1 XEmacs Installation Guide
2 Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 Board of Trustees, University of Illinois
3 Copyright (c) 1994 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
5 Synched up with: FSF 19.30.
7 Permission is granted to anyone to make or distribute verbatim copies
8 of this document as received, in any medium, provided that the
9 copyright notice and permission notice are preserved,
10 and that the distributor grants the recipient permission
11 for further redistribution as permitted by this notice.
13 Permission is granted to distribute modified versions
14 of this document, or of portions of it,
15 under the above conditions, provided also that they
16 carry prominent notices stating who last changed them,
17 and that any new or changed statements about the activities
18 of the Free Software Foundation are approved by the Foundation.
21 BUILDING AND INSTALLATION (Unix and Cygwin, see the file nt/README
22 for instructions on building under Microsoft Windows):
24 1) Make sure your system has enough swapping space allocated to handle
25 a program whose pure code is 900k bytes and whose data area is at
26 least 400k and can reach 8Mb or more. If the swapping space is
27 insufficient, you will get an error in the command `temacs -batch
28 -l loadup dump', found in `./src/Makefile.in.in', or possibly when
29 running the final dumped XEmacs.
31 Building XEmacs requires about 41 Mb of disk space (including the
32 XEmacs sources). Once installed, XEmacs occupies about 16 Mb in the
33 file system where it is installed; this includes the executable files,
34 Lisp libraries, miscellaneous data files, and on-line documentation.
35 The amount of storage of the Lisp directories may be reduced by
36 compressing the .el files. If the building and installation take place
37 in different directories, then the installation procedure temporarily
38 requires 41+16 Mb. Adjust this value upwards depending upon what
39 additional Lisp support is installed.
41 XEmacs requires an ANSI C compiler, such as GCC. If you wish to build
42 the documentation yourself, you will need at least version 1.68 of
43 makeinfo (GNU texinfo-3.11).
46 2) Decide on what other software packages you would like to use with
47 XEmacs, but are not yet available on your system. On some systems,
48 Motif and CDE are optional additions. On Solaris, the SUNWaudmo
49 package enables native sound support. There are also a number of free
50 software packages that XEmacs can use. If these are not yet available
51 on your system, obtain, build and install those external packages
52 before building XEmacs. The packages XEmacs can use are:
54 Xaw3d, XPM, JPEG, compface, PNG, zlib, GNU DBM, Berkeley DB, socks,
55 term, NAS, Canna, Kinput2, SJ3, Wnn.
57 You can get (most of) them from the XEmacs ftp site at
58 ftp://ftp.xemacs.org/pub/xemacs/aux
60 If you want users on other systems to be able to use the XEmacs you
61 have built, try to build those packages so that the generated
62 libraries are statically linked.
64 Use the --site-includes and --site-libraries options when building
65 XEmacs to allow configure to find the external software packages.
66 If you link with dynamic (``.so'') external package libraries, which
67 is not recommended, you will also need to add the library directories
68 to the --site-runtime-libraries option.
71 3) Decide what Initial Lisp you need with XEmacs. XEmacs is
72 distributed separately from most of its runtime environment. This is
73 done to make it easier for administrators to tune an installation for
74 what the local users need. See the file etc/PACKAGES for an overview
75 of what is available and which packages need to be installed prior to
76 building XEmacs. At this point you only need a minimum to get started
77 at which point you may install what you wish without further changes
78 to the XEmacs binary. A sample minimum configuration for a Linux
79 system using Mule and Wnn6 from OMRON corporation would be the
80 packages `mule-base' and `egg-its'. By default, packages will be
81 searched for in the path
83 ~/.xemacs::$prefix/lib/xemacs-${version}/mule-packages:$prefix/lib/xemacs/mule-packages:$prefix/lib/xemacs-${version}/xemacs-packages:$prefix/lib/xemacs/xemacs-packages
85 This may be changed by specifying a different value with the
86 --package-path configuration option.
88 4) In the top level directory of the XEmacs distribution, run the
89 program `configure' as follows:
91 ./configure [CONFIGURATION-NAME] [--OPTION[=VALUE]] ...
93 Almost always, you should let `configure' (actually the shell script
94 `config.guess') guess your host type, by omitting the
95 CONFIGURATION-NAME argument. If you like to experiment, specify a
96 configuration name in the form MACHINE-VENDOR-OPSYS, for example:
100 See config.guess and configure.in for valid values for MACHINE,
101 VENDOR, and OPSYS. Also check `./etc/MACHINES' for advice on building
102 on particular machines.
