1 This is ../info/xemacs-faq.info, produced by makeinfo version 4.8 from
4 INFO-DIR-SECTION XEmacs Editor
6 * FAQ: (xemacs-faq). XEmacs FAQ.
10 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Top, Next: Introduction, Prev: (dir), Up: (dir)
15 This is the guide to the XEmacs Frequently Asked Questions list--a
16 compendium of questions and answers pertaining to one of the finest
17 programs ever written. XEmacs is much more than just a Text Editor.
19 This FAQ is freely redistributable. This FAQ is distributed in the
20 hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the
21 implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
23 If you have a Web browser, the official hypertext version is at
24 `http://www.xemacs.org/FAQ/xemacs-faq.html'
28 * Introduction:: Introduction, Policy, Credits.
29 * Installation:: Installation and Troubleshooting.
30 * Editing:: Editing Functions.
31 * Display:: Display Functions.
32 * External Subsystems:: Interfacing with the OS and External Devices.
33 * Internet:: Connecting to the Internet.
34 * Advanced:: Advanced Customization Using XEmacs Lisp.
35 * Other Packages:: Other External Packages.
36 * Current Events:: What the Future Holds.
37 * Legacy Versions:: New information about old XEmacsen.
39 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
41 1 Introduction, Policy, Credits
44 * Q1.0.1:: What is XEmacs?
45 * Q1.0.2:: What is the current version of XEmacs?
46 * Q1.0.3:: How do you pronounce XEmacs?
47 * Q1.0.4:: What does XEmacs look like?
48 * Q1.0.5:: Who wrote XEmacs?
49 * Q1.0.6:: Who wrote the FAQ?
52 * Q1.1.1:: Where can I find XEmacs?
53 * Q1.1.2:: Are binaries available?
54 * Q1.1.3:: How do I get the bleeding-edge sources?
55 * Q1.1.4:: Where can I obtain a printed copy of the XEmacs User's Manual?
57 1.2: Versions for Different Operating Systems
58 * Q1.2.1:: Do I need X11 to run XEmacs?
59 * Q1.2.2:: What versions of Unix does XEmacs run on?
60 * Q1.2.3:: Is there a port of XEmacs to Microsoft Windows?
61 * Q1.2.4:: Can I build XEmacs on MS Windows with X support? Do I need to?
62 * Q1.2.5:: What are Cygwin and MinGW, and do I need them to run XEmacs?
63 * Q1.2.6:: What are the differences between the various MS Windows emacsen?
64 * Q1.2.7:: How does the port cope with differences in the Windows user interface?
65 * Q1.2.8:: Is there a port of XEmacs to the Macintosh?
66 * Q1.2.9:: Is there a port of XEmacs to MS-DOS?
67 * Q1.2.10:: Is there a port of XEmacs to OS/2?
68 * Q1.2.11:: Is there a port of XEmacs to NextStep?
69 * Q1.2.12:: Is there a port of XEmacs to VMS?
72 * Q1.3.1:: What is an `init.el' or `.emacs' and is there a sample one?
73 * Q1.3.2:: Where do I put my `init.el' file?
74 * Q1.3.3:: Can I use the same `init.el' with the other Emacs?
75 * Q1.3.4:: Any good XEmacs tutorials around?
76 * Q1.3.5:: May I see an example of a useful XEmacs Lisp function?
77 * Q1.3.6:: And how do I bind it to a key?
78 * Q1.3.7:: What's the difference between a macro and a function?
79 * Q1.3.8:: What is `Custom'?
82 * Q1.4.1:: Where can I get help?
83 * Q1.4.2:: Which mailing lists are there?
84 * Q1.4.3:: Where are the mailing lists archived?
85 * Q1.4.4:: How can I get two instances of info?
86 * Q1.4.5:: How do I add new Info directories?
88 1.5: Contributing to XEmacs
89 * Q1.5.1:: How do I submit changes to the FAQ?
90 * Q1.5.2:: How do I become a beta tester?
91 * Q1.5.3:: How do I contribute to XEmacs itself?
92 * Q1.5.4:: How do I get started developing XEmacs?
93 * Q1.5.5:: What's the basic layout of the code?
95 1.6: Politics (XEmacs vs. GNU Emacs)
96 * Q1.6.1:: What is GNU Emacs?
97 * Q1.6.2:: How does XEmacs differ from GNU Emacs?
98 * Q1.6.3:: How much does XEmacs differ?
99 * Q1.6.4:: Is XEmacs "GNU"?
100 * Q1.6.5:: What is the correct way to refer to XEmacs and GNU Emacs?
101 * Q1.6.6:: Why haven't XEmacs and GNU Emacs merged?
103 1.7: External Packages
104 * Q1.7.1:: What is the package system?
105 * Q1.7.2:: Which external packages are there?
106 * Q1.7.3:: Do I need to have the packages to run XEmacs?
107 * Q1.7.4:: Is there a way to find which package has particular functionality?
109 1.8: Internationalization
110 * Q1.8.1:: What is the status of internationalization support aka MULE (including Asian language support)?
111 * Q1.8.2:: How can I help with internationalization?
112 * Q1.8.3:: How do I type non-ASCII characters?
113 * Q1.8.4:: Can XEmacs messages come out in a different language?
114 * Q1.8.5:: Please explain the various input methods in MULE/XEmacs
115 * Q1.8.6:: How do I portably code for MULE/XEmacs?
116 * Q1.8.7:: How about Cyrillic modes?
117 * Q1.8.8:: Does XEmacs support Unicode?
118 * Q1.8.9:: How does XEmacs display Unicode?
120 2 Installation and Troubleshooting
122 2.0: Installation (General)
123 * Q2.0.1:: How do I build and install XEmacs?
124 * Q2.0.2:: Where do I find external libraries?
125 * Q2.0.3:: How do I specify the paths that XEmacs uses for finding files?
126 * Q2.0.4:: Running XEmacs without installing
127 * Q2.0.5:: XEmacs is too big
129 2.1: Package Installation
130 * Q2.1.1:: How do I install the packages?
131 * Q2.1.2:: Can I install the packages individually?
132 * Q2.1.3:: Can I install the packages automatically?
133 * Q2.1.4:: Can I upgrade or remove packages?
134 * Q2.1.5:: Which packages to install?
135 * Q2.1.6:: Can you describe the package location process in more detail?
136 * Q2.1.7:: EFS fails with "500 AUTH not understood"
138 2.2: Unix/Mac OS X Installation (Also Relevant to Cygwin, MinGW)
139 * Q2.2.1:: Libraries in non-standard locations
140 * Q2.2.2:: Why can't I strip XEmacs?
142 2.3: Windows Installation (Windows, Cygwin, MinGW)
143 * Q2.3.1:: What exactly are all the different ways to build XEmacs under Windows?
144 * Q2.3.2:: What compiler/libraries do I need to compile XEmacs?
145 * Q2.3.3:: How do I compile the native port?
146 * Q2.3.4:: What do I need for Cygwin?
147 * Q2.3.5:: How do I compile under Cygwin?
148 * Q2.3.6:: How do I compile using MinGW (aka `the -mno-cygwin flag to gcc')?
149 * Q2.3.7:: How do I compile with X support?
150 * Q2.3.8:: Cygwin XEmacs won't start -- cygXpm-noX4.dll was not found (NEW)
152 2.4: General Troubleshooting
153 * Q2.4.1:: How do I deal with bugs or with problems building, installing, or running?
154 * Q2.4.2:: Help! XEmacs just crashed on me!
155 * Q2.4.3:: XEmacs crashes and I compiled it myself.
156 * Q2.4.4:: How to debug an XEmacs problem with a debugger
157 * Q2.4.5:: I get a cryptic error message when trying to do something.
158 * Q2.4.6:: XEmacs hangs when I try to do something.
159 * Q2.4.7:: I get an error message when XEmacs is running in batch mode.
160 * Q2.4.8:: The keyboard or mouse is not working properly, or I have some other event-related problem.
161 * Q2.4.9:: C-g doesn't work for me. Is it broken?
162 * Q2.4.10:: How do I debug process-related problems?
163 * Q2.4.11:: XEmacs is outputting lots of X errors.
164 * Q2.4.12:: After upgrading, XEmacs won't do `foo' any more!
166 2.5: Startup-Related Problems
167 * Q2.5.1:: XEmacs cannot connect to my X Terminal!
168 * Q2.5.2:: Startup problems related to paths or package locations.
169 * Q2.5.3:: XEmacs won't start without network.
170 * Q2.5.4:: Startup warnings about deducing proper fonts?
171 * Q2.5.5:: Warnings from incorrect key modifiers.
172 * Q2.5.6:: XEmacs 21.1 on Windows used to spawn an ugly console window on every startup. Has that been fixed?
177 * Q3.0.1:: How can I customize the keyboard?
178 * Q3.0.2:: How can I bind complex functions (or macros) to keys?
179 * Q3.0.3:: How do I bind C-. and C-; to scroll one line up and down?
180 * Q3.0.4:: Globally binding Delete?
181 * Q3.0.5:: How to map Help key alone on Sun type4 keyboard?
182 * Q3.0.6:: How can you type in special characters in XEmacs?
183 * Q3.0.7:: Can I turn on "sticky" modifier keys?
184 * Q3.0.8:: How do I map the arrow keys?
185 * Q3.0.9:: HP Alt key as Meta.
186 * Q3.0.10:: Why does edt emulation not work?
187 * Q3.0.11:: How can I emulate VI and use it as my default mode?
190 * Q3.1.1:: How can I turn off Mouse pasting?
191 * Q3.1.2:: How do I set control/meta/etc modifiers on mouse buttons?
192 * Q3.1.3:: Clicking the left button does not do anything in buffer list.
193 * Q3.1.4:: How can I get a list of buffers when I hit mouse button 3?
194 * Q3.1.5:: How can I set XEmacs up so that it pastes where the text cursor is?
196 3.2: Buffers, Text Editing
197 * Q3.2.1:: Can I have the end of the buffer delimited in some way?
198 * Q3.2.2:: How do I insert today's date into a buffer?
199 * Q3.2.3:: How do I get a single minibuffer frame?
200 * Q3.2.4:: How can I enable auto-indent and/or Filladapt?
201 * Q3.2.5:: How can I get XEmacs to come up in text/auto-fill mode by default?
204 * Q3.3.1:: How do I select a rectangular region?
205 * Q3.3.2:: How can I turn off or change highlighted selections?
206 * Q3.3.3:: How do I cause typing on an active region to remove it?
207 * Q3.3.4:: Can I turn off the highlight during isearch?
208 * Q3.3.5:: Why is killing so slow?
209 * Q3.3.6:: Why does M-w take so long?
211 3.4: Editing Source Code
212 * Q3.4.1:: I do not like cc-mode. How do I use the old c-mode?
213 * Q3.4.2:: How do you make XEmacs indent CL if-clauses correctly?
217 4.0: Textual Fonts and Colors
218 * Q4.0.1:: How do I specify a font?
219 * Q4.0.2:: How do I set the text, menu and modeline fonts?
220 * Q4.0.3:: How can I set color options from `init.el'?
221 * Q4.0.4:: How can I set the colors when highlighting a region?
222 * Q4.0.5:: How can I limit color map usage?
223 * Q4.0.6:: My tty supports color, but XEmacs doesn't use them.
224 * Q4.0.7:: Can I have pixmap backgrounds in XEmacs?
225 * Q4.0.8:: How do I display non-ASCII characters?
226 * Q4.0.9:: Font selections in don't get saved after `Save Options'.
228 4.1: Syntax Highlighting (Font Lock)
229 * Q4.1.1:: How can I do source code highlighting using font-lock?
230 * Q4.1.2:: How do I get `More' Syntax Highlighting on by default?
233 * Q4.2.1:: How can I make the modeline go away?
234 * Q4.2.2:: How do you have XEmacs display the line number in the modeline?
235 * Q4.2.3:: How do I get XEmacs to put the time of day on the modeline?
236 * Q4.2.4:: How can I change the modeline color based on the mode used?
239 * Q4.3.1:: Is there a way to make the bar cursor thicker?
240 * Q4.3.2:: Is there a way to get back the block cursor?
241 * Q4.3.3:: Can I make the cursor blink?
244 * Q4.4.1:: How do I get rid of the menubar?
245 * Q4.4.2:: How can I customize the menubar?
246 * Q4.4.3:: How do I enable use of the keyboard (Alt) to access menu items?
247 * Q4.4.4:: How do I control how many buffers are listed in the menu `Buffers List'?
248 * Q4.4.5:: Resources like `Emacs*menubar*font' are not working?
251 * Q4.5.1:: How do I get rid of the toolbar?
252 * Q4.5.2:: How can I customize the toolbar?
253 * Q4.5.3:: How can I bind a key to a function to toggle the toolbar?
254 * Q4.5.4:: `Can't instantiate image error...' in toolbar
256 4.6: Scrollbars and Scrolling
257 * Q4.6.1:: How can I disable the scrollbar?
258 * Q4.6.2:: How can I change the scrollbar width?
259 * Q4.6.3:: How can I use resources to change scrollbar colors?
260 * Q4.6.4:: Moving the scrollbar can move the point; can I disable this?
261 * Q4.6.5:: Scrolling one line at a time.
262 * Q4.6.6:: How can I turn off automatic horizontal scrolling in specific modes?
263 * Q4.6.7:: I find auto-show-mode disconcerting. How do I turn it off?
265 4.7: The Gutter Tabs, The Progress Bar, Widgets
266 * Q4.7.1:: How can I disable the gutter tabs?
267 * Q4.7.2:: How can I disable the progress bar?
268 * Q4.7.3:: There are bugs in the gutter or widgets.
269 * Q4.7.4:: How can I customize the gutter or gutter tabs?
271 5 Interfacing with the Operating System and External Devices
273 5.0: X Window System and Resources
274 * Q5.0.1:: Where is a list of X resources?
275 * Q5.0.2:: How can I detect a color display?
276 * Q5.0.3:: How can I get the icon to just say `XEmacs'?
277 * Q5.0.4:: How can I have the window title area display the full path?
278 * Q5.0.5:: `xemacs -name junk' doesn't work?
279 * Q5.0.6:: `-iconic' doesn't work.
281 5.1: Microsoft Windows
282 * Q5.1.1:: Does XEmacs rename all the `win32-*' symbols to `w32-*'?
283 * Q5.1.2:: How do I get Windows Explorer to associate a file type with XEmacs?
286 * Q5.2.1:: What do I need to change to make printing work?
287 * Q5.2.2:: How can I print WYSIWYG a font-locked buffer?
288 * Q5.2.3:: Getting M-x lpr to work with postscript printer.
289 * Q5.2.4:: Can you print under MS Windows?
292 * Q5.3.1:: How do I turn off the sound?
293 * Q5.3.2:: How do I get funky sounds instead of a boring beep?
294 * Q5.3.3:: What are NAS and ESD (EsounD)?
295 * Q5.3.4:: Sunsite sounds don't play.
297 5.4: Running an Interior Shell, Invoking Subprocesses
298 * Q5.4.1:: What is an interior shell?
299 * Q5.4.2:: How do I start up a second shell buffer?
300 * Q5.4.3:: Telnet from shell filters too much
301 * Q5.4.4:: Strange things are happening in Shell Mode.
302 * Q5.4.5:: XEmacs complains "No such file or directory, diff"
303 * Q5.4.6:: Cygwin error "fork_copy: linked dll/bss pass 0 failed"
305 5.5: Multiple Device Support
306 * Q5.5.1:: How do I open a frame on another screen of my multi-headed display?
307 * Q5.5.2:: Can I really connect to a running XEmacs after calling up over a modem? How?
308 * Q5.5.3:: How do I disable gnuserv from opening a new frame?
309 * Q5.5.4:: How do I start gnuserv so that each subsequent XEmacs is a client?
310 * Q5.5.5:: Is there a way to start a new XEmacs if there's no gnuserv running, and otherwise use gnuclient?
312 6 Connecting to the Internet
314 6.0: General Mail and News
315 * Q6.0.1:: What are the various packages for reading mail?
316 * Q6.0.2:: How can I send mail?
317 * Q6.0.3:: How do I get my outgoing mail archived?
318 * Q6.0.4:: How can I read and/or compose MIME messages?
319 * Q6.0.5:: How do I customize the From line?
320 * Q6.0.6:: How do I get my MUA to filter mail for me?
321 * Q6.0.7:: Remote mail reading with an MUA.
322 * Q6.0.8:: An MUA gets an error incorporating new mail.
323 * Q6.0.9:: Why isn't `movemail' working?
324 * Q6.0.10:: How do I make my MUA display graphical smilies?
325 * Q6.0.11:: How can I get those oh-so-neat X-Face lines?
327 6.1: Reading Mail with VM
328 * Q6.1.1:: How do I set up VM to retrieve mail from a remote site using POP?
329 * Q6.1.2:: How can I get VM to automatically check for new mail?
330 * Q6.1.3:: I have various addresses at which I receive mail. How can I tell VM to ignore them when doing a "reply-all"?
331 * Q6.1.4:: Is there a mailing list or FAQ for VM?
332 * Q6.1.5:: How do I make VM stay in a single frame?
333 * Q6.1.6:: Customization of VM not covered in the manual, or here.
335 6.2: Reading Netnews and Mail with Gnus
336 * Q6.2.1:: GNUS, (ding) Gnus, Gnus 5, September Gnus, Red Gnus, Quassia Gnus, argh!
337 * Q6.2.2:: How do I make Gnus stay within a single frame?
340 * Q6.3.1:: Can I edit files on other hosts?
341 * Q6.3.2:: What is EFS?
343 6.4: Web Browsing with W3
344 * Q6.4.1:: What is W3?
345 * Q6.4.2:: How do I run W3 from behind a firewall?
346 * Q6.4.3:: Is it true that W3 supports style sheets and tables?
348 7 Advanced Customization Using XEmacs Lisp
350 7.0: Emacs Lisp and `init.el'
351 * Q7.0.1:: What version of Emacs am I running?
352 * Q7.0.2:: How can I evaluate Emacs-Lisp expressions?
353 * Q7.0.3:: `(setq tab-width 6)' behaves oddly.
354 * Q7.0.4:: How can I add directories to the `load-path'?
355 * Q7.0.5:: How to check if a lisp function is defined?
356 * Q7.0.6:: Can I force the output of `(face-list)' to a buffer?
358 7.1: Emacs Lisp Programming Techniques
359 * Q7.1.1:: What is the difference in key sequences between XEmacs and GNU Emacs?
360 * Q7.1.2:: Can I generate "fake" keyboard events?
361 * Q7.1.3:: Could you explain `read-kbd-macro' in more detail?
362 * Q7.1.4:: What is the performance hit of `let'?
363 * Q7.1.5:: What is the recommended use of `setq'?
364 * Q7.1.6:: What is the typical misuse of `setq'?
365 * Q7.1.7:: I like the `do' form of cl, does it slow things down?
366 * Q7.1.8:: I like recursion, does it slow things down?
367 * Q7.1.9:: How do I put a glyph as annotation in a buffer?
368 * Q7.1.10:: `map-extents' won't traverse all of my extents!
369 * Q7.1.11:: My elisp program is horribly slow. Is there an easy way to find out where it spends time?
372 * Q7.2.1:: What are bignums, ratios, and bigfloats in Lisp?
373 * Q7.2.2:: XEmacs segfaults when I use very big numbers!
374 * Q7.2.3:: Bignums are really slow!
375 * Q7.2.4:: Equal bignums don't compare as equal! What gives?
377 8 Other External Packages
380 * Q8.0.1:: Is there something better than LaTeX mode?
381 * Q8.0.2:: What is AUCTeX? Where do you get it?
382 * Q8.0.3:: Problems installing AUCTeX.
383 * Q8.0.4:: How do I turn off current chapter from AUCTeX modeline?
385 8.1: Other Unbundled Packages
386 * Q8.1.1:: Is there a reason for an Emacs package not to be included in XEmacs?
387 * Q8.1.2:: Are there any Emacs Lisp Spreadsheets?
388 * Q8.1.3:: Is there a MatLab mode?
390 8.2: Environments Built Around XEmacs
391 * Q8.2.1:: What are SPARCworks, EOS, and WorkShop?
392 * Q8.2.2:: How do I start the Sun Workshop support in XEmacs 21?
393 * Q8.2.3:: What is/was Energize?
394 * Q8.2.4:: What is Infodock?
396 9 What the Future Holds
399 * Q9.0.1:: What new features will be in XEmacs soon?
400 * Q9.0.2:: What's new in XEmacs 21.4?
401 * Q9.0.3:: What's new in XEmacs 21.1?
402 * Q9.0.4:: What's new in XEmacs 20.4?
403 * Q9.0.5:: What's new in XEmacs 20.3?
404 * Q9.0.6:: What's new in XEmacs 20.2?
406 10 New information about old XEmacsen
409 * Q10.0.1:: Gnus 5.10 won't display smileys in XEmacs 21.1.
410 * Q10.0.2:: XEmacs won't start on Windows in XEmacs 21.1.
413 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Introduction, Next: Installation, Prev: Top, Up: Top
415 1 Introduction, Policy, Credits
416 *******************************
418 Learning XEmacs is a lifelong activity. Even people who have used Emacs
419 for years keep discovering new features. Therefore this document cannot
420 be complete. Instead it is aimed at the person who is either
421 considering XEmacs for their own use, or has just obtained it and is
422 wondering what to do next. It is also useful as a reference to
425 The previous maintainer of the FAQ was Anthony Rossini
426 <rossini@biostat.washington.edu>, who started it, after getting tired
427 of hearing JWZ complain about repeatedly having to answer questions.
428 Ben Wing <ben@xemacs.org> then took over and did a massive update
429 reorganizing the whole thing. At this point Anthony took back over,
430 but then had to give it up again. Some of the other contributors to
431 this FAQ are listed later in this document.
433 The previous version was converted to hypertext format, and edited by
434 Steven L. Baur <steve@xemacs.org>. It was converted back to texinfo by
435 Hrvoje Niksic <hniksic@xemacs.org>. The FAQ was then maintained by
436 Andreas Kaempf <andreas@sccon.com>, who passed it on to ChristianNyb/o,
437 and then to Sandra Wambold <wambold@xemacs.org>.
439 The current version of the FAQ has been heavily redone by Ben Wing
442 If you notice any errors or items which should be added or amended to
443 this FAQ please send email to <xemacs-beta@xemacs.org>. Include
444 `XEmacs FAQ' on the Subject: line.
449 * Q1.0.1:: What is XEmacs?
450 * Q1.0.2:: What is the current version of XEmacs?
451 * Q1.0.3:: How do you pronounce XEmacs?
452 * Q1.0.4:: What does XEmacs look like?
453 * Q1.0.5:: Who wrote XEmacs?
454 * Q1.0.6:: Who wrote the FAQ?
457 * Q1.1.1:: Where can I find XEmacs?
458 * Q1.1.2:: Are binaries available?
459 * Q1.1.3:: How do I get the bleeding-edge sources?
460 * Q1.1.4:: Where can I obtain a printed copy of the XEmacs User's Manual?
462 1.2: Versions for Different Operating Systems
463 * Q1.2.1:: Do I need X11 to run XEmacs?
464 * Q1.2.2:: What versions of Unix does XEmacs run on?
465 * Q1.2.3:: Is there a port of XEmacs to Microsoft Windows?
466 * Q1.2.4:: Can I build XEmacs on MS Windows with X support? Do I need to?
467 * Q1.2.5:: What are Cygwin and MinGW, and do I need them to run XEmacs?
468 * Q1.2.6:: What are the differences between the various MS Windows emacsen?
469 * Q1.2.7:: How does the port cope with differences in the Windows user interface?
470 * Q1.2.8:: Is there a port of XEmacs to the Macintosh?
471 * Q1.2.9:: Is there a port of XEmacs to MS-DOS?
472 * Q1.2.10:: Is there a port of XEmacs to OS/2?
473 * Q1.2.11:: Is there a port of XEmacs to NextStep?
474 * Q1.2.12:: Is there a port of XEmacs to VMS?
477 * Q1.3.1:: What is an `init.el' or `.emacs' and is there a sample one?
478 * Q1.3.2:: Where do I put my `init.el' file?
479 * Q1.3.3:: Can I use the same `init.el' with the other Emacs?
480 * Q1.3.4:: Any good XEmacs tutorials around?
481 * Q1.3.5:: May I see an example of a useful XEmacs Lisp function?
482 * Q1.3.6:: And how do I bind it to a key?
483 * Q1.3.7:: What's the difference between a macro and a function?
484 * Q1.3.8:: What is `Custom'?
487 * Q1.4.1:: Where can I get help?
488 * Q1.4.2:: Which mailing lists are there?
489 * Q1.4.3:: Where are the mailing lists archived?
490 * Q1.4.4:: How can I get two instances of info?
491 * Q1.4.5:: How do I add new Info directories?
493 1.5: Contributing to XEmacs
494 * Q1.5.1:: How do I submit changes to the FAQ?
495 * Q1.5.2:: How do I become a beta tester?
496 * Q1.5.3:: How do I contribute to XEmacs itself?
497 * Q1.5.4:: How do I get started developing XEmacs?
498 * Q1.5.5:: What's the basic layout of the code?
500 1.6: Politics (XEmacs vs. GNU Emacs)
501 * Q1.6.1:: What is GNU Emacs?
502 * Q1.6.2:: How does XEmacs differ from GNU Emacs?
503 * Q1.6.3:: How much does XEmacs differ?
504 * Q1.6.4:: Is XEmacs "GNU"?
505 * Q1.6.5:: What is the correct way to refer to XEmacs and GNU Emacs?
506 * Q1.6.6:: Why haven't XEmacs and GNU Emacs merged?
508 1.7: External Packages
509 * Q1.7.1:: What is the package system?
510 * Q1.7.2:: Which external packages are there?
511 * Q1.7.3:: Do I need to have the packages to run XEmacs?
512 * Q1.7.4:: Is there a way to find which package has particular functionality?
514 1.8: Internationalization
515 * Q1.8.1:: What is the status of internationalization support aka MULE (including Asian language support)?
516 * Q1.8.2:: How can I help with internationalization?
517 * Q1.8.3:: How do I type non-ASCII characters?
518 * Q1.8.4:: Can XEmacs messages come out in a different language?
519 * Q1.8.5:: Please explain the various input methods in MULE/XEmacs
520 * Q1.8.6:: How do I portably code for MULE/XEmacs?
521 * Q1.8.7:: How about Cyrillic modes?
522 * Q1.8.8:: Does XEmacs support Unicode?
523 * Q1.8.9:: How does XEmacs display Unicode?
529 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.0.1, Next: Q1.0.2, Prev: Introduction, Up: Introduction
531 Q1.0.1: What is XEmacs?
532 -----------------------
534 XEmacs is a powerful, highly customizable open source text editor and
535 application development system, with full GUI support. It is protected
536 under the GNU Public License and related to other versions of Emacs, in
537 particular GNU Emacs. Its emphasis is on modern graphical user
538 interface support and an open software development model, similar to
539 Linux. XEmacs has an active development community numbering in the
540 hundreds (and thousands of active beta testers on top of this), and
541 runs on all versions of MS Windows, on Mac OS X, on Linux, and on
542 nearly every other version of Unix in existence. Support for XEmacs
543 has been supplied by Sun Microsystems, University of Illinois, Lucid,
544 ETL/Electrotechnical Laboratory, Amdahl Corporation, BeOpen, and
545 others, as well as the unpaid time of a great number of individual
549 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.0.2, Next: Q1.0.3, Prev: Q1.0.1, Up: Introduction
551 Q1.0.2: What is the current version of XEmacs?
552 ----------------------------------------------
554 XEmacs versions 21.4.* are releases made from the current stable
555 sources. XEmacs versions 21.5.* (which will be released as 22.0) are
556 releases made from the development sources. Check at
557 `http://www.xemacs.org' for the current minor version. XEmacs versions
558 21.1.* were the previous stable releases, now retired.
560 XEmacs 20.4, released in February 1998, was the last release of v20.
562 XEmacs 19.16, released in November, 1997. was the last release of
563 v19, and was also the last version without international language
567 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.0.3, Next: Q1.0.4, Prev: Q1.0.2, Up: Introduction
569 Q1.0.3: How do you pronounce XEmacs?
570 ------------------------------------
572 The most common pronounciation is `Eks eemax'.
575 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.0.4, Next: Q1.0.5, Prev: Q1.0.3, Up: Introduction
577 Q1.0.4: What does XEmacs look like?
578 -----------------------------------
580 Screen snapshots are available at
581 `http://www.xemacs.org/About/Screenshots/index.html' as part of the
585 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.0.5, Next: Q1.0.6, Prev: Q1.0.4, Up: Introduction
587 Q1.0.5: Who wrote XEmacs?
588 -------------------------
590 XEmacs is the result of the time and effort of many people, and the
591 active developers have changed over time. There are two major
592 components of the XEmacs effort - writing the code itself and providing
593 all the support work (testing the code, releasing beta and final
594 versions, handling patches, reading bug reports, maintaining the web
595 site, managing the mailing lists, etc. etc.). Neither component would
596 work without the other.
601 The primary code contributor over the years has been Ben Wing (active
602 since late 1992). Between 1991 and 1995, large amounts of coding was
603 contributed by Jamie Zawinski and Chuck Thompson. Many other people
604 have authored major subsystems or otherwise contributed large amounts of
605 code, including Andy Piper, Hrvoje Niksic, Jerry James, Jonathan Harris,
606 Kyle Jones, Martin Buchholz, Michael Sperber, Olivier Galibert, Richard
607 Mlynarik, Stig, William Perry and plenty of others.
609 Primary XEmacs-specific subsystems and their authors:
612 - Conversion from 26-bit to 28-bit pointers and integers,
613 lrecords, lcrecords: Richard Mlynarik, 1994
615 - Conversion to 32-bit pointers and 31-bit integers: Kyle
616 Jones, Martin Buchholz
618 - Portable dumper, object descriptions: Olivier Galibert
620 - KKCC (new garbage collector), ephemerons, weak boxes: Michael
623 - Random object work (object equal and hash methods, weak
624 lists, lcrecord lists, bit vectors, dynarr, blocktype,
625 opaque, string resizing): Ben Wing
627 - Profiling: Ben Wing
629 - Some byte-compilation and hash-table improvements: Martin
632 - Bignum: Jerry James
634 Internationalization/Mule
635 - mostly Ben Wing; many ideas for future work, Stephen Turnbull
638 - Basic event/event-stream implementation: Jamie Zawinski
640 - Most event work since 1994: Ben Wing
642 - Asynchronous stuff (async timeouts, signals, quit-checking):
645 - Process method abstraction, Windows process work: Kirill
648 - Misc-user events, async timeouts, most quit-checking and
649 signal code, most other work since 1994: Ben Wing
654 - Redisplay mechanism: implementation, Chuck Thompson;
655 additional work, lots of people
657 - Glyphs: mostly Ben Wing
659 - Specifiers: Ben Wing
661 - Extents: initial implementation, someone at Lucid; rewrite,
664 - Widgets: Andy Piper
666 - JPEG/PNG/TIFF image converters: Ben Wing, William Perry,
667 Jareth Hein, others (see comment in `glyphs-eimage.c')
669 - Menus: Jamie Zawinski, someone at Lucid (Lucid menus)
671 - Scrollbars: Chuck Thompson, ??? (Lucid scrollbar)
673 - Multi-device/device-independence work (console/device/etc
674 methods): Ben Wing, prototype by chuck thompson
676 - Faces: first implementation, Jamie Zawinski; second, chuck;
679 - Fonts/colors: first implementation, Jamie Zawinski; further
682 - Toolbars: implementation, chuck, much interface work, Ben Wing
684 - Gutters, tabs: andy piper
687 - X Windows: Jamie Zawinksi, Ben Wing, others
689 - GTK: William Perry, Malcolm Purvis
691 - MS Windows: initial implementation, Jonathan Harris; some
692 more work, Andy Piper, Ben Wing
694 - TTY: Chuck Thompson, Ben Wing
699 - Configure: initial porting from fsf, Chuck Thompson;
700 conversion to autoconf 2, much rewriting, Martin Buchholz
702 - Most initialization-related code: Ben Wing
704 - Internals manual, much of Lisp manual: Ben Wing
706 - FSF synching: initial sync with FSF 19, Richard Mlynarik,
707 further work, Ben Wing
712 Currently, support duties are handled by many different people.
714 Release managers have been
716 - Stephen Turnbull (April 2001 - January 2003, March 2004 - present,
717 21.2.47 - 21.4.12, 21.5.2 - 21.5.7, 21.5.17 - present)
719 - Vin Shelton (Mar 1997 - Jan 2001, May 2003 - present, 19.16,
720 21.1.3 - 21.1.14, 21.4.13 - present)
722 - Steve Youngs (July 2002 - September 2003, 21.5.8 - 21.5.16)
724 - Martin Buchholz (December 1998, November 1999 - May 2001, 21.2.7 -
725 21.2.8, 21.2.21 - 21.2.46, 21.5.0 - 21.5.1)
727 - Steve Baur (early 1997 - December 1998, February 1999 - November
728 1999, 19.15 - 21.2.5, 21.2.9 - 21.2.20)
730 - Andy Piper (December 1998, 21.2.6)
732 - Chuck Thompson (June 1994 - September 1996, 19.11 - 19.14)
734 - Jamie Zawinski (April 1991 - June 1994, 19.0 - 19.10)
736 The recent overlapping dates are intentional, since two or three
737 trees are maintained simultaneously at any point.
739 Other major support work:
741 - Adrian Aichner wrote and maintains the web site.
743 - Stephen Turnbull has produced many of the beta and semi-stable
744 releases and has attempted to be the "face" of XEmacs on the
745 newsgroups and mailing lists.
747 - Steve Youngs currently produces the beta releases (???).
749 - Steve Youngs, Ville Skytta, and now Norbert Koch have taken turns
750 maintaining the packages.
752 - Vin Shelton maintains the stable releases.
754 - Testing - #### Norbert, Adrian, ???
756 Portraits and email of some of the major developers:
758 * Andy Piper <andy@xemacs.org>
760 * Ben Wing <ben@xemacs.org>
762 * Chuck Thompson <cthomp@xemacs.org>
764 * Hrvoje Niksic <hniksic@xemacs.org>
766 * Jamie Zawinski <jwz@jwz.org>
768 * Martin Buchholz <martin@xemacs.org>
770 * Richard Mlynarik <mly@adoc.xerox.com>
772 * Stephen Turnbull <stephen@xemacs.org>
774 * Steve Baur <steve@xemacs.org>
776 Many other people have contributed to XEmacs; this is partially
777 enumerated in the `About XEmacs' option in the Help menu.
780 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.0.6, Next: Q1.1.1, Prev: Q1.0.5, Up: Introduction
782 Q1.0.6: Who wrote the FAQ?
783 --------------------------
785 The current version of this FAQ was created by Ben Wing
788 Previous contributors to the FAQ include
790 * SL Baur <steve@xemacs.org>
792 * Hrvoje Niksic <hniksic@xemacs.org>
794 * Curtis.N.Bingham <binge@aloft.att.com>
796 * Georges Brun-Cottan <bruncott@dormeur.inria.fr>
798 * Richard Caley <rjc@cogsci.ed.ac.uk>
800 * Richard Cognot <cognot@ensg.u-nancy.fr>
802 * Mark Daku <daku@nortel.ca>
804 * William G. Dubuque <wgd@martigny.ai.mit.edu>
806 * Eric Eide <eeide@cs.utah.edu>
808 * Alain Fauconnet <af@biomath.jussieu.fr>
810 * Chris Flatters <cflatter@nrao.edu>
812 * Evelyn Ginsparg <ginsparg@adra.com>
814 * Marty Hall <hall@aplcenmp.apl.jhu.edu>
816 * Darrell Kindred <dkindred@cmu.edu>
818 * David Moore <dmoore@ucsd.edu>
820 * Arup Mukherjee <arup+@cmu.edu>
822 * Juergen Nickelsen <nickel@prz.tu-berlin.de>
824 * Kevin R. Powell <powell@csl.ncsa.uiuc.edu>
826 * Justin Sheehy <dworkin@ccs.neu.edu>
828 * Stig <stig@hackvan.com>
830 * Aki Vehtari <Aki.Vehtari@hut.fi>
836 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.1.1, Next: Q1.1.2, Prev: Q1.0.6, Up: Introduction
838 Q1.1.1: Where can I find XEmacs?
839 --------------------------------
841 To download XEmacs, visit the XEmacs WWW page at
842 `http://www.xemacs.org/Download/'. The most up-to-date list of
843 distribution sites can always be found there. Try to pick a site that
844 is networkologically close to you. If you know of other mirrors of the
845 XEmacs archives, please send e-mail to `mailto:webmaster@xemacs.org'
846 and we will list them here as well.
