
|
11822
|
1217
|
|
1218 Tell Emacs to use the `visible bell' instead of the audible bell, and
|
1736
|
1219 set the visible bell to nothing.
|
11822
|
1220
|
1736
|
1221 Put this in your TERMCAP environment variable:
|
11822
|
1222
|
1736
|
1223 ... :vb=: ...
|
11822
|
1224
|
1736
|
1225 And evaluate this:
|
11822
|
1226
|
1736
|
1227 (setq visible-bell t)
|
11822
|
1228
|
|
1229 45: How do I turn down the bell volume in Emacs running under X Windows?
|
|
1230
|
|
1231 You can adjust the bell volume and duration for all programs with the
|
|
1232 shell command xset.
|
|
1233
|
|
1234 Invoking xset without any arguments produces some basic information,
|
|
1235 including the following:
|
|
1236
|
|
1237 usage: xset [-display host:dpy] option ...
|
|
1238 To turn bell off:
|
|
1239 -b b off b 0
|
|
1240 To set bell volume, pitch and duration:
|
|
1241 b [vol [pitch [dur]]] b on
|
|
1242
|
|
1243 46: How do I tell Emacs to automatically indent a new line to the
|
|
1244 indentation of the previous line?
|
|
1245
|
1736
|
1246 One solution is Indented Text Mode (M-x indented-text-mode).
|
11822
|
1247
|
|
1248 If you have auto-fill mode on (a minor mode, see question 30), you can
|
1736
|
1249 tell Emacs to prefix every line with a certain character sequence, the
|
11822
|
1250 "fill prefix." Type the prefix at the beginning of a line, position
|
|
1251 point after it, and then type "C-x ." (set-fill-prefix) to set the fill
|
|
1252 prefix. Thereafter, auto-filling will automatically put the fill prefix
|
|
1253 at the beginning of new lines, and M-q (fill-paragraph) will maintain any
|
|
1254 fill prefix when refilling the paragraph.
|
|
1255
|
1736
|
1256 NOTE: If you have paragraphs with different levels of indentation, you
|
|
1257 will have to set the fill prefix to the correct value each time you move
|
|
1258 to a new paragraph. To avoid this hassle, try one of the many packages
|
11822
|
1259 available from the Emacs Lisp Archive. Look up `fill' and `indent' in
|
|
1260 the Lisp Code Directory for guidance.
|
|
1261
|
|
1262 47: How do I show which parenthesis matches the one I'm looking at?
|
|
1263
|
|
1264 GNU Emacs 19 comes with paren.el, which (when loaded) will automatically
|
|
1265 highlight matching parentheses whenever point (i.e., the cursor) is
|
|
1266 located over one. To load paren automatically, include the line
|
|
1267
|
|
1268 (require 'paren)
|
|
1269
|
|
1270 in your .emacs file.
|
|
1271
|
|
1272 Alternatives to paren include:
|
|
1273
|
|
1274 * If you're looking at a right parenthesis (or brace or bracket) you can
|
|
1275 delete it and reinsert it. Emacs will blink the cursor on the matching
|
|
1276 parenthesis.
|
|
1277
|
|
1278 * M-C-f (forward-sexp) and M-C-b (backward-sexp) will skip over one set
|
|
1279 of balanced parentheses, so you can see which parentheses match. (You
|
|
1280 can train it to skip over balanced brackets and braces at the same time
|
|
1281 by modifying the syntax table.)
|
|
1282
|
|
1283 * Here is some Emacs Lisp that will make the % key show the matching
|
|
1284 parenthesis, like in vi. In addition, if the cursor isn't over a
|
|
1285 parenthesis, it simply inserts a % like normal.
|
|
1286
|
|
1287 ;; By an unknown contributor
|
|
1288
|
|
1289 (global-set-key "%" 'match-paren)
|
|
1290
|
|
1291 (defun match-paren (arg)
|
|
1292 "Go to the matching parenthesis if on parenthesis otherwise insert %."
|
|
1293 (interactive "p")
|
|
1294 (cond ((looking-at "\\s\(") (forward-list 1) (backward-char 1))
|
|
1295 ((looking-at "\\s\)") (forward-char 1) (backward-list 1))
|
|
1296 (t (self-insert-command (or arg 1)))))
|
|
1297
|
|
1298 48: In C mode, can I show just the lines that will be left after #ifdef
|
|
1299 commands are handled by the compiler?
|
|
1300
|
1736
|
1301 M-x hide-ifdef-mode. (This is a minor mode.)
|
11822
|
1302
|
|
1303 49: Is there an equivalent to the `.' (dot) command of vi?
|
|
1304
|
1736
|
1305 (`.' is the redo command in vi. It redoes the last insertion/deletion.)
|
11822
|
1306
|
1736
|
1307 No, not really.
|
11822
|
1308
|
|
1309 You can type "C-x ESC ESC" (repeat-complex-command) to reinvoke commands
|
|
1310 that used the minibuffer to get arguments. In repeat-complex-command you
|
|
1311 can type M-p and M-n to scan through all the different complex commands
|
|
1312 you've typed.
|
|
1313
|
|
1314 To repeat something on each line, use keyboard macros. (See `Keyboard
|
|
1315 Macros' in the on-line manual.)
|
|
1316
|
|
1317 50: What are the valid X resource settings (i.e., stuff in .Xdefaults)?
|
|
1318
|
|
1319 See Emacs man page, or "Resources X" in the on-line manual.
|
|
1320
|
|
1321 You can also use a resource editor, such as editres (for X11R5 and
|
|
1322 onwards), to look at the resource names for the menu bar, assuming Emacs
|
|
1323 was compiled with the X toolkit.
|
|
1324
|
|
1325 51: How do I execute a piece of Emacs Lisp code?
|
|
1326
|
1736
|
1327 There are a number of ways to execute (called "evaluate") an Emacs Lisp
|
|
1328 "form":
|
11822
|
1329
|
1736
|
1330 * If you want it evaluated every time you run Emacs, put it in a file
|
|
1331 named `.emacs' in your home directory.
|
11822
|
1332
|
1736
|
1333 * You can type the form in the *scratch* buffer, and then type LFD (or
|
|
1334 C-j) after it. The result of evaluating the form will be inserted in
|
|
1335 the buffer.
|
11822
|
1336
|
1736
|
1337 * In Emacs-Lisp mode, typing M-C-x evaluates a top-level form before or
|
|
1338 around point.
|
11822
|
1339
|
1736
|
1340 * Typing "C-x C-e" in any buffer evaluates the Lisp form immediately
|
|
1341 before point and prints its value in the echo area.
|
11822
|
1342
|
1736
|
1343 * Typing M-ESC or M-x eval-expression allows you to type a Lisp form in
|
|
1344 the minibuffer which will be evaluated.
|
11822
|
1345
|
1736
|
1346 * You can use M-x load-file to have Emacs evaluate all the Lisp forms in
|
|
1347 a file. (To do this from Lisp use the function `load' instead.)
|
11822
|
1348
|
1736
|
1349 These functions are also used for evaluating Lisp forms:
|
11822
|
1350
|
1736
|
1351 load-library, eval-region, eval-current-buffer, require, autoload
|
11822
|
1352
|
|
1353 52: How do I change Emacs's idea of the tab character's length?
|
|
1354
|
|
1355 Set the variable default-tab-width. For example, to set tab stops every
|
|
1356 10 characters, insert the following in your .emacs file:
|
|
1357
|
|
1358 (setq default-tab-width 10)
|
|
1359
|
|
1360 53: How do I insert `>' at the beginning of every line?
|
|
1361
|
1736
|
1362 Type "M-x replace-regexp RET ^ RET > RET".
|
11822
|
1363
|
|
1364 To do this only in the region, type "C-x n n M-x replace-regexp RET ^ RET
|
1736
|
1365 > RET C-x w".
|
11822
|
1366
|
|
1367 WARNING: The command narrow-to-region (C-x n n) is disabled by default
|
|
1368 because it can be very confusing (i.e., "Oh no! Where did my file go?").
|
|
1369
|
|
1370 54: How do I insert `_^H' before each character in a paragraph to get an
|
|
1371 underlined paragraph?
|
|
1372
|
1736
|
1373 M-x underline-region.
|
11822
|
1374
|
|
1375 55: How do I repeat a command as many times as possible?
|
|
1376
|
1736
|
1377 Use "C-x (" and "C-x )" to make a keyboard macro that invokes the command
|
|
1378 and then type "M-0 C-x e".
|
11822
|
1379
|
1736
|
1380 WARNING: any messages your command prints in the echo area will be
|
|
1381 suppressed.
|
11822
|
1382
|
|
1383 56: How do I make Emacs behave like this: when I go up or down, the cursor
|
|
1384 should stay in the same column even if the line is too short?
|
|
1385
|
1736
|
1386 M-x picture-mode. (This is a minor mode, in theory anyway ...)
|
11822
|
1387
|
|
1388 57: How do I tell Emacs to iconify itself?
|
|
1389
|
|
1390 "C-z" iconifies Emacs when running in X and suspends Emacs otherwise.
|
|
1391 See `Misc X' in the on-line manual.
|
|
1392
|
|
1393 58: How do I use regexps (regular expressions) in Emacs?
|
|
1394
|
|
1395 See `Regexps' in the on-line manual.
|
|
1396
|
1736
|
1397 WARNING: The "or" operator is `\|', not `|', and the grouping operators
|
|
1398 are `\(' and `\)'. Also, the string syntax for a backslash is "\\".
|
|
1399 Thus, the string syntax for a regular expression like xxx\(foo\|bar\) is
|
|
1400 "xxx\\(foo\\|bar\\)". Notice the duplicated backslashes!
|
11822
|
1401
|
1736
|
1402 WARNING: Unlike in Unix grep, sed, etc., a complement character set
|
|
1403 ([^...]) can match a newline character (LFD aka C-j aka \n), unless
|
|
1404 newline is mentioned as one of the characters not to match.
|
11822
|
1405
|
|
1406 WARNING: The character syntax regexps (e.g., `\sw') are not meaningful
|
|
1407 inside character set regexps (e.g., `[aeiou]'). (This is actually
|
|
1408 typical for regexp syntax.)
|
|
1409
|
|
1410 59: How do I perform a replace operation across more than one file?
|
|
1411
|
1736
|
1412 The "tags" feature of Emacs includes the command tags-query-replace which
|
|
1413 performs a query-replace across all the files mentioned in the TAGS file.
|
11822
|
1414 See `Tags:Tags Search' in the on-line manual.
|
|
1415
|
|
1416 In addition, Martin Boyer has written a package named global-replace
|
|
1417 which will perform a query-replace across all the files mentioned in the
|
|
1418 *compilation* buffer (usually done after a `grep'), which is available
|
|
1419 via anonymous FTP:
|
|
1420
|
|
1421 /ireq-robot.hydro.qc.ca:pub/emacs/lisp/compile.el.z
|
|
1422 /ireq-robot.hydro.qc.ca:pub/emacs/lisp/global-replace.el.z
|
|
1423 /ireq-robot.hydro.qc.ca:pub/emacs/lisp/query.el.z
|
|
1424
|
|
1425 NOTE: These files are compressed using GNU zip ("gzip"); you can get a
|
|
1426 copy from gzip from prep and its mirrors (see question 80).
|
|
1427
|
|
1428 60: Where is the documentation for `etags'?
|
|
1429
|
|
1430 The `etags' man page should be in the same place as the `emacs' man page.
|
|
1431
|
|
1432 Quick command-line switch descriptions are also available. For example,
|
|
1433 `etags -H'.
|
1736
|
1434
|
|
1435
|
|
1436 Bugs/Problems
|
|
1437
|
11822
|
1438 61: Does Emacs have problems with files larger than 8 megabytes?
|
12307
|
1439 [This problem has been solved better in Emacs 19.29 because the buffer
|
|
1440 size limit is now 16 times as large.]
|
11822
|
1441
|
1736
|
1442 Most installed versions of GNU Emacs will use 24-bit signed integers (and
|
|
1443 24-bit pointers) internally. This limits the file size that Emacs can
|
|
1444 handle to 8,388,607 bytes (2^23 - 1).
|
11822
|
1445
|
1736
|
1446 Leonard N. Zubkoff <lnz@lucid.com> suggests putting the following two
|
|
1447 lines in src/config.h before compiling Emacs to allow for 26-bit integers
|
|
1448 and pointers (and thus filesizes of up to 33,554,431 bytes):
|
11822
|
1449
|
1736
|
1450 #define VALBITS 26
|
|
1451 #define GCTYPEBITS 5
|
11822
|
1452
|
1736
|
1453 WARNING: This method may result in `ILLEGAL DATATYPE' and other random
|
|
1454 errors on some machines.
|
11822
|
1455
|
1736
|
1456 David Gillespie <daveg@csvax.cs.caltech.edu> gives an explanation of why
|
|
1457 Emacs uses 24 bit integers and pointers:
|
11822
|
1458
|
1736
|
1459 Emacs is largely written in a dialect of Lisp; Lisp is a freely-typed
|
|
1460 language in the sense that you can put any value of any type into any
|
|
1461 variable, or return it from a function, and so on. So each value must
|
11822
|
1462 carry a "tag" along with it identifying what kind of thing it is, e.g.,
|
1736
|
1463 integer, pointer to a list, pointer to an editing buffer, and so on.
|
|
1464 Emacs uses standard 32-bit integers for data objects, taking the top 8
|
11822
|
1465 bits for the tag and the bottom 24 bits for the value. So integers
|
|
1466 (and pointers) are somewhat restricted compared to true C integers and
|
1736
|
1467 pointers.