104 If you don't want X support, specify `--without-x'. If you omit this
105 option, `configure' will try to autodetect whether your system has X,
106 and arrange to use it if present.
108 The `--x-includes=DIR' and `--x-libraries=DIR' options tell the build
109 process where the compiler should look for the include files and
110 object libraries used with the X Window System. Normally, `configure'
111 is able to find them; these options are necessary if you have your X
112 Window System files installed in unusual places.
114 The `--site-includes=DIR' and `--site-libraries=DIR' options allow you
115 to specify additional places the compiler should look for include
116 files and object libraries. You may specify multiple DIR's by
117 enclosing the list in quotes. All the external packages you want to
118 use with XEmacs (e.g. xpm, wnn, ...) described later should have their
119 include and library directories defined using these options.
121 The `--site-runtime-libraries=DIR' option specifies directories to
122 search for shared libraries at run time. This may be necessary if you
123 link with dynamic libraries that are installed in non-standard
124 directories, or if you expect some of the libraries used to build
125 XEmacs to be in a different directory at run time than at build time.
126 Usually this will add a `-R' to each directory specified and use that
127 when linking XEmacs. If you use this option, you must specify ALL of
128 the directories containing shared libraries at run time, including
131 Rationale: Some people think that directories in --site-libraries
132 should be automatically used to update --site-runtime-libraries.
133 Here's a real-life scenario that explains why this is not done: You
134 build binaries for your company using static libs in
135 /net/toy/hack/lib. XEmacs adds /net/toy/hack/lib to the runpath of
136 the executable you've built. Since there are only static libs there,
137 the system runtime loader will look in this dir, and ignore it,
138 causing only a .01 second delay in starting XEmacs. You leave the
139 company for a job at a small Silicon Valley startup. Time passes.
140 The next guy who inherits your machine objects to working on a machine
141 named `toy', and gets the sysadmin to rename the machine `godzilla'.
142 The SA forgets to remove the old entry for `toy' from the hosts file.
143 Now the system loader will still try to access /net/toy/, and the
144 automounter will hang trying to access /net/toy. XEmacs suddenly
145 takes 30 seconds longer to start up, no one can figure out why, and
146 everyone at your old company curses your name, thinking that you've
147 put a time bomb into XEmacs. And they're right!
149 The `--with-gcc' option specifies that the build process should
150 compile XEmacs using GCC. The `--compiler' option allows you to
151 specify some other compiler to be used to compile XEmacs. If neither
152 option is specified, the environment variable CC is used instead.
153 Otherwise the compiler will then default to 'cc'.
155 The `--cflags' option specifies the CFLAGS the build process should
156 use when compiling XEmacs. Otherwise the value of the environment
157 variable CFLAGS is consulted. If that is also undefined, CFLAGS
158 defaults to "-g -O" for gcc and "-g" for all other compilers.
160 The `--with-gnu-make' option specifies that Makefiles should be
161 written to take advantage of special features of GNU Make. GNU Make
162 works fine on Makefiles even without this option. This flag just
163 allows for simultaneous in-place and --srcdir building.
165 The `--dynamic' option specifies that configure should try to link
166 emacs dynamically rather than statically.
168 The `--const-is-losing' option is for use if you have trouble
169 compiling due to the `const' storage class in C. This is defined by
170 default. Most users should have no need to change this.
172 You can build XEmacs for several different machine types from a single
173 source directory. To do this, you must use a version of `make' that
174 supports the `VPATH' variable, such as GNU `make'. Make separate
175 build directories for the different configuration types, and in each
176 one, run the XEmacs `configure' script. `configure' looks for the
177 Emacs source code in the directory that `configure' is in.
179 The `--prefix=PREFIXDIR' option specifies where the installation process
180 should put XEmacs and its data files. This defaults to `/usr/local'.
181 - XEmacs (and the other utilities users run) go in PREFIXDIR/bin
182 (unless the `--exec-prefix' option says otherwise).
183 - The architecture-independent files go in PREFIXDIR/lib/xemacs-VERSION
184 (where VERSION is the version number of XEmacs, like `21.0').