848 The canonical distribution point is ftp.xemacs.org, available either
849 through HTTP (`http://ftp.xemacs.org/') or anonymous FTP
850 (`ftp://ftp.xemacs.org/pub/xemacs/').
853 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.1.2, Next: Q1.1.3, Prev: Q1.1.1, Up: Introduction
855 Q1.1.2: Are binaries available?
856 -------------------------------
858 MS Windows binaries are available at
859 `http://www.xemacs.org/Download/win32/' for the native versions of 21.4
860 and 21.1. Cygwin binaries are now available as part of the standard
861 Cygwin installation process. XEmacs also comes pre-built as part of
862 many Linux distributions, such as Red Hat and SuSE.
864 Otherwise, you will need to build XEmacs yourself or get your system
865 administrator to do it. Generally, this is not a difficult process
866 under Unix and Mac OS X, as XEmacs has been tested under all of the
867 common Unix versions and under Mac OS X and comes with an extensive
868 configure script that is able to automatically detect most aspects of
869 the configuration of your particular system.
872 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.1.3, Next: Q1.1.4, Prev: Q1.1.2, Up: Introduction
874 Q1.1.3: How do I get the bleeding-edge sources?
875 -----------------------------------------------
877 If you are interested in developing XEmacs, or getting the absolutely
878 most recent, up-to-the-moment, bleeding-edge source code, you can
879 directly access the master CVS source tree (read-only, of course, until
880 you ask for and are granted permission to directly modify portions of
881 the source tree) at cvs.xemacs.org. Directions on how to access the
882 source tree are located at
883 `http://www.xemacs.org/Develop/cvsaccess.html'.
885 Nightly CVS snapshots are available at
886 `http://www.dk.xemacs.org/Download/CVS-snapshots/'.
889 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.1.4, Next: Q1.2.1, Prev: Q1.1.3, Up: Introduction
891 Q1.1.4: Where can I obtain a printed copy of the XEmacs User's Manual?
892 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
894 Pre-printed manuals are not available. If you are familiar with TeX,
895 you can generate your own manual from the XEmacs sources.
897 HTML and Postscript versions of XEmacs manuals are available from the
898 XEmacs web site at `http://www.xemacs.org/Documentation/index.html'.
900 1.2: Versions for Different Operating Systems
901 =============================================
904 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.2.1, Next: Q1.2.2, Prev: Q1.1.4, Up: Introduction
906 Q1.2.1: Do I need X11 to run XEmacs?
907 ------------------------------------
909 No. The name "XEmacs" is unfortunate in the sense that it is *not* an
910 X Window System-only version of Emacs. XEmacs has full color support
911 on a color-capable character terminal.
914 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.2.2, Next: Q1.2.3, Prev: Q1.2.1, Up: Introduction
916 Q1.2.2: What versions of Unix does XEmacs run on?
917 -------------------------------------------------
919 XEmacs is regularly tested on Linux, Solaris, SunOS, HP/UX, FreeBSD,
920 OpenBSD, BSD/OS aka BSDI, Tru64 aka DEC/OSF, SCO5, and probably others.
921 It should work on all versions of Unix created in the last 10 years or
922 so, perhaps with a bit of work on more obscure platforms to correct
923 bit-rot. It uses a sophisticated configuration system to auto-detect
924 zillions of features that are implemented differently in different
925 versions of Unix, so it will probably work on your vendor's version,
926 possibly with a bit of tweaking, even if we've never heard of it.
928 For problems with particular machines and versions of Unix, see the
931 Much effort has gone into making XEmacs work on as many different
932 machines, configurations, and compilers as possible.
934 Much effort has gone into making XEmacs 64-bit clean.
936 Much effort has gone into removing system-specific code, and
937 replacing such code with autodetection at configure time.
939 The XEmacs core should build "out of the box" on most Unix-like
942 XEmacs 21.2 was tested and `make check' succeeded on these Unix
943 configurations as of 2001-02-10:
945 alphaev56-dec-osf4.0e (both Compaq C and gcc)
946 i386-unknown-freebsd4.2
947 i386-unknown-netbsdelf1.5
948 i586-sco-sysv5uw7.0.1 (both SCO's cc and gcc)
950 hppa2.0-hp-hpux10.20 (both HP's ANSI cc and gcc)
951 mips-sgi-irix6.5 (both MIPSpro cc and gcc)
952 rs6000-ibm-aix4.3.0.0 (both IBM's xlc and gcc)
953 sparc-sun-solaris2.6 (both Sun's Forte C and gcc)
954 sparc-sun-solaris2.7 (both Sun's Forte C and gcc)
955 sparc-sun-sunos4.1.4 (gcc)
957 Some systems have a dual mode 32-bit/64-bit compiler. On most of
958 these, XEmacs requires the `--pdump' (in XEmacs 21.5, `--enable-pdump')
959 configure option to build correctly with the 64-bit version of the
962 mips-sgi-irix6.5, CC="gcc -mabi=64"
963 mips-sgi-irix6.5, CC="cc -64"
964 rs6000-ibm-aix4.3.0.0, CC="cc -q64"
966 On most of these systems, XEmacs also builds with a C++ compiler,
967 but not "out of the box". This feature is only for use by the
970 XEmacs 21.2 is known _not_ to work on any machines with m680x0
971 processors. Sorry, all you sun3 and Unix PC nostalgia buffs out there.
973 VMS has never been supported by XEmacs. In fact, all the old VMS
974 code inherited from Emacs has been removed. Sorry, all you VMS fans
978 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.2.3, Next: Q1.2.4, Prev: Q1.2.2, Up: Introduction
980 Q1.2.3: Is there a port of XEmacs to Microsoft Windows?
981 -------------------------------------------------------
983 Yes. Beginning with release 21.0, XEmacs has worked under MS Windows
984 and is fully-featured and actively developed. A group of dedicated
985 developers actively maintains and improves the Windows-specific
986 portions of the code. Some of the core developers, in fact, use
987 Windows as their only development environment, and some features, such
988 as printing, actually work better on Windows than native Unix and Mac
989 OS X. The mailing list at <xemacs-winnt@xemacs.org> is dedicated to
990 that effort (please use the -request address to subscribe). (Despite
991 its name, XEmacs actually works on all versions of Windows.)
993 The list name is misleading, as XEmacs supports and has been
994 compiled on Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows
995 ME, Windows XP, and all newer versions of Windows. The MS
996 Windows-specific code is based on Microsoft Win32 API, and will not
997 work on MS Windows 3.x or on MS-DOS.
999 XEmacs also supports the Cygwin and MinGW development and runtime
1000 environments, where it also uses native Windows code for graphical
1001 features. In addition, under Cygwin it is possible to compile XEmacs
1002 to use an X server (and XFree86 is available as part of the standard
1003 Cygwin installation).
1006 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.2.4, Next: Q1.2.5, Prev: Q1.2.3, Up: Introduction
1008 Q1.2.4: Can I build XEmacs on MS Windows with X support? Do I need to?
1009 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
1011 Yes, you can, but no you do not need to. In fact, we recommend that you
1012 use a native-GUI version unless you have a specific need for an X
1016 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.2.5, Next: Q1.2.6, Prev: Q1.2.4, Up: Introduction
1018 Q1.2.5: What are Cygwin and MinGW, and do I need them to run XEmacs?
1019 --------------------------------------------------------------------
1021 To answer the second part of the question: No, you, you don't need
1022 Cygwin or MinGW to build or to run XEmacs. But if you have them and
1023 want to use them, XEmacs supports these environments.
1025 (One important reason to support Cygwin is that it lets the MS
1026 Windows developers test out their code in a Unix environment without
1027 actually having to have a Unix machine around. For this reason alone,
1028 Cygwin support is likely to remain supported for a long time in XEmacs.
1029 Same goes for the X support under Cygwin, for the same reasons. MinGW
1030 support, on the other hand, depends on volunteers to keep it up to date;
1031 but this is generally not hard.)
1033 Cygwin is a set of tools providing Unix-like API on top of Win32.
1034 It makes it easy to port large Unix programs without significant
1035 changes to their source code. It is a development environment as well
1036 as a runtime environment.
1038 When built with Cygwin, XEmacs supports all display types - TTY, X &
1039 Win32 GUI, and can be built with support for all three simultaneously.
1040 If you build with Win32 GUI support then the Cygwin version uses the
1041 majority of the Windows-specific code, which is mostly related to
1042 display. If you want to build with X support you need X libraries (and
1043 an X server to display XEmacs on); see *Note Q2.3.7::. TTY and Win32
1044 GUI require no additional libraries beyond what comes standard with
1047 The advantages of the Cygwin version are that it integrates well with
1048 the Cygwin environment for existing Cygwin users; uses configure so
1049 building with different features is very easy; and actively supports X &
1050 TTY. Furthermore, the entire Cygwin environment and compiler are free,
1051 whereas Visual C++ costs money.
1053 The disadvantage is that it requires the whole Cygwin environment,
1054 whereas the native port requires only a suitable MS Windows compiler.
1055 Also, it follows the Unix filesystem and process model very closely
1056 (some will undoubtedly view this as an advantage).
1058 See `http://www.cygwin.com/' for more information on Cygwin.
1060 MinGW is a collection of header files and import libraries that allow
1061 one to use GCC under the Cygwin environment to compile and produce
1062 exactly the same native Win32 programs that you can using Visual C++.
1063 Programs compiled with MinGW make use of the standard Microsoft runtime
1064 library `MSVCRT.DLL', present on all Windows systems, and look, feel,
1065 and act like a standard Visual-C-produced application. (The only
1066 difference is the compiler.) This means that, unlike a
1067 standardly-compiled Cygwin application, no extra runtime support (e.g.
1068 Cygwin's `cygwin1.dll') is required. This, along with the fact that
1069 GCC is free (and works in a nice Unix-y way in a nice Unix-y
1070 environment, for those die-hard Unix hackers out there), is the main
1071 advantage of MinGW. It is also potentially faster than Cygwin because
1072 it has less overhead when calling Windows, but you lose the POSIX
1073 emulation layer, which makes Unix programs harder to port. (But this is
1074 irrelevant for XEmacs since it's already ported to Win32.)
1076 See `http://www.mingw.org/' for more information on MinGW.
1079 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.2.6, Next: Q1.2.7, Prev: Q1.2.5, Up: Introduction
1081 Q1.2.6: What are the differences between the various MS Windows emacsen?
1082 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
1084 XEmacs, Win-Emacs, DOS Emacs, NT Emacs, this is all very confusing.
1085 Could you briefly explain the differences between them?
1087 Here is a recount of various Emacs versions running on MS Windows:
1091 - Beginning with XEmacs 19.12, XEmacs' architecture was
1092 redesigned in such a way to allow clean support of multiple
1093 window systems. At this time the TTY support was added,
1094 making X and TTY the first two "window systems" supported by
1095 XEmacs. The 19.12 design is the basis for the current native
1098 - Some time during 1997, David Hobley (soon joined by Marc
1099 Paquette) imported some of the NT-specific portions of GNU
1100 Emacs, making XEmacs with X support compile under Windows NT,
1101 and creating the "X" port.
1103 - Several months later, Jonathan Harris sent out initial
1104 patches to use the Win32 API, thus creating the native port.
1105 Since then, various people have contributed, including Kirill
1106 M. Katsnelson (contributed support for menubars, subprocesses
1107 and network, as well as loads of other code), Andy Piper
1108 (ported XEmacs to Cygwin environment, contributed Windows
1109 unexec, Windows-specific glyphs and toolbars code, and more),
1110 Ben Wing (loads of improvements; primary MS Windows developer
1111 since 2000), Jeff Sparkes (contributed scrollbars support)
1116 - NT Emacs was an early version of GNU Emacs 19 modified to
1117 compile and run under MS Windows 95 and NT using the native
1118 Win32 API. It was written by Geoff Voelker, and has long
1119 since been incorporated into the mainline GNU Emacs
1124 - Win-Emacs was a port of Lucid Emacs 19.6 to MS Windows using X
1125 compatibility libraries. Win-Emacs was written by Ben Wing.
1126 The MS Windows code never made it back to Lucid Emacs, and
1127 its creator (Pearl Software) has long since gone out of
1132 - GNU Emacs features support for MS-DOS and DJGPP (D.J.
1133 Delorie's DOS port of GCC). Such an Emacs is heavily
1134 underfeatured, because it does not support long file names,
1135 lacks proper subprocesses support, and is far too big
1136 compared with typical DOS editors.
1138 * GNU Emacs compiled with Win32
1140 - Starting with GNU Emacs 19.30, it has been possible to
1141 compile GNU Emacs under MS Windows using the DJGPP compiler
1142 and X libraries. The result is very similar to GNU Emacs
1143 compiled under MS DOS, only it works somewhat better because
1144 it runs in 32-bit mode, makes use of all the system memory,
1145 supports long file names, etc.
1149 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.2.7, Next: Q1.2.8, Prev: Q1.2.6, Up: Introduction
1151 Q1.2.7: How does the port cope with differences in the Windows user interface?
1152 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1154 The XEmacs (and Emacs in general) user interface is pretty different
1155 from what is expected of a typical MS Windows program. How does the MS
1156 Windows port cope with it?
1158 As a general rule, we follow native MS Windows conventions as much as
1159 possible. 21.4 is a fairly complete Windows application, supporting
1160 native printing, system file dialog boxes, tool tips, etc. In cases
1161 where there's a clear UI conflict, we currently use normal Unix XEmacs
1162 behavior by default, but make sure the MS Windows "look and feel" (mark
1163 via shift-arrow, self-inserting deletes region, Alt selects menu items,
1164 etc.) is easily configurable (respectively: using the variable
1165 `shifted-motion-keys-select-region' in 21.4 and above [it's in fact the
1166 default in these versions], or the `pc-select' package; using the
1167 `pending-del' package; and setting the variable
1168 `menu-accelerator-enabled' to `menu-force' in 21.4 and above). In
1169 fact, if you use the sample `init.el' file as your init file, you will
1170 get all these behaviors automatically turned on.
1172 In future versions, some of these features might be turned on by
1173 default in the MS Windows environment.
1176 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.2.8, Next: Q1.2.9, Prev: Q1.2.7, Up: Introduction
1178 Q1.2.8: Is there a port of XEmacs to the Macintosh?
1179 ---------------------------------------------------
1183 XEmacs 21.5 (perhaps 21.4 also?) works on MacOS X, although it
1184 certainly will not feel very much like a Mac application as it has no
1185 Mac-specific code in it.
1187 There is also a port of XEmacs 19.14 that works on all recent
1188 versions of MacOS, from 8.1 through MacOS X, by Pitts Jarvis
1189 <pjarvis@ispchannel.com> (recently deceased). It runs in an equivalent
1190 of TTY mode only (one single Macintosh window, 25 colors), but has a
1191 large number of Mac-specific additions. It's available at
1192 `http://homepage.mac.com/pjarvis/xemacs.html'.
1195 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.2.9, Next: Q1.2.10, Prev: Q1.2.8, Up: Introduction
1197 Q1.2.9: Is there a port of XEmacs to MS-DOS?
1198 --------------------------------------------
1200 No. We have never supported running on MS-DOS or Windows 3.1, and in
1201 fact have long since deleted all MS-DOS-related code. We're not
1202 particularly interested in patches for these platforms, as they would
1203 introduce huge amounts of code clutter due to the woefully
1204 underfeatured nature of these systems. (See GNU Emacs for a port to
1208 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.2.10, Next: Q1.2.11, Prev: Q1.2.9, Up: Introduction
1210 Q1.2.10: Is there a port of XEmacs to OS/2?
1211 -------------------------------------------
1213 No, but Alexander Nikolaev <avn_1251@mail.ru> was at one point working
1217 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.2.11, Next: Q1.2.12, Prev: Q1.2.10, Up: Introduction
1219 Q1.2.11: Is there a port of XEmacs to NextStep?
1220 -----------------------------------------------
1222 Carl Edman, apparently no longer at <cedman@princeton.edu>, did the
1223 port of GNU Emacs to NeXTstep and expressed interest in doing the
1224 XEmacs port, but never went any farther.
1227 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.2.12, Next: Q1.3.1, Prev: Q1.2.11, Up: Introduction
1229 Q1.2.12: Is there a port of XEmacs to VMS?
1230 ------------------------------------------
1232 VMS has never been supported by XEmacs. In fact, all the old VMS code
1233 inherited from GNU Emacs has been removed. Sorry, all you VMS fans out
1236 1.3: Getting Started
1237 ====================
1240 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.3.1, Next: Q1.3.2, Prev: Q1.2.12, Up: Introduction
1242 Q1.3.1: What is an `init.el' or `.emacs' and is there a sample one?
1243 -------------------------------------------------------------------
1245 The `init.el' or `.emacs' file is used to customize XEmacs to your
1246 tastes. Starting in 21.4, the preferred location for the init file is
1247 `~/.xemacs/init.el'; in previous versions, it was `~/.emacs'. 21.4
1248 still accepts the old location, but the first time you run it, it will
1249 ask to migrate your file to the new location. If you answer yes, the
1250 file will be moved, and a "compatibility" `.emacs' file will be placed
1251 in the old location so that you can still run older versions of XEmacs,
1252 and versions of GNU Emacs, which expect the old location. The `.emacs'
1253 file present is just a stub that loads the real file in
1254 `~/.xemacs/init.el'.
1256 No two init files are alike, nor are they expected to be alike, but
1257 that's the point. The XEmacs distribution contains an excellent starter
1258 example in the `etc/' directory called `sample.init.el' (starting in
1259 21.4) or `sample.emacs' in older versions. Copy this file from there
1260 to `~/.xemacs/init.el' (starting in 21.4) or `~/.emacs' in older
1261 versions, where `~' means your home directory, of course. Then edit it
1264 You may bring the `sample.init.el' or `sample.emacs' file into an
1265 XEmacs buffer from the menubar. (The menu entry for it is always under
1266 the `Help' menu, but its location under that has changed in various
1267 versions. Recently, look under the `Samples' submenu.) To determine
1268 the location of the `etc/' directory type the command `C-h v
1269 data-directory <RET>'.
1272 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.3.2, Next: Q1.3.3, Prev: Q1.3.1, Up: Introduction
1274 Q1.3.2: Where do I put my `init.el' file?
1275 -----------------------------------------
1277 `init.el' is the name of the init file starting with 21.4, and is
1278 located in the subdirectory `.xemacs/' of your home directory. In
1279 prior versions, the init file is called `.emacs' and is located in your
1282 Your home directory under Windows is determined by the `HOME'
1283 environment variable. If this is not set, it defaults to `C:\'. To
1284 set this variable, modify `AUTOEXEC.BAT' under Windows 95/98, or select
1285 `Control Panel->System->Advanced->Environment Variables...' under
1289 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.3.3, Next: Q1.3.4, Prev: Q1.3.2, Up: Introduction
1291 Q1.3.3: Can I use the same `init.el' with the other Emacs?
1292 ----------------------------------------------------------
1294 Yes. The sample `init.el' included in the XEmacs distribution will
1295 show you how to handle different versions and flavors of Emacs.
1298 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.3.4, Next: Q1.3.5, Prev: Q1.3.3, Up: Introduction
1300 Q1.3.4: Any good XEmacs tutorials around?
1301 -----------------------------------------
1303 There's the XEmacs tutorial available from the Help Menu under
1304 `Help->Tutorials', or by typing `C-h t'. To check whether it's
1305 available in a non-english language, type `C-u C-h t TAB', type the
1306 first letters of your preferred language, then type <RET>.
1309 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.3.5, Next: Q1.3.6, Prev: Q1.3.4, Up: Introduction
1311 Q1.3.5: May I see an example of a useful XEmacs Lisp function?
1312 --------------------------------------------------------------
1314 The following function does a little bit of everything useful. It does
1315 something with the prefix argument, it examines the text around the
1316 cursor, and it's interactive so it may be bound to a key. It inserts
1317 copies of the current word the cursor is sitting on at the cursor. If
1318 you give it a prefix argument: `C-u 3 M-x double-word' then it will
1321 (defun double-word (count)
1322 "Insert a copy of the current word underneath the cursor"
1324 (let (here there string)
1329 (setq there (point))
1330 (setq string (buffer-substring here there)))
1335 The best way to see what is going on here is to let XEmacs tell you.
1336 Put the code into an XEmacs buffer, and do a `C-h f' with the cursor
1337 sitting just to the right of the function you want explained. Eg. move
1338 the cursor to the SPACE between `interactive' and `"*p"' and hit `C-h
1339 f' to see what the function `interactive' does. Doing this will tell
1340 you that the `*' requires a writable buffer, and `p' converts the
1341 prefix argument to a number, and `interactive' allows you to execute
1342 the command with `M-x'.
1345 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.3.6, Next: Q1.3.7, Prev: Q1.3.5, Up: Introduction
1347 Q1.3.6: And how do I bind it to a key?
1348 --------------------------------------
1350 To bind to a key do:
1352 (global-set-key "\C-cd" 'double-word)
1354 Or interactively, `M-x global-set-key' and follow the prompts.
1357 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.3.7, Next: Q1.3.8, Prev: Q1.3.6, Up: Introduction
1359 Q1.3.7: What's the difference between a macro and a function?
1360 -------------------------------------------------------------
1362 Quoting from the Lisp Reference (a.k.a "Lispref") Manual:
1364 "Macros" enable you to define new control constructs and other
1365 language features. A macro is defined much like a function, but instead
1366 of telling how to compute a value, it tells how to compute another Lisp
1367 expression which will in turn compute the value. We call this
1368 expression the "expansion" of the macro.
1370 Macros can do this because they operate on the unevaluated
1371 expressions for the arguments, not on the argument values as functions
1372 do. They can therefore construct an expansion containing these
1373 argument expressions or parts of them.
1375 Do not confuse the two terms with "keyboard macros", which are
1376 another matter, entirely. A keyboard macro is a key bound to several
1377 other keys. Refer to manual for details.
1380 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.3.8, Next: Q1.4.1, Prev: Q1.3.7, Up: Introduction
1382 Q1.3.8: What is `Custom'?
1383 -------------------------
1385 `Custom' is a system for customizing XEmacs options.
1387 You can access `Advanced (Customize)' from the `Options' menu or
1388 invoking one of customize commands by typing eg. `M-x customize', `M-x
1389 customize-face', `M-x customize-variable' or `M-x customize-apropos'.
1391 There is also new `browser' mode for Customize. Try it out with
1392 `M-x customize-browse'
1398 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.4.1, Next: Q1.4.2, Prev: Q1.3.8, Up: Introduction
1400 Q1.4.1: Where can I get help?
1401 -----------------------------
1403 Probably the easiest way, if everything is installed, is to use Info, by
1404 pressing `C-h i', or looking for an Info item on the Help Menu. `M-x
1405 apropos' can be used to look for particular commands.
1407 For items not found in the manual, try reading this FAQ and reading
1408 the Usenet group comp.emacs.xemacs.
1410 If you choose to post to a newsgroup, *please use
1411 comp.emacs.xemacs*. Please do not post XEmacs related questions to
1414 If you cannot post or read Usenet news, there is a corresponding
1415 mailing list <xemacs-news@xemacs.org> which is available. It can be
1416 subscribed to via the Mailman Web interface or by sending mail to to
1417 <xemacs-news-request@xemacs.org> with `subscribe' in the body of the
1418 message. See also `http://www.xemacs.org/Lists/#xemacs-news'. To
1419 cancel a subscription, you may use the <xemacs-news-request@xemacs.org>
1420 address or the Web interface. Send a message with a subject of
1421 `unsubscribe' to be removed.
1424 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.4.2, Next: Q1.4.3, Prev: Q1.4.1, Up: Introduction
1426 Q1.4.2: Which mailing lists are there?
1427 --------------------------------------
1429 For complete, up-to-date info on the lists and how to subscribe, see
1430 `http://www.xemacs.org/Lists/'.
1433 is a Usenet newsgroup for XEmacs users to discuss problems and
1434 issues that arise for them. It's not generally an appropriate
1435 place to ask about apparent bugs (use `xemacs-beta'), or future
1436 plans (use `xemacs-design').
1439 is a read-only, low volume list for announcements concerning the
1440 XEmacs project and new releases of the XEmacs software.
1443 is an open list for bug reports about beta versions of XEmacs.
1444 This includes the bug reports themselves, by both users and
1445 developers, as well as queries, follow-ups, and discussions
1446 further determining their nature and status. This is the primary
1447 channel for this kind of discussion; related code changes will
1448 usually not be applied until they have been discussed here. When
1449 such discussions touch on significant changes to the code (in
1450 particular, structural changes), or on changes to API's or
1451 external functionality, they should be moved to `xemacs-design'.
1452 Requests and proposals for non-bug-related changes do not belong
1453 on `xemacs-beta', and should be sent to `xemacs-design' instead.
1456 is an open list for bug reports and design discussion related to
1457 Mule features, including Japanese handling, in beta versions of
1458 XEmacs. Japanese is the preferred language of discussion. For
1459 most timely presentation to reviewers, please consider sending
1460 appropriate discussion to `xemacs-mule' or `xemacs-design' in
1461 English when convenient for the participants in discussion. When
1462 possible, bug reports not related to Mule (including Japanese)
1463 should be reported on `xemacs-beta' in English.
1465 `xemacs-buildreports'
1466 is an open list for submission of build-reports on beta versions
1467 of XEmacs. For information on what the build-reports should
1468 contain, please see the `etc/BETA' file which is included in each
1472 is a read-only list for notices and information on what has been
1473 committed to the XEmacs CVS trees, by whom, and for what.
1476 is an open list for discussing the design of XEmacs. This
1477 includes discussion about planned and ongoing changes to
1478 functionality and API changes and additions as well as requests
1479 for them. This is the primary channel for this kind of
1480 discussion; related code changes will usually not be applied until
1481 they have been discussed here. This does not include bug reports,
1482 which go to `xemacs-beta'.
1485 is an open mailing list for discussion of International extensions
1486 to XEmacs including Mule, XIM, I18n issues, etc, and is not
1487 confined to developmental issues. This list is not restricted to
1488 English, postings in all languages are welcome.
1491 is an open list for discussion and bug reporting for XEmacs. This
1492 mailing list is bi-directionally gatewayed with the USENET
1493 newsgroup comp.emacs.xemacs.
1496 is a developers-only mailing list and is intended for people who
1497 wish to work actively on the porting of XEmacs to Microsoft
1498 Windows NT and Microsoft Windows '95.
1501 is an open, moderated list for submission of patches to the XEmacs
1502 distribution and its packages. Anyone may subscribe or submit to
1503 xemacs-patches, but all submissions are reviewed by the list
1504 moderator before they are distributed to the list. Discussion is
1505 not appropriate on xemacs-patches.
1508 is an open list for discussion and bug reporting for XEmacs.
1509 Japanese is the preferred language of discussion. It is not gated
1510 to comp.emacs.xemacs or the `xemacs' list. For fastest response,
1511 bugs not specifically related to Japanese or Mule features should
1512 be reported on `xemacs-beta' (in English).
1515 is an open list for discussion and bug reporting for XEmacs.
1516 Russian is the preferred language of discussion. It is not gated
1517 to comp.emacs.xemacs or the `xemacs' list. For fastest response,
1518 bugs not specifically related to Russian or Mule features should
1519 be reported on `xemacs-beta' (in English).
1522 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.4.3, Next: Q1.4.4, Prev: Q1.4.2, Up: Introduction
1524 Q1.4.3: Where are the mailing lists archived?
1525 ---------------------------------------------
1527 The archives can be found at `http://list-archive.xemacs.org'
1530 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.4.4, Next: Q1.4.5, Prev: Q1.4.3, Up: Introduction
1532 Q1.4.4: How can I get two instances of info?
1533 --------------------------------------------
1535 Before 21.4, you can't. The `info' package does not provide for
1536 multiple info buffers. In 21.4, this should be fixed. #### how?
1539 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.4.5, Next: Q1.5.1, Prev: Q1.4.4, Up: Introduction
1541 Q1.4.5: How do I add new Info directories?
1542 ------------------------------------------
1544 You use something like:
1546 (setq Info-directory-list (cons
1547 (expand-file-name "~/info")
1548 Info-default-directory-list))
1550 David Masterson <davidm@prism.kla.com> writes:
1552 Emacs Info and XEmacs Info do many things differently. If you're
1553 trying to support a number of versions of Emacs, here are some
1556 1. Emacs Info scans `Info-directory-list' from right-to-left
1557 while XEmacs Info reads it from left-to-right, so append to
1558 the _correct_ end of the list.
1560 2. Use `Info-default-directory-list' to initialize
1561 `Info-directory-list' _if_ it is available at startup, but not
1562 all Emacsen define it.
1564 3. Emacs Info looks for a standard `dir' file in each of the
1565 directories scanned from #1 and magically concatenates them
1568 4. XEmacs Info looks for a `localdir' file (which consists of
1569 just the menu entries from a `dir' file) in each of the
1570 directories scanned from #1 (except the first), does a simple
1571 concatenation of them, and magically attaches the resulting
1572 list to the end of the menu in the `dir' file in the first
1575 Another alternative is to convert the documentation to HTML with
1576 texi2html and read it from a web browser like Lynx or W3.
1578 1.5: Contributing to XEmacs
1579 ===========================
1582 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.5.1, Next: Q1.5.2, Prev: Q1.4.5, Up: Introduction
1584 Q1.5.1: How do I submit changes to the FAQ?
1585 -------------------------------------------
1587 The FAQ is actively maintained and modified regularly. All links should
1588 be up to date. Unfortunately, some of the information is out of date -
1589 a situation which the FAQ maintainer is working on. All submissions are
1590 welcome, please e-mail submissions to XEmacs FAQ maintainers
1593 Please make sure that `XEmacs FAQ' appears on the Subject: line. If
1594 you think you have a better way of answering a question, or think a
1595 question should be included, we'd like to hear about it. Questions and
1596 answers included into the FAQ will be edited for spelling and grammar
1597 and will be attributed. Answers appearing without attribution are
1598 either from versions of the FAQ dated before May 1996 or are from
1599 previous FAQ maintainers. Answers quoted from Usenet news articles will
1600 always be attributed, regardless of the author.
1603 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.5.2, Next: Q1.5.3, Prev: Q1.5.1, Up: Introduction
1605 Q1.5.2: How do I become a beta tester?
1606 --------------------------------------
1608 Send an email message to <xemacs-beta-request@xemacs.org> with the line
1609 `subscribe' in the body of the message.
1611 Be prepared to get your hands dirty, as beta testers are expected to
1612 identify problems as best they can.
1615 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.5.3, Next: Q1.5.4, Prev: Q1.5.2, Up: Introduction
1617 Q1.5.3: How do I contribute to XEmacs itself?
1618 ---------------------------------------------
1620 It depends on the knowledge and time you possess. If you are able, by
1621 all means become a beta tester (*note Q1.5.2::). If you are a
1622 programmer, try to build XEmacs and see if you can improve it.
1624 Otherwise, you can still help by using XEmacs as your everyday editor
1625 (for pre-built binary versions, *note Q1.1.2::) and reporting bugs you
1626 find to the mailing list.
1628 Another area where we need help is the documentation: We need good
1629 documentation for building XEmacs and for using it. This FAQ is a
1630 small step in that direction.
1632 Ben Wing <ben@xemacs.org> writes:
1634 BTW if you have a wish list of things that you want added, you
1635 have to speak up about it! More specifically, you can do the
1636 following if you want a feature added (in increasing order of
1639 * Make a posting about a feature you want added.
1641 * Become a beta tester and make more postings about those same
1644 * Convince us that you're going to use the features in some
1645 cool and useful way.
1647 * Come up with a clear and well-thought-out API concerning the
1650 * Write the code to implement a feature and send us a patch.
1652 (not that we're necessarily requiring you to write the code, but
1653 we can always hope :)
1656 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.5.4, Next: Q1.5.5, Prev: Q1.5.3, Up: Introduction
1658 Q1.5.4: How do I get started developing XEmacs?
1659 -----------------------------------------------
1661 First, get yourself set up under CVS so that you can access the CVS
1662 repositories containing the XEmacs sources and the XEmacs packages.
1664 Next, set up your layout. This is important, as a good layout will
1665 facilitate getting things done efficiently, while a bad layout will
1666 could lead to disaster, as you can't figure out which code is the most
1667 recent, which can be thrown away, etc. We suggest the following
1668 layout: (feel free to make changes)
1670 * Everything goes under `/src/xemacs' (use a different directory if
1671 you want). From now, instead of saying `/src/xemacs', we use
1672 `<xsrc-top>', to make it easier in case someone picked a different
1675 * Package source is in `<xsrc-top>/package-src'.
1677 * Installed packages go under `<xsrc-top>/xemacs-packages', and
1678 `<xsrc-top>/mule-packages'.
1680 * A "workspace" is a complete copy of the sources, in which you do
1681 work of a particular kind. Workspaces can be differentiated by
1682 which branch of the source tree they extend off of - usually
1683 either the stable or experimental, unless other branches have been
1684 created (for example, Ben created a branch for his Mule work
1685 because (1) the project was long-term and involved an enormous
1686 number of changes, (2) people wanted to be able to look at what
1687 his work in progress, and (3) he wanted to be able to check things
1688 in and in general use source-code control, since it was a
1689 long-term project). Workspaces are also differentiated in what
1690 their purpose is - general working workspace, workspace for
1691 particular projects, workspace keeping the latest copy of the code
1692 in one of the branches without mods, etc.
1694 * Various workspaces are subdirectories under `<xsrc-top>', e.g.:
1696 * `<xsrc-top>/working' (the workspace you're actively working
1697 on, periodically synched up with the latest trunk)
1699 * `<xsrc-top>/stable' (for making changes to the stable version
1700 of XEmacs, which sits on a branch)
1702 * `<xsrc-top>/unsigned-removal' (a workspace for a specific,
1703 difficult task that's going to affect lots of source and take
1704 a long time, and so best done in its own workspace without
1705 the interference of other work you're doing. Also, you can
1706 commit just this one large change, separate from all the
1709 * `<xsrc-top>/latest' (a copy of the latest sources on the
1710 trunk, i.e. the experimental version of XEmacs, with no
1711 patches in it; either update it periodically, by hand, or set
1712 up a cron job to do it automatically). Set it up so it can
1713 be built, and build it so you have a working XEmacs.
1714 (Building it might also go into the cron job.)
1716 This workspace serves a number of purposes:
1717 1. You always have a recent version of XEmacs you can
1718 compare against when something you're working on breaks.
1719 It's true that you can do this with cvs diff, but when
1720 you need to do some serious investigation, this method
1723 2. You (almost) always have a working, up-to-date
1724 executable that can be used when your executable is
1725 crashing and you need to keep developing it, or when you
1726 need an `xemacs' to build packages, etc.
1728 3. When creating new workspaces, you can just copy the
1729 `latest' workspace using GNU `cp -a'. You have all the
1730 .elc's built, everything else probably configured, any
1731 spare files in place (e.g. some annoying xpm.dll under
1734 * `<xsrc-top>/latest-stable/' (equivalent to
1735 `<xsrc-top>/latest/', but for the Stable branch of XEmacs,
1736 rather than the Experimental branch of XEmacs). This may or
1737 may not be necessary depending on how much development you do
1738 of the stable branch.
1740 * `<xsrc-top>/xemacsweb' is a workspace for working on the XEmacs
1743 * `<xsrc-top>/in-patches' for patches received from email and saved
1746 * `<xsrc-top>/out-patches' for locally-generated patches to be sent
1747 to <xemacs-patches@xemacs.org>. Less useful now that the patcher
1748 util has been developed.
