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author | Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> |
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date | Sat, 22 Dec 2007 17:09:26 +0000 |
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@c This is part of the Emacs manual. @c Copyright (C) 1985, 1986, 1987, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2002, @c 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 Free Software Foundation, Inc. @c See file emacs.texi for copying conditions. @node Emacs Invocation, X Resources, GNU Free Documentation License, Top @appendix Command Line Arguments for Emacs Invocation @cindex command line arguments @cindex arguments (command line) @cindex options (command line) @cindex switches (command line) @cindex startup (command line arguments) @cindex invocation (command line arguments) 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 options, arranged according to their purpose. There are two ways of writing options: the short forms that start with a single @samp{-}, and the long forms that start with @samp{--}. For example, @samp{-d} is a short form and @samp{--display} is the corresponding long form. The long forms with @samp{--} are easier to remember, but longer to type. However, you don't have to spell out the whole option name; any unambiguous abbreviation is enough. When a long option takes an argument, you can use either a space or an equal sign to separate the option name and the argument. Thus, you can write either @samp{--display sugar-bombs:0.0} or @samp{--display=sugar-bombs:0.0}. We recommend an equal sign because it makes the relationship clearer, and the tables below always show an equal sign. @cindex initial options (command line) @cindex action options (command line) @vindex command-line-args Most options specify how to initialize Emacs, or set parameters for the Emacs session. We call them @dfn{initial options}. A few options specify things to do: for example, load libraries, call functions, or terminate Emacs. These are called @dfn{action options}. These and file names together are called @dfn{action arguments}. Emacs processes all the action arguments in the order they are written. The @file{.emacs} file can access the values of the action arguments as the elements of a list in the variable @code{command-line-args}. @menu * Action Arguments:: Arguments to visit files, load libraries, and call functions. * Initial Options:: Arguments that take effect while starting Emacs. * Command Example:: Examples of using command line arguments. * Resume Arguments:: Specifying arguments when you resume a running Emacs. * Environment:: Environment variables that Emacs uses. * Display X:: Changing the default display and using remote login. * Font X:: Choosing a font for text, under X. * Colors:: Choosing display colors. * Window Size X:: Start-up window size, under X. * Borders X:: Internal and external borders, under X. * Title X:: Specifying the initial frame's title. * Icons X:: Choosing what sort of icon to use, under X. * Misc X:: Other display options. @end menu @node Action Arguments @appendixsec Action Arguments Here is a table of the action arguments and options: @table @samp @item @var{file} @opindex --file @itemx --file=@var{file} @opindex --find-file @itemx --find-file=@var{file} @opindex --visit @itemx --visit=@var{file} @cindex visiting files, command-line argument @vindex inhibit-startup-buffer-menu Visit @var{file} using @code{find-file}. @xref{Visiting}. If you visit several files at startup in this way, Emacs also displays a Buffer Menu buffer to show you what files it has visited. You can inhibit that by setting @code{inhibit-startup-buffer-menu} to @code{t}. @item +@var{linenum} @var{file} @opindex +@var{linenum} Visit @var{file} using @code{find-file}, then go to line number @var{linenum} in it. @item +@var{linenum}:@var{columnnum} @var{file} Visit @var{file} using @code{find-file}, then go to line number @var{linenum} and put point at column number @var{columnnum}. @need 3000 @item -l @var{file} @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}). @strong{Warning:} If previous command-line arguments have visited files, the current directory is the directory of the last file visited. @item -L @var{dir} @opindex -L @itemx --directory=@var{dir} @opindex --directory Add directory @var{dir} to the variable @code{load-path}. @item -f @var{function} @opindex -f @itemx --funcall=@var{function} @opindex --funcall @cindex call Lisp functions, command-line argument Call Lisp function @var{function}. If it is an interactive function (a command), it reads the arguments interactively just as if you had called the same function with a key sequence. Otherwise, it calls the function with no arguments. @item --eval=@var{expression} @opindex --eval @itemx --execute=@var{expression} @opindex --execute @cindex evaluate expression, command-line argument Evaluate Lisp expression @var{expression}. @item --insert=@var{file} @opindex --insert @cindex insert file contents, command-line argument Insert the contents of @var{file} into the current buffer. This is like what @kbd{M-x insert-file} does. @xref{Misc File Ops}. @item --kill @opindex --kill Exit from Emacs without asking for confirmation. @item --help @opindex --help Print a usage message listing all available options, then exit successfully. @item --version @opindex --version Print Emacs version, then exit successfully. @end table @node Initial Options @appendixsec Initial Options The initial options specify parameters for the Emacs session. This section describes the more general initial options; some other options specifically related to the X Window System appear in the following sections. Some initial options affect the loading of init files. The normal actions of Emacs are to first load @file{site-start.el} if it exists, then your own init file @file{~/.emacs} if it