185 - The architecture-dependent files go in
186 PREFIXDIR/lib/xemacs-VERSION/CONFIGURATION-NAME
187 (where CONFIGURATION-NAME is the host type, like mips-dec-ultrix4.2),
188 unless the `--exec-prefix' option says otherwise.
190 The `--exec-prefix=EXECDIR' option allows you to specify a separate
191 portion of the directory tree for installing architecture-specific
192 files, like executables and utility programs. If specified,
193 - XEmacs (and the other utilities users run) go in EXECDIR/bin, and
194 - The architecture-dependent files go in
195 EXECDIR/lib/xemacs-VERSION/CONFIGURATION-NAME.
196 EXECDIR/bin should be a directory that is normally in users' PATHs.
198 For example, the command
200 ./configure mips-dec-ultrix --with-x11=yes
202 configures XEmacs to build for a DECstation running Ultrix, with
203 support for the X11 window system.
205 The `--with-menubars=TYPE' option allows you to specify which X
206 toolkit you wish to use for the menubar. The valid options are
207 `lucid', `motif' and `no'. The default is `lucid' which is a
208 Motif-lookalike menubar. We highly recommend its usage over the real
209 Motif menubar. (In fact, the Motif menubar is currently broken.) If
210 `no' is specified then support for menubars will not be compiled in.
212 The `--with-scrollbars=TYPE' option allows you to specify which X
213 toolkit you wish to use for the scrollbars. The valid options are
214 `lucid', `motif', `athena', `athena3d', and `no'. The default is
215 `lucid' which is a Motif-lookalike scrollbar. If `no' is specified
216 then support for scrollbars will not be compiled in.
218 The `--with-dialogs=TYPE' option allows you to specify which X toolkit
219 you wish to use for the dialog boxes. The valid options are `athena',
220 `athena3d', `motif, and `no. The `lucid' option is accepted and will
221 result in the `athena' toolkit being used. If the Motif toolkit can be
222 found the default is `motif'. Otherwise, the default is `athena'. If
223 `no' is specified then support for dialog boxes will not be compiled
226 The `--with-toolbars' option allows you to enable or disable toolbar
227 support. The default is `yes' as long as support for a windowing
230 The `--with-xpm' option specifies that XEmacs should support X11
231 Pixmaps. `configure' will attempt to detect if you have the Xpm
232 libraries and define `--with-xpm' for you.
234 The `--with-xface' option specifies that XEmacs should support
235 X-Faces. `configure' will attempt to detect if you have the compface
236 library and define `--with-xface' for you.
238 The `--with-database' option specifies that XEmacs should be built
239 with additional database support. The valid options are `no' or a
240 comma-separated list of one or more of `dbm', `gnudbm' or `berkdb'.
241 `configure' will attempt to detect the necessary libraries and header
242 files and define `--with-database' for you.
244 The `--with-socks' option specifies that XEmacs should be built with
245 SOCKS support. This requires the libsocks library.
247 The `--with-tooltalk' option specifies that XEmacs should be built
248 with ToolTalk support for interconnecting with other applications.
249 ToolTalk is not yet supported on all architectures. If you use this
250 option, you should have the tooltalk package (see etc/PACKAGES)
251 installed prior to building XEmacs.
253 The `--with-sparcworks' option specifies that XEmacs should be built
254 with support for Sun Sparcworks 3.0.1 and up (including Sun WorkShop).
255 This functionality is only of use on SunOS 4.1.x and Solaris 2.x
256 systems. If you use this option, you should have the Sun package (see
257 etc/PACKAGES) installed prior to building XEmacs.
259 The `--with-cde' option allows you to enable or disable CDE drag and
260 drop support. `configure' will attempt to detect this option and
261 define `--with-cde' for you.
263 The `--with-offix' option allows you to enable or disable OffiX drag
264 and drop support. This requires no external library support, so if
265 X11 support is available, then this option defaults to `yes'. OffiX
266 support can be explicitly disabled via the `--with-offix=no' option.
268 The `--external-widget' option specifies that XEmacs should be built
269 with support for being used as a widget by other X11 applications.
270 This functionality should be considered beta.
272 The `--without-xmu' option can be used if your vendor doesn't ship
275 The `--puresize' option can be used to change the amount of purespace
276 allocated for the dumped XEmacs. As of XEmacs 20.1 usage of this
277 parameter is deprecated and will be ignored.