1750 * `<xsrc-top>/build', for build trees when compiling and testing
1751 XEmacs with various configuration options turned off and on. The
1752 scripts in xemacs-builds/ben (see below) can be used to automate
1753 building XEmacs workspaces with many different configuration
1754 options and automatically filtering out the normal output so that
1755 you see only the abnormal output.
1757 * `<xsrc-top>/xemacs-builds', for the xemacs-builds module, which
1758 you need to check out separately in CVS. This contains scripts
1759 used for building XEmacs, automating and simplifying using CVS,
1760 etc. Under various people's directories are their own build and
1761 other scripts. The currently most-maintained scripts are under
1762 ben/, where there are easily configurable scripts that can be used
1763 to easily build any workspace (esp. if you've more or less
1764 followed the layout presented above) unattended, with one or more
1765 configuration states (there's a pre-determined list of the most
1766 useful, but it's easy to change). The output is filtered and
1767 split up in various ways so that you can identify which output
1768 came from where, and you can see the output either full or with
1769 all "normal" output except occasional status messages filtered so
1770 that you only see the abnormal ones.
1773 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.5.5, Next: Q1.6.1, Prev: Q1.5.4, Up: Introduction
1775 Q1.5.5: What's the basic layout of the code?
1776 --------------------------------------------
1778 The file `configure' is a shell script to acclimate XEmacs to the
1779 oddities of your processor and operating system. It will create a file
1780 named `Makefile' (a script for the `make' program), which helps
1781 automate the process of building and installing emacs. See INSTALL for
1782 more detailed information.
1784 The file `configure.in' is the input used by the autoconf program to
1785 construct the `configure' script. Since XEmacs has configuration
1786 requirements that autoconf can't meet, `configure.in' uses an unholy
1787 marriage of custom-baked configuration code and autoconf macros; it may
1788 be wise to avoid rebuilding `configure' from `configure.in' when
1791 The file `Makefile.in' is a template used by `configure' to create
1794 There are several subdirectories:
1796 1. `src' holds the C code for XEmacs (the XEmacs Lisp interpreter and
1797 its primitives, the redisplay code, and some basic editing
1800 2. `lisp' holds the XEmacs Lisp code for XEmacs (most everything
1803 3. `lib-src' holds the source code for some utility programs for use
1804 by or with XEmacs, like movemail and etags.
1806 4. `etc' holds miscellaneous architecture-independent data files
1807 XEmacs uses, like the tutorial text. The contents of the `lisp',
1808 `info' and `man' subdirectories are architecture-independent too.
1810 5. `lwlib' holds the C code for the X toolkit objects used by XEmacs.
1812 6. `info' holds the Info documentation tree for XEmacs.
1814 7. `man' holds the source code for the XEmacs online documentation.
1816 8. `nt' holds files used compiling XEmacs under Microsoft Windows.
1818 1.6: Politics (XEmacs vs. GNU Emacs)
1819 ====================================
1822 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.6.1, Next: Q1.6.2, Prev: Q1.5.5, Up: Introduction
1824 Q1.6.1: What is GNU Emacs?
1825 --------------------------
1827 GNU Emacs and XEmacs are related open-source text editors. Both derive
1828 from GNU Emacs version 18; the split between the two happened in 1991
1829 (for comparison, the oldest versions of GNU Emacs date from 1984). For
1830 information on GNU Emacs, see
1831 `http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/emacs.html'.
1834 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.6.2, Next: Q1.6.3, Prev: Q1.6.1, Up: Introduction
1836 Q1.6.2: How does XEmacs differ from GNU Emacs?
1837 ----------------------------------------------
1839 For a detailed description of the differences between GNU Emacs and
1840 XEmacs and a detailed history of XEmacs, check out the
1841 NEWS file (http://www.xemacs.org/About/XEmacsVsGNUemacs.html)
1843 *User-Visible Editing Features*
1844 XEmacs in general tries hard to conform to exist user-interface
1845 standards, and to work "out-of-the-box" without the need for
1846 obscure customization changes. GNU Emacs, particularly version
1847 21, has gotten better about this (in many cases by copying the
1848 XEmacs behavior!), but still has some weirdnesses. For example,
1849 the standard method of selecting text using the Shift key works
1850 out-of-the-box in XEmacs.
1852 XEmacs has a built-in toolbar. Four toolbars can actually be
1853 configured simultaneously: top, bottom, left, and right toolbars.
1855 XEmacs has vertical and horizontal scrollbars. Unlike in GNU Emacs
1856 19 (which provides a primitive form of vertical scrollbar), these
1857 are true toolkit scrollbars. A look-alike Motif scrollbar is
1858 provided for those who don't have Motif. (Even for those who do,
1859 the look-alike may be preferable as it is faster.)
1861 XEmacs has buffer tabs along the top of the frame (although the
1862 position can be changed) that make it very easy to switch buffers.
1864 The menubar under XEmacs is better-designed, with more thought put
1867 XEmacs can ask questions using popup dialog boxes. Any command
1868 executed from a menu will ask yes/no questions with dialog boxes,
1869 while commands executed via the keyboard will use the minibuffer.
1871 XEmacs under MS Windows provides uses the standard file-dialog box
1872 for opening and saving files. Standard menu-accelerator behavior
1873 can easily be enabled using the Options menu, and integrates well
1874 into the existing keymap.
1876 XEmacs has (still experimental) support for widgets of various
1877 sorts - buttons, text boxes, sliders, progress bars, etc. A
1878 progress bar is used in font lock to show the progress.
1880 Experimental support for drag-and-drop protocols is provided from
1883 *General Platform Support*
1884 If you're running on a machine with audio hardware, you can specify
1885 sound files for XEmacs to play instead of the default X beep. See
1886 the documentation of the function load-sound-file and the variable
1887 sound-alist. XEmacs also supports the network sound protocols NAS
1890 XEmacs 21 supports database protocols with LISP bindings, currently
1891 including Berkeley DB, LDAP, and PostgreSQL (21.2 only).
1893 XEmacs 20 and 21 support the Canna, Wnn, and SJ3 Japanese input
1894 method servers directly, as well as through the X Input Method
1895 (XIM) protocol. GNU Emacs 20 supports only the XIM protocol. Both
1896 Emacsen support the Quail family of input methods (implemented in
1897 LISP) for many languages.
1899 XEmacs provides support for ToolTalk on systems that have it.
1901 *Packaged LISP Libraries*
1902 Many more packages are provided standard with XEmacs than with GNU
1905 XEmacs 21 supports an integrated package management system which
1906 uses EFS to download, then automatically install prebuilt LISP
1907 libraries. This allows XEmacs users much more straightforward
1908 access to the "latest and greatest" version of any given library.
1910 We are working on a standard method for enabling, disabling and
1911 otherwise controlling packages, which should make them very easy
1915 From XEmacs 20 on, characters are a separate type. Characters can
1916 be converted to integers (and many integers can be converted to
1917 characters), but characters are not integers. GNU Emacs 19, XEmacs
1918 19, Mule 2.3 (an extensive patch to GNU Emacs 18.55 and 19.x), and
1919 GNU Emacs 20 (incorporating Mule 3 and later Mule 4) represent
1922 From XEmacs 20 on, the buffer is treated as an array of
1923 characters, and the representation of buffer text is not exposed
1924 to LISP. The GNU Emacs 20 functions like buffer-as-multibyte are
1927 In XEmacs, events are first-class objects. GNU Emacs 19 represents
1928 them as integers, which obscures the differences between a key
1929 gesture and the ancient ASCII code used to represent a particular
1930 overlapping subset of them.
1932 In XEmacs, keymaps are first-class opaque objects. GNU Emacs 19
1933 represents them as complicated combinations of association lists
1934 and vectors. If you use the advertised functional interface to
1935 manipulation of keymaps, the same code will work in XEmacs, GNU
1936 Emacs 18, and GNU Emacs 19; if your code depends on the underlying
1937 implementation of keymaps, it will not.
1939 XEmacs uses "extents" to represent all non-textual aspects of
1940 buffers; GNU Emacs 19 uses two distinct objects, "text properties"
1941 and "overlays", which divide up the functionality between them.
1942 Extents are a superset of the union of the functionality of the
1943 two GNU Emacs data types. The full GNU Emacs 19 interface to text
1944 properties and overlays is supported in XEmacs (with extents being
1945 the underlying representation).
1947 Extents can be made to be copied into strings, and then restored,
1948 by kill and yank. Thus, one can specify this behavior on either
1949 "extents" or "text properties", whereas in GNU Emacs 19 text
1950 properties always have this behavior and overlays never do.
1952 *Window System Programming Interface*
1953 XEmacs uses the MIT "Xt" toolkit instead of raw Xlib calls, which
1954 makes it be a more well-behaved X citizen (and also improves
1955 portability). A result of this is that it is possible to include
1956 other Xt "Widgets" in the XEmacs window. Also, XEmacs understands
1957 the standard Xt command-line arguments.
1959 XEmacs supports Motif applications, generic Xt (e.g. Athena)
1960 applications, and raw Xlib applications. An XEmacs variant which
1961 supports GTK+ is available (integration as an option in the XEmacs
1962 mainline is planned for XEmacs 22), although code to take
1963 advantage of the support is as yet scarce.
1965 An XEmacs frame can be placed within an "external client widget"
1966 managed by another application. This allows an application to use
1967 an XEmacs frame as its text pane rather than the standard Text
1968 widget that is provided with Motif or Athena.
1970 *Community Participation*
1971 Joining the XEmacs development team is simple. Mail to XEmacs
1972 Developers <xemacs-beta@xemacs.org>, and you're in! (If you want
1973 to be, of course. You're also welcome to just post
1974 development-related questions and bug reports.) The GNU Emacs
1975 development team and internal mailing lists are still by invitation
1978 The "bleeding edge" of mainline XEmacs development is available by
1979 anonymous CVS as are some subsidiary branches (check out the
1980 xemacs-gtk module for the latest in GUI features!)
1982 Development and maintenance of Lisp libraries is separated from
1983 the core editor development at a fairly low level. This provides
1984 better modularization and a better division of responsibility
1985 between external library maintainers and the XEmacs core
1986 development team. Even for packages the size of Gnus, XEmacs users
1987 normally have access to a pre-built version within a few weeks of
1988 a major release, and minor updates often within days.
1990 CVS commit authority is broadly dispersed. Recognized maintainers
1991 of LISP libraries who are willing to maintain XEmacs packaged
1992 versions automatically qualify for CVS accounts for their packages.
1995 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.6.3, Next: Q1.6.4, Prev: Q1.6.2, Up: Introduction
1997 Q1.6.3: How much does XEmacs differ?
1998 ------------------------------------
2000 RMS has asserted at times that XEmacs is merely a "patch" on top of GNU
2001 Emacs (*note Q1.6.4::). In fact, probably not more than 5% of the
2002 code, if that, remains unchanged, and nearly 14 years of work has gone
2003 into XEmacs at this point. (GNU Emacs itself is only than 20 years old,
2004 and thus XEmacs has existed as a separate product for over 2/3 of the
2005 lifespan of GNU Emacs.) As a point of comparison, XEmacs 21.5 has
2006 perhaps 65,000 more lines of C code than GNU Emacs 21.2.
2008 However, the XEmacs developers strive to keep their code compatible
2009 with GNU Emacs, especially on the Lisp level. Much effort goes into
2010 "synching" the XEmacs Elisp code with recent GNU Emacs releases so as to
2011 benefit from GNU Emacs development work. (In contrast, almost no code
2012 from XEmacs has made it into GNU Emacs, and in fact the GNU Emacs
2013 developers are instructed by RMS not to even look at XEmacs source code!
2014 This stems from self-imposed licensing restrictions on the part of GNU
2015 Emacs - and almost certainly out of hostility, as well.)
2018 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.6.4, Next: Q1.6.5, Prev: Q1.6.3, Up: Introduction
2020 Q1.6.4: Is XEmacs "GNU"?
2021 ------------------------
2023 RMS insists on the term "GNU XEmacs" and maintains that
2025 XEmacs is GNU software because it's a modified version of a GNU
2026 program. And it is GNU software because the FSF is the copyright
2027 holder for most of it, and therefore the legal responsibility for
2028 protecting its free status falls on us whether we want it or not.
2029 This is why the term "GNU XEmacs" is legitimate.
2031 In fact, FSF is _not_ the copyright holder for most of the code, as
2032 very little unmodified FSF code remains (*note Q1.6.3::).
2034 Furthermore, RMS's assertion that XEmacs is "GNU" seems rather
2035 bizarre to the XEmacs developers given RMS's hostility and general lack
2036 of interest in cooperation. "GNU" software in general is part of the
2037 GNU Project, is distributed by it on their FTP site, and receives
2038 support (or at least cooperation), as well as implicit endorsement,
2039 from it. The GNU Project, however, has never supported XEmacs and never
2040 distributed XEmacs, and RMS's hostility is the farthest thing possible
2041 from an endorsement. In fact, the GNU Project distributes a number of
2042 non-GNU software projects on the FSF web site, but again XEmacs is not
2046 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.6.5, Next: Q1.6.6, Prev: Q1.6.4, Up: Introduction
2048 Q1.6.5: What is the correct way to refer to XEmacs and GNU Emacs?
2049 -----------------------------------------------------------------
2051 Unfortunately even the naming of these two applications has become
2052 politicized. Much of this stems from RMS, who has a history of
2053 politicizing similar issues. (Compare the controversy over "Lignux" and
2054 "GNU/Linux".) We would prefer that the terms "XEmacs" and "GNU Emacs"
2055 be used, which are neutral and acceptable to most people. RMS,
2056 however, is not willing to accept these terms. He insists that, if his
2057 product is called "GNU Emacs", then ours must be called "GNU XEmacs".
2058 (For our opinion of this term, *Note Q1.6.4::.) On the other hand, if
2059 our product is to be called "XEmacs", as we prefer, then his product
2060 must simply be called "Emacs". The intent of this seems clear: RMS
2061 wants to make sure the names reflect his view that his version is the
2062 "real" Emacs and ours is merely a derivative, second-class product
2065 The XEmacs developers hope that you will use the neutral terms
2066 "XEmacs" and "GNU Emacs" for these two specific products. "Emacs", on
2067 the other hand, is a generic term for a class of programmable text
2068 editors with a similar look-and-feel, and usually a Lisp-based
2069 extension language. These trace themselves back to early editors such
2070 as EINE, ZWEI, ZMACS and Multics Emacs. *Note A History of Emacs:
2071 (internals)A History of Emacs.
2073 We also call upon RMS, in the spirit of furthering cooperation, to
2074 stop politicizing this issue and use the neutral terms "XEmacs" and
2075 "GNU Emacs". We have already acceded to RMS' wishes in this respect,
2076 and we expect him to do the same. (In the past, the XEmacs developers
2077 often used the terms "FSF Emacs" or "FSFmacs" or "RMSmacs" in reference
2078 to GNU Emacs; these terms were apparently modeled after RMS' own usage
2079 of "Gosmacs" and "Gosling Emacs" in reference to Unipress Emacs,
2080 produced by James Gosling. RMS, however, considers such terms to be
2081 insulting, so we refrain from using them as much as possible in
2082 preference to GNU Emacs.)
2085 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.6.6, Next: Q1.7.1, Prev: Q1.6.5, Up: Introduction
2087 Q1.6.6: Why haven't XEmacs and GNU Emacs merged?
2088 ------------------------------------------------
2090 There are currently irreconcilable differences in the views about
2091 technical, programming, design, organizational and legal matters
2092 between Richard Stallman (RMS), the author and leader of the GNU Emacs
2093 project, and the XEmacs development team which provide little hope for
2094 a merge to take place in the short-term future. There have been
2095 repeated attempts at merging by all of the major XEmacs developers,
2096 starting from the early days of Lucid Emacs (in 1991), but they have
2097 all failed. RMS has very strong views about how GNU Emacs should be
2098 structured and how his project should be run, and during the repeated
2099 merge efforts has never demonstrated any realistic interest in
2100 sufficiently compromising or ceding control to allow a middle ground to
2101 be found. The basic problem seems to be the very different goals of
2102 RMS and the XEmacs project. The primary goals of the XEmacs project
2103 are technical and organizational - we want to create the best editor
2104 possible, and to make it as easy as possible for people around the
2105 world to contribute. The primary goals of RMS, on the other hand, are
2106 political, and GNU Emacs, and any potential merge efforts with XEmacs,
2107 are strictly subservient to these goals. In fact, in many ways RMS
2108 sees GNU Emacs as the "poster child" of his aims, the one program in
2109 the GNU project that above all others must set an example to the world.
2110 (This has to do with the fact that GNU Emacs was the first program in
2111 the GNU project, and the only one that he is still personally involved
2112 with on a day-to-day basis.) Given his goals, his position is
2113 completely reasonable - but unfortunately, makes any merge impossible.
2115 From the XEmacs perspective, the most intractable issues appear to be
2116 legal and organizational, specifically:
2118 * RMS requires "legal papers" to be signed for all contributions of
2119 code to GNU Emacs over 10 lines or so, transferring the copyright
2120 and all legal rights to the code to the Free Software Foundation.
2121 XEmacs does not and has never required this, since it has the
2122 practical effect of discouraging individual and in particular
2123 corporate contributions - corporations will almost never sign away
2124 their legal rights to code since it makes it impossible to reuse
2125 the code in any product that whose license is not compatible with
2126 the GNU General Public License. Since RMS has shown no
2127 inclination to compromise on this issue, a merge would require
2128 that most of the existing XEmacs code would need to be thrown away
2129 and rewritten - something the XEmacs developers are understandably
2132 * A repeated stumbling block in the merge talks has been the issue of
2133 organizational control over the resulting product. RMS has made it
2134 clear that he intends to have final say over design issues in a
2135 merged Emacs. Unfortunately, RMS and the XEmacs developers have
2136 repeatedly clashed over design decisions, and RMS' insistence on
2137 getting his way in such disagreements was the very reason for the
2138 split in the first place. This same issue has come up again and
2139 again in merge talks and we have never been able to come to a
2140 satisfactory resolution. To the extent that RMS is willing to
2141 compromise at all, it appears to be of a purely political rather
2142 than technical nature - "If we support this feature of yours, we
2143 also get to support this other feature of mine." The XEmacs
2144 developers cannot see how such a process would lead to anything
2145 but a mess of incompatible things hodgepodged together.
2147 * Because of the years of separate development, distinct and
2148 incompatible interfaces have developed and merging would be
2149 extremely difficult even with the above non-technical issues
2150 resolved. The problem has been exacerbated by the issue of legal
2151 papers - because XEmacs code is not "kosher" from RMS'
2152 perspective, he discourages developers from even looking at it out
2153 of legal concerns. Although it is still possible to read the
2154 XEmacs documentation and run the program, the practical effect of
2155 this prohibition has been to strongly discourage code-sharing and
2156 cooperative development - although a great deal of GNU Emacs code
2157 has been incorporated into XEmacs, practically none has gone the
2160 If you have a comment to add regarding the merge, it is a good idea
2161 to avoid posting to the newsgroups, because of the very heated flamewars
2162 that often result. Mail your questions to <xemacs-beta@xemacs.org> and
2163 <emacs-devel@gnu.org>.
2165 1.7: External Packages
2166 ======================
2169 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.7.1, Next: Q1.7.2, Prev: Q1.6.6, Up: Introduction
2171 Q1.7.1: What is the package system?
2172 -----------------------------------
2174 In order to reduce the size and increase the maintainability of XEmacs,
2175 the majority of the Elisp packages that came with previous releases
2176 have been unbundled. They have been replaced by the package system.
2177 Each elisp add-on (or groups of them when they are small) now comes in
2178 its own tarball that contains a small search hierarchy.
2180 You select just the ones you need. Install them by untarring them
2181 into the right place. On startup XEmacs will find them, set up the load
2182 path correctly, install autoloads, etc, etc.
2184 *Note Q2.1.1::, for more info on how to download and install the
2188 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.7.2, Next: Q1.7.3, Prev: Q1.7.1, Up: Introduction
2190 Q1.7.2: Which external packages are there?
2191 ------------------------------------------
2196 A very broad collection of elisp packages.
2199 Support for Sparcworks.
2202 Ada language support.
2205 A Portable Emacs Library. Used by XEmacs MIME support.
2208 Basic TeX/LaTeX support.
2211 The Big Brother Data Base: a rolodex-like database program.
2214 Build XEmacs from within (UNIX, Windows).
2217 Basic single-file add-ons for editing C code.
2223 Calendar and diary support.
2226 C, C++, Objective-C, Java, CORBA IDL, Pike and AWK language
2230 New Clearcase Version Control for XEmacs (UNIX, Windows).
2233 Support for the Clearcase version control system.
2236 "Fortune cookie"-style messages. Includes Spook (suspicious
2237 phrases) and Yow (Zippy quotes).
2240 Crisp/Brief emulation.
2243 GUD, gdb, dbx debugging support.
2246 Interface to RFC2229 dictionary servers.
2249 The DIRectory EDitor is for manipulating, and running commands on
2250 files in a directory.
2253 DocBook editing support.
2256 Emacs source code browser.
2259 Crypto functionality in Emacs Lisp.
2262 An Emacs Lisp debugger.
2265 Interface over GNU patch.
2268 Miscellaneous editor extensions, you probably need this.
2271 DEC EDIT/EDT emulation.
2274 Treat files on remote systems the same as local files.
2277 Enhanced Implementation of Emacs Interpreted Objects.
2280 Portable Emacs Lisp utilities library.
2283 Another interface over GNU patch.
2286 ERC is an Emacs InternetRelayChat client.
2289 Multiple editing sessions withing a single frame (like screen).
2292 Command shell implemented entirely in Emacs Lisp.
2295 ESS: Emacs Speaks Statistics.
2301 Emacs Unified Directory Client (LDAP, PH).
2304 Footnoting in mail message editing modes.
2307 Forms editing support (obsolete, use Widget instead).
2313 Fortran language support.
2316 Set up mode-specific icons for each frame under XEmacs.
2319 GNU Emacs compatibility files.
2322 Tetris, Sokoban, and Snake.
2325 General documentation. Presently, empty.
2331 The Gnus Newsreader and Mailreader.
2334 Haskell editing support.
2340 Hyperbole: The Everyday Info Manager.
2343 Advanced replacement for buffer-menu.
2346 Editing and Shell mode for the Interactive Data Language.
2349 Enhanced front-end for Grep.
2352 Front-end for interacting with Inferior Lisp (external lisps).
2355 Spell-checking with GNU ispell.
2358 Integrated Development Environment for Java.
2361 IRC (Internet Relay Chat) client for Emacs. Note, this package is
2362 deprecated and will be removed, use riece instead.
2365 Fundamental lisp files for providing email support.
2368 Support for messaging encryption with PGP.
2371 Messaging in an Emacs World; a MIME-based email program.
2374 The XEmacs Interface to the MH Mail System.
2377 Elisp implementation of the game 'Minehunt'.
2380 Other amusements and diversions.
2383 Support for Multiple Major Modes within a single buffer.
2386 Miscellaneous Networking Utilities.
2389 Objective Caml editing support.
2392 OO-Browser: The Multi-Language Object-Oriented Code Browser.
2395 Objective Caml editing support.
2398 Miscellaneous single-file O/S utilities, for printing, archiving,
2399 compression, remote shells, etc.
2402 PC style interface emulation.
2408 Provides programmatic completion.
2414 Emacs interface to various PGP implementations.
2417 Support for various programming languages.
2420 Printing functions and utilities.
2423 Validated HTML/SGML editing.
2426 A collection of DTDs for psgml. Note that this package is
2427 deprecated and will be removed in the future, most likely Q2/2003.
2428 Instead of using this, you should install needed DTDs yourself.
2431 Python language support.
2434 Emacs support for LaTeX cross-references, citations.
2437 IRC (Internet Relay Chat) client for Emacs.
2440 An obsolete Emacs mailer. If you do not already use it don't
2447 Simple Authentication and Security Layer (SASL) library.
2450 Front-end support for Inferior Scheme.
2453 Semantic bovinator (Yacc/Lex for XEmacs). Includes Senator.
2456 SGML/Linuxdoc-SGML editing.
2459 Support for editing shell scripts.
2462 Manage Sieve email filtering scripts.
2465 User interface tool.
2468 SML editing support.
2471 XEmacs Sun sound files.
2474 XEmacs Microsoft sound files.
2477 Provides a separate frame with convenient references.
2480 Mouse enhancement utility.
2483 An Emacs citation tool for News & Mail messages.
2486 XEmacs TeXinfo support.
2489 Miscellaneous support for editing text files.
2492 Miscellaneous TeX support.
2495 Display time & date on the modeline.
2498 Emacs MIME support. Not needed for gnus >= 5.8.0.
2501 Support for building with Tooltalk.
2504 DEC EDIT/TPU support.
2507 Remote shell-based file editing. This is similar to EFS or
2508 Ange-FTP, but works with rsh/ssh and rcp/scp.
2511 Version Control for Free systems.
2514 Version Control for ClearCase (UnFree) systems.
2520 A Unix process browsing tool.
2523 VI emulation support.
2532 Semi WYSIWYG for LaTeX, HTML, etc, using additional fonts.
2535 Fundamental XEmacs support, you almost certainly need this.
2538 XEmacs Lisp developer support. This package contains utilities for
2539 supporting Lisp development. It is a single-file package so it
2543 Emacs interface to X server.
2546 XSL editing support.
2549 A minor mode for (X)Emacs which allows running an XSLT processor
2553 X Emacs Window Manager.
2561 MULti-lingual Enhancement. Support for world scripts such as Latin,
2562 Arabic, Cyrillic, Chinese, Japanese, Greek, Hebrew etc. To use these
2563 packages your XEmacs must be compiled with Mule support.
2566 MULE: Lisp Interface to EDICT, Kanji Dictionary.
2569 MULE: Wnn (4.2 and 6) support. SJ3 support.
2572 MULE: find single ISO 8859 character set to encode a buffer.
2575 Unify character sets in a buffer. When characters belong to
2576 disjoint character sets, this attempts to translate the characters
2577 so that they belong to one character set. If the buffer coding
2578 system is not sufficient, this suggests different coding systems.
2581 MULE: Quail. All non-English and non-Japanese language support.
2584 MULE: Localized menubars and localized splash screens.
2587 Dictionary support. (This isn't an English dictionary program)
2590 MULE: Basic Mule support, required for building with Mule.
2593 MULE: Extended coding systems (including Unicode) for XEmacs.
2596 Extended coding systems (including Unicode) for XEmacs.
2599 Another Japanese Language Input Method. Can be used without a
2600 separate process running as a dictionary server.
2603 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.7.3, Next: Q1.7.4, Prev: Q1.7.2, Up: Introduction
2605 Q1.7.3: Do I need to have the packages to run XEmacs?
2606 -----------------------------------------------------
2608 Strictly speaking, no. XEmacs will build and install just fine without
2609 any packages installed. However, only the most basic editing functions
2610 will be available with no packages installed, so installing packages is
2611 an essential part of making your installed XEmacs _useful_.
2614 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.7.4, Next: Q1.8.1, Prev: Q1.7.3, Up: Introduction
2616 Q1.7.4: Is there a way to find which package has particular functionality?
2617 --------------------------------------------------------------------------
2619 If you want to find out which package contains the functionality you
2620 are looking for, use `M-x package-get-package-provider', and give it a
2621 symbol that is likely to be in that package.
2623 For example, if some code you want to use has a `(require
2626 M-x package-get-package-provider RET thingatpt RET
2628 which will return something like: `(fsf-compat "1.08").'
2630 1.8: Internationalization
2631 =========================
2634 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.8.1, Next: Q1.8.2, Prev: Q1.7.4, Up: Introduction
2636 Q1.8.1: What is the status of internationalization support aka MULE (including Asian language support)?
2637 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2639 Both the stable and development versions of XEmacs include
2640 internationalization support (aka MULE). MULE currently (21.4) works on
2641 UNIX and Linux systems. It is possible to build with MULE on Windows
2642 systems, but if you really need MULE on Windows, it is recommended that
2643 you build and use the development (21.5) version, and deal with the
2644 instability of the development tree. Binaries compiled without MULE
2645 support run faster than MULE capable XEmacsen.
2648 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.8.2, Next: Q1.8.3, Prev: Q1.8.1, Up: Introduction
2650 Q1.8.2: How can I help with internationalization?
2651 -------------------------------------------------
2653 If you would like to help, you may want to join the
2654 <xemacs-mule@xemacs.org> mailing list. Especially needed are people
2655 who speak/write languages other than English, who are willing to use
2656 XEmacs/MULE regularly, and have some experience with Elisp.
2658 Translations of the TUTORIAL and man page are welcome, and XEmacs
2659 does support multilingual menus, but we have few current translations.
2661 *Note How do I become a Beta Tester?: Q1.5.2.
2664 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.8.3, Next: Q1.8.4, Prev: Q1.8.2, Up: Introduction
2666 Q1.8.3: How do I type non-ASCII characters?
2667 -------------------------------------------
2669 *Note How can you type in special characters in XEmacs?: Q3.0.6, in
2670 part 3 of this FAQ, for some simple methods that also work in non-MULE
2671 builds of XEmacs (but only for one-octet coded character sets, and
2672 mostly for ISO 8859/1). Many of the methods available for Cyrillic
2673 (*note How about Cyrillic modes?: Q1.8.7.) work without MULE. MULE has
2674 more general capabilities. *Note Please explain the various input
2675 methods in MULE/XEmacs: Q1.8.5.
2677 *Note How do I display non-ASCII characters?: Q4.0.8, which covers
2678 display of non-ASCII characters.
2681 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.8.4, Next: Q1.8.5, Prev: Q1.8.3, Up: Introduction
2683 Q1.8.4: Can XEmacs messages come out in a different language?
2684 -------------------------------------------------------------
2686 The message-catalog support was written but is badly bit-rotted. XEmacs
2687 20 and 21 did _not_ support it, and early releases of XEmacs 22 will
2690 However, menubar localization _does_ work. To enable it, add to
2691 your `Emacs' file entries like this:
2693 Emacs*XlwMenu.resourceLabels: True
2694 Emacs*XlwMenu.file.labelString: Fichier
2695 Emacs*XlwMenu.openInOtherWindow.labelString: In anderem Fenster oeffnen
2697 The name of the resource is derived from the non-localized entry by
2698 removing punctuation and capitalizing as above.
2701 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.8.5, Next: Q1.8.6, Prev: Q1.8.4, Up: Introduction
2703 Q1.8.5: Please explain the various input methods in MULE/XEmacs
2704 ---------------------------------------------------------------
2706 Mule supports a wide variety of input methods. There are three basic
2707 classes: Lisp implementations, generic platform support, and library
2710 _Lisp implementations_ include Quail, which provides table-driven
2711 input methods for almost all the character sets that Mule supports
2712 (including all of the ISO 8859 family, the Indic languages, Thai, and
2713 so on), and SKK, for Japanese. (SKK also supports an interface to an
2714 external "dictionary server" process.) Quail supports both typical
2715 "dead-key" methods (eg, in the "latin-1-prefix" method, `" a' produces
2716 ä, LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH DIAERESIS), and the complex
2717 dictionary-based phonetic methods used for Asian ideographic languages
2720 Lisp implementations can be less powerful (but they are not
2721 perceptibly inefficient), and of course are not portable to non-Emacs
2722 applications. The incompatibility can be very annoying. On the other
2723 hand, they require no special platform support or external libraries,
2724 so if you can display the characters, Mule can input them for you and
2725 you can edit, anywhere.
2727 _Generic platform support_ is currently limited to the X Input
2728 Method (XIM) framework, although support for MSIME (for MS Windows) is
2729 planned, and IIIMF (Sun's Internet-Intranet Input Method Framework)
2730 support is extremely desirable. XIM is enabled at build time by use of
2731 the `--with-xim' flag to `configure'. For use of XIM, see your
2732 platform documentation. However, normally the input method you use is
2733 specified via the `LANG' and `XMODIFIERS' environment variables.
2735 Of course, input skills are portable across most applications.
2736 However, especially in modern GUI systems the habit of using bucky bits
2737 has fallen into sad disuse, and many XIM systems are poorly configured
2738 for use with Emacs. For example, the kinput2 input manager (a separate
2739 process providing an interface between Japanese dictionary servers such
2740 as Canna and Wnn, and the application) tends to gobble up keystrokes
2741 generating Meta characters. This means that to edit while using an XIM
2742 input method, you must toggle the input method off every time you want
2743 to use `M-f'. Your mileage may vary.
2745 _Library interfaces_ are most common for Japanese, although Wnn
2746 supports Chinese (traditional and simplified) and Korean. There are
2747 Chinese and Korean input servers available, but we do not know of any
2748 patches for XEmacs to use them directly. You can use them via
2749 IM-enabled terminals, by manipulating the terminal coding systems. We
2750 describe only the Japanese-oriented systems here. The advantage of
2751 these systems is that they are very powerful, and on platforms where
2752 they are available there is typically a wide range of applications that
2753 support them. Thus your input skills are portable across applications.
2755 Mule provides built-in interfaces to the following input methods:
2756 Wnn4, Wnn6, Canna, and SJ3. These can be configured at build time.
2757 There are patches available (no URL, sorry) to support the SKK server,
2758 as well. Wnn and SJ3 use the `egg' user interface. The interface for
2759 Canna is specialized to Canna.
2761 Wnn supports Japanese, Chinese and Korean. It is made by OMRON and
2762 Kyôto University. It is a powerful and complex system. Wnn4 is free
2763 and Wnn6 is not. Wnn uses grammatical hints and probability of word
2764 association, so in principle Wnn can be cleverer than other methods.
2766 Canna, made by NEC, supports only Japanese. It is a simple and
2767 powerful system. Canna uses only grammar, but its grammar and
2768 dictionary are quite sophisticated. So for standard modern Japanese,
2769 Canna seems cleverer than Wnn4. In addition, the UNIX version of Canna
2770 is free (now there is a Microsoft Windows version).
2772 SJ3, by Sony, supports only Japanese.
2774 Egg consists of following parts:
2776 1. Input character Translation System (ITS) layer. It translates
2777 ASCII inputs to Kana/PinYin/Hangul characters.
2779 2. Kana/PinYin/Hangul to Kanji transfer layer. The interface layer
2780 to network Kana-Kanji server (Wnn and Sj3).
2782 These input methods are modal. They have a raw (alphabet) mode, a
2783 phonetic input mode, and Kana-Kanji transfer mode. However there are
2784 mode-less input methods for Egg and Canna. `boiled-egg' is a mode-less
2785 input method running on Egg. For Canna, `canna.el' has a tiny
2786 boiled-egg-like command, `(canna-boil)', and there are some
2787 boiled-egg-like utilities.
2789 Much of this information was provided by MORIOKA Tomohiko
2790 <morioka@jaist.ac.jp>.
2793 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.8.6, Next: Q1.8.7, Prev: Q1.8.5, Up: Introduction
2795 Q1.8.6: How do I portably code for MULE/XEmacs?
2796 -----------------------------------------------
2798 MULE has evolved rapidly over the last few years, and the original third
2799 party patch (for GNU Emacs 19), GNU Emacs 20+, and XEmacs 20+ have quite
2800 different implementations. The APIs also vary although recent versions
2801 of XEmacs have tended to converge to the GNU Emacs standard.
2803 MULE implementations are going to continue to evolve. Both GNU Emacs
2804 and XEmacs are working hard on Unicode support, which will involve new
2805 APIs and probably variations on old ones. For XEmacs 22, the old ISO
2806 2022-based system for recognizing encodings will be replaced by a much
2807 more flexible system, which should improve accuracy of automatic coding
2808 detections, but will also involve new APIs.
2810 MORIOKA Tomohiko <morioka@jaist.ac.jp> writes:
2812 The application implementor must write separate code for these mule
2813 variants. [Please don't hesitate to report these variants to us;
2814 they are not, strictly speaking, bugs, but they give third-party
2815 developers the same kind of creepy-crawly feeling. We'll do what
2818 MULE and the next version of Emacs are similar but the symbols are
2819 very different--requiring separate code as well.