exists, and finally @file{default.el} if it exists. @xref{Init File}. Certain options prevent loading of some of these files or substitute other files for them. @table @samp @item -t @var{device} @opindex -t @itemx --terminal=@var{device} @opindex --terminal @cindex device for Emacs terminal I/O Use @var{device} as the device for terminal input and output. @samp{--terminal} implies @samp{--no-window-system}. @item -d @var{display} @opindex -d @itemx --display=@var{display} @opindex --display @cindex display for Emacs frame Use the X Window System and use the display named @var{display} to open the initial Emacs frame. @xref{Display X}, for more details. @item -nw @opindex -nw @itemx --no-window-system @opindex --no-window-system @cindex disable window system Don't communicate directly with the window system, disregarding the @env{DISPLAY} environment variable even if it is set. This means that Emacs uses the terminal from which it was launched for all its display and input. @need 3000 @cindex batch mode @item -batch @opindex --batch @itemx --batch Run Emacs in @dfn{batch mode}. Batch mode is used for running programs written in Emacs Lisp from shell scripts, makefiles, and so on. You should also use the @samp{-l}, @samp{-f} or @samp{--eval} option, to invoke a Lisp program to do batch processing. In batch mode, Emacs does not display the text being edited, and the standard terminal interrupt characters such as @kbd{C-z} and @kbd{C-c} continue to have their normal effect. The functions @code{prin1}, @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 execute the Lisp code in @var{file}. The normal use of this option is in executable script files that run Emacs. They can start with this text on the first line @example #!/usr/bin/emacs --script @end example @noindent which will invoke Emacs with @samp{--script} and supply the name of the script file as @var{file}. Emacs Lisp then treats @samp{#!} as a comment delimiter. @item -q @opindex -q @itemx --no-init-file @opindex --no-init-file @cindex bypassing init and @file{default.el} file @cindex init file, not loading @cindex @file{default.el} file, not loading Do not load your Emacs init file @file{~/.emacs}, or @file{default.el} either. Regardless of this switch, @file{site-start.el} is still loaded. When invoked like this, Emacs does not allow saving options changed with the @kbd{M-x customize} command and its variants. @xref{Easy Customization}. @item --no-site-file @opindex --no-site-file @cindex @file{site-start.el} file, not loading Do not load @file{site-start.el}. The options @samp{-q}, @samp{-u} and @samp{--batch} have no effect on the loading of this file---this option and @samp{-Q} are the only options that block it. @item -Q @opindex -Q @itemx --quick @opindex --quick Start emacs with minimum customizations. This is like using @samp{-q} and @samp{--no-site-file}, but also disables the startup screen. @item --no-splash @opindex --no-splash @vindex inhibit-splash-screen @cindex splash screen @cindex startup message Do not display a splash screen on startup. You can also achieve this effect by setting the variable @code{inhibit-splash-screen} to non-@code{nil} in you personal init file (but @emph{not} in @file{site-start.el}). (This variable was called @code{inhibit-startup-message} in previous Emacs versions.) @item --no-desktop @opindex --no-desktop Do not reload any saved desktop. @xref{Saving Emacs Sessions}. @item -u @var{user} @opindex -u @itemx --user=@var{user} @opindex --user @cindex load init file of another user Load @var{user}'s Emacs init file @file{~@var{user}/.emacs} instead of your own@footnote{ This option has no effect on MS-Windows.}. @item --debug-init @opindex --debug-init @cindex errors in init file Enable the Emacs Lisp debugger for errors in the init file. @xref{Error Debugging,, Entering the Debugger on an Error, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual}. @item --unibyte @opindex --unibyte @itemx --no-multibyte @opindex --no-multibyte @cindex unibyte operation, command-line argument 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 Inhibit the effect of @env{EMACS_UNIBYTE}, so that Emacs uses multibyte characters by default, as usual. @end table @node Command Example @appendixsec Command Argument Example Here is an example of using Emacs with arguments and options. It 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 @code{save-buffer} is the function that @kbd{C-x C-s} is bound to), and then exit back to the shell (because of @samp{--batch}). @samp{--batch} also guarantees there will be no problem redirecting output to @file{log}, because Emacs will not assume that it has a display terminal to work with. @node Resume Arguments @appendixsec Resuming Emacs with Arguments You can specify action arguments for Emacs when you resume it after a suspension. To prepare for this, put the following code in your @file{.emacs} file (@pxref{Hooks}): @c `resume-suspend-hook' is correct. It is the name of a function. @example (add-hook 'suspend-hook 'resume-suspend-hook) (add-hook 'suspend-resume-hook 'resume-process-args) @end example As further preparation, you must execute the shell script @file{emacs.csh} (if you use csh as your shell) or @file{emacs.bash} (if you use bash as your shell). These scripts define an alias named @code{edit}, which will resume Emacs giving it new command line arguments such as files to visit. The scripts are found in the @file{etc} subdirectory of the Emacs distribution. Only action arguments work properly when you resume Emacs. Initial arguments are not recognized---it's too late to execute them anyway. Note that resuming Emacs (with or without arguments) must be done from within the shell that is the parent of the Emacs job. This is why @code{edit} is an alias rather than a program or a shell script. It is not possible to implement a resumption command that could be run from other subjobs of