|
11822
|
1468
|
1736
|
1469 Emacs uses 8-bit tags because that's a little faster on byte-oriented
|
|
1470 machines, but there are only really enough tags to require 6 bits.
|
11822
|
1471
|
|
1472 62: How do I get rid of the ^M junk in my shell buffer?
|
|
1473
|
|
1474 Try typing "M-x shell-strip-ctrl-m RET" while in shell-mode to make them
|
|
1475 go away. If that doesn't work, you have several options:
|
|
1476
|
1736
|
1477 For tcsh, put this in your `.cshrc' (or `.tcshrc') file:
|
11822
|
1478
|
1736
|
1479 if ($?EMACS) then
|
|
1480 if ("$EMACS" == t) then
|
11822
|
1481 if ($?tcsh) unset edit
|
|
1482 stty nl
|
|
1483 endif
|
1736
|
1484 endif
|
11822
|
1485
|
1736
|
1486 Or put this in your .emacs_tcsh file:
|
11822
|
1487
|
1736
|
1488 unset edit
|
|
1489 stty nl
|
11822
|
1490
|
|
1491 Alternatively, use csh in your shell buffers instead of tcsh. One way
|
1736
|
1492 is:
|
11822
|
1493
|
1736
|
1494 (setq explicit-shell-file-name "/bin/csh")
|
11822
|
1495
|
1736
|
1496 and another is to do this in your .cshrc (or .tcshrc) file:
|
11822
|
1497
|
1736
|
1498 setenv ESHELL /bin/csh
|
11822
|
1499
|
1736
|
1500 (You must start Emacs over again with the environment variable properly
|
|
1501 set for this to take effect.)
|
11822
|
1502
|
|
1503 63: Why do I get `Process shell exited abnormally with code 1'?
|
|
1504
|
1736
|
1505 The most likely reason for this message is that the `env' program is not
|
11822
|
1506 properly installed. Compile this program for your architecture, and
|
|
1507 install it with a+x permission in the architecture-dependent Emacs
|
|
1508 program directory. (You can find what this directory is at your site by
|
|
1509 inspecting the value of the variable exec-directory by typing "C-h v
|
|
1510 exec-directory RET".)
|
|
1511
|
|
1512 You should also check for other programs named `env' in your path (e.g.,
|
|
1513 SunOS has a program named /usr/bin/env). We don't understand why this
|
|
1514 can cause a failure and don't know a general solution for working around
|
|
1515 the problem in this case.
|
|
1516
|
|
1517 The `make clean' command will remove `env' and other vital programs, so
|
|
1518 be careful when using it.
|
|
1519
|
1736
|
1520 It has been reported that this sometimes happened when Emacs was started
|
11822
|
1521 as an X client from an xterm window (i.e., had a controlling tty) but the
|
1736
|
1522 xterm was later terminated.
|
11822
|
1523
|
|
1524 See also PROBLEMS (in the top-level directory when you unpack the Emacs
|
|
1525 source) for other possible causes of this message.
|
|
1526
|
|
1527 64: Where is the termcap/terminfo entry for terminal type `emacs'?
|
|
1528
|
1736
|
1529 The termcap entry for terminal type `emacs' is ordinarily put in the
|
|
1530 TERMCAP environment variable of subshells. It may help in certain
|
11822
|
1531 situations (e.g., using rlogin from shell buffer) to add an entry for
|
1736
|
1532 `emacs' to the system-wide termcap file. Here is a correct termcap entry
|
|
1533 for `emacs':
|
11822
|
1534
|
1736
|
1535 emacs:tc=unknown:
|
11822
|
1536
|
1736
|
1537 To make a terminfo entry for `emacs', use `tic' or `captoinfo'. You need
|
|
1538 to generate /usr/lib/terminfo/e/emacs. It may work to simply copy
|
|
1539 /usr/lib/terminfo/d/dumb to /usr/lib/terminfo/e/emacs.
|
11822
|
1540
|
1736
|
1541 Having a termcap/terminfo entry will not enable the use of full screen
|
|
1542 programs in shell buffers. Use M-x terminal-emulator for that instead.
|
11822
|
1543
|
1736
|
1544 A workaround to the problem of missing termcap/terminfo entries is to
|
|
1545 change terminal type `emacs' to type `dumb' or `unknown' in your shell
|
|
1546 start up file. `csh' users could put this in their .cshrc files:
|
11822
|
1547
|
1736
|
1548 if ("$term" == emacs) set term=dumb
|
11822
|
1549
|
|
1550 65: Why does Emacs spontaneously start displaying `I-search:' and beeping?
|
|
1551
|
1736
|
1552 Your terminal (or something between your terminal and the computer) is
|
|
1553 sending C-s and C-q for flow control, and Emacs is receiving these
|
11822
|
1554 characters and interpreting them as commands. (The C-s character
|
|
1555 normally invokes the isearch-forward command.) For possible solutions,
|
|
1556 see question 110.
|
|
1557
|
|
1558 66: Why can't Emacs talk to certain hosts (or certain hostnames)?
|
|
1559
|
1736
|
1560 The problem may be that Emacs is linked with a wimpier version of
|
11822
|
1561 gethostbyname than the rest of the programs on the machine. This is
|
|
1562 often manifested as a message on startup of `X server not responding.
|
|
1563 Check your DISPLAY environment variable.' or a message of `Unknown host'
|
|
1564 from open-network-stream.
|
|
1565
|
1736
|
1566 On a Sun, this may be because Emacs had to be linked with the static C
|
|
1567 library. The version of gethostbyname in the static C library may only
|
11822
|
1568 look in /etc/hosts and the NIS (YP) maps, while the version in the
|
|
1569 dynamic C library may be smart enough to check DNS in addition to or
|
|
1570 instead of NIS. On a Motorola Delta running System V R3.6, the version
|
|
1571 of gethostbyname in the standard library works, but the one that works
|
|
1572 with NIS doesn't (the one you get with -linet). Other operating systems
|
|
1573 have similar problems.
|
|
1574
|
1736
|
1575 Try these options:
|
11822
|
1576
|
1736
|
1577 * Explicitly add the host you want to communicate with to /etc/hosts.
|
11822
|
1578
|
1736
|
1579 * Relink Emacs with this line in src/config.h:
|
11822
|
1580
|
1736
|
1581 #define LIBS_SYSTEM -lresolv
|
11822
|
1582
|
1736
|
1583 * Replace gethostbyname and friends in libc.a with more useful versions
|
|
1584 such as the ones in libresolv.a. Then relink Emacs.
|
11822
|
1585
|
1736
|
1586 * If you are actually running NIS, make sure that `ypbind' is properly
|
|
1587 told to do DNS lookups with the correct command line switch.
|
11822
|
1588
|
|
1589 * Use tcp.el and tcp.c from Gnus. This has the additional advantage that
|
1736
|
1590 you can use numeric IP addresses instead of names. open-network-stream
|
|
1591 currently can't handle numeric addresses. Brian Thomson
|
|
1592 <thomson@hub.toronto.edu> has a enhancement to open-network-stream to
|
|
1593 allow it to handle numeric addresses.
|
11822
|
1594
|
|
1595 67: Why does Emacs say `Error in init file'?
|
|
1596
|
|
1597 An error occurred while loading either your .emacs file or the
|
|
1598 system-wide lisp/default.el file. For information on how to debug your
|
|
1599 .emacs file, see question 27.
|
|
1600
|
1736
|
1601 It may be the case that you may need to load some package first, or use a
|
11822
|
1602 hook that will be evaluated after the package is loaded. A common case
|
|
1603 of this is explained in question 106.
|
|
1604
|
|
1605 68: Why does Emacs ignore my X resources (my .Xdefaults file)?
|
|
1606
|
|
1607 As of version 19, Emacs searches for X resources in the files specified
|
|
1608 by the XFILESEARCHPATH, XUSERFILESEARCHPATH, and XAPPLRESDIR environment
|
|
1609 variables, emulating the functionality provided by programs written using
|
|
1610 Xt.
|
|
1611
|
|
1612 XFILESEARCHPATH and XUSERFILESEARCHPATH should be a list of file names
|
|
1613 separated by colons; XAPPLRESDIR should be a list of directory names
|
|
1614 separated by colons.
|
|
1615
|
|
1616 Emacs searches for X resources
|
1736
|
1617
|
11822
|
1618 + specified on the command line, with the `-xrm RESOURCESTRING'
|
|
1619 option,
|
|
1620 + then in the value of the XENVIRONMENT environment variable,
|
|
1621 - or if that is unset, in the file named ~/.Xdefaults-HOSTNAME if it
|
|
1622 exists
|
|
1623 (where HOSTNAME is the hostname of the machine Emacs is running on),
|
|
1624 + then in the screen-specific and server-wide resource properties
|
|
1625 provided by the server,
|
|
1626 - or if those properties are unset, in the file named ~/.Xdefaults
|
|
1627 if it exists,
|
|
1628 + then in the files listed in XUSERFILESEARCHPATH,
|
|
1629 - or in files named LANG/Emacs in directories listed in XAPPLRESDIR
|
|
1630 (where LANG is the value of the LANG environment variable), if
|
|
1631 the LANG environment variable is set,
|
|
1632 - or in files named Emacs in the directories listed in XAPPLRESDIR
|
|
1633 - or in ~/LANG/Emacs (if the LANG environment variable is set),
|
|
1634 - or in ~/Emacs,
|
|
1635 + then in the files listed in XFILESEARCHPATH.
|
|
1636
|
|
1637 69: Why does Emacs take 20 seconds to visit a file?
|
|
1638
|
1736
|
1639 The usual cause is that the master lock file, `!!!SuperLock!!!' has been
|
|
1640 left in the lock directory somehow. Delete it.
|
11822
|
1641
|
1736
|
1642 Mark Meuer <meuer@geom.umn.edu> says that NeXT NFS has a bug where an
|
|
1643 exclusive create succeeds but returns an error status. This can cause the
|
|
1644 same problem. Since Emacs's file locking doesn't work over NFS anyway,
|
|
1645 the best solution is to recompile Emacs with CLASH_DETECTION undefined.
|
11822
|
1646
|
|
1647 70: How do I edit a file with a `$' in its name?
|
|
1648
|
1736
|
1649 When entering a filename in the minibuffer, Emacs will attempt to expand
|
|
1650 a `$' followed by a word as an environment variable. To suppress this
|
|
1651 behavior, type "$$" instead.
|
11822
|
1652
|
|
1653 71: Why does shell mode lose track of the shell's current directory?
|
|
1654
|
|
1655 Emacs has no way of knowing when the shell actually changes its
|
|
1656 directory. This is an intrinsic limitation of Unix. So it tries to
|
|
1657 guess by recognizing `cd' commands. If you type `cd' followed by a
|
|
1658 directory name with a variable reference (`cd $HOME/bin') or with a shell
|
|
1659 metacharacter (`cd ../lib*'), Emacs will fail to correctly guess the
|
|
1660 shell's new current directory. A huge variety of fixes and enhancements
|
|
1661 to shell mode for this problem have been written to handle this problem.
|
|
1662 Check the Lisp Code Directory (see question 77).
|
|
1663
|
|
1664 You can tell Emacs the shell's current directory with the command "M-x
|
|
1665 dirs".
|
|
1666
|
|
1667 72: Are there any security risks in GNU Emacs?
|
|
1668
|
1736
|
1669 * the `movemail' incident (No, this is not a risk.)
|
11822
|
1670
|
|
1671 In his book "The Cuckoo's Egg," Cliff Stoll describes this in chapter
|
|
1672 4. The site at LBL had installed the `etc/movemail' program setuid
|
|
1673 root. (As of version 19, movemail is in your architecture-specific
|
|
1674 directory; type "C-h v directory RET" to see what it is.) Since
|
|
1675 `movemail' had not been designed for this situation, a security hole
|
|
1676 was created and users could get root privileges.
|
|
1677
|
|
1678 `movemail' has since been changed so that even if it is installed
|
|
1679 setuid root this security hole will not be a result.
|
|
1680
|
|
1681 We have heard unverified reports that the Internet worm took advantage
|
|
1682 of this configuration problem.
|
|
1683
|
1736
|
1684 * the file-local-variable feature (Yes, a risk, but easy to change.)
|
11822
|
1685
|
1736
|
1686 There is an Emacs feature that allows the setting of local values for
|
11822
|
1687 variables when editing a file by including specially formatted text
|
|
1688 near the end of the file. This feature also includes the ability to
|
|
1689 have arbitrary Emacs Lisp code evaluated when the file is visited.
|
1736
|
1690 Obviously, there is a potential for Trojan horses to exploit this
|
|
1691 feature.
|
11822
|
1692
|
1736
|
1693 If you set the variable inhibit-local-variables to a non-nil value,
|
|
1694 Emacs will display the special local variable settings of a file that
|
|
1695 you visit and ask you if you really want them. This variable is not
|
|
1696 mentioned in the manual.
|
11822
|
1697
|
1736
|
1698 It is wise to do this in lisp/site-init.el before building Emacs:
|
11822
|
1699
|
1736
|
1700 (setq inhibit-local-variables t)
|
11822
|
1701
|
1736
|
1702 If Emacs has already been built, the expression can be put in
|
11822
|
1703 lisp/default.el instead, or an individual can put it in their own
|
|
1704 .emacs file.
|
|
1705
|
|
1706 The ability to exploit this feature by sending e-mail to an Rmail user
|
1736
|
1707 was fixed sometime after Emacs 18.52. However, any new package that
|
|
1708 uses find-file or find-file-noselect has to be careful about this.
|
11822
|
1709
|
|
1710 For more information, see `File Variables' in the on-line manual
|
|
1711 (which, incidentally, does not describe how to disable the feature).