2821 Namely we must support 3 kinds of mule variants and 4 or 5 or 6
2822 kinds of emacs variants... (;_;) I'm shocked, so I wrote a wrapper
2823 package called `emu' to provide a common interface. [There is an
2824 XEmacs package of APEL which provides much more comprehensive
2825 coverage. Be careful, however; APEL has problems of its own. -
2828 I have the following suggestions about dealing with mule variants:
2830 * `(featurep 'mule)' `t' on all mule variants
2832 * `(boundp 'MULE)' is `t' on only MULE. Maybe the next version
2833 of Emacs will not have this symbol.
2835 * MULE has a variable `mule-version'. Perhaps the next version
2836 of Emacs will have this variable as well.
2838 Following is a sample to distinguish mule variants:
2840 (if (featurep 'mule)
2841 (cond ((boundp 'MULE)
2842 ;; for original Mule
2844 ((string-match "XEmacs" emacs-version)
2845 ;; for XEmacs with Mule
2848 ;; for next version of Emacs
2850 ;; for old emacs variants
2854 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.8.7, Next: Q1.8.8, Prev: Q1.8.6, Up: Introduction
2856 Q1.8.7: How about Cyrillic modes?
2857 ---------------------------------
2859 Ilya Zakharevich <ilya@math.ohio-state.edu> writes:
2861 There is a cyrillic mode in the file `mysetup.zip' in
2862 `ftp://ftp.math.ohio-state.edu/pub/users/ilya/emacs/'. This is a
2863 modification to Valery Alexeev's <ava@math.jhu.ed> `russian.el'
2864 which can be obtained from
2866 `http://www.math.uga.edu/~valery/russian.el'.
2868 Dima Barsky <d.barsky@ee.surrey.ac.uk> writes:
2870 There is another cyrillic mode for both GNU Emacs and XEmacs by
2871 Dmitrii (Mitya) Manin <manin@camelot.mssm.edu> at
2872 `http://kulichki-lat.rambler.ru/centrolit/manin/cyr.el'.
2874 Rebecca Ore <rebecca.ore@op.net> writes:
2876 The fullest resource I found on Russian language use (in and out of
2877 XEmacs) is `http://www.ibiblio.org/sergei/Software/Software.html'
2880 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.8.8, Next: Q1.8.9, Prev: Q1.8.7, Up: Introduction
2882 Q1.8.8: Does XEmacs support Unicode?
2883 ------------------------------------
2885 To get Unicode support, you need a Mule-enabled XEmacs.
2887 21.5 has internal support for Unicode and supports it fully,
2888 although we don't yet use it as the internal encoding.
2890 21.4 supports Unicode partially - as an external encoding for files,
2891 processes, and terminals, but without font support. *Note How does
2892 XEmacs display Unicode?: Q1.8.9. To get Unicode support in 21.4,
2893 install Mule-UCS from packages in the usual way, and put
2895 (require 'un-define)
2896 (set-coding-priority-list '(utf-8))
2897 (set-coding-category-system 'utf-8 'utf-8)
2899 in your init file to enable the UTF-8 coding system. You may wish to
2900 view the documentation of `set-coding-priority-list' if you find that
2901 files that are not UTF-8 are being mis-recognized as UTF-8.
2903 Install standard national fonts (not Unicode fonts) for all character
2904 sets you use. *Note How does XEmacs display Unicode??: Q1.8.9.
2906 Mule-UCS also supports 16-bit forms of Unicode (UTF-16). It does not
2907 support 31-bit forms of Unicode (UTF-32 or UCS-4).
2910 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q1.8.9, Prev: Q1.8.8, Up: Introduction
2912 Q1.8.9: How does XEmacs display Unicode?
2913 ----------------------------------------
2915 Mule doesn't have a Unicode charset internally, so there's nothing to
2916 bind a Unicode registry to. It would not be straightforward to create,
2917 either, because Unicode is not ISO 2022-compatible. You'd have to
2918 translate it to multiple 96x96 pages.
2920 This means that Mule-UCS uses ordinary national fonts for display.
2921 This is not really a problem, except for those languages that use the
2922 Unified Han characters. The problem here is that Mule-UCS maps from
2923 Unicode code points to national character sets in a deterministic way.
2924 By default, this means that Japanese fonts are tried first, then
2925 Chinese, then Korean. To change the priority ordering, use the command
2926 `un-define-change-charset-order'.
2928 It also means you can't use Unicode fonts directly, at least not
2929 without extreme hackery. You can run -nw with
2930 (set-terminal-coding-system 'utf-8) if you really want a Unicode font
2933 Real Unicode support will be introduced in XEmacs 22.0.
2936 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Installation, Next: Editing, Prev: Introduction, Up: Top
2938 2 Installation and Troubleshooting
2939 **********************************
2941 This is part 2 of the XEmacs Frequently Asked Questions list. This
2942 section is devoted to Installation, Maintenance and Troubleshooting.
2946 2.0: Installation (General)
2947 * Q2.0.1:: How do I build and install XEmacs?
2948 * Q2.0.2:: Where do I find external libraries?
2949 * Q2.0.3:: How do I specify the paths that XEmacs uses for finding files?
2950 * Q2.0.4:: Running XEmacs without installing
2951 * Q2.0.5:: XEmacs is too big
2953 2.1: Package Installation
2954 * Q2.1.1:: How do I install the packages?
2955 * Q2.1.2:: Can I install the packages individually?
2956 * Q2.1.3:: Can I install the packages automatically?
2957 * Q2.1.4:: Can I upgrade or remove packages?
2958 * Q2.1.5:: Which packages to install?
2959 * Q2.1.6:: Can you describe the package location process in more detail?
2960 * Q2.1.7:: EFS fails with "500 AUTH not understood"
2962 2.2: Unix/Mac OS X Installation (Also Relevant to Cygwin, MinGW)
2963 * Q2.2.1:: Libraries in non-standard locations
2964 * Q2.2.2:: Why can't I strip XEmacs?
2966 2.3: Windows Installation (Windows, Cygwin, MinGW)
2967 * Q2.3.1:: What exactly are all the different ways to build XEmacs under Windows?
2968 * Q2.3.2:: What compiler/libraries do I need to compile XEmacs?
2969 * Q2.3.3:: How do I compile the native port?
2970 * Q2.3.4:: What do I need for Cygwin?
2971 * Q2.3.5:: How do I compile under Cygwin?
2972 * Q2.3.6:: How do I compile using MinGW (aka `the -mno-cygwin flag to gcc')?
2973 * Q2.3.7:: How do I compile with X support?
2974 * Q2.3.8:: Cygwin XEmacs won't start -- cygXpm-noX4.dll was not found (NEW)
2976 2.4: General Troubleshooting
2977 * Q2.4.1:: How do I deal with bugs or with problems building, installing, or running?
2978 * Q2.4.2:: Help! XEmacs just crashed on me!
2979 * Q2.4.3:: XEmacs crashes and I compiled it myself.
2980 * Q2.4.4:: How to debug an XEmacs problem with a debugger
2981 * Q2.4.5:: I get a cryptic error message when trying to do something.
2982 * Q2.4.6:: XEmacs hangs when I try to do something.
2983 * Q2.4.7:: I get an error message when XEmacs is running in batch mode.
2984 * Q2.4.8:: The keyboard or mouse is not working properly, or I have some other event-related problem.
2985 * Q2.4.9:: C-g doesn't work for me. Is it broken?
2986 * Q2.4.10:: How do I debug process-related problems?
2987 * Q2.4.11:: XEmacs is outputting lots of X errors.
2988 * Q2.4.12:: After upgrading, XEmacs won't do `foo' any more!
2990 2.5: Startup-Related Problems
2991 * Q2.5.1:: XEmacs cannot connect to my X Terminal!
2992 * Q2.5.2:: Startup problems related to paths or package locations.
2993 * Q2.5.3:: XEmacs won't start without network.
2994 * Q2.5.4:: Startup warnings about deducing proper fonts?
2995 * Q2.5.5:: Warnings from incorrect key modifiers.
2996 * Q2.5.6:: XEmacs 21.1 on Windows used to spawn an ugly console window on every startup. Has that been fixed?
2998 2.0: Installation (General)
2999 ===========================
3002 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q2.0.1, Next: Q2.0.2, Prev: Installation, Up: Installation
3004 Q2.0.1: How do I build and install XEmacs?
3005 ------------------------------------------
3007 See the file `etc/NEWS' for information on new features and other
3008 user-visible changes since the last version of XEmacs.
3010 The file `INSTALL' in the top-level directory says how to bring up
3011 XEmacs on Unix and Cygwin, once you have loaded the entire subtree of
3014 See the file `nt/README' for instructions on building XEmacs for
3017 *Note Q2.1.1::, for the installation of (essential) add on packages.
3020 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q2.0.2, Next: Q2.0.3, Prev: Q2.0.1, Up: Installation
3022 Q2.0.2: Where do I find external libraries?
3023 -------------------------------------------
3025 All external libraries used by XEmacs can be found on the XEmacs web
3026 site `http://www.xemacs.org/Download/optLibs.html'.
3028 The library versions available here are known to work with XEmacs.
3029 (Newer versions will probably work as well but we can't guarantee it.)
3030 We try to keep the libraries up-to-date but may not always succeed.
3031 Check the above page for the canonical locations of the external
3032 libraries, allowing you to download the latest, bleeding-edge versions.
3035 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q2.0.3, Next: Q2.0.4, Prev: Q2.0.2, Up: Installation
3037 Q2.0.3: How do I specify the paths that XEmacs uses for finding files?
3038 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
3040 You can specify what paths to use by using a number of different flags
3041 when running configure. See the section MAKE VARIABLES in the top-level
3042 file INSTALL in the XEmacs distribution for a listing of those flags.
3044 Most of the time, however, the simplest fix is: *do not* specify
3045 paths as you might for GNU Emacs. XEmacs can generally determine the
3046 necessary paths dynamically at run time. The only path that generally
3047 needs to be specified is the root directory to install into. That can
3048 be specified by passing the `--prefix' flag to configure. For a
3049 description of the XEmacs install tree, please consult the `NEWS' file.
3052 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q2.0.4, Next: Q2.0.5, Prev: Q2.0.3, Up: Installation
3054 Q2.0.4: Running XEmacs without installing
3055 -----------------------------------------
3057 How can I just try XEmacs without installing it?
3059 XEmacs will run in place without requiring installation and copying
3060 of the Lisp directories, and without having to specify a special
3061 build-time flag. It's the copying of the Lisp directories that
3062 requires so much space. XEmacs is largely written in Lisp.
3064 A good method is to make a shell alias for xemacs:
3066 alias xemacs=/src/xemacs-21.5/src/xemacs
3068 (You will obviously use whatever directory you downloaded the source
3069 tree to instead of `/src/xemacs-21.5').
3071 This will let you run XEmacs without massive copying.
3074 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q2.0.5, Next: Q2.1.1, Prev: Q2.0.4, Up: Installation
3076 Q2.0.5: XEmacs is too big
3077 -------------------------
3079 The space required by the installation directories can be reduced
3080 dramatically if desired. Gzip all the .el files. Remove all the
3081 packages you'll never want to use. Remove the TexInfo manuals. Remove
3082 the Info (and use just hardcopy versions of the manual). Remove most
3083 of the stuff in etc. Remove or gzip all the source code. Gzip or
3084 remove the C source code. Configure it so that copies are not made of
3087 These are all Emacs Lisp source code and bytecompiled object code.
3088 You may safely gzip everything named *.el here. You may remove any
3089 package you don't use. _Nothing bad will happen if you delete a package
3090 that you do not use_. You must be sure you do not use it though, so be
3091 conservative at first.
3093 Any package with the possible exceptions of xemacs-base, and EFS are
3094 candidates for removal. Ask yourself, _Do I ever want to use this
3095 package?_ If the answer is no, then it is a candidate for removal.
3097 First, gzip all the .el files. Then go about package by package and
3098 start gzipping the .elc files. Then run XEmacs and do whatever it is
3099 you normally do. If nothing bad happens, then remove the package. You
3100 can remove a package via the PUI interface (`M-x pui-list-packages',
3101 then press `d' to mark the packages you wish to delete, and then `x' to
3104 Another method is to do `M-x package-get-delete-package'.
3106 2.1: Package Installation
3107 =========================
3110 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q2.1.1, Next: Q2.1.2, Prev: Q2.0.5, Up: Installation
3112 Q2.1.1: How do I install the packages?
3113 --------------------------------------
3115 There are three ways to install the packages.
3117 1. Manually, all at once, using the 'Sumo Tarball'.
3119 2. Manually, using individual package tarballs.
3121 3. Automatically, using the package tools from XEmacs.
3123 If you don't want to mess with the packages, it is easiest to just
3124 grab them manually, all at once. (For the other two ways, *Note
3125 Q2.1.2::, and *Note Q2.1.3::.) Download the file
3127 `xemacs-sumo.tar.gz'
3129 For an XEmacs compiled with Mule you also need
3131 `xemacs-mule-sumo.tar.gz'
3133 These are in the `packages' directory on your XEmacs mirror archive:
3134 `ftp://ftp.xemacs.org/pub/xemacs/packages' or its mirrors. N.B. They
3135 are called 'Sumo Tarballs' for good reason. They are currently about
3136 19MB and 4.5MB (gzipped) respectively.
3138 Install them on Unix and Mac OS X using the shell/Terminal command
3140 `cd $prefix/lib/xemacs ; gunzip -c <tarballname> | tar xf -'
3142 Where `$prefix' is what you gave to the `--prefix' flag to
3143 `configure', and defaults to `/usr/local'.
3145 If you have GNU tar you can use:
3147 `cd $prefix/lib/xemacs ; tar zxvf <tarballname>'
3149 If you have the packages somewhere nonstandard and don't want to
3150 bother with `$prefix' (for example, you're a developer and are compiling
3151 the packages yourself, and want your own private copy of everything),
3152 you can also directly specify this using `configure'. To do this with
3153 21.5 and above use the `--with-package-prefix' parameter to specify the
3154 directory under which you untarred the above tarballs. Under 21.4 and
3155 previous you need to use `--package-path'. Using these options looks
3156 something like this:
3158 configure --package-path="~/.xemacs::/src/xemacs/site-packages:/src/xemacs/xemacs-packages:/src/xemacs/mule-packages" ...
3160 Under Windows, you need to place the above `tar.gz' files in the
3161 directory specified using the `PACKAGE_PREFIX' value in `nt/config.inc'
3162 and by default is `\Program Files\XEmacs'. (To untar a `tar.gz' file
3163 you will need to use a utility such as WinZip, unless you have Cygwin
3164 or a similar environment installed, in which case the above Unix shell
3165 command should work fine.) If you want the packages somewhere else,
3166 just change `PACKAGE_PREFIX'.
3168 Note that XEmacs finds the packages automatically anywhere underneath
3169 the directory tree where it expects to find the packages. All you need
3170 to do is put stuff there; you don't need to run any program to tell
3171 XEmacs to find the packges, or do anything of that sort.
3173 However, XEmacs will only notice newly installed packages when it
3174 starts up, so you will have to restart if you are already running
3177 For more details, *Note Startup Paths: (xemacs)Startup Paths, and
3178 *Note Packages: (xemacs)Packages.
3180 As the Sumo tarballs are not regenerated as often as the individual
3181 packages, it is recommended that you use the automatic package tools
3182 afterwards to pick up any recent updates.
3184 _NOTE_: For detailed information about how the package hierarchies
3185 work, *Note Package Overview: (lispref)Package Overview.
3188 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q2.1.2, Next: Q2.1.3, Prev: Q2.1.1, Up: Installation
3190 Q2.1.2: Can I install the packages individually?
3191 ------------------------------------------------
3193 Yes, you can download individual packages from the FTP site (*note
3194 Q2.1.1::). Since packages are automatically noticed at startup, you
3195 just have to put them in the right place.
3197 Note: If you are upgrading packages already installed, it's best to
3198 remove the old package first (*note Q2.1.4::).
3200 For example if we are installing the `xemacs-base' package (version
3203 mkdir $prefix/lib/xemacs/xemacs-packages RET # if it does not exist yet
3204 cd $prefix/lib/xemacs/xemacs-packages RET
3205 gunzip -c /path/to/xemacs-base-1.48-pkg.tar.gz | tar xvf - RET
3207 Or if you have GNU tar, the last step can be:
3209 tar zxvf /path/to/xemacs-base-1.48-pkg.tar.gz RET
3211 For MULE related packages, it is best to untar into the
3212 `mule-packages' hierarchy, i.e. for the `mule-base' package, version
3215 mkdir $prefix/lib/xemacs/mule-packages RET # if it does not exist yet
3216 cd $prefix/lib/xemacs/mule-packages RET
3217 gunzip -c /path/to/mule-base-1.37-pkg.tar.gz | tar xvf - RET
3219 Or if you have GNU tar, the last step can be:
3221 tar zxvf /path/to/mule-base-1.37-pkg.tar.gz RET
3224 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q2.1.3, Next: Q2.1.4, Prev: Q2.1.2, Up: Installation
3226 Q2.1.3: Can I install the packages automatically?
3227 -------------------------------------------------
3229 XEmacs comes with some tools to make the periodic updating and
3230 installing easier. It will notice if new packages or versions are
3231 available and will fetch them from the FTP site.
3233 Unfortunately this requires that a few packages are already in place.
3234 You will have to install them by hand as above or use a SUMO tarball.
3235 This requirement will hopefully go away in the future. The packages you
3238 efs - To fetch the files from the FTP site or mirrors.
3239 xemacs-base - Needed by efs.
3243 mailcrypt - For PGP verification of the package-index file.
3245 After installing these by hand, fire up XEmacs and follow these
3248 1. Choose a download site.
3249 * via menu: Tools -> Packages -> Set Download Site
3251 * via keyb: M-x customize-variable RET package-get-remote RET
3252 (put in the details of remote host and directory)
3254 If the package tarballs _AND_ the package-index file are in a
3255 local directory, you can: M-x pui-set-local-package-get-directory
3258 2. Obtain a list of packages and display the list in a buffer named
3260 * menu: Tools -> Packages -> List & Install
3262 * keyb: M-x pui-list-packages RET
3264 XEmacs will now connect to the remote site and download the latest
3267 The resulting buffer, "*Packages*" has brief instructions at the
3270 3. Choose the packages you wish to install.
3271 * mouse: Click button 2 on the package name.
3273 * keyb: RET on the package name
3275 4. Make sure you have everything you need.
3276 * menu: Packages -> Add Required
3280 XEmacs will now search for packages that are required by the ones
3281 that you have chosen to install and offer to select those packages
3284 For novices and gurus alike, this step can save your bacon. It's
3285 easy to forget to install a critical package.
3287 5. Download and install the packages.
3288 * menu: Packages -> Install/Remove Selected
3293 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q2.1.4, Next: Q2.1.5, Prev: Q2.1.3, Up: Installation
3295 Q2.1.4: Can I upgrade or remove packages?
3296 -----------------------------------------
3298 As the exact files and their locations contained in a package may
3299 change it is recommended to remove a package first before installing a
3300 new version. In order to facilitate removal each package contains an
3301 pgkinfo/MANIFEST.pkgname file which list all the files belong to the
3302 package. M-x package-admin-delete-binary-package RET can be used to
3303 remove a package using this file.
3305 Note that the interactive package tools included with XEmacs already
3309 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q2.1.5, Next: Q2.1.6, Prev: Q2.1.4, Up: Installation
3311 Q2.1.5: Which packages to install?
3312 ----------------------------------
3314 Unless you are an advanced user, just install everything.
3316 If you really want to install only what's absolutely needed, a good
3317 minimal set of packages for XEmacs-latin1 would be
3319 xemacs-base, xemacs-devel, c-support, cc-mode, debug, dired, efs,
3320 edit-utils, fsf-compat, mail-lib, net-utils, os-utils, prog-modes,
3321 text-modes, time, mailcrypt
3323 If you are using the XEmacs package tools, don't forget to do:
3325 Packages -> Add Required
3327 To make sure you have everything that the packages you have chosen to
3330 *Note Q1.7.2::, for a description of the various packages.
3333 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q2.1.6, Next: Q2.1.7, Prev: Q2.1.5, Up: Installation
3335 Q2.1.6: Can you describe the package location process in more detail?
3336 ---------------------------------------------------------------------
3338 On startup XEmacs looks for packages in so-called package hierarchies.
3339 Normally, there are three system wide hierarchies, like this:
3341 $prefix/lib/xemacs/xemacs-packages/
3342 Normal packages go here.
3344 $prefix/lib/xemacs/mule-packages/
3345 Mule packages go here and are only searched by MULE-enabled XEmacsen.
3347 $prefix/lib/xemacs/site-packages/
3348 Local and 3rd party packages go here.
3350 This is what you get when you untar the SUMO tarballs under
3351 `$prefix/lib/xemacs'.
3353 `$prefix' is specified using the `--prefix' parameter to
3354 `configure', and defaults to `usr/local'.
3356 If the package path is not explicitly specified, XEmacs looks for the
3357 package directory `xemacs-packages' (and `mule-packages' and
3358 `site-packages') first under `~/.xemacs', then for a sister directory
3359 `lib/xemacs-VERSION' of the directory in which the XEmacs executable is
3360 located, then for a sister directory `lib/xemacs'. The XEmacs
3361 executable (under Unix at least) is installed by default in
3362 `/usr/local/bin'; this explains why XEmacs in its default installation
3363 will find packages that you put under `/usr/local/lib/xemacs'.
3365 You can specify where exactly XEmacs looks for packages by using the
3366 `--with-package-prefix' or `--with-package-path' parameters to
3367 `configure' (or the equivalent settings in `config.inc', under
3368 Windows), or setting the `EMACSPACKAGEPATH' environment variable (which
3369 has the same format as `--with-package-path'). *Note Q2.1.1::.
3371 See `configure.usage' for more info about the format of these
3372 `configure' parameters.
3374 In addition to the system wide packages, each user can have his own
3375 packages installed under `~/.xemacs/'. If you want to install packages
3376 there using the interactive tools, you need to set
3377 `package-get-install-to-user-init-directory' to `t'.
3379 The site-packages hierarchy replaces the old `site-lisp' directory.
3380 XEmacs no longer looks into a `site-lisp' directly by default. A good
3381 place to put `site-start.el' would be in
3382 `$prefix/lib/xemacs/site-packages/lisp/'.
3385 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q2.1.7, Next: Q2.2.1, Prev: Q2.1.6, Up: Installation
3387 Q2.1.7: EFS fails with "500 AUTH not understood" (NEW)
3388 ------------------------------------------------------
3390 A typical error: FTP Error: USER request failed; 500 AUTH not
3393 Thanks to giacomo boffi <giacomo.boffi@polimi.it> who recommends on
3396 tell your ftp client to not attempt AUTH authentication (or do not
3397 use FTP servers that don't understand AUTH)
3399 and notes that you need to add an element (often "-u") to
3400 `efs-ftp-program-args'. Use M-x customize-variable, and verify the
3401 needed flag with `man ftp' or other local documentation.
3403 2.2: Unix/Mac OS X Installation (Also Relevant to Cygwin, MinGW)
3404 ================================================================
3407 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q2.2.1, Next: Q2.2.2, Prev: Q2.1.7, Up: Installation
3409 Q2.2.1: Libraries in non-standard locations
3410 -------------------------------------------
3412 If your libraries are in a non-standard location, you can specify the
3413 location using the following flags to `configure'. Under 21.4 or
3416 --site-libraries=WHATEVER
3417 --site-includes=WHATEVER
3419 Under 21.5 or later:
3421 --with-site-libraries=WHATEVER
3422 --with-site-includes=WHATEVER
3424 If you have multiple paths to specify, use the following syntax:
3426 --site-libraries='/path/one /path/two /path/etc'
3428 If the libraries and headers reside in the directories `lib' and
3429 `include' of a common root (say `/sw') then both can be specified with
3432 --site-prefixes=WHATEVER
3436 --with-site-prefixes=WHATEVER
3439 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q2.2.2, Next: Q2.3.1, Prev: Q2.2.1, Up: Installation
3441 Q2.2.2: Why can't I strip XEmacs?
3442 ---------------------------------
3444 Richard Cognot <cognot@fronsac.ensg.u-nancy.fr> writes:
3446 Because of the way XEmacs (and every other Emacsen, AFAIK) is
3447 built. The link gives you a bare-boned emacs (called temacs).
3448 temacs is then run, preloading some of the lisp files. The result
3449 is then dumped into a new executable, named xemacs, which will
3450 contain all of the preloaded lisp functions and data.
3452 Now, during the dump itself, the executable (code+data+symbols) is
3453 written on disk using a special unexec() function. This function is
3454 obviously heavily system dependent. And on some systems, it leads
3455 to an executable which, although valid, cannot be stripped without
3456 damage. If memory serves, this is especially the case for AIX
3457 binaries. On other architectures it might work OK.
3459 The Right Way to strip the emacs binary is to strip temacs prior to
3460 dumping xemacs. This will always work, although you can do that
3461 only if you install from sources (as temacs is `not' part of the
3464 Nat Makarevitch <nat@nataa.fr.eu.org> writes:
3468 1. [ ./configure; make ]
3476 5. cp src/xemacs /usr/local/bin/xemacs
3478 6. cp lib-src/DOC-19.16-XEmacs
3479 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.16/i586-unknown-linuxaout
3481 2.3: Windows Installation (Windows, Cygwin, MinGW)
3482 ==================================================
3485 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q2.3.1, Next: Q2.3.2, Prev: Q2.2.2, Up: Installation
3487 Q2.3.1: What exactly are all the different ways to build XEmacs under Windows?
3488 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3490 XEmacs can be built in several ways in the MS Windows environment.
3492 The standard way is what we call the "native" port. It uses the
3493 Win32 API and has no connection with X whatsoever - it does not require
3494 X libraries to build, nor does it require an X server to run. The
3495 native port is the most reliable version and provides the best graphical
3496 support. Almost all development is geared towards this version, and
3497 there is little reason not to use it.
3499 The second way to build is the Cygwin port. It takes advantage of
3500 Cygnus emulation library under Win32. *Note What are Cygwin and MinGW:
3501 Q1.2.5, for more information.
3503 A third way is the MinGW port. It uses the Cygwin environment to
3504 build but does not require it at runtime. *Note What are Cygwin and
3505 MinGW: Q1.2.5, for more information.
3507 Finally, you might also be able to build the non-Cygwin, non-MinGW
3508 "X" port. This was actually the first version of XEmacs that ran under
3509 MS Windows, and although the code is still in XEmacs, it's essentially
3510 orphaned and it's unlikely it will compile without a lot of work. If
3511 you want an MS Windows versin of XEmacs that supports X, use the Cygwin
3512 version. (The X support there is actively maintained, so that Windows
3513 developers can test the X support in XEmacs.)
3516 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q2.3.2, Next: Q2.3.3, Prev: Q2.3.1, Up: Installation
3518 Q2.3.2: What compiler/libraries do I need to compile XEmacs?
3519 ------------------------------------------------------------
3521 You need Visual C++ 4.2, 5.0, or 6.0 for the native version. (We have
3522 some beta testers currently trying to compile with VC.NET, aka version
3523 7.0, but we can't yet report complete success.) For the Cygwin and
3524 MinGW versions, you need the Cygwin environment, which comes with GCC,
3525 the compiler used for those versions. *Note What are Cygwin and MinGW:
3526 Q1.2.5, for more information on Cygwin and MinGW.
3529 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q2.3.3, Next: Q2.3.4, Prev: Q2.3.2, Up: Installation
3531 Q2.3.3: How do I compile the native port?
3532 -----------------------------------------
3534 Please read the file `nt/README' in the XEmacs distribution, which
3535 contains the full description.
3538 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q2.3.4, Next: Q2.3.5, Prev: Q2.3.3, Up: Installation
3540 Q2.3.4: What do I need for Cygwin?
3541 ----------------------------------
3543 You can find the Cygwin tools and compiler at:
3545 `http://www.cygwin.com/'
3547 Click on the `Install or update now!' link, which will download a
3548 file `setup.exe', which you can use to download everything else. (You
3549 will need to pick a mirror site; `mirrors.rcn.net' is probably the
3550 best.) You should go ahead and install everything - you'll get various
3551 ancillary libraries that XEmacs needs or likes, e.g. XPM, PNG, JPEG,
3552 TIFF, etc. You can also get X Windows here, if you want to compile
3555 If you want to compile without X, you will need the `xpm-nox'
3556 library, which must be specifically selected in the Cygwin netinstaller;
3557 it is not selected by default. The package has had various names.
3558 Currently it is called `cygXpm-noX4.dll'.
3561 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q2.3.5, Next: Q2.3.6, Prev: Q2.3.4, Up: Installation
3563 Q2.3.5: How do I compile under Cygwin?
3564 --------------------------------------
3566 Similar as on Unix; use the usual `configure' and `make' process. Some
3567 problems to watch out for:
3569 * make sure HOME is set. This controls where you `init.el' file
3572 * `CYGWIN' needs to be set to `tty' for process support to work;
3574 * picking up some other grep or other UNIX-like tools can kill
3577 * static heap too small, adjust `src/sheap-adjust.h' to a more
3580 * (Unconfirmed) The Cygwin version doesn't understand
3581 `//machine/path' type paths so you will need to manually mount a
3582 directory of this form under a unix style directory for a build to
3583 work on the directory;
3585 * If you're building *WITHOUT* X11, don't forget to change symlinks
3586 `/usr/lib/libXpm.a' and `/usr/lib/libXpm.dll.a' to point to the
3587 non-X versions of these libraries. By default they point to the X
3590 /usr/lib/libXpm.a -> /usr/lib/libXpm-noX.a
3591 /usr/lib/libXpm.dll.a -> /usr/lib/libXpm-noX.dll.a
3593 (This advice may now be obsolete because of the availability of the
3594 cygXpm-noX4.dll package from Cygwin. Send confirmation to
3597 * Other problems are listed in the `PROBLEMS' file, in the top-level
3598 directory of the XEmacs sources.
3602 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q2.3.6, Next: Q2.3.7, Prev: Q2.3.5, Up: Installation
3604 Q2.3.6: How do I compile using MinGW (aka `the -mno-cygwin flag to gcc')?
3605 -------------------------------------------------------------------------
3607 Similar to the method for Unix. Things to remember:
3609 * Specify the target host on the command line for `./configure', e.g.
3610 `./configure i586-pc-mingw32'.
3612 * Be sure that your build directory is mounted such that it has the
3613 same path either as a cygwin path (`/build/xemacs') or as a Windows
3614 path (`c:\build\xemacs').
3616 * Build `gcc -mno-cygwin' versions of the extra libs, i.e. `libpng',
3619 * Specify the target location of the extra libs on the command line
3620 to `configure', e.g.for 21.4 or earlier `./configure
3621 --site-prefixes=/build/libs i586-pc-mingw32' and for 21.5 or later
3622 `./configure --with-site-prefixes=/build/libs i586-pc-mingw32'.
3625 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q2.3.7, Next: Q2.3.8, Prev: Q2.3.6, Up: Installation
3627 Q2.3.7: How do I compile with X support?
3628 ----------------------------------------
3630 To compile under Cygwin, all you need to do is install XFree86, which
3631 is available as part of the standard Cygwin installation.
3632 `http://www.cygwin.com/'. Once installed, `configure' should
3633 automatically find the X libraries and compile with X support.
3635 As noted above, the non-Cygwin X support is basically orphaned, and
3636 probably won't work. But if it want to try, it's described in
3637 `nt/README' in some detail. Basically, you need to get X11 libraries
3638 from `http://ftp.x.org', and compile them. If the precompiled versions
3639 are available somewhere, we don't know of it.
3642 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q2.3.8, Next: Q2.4.1, Prev: Q2.3.7, Up: Installation
3644 Q2.3.8: Cygwin XEmacs won't start - cygXpm-noX4.dll was not found (NEW)
3645 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
3647 The Cygwin binary distributed with the netinstaller uses an external DLL
3648 to handle XPM images (such as toolbar buttons). You may get an error
3651 This application has failed to start because cygXpm-noX4.dll was not found.
3652 Re-installing the application may fix this problem.
3654 Andy Piper <andy@xemacs.org> sez:
3656 cygXpm-noX4 is part of the cygwin distribution under libraries or
3657 graphics, but is not installed by default. You need to run the
3658 cygwin setup again and select this package.
3660 Ie, reinstalling XEmacs won't help because it is not part of the
3661 XEmacs distribution.
3663 2.4: General Troubleshooting
3664 ============================
3667 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q2.4.1, Next: Q2.4.2, Prev: Q2.3.8, Up: Installation
3669 Q2.4.1: How do I deal with bugs or with problems building, installing, or running?
3670 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3672 The file `PROBLEMS' contains information on many common problems that
3673 occur in building, installing and running XEmacs.
3675 Reports of bugs in XEmacs should be sent to
3676 <xemacs-beta@xemacs.org>. You can also post to the newsgroup
3677 comp.emacs.xemacs (or equivalentlt, send to the mailing list
3678 <xemacs@xemacs.org>), but it is less likely that the developers will
3679 see it in a timely fashion. *Note Bugs: (xemacs)Bugs, for more
3680 information on how to report bugs. *Note Q1.4.2::, for more
3681 information on mailing lists relating to XEmacs.
3683 There are three ways to read the Bugs section.
3685 1. In a printed copy of the XEmacs manual.
3687 2. With Info. First, start XEmacs. From the menu, select
3688 `Help->Info (Online Docs)->Info Contents' to enter Info, then
3689 click on `XEmacs', then on `Bugs'. Or, use the keyboard: do `C-h
3690 i' to enter Info, then `m XEmacs RET' to get to the Emacs manual,
3691 then `m Bugs RET' to get to the section on bugs. Or use
3692 standalone Info in a like manner. (Standalone Info is part of the
3693 Texinfo distribution, not part of the XEmacs distribution.)
3696 cat info/xemacs* | more "+/^File: xemacs.info, Node: Bugs,"
3699 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q2.4.2, Next: Q2.4.3, Prev: Q2.4.1, Up: Installation
3701 Q2.4.2: Help! XEmacs just crashed on me!
3702 -----------------------------------------
3704 First of all, don't panic. Whenever XEmacs crashes, it tries extremely
3705 hard to auto-save all of your files before dying. (The main time that
3706 this will not happen is if the machine physically lost power or if you
3707 killed the XEmacs process using `kill -9'). The next time you try to
3708 edit those files, you will be informed that a more recent auto-save
3709 file exists. You can use `M-x recover-file' to retrieve the auto-saved
3710 version of the file.
3712 You can use the command `M-x recover-session' after a crash to pick
3713 up where you left off.
3715 Now, XEmacs is not perfect, and there may occasionally be times, or
3716 particular sequences of actions, that cause it to crash. If you can
3717 come up with a reproducible way of doing this (or even if you have a
3718 pretty good memory of exactly what you were doing at the time), the
3719 maintainers would be very interested in knowing about it. The best way
3720 to report a bug is using `M-x report-emacs-bug' (or by selecting `Send
3721 Bug Report...' from the Help menu). If that won't work (e.g. you can't
3722 get XEmacs working at all), send ordinary mail to
3723 <xemacs-beta@xemacs.org>. _MAKE SURE_ to include the output from the
3724 crash, especially including the Lisp backtrace, as well as the XEmacs
3725 configuration from `M-x describe-installation' (or equivalently, the
3726 file `Installation' in the top of the build tree). Note that the
3727 developers do _not_ usually follow `comp.emacs.xemacs' on a regular
3728 basis; thus, this is better for general questions about XEmacs than bug
3731 If at all possible, include a C stack backtrace of the core dump that
3732 was produced. This shows where exactly things went wrong, and makes it
3733 much easier to diagnose problems. To do this under Unix and Mac OS X,
3734 you need to locate the core file (it's called `core', and is usually
3735 sitting in the directory that you started XEmacs from, or your home
3736 directory if that other directory was not writable). Then, go to that
3737 directory and execute a command like:
3739 gdb `which xemacs` core
3741 and then issue the command `where' to get the stack backtrace. You
3742 might have to use `dbx' or some similar debugger in place of `gdb'. If
3743 you don't have any such debugger available, complain to your system
3746 It's possible that a core file didn't get produced or the stack trace
3747 from gdb is garbage, in which case you're out of luck unless you can
3748 reproduce the bug. A nonexistent core file can happen in some
3749 circumstances on some operating systems, depending on what exactly
3750 triggered the crash. It's also possible, however, that your limits are
3751 set to turn them off. You may be able to reenable them using a command
3752 like `unlimit coredumpsize' or `ulimit -c'. (To find out how your
3753 limits are set, use the command `limit'.) However, if you didn't
3754 explicitly set your limits this way, go complain to your system
3755 administrator and tell him not to disable core files by default.