279 The `--with-sound=TYPE' option specifies that XEmacs should be built
280 with sound support. Native (`--with-sound=native') sound support is
281 currently available only on Sun SparcStations, SGI's, HP9000s, and
282 systems (such as Linux) with soundcard.h. Network Audio Support (NAS)
283 (`--with-sound=nas' or `--with-sound=both') is an extension to X that
284 you may or may not have for your system. For NAS, you will probably
285 need to provide the paths to the nas include and library directories
286 to configure. If `--with-sound' is not specified, `configure' will
287 attempt to determine if your configuration supports native sound and
288 define --with-sound for you. If your native sound library is not in a
289 standard location you can specify it with the `--native-sound-lib=LIB'
290 flag. For Linux, `/dev/audio' is required for SunAudio files and
291 `/dev/dsp' is required for raw data and WAVE format files.
293 The `--rel-alloc' option can be used to either enable or disable use
294 of the relocating allocator. Turning on --rel-alloc will allow XEmacs
295 to return unused memory to the operating system, thereby reducing its
296 memory footprint. However, it may make XEmacs runs more slowly,
297 especially if your system's `mmap' implemntation is missing or
298 inefficient. Generally, it's best to go with the default
299 configuration for your system. You can tweak this based on how you
300 use XEmacs, and the memory and cpu resources available on your system.
302 The `--use-system-malloc' option can be use to either enable or
303 disable use of the system malloc. Generally, it's best to go with the
304 default configuration for your system. Note that on many systems
305 using the system malloc disables the use of the relocating allocator.
307 The `--use-debug-malloc' option can be used to link a special debugging
308 version of malloc. Debug Malloc is not included with XEmacs, is
309 intended for use only by the developers and may be obtained from
310 <URL:http://www.letters.com/dmalloc/>.
312 The `--debug' and `--error-checking' options are intended for use only
313 by the developers. `--debug' adds code to be compiled in for
314 performing various tests. `--error-checking' adds additional tests to
315 many of the commonly used macros.
317 The `--verbose' and `--extra-verbose' options are intended for use
318 only by the developers. `--verbose' causes the results of all
319 configure tests to be displayed. `--extra-verbose' displays
320 additional information, useful for debugging. Another help for
321 determining configure failures is the file `config.log', which
322 contains the results of the compile and link tests used by configure.
324 The `--with-mule' option enables (MUlti-Lingual Emacs) support, needed
325 to suport non-Latin-1 (including Asian) languages. The Mule support
326 is not yet as stable or efficient as the `Latin1' support. Enabling
327 Mule support requires the mule-base package installed prior to
328 building XEmacs. The following options require Mule support:
330 The `--with-xim' option enables use of the X11 XIM mechanism to allow
331 an input method to input text into XEmacs. The input method is shared
332 among all the X applications sharing an X display and using the same
333 language. The XIM support comes in two flavors: `motif' and `xlib'.
334 The Motif support (the XmIm* functions) is preferred when available.
335 The xlib XIM support works reasonably well so long as the X11 libraries
336 are recent enough. It has been fairly well tested on Linux with glibc
337 2.0.5 and 2.0.6 and Kinput2 as an XIM server. In this configuration
338 X11 must be recompiled with X_LOCALE defined because glibc is lacking
339 localization for Japanese. The XIM support defaults to `no' except
340 when Motif is detected where it is stable with OSF libraries. The XIM
341 support in Lesstif (a Free Motif replacement) does not work as of
342 v0.82. If you enable this option, you will probably wish to install
343 the `locale' package which contains localized Splash screens and
346 The `--with-xfs' option enables use of a multilingual Menubar. At the
347 present time, only Japanese and French locales are supported. In
348 order to use a multilingual Menubar you must have the `locale' package
349 installed. The `locale' package does not have to be installed when
352 The `--with-canna' option enables the use of the Canna Japanese input
353 method. This is stable code and fairly well tested. In order to use
354 it, you will have to have the Canna server installed and running.