|
|
1712
|
1736
|
1713 * synthetic X events (Yes, a risk, use MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 or better.)
|
11822
|
1714
|
1736
|
1715 Emacs accepts synthetic X events generated by the SendEvent request as
|
|
1716 though they were regular events. As a result, if you are using the
|
|
1717 trivial host-based authentication, other users who can open X
|
3591
|
1718 connections to your X workstation can make your Emacs process do
|
|
1719 anything, including run other processes with your privileges.
|
11822
|
1720
|
1736
|
1721 The only fix for this is to prevent other users from being able to open
|
|
1722 X connections. The standard way to prevent this is to use a real
|
|
1723 authentication mechanism, such as MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1. If using the
|
|
1724 `xauth' program has any effect, then you are probably using
|
|
1725 MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1. Your site may be using a superior authentication
|
|
1726 method; ask your system administrator.
|
11822
|
1727
|
1736
|
1728 If real authentication is not a possibility, you may be satisfied by
|
|
1729 just allowing hosts access for brief intervals while you start your X
|
|
1730 programs, then removing the access. This reduces the risk somewhat by
|
11822
|
1731 narrowing the time window when hostile users would have access, but
|
|
1732 DOES NOT ELIMINATE THE RISK.
|
1736
|
1733
|
|
1734
|
|
1735 Difficulties Building/Installing/Porting Emacs
|
|
1736
|
11822
|
1737 73: What should I do if I have trouble building Emacs?
|
|
1738
|
|
1739 First look in the file PROBLEMS (in the top-level directory when you
|
|
1740 unpack the Emacs source) to see if there is already a solution for your
|
|
1741 problem. Next check the FAQ (you're reading it). If you don't find a
|
|
1742 solution, then report your problem via e-mail to
|
|
1743 bug-gnu-emacs@prep.ai.mit.edu. Please do not post it to gnu.emacs.help
|
|
1744 or e-mail it to help-gnu-emacs@prep.ai.mit.edu. For further guidelines,
|
|
1745 see question 8.
|
|
1746
|
|
1747 74: How do I stop Emacs from failing when the executable is stripped?
|
|
1748
|
1736
|
1749 Don't do that.
|
11822
|
1750
|
1736
|
1751 This problem has been reported on SGI Indigo machines running Irix 4.0.*
|
|
1752 and RS/6000 machines. Scott Henry <scotth@hoshi.corp.SGi.COM> posted a
|
|
1753 patch that fixes the problem for Irix.
|
11822
|
1754
|
|
1755 75: Why does linking Emacs with -lX11 fail?
|
|
1756
|
1736
|
1757 Emacs needs to be linked with the static version of the X11 library,
|
|
1758 libX11.a. This may be missing.
|
11822
|
1759
|
1736
|
1760 Under OpenWindows, you may need to use `add_services' to add the
|
|
1761 `OpenWindows Programmers' optional software category from the CD-ROM.
|
11822
|
1762
|
|
1763 Under HP-UX 8.0, you may need to run `update' again to load the X11-PRG
|
|
1764 `fileset'. This may be missing even if you specified `all filesets' the
|
|
1765 first time. If libcurses.a is missing, you may need to load the
|
|
1766 `Berkeley Development Option' {???}.
|
|
1767
|
1736
|
1768 If you are building the MIT X11 sources, you may need to modify your
|
|
1769 `site.cf' file to get static versions of the libraries. (Info from David
|
|
1770 Zuhn <zoo@cygnus.com>.)
|
11822
|
1771
|
1736
|
1772 Other systems may have similar problems. You can always define
|
|
1773 CANNOT_DUMP and link with the shared libraries instead.
|
11822
|
1774
|
1736
|
1775 To get the Xmenu stuff to work, you need to find a copy of MIT's
|
|
1776 liboldX.a.
|
|
1777
|
|
1778
|
|
1779 Finding/Getting Emacs and Related Packages
|
|
1780
|
11822
|
1781 76: Where can I get GNU Emacs on the net (or by snail mail)?
|
|
1782
|
1736
|
1783 Look in the files etc/DISTRIB and etc/FTP for information on nearby
|
11822
|
1784 archive sites and etc/ORDERS for mail orders. If you don't already have
|
|
1785 GNU Emacs, see question 20 for how to get these files.
|
|
1786
|
1736
|
1787 The latest version is always available via anonymous FTP at MIT:
|
11822
|
1788
|
|
1789 /prep.ai.mit.edu:pub/gnu/emacs-19.27.tar.gz
|
|
1790
|
|
1791 See question 80 for information on where to get other GNU software.
|
|
1792
|
|
1793 77: How do I find a GNU Emacs Lisp package that does XXX?
|
|
1794
|
|
1795 A listing of Emacs Lisp packages, called the Lisp Code Directory, is
|
|
1796 being maintained by Dave Brennan <brennan@hal.com>. You can search
|
|
1797 through this list to learn if someone has written something that fits
|
|
1798 your needs.
|
|
1799
|
|
1800 This list is file LCD-datafile.Z in the Emacs Lisp Archive (see the next
|
|
1801 question for retrieval instructions). The files lispdir.el.Z and
|
|
1802 lispdir.doc in the archive contain Lisp code and information to help you
|
|
1803 use the list. Once you have installed lispdir.el and LCD-datafile, then
|
|
1804 you can use the `M-x lisp-dir-apropos' command to search the listing.
|
|
1805 For example, the command `M-x lisp-dir-apropos RET ange-ftp RET' produces
|
|
1806 this output:
|
|
1807
|
|
1808 GNU Emacs Lisp Code Directory Apropos -- "ange-ftp"
|
|
1809 "~/" refers to archive.cis.ohio-state.edu:pub/gnu/emacs/elisp-archive/
|
|
1810
|
|
1811 ange-ftp (4.18) 15-Jul-1992
|
|
1812 Andy Norman, <ange@hplb.hpl.hp.com>
|
|
1813 ~/packages/ange-ftp.tar.Z
|
|
1814 transparent FTP Support for GNU Emacs
|
|
1815 auto-save (1.19) 01-May-1992
|
|
1816 Sebastian Kremer, <sk@thp.uni-koeln.de>
|
|
1817 ~/misc/auto-save.el.Z
|
|
1818 Safer autosaving with support for ange-ftp and /tmp
|
|
1819 ftp-quik (1.0) 28-Jul-1993
|
|
1820 Terrence Brannon, <tb06@pl122f.eecs.lehigh.edu>
|
|
1821 ~/modes/ftp-quik.el.Z
|
|
1822 Quik access to dired'ing of ange-ftp and normal paths
|
|
1823
|
|
1824 78: Where can I get GNU Emacs Lisp packages that don't come with Emacs?
|
|
1825
|
1736
|
1826 First, check the Lisp Code Directory to find the name of the package you
|
11822
|
1827 are looking for (see question 77). Next, check local archives and the
|
|
1828 Emacs Lisp Archive to find a copy of the relevant files. If you still
|
|
1829 haven't found it, you can send e-mail to the author asking for a copy.
|
|
1830
|
|
1831 You can access the Emacs Lisp Archive via anonymous FTP:
|
|
1832
|
|
1833 /archive.cis.ohio-state.edu:pub/gnu/emacs/elisp-archive/
|
|
1834 /ftp.cs.umn.edu:pub/elisp-archive/
|
|
1835 /calypso-2.oit.unc.edu:pub/gnu/elisp-archive/
|
|
1836 /ftp.uu.net:packages/gnu/emacs-lisp/
|
|
1837 /gatekeeper.dec.com:pub/GNU/elisp-archive/
|
|
1838 /nic.switch.ch:mirror/elisp-archive/
|
|
1839 /ftp.diku.dk:pub/elisp-archive/
|
|
1840 /quepasa.cs.tu-berlin.de:pub/gnu/elisp/
|
|
1841 /faui43.informatik.uni-erlangen.de:pub/gnu/elisp-archive/
|
|
1842 /ftp.uni-mainz.de:pub/gnu/elisp-archive/
|
|
1843 /nic.funet.fi:pub/gnu/emacs/elisp-archive/
|
|
1844 /src.doc.ic.ac.uk:gnu/EmacsBits/elisp-archive/
|
|
1845
|
|
1846 Retrieve and read the file README first.
|
|
1847
|
|
1848 NOTE: * The archive maintainers do not have time to answer individual
|
|
1849 requests for packages or the list of packages in the archive. If
|
|
1850 you cannot use FTP or UUCP to access the archive yourself, try to
|
|
1851 find a friend who can, but please don't ask the maintainers.
|
|
1852
|
|
1853 * Any files with names ending in `.Z', `.z', or `.gz' are
|
|
1854 compressed, so you should use `binary' mode in FTP to retrieve
|
|
1855 them. You should also use binary mode whenever you retrieve any
|
|
1856 files with names ending in `.elc'.
|
|
1857
|
|
1858 79: How do I submit code to the Emacs Lisp Archive?
|
|
1859
|
|
1860 Guidelines and procedures for submission to the archive can be found in
|
|
1861 the file GUIDELINES in the archive directory (see question 78). It
|
|
1862 covers documentation, copyrights, packaging, submission, and the Lisp
|
|
1863 Code Directory Record. Anonymous FTP uploads are not permitted.
|
|
1864 Instead, all submissions are mailed to elisp-archive@cis.ohio-state.edu.
|
|
1865 The lispdir.el package has a function named submit-lcd-entry which will
|
|
1866 help you with this.
|
|
1867
|
|
1868 80: Where can I get other up-to-date GNU stuff?
|
|
1869
|
|
1870 The most up-to-date official GNU stuff is normally kept on
|
|
1871 prep.ai.mit.edu and is available for anonymous FTP in the pub/gnu
|
|
1872 directory. Read the files etc/DISTRIB and etc/FTP for more information
|
|
1873 (see question 20 for retrieval instructions).
|
|
1874
|
1736
|
1875 The following sites are all mirror images of the GNU distribution area:
|
11822
|
1876
|
|
1877 /col.hp.com:mirrors/gnu/
|
1736
|
1878 /ftp.uu.net:packages/gnu/
|
11822
|
1879 /ftp.win.tue.nl:pub/gnu/
|
|
1880 /gatekeeper.dec.com:pub/GNU/
|
|
1881 /nic.funet.fi:pub/gnu/
|
1736
|
1882 /src.doc.ic.ac.uk:gnu/ (available via FTP, NIFTP, FTAM)
|
|
1883 /utsun.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp:ftpsync/prep/
|
11822
|
1884 /wuarchive.wustl.edu:systems/gnu/
|
|
1885
|
1736
|
1886 The directory at ftp.uu.net is a mirror of prep.ai.mit.edu:pub/gnu,
|
11822
|
1887 except that files larger than one megabyte are split into multiple parts.
|
|
1888 If you have trouble transferring large files, you should try here. A
|
|
1889 file normally named `XXX' is split into files XXX-split/part[0-9][0-9],
|
|
1890 and there will be a file named XXX-split/README which contains the list
|
|
1891 of parts (especially helpful when FTP-ing by e-mail), their checksums,
|
|
1892 and reassembly instructions.
|
|
1893
|
|
1894 81: What is the difference between Emacs and Epoch?
|
|
1895
|
12307
|
1896 Epoch was a modified version of GNU Emacs. It was merged
|
11822
|
1897 into XEmacs (formerly "Lucid Emacs"), and the Epoch redisplay, now
|
12307
|
1898 being totally rewritten, is slated to be merged into Emacs when the
|
|
1899 rewrite is done.
|
11822
|
1900
|
|
1901 82: What is the difference between Emacs and XEmacs (formerly "Lucid
|
|
1902 Emacs")?
|
|
1903
|
|
1904 XEmacs is a modified version of GNU Emacs.
|
|
1905
|
|
1906 A comparison between the two versions, written by the XEmacs
|
|
1907 maintainers, had been included here. Richard Stallman removed it
|
|
1908 from this copy of the FAQ because it was unfair. It was (1)
|
|
1909 one-sided, listing only advantages of XEmacs and not advantages of
|
12307
|
1910 the principal version of Emacs, (2) biased, stating the opinions
|
|
1911 of the XEmacs maintainers, and (3) out of date, listing as advantages of
|
11822
|
1912 XEmacs features which in fact both versions have.
|
|
1913
|
|
1914 83: Where can I get Emacs for my PC running MS-DOS?
|
|
1915
|
|
1916 Recent releases of GNU Emacs 19 should compile right out of the box on
|
|
1917 PCs with a 386 or better, running MS-DOS 3.0 or later. You will need the
|
14919
|
1918 following to compile it:
|
11822
|
1919
|
14919
|
1920 Compiler: djgpp version 1.12 maint 1 or later. You can get the latest
|
11822
|
1921 version by grabbing everything in the following directory
|
|
1922 (using anonymous ftp):
|
|
1923
|
14919
|
1924 ftp.coast.net:/SimTel/vendors/djgpp
|
|
1925
|
|
1926 There are a few directories under djgpp whose names begin with
|
|
1927 `v1'; get the contents of `v1' and `v1gnu'.
|
|
1928 Do *not* try to compile Emacs with DJGPP v2.0 (in the
|
|
1929 directories whose name begin with `v2') as GNU Emacs doesn't
|
|
1930 support that version yet.
|
|
1931
|
|
1932 GUnZip and Tar:
|
|
1933
|
|
1934 The easiest way is to use `djtar' which comes with DJGPP v2.0,
|
|
1935 because it can unzip .tar.gz archives on-the-fly (so you won't
|
|
1936 need twice the required disk space while untarring the
|
|
1937 archive). You get `djtar' with the `v2/djdev200.zip' file from
|
|
1938 the above FTP server.