3757 A garbaged stack trace can happen for various reasons. Some versions
3758 of gdb are broken on certain operating systems and aren't able to read
3759 the core file. It's also possible that the stack got overwritten
3760 during the crash. A very simple reason, however, is that your version
3761 of XEmacs was compiled without debugging information or had the
3762 debugging information stripped. A compilation with optimization can
3763 also result in partly or completely garbaged stack trace. In such
3764 cases, you will need to recompile XEmacs with debugging information and
3765 without optimization; *Note How to debug an XEmacs problem with a
3766 debugger: Q2.4.4. Note also that core files currently don't work at
3767 all under Cygwin, and the only way to get a backtrace is to run XEmacs
3770 If you cannot get a backtrace from the core dump, but can reproduce
3771 the problem, try running XEmacs under gdb. The goal is to get clean C
3772 and Lisp backtraces and submit a bug report including full
3773 configuration information as described above, as this will greatly
3774 assist in the process of tracking down the bug. However, even partial
3775 information is better than none. The process of getting backtraces
3776 from gdb is described in detail in *Note How to debug an XEmacs problem
3777 with a debugger: Q2.4.4.
3779 If you're under Microsoft Windows, you're out of luck unless you
3780 happen to have a debugging aid installed on your system, for example
3781 Visual C++. In this case, the crash will result in a message giving
3782 you the option to enter a debugger (for example, by pressing `Cancel').
3783 Do this and locate the stack-trace window. (If your XEmacs was built
3784 without debugging information, the stack trace may not be very useful.)
3786 When making a problem report make sure that:
3788 1. Report *all* of the information output by XEmacs during the crash.
3790 2. You mention what O/S and Hardware you are running XEmacs on.
3792 3. What version of XEmacs you are running.
3794 4. What build options you are using.
3796 5. If the problem is related to graphics and you are running Unix or
3797 Mac OS X, we will also need to know what version of the X Window
3798 System you are running, and what window manager you are using.
3800 6. If the problem happened on a TTY, please include the terminal type.
3802 7. Try very hard to get both C and Lisp backtraces, as described
3805 Much of the information above is automatically generated by `M-x
3806 report-emacs-bug'. Even more, and often useful, information can be
3807 generated by redirecting the output of `make' and `make check' to a
3808 file (`beta.err' is the default used by `build-report'), and executing
3812 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q2.4.3, Next: Q2.4.4, Prev: Q2.4.2, Up: Installation
3814 Q2.4.3: XEmacs crashes and I compiled it myself.
3815 ------------------------------------------------
3817 There have been a variety of reports of crashes due to compilers with
3818 buggy optimizers. If you are compiling with optimization, consider
3819 turning it off (*note How to debug an XEmacs problem with a debugger:
3820 Q2.4.4.) and recompiling.
3822 Please see the `PROBLEMS' file that comes with XEmacs (it's in the
3823 top-level source directory) to read what it says about your platform.
3825 If you compiled XEmacs 21.4 or ealier using `--use-union-type', or
3826 21.5 or later using `--enable-union-type' (or in either case used the
3827 option `USE_UNION_TYPE' in `config.inc' under Windows), try recompiling
3828 again without it. The union type has been known to trigger compiler
3829 errors in a number of cases.
3832 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q2.4.4, Next: Q2.4.5, Prev: Q2.4.3, Up: Installation
3834 Q2.4.4: How to debug an XEmacs problem with a debugger
3835 ------------------------------------------------------
3837 If XEmacs does crash on you, one of the most productive things you can
3838 do to help get the bug fixed is to poke around a bit with the debugger.
3839 Here are some hints:
3841 * First of all, if the crash is at all reproducible, consider very
3842 strongly recompiling your XEmacs with debugging symbols and with no
3843 optimization (e.g. with GCC use the compiler flags `-g -O0' -
3844 that's an "oh" followed by a zero), and with the configure options
3845 `--debug=yes' and `--error-checking=all' (`--enable-debug=yes' and
3846 `--enable-error-checking=all' on XEmacs 21.5 or later). This will
3847 make your XEmacs run somewhat slower, but you are a lot more
3848 likely to catch the problem earlier (closer to its source). It
3849 makes it a lot easier to determine what's going on with a
3850 debugger. The way to control the compiler flags is with the
3851 configuration option `--cflags' (`--with-cflags' in 21.5). If you
3852 have a recent version of 21.5, you should use
3853 `--without-optimization' in preference to directly setting
3856 * If it's not a true crash (_i.e._, XEmacs is hung, or a zombie
3857 process), or it's inconvenient to run XEmacs again because XEmacs
3858 is already running or is running in batch mode as part of a bunch
3859 of scripts, you may be able to attach to the existing process with
3860 your debugger. Under Unix and Mac OS X, the typical way to do
3861 this is to first use some variant of the `ps' command to figure
3862 out the process ID of XEmacs, for example `ps -auxww | grep
3863 xemacs' under a BSD variant, `ps -elf | grep xemacs' under Linux
3864 or System V, or `ps -aW | grep xemacs' under Cygwin. Then run
3866 gdb /path/to/xemacs/xemacs ####
3868 Where `####' is the process id of your XEmacs. (If you're not
3869 sure, try using `which xemacs'.) When gdb attaches, the xemacs
3870 will stop and you can type `where' in gdb to get a stack trace as
3871 usual. To get things moving again, you can just type `quit' in
3872 gdb. It'll tell you the program is running and ask if you want to
3873 quit anyways. Say `y' and it'll quit and have your emacs continue
3874 from where it was at.
3876 If you're running another debugger, a similar method may work, or
3877 you may have to run the debugger first and then use the `attach'
3878 command or something similar.
3880 Under Microsoft Windows, use the menu item `Build->Start
3881 Debug->Attach to Process...' and select the XEmacs process from
3884 * If you're able to run XEmacs under a debugger and reproduce the
3885 crash, here are some things you can do:
3887 * If XEmacs is hitting an assertion failure, put a breakpoint on
3890 * If XEmacs is hitting some weird Lisp error that's causing it to
3891 crash (e.g. during startup), put a breakpoint on
3892 `signal_1()'--this is declared static in `eval.c'.
3894 * If XEmacs is outputting lots of X errors, put a breakpoint on
3895 `x_error_handler()'; that will tell you which call is causing
3896 them. Note that the result may not be very useful by default
3897 because X Windows normally operates asynchronously: A bunch of
3898 commands are buffered up and then sent to the server all at once.
3899 This greatly improves performance over a network but means that an
3900 error may not be reported until the server receives the commands,
3901 which can be long after XEmacs made the erroneous calls. For best
3902 results, you need to make the X server synchronous before getting
3903 the backtrace. This can be done by starting XEmacs with the
3904 `-sync' option or executing the Lisp code `(x-debug-mode t)'.
3906 * Internally, you will probably see lots of variables that hold
3907 objects of type `Lisp_Object'. These are references to Lisp
3908 objects. Printing them out with the debugger probably won't be too
3909 useful--you'll likely just see a number. To decode them, do this:
3911 call debug_print (OBJECT)
3913 where OBJECT is whatever you want to decode (it can be a variable,
3914 a function call, etc.). This uses the Lisp printing routines to
3915 out a readable representation on the TTY from which the xemacs
3916 process was invoked.
3918 Under 21.5 and later, `dp' is defined as an easier-to-type
3919 equivalent of `debug_print'. You can also try `dpa' if you can't
3920 see the output from `debug_print' (this will return a string
3921 containing the output), or use `debug_p3' if `debug_print' itself
3922 triggers a crash (this is a less comprehensive but super-safe way
3923 to print out a Lisp object).
3925 * If you want to get a Lisp backtrace showing the Lisp call stack,
3928 call debug_backtrace ()
3930 Under 21.5 and later, `db' is defined as an easier-to-type
3931 equivalent of `debug_backtrace'.
3933 * Using `debug_print' and `debug_backtrace' has two disadvantages -
3934 they can only be used with a running (including hung or zombie)
3935 xemacs process, and they do not display the internal C structure
3936 of a Lisp Object. Even if all you've got is a core dump, all is
3939 If you're using GDB, there are some macros in the file
3940 `src/.gdbinit' in the XEmacs source distribution that should make
3941 it easier for you to decode Lisp objects. This file is
3942 automatically read by gdb if gdb is run in the directory where
3943 xemacs was built, and contains these useful macros to inspect the
3947 Usage: pobj lisp_object
3948 Print the internal C representation of a lisp object.
3951 Usage: xtype lisp_object
3952 Print the Lisp type of a lisp object.
3956 Print the current Lisp stack trace. Requires a running
3957 xemacs process. (It works by calling the db routine
3961 Usage: ldp lisp_object
3962 Print a Lisp Object value using the Lisp printer. Requires a
3963 running xemacs process. (It works by calling the dp routine
3968 Run temacs interactively, like xemacs. Use this with
3969 debugging tools (like purify) that cannot deal with dumping,
3970 or when temacs builds successfully, but xemacs does not.
3974 Run the dumping part of the build procedure. Use when
3975 debugging temacs, not xemacs! Use this when temacs builds
3976 successfully, but xemacs does not.
3980 Run the test suite. Equivalent to 'make check'.
3984 Run the test suite on temacs. Equivalent to 'make
3985 check-temacs'. Use this with debugging tools (like purify)
3986 that cannot deal with dumping, or when temacs builds
3987 successfully, but xemacs does not.
3989 If you are using Sun's `dbx' debugger, there is an equivalent file
3990 `src/.dbxrc', which defines the same commands for dbx.
3992 * If you're using a debugger to get a C stack backtrace and you're
3993 seeing stack traces with some of the innermost frames mangled, it
3994 may be due to dynamic linking. (This happens especially under
3995 Linux.) Consider reconfiguring with `--dynamic=no'
3996 (`--with-dynamic=no' in 21.5 or later). Also, sometimes (again
3997 under Linux), stack backtraces of core dumps will have the frame
3998 where the fatal signal occurred mangled; if you can obtain a stack
3999 trace while running the XEmacs process under a debugger, the stack
4000 trace should be clean.
4002 Curtiss <1CMC3466@ibm.mtsac.edu> suggests upgrading to ld.so
4003 version 1.8 if dynamic linking and debugging is a problem on Linux.
4005 * If you're using a debugger to get a C stack backtrace and you're
4006 getting a completely mangled and bogus stack trace, it's probably
4007 due to one of the following:
4009 a. Your executable has been stripped. Bad news. Tell your
4010 sysadmin not to do this--it doesn't accomplish anything
4011 except to save a bit of disk space, and makes debugging much
4014 b. Your stack is getting trashed. Debugging this is hard; you
4015 have to do a binary-search type of narrowing down where the
4016 crash occurs, until you figure out exactly which line is
4017 causing the problem. Of course, this only works if the bug
4018 is highly reproducible. Also, in many cases if you run
4019 XEmacs from the debugger, the debugger can protect the stack
4020 somewhat. However, if the stack is being smashed, it is
4021 typically the case that there is a wild pointer somewhere in
4022 the program, often quite far from where the crash occurs.
4024 c. If your stack trace has exactly one frame in it, with address
4025 0x0, this could simply mean that XEmacs attempted to execute
4026 code at that address, e.g. through jumping to a null function
4027 pointer. Unfortunately, under those circumstances, GDB under
4028 Linux doesn't know how to get a stack trace. (Yes, this is
4029 the fourth Linux-related problem I've mentioned. I have no
4030 idea why GDB under Linux is so bogus. Complain to the GDB
4031 authors, or to comp.os.linux.development.system.) Again,
4032 you'll have to use the narrowing-down process described above.
4034 d. You will get a Lisp backtrace output when XEmacs crashes, so
4035 you'll have something useful.
4038 * If you compile with the newer gcc variants gcc-2.8 or egcs, you
4039 will also need gdb 4.17 or above. Earlier releases of gdb can't
4040 handle the debug information generated by the newer compilers.
4042 * In versions of XEmacs before 21.2.27, `src/.gdbinit' was named
4043 `src/gdbinit'. This had the disadvantage of not being sourced
4044 automatically by gdb, so you had to set that up yourself.
4046 * If you are running Microsoft Windows, the the file `nt/README' for
4047 further information about debugging XEmacs.
4051 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q2.4.5, Next: Q2.4.6, Prev: Q2.4.4, Up: Installation
4053 Q2.4.5: I get a cryptic error message when trying to do something.
4054 ------------------------------------------------------------------
4056 When I try to use some particular option of some particular package, I
4057 get a cryptic error message in the minibuffer.
4059 If the message went by too quickly, use `Help->Recent Messages' from
4060 the menubar (or type `C-h l') to see recent messages.
4062 If you can't figure out what's going on, select
4063 `Options->Troubleshooting->Debug on Error' from the menubar (or type
4064 `M-:' then `(setq debug-on-error t)') then try and make the error
4065 happen again. This will put in the debugger (you can get out of this
4066 and continue what you were doing before by typing `c') and give you a
4067 backtrace that may be enlightening. If not, try reading through this
4068 FAQ; if that fails, you could try posting to `comp.emacs.xemacs'
4069 (making sure to include the backtrace) and someone may be able to help.
4070 If you can identify which XEmacs Lisp source file the error is coming
4071 from you can get a more detailed stack backtrace by doing the following:
4073 1. Visit the .el file in an XEmacs buffer.
4075 2. Issue the command `M-x eval-current-buffer'.
4077 3. Reproduce the error.
4079 For more information on debugging Lisp code, *Note Debugging:
4083 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q2.4.6, Next: Q2.4.7, Prev: Q2.4.5, Up: Installation
4085 Q2.4.6: XEmacs hangs when I try to do something.
4086 ------------------------------------------------
4088 XEmacs might just be slow; some operations take a long time. XEmacs
4089 may also be waiting on a response from the network, for example when
4090 you are trying to send mail.
4092 You can usually interrupt XEmacs by typing `C-g'. If not (for
4093 example, Lisp code explicitly disabled this by setting `inhibit-quit'),
4094 you can use the "critical quit" mechanism by typing `Control-Shift-G'.
4095 This should also pop you into the debugger and give you a backtrace,
4096 which can tell you where the problem is (*note How to debug an XEmacs
4097 problem with a debugger: Q2.4.4.). (Note that setting `debug-on-quit'
4098 or selecting `Options->Troubleshooting->Debug on Quit' will also cause
4099 regular `C-g' to enter the debugger and give you a backtrace.)
4101 If you can't interrupt XEmacs this way, or for some reason XEmacs is
4102 not talking to the keyboard, you can try sending the `SIGINT' signal
4103 using the `kill' command.
4105 If the Lisp backtrace isn't enlightening, or if XEmacs is so hung
4106 that you can't interrupt it at all, you could try attaching to the
4107 process and getting a C stack backtrace. *Note How to debug an XEmacs
4108 problem with a debugger: Q2.4.4.
4111 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q2.4.7, Next: Q2.4.8, Prev: Q2.4.6, Up: Installation
4113 Q2.4.7: I get an error message when XEmacs is running in batch mode.
4114 --------------------------------------------------------------------
4116 Typically this happens when you are trying to compile some Elisp code.
4117 If you are doing this as part of XEmacs or the XEmacs packages, you
4118 should automatically get a backtrace, which can help you determine the
4119 source of the problem. In other cases, you can get equivalent results
4120 by setting the environment variable `XEMACSDEBUG' to `(setq
4121 stack-trace-on-error t load-always-display-messages t
4122 load-ignore-out-of-date-elc-files t load-show-full-path-in-messages t)'
4123 (this needs to be all on one line; to set an environment variable, use
4124 `export XEMACSDEBUG='FOO'' under `bash', `zsh', etc. or `setenv
4125 XEMACSDEBUG 'FOO'' under `csh' and `tcsh'). `XEMACSDEBUG' specifies
4126 Lisp code that will be executed at startup time.
4128 If the backtrace is not sufficiently useful in helping you diagnose
4129 the problem, you should consider using a debugger such as GDB. *Note
4130 How to debug an XEmacs problem with a debugger: Q2.4.4. You probably
4131 want to set a breakpoint on `signal_1'. Since such errors often occur
4132 during compiling, which is often triggered by a complex command run
4133 from a make suite, it may be easier to attach to the process once it's
4136 Under Microsoft Windows (and perhaps other operating systems), there
4137 is another useful trick you can do if you have configured with debugging
4138 support (configure option `--debug' (`--with-debug' in 21.5) or setting
4139 `DEBUG_XEMACS' in `nt/config.inc'). Set the environment variable
4140 `XEMACSDEBUG' (as described above) to `(setq debug-on-error t)'. Then,
4141 when an error occurs noninteractively, instead of trying to invoke the
4142 Lisp debugger (which obviously won't work), XEmacs will break out to a
4143 C debugger using `(force-debugging-signal t)'. _NOTE_: This runs
4144 `abort()'!!! (As well as and after executing INT 3 under MS Windows,
4145 which should invoke a debugger if it's active.) This is guaranteed to
4146 kill XEmacs! (But in this situation, XEmacs is about to die anyway, and
4147 if no debugger is present, this will usefully dump core.)
4150 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q2.4.8, Next: Q2.4.9, Prev: Q2.4.7, Up: Installation
4152 Q2.4.8: The keyboard or mouse is not working properly, or I have some other event-related problem.
4153 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4155 XEmacs has various facilities for debugging event handling.
4157 First, try setting the variable `debug-emacs-events' to non-zero.
4158 This will output various information showing which events are being
4159 received and how they are being translated. This may show you, for
4160 example, that a key command is getting intercepted using
4161 `key-translation-map'; this problem can otherwise be very tricky to
4164 Under X, you can see exactly which events are being received from the
4165 window system by setting `x-debug-events' to non-zero. (The value `1'
4166 gives you regular output, and `2' gives you verbose output, including
4169 A similar facility exists under MS Windows: Set
4170 `debug-mswindows-events' to non-zero. (The value `1' gives you regular
4171 output. The value `2' gives you verbose output, including all
4172 parameters. The value `3' gives you super-gorily-detailed output.)
4175 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q2.4.9, Next: Q2.4.10, Prev: Q2.4.8, Up: Installation
4177 Q2.4.9: `C-g' doesn't work for me. Is it broken?
4178 -------------------------------------------------
4180 `C-g' does work for most people in most circumstances. If it doesn't,
4181 there are two possible explanations:
4183 1. XEmacs is hung in a way that prevents `C-g' from working. This
4184 can happen when code is wrapped with a binding of `inhibit-quit'
4185 to `t'; you should still be able interrupt XEmacs using "critical
4186 quit". On the other hand, XEmacs may be seriously wedged. (If
4187 you're lucky, sending `SIGINT' to the XEmacs process will
4188 interrupt it.) *Note XEmacs hangs when I try to do something.:
4191 2. `C-g' is indeed broken on your system. To test, try executing
4192 `(while t)' from the `*scratch*' buffer. If `C-g' doesn't
4193 interrupt, then it's broken. This used to happen with systems
4194 where `SIGIO' was broken, but `BROKEN_SIGIO' wasn't defined.
4195 However, there may not be very many such systems nowadays.
4198 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q2.4.10, Next: Q2.4.11, Prev: Q2.4.9, Up: Installation
4200 Q2.4.10: How do I debug process-related problems?
4201 -------------------------------------------------
4203 Under MS Windows, you can set the variable
4204 `debug-mswindows-process-command-lines' to non-`nil' to get information
4205 on exactly what is getting passed to a process. This can be useful in
4206 determining problems with quoting. (Under Unix, a process receives each
4207 argument separately, but under MS Windows a single command line is
4208 received, and arguments with spaces or other special characters in them
4209 must be quoted. Unfortunately this means that each process,
4210 potentially at least, has its own quoting conventions, and the code to
4211 process quoting conventions in `cmd.exe', the Visual C++ startup code
4212 and the like is baroque and poorly documented. XEmacs uses the variable
4213 `mswindows-construct-process-command-line-alist' to construct a command
4214 line from a list of arguments based on the command to be run, but it is
4215 (and cannot be) a perfect solution.)
4218 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q2.4.11, Next: Q2.4.12, Prev: Q2.4.10, Up: Installation
4220 Q2.4.11: XEmacs is outputting lots of X errors.
4221 -----------------------------------------------
4223 If this is happening, we would very much like to know what's causing
4224 them. To find this out, see *Note How to debug an XEmacs problem with
4225 a debugger: Q2.4.4. Try to get both a C and Lisp backtrace, and send
4226 them along with the full error output to <xemacs-beta@xemacs.org>.
4229 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q2.4.12, Next: Q2.5.1, Prev: Q2.4.11, Up: Installation
4231 Q2.4.12: After upgrading, XEmacs won't do `foo' any more!
4232 ---------------------------------------------------------
4234 You have been used to doing `foo', but now when you invoke it (or click
4235 the toolbar button or select the menu item), nothing (or an error)
4236 happens. The simplest explanation is that you are missing a package
4237 that is essential to you. You can either track it down and install it
4238 (there is a list of packages and brief descriptions of their contents
4239 in `etc/PACKAGES'), or install the `Sumo Tarball' (*note How do I
4240 figure out which packages to install?: Q2.1.2.).
4242 2.5: Startup-Related Problems
4243 =============================
4246 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q2.5.1, Next: Q2.5.2, Prev: Q2.4.12, Up: Installation
4248 Q2.5.1: XEmacs cannot connect to my X Terminal!
4249 -----------------------------------------------
4251 Help! I can not get XEmacs to display on my Envizex X-terminal!
4253 Try setting the `DISPLAY' variable using the numeric IP address of
4254 the host you are running XEmacs from.
4257 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q2.5.2, Next: Q2.5.3, Prev: Q2.5.1, Up: Installation
4259 Q2.5.2 Startup problems related to paths or package locations.
4260 --------------------------------------------------------------
4262 First of all, if XEmacs can't find the packages, check to make sure
4263 that you put the packages in the right place, or that you told XEmacs
4264 where to look for the packages when you compiled it. *Note Q2.1.1::.
4266 If something is still going wrong, or you get a startup warning about
4267 not being able to deduce some paths, you can get detailed information
4268 on the path-searching process at startup by setting the environment
4269 variable `EMACSDEBUGPATHS' to a non-null value. One thing to look for
4270 if you're having package problems is the value of
4271 `configure-package-path'. This corresponds to what was compiled into
4272 XEmacs using the `--package-prefix' or `--package-path' parameter
4273 (*note Q2.1.1::). If this has the value of `nil', this means that no
4274 value was compiled into XEmacs using these parameters.
4277 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q2.5.3, Next: Q2.5.4, Prev: Q2.5.2, Up: Installation
4279 Q2.5.3: XEmacs won't start without network.
4280 -------------------------------------------
4282 If XEmacs starts when you're on the network, but fails when you're not
4283 on the network, you may be missing a "localhost" entry in your
4284 `/etc/hosts' file. The file should contain an entry like:
4288 Add that line, and XEmacs will be happy.
4291 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q2.5.4, Next: Q2.5.5, Prev: Q2.5.3, Up: Installation
4293 Q2.5.4: Startup warnings about deducing proper fonts?
4294 -----------------------------------------------------
4296 How can I avoid the startup warnings about deducing proper fonts?
4298 This is highly dependent on your installation, but try with the
4299 following font as your base font for XEmacs and see what it does:
4301 -adobe-courier-medium-r-*-*-*-120-*-*-*-*-iso8859-1
4303 More precisely, do the following in your resource file:
4305 Emacs.default.attributeFont: \
4306 -adobe-courier-medium-r-*-*-*-120-*-*-*-*-iso8859-1
4308 If you just don't want to see the `*Warnings*' buffer at startup
4309 time, you can set this:
4311 (setq display-warning-minimum-level 'error)
4313 The buffer still exists; it just isn't in your face.
4316 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q2.5.5, Next: Q2.5.6, Prev: Q2.5.4, Up: Installation
4318 Q2.5.5: Warnings from incorrect key modifiers.
4319 ----------------------------------------------
4321 The following information comes from the `PROBLEMS' file that comes
4324 If you're having troubles with HP/UX it is because HP/UX defines the
4325 modifiers wrong in X. Here is a shell script to fix the problem; be
4326 sure that it is run after VUE configures the X server.
4329 xmodmap 2> /dev/null - << EOF
4330 keysym Alt_L = Meta_L
4331 keysym Alt_R = Meta_R
4336 keysym Mode_switch = NoSymbol
4338 keysym Meta_R = Mode_switch
4339 add mod2 = Mode_switch
4343 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q2.5.6, Prev: Q2.5.5, Up: Installation
4345 Q2.5.6: XEmacs 21.1 on Windows used to spawn an ugly console window on every startup. Has that been fixed?
4346 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4350 The console was there because `temacs' (and in turn, `xemacs') was a
4351 console application, and Windows typically creates a new console for a
4352 console process unless the creating process requests that one isn't
4353 created. This used to be fixed with `runemacs', a small Windows
4354 application that existed merely to start `xemacs', stating that it
4355 didn't want a console.
4357 XEmacs 21.4 fixes this cleanly by the virtue of being a true "GUI"
4358 application. The explanation of what that means is included for
4361 When building an application to be run in a Win32 environment, you
4362 must state which sub-system it is to run in. Valid subsystems include
4363 "console" and "gui". The subsystem you use affects the run time
4364 libraries linked into your application, the start up function that is
4365 run before control is handed over to your application, the entry point
4366 to your program, and how Windows normally invokes your program. (Console
4367 programs automatically get a console created for them at startup if
4368 their stdin/stdout don't point anywhere useful, which is the case when
4369 run from the GUI. This is a stupid design, of course - instead, the
4370 console should get created only when the first I/O actually occurs!
4371 GUI programs have an equally stupid design: When called from
4372 `CMD.EXE'/`COMMAND.COM', their stdin/stdout will be set to point
4373 nowhere useful, even though the command shell has its own stdin/stdout.
4374 It's as if someone who had learned a bit about stdio but had no actual
4375 knowledge of interprocess communication designed the scheme;
4376 unfortunately, the whole process-communication aspect of the Win32 API
4377 is equally badly designed.) For example, the entry point for a console
4378 app is "main" (which is what you'd expect for a C/C++ program), but the
4379 entry point for a "gui" app is "WinMain". This confuses and annoys a
4380 lot of programmers who've grown up on Unix systems, where the kernel
4381 doesn't really care whether your application is a gui program or not.
4383 For reasons not altogether clear, and are lost in the mists of time
4384 and tradition, XEmacs on Win32 started out as a console application, and
4385 therefore a console was automatically created for it. (It may have been
4386 made a console application partly because a console is needed in some
4387 circumstances, especially under Win95, to interrupt, terminate, or send
4388 signals to a child process, and because of the bogosity mentioned above
4389 with GUI programs and the standard command shell. Currently, XEmacs
4390 just creates and immediately hides a console when necessary, and works
4391 around the "no useful stdio" problem by creating its own console window
4392 as necessary to display messages in.)
4395 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Editing, Next: Display, Prev: Installation, Up: Top
4400 This is part 3 of the XEmacs Frequently Asked Questions list. This
4401 section is devoted to the editing-related capabilities of XEmacs (the
4402 keyboard, mouse, buffers, text selections, etc.) and how to customize
4408 * Q3.0.1:: How can I customize the keyboard?
4409 * Q3.0.2:: How can I bind complex functions (or macros) to keys?
4410 * Q3.0.3:: How do I bind C-. and C-; to scroll one line up and down?
4411 * Q3.0.4:: Globally binding Delete?
4412 * Q3.0.5:: How to map Help key alone on Sun type4 keyboard?
4413 * Q3.0.6:: How can you type in special characters in XEmacs?
4414 * Q3.0.7:: Can I turn on "sticky" modifier keys?
4415 * Q3.0.8:: How do I map the arrow keys?
4416 * Q3.0.9:: HP Alt key as Meta.
4417 * Q3.0.10:: Why does edt emulation not work?
4418 * Q3.0.11:: How can I emulate VI and use it as my default mode?
4421 * Q3.1.1:: How can I turn off Mouse pasting?
4422 * Q3.1.2:: How do I set control/meta/etc modifiers on mouse buttons?
4423 * Q3.1.3:: Clicking the left button does not do anything in buffer list.
4424 * Q3.1.4:: How can I get a list of buffers when I hit mouse button 3?
4425 * Q3.1.5:: How can I set XEmacs up so that it pastes where the text cursor is?
4427 3.2: Buffers, Text Editing
4428 * Q3.2.1:: Can I have the end of the buffer delimited in some way?
4429 * Q3.2.2:: How do I insert today's date into a buffer?
4430 * Q3.2.3:: How do I get a single minibuffer frame?
4431 * Q3.2.4:: How can I enable auto-indent and/or Filladapt?
4432 * Q3.2.5:: How can I get XEmacs to come up in text/auto-fill mode by default?
4434 3.3: Text Selections
4435 * Q3.3.1:: How do I select a rectangular region?
4436 * Q3.3.2:: How can I turn off or change highlighted selections?
4437 * Q3.3.3:: How do I cause typing on an active region to remove it?
4438 * Q3.3.4:: Can I turn off the highlight during isearch?
4439 * Q3.3.5:: Why is killing so slow?
4440 * Q3.3.6:: Why does M-w take so long?
4442 3.4: Editing Source Code
4443 * Q3.4.1:: I do not like cc-mode. How do I use the old c-mode?
4444 * Q3.4.2:: How do you make XEmacs indent CL if-clauses correctly?
4450 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q3.0.1, Next: Q3.0.2, Prev: Editing, Up: Editing
4452 Q3.0.1: How can I customize the keyboard?
4453 -----------------------------------------
4458 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q3.0.2, Next: Q3.0.3, Prev: Q3.0.1, Up: Editing
4460 Q3.0.2: How can I bind complex functions (or macros) to keys?
4461 -------------------------------------------------------------
4463 As an example, say you want the `paste' key on a Sun keyboard to insert
4464 the current Primary X selection at point. You can accomplish this with:
4466 (define-key global-map [f18] 'x-insert-selection)
4468 However, this only works if there is a current X selection (the
4469 selection will be highlighted). The functionality I like is for the
4470 `paste' key to insert the current X selection if there is one,
4471 otherwise insert the contents of the clipboard. To do this you need to
4472 pass arguments to `x-insert-selection'. This is done by wrapping the
4473 call in a 'lambda form:
4475 (global-set-key [f18]
4476 (lambda () (interactive) (x-insert-selection t nil)))
4478 This binds the f18 key to a "generic" functional object. The
4479 interactive spec is required because only interactive functions can be
4482 For the FAQ example you could use:
4484 (global-set-key [(control ?.)]
4485 (lambda () (interactive) (scroll-up 1)))
4486 (global-set-key [(control ?;)]
4487 (lambda () (interactive) (scroll-up -1)))
4489 This is fine if you only need a few functions within the lambda body.
4490 If you're doing more it's cleaner to define a separate function. *Note
4491 How do I bind C-. and C-; to scroll one line up and down?: Q3.0.3.
4494 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q3.0.3, Next: Q3.0.4, Prev: Q3.0.2, Up: Editing
4496 Q3.0.3: How do I bind C-. and C-; to scroll one line up and down?
4497 -----------------------------------------------------------------
4499 Add the following (Thanks to Richard Mlynarik <mly@adoc.xerox.com> and
4500 Wayne Newberry <wayne@zen.cac.stratus.com>) to `.emacs':
4502 (defun scroll-up-one-line ()
4506 (defun scroll-down-one-line ()
4510 (global-set-key [(control ?.)] 'scroll-up-one-line) ; C-.
4511 (global-set-key [(control ?;)] 'scroll-down-one-line) ; C-;
4513 The key point is that you can only bind simple functions to keys; you
4514 can not bind a key to a function that you're also passing arguments to.
4515 (*note How can I bind complex functions (or macros) to keys?: Q3.0.2.
4516 for a better answer).
4519 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q3.0.4, Next: Q3.0.5, Prev: Q3.0.3, Up: Editing
4521 Q3.0.4: Globally binding `Delete'?
4522 ----------------------------------
4524 I cannot manage to globally bind my `Delete' key to something other
4525 than the default. How does one do this?
4527 Answer: The problem is that many modes explicitly bind `Delete'. To
4528 get around this, try the following:
4532 (message "You hit DELETE"))
4534 (define-key key-translation-map 'delete 'redirected-delete)
4535 (global-set-key 'redirected-delete 'foo)
4538 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q3.0.5, Next: Q3.0.6, Prev: Q3.0.4, Up: Editing
4540 Q3.0.5: How to map `Help' key alone on Sun type4 keyboard?
4541 ----------------------------------------------------------
4543 The following works in GNU Emacs 19:
4545 (global-set-key [help] 'help-command);; Help
4547 The following works in XEmacs with the addition of shift:
4549 (global-set-key [(shift help)] 'help-command);; Help
4551 But it doesn't work alone. This is in the file `PROBLEMS' which
4552 should have come with your XEmacs installation: _Emacs ignores the
4553 `help' key when running OLWM_.
4555 OLWM grabs the `help' key, and retransmits it to the appropriate
4556 client using `XSendEvent'. Allowing Emacs to react to synthetic events
4557 is a security hole, so this is turned off by default. You can enable
4558 it by setting the variable `x-allow-sendevents' to t. You can also
4559 cause fix this by telling OLWM to not grab the help key, with the null
4560 binding `OpenWindows.KeyboardCommand.Help:'.
4563 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q3.0.6, Next: Q3.0.7, Prev: Q3.0.5, Up: Editing
4565 Q3.0.6: How can you type in special characters in XEmacs?
4566 ---------------------------------------------------------
4568 One way is to use the package `x-compose'. Then you can use sequences
4569 like `Compose " a' to get ä, etc.
4571 Another way is to use the `iso-insert' package. Then you can use
4572 sequences like `C-x 8 " a' to get ä, etc.
4574 Glynn Clements <glynn@sensei.co.uk> writes:
4576 It depends upon your X server.
4578 Generally, the simplest way is to define a key as Multi_key with
4580 xmodmap -e 'keycode 0xff20 = Multi_key'
4582 You will need to pick an appropriate keycode. Use xev to find out
4583 the keycodes for each key.
4585 [NB: On a `Windows' keyboard, recent versions of XFree86
4586 automatically define the right `Windows' key as Multi_key'.]
4588 Once you have Multi_key defined, you can use e.g.
4595 Also, recent versions of XFree86 define various AltGr-<key>
4596 combinations as dead keys, i.e.
4597 AltGr [ => dead_diaeresis
4598 AltGr ] => dead_tilde
4599 AltGr ; => dead_acute
4602 Running `xmodmap -pk' will list all of the defined keysyms.
4604 For the related problem of _displaying_ non-ASCII characters in a
4605 non-Mule XEmacs, *Note How do I display non-ASCII characters?: Q4.0.8.
4608 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q3.0.7, Next: Q3.0.8, Prev: Q3.0.6, Up: Editing
4610 Q3.0.7: Can I turn on "sticky" modifier keys?
4611 ---------------------------------------------
4613 Yes, with `(setq modifier-keys-are-sticky t)'. This will give the
4614 effect of being able to press and release Shift and have the next
4615 character typed come out in upper case. This will affect all the other
4616 modifier keys like Control and Meta as well.
