1 \input texinfo.tex @c -*- mode: texinfo; coding: iso-2022-8 -*-
3 @setfilename ../info/xemacs-faq.info
4 @settitle Frequently asked questions about XEmacs
10 @subtitle Frequently asked questions about XEmacs @* Last Modified: $Date: 2000/11/02 21:51:16 $
12 @author Tony Rossini <rossini@@biostat.washington.edu>
13 @author Ben Wing <ben@@xemacs.org>
14 @author Chuck Thompson <cthomp@@xemacs.org>
15 @author Steve Baur <steve@@xemacs.org>
16 @author Andreas Kaempf <andreas@@sccon.com>
17 @author Christian Nyb@o{} <chr@@mediascience.no>
18 @author Sandra Wambold <wambold@@xemacs.org>
23 @dircategory XEmacs Editor
25 * FAQ: (xemacs-faq). XEmacs FAQ.
29 @node Top, Introduction, (dir), (dir)
31 @unnumbered Introduction
33 This is the guide to the XEmacs Frequently Asked Questions list---a
34 compendium of questions and answers pertaining to one of the finest
35 programs ever written. XEmacs is much more than just a Text Editor.
37 This FAQ is freely redistributable. This FAQ is distributed in the hope
38 that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the
39 implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
41 If you have a Web browser, the official hypertext version is at
45 @uref{http://www.xemacs.org/faq/xemacs-faq.html}
49 This document is available in several different formats:
52 @uref{xemacs-faq.txt, As a single ASCII file}, produced by
53 @code{makeinfo --no-headers}
55 @uref{xemacs-faq.dvi, As a .dvi file}, as used with
56 @uref{http://www.tug.org, TeX.}
58 As a PostScript file @uref{xemacs-faq-a4.ps, in A4 format},
59 as well as in @uref{xemacs-faq-letter.ps, letter format}
61 In html format, @uref{xemacs-faq_1.html, split by chapter}, or in
62 @uref{xemacs-faq.html, one monolithic} document.
64 The canonical version of the FAQ is the texinfo document
65 @uref{xemacs-faq.texi, man/xemacs-faq.texi}.
67 If you do not have makeinfo installed, you may @uref{xemacs-faq.info,
68 download the faq} in info format, and install it in @file{<XEmacs
69 library directory>/info/}. For example in
70 @file{/usr/local/lib/xemacs-20.4/info/}.
78 @c end ifset points to CANONICAL
81 * Introduction:: Introduction, Policy, Credits.
82 * Installation:: Installation and Trouble Shooting.
83 * Customization:: Customization and Options.
84 * Subsystems:: Major Subsystems.
85 * Miscellaneous:: The Miscellaneous Stuff.
86 * MS Windows:: XEmacs on Microsoft Windows.
87 * Current Events:: What the Future Holds.
91 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
93 Introduction, Policy, Credits
95 * Q1.0.1:: What is XEmacs?
96 * Q1.0.2:: What is the current version of XEmacs?
97 * Q1.0.3:: Where can I find it?
98 * Q1.0.4:: Why Another Version of Emacs?
99 * Q1.0.5:: Why Haven't XEmacs and GNU Emacs Merged?
100 * Q1.0.6:: Where can I get help?
101 * Q1.0.7:: Where are the mailing lists archived?
102 * Q1.0.8:: How do you pronounce XEmacs?
103 * Q1.0.9:: What does XEmacs look like?
104 * Q1.0.10:: Is there a port of XEmacs to Microsoft ('95 or NT)?
105 * Q1.0.11:: Is there a port of XEmacs to the Macintosh?
106 * Q1.0.12:: Is there a port of XEmacs to NextStep?
107 * Q1.0.13:: Is there a port of XEmacs to OS/2?
108 * Q1.0.14:: Where can I get a printed copy of the XEmacs users manual?
111 * Q1.1.1:: What is the FAQ editorial policy?
112 * Q1.1.2:: How do I become a Beta Tester?
113 * Q1.1.3:: How do I contribute to XEmacs itself?
116 * Q1.2.1:: Who wrote XEmacs?
117 * Q1.2.2:: Who contributed to this version of the FAQ?
118 * Q1.2.3:: Who contributed to the FAQ in the past?
120 Internationalization:
121 * Q1.3.1:: What is the status of internationalization support aka MULE (including Asian language support?
122 * Q1.3.2:: How can I help with internationalization?
123 * Q1.3.3:: How do I type non-ASCII characters?
124 * Q1.3.4:: Can XEmacs messages come out in a different language?
125 * Q1.3.5:: Please explain the various input methods in MULE/XEmacs
126 * Q1.3.6:: How do I portably code for MULE/XEmacs?
127 * Q1.3.7:: How about Cyrillic Modes?
130 * Q1.4.1:: What is a @file{.emacs} and is there a sample one?
131 * Q1.4.2:: Can I use the same @file{.emacs} with the other Emacs?
132 * Q1.4.3:: Any good XEmacs tutorials around?
133 * Q1.4.4:: May I see an example of a useful XEmacs Lisp function?
134 * Q1.4.5:: And how do I bind it to a key?
135 * Q1.4.6:: What's the difference between a macro and a function?
137 Installation and Trouble Shooting
139 * Q2.0.1:: Running XEmacs without installing.
140 * Q2.0.2:: XEmacs is too big.
141 * Q2.0.3:: Compiling XEmacs with Netaudio.
142 * Q2.0.4:: Problems with Linux and ncurses.
143 * Q2.0.5:: Do I need X11 to run XEmacs?