|
|
1939
|
|
1940 Another (slower) version of Tar which unzips automatically is
|
|
1941 available by anonymous ftp on this site:
|
|
1942
|
|
1943 ftp.kiae.su:msdos/arcers/tar320fp.zip
|
|
1944
|
|
1945 Or you can unZip the archive with the DJGPP port of GZip (from
|
|
1946 the above directory at ftp.coast.net look for gzp124bn.zip),
|
|
1947 then unTar it with any of the Tar ports floating around. A
|
|
1948 DOS version of GNU tar is available via anonymous ftp from
|
|
1949
|
|
1950 ftp.unipg.it:/pub/msdos/aspi/gtar-exe.zip
|
|
1951
|
|
1952 Note that DOS ports of GNU Tar usually cannot unzip compressed
|
|
1953 archives, and the above port is no exception.
|
|
1954
|
|
1955 Another version of Tar for DOS can be found at
|
|
1956
|
|
1957 ftp.urc.tue.nl:pub/unixtools/dos
|
|
1958
|
|
1959 However, be warned that not all DOS versions of tar work
|
|
1960 equally well, so you might have to try others if this one gives
|
|
1961 you trouble.
|
11822
|
1962
|
|
1963 Utilities: chmod, make, mv, sed, rm.
|
|
1964
|
14919
|
1965 All of these utilities are available via anonymous ftp from
|
|
1966 the site
|
|
1967
|
|
1968 ftp.coast.net:/SimTel/vendors/gnu/gnuish/dos_only
|
|
1969
|
|
1970 You should grab the files fut312bx.zip (contains chmod.exe,
|
|
1971 mv.exe, and rm.exe).
|
|
1972
|
|
1973 A port of GNU Sed is available in the djgpp archives in the
|
|
1974 above directory on ftp.coast.net. Look for a file named
|
|
1975 sed118bn.zip.
|
11822
|
1976
|
|
1977 The file etc/MSDOS contains some information on the differences between
|
|
1978 the Unix and MS-DOS versions of GNU Emacs.
|
|
1979
|
|
1980 If you would prefer not to compile Emacs by yourself, you can get
|
14919
|
1981 binaries for Emacs via anonymous ftp from many sites; use your Archie
|
|
1982 client to search for them.
|
11822
|
1983
|
|
1984 You might also be interested in Demacs, which runs under MS-DOS (*not*
|
|
1985 Microsoft Windows; see question 84) on 386- and 486-based PCs. Demacs is
|
|
1986 a port of Nemacs (see question 126), rather than a straight port of GNU
|
|
1987 Emacs 18 or 19.
|
|
1988
|
|
1989 Demacs was developed using an MS-DOS version of gcc called djgpp by
|
14919
|
1990 DJ Delorie <dj@delorie.com> which can compile and run large programs
|
|
1991 under MS-DOS and under MS Windows. Demacs was derived from Nemacs
|
11822
|
1992 rather than straight from GNU Emacs. You can get the most recent version
|
|
1993 of Demacs via anonymous ftp from ftp.sigmath.osaka-u.ac.jp in
|
|
1994 pub/Msdos/Demacs/*.
|
|
1995
|
|
1996 For a list of other MS-DOS implementations of Emacs (and Emacs
|
|
1997 look-alikes), consult the list of "Emacs implementations and literature,"
|
|
1998 available via anonymous ftp from rtfm.mit.edu in pub/usenet/comp.emacs.
|
|
1999
|
|
2000 84: Where can I get Emacs for my PC running Microsoft Windows?
|
|
2001
|
14919
|
2002 * If you compile GNU Emacs with the tools listed above, it will run under
|
|
2003 Microsoft Windows in a DOS box.
|
|
2004
|
|
2005 There are currently two other ports of Emacs that runs under Microsoft
|
|
2006 Windows:
|
11822
|
2007
|
|
2008 * Oemacs
|
|
2009
|
|
2010 Current version of Oemacs4.1 is based on Emacs-19.19 and runs in either
|
|
2011 MS-DOS or Microsoft Windows. There is rumor that the author Darryl
|
|
2012 Okahata <darrylo@sr.hp.com> would not update unless there is
|
|
2013 demonstrated interest. It is nearly a full porting of GNU Emacs except
|
|
2014 that shell-mode does not work due to the limitation of MS-DOS.
|
|
2015 Anonymous ftp information:
|
|
2016
|
14919
|
2017 ftp.coast.net:SimTel/vendors/gnu/oemacs/
|
11822
|
2018
|
|
2019 * The other uses a proprietary X Windows emulator and therefore
|
|
2020 the FSF does not think it deserves publicity.
|
|
2021
|
|
2022 85: Where can I get Emacs for my PC running OS/2?
|
|
2023
|
|
2024 Emacs 19.27 is ported for emx on OS/2 2.0 or 2.1.
|
|
2025
|
|
2026 Anonymous FTP info:
|
|
2027
|
|
2028 hobbes.nmsu.edu:os2/2_x/unix/emacs27
|
|
2029
|
|
2030 86: Where can I get Emacs for my Atari ST?
|
|
2031
|
|
2032 (does anyone know?)
|
|
2033
|
|
2034 87: Where can I get Emacs for my Amiga?
|
|
2035
|
|
2036 Amiga software is available through Aminet, a set of interconnected FTP
|
|
2037 sites and other file accessing services for Amiga software. The primary
|
|
2038 sites for Aminet are ftp.wustl.edu (128.252.135.4) and ftp.cdrom.com
|
|
2039 (192.153.46.2). In the directory pub/aminet/util/gnu, there are
|
|
2040
|
|
2041 a1.26-emacs-bin.lha -- Amiga GNU Emacs V1.26, binaries
|
|
2042 a1.26-emacs-src.lha -- Amiga GNU Emacs V1.26, sources
|
|
2043
|
|
2044 There are also quite a few Emacs related files/programs. Please search
|
|
2045 the index of Aminet.
|
|
2046
|
|
2047 We have no access to an Amiga, so please send in your experience and
|
|
2048 comments on the implementation.
|
|
2049
|
|
2050 88: Where can I get Emacs for my Apple computer?
|
|
2051
|
597
|
2052 The FSF is a participant in a boycott of Apple because of Apple's "look
|
|
2053 and feel" copyright suits. See the file etc/APPLE for more details.
|
|
2054 Because of this boycott, the FSF doesn't include support in GNU software
|
|
2055 for Apple computers such as the Macintosh.
|
11822
|
2056
|
597
|
2057 Please don't help people port or develop software for Apple computers.
|
11822
|
2058
|
|
2059 89: Where do I get Emacs that runs on VMS under DECwindows?
|
|
2060
|
|
2061 Version 19.27 has a VMS directory containing installation instructions, a
|
|
2062 makefile, and various .com files. But according to Richard Levitte
|
|
2063 <levitte@e.kth.se>, it does not run out of the box. Even if it does, the
|
|
2064 VMSNOTES indicates that the Emacs on VMS is going to have much more
|
|
2065 limited functionality. Richard Levitte has a patched 19.22 that
|
|
2066 supposedly has subprocess and networking functionality just as on Unix,
|
|
2067 with virtually the same lisp interface. The source is available via
|
|
2068 anonymous ftp at
|
|
2069
|
|
2070 ftp.vms.stacken.kth.se:GNU-VMS/Beta/EMACS-19_22-********.TAR-GZ
|
|
2071
|
|
2072 where ******** is the release date of the kit. You should also read
|
|
2073 http://www.e.kth.se/elev/levitte/gnu/emacs.html for more information.
|
|
2074
|
|
2075 90: Where can I get modes for Lex, Yacc/Bison, Bourne shell, Csh, C++,
|
|
2076 Objective C, Pascal, and Awk?
|
|
2077
|
|
2078 Most of these modes are now available in standard Emacs distribution. To
|
|
2079 get additional modes, look in the Lisp Code Directory (see question 77).
|
|
2080 For C++, if you use lisp-dir-apropos, you must specify the pattern like
|
|
2081 this:
|
|
2082
|
1736
|
2083 M-x lisp-dir-apropos RET c\+\+ RET
|
11822
|
2084
|
|
2085 Note that Barry Warsaw's cc-mode now works for C, C++, and Objective-C
|
|
2086 code. You can get the latest version (4.85, as of this writing) from the
|
|
2087 Emacs Lisp Archive.
|
|
2088
|
|
2089 91: What is the IP address of XXX.YYY.ZZZ?
|
|
2090
|
1736
|
2091 If you are at a site with a deficient nameserver, you may need to know
|
|
2092 the IP address of a host to FTP files from it. You can get this
|
|
2093 information in two ways:
|
11822
|
2094
|
1736
|
2095 * By telnet:
|
11822
|
2096
|
1736
|
2097 telnet nic.ddn.mil hostnames (or `telnet 192.112.36.5 101')
|
11822
|
2098 @ whois
|
|
2099 Whois: host XXX.YYY.ZZZ
|
|
2100
|
1736
|
2101 * By e-mail:
|
11822
|
2102
|
1736
|
2103 To: service@nic.ddn.mil
|
|
2104 Subject: host XXX.YYY.ZZZ
|
|
2105 or: whois XXX.YYY.ZZZ
|
|
2106 or: help
|
11822
|
2107
|
1736
|
2108 or:
|
11822
|
2109
|
1736
|
2110 To: resolve@cs.widener.edu
|
|
2111 body: site XXX.YYY.ZZZ
|
11822
|
2112
|
1736
|
2113 Information from Brendan Kehoe <brendan@cs.widener.edu>.
|
134
|
2114
|
1736
|
2115
|
|
2116 Major Emacs Lisp Packages, Emacs Extensions, and Related Programs
|
134
|
2117
|
1736
|
2118 This section lists version numbers, FTP sites, mailing lists, newsgroups,
|
11822
|
2119 and other information for many important packages, extensions, and
|
|
2120 related programs. There is some overlap with the Lisp Code Directory,
|
|
2121 but these entries give more detailed information.
|
|
2122
|
1736
|
2123 If you know of any other packages that are so substantial that they
|
11822
|
2124 deserve to be mentioned here, please let us know. Having its own mailing
|
|
2125 list or newsgroup or more than half a megabyte of source code are good
|
|
2126 signs.
|
|
2127
|
|
2128 92: VM (View Mail) -- another mail reader within Emacs
|
|
2129
|
1736
|
2130 Author: Kyle Jones <kyle@uunet.uu.net>
|
11822
|
2131 Latest version: 5.72 (beta)
|
1736
|
2132 Anonymous FTP:
|
11822
|
2133 /ftp.uu.net:networking/mail/vm-5.72beta.tar.gz
|
1736
|
2134 Newsgroups and mailing lists:
|
|
2135 Info-VM:
|
11822
|
2136 gnu.emacs.vm.info (newsgroup)
|
1736
|
2137 info-vm-request@uunet.uu.net (for subscriptions)
|
|
2138 info-vm@uunet.uu.net (for submissions)
|
|
2139 Bug-VM:
|
11822
|
2140 gnu.emacs.vm.bug (newsgroup)
|
1736
|
2141 bug-vm-request@uunet.uu.net (for subscriptions)
|
|
2142 bug-vm@uunet.uu.net (for submissions)
|
11822
|
2143
|
|
2144 93: Supercite -- mail and news citation package within Emacs
|
|
2145
|
1736
|
2146 Author: Barry Warsaw <bwarsaw@cen.com>
|
11822
|
2147 Latest version: 3.54 (comes with GNU Emacs 19)
|
|
2148 3.1 (available from the Emacs Lisp Archive)
|
|
2149 Anonymous FTP:
|
|
2150 /archive.cis.ohio-state.edu:pub/gnu/emacs/elisp-archive/packages/sc3.1.tar.Z
|
1736
|
2151 Mailing list: supercite-request@anthem.nlm.nih.gov (for subscriptions)
|
|
2152 supercite@anthem.nlm.nih.gov (for submissions)
|
11822
|
2153 NOTE: Superyank is an old version of Supercite.
|
|
2154
|
|
2155 94: Gnus -- news reader within Emacs
|
|
2156
|
|
2157 Author: Masanobu Umeda <umerin@mse.kyutech.ac.jp>
|
|
2158 Latest version: 4.1 (comes with GNU Emacs 19)
|
1736
|
2159 Anonymous FTP:
|
11822
|
2160 /src.doc.ic.ac.uk:gnu/EmacsBits/elisp-archive/packages/gnus-4.1.tar.Z
|
|
2161 /archive.cis.ohio-state.edu:pub/gnu/emacs/elisp-archive/packages/gnus-4.1.tar.Z
|
1736
|
2162 Newsgroups and mailing lists:
|
|
2163 English-only:
|
11822
|
2164 gnu.emacs.gnus (newsgroup)
|
1736
|
2165 info-gnus-english-request@cis.ohio-state.edu (for subscriptions)
|
|
2166 info-gnus-english@cis.ohio-state.edu (for submissions)
|
|
2167 Japanese (and some English):
|
|
2168 info-gnus-request@flab.fujitsu.co.jp (for subscriptions)
|
|
2169 info-gnus@flab.fujitsu.co.jp (for submissions)
|
11822
|
2170
|
|
2171 95: Calc -- poor man's Mathematica within Emacs
|
|
2172
|
1736
|
2173 Author: Dave Gillespie <daveg@csvax.cs.caltech.edu>
|
11822
|
2174 Latest version: 2.02c
|
1736
|
2175 Anonymous FTP:
|
11822
|
2176 /prep.ai.mit.edu:pub/gnu/calc-2.02c.tar.gz
|
|
2177 NOTE: Unlike Wolfram Research, Dave has never threatened to sue
|
|
2178 anyone for having a program with a similar command language to
|
|
2179 Calc. :-)
|
|
2180
|
|
2181 96: Ange-FTP -- transparent FTP access for Emacs's file access routines
|
|
2182
|
1736
|
2183 Author: Andy Norman <ange@hplb.hpl.hp.com>
|
11822
|
2184 Latest version: 1.56 (comes with GNU Emacs 19)
|
1736
|
2185 Anonymous FTP:
|
|
2186 /archive.cis.ohio-state.edu:pub/gnu/emacs/elisp-archive/packages/ange-ftp.tar.Z
|
|
2187 Mailing lists:
|
|
2188 Ange-FTP Lovers:
|
11822
|
2189 ange-ftp-lovers-request@anorman.hpl.hp.com (for subscriptions)
|
1736
|
2190 ange-ftp-lovers@anorman.hpl.hp.com (for submissions)
|
|
2191 /ftp.reed.edu:pub/mailing-lists/ange-ftp/ (archives)
|
|
2192 Ange-FTP Announcements:
|
|
2193 ange-ftp-lovers-announce@anorman.hpl.hp.com
|
11822
|
2194 NOTE: now supports VMS, CMS, and MTS ftp servers
|
|
2195
|
|
2196 97: VIP -- vi emulation for Emacs
|
|
2197
|
1736
|
2198 Author: Aamod Sane <sane@cs.uiuc.edu>
|
11822
|
2199 Latest version: 4.3
|
1736
|
2200 Anonymous FTP:
|
|
2201 /cs.uiuc.edu:pub/vip4.3.tar.Z
|
|
2202 /archive.cis.ohio-state.edu:pub/gnu/emacs/elisp-archive/modes/vip-mode.tar.Z
|
|
2203 NOTE: This version much more closely emulates vi than the one
|
11822
|
2204 distributed with Emacs.