the shell; there is no way to define a command that could be made the value of @env{EDITOR}, for example. Therefore, this feature does not take the place of the Emacs Server feature (@pxref{Emacs Server}). The aliases use the Emacs Server feature if you appear to have a server Emacs running. However, they cannot determine this with complete accuracy. They may think that a server is still running when in actuality you have killed that Emacs, because the file @file{/tmp/esrv@dots{}} still exists. If this happens, find that file and delete it. @node Environment @appendixsec Environment Variables @cindex environment variables The @dfn{environment} is a feature of the operating system; it consists of a collection of variables with names and values. Each variable is called an @dfn{environment variable}; environment variable names are case-sensitive, and it is conventional to use upper case letters only. The values are all text strings. What makes the environment useful is that subprocesses inherit the environment automatically from their parent process. This means you can set up an environment variable in your login shell, and all the programs you run (including Emacs) will automatically see it. Subprocesses of Emacs (such as shells, compilers, and version-control software) inherit the environment from Emacs, too. @findex setenv @findex getenv Inside Emacs, the command @kbd{M-x getenv} gets the value of an environment variable. @kbd{M-x setenv} sets a variable in the Emacs environment. (Environment variable substitutions with @samp{$} work in the value just as in file names; see @ref{File Names with $}.) The way to set environment variables outside of Emacs depends on the operating system, and especially the shell that you are using. For example, here's how to set the environment variable @env{ORGANIZATION} to @samp{not very much} using Bash: @example export ORGANIZATION="not very much" @end example @noindent and here's how to do it in csh or tcsh: @example setenv ORGANIZATION "not very much" @end example When Emacs is using the X Window System, various environment variables that control X work for Emacs as well. See the X documentation for more information. @menu * General Variables:: Environment variables that all versions of Emacs use. * Misc Variables:: Certain system-specific variables. * MS-Windows Registry:: An alternative to the environment on MS-Windows. @end menu @node General Variables @appendixsubsec General Variables Here is an alphabetical list of specific environment variables that have special meanings in Emacs, giving the name of each variable and its meaning. Most of these variables are also used by some other programs. Emacs does not require any of these environment variables to be set, but it uses their values if they are set. @table @env @item CDPATH Used by the @code{cd} command to search for the directory you specify, when you specify a relative directory name. @item EMACS_UNIBYTE @cindex unibyte operation, environment variable Defining this environment variable with a nonempty value directs Emacs to do almost everything with single-byte buffers and strings. It is equivalent to using the @samp{--unibyte} command-line option on each invocation. @xref{Initial Options}. @item EMACSDATA Directory for the architecture-independent files that come with Emacs. This is used to initialize the Lisp variable @code{data-directory}. @item EMACSDOC Directory for the documentation string file, @file{DOC-@var{emacsversion}}. This is used to initialize the Lisp variable @code{doc-directory}. @item EMACSLOADPATH A colon-separated list of directories@footnote{ Here and below, whenever we say ``colon-separated list of directories,'' it pertains to Unix and GNU/Linux systems. On MS-DOS and MS-Windows, the directories are separated by semi-colons instead, since DOS/Windows file names might include a colon after a drive letter.} to search for Emacs Lisp files---used to initialize @code{load-path}. @item EMACSPATH A colon-separated list of directories to search for executable files---used to initialize @code{exec-path}. @item EMAIL @vindex user-mail-address@r{, initialization} Your email address; used to initialize the Lisp variable @code{user-mail-address}, which the Emacs mail interface puts into the @samp{From} header of outgoing messages (@pxref{Mail Headers}). @item ESHELL Used for shell-mode to override the @env{SHELL} environment variable. @item HISTFILE The name of the file that shell commands are saved in between logins. This variable defaults to @file{~/.bash_history} if you use Bash, to @file{~/.sh_history} if you use ksh, and to @file{~/.history} otherwise. @item HOME The location of your files in the directory tree; used for expansion of file names starting with a tilde (@file{~}). On MS-DOS, it defaults to the directory from which Emacs was started, with @samp{/bin} removed from the end if it was present. On Windows, the default value of @env{HOME} is the @file{Application Data} subdirectory of the user profile directory (normally, this is @file{C:/Documents and Settings/@var{username}/Application Data}, where @var{username} is your user name), though for backwards compatibility @file{C:/} will be used instead if a @file{.emacs} file is found there. @item HOSTNAME The name of the machine that Emacs is running on. @item INCPATH A colon-separated list of directories. Used by the @code{complete} package to search for files. @item INFOPATH A colon-separated list of directories in which to search for Info files. @item LC_ALL @itemx LC_COLLATE @itemx LC_CTYPE @itemx LC_MESSAGES @itemx LC_MONETARY @itemx LC_NUMERIC @itemx LC_TIME @itemx LANG The user's preferred locale. The locale has six categories, specified by the environment variables @env{LC_COLLATE} for sorting, @env{LC_CTYPE} for character encoding, @env{LC_MESSAGES} for system messages, @env{LC_MONETARY} for monetary formats, @env{LC_NUMERIC} for numbers, and @env{LC_TIME} for dates and times. If one of these variables is not set, the category defaults to the value of the @env{LANG} environment variable, or to the default @samp{C} locale if @env{LANG} is not set. But if @env{LC_ALL} is specified, it overrides the settings of all the other locale environment variables. On MS-Windows, if @env{LANG} is not already set in the environment when Emacs starts, Emacs sets it based on the system-wide default language, which you can set in the @samp{Regional Settings} Control Panel on some versions of MS-Windows. The value of the @env{LC_CTYPE} category is matched against entries in @code{locale-language-names}, @code{locale-charset-language-names}, and @code{locale-preferred-coding-systems}, to select a default language environment and coding system. @xref{Language Environments}. @item LOGNAME The user's login name. See also @env{USER}. @item MAIL The name of your system mail inbox. @item MH Name of setup file for the mh system. (The default is @file{~/.mh_profile}.) @item NAME Your real-world name. @item NNTPSERVER The name of the news server. Used by the mh and Gnus packages. @item ORGANIZATION The name of the organization to which you belong. Used for setting the `Organization:' header in your posts from the Gnus package. @item PATH A colon-separated list of directories in which executables reside. This is used to initialize the Emacs Lisp variable @code{exec-path}. @item PWD If set, this should be the default directory when Emacs was started. @item REPLYTO If set, this specifies an initial value for the variable @code{mail-default-reply-to}. @xref{Mail Headers}. @item SAVEDIR The name of a directory in which news articles are saved by default. Used by the Gnus package. @item SHELL The name of an interpreter used to parse and execute programs run from inside Emacs. @item SMTPSERVER The name of the outgoing mail server. Used by the SMTP library (@pxref{Top,,,smtpmail,Sending mail via SMTP}). @cindex background mode, on @command{xterm} @item TERM The type of the terminal that Emacs is using. This variable must be set unless Emacs is run in batch mode. On MS-DOS, it defaults to @samp{internal}, which specifies a built-in terminal emulation that handles the machine's own display. If the value of @env{TERM} indicates that Emacs runs in non-windowed mode from @command{xterm} or a similar terminal emulator, the background mode defaults to @samp{light}, and Emacs will choose colors that are appropriate for a light background. @item TERMCAP The name of the termcap library file describing how to program the terminal specified by the @env{TERM} variable. This defaults to @file{/etc/termcap}. @item TMPDIR Used by the Emerge package as a prefix for temporary files. @item TZ This specifies the current time zone and possibly also daylight saving time information. On MS-DOS, if @env{TZ} is not set in the environment when Emacs starts, Emacs defines a default value as appropriate for the country code returned by DOS. On MS-Windows, Emacs does not use @env{TZ} at all. @item USER The user's login name. See also @env{LOGNAME}. On MS-DOS, this defaults to @samp{root}. @item VERSION_CONTROL Used to initialize the @code{version-control} variable (@pxref{Numbered Backups}). @end table @node Misc Variables @appendixsubsec Miscellaneous Variables These variables are used only on particular configurations: @table @env @item COMSPEC On MS-DOS and MS-Windows, the name of the command interpreter to use when invoking batch files and commands internal to the shell. On MS-DOS this is also used to make a default value for the @env{SHELL} environment variable. @item NAME On MS-DOS, this variable defaults to the value of the @env{USER} variable. @item TEMP @itemx TMP On MS-DOS and MS-Windows, these specify the name of the directory for storing temporary files in. @item EMACSTEST On MS-DOS, this specifies a file to use to log the operation of the internal terminal emulator. This feature is useful for submitting bug reports. @item EMACSCOLORS On MS-DOS, this specifies the screen colors. It is useful to set them this way, since otherwise Emacs would display the default colors momentarily when it starts up. The value of this variable should be the two-character encoding of the foreground (the first character) and the background (the second character) colors of the default face. Each character should be the hexadecimal code for the desired color on a standard PC text-mode display. For example, to get blue text on a light gray background, specify @samp{EMACSCOLORS=17}, since 1 is the code of the blue color and 7 is the code of the light gray color. The PC display usually supports only eight background colors. However, Emacs switches the DOS display to a mode where all 16 colors can be used for the background, so all four bits of the background color are actually used. @item WINDOW_GFX Used when initializing the Sun windows system. @item PRELOAD_WINSOCK On MS-Windows, if you set this variable, Emacs will load and initialize the network library at startup, instead of waiting until the first time it is required. @item emacs_dir On MS-Windows, @env{emacs_dir} is a special environment variable, which indicates the full path of the directory in which Emacs is installed. If Emacs is installed in the standard directory structure, it calculates this value automatically. It is not much use setting this variable yourself unless your installation is non-standard, since unlike other environment variables, it will be overridden by Emacs at startup. When setting other environment variables, such as @env{EMACSLOADPATH}, you may find it useful to use @env{emacs_dir} rather than hard-coding an absolute path. This allows multiple versions of Emacs to share the same environment variable settings, and it allows you to move the Emacs installation directory, without changing any environment or registry settings. @end table @node