355 Canna versions 3.2pl2 and 3.5b2 are known to work. Version 3.2pl2 is
356 considered most stable than version 3.5b2. If Canna is already
357 installed, configure will autodetect it, so you never need to
358 explicitly use this option unless your Canna libraries are somewhere
359 strange. Canna run time support is currently bundled with the
360 `mule-base' package so there is nothing additional to install in order
363 The `--with-wnn' and `--with-wnn6' options are for compiling with the Wnn
364 multi-language input method. `--with-wnn' is for compiling with Wnn-4.2,
365 the Free version of WNN. `--with-wnn6' is for compiling against WNN6,
366 the commercial version of WNN available from OMRON Corporation. This is
367 stable code and fairly well tested. In order to build with this
368 option, you will need to have the `egg-its' lisp package already
371 Please note that it is safe to build with as many of the options
372 `--with-xim', `--with-canna' and `--with-wnn' as your system
375 `configure' doesn't do any compilation or installation itself. It
376 just creates the files that influence those things: `./src/config.h',
377 and all the Makefile's in the build tree.
379 The `--with-pop', `--with-hesiod', and `--with-kerberos' options are used
380 in conjunction with movemail. As of XEmacs 20.1, movemail is identical
381 to the one used in Emacs.
383 When it is done, `configure' prints a description of what it did and
384 creates a shell script `config.status' which, when run, recreates the
385 same configuration. If `configure' exits with an error after
386 disturbing the status quo, it removes `config.status'.
388 4) Look at `./lisp/paths.el'; if some of those values are not right
389 for your system, set up the file `./lisp/site-init.el' with XEmacs
390 Lisp code to override them; it is not a good idea to edit paths.el
391 itself. YOU MUST USE THE LISP FUNCTION `setq' TO ASSIGN VALUES,
392 rather than `defvar', as used by `./lisp/paths.el'. For example,
394 (setq news-inews-program "/usr/bin/inews")
396 is how you would override the default value of the variable
397 news-inews-program (which is "/usr/local/inews").
399 Before you override a variable this way, *look at the value* that the
400 variable gets by default! Make sure you know what kind of value the
401 variable should have. If you don't pay attention to what you are
402 doing, you'll make a mistake.
404 Things may malfunction if the variable `directory-abbrev-alist' is not set
405 up to translate "temporary" automounter mount points into the canonical
406 form. The default value of this variable contains the translation
410 meaning translate "/tmp_mnt/net/FOO" into "/net/FOO", which is appropriate
411 for the default configuration of the Sun automounter, but which may be
412 inappropriate for different vendor's automounters, or if you have customized
413 your mount-point names.
415 5) Put into `./lisp/site-init.el' or `./lisp/site-load.el' any Emacs
416 Lisp code you want XEmacs to load before it is dumped out. Use
417 site-load.el for additional libraries if you arrange for their
418 documentation strings to be in the lib-src/DOC file (see
419 src/Makefile.in.in if you wish to figure out how to do that). For all
420 else, use site-init.el.
422 If you set load-path to a different value in site-init.el or
423 site-load.el, XEmacs will use *precisely* that value when it starts up
424 again. If you do this, you are on your own!
426 Note that, on some systems, the code you place in site-init.el must
427 not use expand-file-name or any other function which may look
428 something up in the system's password and user information database.
429 See `./PROBLEMS' for more details on which systems this affects.
431 The `site-*.el' files are nonexistent in the distribution. You do not
432 need to create them if you have nothing to put in them.
434 6) Refer to the file `./etc/TERMS' for information on fields you may
435 wish to add to various termcap entries. The files `./etc/termcap.ucb'
436 and `./etc/termcap.dat' may already contain appropriately-modified
439 7) Run `make' in the top directory of the XEmacs distribution to finish
440 building XEmacs in the standard way. The final executable file is
441 named `src/emacs'. You can execute this file "in place" without
442 copying it, if you wish; then it automatically uses the sibling
443 directories ../lisp, ../lib-src, ../info.
445 Or you can "install" the executable and the other XEmacs into their
446 installed locations, with `make install'. By default, XEmacs's files
447 are installed in the following directories:
449 By default, XEmacs installs its files in the following directories:
451 `/usr/local/bin' holds the executable programs users normally run -
452 `xemacs', `etags', `ctags', `b2m', `emacsclient',
453 `gnuclient', `gnudoit', `gnuattach', and `rcs-checkin'.