|
|
2205
|
|
2206 98: AUC TeX -- enhanced LaTeX mode with debugging facilities
|
|
2207
|
1736
|
2208 Author: Kresten Krab Thorup <krab@iesd.auc.dk>
|
11822
|
2209 Latest version: 9.1i
|
1736
|
2210 Anonymous FTP:
|
11822
|
2211 /iesd.auc.dk:pub/emacs-lisp/auctex-9.1i.tar.gz
|
1736
|
2212 Mailing list:
|
|
2213 auc-tex-request@iesd.auc.dk (for subscriptions)
|
|
2214 auc-tex@iesd.auc.dk (for submissions)
|
|
2215 auc-tex_mgr@iesd.auc.dk (auc-tex development team)
|
11822
|
2216
|
|
2217 99: Hyperbole -- extensible hypertext management system within Emacs
|
|
2218
|
1736
|
2219 Author: Bob Weiner <rsw@cs.brown.edu>
|
11822
|
2220 Latest version: 3.15
|
1736
|
2221 Anonymous FTP:
|
11822
|
2222 /wilma.cs.brown.edu:pub/hyperbole/h3.15.tar.Z
|
1736
|
2223 Mailing lists:
|
|
2224 hyperbole-announce -- Hyperbole release announcements only.
|
|
2225 Subscriptions:
|
|
2226 To: hyperbole-request@cs.brown.edu
|
|
2227 Subject: Add <mailbox@domain.name> to hyperbole-announce
|
|
2228 hyperbole -- Hyperbole discussion.
|
|
2229 Subscriptions:
|
|
2230 To: hyperbole-request@cs.brown.edu
|
|
2231 Subject: Add <mailbox@domain.name> to hyperbole
|
|
2232 Submissions:
|
|
2233 hyperbole@cs.brown.edu
|
11822
|
2234 NOTE: Any member of the hyperbole mailing list is automatically a
|
|
2235 member of the hyperbole-announce mailing list.
|
1736
|
2236 NOTE: No .UUCP or ! addresses are allowed on these mailing lists.
|
11822
|
2237
|
|
2238 100: BBDB -- personal Info Rolodex integrated with mail/news readers
|
|
2239
|
1736
|
2240 Author: Jamie Zawinski <jwz@lucid.com>
|
11822
|
2241 Latest released version: 1.50
|
1736
|
2242 Anonymous FTP:
|
11822
|
2243 /archive.cis.ohio-state.edu:pub/gnu/emacs/elisp-archive/packages/bbdb-1.50.tar.Z
|
|
2244 Mailing lists:
|
|
2245 info-bbdb-request@cs.uiuc.edu (for subscriptions)
|
|
2246 info-bbdb@cs.uiuc.edu (for submissions)
|
|
2247 bbdb-announce-request@cs.uiuc.edu (to be informed of new releases)
|
|
2248 NOTE: BBDB does not work with VM 4. It does work with VM 5,
|
|
2249 Rmail, Gnus, and MH-E.
|
|
2250
|
|
2251 101: Ispell -- spell checker in C with interface for Emacs
|
|
2252
|
|
2253 Author: Geoff Kuenning <geoff@itcorp.com>
|
|
2254 Latest released version: 3.1.08
|
1736
|
2255 Anonymous FTP:
|
11822
|
2256 Master Sites:
|
|
2257 /ftp.cs.ucla.edu:pub/ispell/ispell-3.1.08.tar.gz
|
|
2258 /ftp.math.orst.edu:pub/ispell/ispell-3.1.08.tar.gz
|
|
2259 Known Mirror Sites: (only directory names shown)
|
|
2260 /ftp.th-darmstadt.de:pub/dicts/ispell/
|
|
2261 /ftp.nl.net:pub/textproc/ispell/
|
|
2262
|
|
2263 NOTE: * Do not ask Geoff to send you the latest version of Ispell.
|
|
2264 He does not have free e-mail.
|
|
2265
|
|
2266 * This Ispell program is distinct from GNU Ispell 4.0. GNU
|
|
2267 Ispell 4.0 is no longer a supported product.
|
|
2268
|
|
2269 102: XEmacs -- alternative Emacs 19 with better X interface; formerly
|
|
2270 known as Lucid Emacs or lemacs.
|
|
2271
|
|
2272 Primary Maintainer: Chuck Thompson <cthomp@cs.uiuc.edu>
|
|
2273 Other Developers: Ben Wing <wing@netcom.com>
|
|
2274 Richard Mlynarik <mly@adoc.xerox.com>
|
|
2275 Jamie Zawinski <jwz@mcom.com>
|
|
2276 Latest released version: 19.11
|
1736
|
2277 Anonymous FTP:
|
11822
|
2278 /ftp.cs.uiuc.edu:pub/xemacs/xemacs-19.11.tar.gz
|
|
2279 Newsgroup and mailing lists:
|
|
2280 Bugs:
|
|
2281 alt.lucid-emacs.bug
|
|
2282 bug-lucid-emacs-request@cs.uiuc.edu (for subscriptions)
|
|
2283 bug-lucid-emacs@cs.uiuc.edu (for submissions)
|
|
2284 Help:
|
|
2285 alt.lucid-emacs.help
|
|
2286 help-lucid-emacs-request@cs.uiuc.edu (for subscriptions)
|
|
2287 help-lucid-emacs@cs.uiuc.edu (for submissions)
|
|
2288 NOTE: The XEmacs FAQ is available via the World-Wide Web at URL
|
|
2289 http://xemacs.cs.uiuc.edu/.
|
|
2290
|
|
2291 103: Patch -- program to apply "diffs" for updating files
|
|
2292
|
1736
|
2293 Author: Larry Wall <lwall@netlabs.com>
|
11822
|
2294 Latest version: 2.1
|
|
2295 Anonymous FTP:
|
|
2296 /prep.ai.mit.edu:pub/gnu/patch-2.1.tar.gz
|
|
2297 /ftp.funet.fi:pub/gnu/patch-2.1.tar.gz
|
|
2298 /ftp.uni-stuttgart.de:pub/unix/gnu/patch-2.1.tar.gz
|
|
2299 NOTE: See question 80 for other GNU distribution sites.
|
1736
|
2300
|
|
2301
|
|
2302 Changing Key Bindings and Handling Key Binding Problems
|
|
2303
|
11822
|
2304 104: How do I bind keys (including function keys) to commands?
|
|
2305
|
|
2306 Keys can be bound to commands either interactively or by predefinition
|
|
2307 (e.g. in the .emacs file). To interactively bind keys for all modes,
|
|
2308 type `M-x global-set-key RET KEY CMD RET'; for the current major mode
|
|
2309 only, type `M-x local-set-key RET KEY CMD RET' (see the Emacs on-line
|
|
2310 documentation for further details).
|
|
2311
|
|
2312 To bind keys on starting Emacs or on starting any given mode, you can use
|
|
2313 the following "trick." First bind the key interactively, then
|
|
2314 immediately afterwards type `C-x ESC ESC C-a C-k C-g'. Now, the command
|
|
2315 needed to bind the key is in the kill ring and can be yanked into the
|
|
2316 .emacs file. If the key binding is global, no changes to the command are
|
|
2317 required. For example,
|
|
2318
|
|
2319 (global-set-key (quote [f1]) (quote help-for-help))
|
|
2320
|
|
2321 can be place directly into the .emacs file. If the key binding is local,
|
|
2322 the command is used in conjunction with the `add-hook' command. For
|
|
2323 example, in tex-mode, a local binding might be
|
|
2324
|
|
2325 (add-hook 'tex-mode-hook
|
|
2326 (function (lambda ()
|
|
2327 (local-set-key (quote [f1]) (quote help-for-help))))
|
|
2328
|
|
2329 NOTE: * Control characters in key sequence position of the form yanked
|
|
2330 from the kill ring are given in their graphic form - i.e. CTRL is
|
|
2331 shown as `^', TAB as a set of spaces (usually 8), etc. You may
|
|
2332 want to convert these into their vector or string forms.
|
|
2333
|
|
2334 * If some prefix key of the character sequence to be bound is
|
|
2335 already bound as a complete key, then you must unbind it before
|
|
2336 the new binding. For example, if `ESC {' is previously bound:
|
|
2337
|
|
2338 (global-unset-key [?\e ?{]) ;; or
|
|
2339 (local-unset-key [?\e ?{])
|
|
2340
|
|
2341 * Aside from commands and "lambda lists," a vector or string also
|
|
2342 can be bound to a key and thus treated as a macro. For example:
|
|
2343
|
|
2344 (global-set-key [f10] [?\C-x?\e?\e?\C-a?\C-k?\C-g]) ;; or
|
|
2345 (global-set-key [f10] "\C-x\e\e\C-a\C-k\C-g")
|
|
2346
|
|
2347 See `Key Bindings' in the Emacs on-line documentation for further
|
|
2348 details.
|
|
2349
|
|
2350 105: Why does Emacs say `Key sequence XXX uses invalid prefix characters'?
|
|
2351
|
|
2352 Usually one of two things has happened. In one case, the control
|
|
2353 character in the key sequence has been misspecified (e.g. `C-f' used
|
|
2354 instead of `\C-f' within a Lisp expression). In the other case, a
|
|
2355 "prefix key" in the keystroke sequence you were trying to bind was
|
|
2356 already bound as a "complete key." Historically, the `ESC [' prefix was
|
|
2357 usually the problem, in which case you should evaluate either of these
|
|
2358 forms before attempting to bind the key sequence:
|
|
2359
|
|
2360 (global-unset-key [?\e ?[]) ;; or
|
|
2361 (global-unset-key "\e[")
|
|
2362
|
|
2363 106: Why doesn't this [terminal or window-system setup] code work in my
|
|
2364 .emacs file, but it works just fine after Emacs starts up?
|
|
2365
|
|
2366 During startup, Emacs initializes itself according to a given code/file
|
|
2367 order. If some of the code executed in your .emacs file needs to be
|
|
2368 postponed until the initial terminal or window-system setup code has been
|
|
2369 executed but is not, then you will experience this problem (this
|
|
2370 code/file execution order is not enforced after startup).
|
|
2371
|
|
2372 To postpone the execution of Emacs Lisp code until after terminal or
|
|
2373 window-system setup, treat the code as a "lambda list" and set the value
|
|
2374 of either the `term-setup-hook' or `window-setup-hook' variable to this
|
|
2375 "lambda function." For example,
|
|
2376
|
134
|
2377 (setq term-setup-hook
|
11822
|
2378 (function
|
|
2379 (lambda ()
|
|
2380 (cond ((string-match "\\`vt220" (or (getenv "TERM") ""))
|
|
2381 ;; Make vt220's "Do" key behave like M-x:
|
|
2382 (global-set-key [do] 'execute-extended-command))
|
|
2383 ))))
|
|
2384
|
|
2385 For information on what Emacs does every time it is started, see the
|
|
2386 lisp/startup.el file.
|
|
2387
|
|
2388 107: How do I use function keys under X Windows?
|
|
2389
|
|
2390 With Emacs 19, functions keys under X are bound like any other key. See
|
|
2391 question 104 for details.
|
|
2392
|
|
2393 108: How do I tell what characters or symbols my function or arrow keys
|
|
2394 emit?
|
|
2395
|
|
2396 Put the following in your .emacs file and type `M-x see-chars' to use:
|
|
2397
|
|
2398 (defun see-chars ()
|
|
2399 "Display events received, terminated by a 3-second timeout."
|
|
2400 (interactive)
|
|
2401 (let (chars
|
|
2402 (inhibit-quit t))
|
|
2403 (message "Enter characters or other events, terminated by a 3-second
|
|
2404 timeout.")
|
|
2405 (while (not (sit-for 3))
|
|
2406 (setq chars (nconc chars (list (read-event)))
|
|
2407 quit-flag nil) ; quit-flag might be set by C-g.