4618 Ben Wing <ben@xemacs.org> writes:
4620 One thing about the sticky modifiers is that if you move the mouse
4621 out of the frame and back in, it cancels all currently "stuck"
4625 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q3.0.8, Next: Q3.0.9, Prev: Q3.0.7, Up: Editing
4627 Q3.0.8: How do I map the arrow keys?
4628 ------------------------------------
4630 Say you want to map `C-<right>' to forward-word:
4632 Sam Steingold <sds@usa.net> writes:
4634 ; both XEmacs and Emacs
4635 (define-key global-map [(control right)] 'forward-word)
4638 (define-key global-map [C-right] 'forward-word)
4641 (define-key global-map (kbd "C-<right>") 'forward-word)
4644 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q3.0.9, Next: Q3.0.10, Prev: Q3.0.8, Up: Editing
4646 Q3.0.9: HP Alt key as Meta.
4647 ---------------------------
4649 How can I make XEmacs recognize the Alt key of my HP workstation as a
4652 Put the following line into a file and load it with xmodmap(1) before
4655 remove Mod1 = Mode_switch
4658 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q3.0.10, Next: Q3.0.11, Prev: Q3.0.9, Up: Editing
4660 Q3.0.10: Why does edt emulation not work?
4661 -----------------------------------------
4663 We don't know, but you can use tpu-edt emulation instead, which works
4664 fine and is a little fancier than the standard edt emulation. To do
4665 this, add the following line to your `init.el':
4669 If you don't want it to replace `C-h' with an edt-style help menu
4672 (global-set-key [(control h)] 'help-for-help)
4675 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q3.0.11, Next: Q3.1.1, Prev: Q3.0.10, Up: Editing
4677 Q3.0.11: How can I emulate VI and use it as my default mode?
4678 ------------------------------------------------------------
4680 Our recommended VI emulator is viper. To make viper-mode the default,
4681 add this to your `init.el':
4685 Michael Kifer <kifer@CS.SunySB.EDU> writes:
4687 This should be added as close to the top of `init.el' as you can
4688 get it, otherwise some minor modes may not get viper-ized.
4694 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q3.1.1, Next: Q3.1.2, Prev: Q3.0.11, Up: Editing
4696 Q3.1.1: How can I turn off Mouse pasting?
4697 -----------------------------------------
4699 I keep hitting the middle mouse button by accident and getting stuff
4700 pasted into my buffer so how can I turn this off?
4702 Here is an alternative binding, whereby the middle mouse button
4703 selects (but does not cut) the expression under the mouse. Clicking
4704 middle on a left or right paren will select to the matching one. Note
4705 that you can use `define-key' or `global-set-key'.
4707 (defun mouse-set-point-and-select (event)
4708 "Sets the point at the mouse location, then marks following form"
4710 (mouse-set-point event)
4712 (define-key global-map [button2] 'mouse-set-point-and-select)
4715 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q3.1.2, Next: Q3.1.3, Prev: Q3.1.1, Up: Editing
4717 Q3.1.2: How do I set control/meta/etc modifiers on mouse buttons?
4718 -----------------------------------------------------------------
4720 Use, for instance, `[(meta button1)]'. For example, here is a common
4721 setting for Common Lisp programmers who use the bundled `ilisp'
4722 package, whereby meta-button1 on a function name will find the file
4723 where the function name was defined, and put you at that location in
4726 [Inside a function that gets called by the lisp-mode-hook and
4729 (local-set-key [(meta button1)] 'edit-definitions-lisp)
4732 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q3.1.3, Next: Q3.1.4, Prev: Q3.1.2, Up: Editing
4734 Q3.1.3: Clicking the left button does not do anything in buffer list.
4735 ---------------------------------------------------------------------
4737 I do `C-x C-b' to get a list of buffers and the entries get highlighted
4738 when I move the mouse over them but clicking the left mouse does not do
4741 Use the middle mouse button.
4744 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q3.1.4, Next: Q3.1.5, Prev: Q3.1.3, Up: Editing
4746 Q3.1.4: How can I get a list of buffers when I hit mouse button 3?
4747 ------------------------------------------------------------------
4749 The following code will replace the default popup on button3:
4751 (global-set-key [button3] 'popup-buffer-menu)
4754 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q3.1.5, Next: Q3.2.1, Prev: Q3.1.4, Up: Editing
4756 Q3.1.5: How can I set XEmacs up so that it pastes where the text cursor is?
4757 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
4759 By default XEmacs pastes X selections where the mouse pointer is. How
4762 Examine the function `mouse-yank', by typing `C-h f mouse-yank
4765 To get XEmacs to paste at the text cursor, add this your `init.el':
4767 (setq mouse-yank-at-point t)
4769 You can also change this with Customize. Select from the `Options'
4770 menu `Advanced (Customize)->Emacs->Editing->Mouse->Yank At Point...' or
4771 type `M-x customize <RET> mouse <RET>'.
4773 3.2: Buffers, Text Editing
4774 ==========================
4777 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q3.2.1, Next: Q3.2.2, Prev: Q3.1.5, Up: Editing
4779 Q3.2.1: Can I have the end of the buffer delimited in some way?
4780 ---------------------------------------------------------------
4786 (let ((ext (make-extent (point-min) (point-max))))
4787 (set-extent-property ext 'start-closed t)
4788 (set-extent-property ext 'end-closed t)
4789 (set-extent-property ext 'detachable nil)
4790 (set-extent-end-glyph ext (make-glyph [string :data "[END]"])))
4792 Since this is XEmacs, you can specify an icon to be shown on
4793 window-system devices. To do so, change the `make-glyph' call to
4794 something like this:
4796 (make-glyph '([xpm :file "~/something.xpm"]
4797 [string :data "[END]"]))
4799 You can inline the XPM definition yourself by specifying `:data'
4800 instead of `:file'. Here is such a full-featured version that works on
4801 both X and TTY devices:
4803 (let ((ext (make-extent (point-min) (point-max))))
4804 (set-extent-property ext 'start-closed t)
4805 (set-extent-property ext 'end-closed t)
4806 (set-extent-property ext 'detachable nil)
4807 (set-extent-end-glyph ext (make-glyph '([xpm :data "\
4809 static char* eye = {
4818 \"___________`_`_`___b_b_b_b_________`____\",
4819 \"_________`_`_`___b_c_c_c_b_b____________\",
4820 \"_____`_`_`_e___b_b_c_c_c___b___b_______`\",
4821 \"___`_`_e_a___b_b_d___b___b___b___b______\",
4822 \"_`_`_e_a_e___b_b_d_b___b___b___b___b____\",
4823 \"_`_`_a_e_a___b_b_d___b___b___b___b___b__\",
4824 \"_`_`_e_a_e___b_b_d_b___b___b___b___b_b__\",
4825 \"___`_`_e_a___b_b_b_d_c___b___b___d_b____\",
4826 \"_____`_`_e_e___b_b_b_d_c___b_b_d_b______\",
4827 \"_`_____`_`_`_`___b_b_b_d_d_d_d_b________\",
4828 \"___`_____`_`_`_`___b_b_b_b_b_b__________\",
4830 [string :data "[END]"]))))
4832 Note that you might want to make this a function, and put it to a
4833 hook. We leave that as an exercise for the reader.
4836 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q3.2.2, Next: Q3.2.3, Prev: Q3.2.1, Up: Editing
4838 Q3.2.2: How do I insert today's date into a buffer?
4839 ---------------------------------------------------
4843 (insert (current-time-string))
4846 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q3.2.3, Next: Q3.2.4, Prev: Q3.2.2, Up: Editing
4848 Q3.2.3: How do I get a single minibuffer frame?
4849 -----------------------------------------------
4851 Vin Shelton <acs@acm.org> writes:
4853 (setq initial-frame-plist '(minibuffer nil))
4854 (setq default-frame-plist '(minibuffer nil))
4855 (setq default-minibuffer-frame
4860 menubar-visible-p nil
4861 default-toolbar-visible-p nil
4865 has-modeline-p nil)))
4866 (frame-notice-user-settings)
4868 *Please note:* The single minibuffer frame may not be to everyone's
4869 taste, and there any number of other XEmacs options settings that may
4870 make it difficult or inconvenient to use.
4873 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q3.2.4, Next: Q3.2.5, Prev: Q3.2.3, Up: Editing
4875 Q3.2.4: How can I enable auto-indent and/or Filladapt?
4876 ------------------------------------------------------
4878 Put the following line in your `init.el':
4880 (setq indent-line-function 'indent-relative-maybe)
4882 If you want to get fancy, try the `filladapt' package available
4883 standard with XEmacs. Put this into your `init.el':
4885 (require 'filladapt)
4886 (setq-default filladapt-mode t)
4887 (add-hook 'c-mode-hook 'turn-off-filladapt-mode)
4889 This will enable Filladapt for all modes except C mode, where it
4890 doesn't work well. To turn Filladapt on only in particular major
4891 modes, remove the `(setq-default ...)' line and use
4892 `turn-on-filladapt-mode', like this:
4894 (add-hook 'text-mode-hook 'turn-on-filladapt-mode)
4896 You can customize filling and adaptive filling with Customize.
4897 Select from the `Options' menu `Advanced
4898 (Customize)->Emacs->Editing->Fill->Fill...' or type `M-x customize
4901 Note that well-behaving text-lookalike modes will run
4902 `text-mode-hook' by default (e.g. that's what Message does). For the
4903 nasty ones, you'll have to provide the `add-hook's yourself.
4905 Please note that the `fa-extras' package is no longer useful.
4908 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q3.2.5, Next: Q3.3.1, Prev: Q3.2.4, Up: Editing
4910 Q3.2.5: How can I get XEmacs to come up in text/auto-fill mode by default?
4911 --------------------------------------------------------------------------
4913 Try the following lisp in your `init.el':
4915 (setq default-major-mode 'text-mode)
4916 (add-hook 'text-mode-hook 'turn-on-auto-fill)
4918 *WARNING*: note that changing the value of `default-major-mode' from
4919 `fundamental-mode' can break a large amount of built-in code that
4920 expects newly created buffers to be in `fundamental-mode'. (Changing
4921 from `fundamental-mode' to `text-mode' might not wreak too much havoc,
4922 but changing to something more exotic like a lisp-mode would break many
4925 Note that Emacs by default starts up in buffer `*scratch*' in
4926 `initial-major-mode', which defaults to `lisp-interaction-mode'. Thus
4927 adding the following form to your Emacs init file will cause the
4928 initial `*scratch*' buffer to be put into auto-fill'ed `text-mode':
4930 (setq initial-major-mode
4933 (turn-on-auto-fill)))
4935 Note that after your init file is loaded, if
4936 `inhibit-startup-message' is `nil' (the default) and the startup buffer
4937 is `*scratch*' then the startup message will be inserted into
4938 `*scratch*'; it will be removed after a timeout by erasing the entire
4939 `*scratch*' buffer. Keep in mind this default usage of `*scratch*' if
4940 you desire any prior manipulation of `*scratch*' from within your Emacs
4941 init file. In particular, anything you insert into `*scratch*' from
4942 your init file will be later erased. Also, if you change the mode of
4943 the `*scratch*' buffer, be sure that this will not interfere with
4944 possible later insertion of the startup message (e.g. if you put
4945 `*scratch*' into a nonstandard mode that has automatic font lock rules,
4946 then the startup message might get fontified in a strange foreign
4947 manner, e.g. as code in some programming language).
4949 3.3: Text Selections
4950 ====================
4953 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q3.3.1, Next: Q3.3.2, Prev: Q3.2.5, Up: Editing
4955 Q3.3.1: How do I select a rectangular region?
4956 ---------------------------------------------
4958 Just select the region normally, then use the rectangle commands (e.g.
4959 `kill-rectangle' on it. The region does not highlight as a rectangle,
4960 but the commands work just fine.
4962 To actually sweep out rectangular regions with the mouse you can use
4963 `mouse-track-do-rectangle' which is assigned to `M-button1'. Then use
4966 You can also do the following to change default behavior to sweep out
4967 rectangular regions:
4969 (setq mouse-track-rectangle-p t)
4971 You can also change this with Customize. Select from the `Options'
4972 menu `Advanced (Customize)->Emacs->Editing->Mouse->Track Rectangle...'
4973 or type `M-x customize <RET> mouse <RET>'.
4975 mouse-track-do-rectangle: (event)
4976 -- an interactive compiled Lisp function.
4977 Like `mouse-track' but selects rectangles instead of regions.
4980 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q3.3.2, Next: Q3.3.3, Prev: Q3.3.1, Up: Editing
4982 Q3.3.2: How can I turn off or change highlighted selections?
4983 ------------------------------------------------------------
4985 The `zmacs' mode allows for what some might call gratuitous
4986 highlighting for selected regions (either by setting mark or by using
4987 the mouse). This is the default behavior. To turn off, add the
4988 following line to your `init.el' file:
4990 (setq zmacs-regions nil)
4992 You can also change this with Customize. Select from the `Options'
4993 menu `Advanced (Customize)->Emacs->Editing->Basics->Zmacs Regions' or
4994 type `M-x customize <RET> editing-basics <RET>'.
4996 To change the face for selection, look at `Options->Advanced
4997 (Customize)' on the menubar.
5000 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q3.3.3, Next: Q3.3.4, Prev: Q3.3.2, Up: Editing
5002 Q3.3.3: How do I cause typing on an active region to remove it?
5003 ---------------------------------------------------------------
5005 I want to change things so that if I select some text and start typing,
5006 the typed text replaces the selected text, similar to Motif.
5008 You want to use something called "pending delete". Pending delete
5009 is what happens when you select a region (with the mouse or keyboard)
5010 and you press a key to replace the selected region by the key you typed.
5011 Usually backspace kills the selected region.
5013 To get this behavior, ensure that you have the `pc' package
5014 installed, and add the following lines to your `init.el':
5017 ((fboundp 'turn-on-pending-delete)
5018 (turn-on-pending-delete))
5019 ((fboundp 'pending-delete-on)
5020 (pending-delete-on t)))
5022 Note that this will work with both Backspace and Delete. This code
5023 is a tad more complicated than it has to be for XEmacs in order to make
5027 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q3.3.4, Next: Q3.3.5, Prev: Q3.3.3, Up: Editing
5029 Q3.3.4: Can I turn off the highlight during isearch?
5030 ----------------------------------------------------
5032 I do not like my text highlighted while I am doing isearch as I am not
5033 able to see what's underneath. How do I turn it off?
5035 Put the following in your `init.el':
5037 (setq isearch-highlight nil)
5039 You can also change this with Customize. Type `M-x
5040 customize-variable <RET> isearch-highlight <RET>'.
5042 Note also that isearch-highlight affects query-replace and ispell.
5043 Instead of disabling isearch-highlight you may find that a better
5044 solution consists of customizing the `isearch' face.
5047 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q3.3.5, Next: Q3.3.6, Prev: Q3.3.4, Up: Editing
5049 Q3.3.5: Why is killing so slow?
5050 -------------------------------
5052 This actually is an X Windows question, although you'll notice it with
5053 keyboard operations as well as while using the GUI. Basically, there
5054 are four ways to communicate interprogram via the X server:
5057 a transient selection that gets replaced every time a new
5060 *Secondary selection*
5061 for "exchanging" with the primary selection
5064 a clipboard internal to the X server (deprecated)
5066 *Clipboard selection*
5067 a selection with a notification protocol that allows a separate
5068 app to manage the clipboard
5070 The cut buffers are deprecated because managing them is even more
5071 inefficient than the clipboard notification protocol. The primary
5072 selection works fine for many users and applications, but is not very
5073 robust under intensive or sophisticated use.
5075 In Motif and MS Windows, a clipboard has become the primary means for
5076 managing cut and paste. These means that "modern" applications tend to
5077 be oriented toward a true clipboard, rather than the primary selection.
5078 (On Windows, there is nothing equivalent to the primary selection.)
5079 It's not that XEmacs doesn't support the simple primary selection
5080 method, it's that more and more other applications don't.
5082 So the slowdown occurs because XEmacs now engages in the clipboard
5083 notification protocol on _every_ kill. This is especially slow on
5086 With most people running most clients and server on the same host,
5087 and many of the rest working over very fast communication, you may
5088 expect that the situation is not going to improve.
5090 There are a number of workarounds. The most effective is to use a
5091 special command to do selection ownership only when you intend to paste
5092 to another application. Useful commands are `kill-primary-selection'
5093 and `copy-primary-selection'. These work only on text selected with
5094 the mouse (probably; experiment), and are bound by default to the `Cut'
5095 and `Copy', respectively, buttons on the toolbar.
5096 `copy-primary-selection' is also bound to `C-Insert'. You can yank the
5097 clipboard contents with `yank-primary-selection', bound to the `Paste'
5098 toolbar button and `Sh-Insert'.
5100 If you are communicating by cut and paste with applications that use
5101 the primary selection, then you can customize
5102 `interprogram-cut-function' to `nil', restoring the XEmacs version 20
5103 behavior. How can you tell if a program will support this?
5104 Motifly-correct programs require the clipboard; you lose. For others,
5105 only by trying it. You also need to customize the complementary
5106 `interprogram-paste-function' to `nil'. (Otherwise XEmacs-to-XEmacs
5107 pastes will not work correctly.)
5109 You may get some relief on Motif by setting
5110 `x-selection-strict-motif-ownership' to nil, but this means you will
5111 only intermittently be able to paste XEmacs kills to Motif applications.
5113 Thanks to Jeff Mincy and Glynn Clements for corrections.
5116 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q3.3.6, Next: Q3.4.1, Prev: Q3.3.5, Up: Editing
5118 Q3.3.6: Why does `M-w' take so long?
5119 ------------------------------------
5121 It actually doesn't. It leaves the region visible for a second so that
5122 you can see what area is being yanked. If you start working, though, it
5123 will immediately complete its operation. In other words, it will only
5124 delay for a second if you let it.
5126 3.4: Editing Source Code
5127 ========================
5130 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q3.4.1, Next: Q3.4.2, Prev: Q3.3.6, Up: Editing
5132 Q3.4.1: I do not like cc-mode. How do I use the old c-mode?
5133 ------------------------------------------------------------
5135 Well, first off, consider if you really want to do this. cc-mode is
5136 much more powerful than the old c-mode. If you're having trouble
5137 getting your old offsets to work, try using `c-set-offset' instead.
5138 You might also consider using the package `cc-compat'.
5140 But, if you still insist, add the following lines to your `init.el':
5142 (fmakunbound 'c-mode)
5143 (makunbound 'c-mode-map)
5144 (fmakunbound 'c++-mode)
5145 (makunbound 'c++-mode-map)
5146 (makunbound 'c-style-alist)
5147 (load-library "old-c-mode")
5148 (load-library "old-c++-mode")
5150 This must be done before any other reference is made to either
5154 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q3.4.2, Prev: Q3.4.1, Up: Editing
5156 Q3.4.2: How do you make XEmacs indent CL if-clauses correctly?
5157 --------------------------------------------------------------
5159 I'd like XEmacs to indent all the clauses of a Common Lisp `if' the
5160 same amount instead of indenting the 3rd clause differently from the
5163 The package `cl-indent' that comes with XEmacs sets up this kind of
5164 indentation by default. `cl-indent' also knows about many other
5165 CL-specific forms. To use `cl-indent', one can do this:
5167 (setq lisp-indent-function 'common-lisp-indent-function)
5169 One can also customize `cl-indent.el' so it mimics the default `if'
5170 indentation `then' indented more than the `else'. Here's how:
5172 (put 'if 'common-lisp-indent-function '(nil nil &body))
5175 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Display, Next: External Subsystems, Prev: Editing, Up: Top
5180 This is part 4 of the XEmacs Frequently Asked Questions list. This
5181 section is devoted to the display-related capabilities of XEmacs
5182 (fonts, colors, modeline, menubar, toolbar, scrollbar, etc.) and how to
5187 4.0: Textual Fonts and Colors
5188 * Q4.0.1:: How do I specify a font?
5189 * Q4.0.2:: How do I set the text, menu and modeline fonts?
5190 * Q4.0.3:: How can I set color options from `init.el'?
5191 * Q4.0.4:: How can I set the colors when highlighting a region?
5192 * Q4.0.5:: How can I limit color map usage?
5193 * Q4.0.6:: My tty supports color, but XEmacs doesn't use them.
5194 * Q4.0.7:: Can I have pixmap backgrounds in XEmacs?
5195 * Q4.0.8:: How do I display non-ASCII characters?
5196 * Q4.0.9:: Font selections in don't get saved after `Save Options'.
5198 4.1: Syntax Highlighting (Font Lock)
5199 * Q4.1.1:: How can I do source code highlighting using font-lock?
5200 * Q4.1.2:: How do I get `More' Syntax Highlighting on by default?
5203 * Q4.2.1:: How can I make the modeline go away?
5204 * Q4.2.2:: How do you have XEmacs display the line number in the modeline?
5205 * Q4.2.3:: How do I get XEmacs to put the time of day on the modeline?
5206 * Q4.2.4:: How can I change the modeline color based on the mode used?
5209 * Q4.3.1:: Is there a way to make the bar cursor thicker?
5210 * Q4.3.2:: Is there a way to get back the block cursor?
5211 * Q4.3.3:: Can I make the cursor blink?
5214 * Q4.4.1:: How do I get rid of the menubar?
5215 * Q4.4.2:: How can I customize the menubar?
5216 * Q4.4.3:: How do I enable use of the keyboard (Alt) to access menu items?
5217 * Q4.4.4:: How do I control how many buffers are listed in the menu `Buffers List'?
5218 * Q4.4.5:: Resources like `Emacs*menubar*font' are not working?
5221 * Q4.5.1:: How do I get rid of the toolbar?
5222 * Q4.5.2:: How can I customize the toolbar?
5223 * Q4.5.3:: How can I bind a key to a function to toggle the toolbar?
5224 * Q4.5.4:: `Can't instantiate image error...' in toolbar
5226 4.6: Scrollbars and Scrolling
5227 * Q4.6.1:: How can I disable the scrollbar?
5228 * Q4.6.2:: How can I change the scrollbar width?
5229 * Q4.6.3:: How can I use resources to change scrollbar colors?
5230 * Q4.6.4:: Moving the scrollbar can move the point; can I disable this?
5231 * Q4.6.5:: Scrolling one line at a time.
5232 * Q4.6.6:: How can I turn off automatic horizontal scrolling in specific modes?
5233 * Q4.6.7:: I find auto-show-mode disconcerting. How do I turn it off?
5235 4.7: The Gutter Tabs, The Progress Bar, Widgets
5236 * Q4.7.1:: How can I disable the gutter tabs?
5237 * Q4.7.2:: How can I disable the progress bar?
5238 * Q4.7.3:: There are bugs in the gutter or widgets.
5239 * Q4.7.4:: How can I customize the gutter or gutter tabs?
5241 4.0: Textual Fonts and Colors
5242 =============================
5245 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q4.0.1, Next: Q4.0.2, Prev: Display, Up: Display
5247 Q4.0.1: How do I specify a font?
5248 --------------------------------
5252 In 21.4 and above, you can use the `Options' menu to change the font.
5253 You can also do it in your init file, e.g. like this (for MS Windows):
5255 (set-face-font 'default "Lucida Console:Regular:10")
5256 (set-face-font 'modeline "MS Sans Serif:Regular:10")
5259 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q4.0.2, Next: Q4.0.3, Prev: Q4.0.1, Up: Display
5261 Q4.0.2: How do I set the text, menu and modeline fonts?
5262 -------------------------------------------------------
5266 Note that you should use `Emacs.' and not `Emacs*' when setting face
5271 Emacs.default.attributeFont: -*-*-medium-r-*-*-*-120-*-*-m-*-*-*
5272 Emacs*menubar*font: fixed
5273 Emacs.modeline.attributeFont: fixed
5275 This is confusing because `default' and `modeline' are face names,
5276 and can be found listed with all faces in the current mode by using
5277 `M-x set-face-font (enter) ?'. They use the face-specific resource
5280 On the other hand, `menubar' is a normal X thing that uses the
5281 resource `font'. With Motif it _may be_ necessary to use `fontList'
5282 _instead of_ `font'. In _non-Motif_ configurations with Mule it _is_
5283 necessary to use `fontSet' instead of `font'. (Sorry, there just is no
5284 simple recipe here.)
5287 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q4.0.3, Next: Q4.0.4, Prev: Q4.0.2, Up: Display
5289 Q4.0.3: How can I set color options from `init.el'?
5290 ---------------------------------------------------
5292 How can I set the most commonly used color options from my `init.el'
5293 instead of from my `.Xresources'?
5297 (set-face-background 'default "bisque") ; frame background
5298 (set-face-foreground 'default "black") ; normal text
5299 (set-face-background 'zmacs-region "red") ; When selecting w/
5301 (set-face-foreground 'zmacs-region "yellow")
5302 (set-face-font 'default "*courier-bold-r*120-100-100*")
5303 (set-face-background 'highlight "blue") ; Ie when selecting
5305 (set-face-foreground 'highlight "yellow")
5306 (set-face-background 'modeline "blue") ; Line at bottom
5308 (set-face-foreground 'modeline "white")
5309 (set-face-font 'modeline "*bold-r-normal*140-100-100*")
5310 (set-face-background 'isearch "yellow") ; When highlighting
5312 (set-face-foreground 'isearch "red")
5313 (setq x-pointer-foreground-color "black") ; Adds to bg color,
5315 (setq x-pointer-background-color "blue") ; This is color
5320 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q4.0.4, Next: Q4.0.5, Prev: Q4.0.3, Up: Display
5322 Q4.0.4: How can I set the colors when highlighting a region?
5323 ------------------------------------------------------------
5325 How can I set the background/foreground colors when highlighting a
5328 You can change the face `zmacs-region' either in your `.Xresources':
5330 Emacs.zmacs-region.attributeForeground: firebrick
5331 Emacs.zmacs-region.attributeBackground: lightseagreen
5333 or in your `init.el':
5335 (set-face-background 'zmacs-region "red")
5336 (set-face-foreground 'zmacs-region "yellow")
5339 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q4.0.5, Next: Q4.0.6, Prev: Q4.0.4, Up: Display
5341 Q4.0.5: How can I limit color map usage?
5342 ----------------------------------------
5344 I'm using Netscape (or another color grabber like XEmacs); is there any
5345 way to limit the number of available colors in the color map?
5347 Answer: No, but you can start Netscape before XEmacs, and it will use
5348 the closest available color if the colormap is full. You can also limit
5349 the number of colors Netscape uses, using the flags -mono, -ncols <#> or
5350 -install (for mono, limiting to <#> colors, or for using a private color
5353 If you have the money, another solution would be to use a truecolor
5354 or direct color video.
5357 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q4.0.6, Next: Q4.0.7, Prev: Q4.0.5, Up: Display
5359 Q4.0.6: My tty supports color, but XEmacs doesn't use them.
5360 -----------------------------------------------------------
5362 XEmacs tries to automatically determine whether your tty supports color,
5363 but sometimes guesses wrong. In that case, you can make XEmacs Do The
5364 Right Thing using this Lisp code:
5366 (if (eq 'tty (device-type))
5367 (set-device-class nil 'color))
5370 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q4.0.7, Next: Q4.0.8, Prev: Q4.0.6, Up: Display
5372 Q4.0.7: Can I have pixmap backgrounds in XEmacs?
5373 ------------------------------------------------
5375 Juan Villacis <jvillaci@wahnsinnig.extreme.indiana.edu> writes:
5377 There are several ways to do it. For example, you could specify a
5378 default pixmap image to use in your `~/.Xresources', e.g.,
5380 Emacs*EmacsFrame.default.attributeBackgroundPixmap: /path/to/image.xpm
5382 and then reload ~/.Xresources and restart XEmacs. Alternatively,
5383 since each face can have its own pixmap background, a better way
5384 would be to set a face's pixmap within your XEmacs init file, e.g.,
5386 (set-face-background-pixmap 'default "/path/to/image.xpm")
5387 (set-face-background-pixmap 'bold "/path/to/another_image.xpm")
5389 and so on. You can also do this interactively via `M-x
5394 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q4.0.8, Next: Q4.0.9, Prev: Q4.0.7, Up: Display
5396 Q4.0.8: How do I display non-ASCII characters?
5397 ----------------------------------------------
5399 If you're using a Mule-enabled XEmacs, then display is automatic. If
5400 you're not seeing the characters you expect, either (1) you don't have
5401 appropriate fonts available or (2) XEmacs did not correctly detect the
5402 coding system (*note Recognize Coding: (xemacs)Recognize Coding.). In
5403 case (1), install fonts as is customary for your platform. In case
5404 (2), you need to tell XEmacs explicitly what coding systems you're
5405 using. *Note Specify Coding: (xemacs)Specify Coding.
5407 If your XEmacs is not Mule-enabled, and for some reason getting a
5408 Mule-enabled XEmacs seems like the wrong thing to do, all is not lost.
5409 You can arrange it by brute force. In `event-Xt.c' (suppress the urge
5410 to look in this file--play Doom instead, because you'll survive
5411 longer), it is written:
5413 In a non-Mule world, a user can still have a multi-lingual editor,
5414 by doing `(set-face-font "-*-iso8859-2" (current-buffer))' for all
5415 their Latin-2 buffers, etc.
5417 For the related problem of _inputting_ non-ASCII characters in a
5418 non-Mule XEmacs, *Note How can you type in special characters in
5422 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q4.0.9, Next: Q4.1.1, Prev: Q4.0.8, Up: Display
5424 Q4.0.9: Font selections in don't get saved after `Save Options'.
5425 ----------------------------------------------------------------
5427 John Mann <mannj@ll.mit.edu> writes:
5429 You have to go to `Options->Menubars' and unselect `Frame-Local
5430 Font Menu'. If this option is selected, font changes are only
5431 applied to the _current_ frame and do _not_ get saved when you
5434 Also, set the following in your `init.el':
5436 (setq options-save-faces t)
5438 4.1: Syntax Highlighting (Font Lock)
5439 ====================================
5442 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q4.1.1, Next: Q4.1.2, Prev: Q4.0.9, Up: Display
5444 Q4.1.1: How can I do source code highlighting using font-lock?
5445 --------------------------------------------------------------
5447 For most modes, font-lock is already set up and just needs to be turned
5448 on. This can be done by adding the line:
5450 (require 'font-lock)
5452 to your `init.el'. (You can turn it on for the current buffer and
5453 session only by `M-x font-lock-mode'.) See the file
5454 `etc/sample.init.el' (`etc/sample.emacs' in XEmacs versions prior to
5455 21.4) for more information.
5457 See also `Syntax Highlighting' from the `Options' menu. Remember to
5461 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q4.1.2, Next: Q4.2.1, Prev: Q4.1.1, Up: Display
5463 Q4.1.2: How do I get `More' Syntax Highlighting on by default?
5464 --------------------------------------------------------------
5466 Use the following code in your `init.el':
5468 (setq-default font-lock-maximum-decoration t)
5470 See also `Syntax Highlighting' from the `Options' menu. Remember to
5477 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q4.2.1, Next: Q4.2.2, Prev: Q4.1.2, Up: Display
5479 Q4.2.1: How can I make the modeline go away?
5480 --------------------------------------------
5482 (set-specifier has-modeline-p nil)
5485 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q4.2.2, Next: Q4.2.3, Prev: Q4.2.1, Up: Display
5487 Q4.2.2: How do you have XEmacs display the line number in the modeline?
5488 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
5490 Add the following line to your `init.el' file to display the line
5493 (line-number-mode 1)
5495 Use the following to display the column number:
5497 (column-number-mode 1)
5499 Or select from the `Options' menu `Advanced
5500 (Customize)->Emacs->Editing->Basics->Line Number Mode' and/or `Advanced
5501 (Customize)->Emacs->Editing->Basics->Column Number Mode'
5503 Or type `M-x customize <RET> editing-basics <RET>'.
5506 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q4.2.3, Next: Q4.2.4, Prev: Q4.2.2, Up: Display
5508 Q4.2.3: How do I get XEmacs to put the time of day on the modeline?
5509 -------------------------------------------------------------------
5511 Add the following line to your `init.el' file to display the time:
5515 See `Customize' from the `Options' menu for customization.
5518 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q4.2.4, Next: Q4.3.1, Prev: Q4.2.3, Up: Display
5520 Q4.2.4: How can I change the modeline color based on the mode used?
5521 -------------------------------------------------------------------
5523 You can use something like the following:
5525 (add-hook 'lisp-mode-hook
5527 (set-face-background 'modeline "red" (current-buffer))))
5529 Then, when editing a Lisp file (i.e. when in Lisp mode), the modeline
5530 colors change from the default set in your `init.el'. The change will
5531 only be made in the buffer you just entered (which contains the Lisp
5532 file you are editing) and will not affect the modeline colors anywhere
5537 * The hook is the mode name plus `-hook'. eg. c-mode-hook,
5538 c++-mode-hook, emacs-lisp-mode-hook (used for your `init.el' or a
5539 `xx.el' file), lisp-interaction-mode-hook (the `*scratch*' buffer),
5540 text-mode-hook, etc.
5542 * Be sure to use `add-hook', not `(setq c-mode-hook xxxx)',
5543 otherwise you will erase anything that anybody has already put on
5546 * You can also do `(set-face-font 'modeline FONT)', eg.
5547 `(set-face-font 'modeline "*bold-r-normal*140-100-100*"
5548 (current-buffer))' if you wish the modeline font to vary based on
5551 There are additional modeline faces, `modeline-buffer-id',
5552 `modeline-mousable', and `modeline-mousable-minor-mode', which you may
5559 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q4.3.1, Next: Q4.3.2, Prev: Q4.2.4, Up: Display
5561 Q4.3.1: Is there a way to make the bar cursor thicker?
5562 ------------------------------------------------------
5564 I'd like to have the bar cursor a little thicker, as I tend to "lose" it
5567 For a 1 pixel bar cursor, use:
5571 For a 2 pixel bar cursor, use:
5573 (setq bar-cursor 'anything-else)
5575 You can also change these with Customize. Select from the `Options'
5576 menu `Advanced (Customize)->Emacs->Environment->Display->Bar Cursor...'
5577 or type `M-x customize <RET> display <RET>'.
5579 You can use a color to make it stand out better:
5581 Emacs*cursorColor: Red
5584 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q4.3.2, Next: Q4.3.3, Prev: Q4.3.1, Up: Display
5586 Q4.3.2: Is there a way to get back the block cursor?
5587 ----------------------------------------------------
5589 (setq bar-cursor nil)
5591 You can also change this with Customize. Select from the `Options'
5592 menu `Advanced (Customize)->Emacs->Environment->Display->Bar Cursor...'
5593 or type `M-x customize <RET> display <RET>'.
5596 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q4.3.3, Next: Q4.4.1, Prev: Q4.3.2, Up: Display
5598 Q4.3.3: Can I make the cursor blink?
5599 ------------------------------------
5605 This function toggles between a steady cursor and a blinking cursor.
5606 You may also set this mode from the menu bar by selecting
5607 `Options->Display->Blinking Cursor'. Remember to save options.
5613 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q4.4.1, Next: Q4.4.2, Prev: Q4.3.3, Up: Display
5615 Q4.4.1: How do I get rid of the menubar?
5616 ----------------------------------------
5618 (set-specifier menubar-visible-p nil)
5621 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q4.4.2, Next: Q4.4.3, Prev: Q4.4.1, Up: Display
5623 Q4.4.2: How can I customize the menubar?
5624 ----------------------------------------
5626 For an extensive menubar, add this line to your `init.el':
5628 (load "big-menubar")
5630 If you'd like to write your own, this file provides as good a set of
5631 examples as any to start from. The file is located in edit-utils
5635 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q4.4.3, Next: Q4.4.4, Prev: Q4.4.2, Up: Display
5637 Q4.4.3: How do I enable use of the keyboard (`Alt') to access menu items?
5638 -------------------------------------------------------------------------
5643 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q4.4.4, Next: Q4.4.5, Prev: Q4.4.3, Up: Display
5645 Q4.4.4: How do I control how many buffers are listed in the menu `Buffers List'?
5646 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5648 Add the following to your `init.el' (suit to fit):
5650 (setq buffers-menu-max-size 20)
5652 For no limit, use an argument of `nil'.
5654 You can also change this with Customize. Select from the `Options'
5655 menu `Advanced (Customize)->Emacs->Environment->Menu->Buffers Menu->Max
5656 Size...' or type `M-x customize <RET> buffers-menu <RET>'.
5659 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q4.4.5, Next: Q4.5.1, Prev: Q4.4.4, Up: Display
5661 Q4.4.5: Resources like `Emacs*menubar*font' are not working?
5662 ------------------------------------------------------------
5664 I am trying to use a resource like `Emacs*menubar*font' to set the font
5665 of the menubar but it's not working.