455 `/usr/local/lib/xemacs-VERSION/lisp' holds the Emacs Lisp libraries;
456 `VERSION' stands for the number of the XEmacs version
457 you are installing, like `18.59' or `19.14'. Since
458 the lisp libraries change from one version of XEmacs to
459 another, including the version number in the path
460 allows you to have several versions of XEmacs installed
461 at the same time; this means that you don't have to
462 make XEmacs unavailable while installing a new version.
464 XEmacs searches for its lisp files in these
465 directories, and then in
466 `/usr/local/lib/xemacs/site-lisp/*'.
468 `/usr/local/lib/xemacs-VERSION/etc' holds the XEmacs tutorial, the
469 `yow' database, and other architecture-independent
470 files XEmacs might need while running. VERSION is as
471 specified for `.../lisp'.
473 `/usr/local/lib/xemacs/lock' contains files indicating who is
474 editing what, so XEmacs can detect editing clashes
477 `/usr/local/lib/xemacs-VERSION/CONFIGURATION-NAME' contains executable
478 programs used by XEmacs that users are not expected to
479 run themselves, and the DOC file. `VERSION' is the
480 number of the XEmacs version you are installing, and
481 `CONFIGURATION-NAME' is the host type of your system.
482 Since these files are specific to the version of
483 XEmacs, operating system, and architecture in use,
484 including the configuration name in the path allows
485 you to have several versions of XEmacs for any mix of
486 machines and operating systems installed at the same
487 time; this is useful for sites at which different
488 kinds of machines share the file system XEmacs is
491 `/usr/local/lib/xemacs-VERSION/info' holds the on-line documentation
492 for XEmacs, known as "info files".
494 `/usr/local/man/man1' holds the man pages for the programs installed
497 If these directories are not what you want, you can specify where to
498 install XEmacs's libraries and data files or where XEmacs should search
499 for its lisp files by giving values for `make' variables as part of
500 the command. See the section below called `MAKE VARIABLES' for more
503 8) If your system uses lock files to interlock access to mailer inbox files,
504 then you might need to make the movemail program setuid or setgid
505 to enable it to write the lock files. We believe this is safe.
506 The setuid/setgid bits need not be set on any other XEmacs-related
509 9) You are done with the hard part! You can remove executables and
510 object files from the build directory by typing `make clean'. To also
511 remove the files that `configure' created (so you can compile XEmacs
512 for a different configuration), type `make distclean'.
514 10) You should now go to the XEmacs web page at http://www.xemacs.org/
515 and decide what additional Lisp support you wish to have.
519 You can change where the build process installs XEmacs and its data
520 files by specifying values for `make' variables as part of the `make'
521 command line. For example, if you type
523 make install bindir=/usr/local/gnubin
525 the `bindir=/usr/local/gnubin' argument indicates that the XEmacs
526 executable files should go in `/usr/local/gnubin', not
529 Here is a complete list of the variables you may want to set.
531 `bindir' indicates where to put executable programs that users can
532 run. This defaults to /usr/local/bin.
534 `datadir' indicates where to put the architecture-independent
535 read-only data files that XEmacs refers to while it runs; it
536 defaults to /usr/local/lib. We create the following
537 subdirectories under `datadir':
538 - `xemacs-VERSION/lisp', containing the XEmacs lisp libraries, and
540 - `xemacs-VERSION/etc', containing the XEmacs tutorial and the
542 `VERSION' is the number of the XEmacs version you are installing,
543 like `18.59' or `19.14'. Since these files vary from one version
544 of XEmacs to another, including the version number in the path
545 allows you to have several versions of XEmacs installed at the
546 same time; this means that you don't have to make XEmacs
547 unavailable while installing a new version.
549 `statedir' indicates where to put architecture-independent data files
550 that XEmacs modifies while it runs; it defaults to
551 /usr/local/lib as well. We create the following
552 subdirectories under `statedir':
553 - `xemacs/lock', containing files indicating who is editing
554 what, so XEmacs can detect editing clashes between
557 `libdir' indicates where to put architecture-specific data files that
558 XEmacs refers to as it runs; it too defaults to `/usr/local/lib'.
559 We create the following subdirectories under `libdir':
560 - `xemacs-VERSION/CONFIGURATION-NAME', containing executable
561 programs used by XEmacs that users are not expected to run
562 themselves and the DOC file.
563 `VERSION' is the number of the XEmacs version you are installing,
564 and `CONFIGURATION-NAME' is the host type of your system.
