comparison man/cmdargs.texi @ 90103:3ebd9bdb4fe5

Revision: [e-mail]--gnu-2005/emacs--unicode--0--patch-13 Merge from emacs--cvs-trunk--0 Patches applied: * [e-mail]--gnu-2005/emacs--cvs-trunk--0--patch-83 - [e-mail]--gnu-2005/emacs--cvs-trunk--0--patch-89 Update from CVS * [e-mail]--gnu-2005/emacs--cvs-trunk--0--patch-90 Update from CVS: man/calc.texi: Add macro for LaTeX for info output. * [e-mail]--gnu-2005/emacs--cvs-trunk--0--patch-91 - [e-mail]--gnu-2005/emacs--cvs-trunk--0--patch-94 Update from CVS

90102:9b4f359c4117

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

  Arguments starting with @samp{-} are @dfn{options}.  Other arguments
specify files to visit.  Emacs visits the specified files while it
starts up.  The last file name on your command line becomes the
current buffer; the other files are also visited in other buffers.  If
there are two files, they are both displayed; otherwise the last file
is displayed along with a buffer list that shows what other buffers
there are.  As with most programs, the special argument @samp{--} says
that all subsequent arguments are file names, not options, even if
they start with @samp{-}.

  Emacs command options can specify many things, such as the size and
position of the X window Emacs uses, its colors, and so on.  A few
options support advanced usage, such as running Lisp functions on files
in batch mode.  The sections of this chapter describe the available

@opindex -l
@itemx --load=@var{file}
@opindex --load
@cindex loading Lisp libraries, command-line argument
Load a Lisp library named @var{file} with the function @code{load}.
@xref{Lisp Libraries}.  The library can be found either in the current
directory, or in the Emacs library search path as specified
with @env{EMACSLOADPATH} (@pxref{General Variables}).

@item -L @var{dir}
@opindex -L
@itemx --directory=@var{dir}
@opindex --directory

@code{princ} and @code{print} output to @code{stdout} instead of the
echo area, while @code{message} and error messages output to
@code{stderr}.  Functions that would normally read from the minibuffer
take their input from @code{stdin} instead.

@samp{--batch} implies @samp{-q} (do not load an init file).  It also
causes Emacs to exit after processing all the command options.  In
addition, it disables auto-saving except in buffers for which it has
been explicitly requested.

@item --script @var{file}
@opindex --script
@cindex script mode
Run Emacs in batch mode, like @samp{--batch}, and then read and

Do almost everything with single-byte buffers and strings.
All buffers and strings are unibyte unless you (or a Lisp program)
explicitly ask for a multibyte buffer or string.  (Note that Emacs
always loads Lisp files in multibyte mode, even if @samp{--unibyte} is
specified; see @ref{Enabling Multibyte}.)  Setting the environment
variable @env{EMACS_UNIBYTE} has the same effect.

@item --multibyte
@opindex --multibyte
@itemx --no-unibyte
@opindex --no-unibyte

assumes you have a Lisp program file called @file{hack-c.el} which, when
loaded, performs some useful operation on the current buffer, expected
to be a C program.

@example
emacs -batch foo.c -l hack-c -f save-buffer >& log
@end example

@noindent
This says to visit @file{foo.c}, load @file{hack-c.el} (which makes
changes in the visited file), save @file{foo.c} (note that

90103:3ebd9bdb4fe5

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

  Arguments starting with @samp{-} are @dfn{options}, and so is
@samp{+@var{linenum}}.  All other arguments specify files to visit.
Emacs visits the specified files while it starts up.  The last file
name on your command line becomes the current buffer; the other files
are also visited in other buffers.  If there are two files, they are
both displayed; otherwise the last file is displayed along with a
buffer list that shows what other buffers there are.  As with most
programs, the special argument @samp{--} says that all subsequent
arguments are file names, not options, even if they start with
@samp{-}.

  Emacs command options can specify many things, such as the size and
position of the X window Emacs uses, its colors, and so on.  A few
options support advanced usage, such as running Lisp functions on files
in batch mode.  The sections of this chapter describe the available

@opindex -l
@itemx --load=@var{file}
@opindex --load
@cindex loading Lisp libraries, command-line argument
Load a Lisp library named @var{file} with the function @code{load}.
@xref{Lisp Libraries}.  If @var{file} is not an absolute file name,
the library can be found either in the current directory, or in the
Emacs library search path as specified with @env{EMACSLOADPATH}
(@pxref{General Variables}).

@item -L @var{dir}
@opindex -L
@itemx --directory=@var{dir}
@opindex --directory

@code{princ} and @code{print} output to @code{stdout} instead of the
echo area, while @code{message} and error messages output to
@code{stderr}.  Functions that would normally read from the minibuffer
take their input from @code{stdin} instead.

@samp{--batch} implies @samp{-q} (do not load an init file), but
@file{site-start.el} is loaded nonetheless.  It also causes Emacs to
exit after processing all the command options.  In addition, it
disables auto-saving except in buffers for which it has been
explicitly requested.

@item --script @var{file}
@opindex --script
@cindex script mode
Run Emacs in batch mode, like @samp{--batch}, and then read and

Do almost everything with single-byte buffers and strings.
All buffers and strings are unibyte unless you (or a Lisp program)
explicitly ask for a multibyte buffer or string.  (Note that Emacs
always loads Lisp files in multibyte mode, even if @samp{--unibyte} is
specified; see @ref{Enabling Multibyte}.)  Setting the environment
variable @env{EMACS_UNIBYTE} has the same effect
(@pxref{General Variables}).

@item --multibyte
@opindex --multibyte
@itemx --no-unibyte
@opindex --no-unibyte

assumes you have a Lisp program file called @file{hack-c.el} which, when
loaded, performs some useful operation on the current buffer, expected
to be a C program.

@example
emacs --batch foo.c -l hack-c -f save-buffer >& log
@end example

@noindent
This says to visit @file{foo.c}, load @file{hack-c.el} (which makes
changes in the visited file), save @file{foo.c} (note that