MS-Windows Registry @appendixsubsec The MS-Windows System Registry @pindex addpm, MS-Windows installation program @cindex registry, setting environment variables and resources on MS-Windows Under MS-Windows, the installation program @command{addpm.exe} adds values for @env{emacs_dir}, @env{EMACSLOADPATH}, @env{EMACSDATA}, @env{EMACSPATH}, @env{EMACSDOC}, @env{SHELL} and @env{TERM} to the @file{HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE} section of the system registry, under @file{/Software/GNU/Emacs}. It does this because there is no standard place to set environment variables across different versions of Windows. Running @command{addpm.exe} is no longer strictly necessary in recent versions of Emacs, but if you are upgrading from an older version, running @command{addpm.exe} ensures that you do not have older registry entries from a previous installation, which may not be compatible with the latest version of Emacs. When Emacs starts, as well as checking the environment, it also checks the System Registry for those variables and for @env{HOME}, @env{LANG} and @env{PRELOAD_WINSOCK}. To determine the value of those variables, Emacs goes through the following procedure. First, the environment is checked. If the variable is not found there, Emacs looks for registry keys by that name under @file{/Software/GNU/Emacs}; first in the @file{HKEY_CURRENT_USER} section of the registry, and if not found there, in the @file{HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE} section. Finally, if Emacs still cannot determine the values, compiled-in defaults are used. In addition to the environment variables above, you can also add many of the settings which on X belong in the @file{.Xdefaults} file (@pxref{X Resources}) to the @file{/Software/GNU/Emacs} registry key. Settings you add to the @file{HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE} section will affect all users of the machine. Settings you add to the @file{HKEY_CURRENT_USER} section will only affect you, and will override machine wide settings. @node Display X @appendixsec Specifying the Display Name @cindex display name (X Window System) @cindex @env{DISPLAY} environment variable The environment variable @env{DISPLAY} tells all X clients, including Emacs, where to display their windows. Its value is set by default in ordinary circumstances, when you start an X server and run jobs locally. Occasionally you may need to specify the display yourself; for example, if you do a remote login and want to run a client program remotely, displaying on your local screen. With Emacs, the main reason people change the default display is to let them log into another system, run Emacs on that system, but have the window displayed at their local terminal. You might need to log in to another system because the files you want to edit are there, or because the Emacs executable file you want to run is there. The syntax of the @env{DISPLAY} environment variable is @samp{@var{host}:@var{display}.@var{screen}}, where @var{host} is the host name of the X Window System server machine, @var{display} is an arbitrarily-assigned number that distinguishes your server (X terminal) from other servers on the same machine, and @var{screen} is a rarely-used field that allows an X server to control multiple terminal screens. The period and the @var{screen} field are optional. If included, @var{screen} is usually zero. For example, if your host is named @samp{glasperle} and your server is the first (or perhaps the only) server listed in the configuration, your @env{DISPLAY} is @samp{glasperle:0.0}. You can specify the display name explicitly when you run Emacs, either by changing the @env{DISPLAY} variable, or with the option @samp{-d @var{display}} or @samp{--display=@var{display}}. Here is an example: @smallexample emacs --display=glasperle:0 & @end smallexample You can inhibit the direct use of the window system and GUI with the @samp{-nw} option. It tells Emacs to display using ordinary @acronym{ASCII} on its controlling terminal. This is also an initial option. Sometimes, security arrangements prevent a program on a remote system from displaying on your local system. In this case, trying to run Emacs produces messages like this: @smallexample Xlib: connection to "glasperle:0.0" refused by server @end smallexample @noindent You might be able to overcome this problem by using the @command{xhost} command on the local system to give permission for access from your remote machine. @node Font X @appendixsec Font Specification Options @cindex font name (X Window System) By default, Emacs displays text in a twelve point Courier font (when using X). You can specify a different font on your command line through the option @samp{-fn @var{name}} (or @samp{--font}, which is an alias for @samp{-fn}). @table @samp @item -fn @var{name} @opindex -fn @itemx --font=@var{name} @opindex --font @cindex specify default font from the command line Use font @var{name} as the default font. @end table Under X, each font has a long name which consists of fourteen words or numbers, separated by dashes. Some fonts also have shorter nicknames. For instance, @samp{9x15} is such a nickname. This font makes each character nine pixels wide and fifteen pixels high. You can use either kind of name. Case is insignificant in both kinds. You can use wildcard patterns for the font name; then Emacs lets X choose one of the fonts that match the pattern. The wildcard character @samp{*} matches any sequence of characters (including none) and @samp{?