5667 In Motif, the use of `font' resources is obsoleted in order to
5668 support internationalization. If you are using the real Motif menubar,
5669 this resource is not recognized at all; you have to say:
5671 Emacs*menubar*fontList: FONT
5673 If you are using the Lucid menubar, for backward compatibility with
5674 existing user configurations, the `font' resource is recognized. Since
5675 this is not supported by Motif itself, the code is a kludge and the
5676 `font' resource will be recognized only if the `fontList' resource
5677 resource is unset. This means that the resource
5683 Emacs*menubar*font: FONT
5685 even though the latter is more specific.
5687 In non-Motif configurations using `--with-mule' and `--with-xfs' it
5688 _is_ necessary to use the `fontSet' resource _instead of_ the `font'
5689 resource. The backward compatibility kludge was never implemented for
5690 non-Motif builds. Example:
5698 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q4.5.1, Next: Q4.5.2, Prev: Q4.4.5, Up: Display
5700 Q4.5.1: How do I get rid of the toolbar?
5701 ----------------------------------------
5706 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q4.5.2, Next: Q4.5.3, Prev: Q4.5.1, Up: Display
5708 Q4.5.2: How can I customize the toolbar?
5709 ----------------------------------------
5714 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q4.5.3, Next: Q4.5.4, Prev: Q4.5.2, Up: Display
5716 Q4.5.3: How can I bind a key to a function to toggle the toolbar?
5717 -----------------------------------------------------------------
5721 (defun my-toggle-toolbar ()
5723 (set-specifier default-toolbar-visible-p
5724 (not (specifier-instance default-toolbar-visible-p))))
5725 (global-set-key "\C-xT" 'my-toggle-toolbar)
5727 Thanks to Martin Buchholz <martin@xemacs.org> for the correct code.
5730 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q4.5.4, Next: Q4.6.1, Prev: Q4.5.3, Up: Display
5732 Q4.5.4: `Can't instantiate image error...' in toolbar
5733 -----------------------------------------------------
5735 Dr. Ram Samudrala <expt@alanine.ram.org> writes:
5737 I just installed the XEmacs (20.4-2) RPMS that I downloaded from
5738 `http://www.xemacs.org/'. Everything works fine, except that when I
5739 place my mouse over the toolbar, it beeps and gives me this message:
5741 Can't instantiate image (probably cached):
5742 [xbm :mask-file "/usr/include/X11/bitmaps/leftptrmsk :mask-data
5743 (16 16 <strange control characters> ...
5745 Kyle Jones <kyle_jones@wonderworks.com> writes:
5747 This is problem specific to some Chips and Technologies video
5748 chips, when running XFree86. Putting
5750 `Option "sw_cursor"'
5752 in `XF86Config' gets rid of the problem.
5754 4.6: Scrollbars and Scrolling
5755 =============================
5758 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q4.6.1, Next: Q4.6.2, Prev: Q4.5.4, Up: Display
5760 Q4.6.1: How can I disable the scrollbar?
5761 ----------------------------------------
5763 To disable them for all frames, add the following line to your
5766 Emacs.scrollBarWidth: 0
5768 Or select `Options->Display->Scrollbars'. Remember to save options.
5770 To turn the scrollbar off on a per-frame basis, use the following
5773 (set-specifier scrollbar-width 0 (selected-frame))
5775 You can actually turn the scrollbars on at any level you want by
5776 substituting for (selected-frame) in the above command. For example, to
5777 turn the scrollbars off only in a single buffer:
5779 (set-specifier scrollbar-width 0 (current-buffer))
5782 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q4.6.2, Next: Q4.6.3, Prev: Q4.6.1, Up: Display
5784 Q4.6.2: How can I change the scrollbar width?
5785 ---------------------------------------------
5790 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q4.6.3, Next: Q4.6.4, Prev: Q4.6.2, Up: Display
5792 Q4.6.3: How can I use resources to change scrollbar colors?
5793 -----------------------------------------------------------
5795 Here's a recap of how to use resources to change your scrollbar colors:
5799 Emacs*XmScrollBar.Background: skyblue
5800 Emacs*XmScrollBar.troughColor: lightgray
5804 Emacs*Scrollbar.Foreground: skyblue
5805 Emacs*Scrollbar.Background: lightgray
5807 Note the capitalization of `Scrollbar' for the Athena widget.
5810 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q4.6.4, Next: Q4.6.5, Prev: Q4.6.3, Up: Display
5812 Q4.6.4: Moving the scrollbar can move the point; can I disable this?
5813 --------------------------------------------------------------------
5815 When I move the scrollbar in an XEmacs window, it moves the point as
5816 well, which should not be the default behavior. Is this a bug or a
5817 feature? Can I disable it?
5819 The current behavior is a feature, not a bug. Point remains at the
5820 same buffer position as long as that position does not scroll off the
5821 screen. In that event, point will end up in either the upper-left or
5822 lower-left hand corner.
5824 This cannot be changed.
5827 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q4.6.5, Next: Q4.6.6, Prev: Q4.6.4, Up: Display
5829 Q4.6.5: Scrolling one line at a time.
5830 -------------------------------------
5832 Can the cursor keys scroll the screen a line at a time, rather than the
5833 default half page jump? I tend it to find it disorienting.
5837 (setq scroll-step 1)
5839 You can also change this with Customize. Select from the `Options'
5840 menu `Advanced (Customize)->Emacs->Environment->Windows->Scroll Step...'
5841 or type `M-x customize <RET> windows <RET>'.
5844 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q4.6.6, Next: Q4.6.7, Prev: Q4.6.5, Up: Display
5846 Q4.6.6: How can I turn off automatic horizontal scrolling in specific modes?
5847 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
5849 Do `(setq truncate-lines t)' in the mode-hooks for any modes in which
5850 you want lines truncated.
5852 More precisely: If `truncate-lines' is nil, horizontal scrollbars
5853 will never appear. Otherwise, they will appear only if the value of
5854 `scrollbar-height' for that buffer/window/etc. is non-zero. If you do
5856 (set-specifier scrollbar-height 0)
5858 then horizontal scrollbars will not appear in truncated buffers
5859 unless the package specifically asked for them.
5862 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q4.6.7, Next: Q4.7.1, Prev: Q4.6.6, Up: Display
5864 Q4.6.7: I find auto-show-mode disconcerting. How do I turn it off?
5865 -------------------------------------------------------------------
5867 `auto-show-mode' controls whether or not a horizontal scrollbar
5868 magically appears when a line is too long to be displayed. This is
5869 enabled by default. To turn it off, put the following in your
5872 (setq auto-show-mode nil)
5873 (setq-default auto-show-mode nil)
5875 4.7: The Gutter Tabs, The Progress Bar, Widgets
5876 ===============================================
5879 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q4.7.1, Next: Q4.7.2, Prev: Q4.6.7, Up: Display
5881 Q4.7.1: How can I disable the gutter tabs?
5882 ------------------------------------------
5887 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q4.7.2, Next: Q4.7.3, Prev: Q4.7.1, Up: Display
5889 Q4.7.2: How can I disable the progress bar?
5890 -------------------------------------------
5895 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q4.7.3, Next: Q4.7.4, Prev: Q4.7.2, Up: Display
5897 Q4.7.3: There are bugs in the gutter or widgets.
5898 ------------------------------------------------
5903 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q4.7.4, Prev: Q4.7.3, Up: Display
5905 Q4.7.4: How can I customize the gutter or gutter tabs?
5906 ------------------------------------------------------
5911 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: External Subsystems, Next: Internet, Prev: Display, Up: Top
5913 5 Interfacing with the Operating System and External Devices
5914 ************************************************************
5916 This is part 5 of the XEmacs Frequently Asked Questions list. This
5917 section is devoted to the various ways that XEmacs interfaces with the
5918 operating system, with other processes and with external devices such
5919 as speakers and the printer.
5923 5.0: X Window System and Resources
5924 * Q5.0.1:: Where is a list of X resources?
5925 * Q5.0.2:: How can I detect a color display?
5926 * Q5.0.3:: How can I get the icon to just say `XEmacs'?
5927 * Q5.0.4:: How can I have the window title area display the full path?
5928 * Q5.0.5:: `xemacs -name junk' doesn't work?
5929 * Q5.0.6:: `-iconic' doesn't work.
5931 5.1: Microsoft Windows
5932 * Q5.1.1:: Does XEmacs rename all the `win32-*' symbols to `w32-*'?
5933 * Q5.1.2:: How do I get Windows Explorer to associate a file type with XEmacs?
5936 * Q5.2.1:: What do I need to change to make printing work?
5937 * Q5.2.2:: How can I print WYSIWYG a font-locked buffer?
5938 * Q5.2.3:: Getting M-x lpr to work with postscript printer.
5939 * Q5.2.4:: Can you print under MS Windows?
5942 * Q5.3.1:: How do I turn off the sound?
5943 * Q5.3.2:: How do I get funky sounds instead of a boring beep?
5944 * Q5.3.3:: What are NAS and ESD (EsounD)?
5945 * Q5.3.4:: Sunsite sounds don't play.
5947 5.4: Running an Interior Shell, Invoking Subprocesses
5948 * Q5.4.1:: What is an interior shell?
5949 * Q5.4.2:: How do I start up a second shell buffer?
5950 * Q5.4.3:: Telnet from shell filters too much
5951 * Q5.4.4:: Strange things are happening in Shell Mode.
5952 * Q5.4.5:: XEmacs complains "No such file or directory, diff"
5953 * Q5.4.6:: Cygwin error "fork_copy: linked dll/bss pass 0 failed"
5955 5.5: Multiple Device Support
5956 * Q5.5.1:: How do I open a frame on another screen of my multi-headed display?
5957 * Q5.5.2:: Can I really connect to a running XEmacs after calling up over a modem? How?
5958 * Q5.5.3:: How do I disable gnuserv from opening a new frame?
5959 * Q5.5.4:: How do I start gnuserv so that each subsequent XEmacs is a client?
5960 * Q5.5.5:: Is there a way to start a new XEmacs if there's no gnuserv running, and otherwise use gnuclient?
5962 5.0: X Window System and Resources
5963 ==================================
5966 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q5.0.1, Next: Q5.0.2, Prev: External Subsystems, Up: External Subsystems
5968 Q5.0.1: Where is a list of X resources?
5969 ---------------------------------------
5971 Search through the `NEWS' file for `X Resources'. A fairly
5972 comprehensive list is given after it.
5974 In addition, an `app-defaults' file `etc/Emacs.ad' is supplied,
5975 listing the defaults. The file `etc/sample.Xresources' gives a
5976 different set of defaults that you might consider for installation in
5977 your `~/.Xresources' file. It is nearly the same as `etc/Emacs.ad',
5978 but a few entries are altered. Be careful about installing the
5979 contents of this file into your `.Xresources' (or legacy `.Xdefaults')
5980 file if you use GNU Emacs under X11 as well.
5983 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q5.0.2, Next: Q5.0.3, Prev: Q5.0.1, Up: External Subsystems
5985 Q5.0.2: How can I detect a color display?
5986 -----------------------------------------
5988 You can test the return value of the function `(device-class)', as in:
5990 (when (eq (device-class) 'color)
5991 (set-face-foreground 'font-lock-comment-face "Grey")
5992 (set-face-foreground 'font-lock-string-face "Red")
5997 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q5.0.3, Next: Q5.0.4, Prev: Q5.0.2, Up: External Subsystems
5999 Q5.0.3: How can I get the icon to just say `XEmacs'?
6000 ----------------------------------------------------
6002 I'd like the icon to just say `XEmacs', and not include the name of the
6005 Add the following line to your `init.el':
6007 (setq frame-icon-title-format "XEmacs")
6010 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q5.0.4, Next: Q5.0.5, Prev: Q5.0.3, Up: External Subsystems
6012 Q5.0.4: How can I have the window title area display the full path?
6013 -------------------------------------------------------------------
6015 I'd like to have the window title area display the full directory/name
6016 of the current buffer file and not just the name.
6018 Add the following line to your `init.el':
6020 (setq frame-title-format "%S: %f")
6022 A more sophisticated title might be:
6024 (setq frame-title-format
6025 '("%S: " (buffer-file-name "%f"
6026 (dired-directory dired-directory "%b"))))
6028 That is, use the file name, or the dired-directory, or the buffer
6032 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q5.0.5, Next: Q5.0.6, Prev: Q5.0.4, Up: External Subsystems
6034 Q5.0.5: `xemacs -name junk' doesn't work?
6035 -----------------------------------------
6037 When I run `xterm -name junk', I get an xterm whose class name
6038 according to xprop, is `junk'. This is the way it's supposed to work,
6039 I think. When I run `xemacs -name junk' the class name is not set to
6040 `junk'. It's still `emacs'. What does `xemacs -name' really do? The
6041 reason I ask is that my window manager (fvwm) will make a window sticky
6042 and I use XEmacs to read my mail. I want that XEmacs window to be
6043 sticky, without having to use the window manager's function to set the
6044 window sticky. What gives?
6046 `xemacs -name' sets the application name for the program (that is,
6047 the thing which normally comes from `argv[0]'). Using `-name' is the
6048 same as making a copy of the executable with that new name. The
6049 `WM_CLASS' property on each frame is set to the frame-name, and the
6050 application-class. So, if you did `xemacs -name FOO' and then created
6051 a frame named BAR, you'd get an X window with WM_CLASS = `( "BAR",
6052 "Emacs")'. However, the resource hierarchy for this widget would be:
6054 Name: FOO .shell .container .BAR
6055 Class: Emacs .TopLevelEmacsShell.EmacsManager.EmacsFrame
6057 instead of the default
6059 Name: xemacs.shell .container .emacs
6060 Class: Emacs .TopLevelEmacsShell.EmacsManager.EmacsFrame
6062 It is arguable that the first element of WM_CLASS should be set to
6063 the application-name instead of the frame-name, but I think that's less
6064 flexible, since it does not give you the ability to have multiple frames
6065 with different WM_CLASS properties. Another possibility would be for
6066 the default frame name to come from the application name instead of
6067 simply being `emacs'. However, at this point, making that change would
6068 be troublesome: it would mean that many users would have to make yet
6069 another change to their resource files (since the default frame name
6070 would suddenly change from `emacs' to `xemacs', or whatever the
6071 executable happened to be named), so we'd rather avoid it.
6073 To make a frame with a particular name use:
6075 (make-frame '((name . "the-name")))
6078 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q5.0.6, Next: Q5.1.1, Prev: Q5.0.5, Up: External Subsystems
6080 Q5.0.6: `-iconic' doesn't work.
6081 -------------------------------
6083 When I start up XEmacs using `-iconic' it doesn't work right. Using
6084 `-unmapped' on the command line, and setting the `initiallyUnmapped' X
6085 Resource don't seem to help much either...
6087 Ben Wing <ben@xemacs.org> writes:
6089 Ugh, this stuff is such an incredible mess that I've about given up
6090 getting it to work. The principal problem is numerous
6091 window-manager bugs...
6093 5.1: Microsoft Windows
6094 ======================
6097 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q5.1.1, Next: Q5.1.2, Prev: Q5.0.6, Up: External Subsystems
6099 Q5.1.1: Does XEmacs rename all the `win32-*' symbols to `w32-*'?
6100 ----------------------------------------------------------------
6102 In his flavor of Emacs 20, Richard Stallman has renamed all the
6103 `win32-*' symbols to `w32-*'. Does XEmacs do the same?
6105 We consider such a move counter-productive, thus we do not use the
6106 `w32' prefix. (His rather questionable justification was that he did
6107 not consider Windows to be a "winning" platform.) However, the name
6108 `Win32' is not particularly descriptive outside the Windows world, and
6109 using just `windows-' would be too generic. So we chose a compromise,
6110 the prefix `mswindows-' for Windows-related variables and functions.
6112 Thus all the XEmacs variables and functions directly related to
6113 either the Windows GUI or OS are prefixed `mswindows-' (except for a
6114 couple of debugging variables, prefixed `debug-mswindows-'). From an
6115 architectural perspective, however, we believe that this is mostly a
6116 non-issue because there should be a very small number of
6117 window-systems-specific variables anyway. Whenever possible, we try to
6118 provide generic interfaces that apply to all window systems.
6121 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q5.1.2, Next: Q5.2.1, Prev: Q5.1.1, Up: External Subsystems
6123 Q5.1.2: How do I get Windows Explorer to associate a file type with XEmacs?
6124 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
6126 Associating a new file type with XEmacs.
6127 ........................................
6129 In Explorer select `View->Options->File Types', press `[New Type...]'
6130 and fill in the dialog box, e.g.:
6132 Description of type: Emacs Lisp source
6133 Associated extension: el
6134 Content Type (MIME): text/plain
6136 then press `[New...]' and fill in the `Action' dialog box as follows:
6141 Application used to perform action:
6142 D:\Full\path\for\xemacs.exe "%1"
6152 DDE Application Not Running:
6158 Associating an existing file type with XEmacs.
6159 ..............................................
6161 In Explorer select `View->Options->File Types'. Click on the file type
6162 in the list and press `[Edit...]'. If the file type already has an
6163 `Open' action, double click on it and fill in the `Action' dialog box
6164 as described above; otherwise create a new action.
6166 If the file type has more than one action listed, you probably want
6167 to make the `Open' action that you just edited the default by clicking
6168 on it and pressing `Set Default'.
6170 Note for Windows 2000 users: Under Windows 2000, get to `File Types'
6171 using `Control Panel->Folder Options->File Types'.
6177 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q5.2.1, Next: Q5.2.2, Prev: Q5.1.2, Up: External Subsystems
6179 Q5.2.1: What do I need to change to make printing work?
6180 -------------------------------------------------------
6182 For regular printing there are two variables that can be customized.
6185 This should be set to a command that takes standard input and sends
6186 it to a printer. Something like:
6188 (setq lpr-command "lp")
6191 This should be set to a list that contains whatever the print
6192 command requires to do its job. Something like:
6194 (setq lpr-switches '("-depson"))
6196 For postscript printing there are three analogous variables to
6200 This should be set to a command that takes postscript on standard
6201 input and directs it to a postscript printer.
6204 This should be set to a list of switches required for
6205 `ps-lpr-command' to do its job.
6208 This boolean variable should be set `t' if printing will be done in
6209 color, otherwise it should be set to `nil'.
6211 NOTE: It is an undocumented limitation in XEmacs that postscript
6212 printing (the `Pretty Print Buffer' menu item) *requires* a window
6213 system environment. It cannot be used outside of X11.
6216 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q5.2.2, Next: Q5.2.3, Prev: Q5.2.1, Up: External Subsystems
6218 Q5.2.2: How can I print WYSIWYG a font-locked buffer?
6219 -----------------------------------------------------
6221 Font-lock looks nice. How can I print (WYSIWYG) the highlighted
6224 The package `ps-print', which is now included with XEmacs, provides
6225 the ability to do this. The source code contains complete instructions
6227 `$prefix/lib/xemacs/xemacs-packages/lisp/ps-print/ps-print.el', being
6228 the default location of an installed ps-print package.
6231 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q5.2.3, Next: Q5.2.4, Prev: Q5.2.2, Up: External Subsystems
6233 Q5.2.3: Getting `M-x lpr' to work with postscript printer.
6234 ----------------------------------------------------------
6236 My printer is a Postscript printer and `lpr' only works for Postscript
6237 files, so how do I get `M-x lpr-region' and `M-x lpr-buffer' to work?
6239 Put something like this in your `init.el':
6241 (setq lpr-command "a2ps")
6242 (setq lpr-switches '("-p" "-1"))
6244 If you don't use a2ps to convert ASCII to postscript (why not, it's
6245 free?), replace with the command you do use. Note also that some
6246 versions of a2ps require a `-Pprinter' to ensure spooling.
6249 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q5.2.4, Next: Q5.3.1, Prev: Q5.2.3, Up: External Subsystems
6251 Q5.2.4: Can you print under MS Windows?
6252 ---------------------------------------
6254 As of 21.4, printing works on Windows, using simply `File->Print
6255 BUFFER...', and can be configured with `File->Page Setup...'.
6257 Prior to 21.4, there is no built-in support, but there are some
6258 clever hacks out there. If you know how, please let us know and we'll
6265 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q5.3.1, Next: Q5.3.2, Prev: Q5.2.4, Up: External Subsystems
6267 Q5.3.1: How do I turn off the sound?
6268 ------------------------------------
6270 Add the following line to your `init.el':
6272 (setq bell-volume 0)
6273 (setq sound-alist nil)
6275 That will make your XEmacs totally silent--even the default ding
6276 sound (TTY beep on TTY-s) will be gone.
6278 You can also change these with Customize. Select from the `Options'
6279 menu `Advanced (Customize)->Emacs->Environment->Sound->Sound...' or
6280 type `M-x customize <RET> sound <RET>'.
6283 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q5.3.2, Next: Q5.3.3, Prev: Q5.3.1, Up: External Subsystems
6285 Q5.3.2: How do I get funky sounds instead of a boring beep?
6286 -----------------------------------------------------------
6288 Make sure your XEmacs was compiled with sound support, and then put this
6291 (load-default-sounds)
6294 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q5.3.3, Next: Q5.3.4, Prev: Q5.3.2, Up: External Subsystems
6296 Q5.3.3: What are NAS and ESD (EsounD)?
6297 --------------------------------------
6299 "Network Audio System" (NAS) is a client-server sound library for X.
6301 `http://radscan.com/nas.html'.
6303 To build XEmacs with it, use the `configure' flag `--with-sound=nas'
6304 (`--enable-sound=nas' in 21.5 or later).
6306 "Enlightened Sound Daemon" (ESD or EsounD) is yet another sound
6309 `http://www.tux.org/~ricdude/EsounD.html'.
6311 To build XEmacs with it, use the `configure' flag `--with-sound=esd'
6312 (`--enable-sound=esd' in 21.5 or later).
6314 You can specify support for both with a flag like
6315 `--with-sound=nas,esd' (`--enable-sound=nas,esd' in 21.5 or later).
6318 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q5.3.4, Next: Q5.4.1, Prev: Q5.3.3, Up: External Subsystems
6320 Q5.3.4: Sunsite sounds don't play.
6321 ----------------------------------
6323 I'm having some trouble with sounds I've downloaded from sunsite. They
6324 play when I run them through `showaudio' or cat them directly to
6325 `/dev/audio', but XEmacs refuses to play them.
6327 Markus Gutschke <gutschk@uni-muenster.de> writes:
6329 [Many of] These files have an (erroneous) 24byte header that tells
6330 about the format that they have been recorded in. If you cat them
6331 to `/dev/audio', the header will be ignored and the default
6332 behavior for /dev/audio will be used. This happens to be 8kHz
6333 uLaw. It is probably possible to fix the header by piping through
6334 `sox' and passing explicit parameters for specifying the sampling
6335 format; you then need to perform a 'null' conversion from SunAudio
6338 5.4: Running an Interior Shell, Invoking Subprocesses
6339 =====================================================
6342 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q5.4.1, Next: Q5.4.2, Prev: Q5.3.4, Up: External Subsystems
6344 Q5.4.1: What is an interior shell?
6345 ----------------------------------
6350 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q5.4.2, Next: Q5.4.3, Prev: Q5.4.1, Up: External Subsystems
6352 Q5.4.2: How do I start up a second shell buffer?
6353 ------------------------------------------------
6355 In the `*shell*' buffer:
6357 M-x rename-buffer <RET> *shell-1* <RET>
6360 This will then start a second shell. The key is that no buffer named
6361 `*shell*' can exist. It might be preferable to use `M-x
6362 rename-uniquely' to rename the `*shell*' buffer instead of `M-x
6365 Alternately, you can set the variable `shell-multiple-shells'. If
6366 the value of this variable is non-nil, each time shell mode is invoked,
6370 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q5.4.3, Next: Q5.4.4, Prev: Q5.4.2, Up: External Subsystems
6372 Q5.4.3: Telnet from shell filters too much
6373 ------------------------------------------
6375 I'm using the Emacs `M-x shell' function, and I would like to invoke
6376 and use a telnet session within it. Everything works fine except that
6377 now all `^M''s are filtered out by Emacs. Fixes?
6379 Use `M-x rsh' or `M-x telnet' to open remote sessions rather than
6380 doing rsh or telnet within the local shell buffer. You can also use
6381 `M-x ssh' to open secure remote session if you have `ssh' installed.
6384 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q5.4.4, Next: Q5.4.5, Prev: Q5.4.3, Up: External Subsystems
6386 Q5.4.4: Strange things are happening in Shell Mode.
6387 ---------------------------------------------------
6389 Sometimes (i.e. it's not repeatable, and I can't work out why it
6390 happens) when I'm typing into shell mode, I hit return and only a
6391 portion of the command is given to the shell, and a blank prompt is
6392 returned. If I hit return again, the rest of the previous command is
6395 Martin Buchholz <martin@xemacs.org> writes:
6397 There is a known problem with interaction between `csh' and the
6398 `filec' option and XEmacs. You should add the following to your
6401 if ( "$TERM" == emacs || "$TERM" == unknown ) unset filec
6404 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q5.4.5, Next: Q5.4.6, Prev: Q5.4.4, Up: External Subsystems
6406 Q5.4.5: XEmacs complains "No such file or directory, diff"
6407 ----------------------------------------------------------
6409 or "ispell" or other commands that seem related to whatever you just
6410 tried to do (M-x ediff or M-$, for example).
6412 There are a large number of common (in the sense that "everyone has
6413 these, they really do") Unix utilities that are not provided with
6414 XEmacs. The GNU Project's implementations are available for Windows in
6415 the the Cygwin distribution (`http://www.cygwin.com/'), which also
6416 provides a complete Unix emulation environment (and thus makes ports of
6417 Unix utilities nearly trivial). Another implementation is that from
6418 MinGW (`http://www.mingw.org/msys.shtml'). If you know of others,
6422 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q5.4.6, Next: Q5.5.1, Prev: Q5.4.5, Up: External Subsystems
6424 Q5.4.6: Cygwin error "fork_copy: linked dll/bss pass 0 failed"
6425 --------------------------------------------------------------
6427 If you are getting an error like
6429 17797832 [main] bash 3468 fork_copy: linked dll/bss pass 0 failed,
6430 0x675000..0x6756A0, done 0, windows pid 2708, Win 32 error 487
6431 bash: fork: resource temporarily unavailable
6433 when trying to run bash using `M-x shell', then you need to rebase
6434 your Cygwin DLL's. This is a known problem with Cygwin. To fix:
6436 1. Download the `rebase' utility from Cygwin setup (it's under
6439 2. Kill *all* of your Cygwin processes, including all of your shells
6440 and all background processes. Use `ps -a' to list all the
6441 processes you need to kill.
6443 3. From a DOS prompt, run `ash' (*not* `bash', `tcsh' or `zsh'). Do
6444 not try to be clever and `exec /bin/ash' from your last shell; it
6447 4. Type `/bin/rebaseall -v'.
6449 The problem should now be fixed - at least, until you install another
6450 Cygwin package with DLL's, in which case you may have to repeat the
6453 5.5: Multiple Device Support
6454 ============================
6457 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q5.5.1, Next: Q5.5.2, Prev: Q5.4.6, Up: External Subsystems
6459 Q5.5.1: How do I open a frame on another screen of my multi-headed display?
6460 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
6462 Use the command `M-x make-frame-on-display'. This command is also on
6463 the File menu in the menubar.
6465 The command `make-frame-on-tty' also exists, which will establish a
6466 connection to any tty-like device. Opening the TTY devices should be
6467 left to `gnuclient', though.
6470 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q5.5.2, Next: Q5.5.3, Prev: Q5.5.1, Up: External Subsystems
6472 Q5.5.2: Can I really connect to a running XEmacs after calling up over a modem? How?
6473 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6475 Yes. Use `gnuclient -nw'.
6477 Also see *Note How do I disable gnuserv from opening a new frame?:
6481 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q5.5.3, Next: Q5.5.4, Prev: Q5.5.2, Up: External Subsystems
6483 Q5.5.3: How do I disable gnuserv from opening a new frame?
6484 ----------------------------------------------------------
6486 If you set the `gnuserv-frame' variable to the frame that should be
6487 used to display buffers that are pulled up, a new frame will not be
6488 created. For example, you could put
6490 (setq gnuserv-frame (selected-frame))
6492 early on in your `init.el', to ensure that the first frame created
6493 is the one used for your gnuserv buffers.
6495 There is an option to set the gnuserv target to the current frame.
6496 See `Options->Display->"Other Window" Location->Make Current Frame
6499 You can also change this with Customize. Select from the `Options'
6500 menu `Advanced (Customize)->Emacs->Environment->Gnuserv->Gnuserv
6501 Frame...' or type `M-x customize <RET> gnuserv <RET>'.
6504 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q5.5.4, Next: Q5.5.5, Prev: Q5.5.3, Up: External Subsystems
6506 Q5.5.4: How do I start gnuserv so that each subsequent XEmacs is a client?
6507 --------------------------------------------------------------------------
6509 Put the following in your `init.el' file to start the server:
6513 Start your first XEmacs as usual. After that, you can do:
6515 gnuclient randomfilename
6517 from the command line to get your existing XEmacs process to open a
6518 new frame and visit randomfilename in that window. When you're done
6519 editing randomfilename, hit `C-x #' to kill the buffer and get rid of
6522 See also man page of gnuclient.
6525 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q5.5.5, Prev: Q5.5.4, Up: External Subsystems
6527 Q5.5.5: Is there a way to start a new XEmacs if there's no gnuserv running, and otherwise use gnuclient?
6528 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6530 Jan Vroonhof <vroonhof@math.ethz.ch> writes:
6532 Here is one of the solutions, we have this in a script called
6533 `etc/editclient.sh'.
6535 if gnuclient -batch -eval t >/dev/null 2>&1
6537 exec gnuclient ${1+"$@"}
6539 xemacs -unmapped -f gnuserv-start &
6540 until gnuclient -batch -eval t >/dev/null 2>&1
6544 exec gnuclient ${1+"$@"}
6547 Note that there is a known problem when running XEmacs and
6548 'gnuclient -nw' on the same TTY.
6551 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Internet, Next: Advanced, Prev: External Subsystems, Up: Top
6553 6 Connecting to the Internet
6554 ****************************
6556 This is part 6 of the XEmacs Frequently Asked Questions list. This
6557 section is devoted connecting to the Internet.
6561 6.0: General Mail and News
6562 * Q6.0.1:: What are the various packages for reading mail?
6563 * Q6.0.2:: How can I send mail?
6564 * Q6.0.3:: How do I get my outgoing mail archived?
6565 * Q6.0.4:: How can I read and/or compose MIME messages?
6566 * Q6.0.5:: How do I customize the From line?
6567 * Q6.0.6:: How do I get my MUA to filter mail for me?
6568 * Q6.0.7:: Remote mail reading with an MUA.
6569 * Q6.0.8:: An MUA gets an error incorporating new mail.
6570 * Q6.0.9:: Why isn't `movemail' working?
6571 * Q6.0.10:: How do I make my MUA display graphical smilies?
6572 * Q6.0.11:: How can I get those oh-so-neat X-Face lines?
6574 6.1: Reading Mail with VM
6575 * Q6.1.1:: How do I set up VM to retrieve mail from a remote site using POP?
6576 * Q6.1.2:: How can I get VM to automatically check for new mail?
6577 * Q6.1.3:: I have various addresses at which I receive mail. How can I tell VM to ignore them when doing a "reply-all"?
6578 * Q6.1.4:: Is there a mailing list or FAQ for VM?
6579 * Q6.1.5:: How do I make VM stay in a single frame?
6580 * Q6.1.6:: Customization of VM not covered in the manual, or here.
6582 6.2: Reading Netnews and Mail with Gnus
6583 * Q6.2.1:: GNUS, (ding) Gnus, Gnus 5, September Gnus, Red Gnus, Quassia Gnus, argh!
6584 * Q6.2.2:: How do I make Gnus stay within a single frame?
6587 * Q6.3.1:: Can I edit files on other hosts?
6588 * Q6.3.2:: What is EFS?
6590 6.4: Web Browsing with W3
6591 * Q6.4.1:: What is W3?
6592 * Q6.4.2:: How do I run W3 from behind a firewall?
6593 * Q6.4.3:: Is it true that W3 supports style sheets and tables?
6595 6.0: General Mail and News
6596 ==========================
6599 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q6.0.1, Next: Q6.0.2, Prev: Internet, Up: Internet
6601 Q6.0.1: What are the various packages for reading mail?
6602 -------------------------------------------------------
6607 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q6.0.2, Next: Q6.0.3, Prev: Q6.0.1, Up: Internet
6609 Q6.0.2: How can I send mail?
6610 ----------------------------
6612 Under Unix and Mac OS X, the `sendmail' package is normally used for
6613 this. #### Write me.
6615 Under Windows, you need to use `smtpmail', which communicates
6616 directly with the mail server, as there is no `sendmail' program
6617 running. To get it working, use code like the following in your
6620 ;; Get mail working under Windows.
6621 (setq message-send-mail-function 'smtpmail-send-it) ; for message/Gnus
6622 (setq send-mail-function 'smtpmail-send-it) ; for C-x m, etc.
6623 ;; the following ensures that mail problems can be debugged: it logs a trace
6624 ;; of the SMTP conversation to *trace of SMTP session to <somewhere>*.
6625 (setq smtpmail-debug-info t)
6626 ;; Substitute your info here.
6627 ;(setq user-mail-address "ben@xemacs.org")
6628 ;(setq user-full-name "Ben Wing")
6629 ;(setq smtpmail-default-smtp-server "smtp.myserver.myisp.com")
6630 ;; The following two aren't completely necessary but may help.
6631 ;(setq smtpmail-local-domain "666.com")
6632 ;(setq smtpmail-sendto-domain "666.com")
6633 ;; If your SMTP server requires a username/password to authenticate, as
6634 ;; many do nowadays, set them like this:
6635 ;(setq smtpmail-auth-credentials ; or use ~/.authinfo
6636 ; '(("smtp.myserver.myisp.com" 25 "USER@SOMEWHERE" "PASSWORD")))
6638 ;; Other possibilities for getting smtpmail to work:
6640 ;; If for some reason you need to authenticate using the STARTTLS protocol
6641 ;; (don't look into this unless you know what it is), use
6642 ;; (setq smtpmail-starttls-credentials
6643 ;; '(("YOUR SMTP HOST" 25 "~/.my_smtp_tls.key" "~/.my_smtp_tls.cert")))
6644 ;; Requires external program
6645 ;; ftp://ftp.opaopa.org/pub/elisp/starttls-*.tar.gz.
6646 ;; See http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2246.txt,
6647 ;; http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2487.txt
6649 The lines you need to care about are those that set
6650 `user-mail-address', `user-full-name', `smtpmail-default-smtp-server',
6651 and `smtpmail-auth-credentials'. You need to set these with,
6652 respectively, your email address, your full name, the SMTP server you
6653 use for outgoing mail, and the username and password you need to log in
6654 to your SMTP server. (If for some reason your SMTP server doesn't
6655 require logging in to send mail, don't uncomment this last line.)
6657 The other settings may be useful in specific cases, but you should
6658 know what you're doing before enabling them.
6661 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q6.0.3, Next: Q6.0.4, Prev: Q6.0.2, Up: Internet
6663 Q6.0.3: How do I get my outgoing mail archived?
6664 -----------------------------------------------
6666 (setq mail-archive-file-name "~/outbox")
6669 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q6.0.4, Next: Q6.0.5, Prev: Q6.0.3, Up: Internet
6671 Q6.0.4: How can I read and/or compose MIME messages?
6672 ----------------------------------------------------
6674 VM, MH-E and GNUS support MIME natively. Other MUAs may or may not
6675 have MIME support; refer to their documentation and other resources,
6676 such as web pages and mailing lists. Packages like SEMI/WEMI may be
6677 useful in connection with MUAs like mew and Wanderlust.
6680 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q6.0.5, Next: Q6.0.6, Prev: Q6.0.4, Up: Internet
6682 Q6.0.5: How do I customize the From line?
6683 -----------------------------------------
6685 How do I change the `From:' line? I have set gnus-user-from-line to
6686 Gail Gurman <gail.gurman@sybase.com>
6687 , but XEmacs Gnus doesn't use it. [This should apply to all MUA's.
6688 -ed] Instead it uses
6689 Gail Mara Gurman <gailg@deall>
6690 and then complains that it's incorrect. Also, as you perhaps can
6691 see, my Message-ID is screwy. How can I change that?