565 Since these files are specific to the version of XEmacs,
566 operating system, and architecture in use, including the
567 configuration name in the path allows you to have several
568 versions of XEmacs for any mix of machines and operating
569 systems installed at the same time; this is useful for sites
570 at which different kinds of machines share the file system
571 XEmacs is installed on.
573 `infodir' indicates where to put the info files distributed with
574 XEmacs; it defaults to `/usr/local/lib/xemacs-VERSION/info'.
576 `mandir' indicates where to put the man pages for XEmacs and its
577 utilities (like `etags'); it defaults to
578 `/usr/local/man/man1'.
580 `prefix' doesn't give a path for any specific part of XEmacs; instead,
581 its value is used to determine the defaults for all the
582 architecture-independent path variables - `datadir',
583 `statedir', `infodir', and `mandir'. Its default value is
584 `/usr/local'; the other variables add on `lib' or `man' to it
587 For example, suppose your site generally places GNU software
588 under `/usr/users/software/gnusoft' instead of `/usr/local'.
590 `prefix=/usr/users/software/gnusoft'
591 in the arguments to `make', you can instruct the build process
592 to place all of the XEmacs data files in the appropriate
593 directories under that path.
595 `exec_prefix' serves the same purpose as `prefix', but instead
596 determines the default values for the architecture-dependent
597 path variables - `bindir' and `libdir'.
599 The above variables serve analogous purposes in the makefiles for all
600 GNU software; here are some variables specific to XEmacs.
602 `lispdir' indicates where XEmacs installs and expects its lisp
603 libraries. Its default value, based on `datadir' (see above),
604 is `/usr/local/lib/xemacs-VERSION/lisp' (where `VERSION' is as
607 `sitelispdir' indicates where XEmacs should search for lisp libraries
608 specific to your site. XEmacs checks them in order before
609 checking `lispdir'. Its default value, based on `datadir'
610 (see above), is `/usr/local/lib/xemacs/site-lisp'.
612 `etcdir' indicates where XEmacs should install and expect the rest of
613 its architecture-independent data, like the tutorial and yow
614 database. Its default value, based on `datadir'
615 (see above), is `/usr/local/lib/xemacs-VERSION/etc' (where
616 `VERSION' is as described above).
618 `lockdir' indicates the directory where XEmacs keeps track of its
619 locking information. Its default value, based on `statedir'
620 (see above), is `/usr/local/lib/xemacs/lock'.
622 `archlibdir' indicates where XEmacs installs and expects the
623 executable files and other architecture-dependent data it uses
624 while running. Its default value, based on `libdir' (see
625 above), is `/usr/local/lib/xemacs-VERSION/CONFIGURATION-NAME'
626 (where VERSION and CONFIGURATION-NAME are as described above).
628 Remember that you must specify any variable values you need each time
629 you run `make' in the top directory. If you run `make' once to build
630 xemacs, test it, and then run `make' again to install the files, you
631 must provide the same variable settings each time. To make the
632 settings persist, you can edit them into the `Makefile' in the top
633 directory, but be aware that running the `configure' program erases
634 `Makefile' and rebuilds it from `Makefile.in'.
636 The top-level Makefile stores the variable settings it used in the
637 Makefiles for the subdirectories, so you don't have to specify them
638 when running make in the subdirectories.
641 CONFIGURATION BY HAND
643 Instead of running the `configure' program, you have to perform the
646 1) Copy `./src/config.h.in' to `./src/config.h'.
648 2) Consult `./etc/MACHINES' to see what configuration name you should
649 use for your system. Look at the code of the `configure' script to
650 see which operating system and architecture description files from
651 `src/s' and `src/m' should be used for that configuration name. Edit
652 `src/config.h', and change the two `#include' directives to include
653 the appropriate system and architecture description files.
655 2) Edit `./src/config.h' to set the right options for your system. If
656 you need to override any of the definitions in the s/*.h and m/*.h
657 files for your system and machine, do so by editing config.h, not by
658 changing the s/*.h and m/*.h files. Occasionally you may need to
659 redefine parameters used in `./lib-src/movemail.c'.