|
|
2408 (if (not (input-pending-p))
|
|
2409 (message "Events received until now: %s..."
|
|
2410 (key-description chars))))
|
|
2411 (message "Events received: %s" (key-description chars))))
|
|
2412
|
|
2413 Alternatively, type "C-h c" then the function or arrow keys. The command
|
|
2414 will return either a function key symbol or character sequence (see the
|
|
2415 Emacs on-line documentation for an explanation). This works for other
|
|
2416 keys as well.
|
|
2417
|
|
2418 109: How do I set the X key "translations" for Emacs?
|
|
2419
|
1736
|
2420 Sorry, you can't; there are no "translations" to be set. Emacs is not
|
11822
|
2421 written using the Xt library. The only way to affect the behavior of
|
|
2422 keys within Emacs is through `xmodmap' (outside Emacs) or `define-key'
|
|
2423 (inside Emacs). The `define-key' command should be used in conjunction
|
|
2424 with the `function-key-map' map. For instance,
|
|
2425
|
|
2426 (define-key function-key-map [M-tab] [?\M-\t])
|
|
2427
|
|
2428 defines the `META TAB' key sequence.
|
|
2429
|
|
2430 110: How do I handle C-s and C-q being used for flow control?
|
|
2431
|
1736
|
2432 C-s and C-q are used in the XON/XOFF flow control protocol. This screws
|
|
2433 up Emacs because it binds these characters to commands. Also, by default
|
|
2434 Emacs will not honor them as flow control characters and may overwhelm
|
|
2435 output buffers. Sometimes, intermediate software using XON/XOFF flow
|
|
2436 control will prevent Emacs from ever seeing C-s and C-q.
|
11822
|
2437
|
1736
|
2438 Possible solutions:
|
11822
|
2439
|
1736
|
2440 * Disable the use of C-s and C-q for flow control.
|
11822
|
2441
|
|
2442 You need to determine the cause of the flow control.
|
|
2443
|
1736
|
2444 * your terminal
|
11822
|
2445
|
1736
|
2446 Your terminal may use XON/XOFF flow control to have time to display
|
|
2447 all the characters it receives. For example, VT series terminals do
|
|
2448 this. It may be possible to turn this off from a setup menu. For
|
|
2449 example, on a VT220 you may select `No XOFF' in the setup menu. This
|
|
2450 is also true for some terminal emulation programs on PCs.
|
11822
|
2451
|
1736
|
2452 When you turn off flow control at the terminal, you will also need to
|
|
2453 turn it off at the other end, which might be at the computer you are
|
|
2454 logged in to or at some terminal server in between.
|
11822
|
2455
|
1736
|
2456 If you turn off flow control, characters may be lost; using a printer
|
|
2457 connected to the terminal may fail. You may be able to get around
|
|
2458 this problem by modifying the `termcap' entry for your terminal to
|
11822
|
2459 include extra NUL padding characters.
|
|
2460
|
1736
|
2461 * a modem
|
11822
|
2462
|
|
2463 If you are using a dialup connection, the modems may be using
|
|
2464 XON/XOFF flow control. It's not clear how to get around this.
|
|
2465
|
1736
|
2466 * a router or terminal server
|
11822
|
2467
|
1736
|
2468 Some network box between the terminal and your computer may be using
|
|
2469 XON/XOFF flow control. It may be possible to make it use some other
|
|
2470 kind of flow control. You will probably have to ask your local
|
|
2471 network experts for help with this.
|
11822
|
2472
|
1736
|
2473 * tty and/or pty devices
|
11822
|
2474
|
1736
|
2475 If your connection to Emacs goes through multiple tty and/or pty
|
|
2476 devices, they may be using XON/XOFF flow control even when it is not
|
|
2477 necessary.
|
11822
|
2478
|
1736
|
2479 Eirik Fuller <eirik@theory.tn.cornell.edu> writes:
|
11822
|
2480
|
1736
|
2481 Some versions of `rlogin' (and possibly telnet) do not pass flow
|
|
2482 control characters to the remote system to which they connect. On
|
11822
|
2483 such systems, Emacs on the remote system cannot disable flow
|
|
2484 control on the local system. Sometimes `rlogin -8' will avoid this
|
|
2485 problem.
|
|
2486
|
1736
|
2487 One way to cure this is to disable flow control on the local host
|
11822
|
2488 (the one running rlogin, not the one running rlogind) using the
|
|
2489 stty command, before starting the rlogin process. On many systems,
|
|
2490 `stty start u stop u' will do this.
|
|
2491
|
1736
|
2492 Some versions of `tcsh' will prevent even this from working. One
|
|
2493 way around this is to start another shell before starting rlogin,
|
|
2494 and issue the stty command to disable flow control from that shell.
|
11822
|
2495
|
1736
|
2496 Use `stty -ixon' instead of `stty start u stop u' on some systems.
|
11822
|
2497
|
1736
|
2498 * Make Emacs speak the XON/XOFF flow control protocol.
|
11822
|
2499
|
1736
|
2500 You can make Emacs treat C-s and C-q as flow control characters by
|
11822
|
2501 evaluating the form
|
|
2502
|
|
2503 (enable-flow-control)
|
|
2504
|
|
2505 to unconditionally enable flow control or
|
|
2506
|
|
2507 (enable-flow-control-on "vt100" "h19")
|
|
2508
|
|
2509 (using your terminal names instead of "vt100" or "h19") to enable
|
|
2510 selectively. These commands will automatically swap `C-s' and `C-q' to
|
|
2511 `C-\' and `C-^'. Variables can be used to change the default swap keys
|
|
2512 (`flow-control-c-s-replacement' and `flow-control-c-q-replacement').
|
|
2513
|
1736
|
2514 If you are fixing this for yourself, simply put the form in your .emacs
|
|
2515 file. If you are fixing this for your entire site, the best place to
|
11822
|
2516 put it is in the lisp/site-start.el file. Putting this form in
|
|
2517 lisp/default.el has the problem that if the user's .emacs file has an
|
|
2518 error, this will prevent lisp/default.el from being loaded and Emacs
|
|
2519 may be unusable for the user, even for correcting their .emacs file
|
|
2520 (unless they're smart enough to move it to another name).
|
|
2521
|
|
2522 For further discussion of this issue, read the file PROBLEMS (in the
|
|
2523 top-level directory when you unpack the Emacs source).
|
|
2524
|
|
2525 111: How do I bind `C-s' and `C-q' (or any key) if these keys are filtered
|
|
2526 out?
|
|
2527
|
|
2528 To bind `C-s' and `C-q', use either `enable-flow-control' or
|
|
2529 `enable-flow-control-on'. See question 110 for usage and implementation
|
|
2530 details.
|
|
2531
|
|
2532 To bind other keys, use `keyboard-translate'. See question 114 for usage
|
|
2533 details. To do this for an entire site, you should swap the keys in
|
|
2534 lisp/site-start.el. See question 110 for an explanation of why
|
|
2535 lisp/default.el should not be used.
|
|
2536
|
|
2537 NOTE: * If you do this for an entire site, the users will be confused by
|
|
2538 the disparity between what the documentation says and how Emacs
|
|
2539 actually behaves.
|
|
2540
|
|
2541 112: Why does the `Backspace' key invoke help?
|
|
2542
|
|
2543 The `Backspace' key (on most keyboards) generates ASCII code 8. `C-h'
|
|
2544 sends the same code. In Emacs by default `C-h' invokes help-command.
|
1736
|
2545 This is intended to be easy to remember since the first letter of "help"
|
11822
|
2546 is "h." The easiest solution to this problem is to use `C-h' (and
|
|
2547 Backspace) for help and DEL (the Delete key) for deleting the previous
|
1736
|
2548 character.
|
11822
|
2549
|
1736
|
2550 For many people this solution may be problematic:
|
11822
|
2551
|
|
2552 * They normally use Backspace outside of Emacs for deleting the previous
|
1736
|
2553 character typed. This can be solved by making DEL be the command for
|
|
2554 deleting the previous character outside of Emacs. This command will do
|
|
2555 this on many Unix systems:
|
11822
|
2556
|
1736
|
2557 stty erase '^?'
|
11822
|
2558
|
|
2559 * The person may prefer using the Backspace key for deleting the previous
|
1736
|
2560 character because it is more conveniently located on their keyboard or
|
|
2561 because they don't even have a separate Delete key. In this case, the
|
11822
|
2562 Backspace key should be made to behave like Delete. There are several
|
1736
|
2563 methods.
|
11822
|
2564
|
|
2565 * Some terminals (e.g., VT3## terminals) allow the character generated by
|
|
2566 the Backspace key to be changed from a setup menu.
|
|
2567
|
|
2568 * You may be able to get a keyboard that is completely programmable.
|
|
2569
|
|
2570 * Under X or on a dumb terminal, it is possible to swap the Backspace and
|
|
2571 Delete keys inside Emacs:
|
|
2572
|
|
2573 (keyboard-translate ?\C-h ?\C-?)
|
|
2574
|
|
2575 See question 114 for further details of `keyboard-translate'.
|
|
2576
|
|
2577 * Another approach is to switch key bindings and put help on "C-x h"
|
|
2578 instead:
|
|
2579
|
|
2580 (global-set-key [?\C-h] 'delete-backward-char)
|
|
2581 (global-set-key [?\C-x ?h] 'help-command)
|
|
2582 ;; overrides mark-whole-buffer
|
|
2583
|
|
2584 Other popular key bindings for help are M-? and "C-x ?".
|
|
2585
|
|
2586 NOTE: * Don't try to bind DEL to help-command, because there are many
|
|
2587 modes that have local bindings of DEL that will interfere.
|
|
2588
|
|
2589 113: Why doesn't Emacs look at the stty settings for Backspace vs. Delete?
|
|
2590
|
1736
|
2591 Good question!
|
11822
|
2592
|
|
2593 114: How do I "swap" two keys?
|
|
2594
|
|
2595 In Emacs 19, you can swap two keys (or key sequences) by using the
|
|
2596 `keyboard-translate' function. For example, to turn `C-h' into DEL and
|
|
2597 DEL to `C-h', use
|
|
2598
|
|
2599 (keyboard-translate ?\C-h ?\C-?) ; translate `C-h' to DEL
|
|
2600 (keyboard-translate ?\C-? ?\C-h) ; translate DEL to `C-h'.
|
|
2601
|
|
2602 The first key sequence of the pair after the function identifies what is
|
|
2603 produced by the keyboard; the second, what is matched for in the keymaps.
|
|
2604
|
|
2605 Keyboard translations are not the same as key bindings in keymaps. Emacs
|
|
2606 contains numerous keymaps that apply in different situations, but there
|
|
2607 is only one set of keyboard translations, and it applies to every
|
|
2608 character that Emacs reads from the terminal. Keyboard translations take
|
|
2609 place at the lowest level of input processing; the keys that are looked
|
|
2610 up in keymaps contain the characters that result from keyboard
|
|
2611 translation.
|
|
2612
|
|
2613 Also see `Keyboard Translations' in the on-line manual.
|
|
2614
|
|
2615 115: How do I produce C-XXX with my keyboard?
|
|
2616
|
|
2617 On terminals (but not under X), some common "aliases" are:
|
|
2618
|
|
2619 CTRL-2 or CTRL-SPC for C-@
|
|
2620 CTRL-6 for C-^
|
|
2621 CTRL-7 or CTRL-SHIFT-- for C-_
|
|
2622 CTRL-4 for C-\
|
|
2623 CTRL-5 for C-]
|
|
2624 CTRL-/ for C-?
|
|
2625
|
|
2626 Often other aliases exist; use the `C-h c' command and try `CTRL' with
|
|
2627 all of the digits on your keyboard to see what gets generated. You can
|
|
2628 also try the `C-h w' command if you know the name of the command.
|
|
2629
|
|
2630 116: What if I don't have a Meta key?
|
|
2631
|
|
2632 Instead of typing "M-a", you can type "ESC a". In fact, Emacs converts
|
|
2633 M-a internally into "ESC a" anyway (depending on the value of
|
|
2634 meta-prefix-char). Note that you press "Meta" and "a" together, while
|
|
2635 you press "ESC", release it, and then press "a".
|
|
2636
|
|
2637 117: What if I don't have an Escape key?
|
|
2638
|
|
2639 Type "C-[" instead. This should send ASCII code 27 just like an Escape
|
|
2640 key would. "C-3" may also work on some terminal (but not under X). For
|
|
2641 many terminals (notably DEC terminals) "F11" generates the "ESC" key. If
|
|
2642 not, the following form can be used bind it:
|
|
2643
|
|
2644 (define-key function-key-map [f11] [?\e]) ; F11 is the documented ESC
|
|
2645 ; replacement on DEC terminals.
|
|
2646
|
|
2647 118: Can I make my `Compose Character' key behave like a Meta key?
|
|
2648
|
597
|
2649 On a dumb terminal such as a VT220, no. It is rumored that certain VT220
|
1736
|
2650 clones could have their Compose key configured this way. If you're using
|
11822
|
2651 X, you might be able to do this with the `xmodmap' program.
|
|
2652
|
|
2653 119: How do I bind a combination of modifier key and function key?
|
|
2654
|
|
2655 With Emacs 19 you can indicate modified function keys in vector format
|
|
2656 through multi-prefixing the function key symbol. For example (from the
|
|
2657 Emacs on-line documentation):
|
|
2658
|
|
2659 (global-set-key [?\C-x right] 'forward-page)
|
|
2660
|
|
2661 where "?\C-x" is the Lisp character constant for the character "C-x".