6693 Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@ifi.uio.no> writes:
6695 Set `user-mail-address' to `gail.gurman@sybase.com' or
6696 `mail-host-address' to `sybase.com'.
6699 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q6.0.6, Next: Q6.0.7, Prev: Q6.0.5, Up: Internet
6701 Q6.0.6: How do I get my MUA to filter mail for me?
6702 --------------------------------------------------
6704 One possibility is to use procmail to split your mail before it gets to
6705 the MUA. I prefer this personally, since there are many strange and
6706 wonderful things one can do with procmail. Procmail may be found at
6707 `http://www.procmail.org/'.
6709 Also see the Mail Filtering FAQ at:
6710 `http://www.faqs.org/faqs/mail/filtering-faq/'.
6713 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q6.0.7, Next: Q6.0.8, Prev: Q6.0.6, Up: Internet
6715 Q6.0.7: Remote mail reading with an MUA.
6716 ----------------------------------------
6718 My mailbox lives at the office on a big honkin server. My regular INBOX
6719 lives on my honkin desktop machine. I now can PPP to the office from
6720 home which is far from honking... I'd like to be able to read mail at
6721 home without storing it here and I'd like to use xemacs and the MUA at
6722 home... Is there a recommended setup?
6724 Joseph J. Nuspl Jr. <nuspl@nvwls.cc.purdue.edu> writes:
6726 There are several ways to do this.
6728 1. Set your display to your home machine and run dxpc or one of
6729 the other X compressors.
6731 2. NFS mount your desktop machine on your home machine and
6732 modify your pop command on your home machine to rsh to your
6733 desktop machine and actually do the pop get's.
6735 3. Run a POP server on your desktop machine as well and do a
6736 sort of two tiered POP get.
6738 William Perry <wmperry@monolith.spry.com> adds:
6740 Or you could run a pop script periodically on your desktop
6741 machine, and just use ange-ftp or NFS to get to your mailbox. I
6742 used to do this all the time back at IU.
6745 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q6.0.8, Next: Q6.0.9, Prev: Q6.0.7, Up: Internet
6747 Q6.0.8: An MUA gets an error incorporating new mail.
6748 ----------------------------------------------------
6750 rmail and VM, and probably other MUA's as well, get new mail from your
6751 mailbox (called `/var/mail/$USER' or `/var/spool/mail/$USER' or
6752 something similar) using a program called `movemail'. This program
6753 interlocks with `/bin/mail' using the protocol defined by `/bin/mail'.
6755 There are various different protocols in general use, which you need
6756 to specify using the `--mail-locking' option (`--with-mail-locking' in
6757 21.5 or later) to `configure':
6760 POSIX file locking with `lockf()'
6763 BSD file locking with `flock()'
6766 To manipulate mail file `foo', first create file `foo.lock'
6769 Use `locking()', Microsoft's renamed `flock()'
6772 Use `lk_open()' and `lk_close()' as defined by the Multi-channel
6773 Memo Distribution Facility
6776 Retrieve mail using POP (the Post Office Protocol). This is the
6777 default for Cygwin/MinGW.
6779 *IF YOU DON'T USE THE FORM OF INTERLOCKING THAT IS NORMAL ON YOUR
6780 SYSTEM, YOU CAN LOSE MAIL!*
6782 Usually the value is correctly determined automatically: `configure'
6783 tries to detect the method in use, and defaults exist on systems for
6784 which this doesn't work.
6786 However, if you run into problems incorporating new mail, it may be
6787 because an incorrect method is being used.
6789 If your system uses the lock file protocol, and permissions are set
6790 so that ordinary users cannot write lock files in the mail spool
6791 directory, you may need to make `movemail' setgid to a suitable group
6792 such as `mail'. You can use these commands (as root):
6797 If you are using the `pop' locking method, `movemail' must be setuid
6800 Installation normally copies movemail from the build directory to an
6801 installation directory which is usually under `/usr/local/lib'. The
6802 installed copy of `movemail' is usually in the directory
6803 `/usr/local/lib/xemacs-VERSION/TARGET' (for example,
6804 `/usr/local/lib/xemacs-21.4.15/i686-pc-cygwin'). You must change the
6805 group and mode of the installed copy; changing the group and mode of
6806 the build directory copy is ineffective.
6809 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q6.0.9, Next: Q6.0.10, Prev: Q6.0.8, Up: Internet
6811 Q6.0.9: Why isn't `movemail' working?
6812 -------------------------------------
6816 Note also that older versions of Mozilla came with a `movemail'
6817 program that is *not* compatible with XEmacs. Do not use it. Always
6818 use the `movemail' installed with your XEmacs. Failure to do so can
6819 result in lost mail.
6822 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q6.0.10, Next: Q6.0.11, Prev: Q6.0.9, Up: Internet
6824 Q6.0.10: How do I make my MUA display graphical smilies?
6825 --------------------------------------------------------
6827 For mh-e use the following:
6829 (add-hook 'mh-show-mode-hook '(lambda ()
6830 (smiley-region (point-min)
6833 WJCarpenter <bill@carpenter.ORG> writes: For VM use the following:
6834 (autoload 'smiley-region "smiley" nil t)
6835 (add-hook 'vm-select-message-hook
6837 (smiley-region (point-min)
6840 For tm use the following:
6841 (autoload 'smiley-buffer "smiley" nil t)
6842 (add-hook 'mime-viewer/plain-text-preview-hook 'smiley-buffer)
6845 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q6.0.11, Next: Q6.1.1, Prev: Q6.0.10, Up: Internet
6847 Q6.0.11: How can I get those oh-so-neat X-Face lines?
6848 -----------------------------------------------------
6850 Firstly there is an ftp site which describes X-faces and has the
6851 associated tools mentioned below, at
6852 `http://ftp.cs.indiana.edu/pub/faces/'.
6856 1. Create 48x48x1 bitmap with your favorite tool
6858 2. Convert to "icon" format using one of xbm2ikon, pbmtoicon, etc.,
6859 and then compile the face.
6861 3. cat file.xbm | xbm2ikon |compface > file.face
6863 4. Then be sure to quote things that are necessary for emacs strings:
6865 cat ./file.face | sed 's/\\/\\\\/g'
6866 | sed 's/\"/\\\"/g' > ./file.face.quoted
6868 5. Then set up emacs to include the file as a mail header - there
6869 were a couple of suggestions here--either something like:
6871 (setq mail-default-headers
6872 "X-Face: <Ugly looking text string here>")
6874 Or, alternatively, as:
6876 (defun mail-insert-x-face ()
6878 (goto-char (point-min))
6879 (search-forward mail-header-separator)
6882 (insert-file-contents "~/.face")))
6884 (add-hook 'mail-setup-hook 'mail-insert-x-face)
6886 However, 2 things might be wrong:
6888 Some versions of pbmtoicon produces some header lines that is not
6889 expected by the version of compface that I grabbed. So I found I had to
6890 include a `tail +3' in the pipeline like this:
6892 cat file.xbm | xbm2ikon | tail +3 |compface > file.face
6894 Some people have also found that if one uses the `(insert-file)'
6895 method, one should NOT quote the face string using the sed script .
6897 It might also be helpful to use Stig's <stig@hackvan.com> script
6898 xbm2face (included in the compface distribution at XEmacs.org) to do the
6901 Contributors for this item:
6903 Paul Emsley, Ricardo Marek, Amir J. Katz, Glen McCort, Heinz Uphoff,
6904 Peter Arius, Paul Harrison, and Vegard Vesterheim
6906 6.1: Reading Mail with VM
6907 =========================
6910 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q6.1.1, Next: Q6.1.2, Prev: Q6.0.11, Up: Internet
6912 Q6.1.1: How do I set up VM to retrieve mail from a remote site using POP?
6913 -------------------------------------------------------------------------
6915 Use `vm-spool-files', like this for example:
6917 (setq vm-spool-files '("/var/spool/mail/wing"
6918 "netcom23.netcom.com:110:pass:wing:MYPASS"))
6920 Of course substitute your actual password for MYPASS.
6923 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q6.1.2, Next: Q6.1.3, Prev: Q6.1.1, Up: Internet
6925 Q6.1.2: How can I get VM to automatically check for new mail?
6926 -------------------------------------------------------------
6928 John Turner <turner@lanl.gov> writes:
6932 (setq vm-auto-get-new-mail 60)
6935 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q6.1.3, Next: Q6.1.4, Prev: Q6.1.2, Up: Internet
6937 Q6.1.3: I have various addresses at which I receive mail. How can I tell VM to ignore them when doing a "reply-all"?
6938 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6940 Set `vm-reply-ignored-addresses' to a list, like
6942 (setq vm-reply-ignored-addresses
6943 '("wing@nuspl@nvwls.cc.purdue.edu,netcom[0-9]*.netcom.com"
6944 "wing@netcom.com" "wing@xemacs.org"))
6946 Note that each string is a regular expression.
6949 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q6.1.4, Next: Q6.1.5, Prev: Q6.1.3, Up: Internet
6951 Q6.1.4: Is there a mailing list or FAQ for VM?
6952 ----------------------------------------------
6954 A FAQ for VM exists at `http://www.wonderworks.com/vm/FAQ.html'.
6956 VM has its own newsgroups gnu.emacs.vm.info and gnu.emacs.vm.bug.
6959 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q6.1.5, Next: Q6.1.6, Prev: Q6.1.4, Up: Internet
6961 Q6.1.5: How do I make VM stay in a single frame?
6962 ------------------------------------------------
6964 John.John S Cooper <Cooper@Eng.Sun.COM> writes:
6966 ; Don't use multiple frames
6967 (setq vm-frame-per-composition nil)
6968 (setq vm-frame-per-folder nil)
6969 (setq vm-frame-per-edit nil)
6970 (setq vm-frame-per-summary nil)
6973 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q6.1.6, Next: Q6.2.1, Prev: Q6.1.5, Up: Internet
6975 Q6.1.6: Customization of VM not covered in the manual, or here.
6976 ---------------------------------------------------------------
6978 giacomo boffi <boffi@hp735.stru.polimi.it> writes:
6980 The meta-answer is to look into the file `vm-vars.el', in the vm
6981 directory of the lisp library.
6983 `vm-vars.el' contains, initializes and carefully describes, with
6984 examples of usage, the plethora of user options that _fully_
6985 control VM's behavior.
6987 Enter vm-vars, `forward-search' for toolbar, find the variables
6988 that control the toolbar placement, appearance, existence, copy to
6989 your `init.el' or `.vm' and modify according to the detailed
6992 The above also applies to all the various features of VM: search
6993 for some keywords, maybe the first you conjure isn't appropriate,
6994 find the appropriate variables, copy and experiment.
6996 6.2: Reading Netnews and Mail with Gnus
6997 =======================================
7000 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q6.2.1, Next: Q6.2.2, Prev: Q6.1.6, Up: Internet
7002 Q6.2.1: GNUS, (ding) Gnus, Gnus 5, September Gnus, Red Gnus, Quassia Gnus, argh!
7003 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7005 The Gnus numbering issues are not meant for mere mortals to know them.
7006 If you feel you _must_ enter the muddy waters of Gnus, visit the
7007 excellent FAQ, maintained by Justin Sheehy, at:
7009 `http://my.gnus.org/FAQ/'
7011 See also Gnus home page
7012 `http://www.gnus.org/'
7015 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q6.2.2, Next: Q6.3.1, Prev: Q6.2.1, Up: Internet
7017 Q6.2.2: How do I make Gnus stay within a single frame?
7018 ------------------------------------------------------
7020 The toolbar code to start Gnus opens the new frame--and it's a feature
7021 rather than a bug. If you don't like it, but would still like to click
7022 on the seemly icon, use the following code:
7024 (defun toolbar-news ()
7027 It will redefine the callback function of the icon to just call
7028 `gnus', without all the fancy frame stuff.
7034 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q6.3.1, Next: Q6.3.2, Prev: Q6.2.2, Up: Internet
7036 Q6.3.1: Can I edit files on other hosts?
7037 ----------------------------------------
7039 Yes. Of course XEmacs can use any network file system (such as NFS or
7040 Windows file sharing) you have available, and includes some
7041 optimizations and safety features appropriate to those environments.
7043 It is also possible to transparently edit files via FTP, ssh, or
7044 rsh. That is, XEmacs makes a local copy using the transport in the
7045 background, and automatically refreshes the remote original from that
7046 copy when you save it. XEmacs also is capable of doing file system
7047 manipulations like creating and removing directories and files. The
7048 FTP interface is provided by the standard `efs' package *Note EFS:
7049 (efs)Top. The ssh/rsh interface is provided by the optional `tramp'
7050 package *Note TRAMP: (tramp)Top.
7053 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q6.3.2, Next: Q6.4.1, Prev: Q6.3.1, Up: Internet
7055 Q6.3.2: What is EFS?
7056 --------------------
7060 6.4: Web Browsing with W3
7061 =========================
7064 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q6.4.1, Next: Q6.4.2, Prev: Q6.3.2, Up: Internet
7069 W3 is an advanced graphical browser written in Emacs lisp that runs on
7070 XEmacs. It has full support for cascaded style sheets, and more...
7072 It has a home web page at
7073 `http://www.cs.indiana.edu/elisp/w3/docs.html'.
7076 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q6.4.2, Next: Q6.4.3, Prev: Q6.4.1, Up: Internet
7078 Q6.4.2: How do I run W3 from behind a firewall?
7079 -----------------------------------------------
7081 There is a long, well-written, detailed section in the W3 manual that
7082 describes how to do this. Look in the section entitled "Firewalls".
7085 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q6.4.3, Prev: Q6.4.2, Up: Internet
7087 Q6.4.3: Is it true that W3 supports style sheets and tables?
7088 ------------------------------------------------------------
7090 Yes, and much more. W3, as distributed with the latest XEmacs is a
7091 full-featured web browser.
7094 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Advanced, Next: Other Packages, Prev: Internet, Up: Top
7096 7 Advanced Customization Using XEmacs Lisp
7097 ******************************************
7099 This is part 7 of the XEmacs Frequently Asked Questions list. This
7100 section is devoted to advanced customization using XEmacs Lisp.
7104 7.0: Emacs Lisp and `init.el'
7105 * Q7.0.1:: What version of Emacs am I running?
7106 * Q7.0.2:: How can I evaluate Emacs-Lisp expressions?
7107 * Q7.0.3:: `(setq tab-width 6)' behaves oddly.
7108 * Q7.0.4:: How can I add directories to the `load-path'?
7109 * Q7.0.5:: How to check if a lisp function is defined?
7110 * Q7.0.6:: Can I force the output of `(face-list)' to a buffer?
7112 7.1: Emacs Lisp Programming Techniques
7113 * Q7.1.1:: What is the difference in key sequences between XEmacs and GNU Emacs?
7114 * Q7.1.2:: Can I generate "fake" keyboard events?
7115 * Q7.1.3:: Could you explain `read-kbd-macro' in more detail?
7116 * Q7.1.4:: What is the performance hit of `let'?
7117 * Q7.1.5:: What is the recommended use of `setq'?
7118 * Q7.1.6:: What is the typical misuse of `setq'?
7119 * Q7.1.7:: I like the `do' form of cl, does it slow things down?
7120 * Q7.1.8:: I like recursion, does it slow things down?
7121 * Q7.1.9:: How do I put a glyph as annotation in a buffer?
7122 * Q7.1.10:: `map-extents' won't traverse all of my extents!
7123 * Q7.1.11:: My elisp program is horribly slow. Is there an easy way to find out where it spends time?
7126 * Q7.2.1:: What are bignums, ratios, and bigfloats in Lisp?
7127 * Q7.2.2:: XEmacs segfaults when I use very big numbers!
7128 * Q7.2.3:: Bignums are really slow!
7129 * Q7.2.4:: Equal bignums don't compare as equal! What gives?
7131 7.0: Emacs Lisp and `init.el'
7132 =============================
7135 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q7.0.1, Next: Q7.0.2, Prev: Advanced, Up: Advanced
7137 Q7.0.1: What version of Emacs am I running?
7138 -------------------------------------------
7140 How can `init.el' determine which of the family of Emacsen I am using?
7142 To determine if you are currently running GNU Emacs 18, GNU Emacs 19,
7143 XEmacs 19, XEmacs 20, or Epoch, and use appropriate code, check out the
7144 example given in `etc/sample.init.el' (`etc/sample.emacs' in XEmacs
7145 versions prior to 21.4). There are other nifty things in there as well!
7147 For all new code, all you really need to do is:
7149 (defvar running-xemacs (string-match "XEmacs\\|Lucid" emacs-version))
7152 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q7.0.2, Next: Q7.0.3, Prev: Q7.0.1, Up: Advanced
7154 Q7.0.2: How can I evaluate Emacs-Lisp expressions?
7155 --------------------------------------------------
7157 I know I can evaluate Elisp expressions from `*scratch*' buffer with
7158 `C-j' after the expression. How do I do it from another buffer?
7160 Press `M-:' (the default binding of `eval-expression'), and enter
7161 the expression to the minibuffer.
7164 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q7.0.3, Next: Q7.0.4, Prev: Q7.0.2, Up: Advanced
7166 Q7.0.3: `(setq tab-width 6)' behaves oddly.
7167 -------------------------------------------
7169 If you put `(setq tab-width 6)' in your `init.el' file it does not
7170 work! Is there a reason for this? If you do it at the EVAL prompt it
7171 works fine!! How strange.
7173 Use `setq-default' instead, since `tab-width' is all-buffer-local.
7176 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q7.0.4, Next: Q7.0.5, Prev: Q7.0.3, Up: Advanced
7178 Q7.0.4: How can I add directories to the `load-path'?
7179 -----------------------------------------------------
7181 Here are two ways to do that, one that puts your directories at the
7182 front of the load-path, the other at the end:
7184 ;;; Add things at the beginning of the load-path, do not add
7185 ;;; duplicate directories:
7186 (pushnew "bar" load-path :test 'equal)
7188 (pushnew "foo" load-path :test 'equal)
7190 ;;; Add things at the end, unconditionally
7191 (setq load-path (nconc load-path '("foo" "bar")))
7193 keith (k.p.) hanlan <keithh@nortel.ca> writes:
7195 To add directories using Unix shell metacharacters use
7196 `expand-file-name' like this:
7198 (push (expand-file-name "~keithh/.emacsdir") load-path)
7201 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q7.0.5, Next: Q7.0.6, Prev: Q7.0.4, Up: Advanced
7203 Q7.0.5: How to check if a lisp function is defined?
7204 ---------------------------------------------------
7206 Use the following elisp:
7210 It's almost always a mistake to test `emacs-version' or any similar
7213 Instead, use feature-tests, such as `featurep', `boundp', `fboundp',
7214 or even simple behavioral tests, eg.:
7216 (defvar foo-old-losing-code-p
7217 (condition-case nil (progn (losing-code t) nil)
7218 (wrong-number-of-arguments t)))
7220 There is an incredible amount of broken code out there which could
7221 work much better more often in more places if it did the above instead
7222 of trying to divine its environment from the value of one variable.
7225 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q7.0.6, Next: Q7.1.1, Prev: Q7.0.5, Up: Advanced
7227 Q7.0.6: Can I force the output of `(face-list)' to a buffer?
7228 ------------------------------------------------------------
7230 It would be good having it in a buffer, as the output of `(face-list)'
7231 is too wide to fit to a minibuffer.
7233 Evaluate the expression in the `*scratch*' buffer with point after
7234 the rightmost paren and typing `C-j'.
7236 If the minibuffer smallness is the only problem you encounter, you
7237 can simply press `C-h l' to get the former minibuffer contents in a
7240 7.1: Emacs Lisp Programming Techniques
7241 ======================================
7244 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q7.1.1, Next: Q7.1.2, Prev: Q7.0.6, Up: Advanced
7246 Q7.1.1: What is the difference in key sequences between XEmacs and GNU Emacs?
7247 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
7249 Erik Naggum <clerik@naggum.no> writes;
7251 Emacs has a legacy of keyboards that produced characters with
7252 modifier bits, and therefore map a variety of input systems into
7253 this scheme even today. XEmacs is instead optimized for X events.
7254 This causes an incompatibility in the way key sequences are
7255 specified, but both Emacs and XEmacs will accept a key sequence as
7256 a vector of lists of modifiers that ends with a key, e.g., to bind
7257 `M-C-a', you would say `[(meta control a)]' in both Emacsen.
7258 XEmacs has an abbreviated form for a single key, just (meta
7259 control a). Emacs has an abbreviated form for the Control and the
7260 Meta modifiers to string-characters (the ASCII characters), as in
7261 `\M-\C-a'. XEmacs users need to be aware that the abbreviated
7262 form works only for one-character key sequences, while Emacs users
7263 need to be aware that the string-character is rather limited.
7264 Specifically, the string-character can accommodate only 256
7265 different values, 128 of which have the Meta modifier and 128 of
7266 which have not. In each of these blocks, only 32 characters have
7267 the Control modifier. Whereas `[(meta control A)]' differs from
7268 `[(meta control a)]' because the case differs, `\M-\C-a' and
7269 `\M-\C-A' do not. Programmers are advised to use the full common
7270 form, both because it is more readable and less error-prone, and
7271 because it is supported by both Emacsen.
7273 Another (even safer) way to be sure of the key-sequences is to use
7274 the `read-kbd-macro' function, which takes a string like `C-c <up>',
7275 and converts it to the internal key representation of the Emacs you
7276 use. The function is available both on XEmacs and GNU Emacs.
7279 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q7.1.2, Next: Q7.1.3, Prev: Q7.1.1, Up: Advanced
7281 Q7.1.2: Can I generate "fake" keyboard events?
7282 ----------------------------------------------
7284 I wonder if there is an interactive function that can generate "fake"
7285 keyboard events. This way, I could simply map them inside XEmacs.
7289 (defun cg--generate-char-event (ch)
7290 "Generate an event, as if ch has been typed"
7291 (dispatch-event (character-to-event ch)))
7293 ;; Backspace and Delete stuff
7294 (global-set-key [backspace]
7295 (lambda () (interactive) (cg--generate-char-event 127)))
7296 (global-set-key [unknown_keysym_0x4]
7297 (lambda () (interactive) (cg--generate-char-event 4)))
7300 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q7.1.3, Next: Q7.1.4, Prev: Q7.1.2, Up: Advanced
7302 Q7.1.3: Could you explain `read-kbd-macro' in more detail?
7303 ----------------------------------------------------------
7305 The `read-kbd-macro' function returns the internal Emacs representation
7306 of a human-readable string (which is its argument). Thus:
7308 (read-kbd-macro "C-c C-a")
7309 => [(control ?c) (control ?a)]
7311 (read-kbd-macro "C-c C-. <up>")
7312 => [(control ?c) (control ?.) up]
7314 In GNU Emacs the same forms will be evaluated to what GNU Emacs
7315 understands internally--the sequences `"\C-x\C-c"' and `[3 67108910
7318 The exact "human-readable" syntax is defined in the docstring of
7319 `edmacro-mode'. I'll repeat it here, for completeness.
7321 Format of keyboard macros during editing:
7323 Text is divided into "words" separated by whitespace. Except for
7324 the words described below, the characters of each word go directly
7325 as characters of the macro. The whitespace that separates words is
7326 ignored. Whitespace in the macro must be written explicitly, as in
7327 `foo <SPC> bar <RET>'.
7329 * The special words `RET', `SPC', `TAB', `DEL', `LFD', `ESC',
7330 and `NUL' represent special control characters. The words
7331 must be written in uppercase.
7333 * A word in angle brackets, e.g., `<return>', `<down>', or
7334 `<f1>', represents a function key. (Note that in the standard
7335 configuration, the function key `<return>' and the control key
7336 <RET> are synonymous.) You can use angle brackets on the
7337 words <RET>, <SPC>, etc., but they are not required there.
7339 * Keys can be written by their ASCII code, using a backslash
7340 followed by up to six octal digits. This is the only way to
7341 represent keys with codes above \377.
7343 * One or more prefixes `M-' (meta), `C-' (control), `S-'
7344 (shift), `A-' (alt), `H-' (hyper), and `s-' (super) may
7345 precede a character or key notation. For function keys, the
7346 prefixes may go inside or outside of the brackets: `C-<down>'
7347 == `<C-down>'. The prefixes may be written in any order:
7350 Prefixes are not allowed on multi-key words, e.g., `C-abc',
7351 except that the Meta prefix is allowed on a sequence of
7352 digits and optional minus sign: `M--123' == `M-- M-1 M-2 M-3'.
7354 * The `^' notation for control characters also works: `^M' ==
7357 * Double angle brackets enclose command names: `<<next-line>>'
7358 is shorthand for `M-x next-line <RET>'.
7360 * Finally, `REM' or `;;' causes the rest of the line to be
7361 ignored as a comment.
7363 Any word may be prefixed by a multiplier in the form of a decimal
7364 number and `*': `3*<right>' == `<right> <right> <right>', and
7365 `10*foo' == `foofoofoofoofoofoofoofoofoofoo'.
7367 Multiple text keys can normally be strung together to form a word,
7368 but you may need to add whitespace if the word would look like one
7369 of the above notations: `; ; ;' is a keyboard macro with three
7370 semicolons, but `;;;' is a comment. Likewise, `\ 1 2 3' is four
7371 keys but `\123' is a single key written in octal, and `< right >'
7372 is seven keys but `<right>' is a single function key. When in
7373 doubt, use whitespace.
7376 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q7.1.4, Next: Q7.1.5, Prev: Q7.1.3, Up: Advanced
7378 Q7.1.4: What is the performance hit of `let'?
7379 ---------------------------------------------
7381 In most cases, not noticeable. Besides, there's no avoiding `let'--you
7382 have to bind your local variables, after all. Some pose a question
7383 whether to nest `let's, or use one `let' per function. I think because
7384 of clarity and maintenance (and possible future implementation),
7385 `let'-s should be used (nested) in a way to provide the clearest code.
7388 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q7.1.5, Next: Q7.1.6, Prev: Q7.1.4, Up: Advanced
7390 Q7.1.5: What is the recommended use of `setq'?
7391 ----------------------------------------------
7395 You will typically `defvar' your global variable to a default
7396 value, and use `setq' to set it later.
7398 It is never a good practice to `setq' user variables (like
7399 `case-fold-search', etc.), as it ignores the user's choice
7400 unconditionally. Note that `defvar' doesn't change the value of a
7401 variable if it was bound previously. If you wish to change a
7402 user-variable temporarily, use `let':
7404 (let ((case-fold-search nil))
7405 ... ; code with searches that must be case-sensitive
7408 You will notice the user-variables by their docstrings beginning
7409 with an asterisk (a convention).
7413 Bind them with `let', which will unbind them (or restore their
7414 previous value, if they were bound) after exiting from the `let'
7415 form. Change the value of local variables with `setq' or whatever
7416 you like (e.g. `incf', `setf' and such). The `let' form can even
7417 return one of its local variables.
7421 ;; iterate through the elements of the list returned by
7422 ;; `hairy-function-that-returns-list'
7423 (let ((l (hairy-function-that-returns-list)))
7425 ... do something with (car l) ...
7428 Another typical usage includes building a value simply to work
7431 ;; Build the mode keymap out of the key-translation-alist
7432 (let ((inbox (file-truename (expand-file-name box)))
7434 ... code dealing with inbox ...
7437 This piece of code uses the local variable `inbox', which becomes
7438 unbound (or regains old value) after exiting the form. The form
7439 also returns the value of `inbox', which can be reused, for
7442 (setq foo-processed-inbox
7446 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q7.1.6, Next: Q7.1.7, Prev: Q7.1.5, Up: Advanced
7448 Q7.1.6: What is the typical misuse of `setq'?
7449 ---------------------------------------------
7451 A typical misuse is probably `setq'ing a variable that was meant to be
7452 local. Such a variable will remain bound forever, never to be
7453 garbage-collected. For example, the code doing:
7455 (defun my-function (whatever)
7457 ... build a large list ...
7460 does a bad thing, as `a' will keep consuming memory, never to be
7461 unbound. The correct thing is to do it like this:
7463 (defun my-function (whatever)
7464 (let (a) ; default initialization is to nil
7465 ... build a large list ...
7466 ... and exit, unbinding `a' in the process ...)
7468 Not only is this prettier syntactically, but it makes it possible for
7469 Emacs to garbage-collect the objects which `a' used to reference.
7471 Note that even global variables should not be `setq'ed without
7472 `defvar'ing them first, because the byte-compiler issues warnings. The
7473 reason for the warning is the following:
7475 (defun flurgoze nil) ; ok, global internal variable
7478 (setq flurghoze t) ; ops! a typo, but semantically correct.
7479 ; however, the byte-compiler warns.
7481 While compiling toplevel forms:
7482 ** assignment to free variable flurghoze
7485 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q7.1.7, Next: Q7.1.8, Prev: Q7.1.6, Up: Advanced
7487 Q7.1.7: I like the `do' form of cl, does it slow things down?
7488 -------------------------------------------------------------
7490 It shouldn't. Here is what Dave Gillespie has to say about cl.el
7493 Many of the advanced features of this package, such as `defun*',
7494 `loop', and `setf', are implemented as Lisp macros. In
7495 byte-compiled code, these complex notations will be expanded into
7496 equivalent Lisp code which is simple and efficient. For example,
7502 are expanded at compile-time to the Lisp forms
7505 (setcar p (cons x (car p)))
7507 which are the most efficient ways of doing these respective
7508 operations in Lisp. Thus, there is no performance penalty for
7509 using the more readable `incf' and `push' forms in your compiled
7512 _Interpreted_ code, on the other hand, must expand these macros
7513 every time they are executed. For this reason it is strongly
7514 recommended that code making heavy use of macros be compiled. (The
7515 features labelled "Special Form" instead of "Function" in this
7516 manual are macros.) A loop using `incf' a hundred times will
7517 execute considerably faster if compiled, and will also
7518 garbage-collect less because the macro expansion will not have to
7519 be generated, used, and thrown away a hundred times.
7521 You can find out how a macro expands by using the `cl-prettyexpand'
7525 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q7.1.8, Next: Q7.1.9, Prev: Q7.1.7, Up: Advanced
7527 Q7.1.8: I like recursion, does it slow things down?
7528 ---------------------------------------------------
7530 Yes. The Emacs byte-compiler cannot do much to optimize recursion. But
7531 think well whether this is a real concern in Emacs. Much of the Emacs
7532 slowness comes from internal mechanisms such as redisplay, or from the
7533 fact that it is an interpreter.
7535 Please try not to make your code much uglier to gain a very small
7536 speed gain. It's not usually worth it.
7539 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q7.1.9, Next: Q7.1.10, Prev: Q7.1.8, Up: Advanced
7541 Q7.1.9: How do I put a glyph as annotation in a buffer?
7542 -------------------------------------------------------
7544 Here is a solution that will insert the glyph annotation at the
7545 beginning of buffer:
7547 (make-annotation (make-glyph '([FORMAT :file FILE]
7548 [string :data "fallback-text"]))
7553 Replace `FORMAT' with an unquoted symbol representing the format of
7554 the image (e.g. `xpm', `xbm', `gif', `jpeg', etc.) Instead of `FILE',
7555 use the image file name (e.g.
7556 `/usr/local/lib/xemacs-21.4/etc/recycle.xpm').
7558 You can turn this to a function (that optionally prompts you for a
7559 file name), and inserts the glyph at `(point)' instead of `(point-min)'.
7562 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q7.1.10, Next: Q7.1.11, Prev: Q7.1.9, Up: Advanced
7564 Q7.1.10: `map-extents' won't traverse all of my extents!
7565 --------------------------------------------------------
7567 I tried to use `map-extents' to do an operation on all the extents in a
7568 region. However, it seems to quit after processing a random number of
7569 extents. Is it buggy?
7571 No. The documentation of `map-extents' states that it will iterate
7572 across the extents as long as FUNCTION returns `nil'. Unexperienced
7573 programmers often forget to return `nil' explicitly, which results in
7574 buggy code. For instance, the following code is supposed to delete all
7575 the extents in a buffer, and issue as many `fubar!' messages.
7577 (map-extents (lambda (ext ignore)
7579 (message "fubar!")))
7581 Instead, it will delete only the first extent, and stop right there -
7582 because `message' will return a non-nil value. The correct code is:
7584 (map-extents (lambda (ext ignore)
7590 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q7.1.11, Next: Q7.2.1, Prev: Q7.1.10, Up: Advanced
7592 Q7.1.11: My elisp program is horribly slow. Is there an easy way to find out where it spends time?
7593 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7595 Hrvoje Niksic <hniksic@xemacs.org> writes:
7597 Under XEmacs 20.4 and later you can use `M-x profile-key-sequence',
7598 press a key (say <RET> in the Gnus Group buffer), and get the
7599 results using `M-x profile-results'. It should give you an idea of
7600 where the time is being spent.
7606 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q7.2.1, Next: Q7.2.2, Prev: Q7.1.11, Up: Advanced
7608 Q7.2.1: What are bignums, ratios, and bigfloats in Lisp?
7609 --------------------------------------------------------
7611 Thanks to Jerry James <james@xemacs.org>, XEmacs 21.5.18 and later can
7612 use the capabilities of multiple-precision libraries that may be
7613 available for your platform. The GNU Multiple Precision (GMP) and BSD
7614 Multiple Precision (MP) libraries are partially supported. GMP gives
7615 you "bignums" (arbitrary precision integers), "ratios" (arbitrary
7616 precision fractions), and "bigfloats" (arbitrary precision floating
7617 point numbers). GNU MP is better-supported by XEmacs at the time of
7618 writing (2004-04-06). BSD MP support does not include ratios or
7619 bigfloats, and it throws errors that aren't understood.
7621 In most cases, bignum support should be transparent to users and Lisp
7622 programmers. A bignum-enabled XEmacs will automatically convert from
7623 fixnums to bignums and back in pure integer arithmetic, and for GNU MP,
7624 from floats to bigfloats. (Bigfloats must be explicitly coerced to
7625 other types, even if they are exactly representable by less precise
7626 types.) The Lisp reader and printer have been enhanced to handle
7627 bignums, as have the mathematical functions. Rationals (fixnums,
7628 bignums, and ratios) are printed using the `%d', `%o', `%x', and `%u'
7629 format conversions. The read syntax for ratios is `3/5'.
7631 User-visible changes in behavior include (in probable order of
7634 * Arithmetic can cause a segfault, depending on your MP library
7635 *Note XEmacs segfaults when I use very big numbers!: Q7.2.2.
7637 * Terminology is not Common-Lisp-conforming. For example, "integer"
7638 for Emacs Lisp means what Common Lisp calls "fixnum". This issue
7639 is being investigated, but the use of "integer" for fixnum is
7640 pervasive and may cause backward-compatibility and
7641 GNU-Emacs-compatibility problems.
7643 * Many operations that used to cause a range error now succeed, with
7644 intermediate results and return values coerced to bignums as
7647 * An atom with ratio read syntax now returns a number, not a symbol.
7649 * The `%u' format conversion will now give an error if its argument
7650 is negative. (Without MP, it prints a number which Lisp can't
7653 _Surgeon General's Warning_: The automatic conversions cannot be
7654 disabled at runtime. New functions have been added which produce
7655 ratios, so there should be few surprises with type conflicts, but they
7656 can't be ruled out. "Arbitrary" precision means precisely what it
7657 says. If you work with extremely large numbers, your machine may
7658 arbitrarily decide to hand you an unpleasant surprise rather than a
7659 bignum *Note XEmacs segfaults when I use very big numbers!: Q7.2.2.
7661 To configure with GNU MP, add `--use-number-lib=gmp'
7662 (`--enable-bignum=gmp' in 21.5 or later) to your invocation of
7663 `configure'. For BSD MP, use `--use-number-lib=mp'
7664 (`--enable-bignum=mp' for 21.5).
7666 If you would like to help with bignum support, especially on BSD MP,
7667 please subscribe to the XEmacs Beta mailing list
7668 (http://www.xemacs.org/Lists/#xemacs-beta), and book up on
7669 `number-gmp.h' and `number-mp.h'. Jerry has promised to write
7670 internals documentation eventually, but if your skills run more to
7671 analysis and documentation than to writing new code, feel free to fill