} matches any single character. However, matching is implementation-dependent, and can be inaccurate when wildcards match dashes in a long name. For reliable results, supply all 14 dashes and use wildcards only within a field. Here is an example, which happens to specify the font whose nickname is @samp{6x13}: @smallexample emacs -fn \ "-misc-fixed-medium-r-semicondensed--13-*-*-*-c-60-iso8859-1" & @end smallexample @noindent You can also specify the font in your @file{.Xdefaults} file: @smallexample emacs.font: -misc-fixed-medium-r-semicondensed--13-*-*-*-c-60-iso8859-1 @end smallexample Note that if you use a wildcard pattern on the command line, you need to enclose it in single or double quotes, to prevent the shell from accidentally expanding it into a list of file names. On the other hand, you should not quote the name in the @file{.Xdefaults} file. The default font used by Emacs (under X) is: @smallexample -adobe-courier-medium-r-*-*-*-120-*-*-*-*-iso8859-1 @end smallexample A long font name has the following form: @smallexample -@var{maker}-@var{family}-@var{weight}-@var{slant}-@var{widthtype}-@var{style}@dots{} @dots{}-@var{pixels}-@var{height}-@var{horiz}-@var{vert}-@var{spacing}-@var{width}-@var{registry}-@var{encoding} @end smallexample @table @var @item maker This is the name of the font manufacturer. @item family This is the name of the font family---for example, @samp{courier}. @item weight This is normally @samp{bold}, @samp{medium} or @samp{light}. Other words may appear here in some font names. @item slant This is @samp{r} (roman), @samp{i} (italic), @samp{o} (oblique), @samp{ri} (reverse italic), or @samp{ot} (other). @item widthtype This is normally @samp{condensed}, @samp{extended}, @samp{semicondensed} or @samp{normal}. Other words may appear here in some font names. @item style This is an optional additional style name. Usually it is empty---most long font names have two hyphens in a row at this point. @item pixels This is the font height, in pixels. @item height This is the font height on the screen, measured in tenths of a printer's point---approximately 1/720 of an inch. In other words, it is the point size of the font, times ten. For a given vertical resolution, @var{height} and @var{pixels} are proportional; therefore, it is common to specify just one of them and use @samp{*} for the other. @item horiz This is the horizontal resolution, in pixels per inch, of the screen for which the font is intended. @item vert This is the vertical resolution, in pixels per inch, of the screen for which the font is intended. Normally the resolution of the fonts on your system is the right value for your screen; therefore, you normally specify @samp{*} for this and @var{horiz}. @item spacing This is @samp{m} (monospace), @samp{p} (proportional) or @samp{c} (character cell). @item width This is the average character width, in pixels, multiplied by ten. @item registry @itemx encoding These together make up the X font character set that the font depicts. (X font character sets are not the same as Emacs charsets, but they are solutions for the same problem.) You can use the @command{xfontsel} program to check which choices you have. However, normally you should use @samp{iso8859} for @var{registry} and @samp{1} for @var{encoding}. @end table @cindex listing system fonts You will probably want to use a fixed-width default font---that is, a font in which all characters have the same width. Any font with @samp{m} or @samp{c} in the @var{spacing} field of the long name is a fixed-width font. Here's how to use the @command{xlsfonts} program to list all the fixed-width fonts available on your system: @example xlsfonts -fn '*x*' | egrep "^[0-9]+x[0-9]+" xlsfonts -fn '*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-m*' xlsfonts -fn '*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-c*' @end example @noindent To see what a particular font looks like, use the @command{xfd} command. For example: @example xfd -fn 6x13 @end example @noindent displays the entire font @samp{6x13}. While running Emacs, you can set the font of the current frame (@pxref{Frame Parameters}) or for a specific kind of text (@pxref{Faces}). @node Colors @appendixsec Window Color Options @cindex color of window, from command line @cindex text colors, from command line @findex list-colors-display @cindex available colors On a color display, you can specify which color to use for various parts of the Emacs display. To find out what colors are available on your system, type @kbd{M-x list-colors-display}, or press @kbd{C-Mouse-2} and select @samp{Display Colors} from the pop-up menu. (A particular window system might support many more colors, but the list displayed by @code{list-colors-display} shows their portable subset that can be safely used on any display supported by Emacs.) If you do not specify colors, on windowed displays the default for the background is white and the default for all other colors is black. On a monochrome display, the foreground is black, the background is white, and the border is gray if the display supports that. On terminals, the background is usually black and the foreground is white. Here is a list of the command-line options for specifying colors: @table @samp @item -fg @var{color} @opindex -fg @itemx --foreground-color=@var{color} @opindex --foreground-color @cindex foreground color, command-line argument Specify the foreground color. @var{color} should be a standard color name, or a numeric specification of the color's red, green, and blue components as in @samp{#4682B4} or @samp{RGB:46/82/B4}. @item -bg @var{color} @opindex -bg @itemx --background-color=@var{color} @opindex --background-color @cindex background color, command-line argument Specify the background color. @item -bd @var{color} @opindex -bd @itemx --border-color=@var{color} @opindex --border-color @cindex border color, command-line argument Specify the color of the border of the X window. @item -cr @var{color} @opindex -cr @itemx --cursor-color=@var{color} @opindex --cursor-color @cindex cursor color, command-line argument Specify the color of the Emacs cursor which indicates where point is. @item -ms @var{color} @opindex -ms @itemx --mouse-color=@var{color} @opindex --mouse-color @cindex mouse pointer