|
|
2662
|
|
2663 You can use the modifier keys CTRL, META, HYPER, SUPER, ALT and SHIFT
|
|
2664 with function keys. To represent these modifiers, prepend the strings
|
|
2665 "C-", "M-", "H-", "s-", "A-" and "S-" to the symbol name. Thus, here is
|
|
2666 how to make "Hyper-Meta-RIGHT" move forward a word:
|
|
2667
|
|
2668 (global-set-key [H-M-right] 'forward-word)
|
|
2669
|
|
2670 NOTE: * Not all modifiers are permitted in all situations. HYPER, SUPER,
|
|
2671 and ALT are available only under X (provided there are such
|
|
2672 keys). Non-ASCII keys and mouse events (e.g. "C-=" and
|
|
2673 "mouse-1") also fall under this category.
|
|
2674
|
|
2675 See question 104 for general key binding instructions.
|
|
2676
|
|
2677 120: Why doesn't my Meta key work in an xterm window?
|
|
2678
|
597
|
2679 Try all of these methods before asking for further help:
|
11822
|
2680
|
1736
|
2681 * You may have big problems using `mwm' as your window manager. {Does
|
|
2682 anyone know a good generic solution to allow the use of the Meta key in
|
|
2683 Emacs with mwm?}
|
11822
|
2684
|
|
2685 * For X11: Make sure it really is a Meta key. Use `xev' to find out what
|
|
2686 keysym your Meta key generates. It should be either Meta_L or Meta_R.
|
|
2687 If it isn't, use xmodmap to fix the situation.
|
|
2688
|
597
|
2689 * Make sure the pty the xterm is using is passing 8 bit characters.
|
1736
|
2690 `stty -a' (or `stty everything') should show `cs8' somewhere. If it
|
|
2691 shows `cs7' instead, use `stty cs8 -istrip' (or `stty pass8') to fix
|
597
|
2692 it.
|
11822
|
2693
|
597
|
2694 * If there is an rlogin connection between the xterm and the Emacs, the
|
11822
|
2695 `-8' argument may need to be given to rlogin to make it pass all 8 bits
|
|
2696 of every character.
|
|
2697
|
1736
|
2698 * If the Emacs is running under Ultrix, it is reported that evaluating
|
|
2699 (set-input-mode t nil) helps.
|
11822
|
2700
|
597
|
2701 * If all else fails, you can make xterm generate "ESC W" when you type
|
|
2702 M-W, which is the same conversion Emacs would make if it got the M-W
|
|
2703 anyway. In X11R4, the following resource specification will do this:
|
11822
|
2704
|
597
|
2705 XTerm.VT100.EightBitInput: false
|
11822
|
2706
|
597
|
2707 (This changes the behavior of the insert-eight-bit action.)
|
11822
|
2708
|
597
|
2709 With older xterms, you can specify this behavior with a translation:
|
11822
|
2710
|
597
|
2711 XTerm.VT100.Translations: #override \
|
|
2712 Meta<KeyPress>: string(0x1b) insert()
|
11822
|
2713
|
1736
|
2714 You might have to replace `Meta' with `Alt'.
|
11822
|
2715
|
|
2716 121: Why doesn't my ExtendChar key work as a Meta key under HP-UX 8.0?
|
|
2717
|
597
|
2718 This is a result of an internationalization extension in X11R4 and the
|
|
2719 fact that HP is now using this extension. Emacs assumes that
|
|
2720 XLookupString returns the same result regardless of the Meta key state
|
|
2721 which is no longer necessarily true. Until Emacs is fixed, the temporary
|
|
2722 kludge is to run this command after each time the X server is started but
|
|
2723 preferably before any xterm clients are:
|
11822
|
2724
|
597
|
2725 xmodmap -e 'remove mod1 = Mode_switch'
|
11822
|
2726
|
597
|
2727 NOTE: This will disable the use of the extra keysyms systemwide, which
|
|
2728 may be undesirable if you actually intend to use them.
|
11822
|
2729
|
|
2730 122: Where can I get key bindings to make Emacs emulate WordStar?
|
|
2731
|
|
2732 There is a package `wordstar' by Jim Frost <jimf@saber.com> located under
|
|
2733 the "misc" directory at the Emacs Lisp Archive.
|
|
2734
|
|
2735 123: Where can I get an XEDIT emulator for Emacs?
|
|
2736
|
|
2737 This question comes up once every couple of months. Searing for "xedit"
|
|
2738 through most recent Lisp Code Directory fails to match any entries.
|
1736
|
2739
|
|
2740 Using Emacs with Alternate Character Sets
|
|
2741
|
11822
|
2742 124: How do I make Emacs display 8-bit characters?
|
|
2743
|
|
2744 GNU Emacs 19 has built-in support for 8-bit characters. Here is an
|
|
2745 excerpt from the `European Display' page of the on-line manual:
|
|
2746
|
|
2747 Some European languages use accented letters and other special symbols.
|
|
2748 The ISO 8859 Latin-1 character set defines character codes for many
|
|
2749 European languages in the range 160 to 255.
|
|
2750
|
|
2751 Emacs can display those characters according to Latin-1, provided the
|
|
2752 terminal or font in use supports them. The `M-x
|
|
2753 standard-display-european' command toggles European character display
|
|
2754 mode. With a numeric argument, `M-x standard-display-european' enables
|
|
2755 European character display if and only if the argument is positive.
|
|
2756
|
|
2757 Some operating systems let you specify the language you are using by
|
|
2758 setting a locale. Emacs handles one common special case of this: if
|
|
2759 your locale name for character types contains the string `8859-1' or
|
|
2760 `88591', Emacs automatically enables European character display mode
|
|
2761 when it starts up.
|
|
2762
|
|
2763 125: How do I input 8-bit characters?
|
|
2764
|
|
2765 Again, from the `European Display' page of the on-line manual:
|
|
2766
|
|
2767 If you enter non-ASCII ISO Latin-1 characters often, you might find ISO
|
|
2768 Accents mode convenient. When this minor mode is enabled, the
|
|
2769 characters ``', `'', `"', `^', `/' and `~' modify the following letter
|
|
2770 by adding the corresponding diacritical mark to it, if possible. To
|
|
2771 enable or disable ISO Accents mode, use the command `M-x
|
|
2772 iso-accents-mode'. This command affects only the current buffer.
|
|
2773
|
|
2774 To enter one of those six special characters, type the character,
|
|
2775 followed by a space. Some of those characters have a corresponding
|
|
2776 "dead key" accent character in the ISO Latin-1 character set; to enter
|
|
2777 that character, type the corresponding ASCII character twice. For
|
|
2778 example, `''' enters the Latin-1 character acute-accent (character code
|
|
2779 0264).
|
|
2780
|
|
2781 126: Where can I get an Emacs that can handle kanji characters?
|
|
2782
|
1736
|
2783 Nemacs 3.3.2 (Nihongo GNU Emacs) is a modified version of GNU Emacs 18.55
|
|
2784 that handles kanji characters. It is available via anonymous FTP:
|
11822
|
2785
|
1736
|
2786 /crl.nmsu.edu:pub/misc/nemacs-3.3.2.tar.Z
|
11822
|
2787 /ftp.cs.titech.ac.jp:pub/gnu-rel/nemacs/nemacs-3.3.2.tar.gz
|
|
2788
|
|
2789 You might also need files for "wnn," a kanji input method
|
1736
|
2790 (wnn-4.0.3{-README,.tar.Z} {on which machine?}). You need a terminal (or
|
11822
|
2791 terminal emulator) that can display text encoded in JIS, Shift-JIS, or
|
|
2792 EUC (Extended Unix Code), or the ability to run Nemacs as a direct X
|
|
2793 Windows client.
|
|
2794
|
|
2795 127: Where can I get an Emacs that can handle Chinese?
|
|
2796
|
|
2797 Cemacs by Stephen G. Simpson <simpson@math.psu.edu> is a patch to Emacs
|
1736
|
2798 18.57 (the ctl-arrow patch) and some Emacs Lisp code that combined with
|
|
2799 Cxterm allows using Chinese characters. It is available via anonymous
|
|
2800 FTP:
|
11822
|
2801
|
1736
|
2802 /cs.purdue.edu:pub/ygz/cemacs.tar.Z
|
11822
|
2803
|
|
2804 Cxterm, a patch to Emacs 18.57 that allows you to enter Chinese
|
|
2805 characters, is available from the same place:
|
|
2806
|
1736
|
2807 /cs.purdue.edu:pub/ygz/cxterm-11.5.1.tar.Z
|
11822
|
2808
|
|
2809 128: Where is an Emacs that can handle Semitic (right-to-left) alphabets?
|
|
2810
|
1736
|
2811 Joel M. Hoffman <joel@wam.umd.edu> writes:
|
11822
|
2812
|
|
2813 A couple of years ago a wrote a hebrew.el file that allows
|
|
2814 right-to-left editing of Hebrew. I relied on the hardware to display
|
|
2815 the Hebrew letters, given the right codes, but not for any
|
|
2816 right-to-left support; the hardware also doesn't have to send any
|
|
2817 specific char. codes. Emacs keeps track of when the user is typing
|
|
2818 Hebrew vs. English. (The VT-* terminals in Israel contain built-in
|
|
2819 support for Hebrew.)
|
|
2820
|
|
2821 To get it to work I had to modify only a few lines of GNU Emacs's
|
|
2822 source code --- just enough to make it 8-bit clean.
|
|
2823
|
1736
|
2824 [and in a separate message:]
|
11822
|
2825
|
1736
|
2826 It doesn't produce time-order ["sefer" format] (I wouldn't recommend
|
11822
|
2827 trying that with Emacs, because converting time-order to screen-order
|
1736
|
2828 with arbitrarily long lines is a bit tricky), but I also concocted a
|
|
2829 quick filter to convert screen-order into time-order. I'll be happy to
|
|
2830 send you the requisite files if you want them. If you're using it for
|
|
2831 anything large, however, you'll want something that works better.
|
11822
|
2832
|
1736
|
2833 Joel Hoffman has also written a "bi-directional bi-lingual Emacs-like"
|
|
2834 editor for MS-DOS named Ibelbe (Itty Bitty Emacs-Like Bidirectional
|
|
2835 Editor). Ibelbe is written in Turbo Pascal and comes with source code.
|
|
2836 Here is the description:
|
11822
|
2837
|
|
2838 Ibelbe looks like Emacs (it even has a minibuffer and filename
|
1736
|
2839 completion), and fully supports both right-to-left and left-to-right
|
|
2840 editing. Other than an EGA monitor or better, no special hardware is
|
|
2841 required. You will need an EGA Hebrew font to use Ibelbe with Hebrew.
|
11822
|
2842
|
1736
|
2843 Anonymous FTP:
|
11822
|
2844 /israel.nysernet.org:israel/computers/software/msdos/ibelbe.zip
|
|
2845 /israel.nysernet.org:israel/computers/software/msdos/hebfont.zip
|
|
2846
|
1736
|
2847 Joseph Friedman <yossi@deshaw.com, yossi@Neon.Stanford.EDU> has written
|
|
2848 patches for Emacs 18.55 and 18.58 that provide Semitic language support
|
|
2849 under X Windows.
|
11822
|
2850
|
1736
|
2851 Warren Burstein <warren@itex.jct.ac.il> says he has mapped 7-bit keys by
|
11822
|
2852 modifying self-insert-command "for Hebrew input on 7-bit keyboards."
|
|
2853
|
1736
|
2854 A good suggestion is to query archie for files named with `hebrew'.
|
134
|
2855
|
597
|
2856
|
1736
|
2857 Mail and News
|
134
|
2858
|
11822
|
2859 129: How do I change the included text prefix in mail/news followups?
|
|
2860
|
|
2861 If you read mail with Rmail or news with Gnus, set the variable
|
|
2862 mail-yank-prefix. For VM, set vm-included-text-prefix. For mh-e, set
|
|
2863 mh-ins-buf-prefix.
|
|
2864
|
|
2865 For fancier control of citations, use Supercite. See question 93.
|
|
2866
|
1736
|
2867 A related problem is how to prevent Emacs from including various headers
|
|
2868 of the replied-to message. For this, you should set the value of
|
|
2869 mail-yank-ignored-headers, which takes a regexp value.
|
11822
|
2870
|
|
2871 130: How do I save a copy of outgoing mail?
|
|
2872
|
|
2873 You can either mail yourself a copy by including a `BCC:' header in the
|
|
2874 mail message, or store a copy of the message directly to a file by
|
|
2875 including an `FCC:' header.
|
|
2876
|
|
2877 If you use standard mail, you can automatically create a `BCC:' to
|
|
2878 yourself by putting
|
|
2879
|
|
2880 (setq mail-self-blind t)
|
|
2881
|
|
2882 in your .emacs. You can automatically include an `FCC:' field by putting
|
|
2883 something like the following in your .emacs file:
|
|
2884
|
|
2885 (setq mail-archive-file-name (expand-file-name "~/outgoing"))
|
|
2886
|
|
2887 The output file will be in Unix mail format, which can be read directly
|
|
2888 by VM, but not always by Rmail. See question 132.
|
|
2889
|
|
2890 If you use mh-e add an FCC: or BCC: field to your components file.
|
|
2891
|
1736
|
2892 It does not work to put `set record filename' in the .mailrc file.
|
11822
|
2893
|
|
2894 131: Why doesn't Emacs expand my aliases when sending mail?
|
|
2895
|
1736
|
2896 * You must separate multiple addresses in the headers of the mail buffer
|
597
|
2897 with commas. This is because Emacs supports RFC822 standard addresses
|
|
2898 like this one:
|
11822
|
2899
|
1736
|
2900 To: Willy Smith <wks@xpnsv.lwyrs.com>
|
11822
|
2901
|
1736
|
2902 However, you do not need to separate addresses with commas in your
|
|
2903 .mailrc file.