661 3) If you're going to use the make utility to build XEmacs, you will
662 still need to run `configure' first, giving the appropriate values for
663 the variables in the sections entitled "Things `configure' Might Edit"
664 and "Where To Install Things." Note that you may only need to change
665 the variables `prefix' and `exec_prefix', since the rest of the
666 variables have reasonable defaults based on them. For each Makefile
667 variable of this type, there is a corresponding configure option; for
668 example, to change the location of the lock directory, you might use
670 ./configure --lockdir=/nfs/xemacslock
672 The `configure' script is built from `configure.in' by the `autoconf'
673 program. However, since XEmacs has configuration requirements that
674 autoconf can't meet, `configure.in' uses a marriage of custom-baked
675 configuration code and autoconf macros. New versions of autoconf
676 could very well break this arrangement, so it may be wise to avoid
677 rebuilding `configure' from `configure.in' when possible.
680 BUILDING XEMACS BY HAND
682 Once XEmacs is configured, running `make' in the top directory performs
685 1) Run `make src/paths.h' in the top directory. This produces
686 `./src/paths.h' from the template file `./src/paths.h.in', changing
687 the paths to the values specified in `./Makefile'.
689 2) Cd to `./lib-src' and run `make'. This creates executables named
690 `ctags' and `etags' and `wakeup' and `make-docfile' and `digest-doc'
691 and `test-distrib'. And others.
693 3) Cd to `./src' and Run `make'. This refers to files in the `./lisp'
694 and `./lib-src' subdirectories using names `../lisp' and
697 This creates a file `./src/xemacs' which is the runnable XEmacs,
698 assigning it a new build version number by incrementing the build
699 version stored in `./lisp/version.el'.
701 It also creates a file in `./lib-src' whose name is `DOC' followed by
702 the current XEmacs version. This file contains documentation strings
703 for all the functions in XEmacs. Each time you run make to make a new
704 xemacs, a new DOC file with a new name is made. You must keep the DOC
705 file for an XEmacs version as long as you keep using that XEmacs
711 The steps below are done by running `make install' in the main
712 directory of the XEmacs distribution.
714 1) Copy `./lisp' and its subdirectories, `./etc', and the executables
715 in `./lib-src' to their final destinations, as selected in `./src/paths.h'.
717 Strictly speaking, not all of the executables in `./lib-src' need be copied.
718 - The programs `cvtmail', `emacsserver', `env', `fakemail', `hexl',
719 `movemail', `timer', `vcdiff', `wakeup', and `yow' are used by
720 XEmacs; they do need to be copied.
721 - The programs `etags', `ctags', `emacsclient', `b2m', `rcs2log',
722 `gnuclient', `gnudoit', and `gnuattach' are intended to be run
723 by users; they are handled below.
724 - The programs `make-docfile' and `test-distrib' were
725 used in building XEmacs, and are not needed any more.
726 - The programs `digest-doc' and `sorted-doc' convert a `DOC' file into
727 a file for users to read. There is no important reason to move them.
729 2) Copy the files in `./info' to the place specified in
730 `./lisp/site-init.el' or `./lisp/paths.el'. Note that if the
731 destination directory already contains a file named `dir', you
732 probably don't want to replace it with the `dir' file in the XEmacs
733 distribution. Instead, you should make sure that the existing `dir'
734 file contains an appropriate menu entry for the XEmacs info.
736 3) Create a directory for XEmacs to use for clash detection, named as
737 indicated by the PATH_LOCK macro in `./src/paths.h'.
739 4) Copy `./src/xemacs' to `/usr/local/bin', or to some other directory
740 in users' search paths. `./src/xemacs' has an alternate name
741 `./src/emacs-EMACSVERSION'; you may wish to make a symbolic link named
742 `/usr/local/bin/xemacs' pointing to that alternate name, as an easy way
743 of installing different versions.
745 You can delete `./src/temacs'.
747 5) Copy the programs `b2m', `emacsclient', `ctags', `etags', `rcs2log',
748 `gnuclient', `gnudoit', and `gnuattach' from `./lib-src' to
749 `/usr/local/bin'. These programs are intended for users to run.
751 6) Copy the man pages in `./etc' for xemacs, ctags, etags, and gnuserv
752 into the appropriate man directories.
754 7) The files in the `./src' subdirectory, except for `xemacs', are not
755 used by XEmacs once it is built. The source would be handy for
761 See the file PROBLEMS in this directory for a list of various
762 problems sometimes encountered, and what to do about them.
765 If all else fails, please see etc/InstallGuide courtesy
766 of Jonathan Seth Hayward.