color, command-line argument Specify the color for the mouse cursor when the mouse is in the Emacs window. @item -r @opindex -r @itemx -rv @opindex -rv @itemx --reverse-video @opindex --reverse-video @cindex reverse video, command-line argument Reverse video---swap the foreground and background colors. @item --color=@var{mode} @opindex --color @cindex standard colors on a character terminal @cindex override character terminal color support For a character terminal only, specify the mode of color support. This option is intended for overriding the number of supported colors that the character terminal advertises in its @code{termcap} or @code{terminfo} database. The parameter @var{mode} can be one of the following: @table @samp @item never @itemx no Don't use colors even if the terminal's capabilities specify color support. @item default @itemx auto Same as when @option{--color} is not used at all: Emacs detects at startup whether the terminal supports colors, and if it does, turns on colored display. @item always @itemx yes @itemx ansi8 Turn on the color support unconditionally, and use color commands specified by the ANSI escape sequences for the 8 standard colors. @item @var{num} Use color mode for @var{num} colors. If @var{num} is -1, turn off color support (equivalent to @samp{never}); if it is 0, use the default color support for this terminal (equivalent to @samp{auto}); otherwise use an appropriate standard mode for @var{num} colors. Depending on your terminal's capabilities, Emacs might be able to turn on a color mode for 8, 16, 88, or 256 as the value of @var{num}. If there is no mode that supports @var{num} colors, Emacs acts as if @var{num} were 0, i.e.@: it uses the terminal's default color support mode. @end table If @var{mode} is omitted, it defaults to @var{ansi8}. @end table For example, to use a coral mouse cursor and a slate blue text cursor, enter: @example emacs -ms coral -cr 'slate blue' & @end example You can reverse the foreground and background colors through the @samp{-rv} option or with the X resource @samp{reverseVideo}. The @samp{-fg}, @samp{-bg}, and @samp{-rv} options function on text-only terminals as well as on graphical displays. @node Window Size X @appendixsec Options for Window Size and Position @cindex geometry of Emacs window @cindex position and size of Emacs frame @cindex width and height of Emacs frame @cindex specifying fullscreen for Emacs frame Here is a list of the command-line options for specifying size and position of the initial Emacs frame: @table @samp @item -g @var{width}x@var{height}@r{[@{}+-@r{@}}@var{xoffset}@r{@{}+-@r{@}}@var{yoffset}@r{]]} @opindex -g @itemx --geometry=@var{width}x@var{height}@r{[@{}+-@r{@}}@var{xoffset}@r{@{}+-@r{@}}@var{yoffset}@r{]]} @opindex --geometry @cindex geometry, command-line argument Specify the size @var{width} and @var{height} (measured in character columns and lines), and positions @var{xoffset} and @var{yoffset} (measured in pixels). The @var{width} and @var{height} parameters apply to all frames, whereas @var{xoffset} and @var{yoffset} only to the initial frame. @item -fs @opindex -fs @itemx --fullscreen @opindex --fullscreen @cindex fullscreen, command-line argument Specify that width and height shall be the size of the screen. @item -fh @opindex -fh @itemx --fullheight @opindex --fullheight @cindex fullheight, command-line argument Specify that the height shall be the height of the screen. @item -fw @opindex -fw @itemx --fullwidth @opindex --fullwidth @cindex fullwidth, command-line argument Specify that the width shall be the width of the screen. @end table @noindent In the @samp{--geometry} option, @code{@r{@{}+-@r{@}}} means either a plus sign or a minus sign. A plus sign before @var{xoffset} means it is the distance from the left side of the screen; a minus sign means it counts from the right side. A plus sign before @var{yoffset} means it is the distance from the top of the screen, and a minus sign there indicates the distance from the bottom. The values @var{xoffset} and @var{yoffset} may themselves be positive or negative, but that doesn't change their meaning, only their direction. Emacs uses the same units as @command{xterm} does to interpret the geometry. The @var{width} and @var{height} are measured in characters, so a large font creates a larger frame than a small font. (If you specify a proportional font, Emacs uses its maximum bounds width as the width unit.) The @var{xoffset} and @var{yoffset} are measured in pixels. You do not have to specify all of the fields in the geometry specification. If you omit both @var{xoffset} and @var{yoffset}, the window manager decides where to put the Emacs frame, possibly by letting you place it with the mouse. For example, @samp{164x55} specifies a window 164 columns wide, enough for two ordinary width windows side by side, and 55 lines tall. The default width for Emacs is 80 characters and the default height is 40 lines. You can omit either the width or the height or both. If you start the geometry with an integer, Emacs interprets it as the width. If you start with an @samp{x} followed by an integer, Emacs interprets it as the height. Thus, @samp{81} specifies just the width; @samp{x45} specifies just the height. If you start with @samp{+} or @samp{-}, that introduces an offset, which means both sizes are omitted. Thus, @samp{-3} specifies the @var{xoffset} only. (If you give just one offset, it is always @var{xoffset}.) @samp{+3-3} specifies both the @var{xoffset} and the @var{yoffset}, placing the frame near the bottom left of the screen. You can specify a default for any or all of the fields in @file{.Xdefaults} file, and then override selected fields with a @samp{--geometry} option. Since the mode line and the echo area occupy the last 2 lines of the frame, the height of the initial text window is 2 less than the height specified in your geometry. In non-X-toolkit versions