|
11822
|
2904
|
1736
|
2905 WARNING: Emacs breaks up aliases in the .mailrc file into multiple
|
|
2906 addresses both on commas and on whitespace, regardless of any use of
|
|
2907 quotes. This is probably a bug. You can get around this by directly
|
|
2908 setting the value of mail-aliases.
|
11822
|
2909
|
1736
|
2910 * Emacs normally only reads the `.mailrc' file once per session, when you
|
597
|
2911 start to compose your first mail message. If you edit .mailrc, you can
|
|
2912 type "M-ESC (build-mail-aliases) RET" to make Emacs reread .mailrc.
|
|
2913 (You have to include the parentheses where they are shown!)
|
11822
|
2914
|
597
|
2915 * Emacs does not interpret vendor-specific additions to the format of the
|
1736
|
2916 .mailrc file such as the `source' command. It also ignores any `set'
|
|
2917 commands. The only commands it looks at are `alias' and `group'
|
|
2918 commands.
|
11822
|
2919
|
|
2920 * If you like, you can expand mail aliases as abbrevs, as soon as you
|
|
2921 type them in. To enable this feature, execute the following:
|
|
2922
|
|
2923 (add-hook 'mail-setup-hook 'mail-abbrevs-setup)
|
|
2924
|
|
2925 132: Why does Rmail think all my saved messages are one big message?
|
|
2926
|
|
2927 A file created through the FCC: field in a message is in Unix Mail
|
|
2928 format, not the format that Rmail uses (BABYL format). Rmail will try to
|
|
2929 convert a Unix mail file into BABYL format on input, but sometimes it
|
|
2930 makes errors. For guaranteed safety, you can make the saved- messages
|
|
2931 file be an inbox for your Rmail file by using the function
|
|
2932 set-rmail-inbox-list.
|
|
2933
|
|
2934 133: How can I sort the messages in my Rmail folder?
|
|
2935
|
|
2936 In Rmail, type C-c C-s C-h to get a list of sorting functions and their
|
|
2937 key bindings.
|
|
2938
|
|
2939 134: Why does Rmail need to write to /usr/spool/mail?
|
|
2940
|
|
2941 This is the behavior of the `movemail' program which Rmail uses. This
|
1736
|
2942 indicates that movemail is configured to use lock files.
|
11822
|
2943
|
1736
|
2944 RMS writes:
|
11822
|
2945
|
1736
|
2946 Certain systems require lock files to interlock access to mail files.
|
|
2947 On these systems, movemail must write lock files, or you risk losing
|
|
2948 mail. You simply must arrange to let movemail write them.
|
11822
|
2949
|
1736
|
2950 Other systems use the flock system call to interlock access. On these
|
|
2951 systems, you should configure movemail to use flock.
|
11822
|
2952
|
|
2953 135: How do I recover my mail files after Rmail munges their format?
|
|
2954
|
|
2955 If you have just done rmail-input on a file and you don't want to save it
|
|
2956 in Rmail's format (called BABYL), just kill the buffer (with C-x k).
|
|
2957
|
|
2958 If you typed M-x rmail and it read some messages out of your inbox and
|
|
2959 you want to put them in a Unix mail file, use C-o on each message.
|
|
2960
|
|
2961 If you want to convert an existing file from BABYL format to Unix mail
|
|
2962 format, use the command M-x unrmail: it will prompt you for the input and
|
|
2963 output file names.
|
|
2964
|
|
2965 136: How do I make Emacs automatically start my mail/news reader?
|
|
2966
|
|
2967 To start Emacs in Gnus:
|
|
2968
|
1736
|
2969 emacs -f gnus
|
11822
|
2970
|
|
2971 in Rmail:
|
|
2972
|
|
2973 emacs -f rmail
|
|
2974
|
|
2975 A more convenient way to start with Gnus:
|
|
2976
|
1736
|
2977 alias gnus 'emacs -f gnus'
|
11822
|
2978 gnus
|
|
2979
|
|
2980 It is probably unwise to automatically start your mail or news reader
|
|
2981 from your .emacs file. This would cause problems if you needed to run
|
|
2982 two copies of Emacs at one time. Also, this would make it difficult for
|
|
2983 you to start Emacs quickly when you needed to.
|
|
2984
|
|
2985 137: How do I read news under Emacs?
|
|
2986
|
|
2987 Use M-x gnus. It is documented in Info (see question 14).
|
|
2988
|
|
2989 138: Why doesn't Gnus work via NNTP?
|
|
2990
|
1736
|
2991 There is a bug in NNTP version 1.5.10, such that when multiple requests
|
|
2992 are sent to the NNTP server, the server only handles the first one before
|
|
2993 blocking waiting for more input which never comes. NNTP version 1.5.11
|
|
2994 claims to fix this.
|
11822
|
2995
|
1736
|
2996 You can work around the bug inside Emacs like this:
|
11822
|
2997
|
1736
|
2998 (setq nntp-maximum-request 1)
|
11822
|
2999
|
1736
|
3000 You can find out what version of NNTP your news server is running by
|
11822
|
3001 telnetting to the NNTP port (usually 119) on the news server machine
|
|
3002 (i.e., `telnet server-machine 119'). The server should give its version
|
|
3003 number in the welcome message. Type `quit' to get out.
|
|
3004
|
|
3005 139: How do I view text with embedded underlining (e.g., ClariNews)?
|
|
3006
|
1736
|
3007 Underlining appears like this:
|
11822
|
3008
|
1736
|
3009 _^Hu_^Hn_^Hd_^He_^Hr_^Hl_^Hi_^Hn_^Hi_^Hn_^Hg
|
11822
|
3010
|
1736
|
3011 You can destructively remove underlining with M-x ununderline-region.
|
11822
|
3012
|
1736
|
3013 For ClariNews articles, clari-clean.el by David N. Blank-Edelman
|
11822
|
3014 <dnb@meshugge.media.mit.edu> will remove both underlining and
|
|
3015 overstriking automatically. It is available on the Lisp Code Directory
|
|
3016 (see question 77).
|
|
3017
|
|
3018 140: How do I save all the items of a multi-part posting in Gnus?
|
|
3019
|
|
3020 Use gnus-uu. Type C-c C-v C-h in the Gnus summary buffer to see a list
|
|
3021 of available commands.
|
|
3022
|
|
3023 141: Why does Gnus put the subjects in replies beyond the 80th column?
|
|
3024
|
|
3025 This is a feature. If you set gnus-thread-hide-subject to non-nil, Gnus
|
1736
|
3026 will only display the subject of the first posting in a thread, even if
|
|
3027 some of the replies use different subjects. It hides the subjects by
|
|
3028 putting them past the edge of the window and setting truncate lines to t.
|
11822
|
3029
|
1736
|
3030 If your screen looks messed up, then for some reason truncate-lines in
|
|
3031 your `*Subject*' buffer has been set to nil. It should be set to t.
|
11822
|
3032
|
|
3033 142: How do I make Gnus start up faster?
|
|
3034
|
|
3035 Remove all the newsgroups in which you have no interest from your .newsrc
|
|
3036 file by using Gnus's C-k or C-w commands in the `*Newsgroup*' buffer,
|
|
3037 perhaps after displaying all newsgroups with the L command.
|
|
3038 Unsubscribing will not speed up Gnus.
|
|
3039
|
|
3040 143: How do I catch up all newsgroups in Gnus?
|
|
3041
|
1736
|
3042 In the `*Newsgroup*' buffer, type the following magical incantation:
|
11822
|
3043
|
|
3044 M-< C-x ( c y M-0 C-x )
|
|
3045
|
1736
|
3046 Leave off the "M-<" if you only want to catch up from point to the end of
|
|
3047 the `*Newsgroup' buffer.
|
11822
|
3048
|
|
3049 144: Why can't I kill in Gnus on the Newsgroups/Keywords/Control line?
|
|
3050
|
|
3051 Gnus will complain that the `Newsgroups:', `Keywords:', and `Control:'
|
|
3052 headers are `Unknown header field's.
|
|
3053
|
1736
|
3054 For the `Newsgroups:' header, there is an easy workaround: kill on the
|
11822
|
3055 `Xref' header instead, which will be present on any cross-posted article
|
|
3056 (as long as your site carries the cross-post group).
|
|
3057
|
1736
|
3058 If you really want to kill on one of these headers, you can do it like
|
|
3059 this:
|
11822
|
3060
|
1736
|
3061 (gnus-kill nil "^Newsgroups: .*\\(bad\\.group\\|worse\\.group\\)")
|
11822
|
3062
|
|
3063 145: How do I get rid of flashing messages in Gnus for slow connections?
|
|
3064
|
|
3065 Set nntp-debug-read to nil.
|
|
3066
|
|
3067 146: Why is catch up slow in Gnus?
|
|
3068
|
|
3069 Because Gnus is marking crosspostings read. You can control this with
|
|
3070 the variable gnus-use-cross-reference.
|
|
3071
|
|
3072 147: Why does Gnus hang for a long time when posting?
|
|
3073
|
1736
|
3074 David Lawrence <tale@uunet.uu.net> explains:
|
11822
|
3075
|
1736
|
3076 The problem is almost always interaction between NNTP and C News. NNTP
|
11822
|
3077 POST asks C News's inews to not background itself but rather hang
|
|
3078 around and give its exit status so it knows whether the post was
|
|
3079 successful. (That wait will on some systems not return the exit status
|
|
3080 of the waited for job is a different sort of problem.) It ends up
|
|
3081 taking a long time because inews is calling relaynews, which often
|
|
3082 waits for another relaynews to free the lock on the news system so it
|
|
3083 can file the article.
|
|
3084
|
1736
|
3085 My preferred solution is to change inews to not call relaynews, but
|
11822
|
3086 rather use newsspool. This loses some error-catching functionality,
|
|
3087 but is for the most part safe as inews will detect a lot of the errors
|
|
3088 on its own. The C News folks have sped up inews, too, so speed should
|
|
3089 look better to most folks as that update propagates around.
|
|
3090
|
|
3091 148: Why don't my news postings in Gnus get past the local machine?
|
|
3092
|
|
3093 It could be that your Distribution: field is "local" or a synonym, or
|
|
3094 your Path: field may be wrong. This piece of code may fix the latter
|
|
3095 problem:
|
|
3096
|
1736
|
3097 (setq gnus-use-generic-path t)
|
11822
|
3098
|
|
3099 149: Why doesn't Gnus generate the `Lines:' header?
|
|
3100
|
|
3101 The posting software down the line from Gnus often generates a "Lines:"
|
|
3102 header so Gnus doesn't have to. If you want it to, just add Lines to the
|
|
3103 list in gnus-required-headers:
|
|
3104
|
|
3105 (add-hook 'gnus-startup-hook
|
|
3106 '(lambda ()
|
|
3107 (setq gnus-required-headers (cons 'Lines gnus-required-headers))))
|
|
3108
|
|
3109 150: How do I kill all articles in Gnus but those matching a pattern?
|
|
3110
|
|
3111 Example kill file code:
|
|
3112
|
1736
|
3113 ;; kill everything
|
|
3114 (gnus-kill "subject" "" nil nil)
|
|
3115 ;; then restore stuff by our favorite poster
|
|
3116 (gnus-kill "from" "good-guy"
|
|
3117 (function
|
|
3118 (lambda ()
|
|
3119 (if (eq ?X (char-after (save-excursion
|
|
3120 (beginning-of-line 1)
|
|
3121 (point))))
|
11822
|
3122 (gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward 1))))
|
1736
|
3123 t)
|
11822
|
3124
|
|
3125
|
|
3126 ------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
3127 Slightly modified by Richard Stallman
|
|
3128 Copyright 1994 Reuven M. Lerner
|
|
3129 Copyright 1992, 1993 Steven Byrnes
|
|
3130 Copyright 1990, 1991, 1992 Joseph Brian Wells
|
1736
|
3131
|
|
3132 This list of frequently asked questions about GNU Emacs with answers
|
|
3133 ("FAQ") may be translated into other languages, transformed into other
|
11822
|
3134 formats (e.g. Texinfo, Info, WWW, WAIS), and updated with new information.
|
|
3135
|
|
3136 The same conditions apply to any derivative of the FAQ as apply to the FAQ
|
|
3137 itself. Every copy of the FAQ must include this notice or an approved
|
|
3138 translation, information on who is currently maintaining the FAQ and how to
|
|
3139 contact them (including their e-mail address), and information on where the
|
|
3140 latest version of the FAQ is archived (including FTP information).
|
|
3141
|
|
3142 The FAQ may be copied and redistributed under these conditions, except that
|
|
3143 the FAQ may not be embedded in a larger literary work unless that work
|
|
3144 itself allows free copying and redistribution.
|
|
3145
|
|
3146 ------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
3147
|
|
3148 Special thanks to members of the FAQ team, who worked hard to ensure that
|
|
3149 answers were up-to-date:
|
|
3150
|
|
3151 Ethan Bradford <ethanb@u.washington.edu>, Luis Fernandes
|
|
3152 <elf@eccles.ee.ryerson.ca>, Denby Wong <3dw16@qlink.QueensU.CA>, Yair
|
|
3153 Friedman <yair@cs.huji.ac.il>, Thi <ttn@netcom.com>, Richard Levitte
|
|
3154 <levitte@e.kth.se>, "William G. Dubuque" <wgd@martigny.ai.mit.edu>,
|
|
3155 and Guan-Hsong Hsu <ghsu@relay.nswc.navy.mil>.
|
|
3156
|
|
3157
|
|
3158
|
|
3159
|