of Emacs, the menu bar also takes one line of the specified number. But in the X toolkit version, the menu bar is additional and does not count against the specified height. The tool bar, if present, is also additional. Enabling or disabling the menu bar or tool bar alters the amount of space available for ordinary text. Therefore, if Emacs starts up with a tool bar (which is the default), and handles the geometry specification assuming there is a tool bar, and then your @file{~/.emacs} file disables the tool bar, you will end up with a frame geometry different from what you asked for. To get the intended size with no tool bar, use an X resource to specify ``no tool bar'' (@pxref{Table of Resources}); then Emacs will already know there's no tool bar when it processes the specified geometry. When using one of @samp{--fullscreen}, @samp{--fullwidth} or @samp{--fullheight} there may be some space around the frame anyway. That is because Emacs rounds the sizes so they are an even number of character heights and widths. Some window managers have options that can make them ignore both program-specified and user-specified positions (sawfish is one). If these are set, Emacs fails to position the window correctly. @node Borders X @appendixsec Internal and External Borders @cindex borders (X Window System) An Emacs frame has an internal border and an external border. The internal border is an extra strip of the background color around the text portion of the frame. Emacs itself draws the internal border. The external border is added by the window manager outside the frame; depending on the window manager you use, it may contain various boxes you can click on to move or iconify the window. @table @samp @item -ib @var{width} @opindex -ib @itemx --internal-border=@var{width} @opindex --internal-border @cindex internal border width, command-line argument Specify @var{width} as the width of the internal border (between the text and the main border), in pixels. @item -bw @var{width} @opindex -bw @itemx --border-width=@var{width} @opindex --border-width @cindex main border width, command-line argument Specify @var{width} as the width of the main border, in pixels. @end table When you specify the size of the frame, that does not count the borders. The frame's position is measured from the outside edge of the external border. Use the @samp{-ib @var{n}} option to specify an internal border @var{n} pixels wide. The default is 1. Use @samp{-bw @var{n}} to specify the width of the external border (though the window manager may not pay attention to what you specify). The default width of the external border is 2. @node Title X @appendixsec Frame Titles An Emacs frame may or may not have a specified title. The frame title, if specified, appears in window decorations and icons as the name of the frame. If an Emacs frame has no specified title, the default title has the form @samp{@var{invocation-name}@@@var{machine}} (if there is only one frame) or the selected window's buffer name (if there is more than one frame). You can specify a title for the initial Emacs frame with a command line option: @table @samp @item -T @var{title} @opindex -T @itemx --title=@var{title} @opindex --title @cindex frame title, command-line argument Specify @var{title} as the title for the initial Emacs frame. @end table The @samp{--name} option (@pxref{Resources}) also specifies the title for the initial Emacs frame. @node Icons X @appendixsec Icons @cindex icons (X Window System) Most window managers allow you to ``iconify'' a frame, removing it from sight, and leaving a small, distinctive ``icon'' window in its place. Clicking on the icon window makes the frame itself appear again. If you have many clients running at once, you can avoid cluttering up the screen by iconifying most of the clients. @table @samp @item -nbi @opindex -nbi @itemx --no-bitmap-icon @opindex --no-bitmap-icon @cindex Emacs icon, a gnu Do not use a picture of a gnu as the Emacs icon. @item -iconic @opindex --iconic @itemx --iconic @cindex start iconified, command-line argument Start Emacs in iconified state. @end table By default Emacs uses an icon window containing a picture of the GNU gnu. The @samp{-nbi} or @samp{--no-bitmap-icon} option tells Emacs to let the window manager choose what sort of icon to use---usually just a small rectangle containing the frame's title. The @samp{-iconic} option tells Emacs to begin running as an icon, rather than showing a frame right away. In this situation, the icon is the only indication that Emacs has started; the text frame doesn't appear until you deiconify it. @node Misc X @appendixsec Other Display Options @table @samp @item -hb @opindex -hb @itemx --horizontal-scroll-bars @opindex --horizontal-scroll-bars @c @cindex horizontal scroll bars, command-line argument Enable horizontal scroll bars. Since horizontal scroll bars are not yet implemented, this actually does nothing. @item -vb @opindex -vb @itemx --vertical-scroll-bars @opindex --vertical-scroll-bars @cindex vertical scroll bars, command-line argument Enable vertical scroll bars. @item -lsp @var{pixels} @opindex -lsp @itemx --line-spacing=@var{pixels} @opindex --line-spacing @cindex line spacing, command-line argument Specify @var{pixels} as additional space to put between lines, in pixels. @item -nbc @opindex -nbc @itemx --no-blinking-cursor @opindex --no-blinking-cursor @cindex blinking cursor disable, command-line argument Disable the blinking cursor on graphical displays. @item -D @opindex -D @itemx --basic-display @opindex --basic-display Disable the menu-bar, the tool-bar, the scroll-bars, and tool tips, and turn off the blinking cursor. This can be useful for making a test case that simplifies debugging of display problems. @end table The @samp{--xrm} option (@pxref{Resources}) specifies additional X resource values. @ignore arch-tag: fffecd9e-7329-4a51-a3cc-dd4a9889340e @end ignore