144 * Q2.0.6:: I'm having strange crashes. What do I do?
145 * Q2.0.7:: Libraries in non-standard locations.
146 * Q2.0.8:: can't resolve symbol _h_errno
147 * Q2.0.9:: Where do I find external libraries?
148 * Q2.0.10:: After I run configure I find a coredump, is something wrong?
149 * Q2.0.11:: XEmacs can't resolve host names.
150 * Q2.0.12:: Why can't I strip XEmacs?
151 * Q2.0.13:: I don't need no steenkin' packages. Do I? (NEW)
152 * Q2.0.14:: How do I figure out which packages to install? (NEW)
155 * Q2.1.1:: XEmacs just crashed on me!
156 * Q2.1.2:: Cryptic Minibuffer messages.
157 * Q2.1.3:: Translation Table Syntax messages at Startup.
158 * Q2.1.4:: Startup warnings about deducing proper fonts?
159 * Q2.1.5:: XEmacs cannot connect to my X Terminal.
160 * Q2.1.6:: XEmacs just locked up my Linux X server.
161 * Q2.1.7:: HP Alt key as Meta.
162 * Q2.1.8:: got (wrong-type-argument color-instance-p nil)!
163 * Q2.1.9:: XEmacs causes my OpenWindows 3.0 server to crash.
164 * Q2.1.10:: Warnings from incorrect key modifiers.
165 * Q2.1.11:: Can't instantiate image error... in toolbar
166 * Q2.1.12:: Regular Expression Problems on DEC OSF1.
167 * Q2.1.13:: HP/UX 10.10 and @code{create_process} failure
168 * Q2.1.14:: @kbd{C-g} doesn't work for me. Is it broken?
169 * Q2.1.15:: How to debug an XEmacs problem with a debugger.
170 * Q2.1.16:: XEmacs crashes in @code{strcat} on HP/UX 10.
171 * Q2.1.17:: @samp{Marker does not point anywhere}.
172 * Q2.1.18:: [This question intentionally left blank]
173 * Q2.1.19:: XEmacs does not follow the local timezone.
174 * Q2.1.20:: @samp{Symbol's function definition is void: hkey-help-show.}
175 * Q2.1.21:: [This question intentionally left blank]
176 * Q2.1.22:: XEmacs seems to take a really long time to do some things.
177 * Q2.1.23:: Movemail on Linux does not work for XEmacs 19.15 and later.
178 * Q2.1.24:: XEmacs won't start without network. (NEW)
179 * Q2.1.25:: After upgrading, XEmacs won't do `foo' any more! (NEW)
181 Customization and Options
183 * Q3.0.1:: What version of Emacs am I running?
184 * Q3.0.2:: How do I evaluate Elisp expressions?
185 * Q3.0.3:: @code{(setq tab-width 6)} behaves oddly.
186 * Q3.0.4:: How can I add directories to the @code{load-path}?
187 * Q3.0.5:: How to check if a lisp function is defined?
188 * Q3.0.6:: Can I force the output of @code{(face-list)} to a buffer?
189 * Q3.0.7:: Font selections don't get saved after @code{Save Options}.
190 * Q3.0.8:: How do I make a single minibuffer frame?
191 * Q3.0.9:: What is @code{Customize}?
193 X Window System & Resources:
194 * Q3.1.1:: Where is a list of X resources?
195 * Q3.1.2:: How can I detect a color display?
196 * Q3.1.3:: [This question intentionally left blank]
197 * Q3.1.4:: [This question intentionally left blank]
198 * Q3.1.5:: How can I get the icon to just say @samp{XEmacs}?
199 * Q3.1.6:: How can I have the window title area display the full path?
200 * Q3.1.7:: @samp{xemacs -name junk} doesn't work?
201 * Q3.1.8:: @samp{-iconic} doesn't work.
203 Textual Fonts & Colors:
204 * Q3.2.1:: How can I set color options from @file{.emacs}?
205 * Q3.2.2:: How do I set the text, menu and modeline fonts?
206 * Q3.2.3:: How can I set the colors when highlighting a region?
207 * Q3.2.4:: How can I limit color map usage?
208 * Q3.2.5:: My tty supports color, but XEmacs doesn't use them.
209 * Q3.2.6:: Can I have pixmap backgrounds in XEmacs?
212 * Q3.3.1:: How can I make the modeline go away?
213 * Q3.3.2:: How do you have XEmacs display the line number in the modeline?
214 * Q3.3.3:: How do I get XEmacs to put the time of day on the modeline?
215 * Q3.3.4:: How do I turn off current chapter from AUC TeX modeline?
216 * Q3.3.5:: How can one change the modeline color based on the mode used?
218 Multiple Device Support:
219 * Q3.4.1:: How do I open a frame on another screen of my multi-headed display?
220 * Q3.4.2:: Can I really connect to a running XEmacs after calling up over a modem? How?
223 * Q3.5.1:: How can I bind complex functions (or macros) to keys?
224 * Q3.5.2:: How can I stop down-arrow from adding empty lines to the bottom of my buffers?
225 * Q3.5.3:: How do I bind C-. and C-; to scroll one line up and down?
226 * Q3.5.4:: Globally binding @kbd{Delete}?
227 * Q3.5.5:: Scrolling one line at a time.
228 * Q3.5.6:: How to map @kbd{Help} key alone on Sun type4 keyboard?
229 * Q3.5.7:: How can you type in special characters in XEmacs?
230 * Q3.5.8:: Why does @code{(global-set-key [delete-forward] 'delete-char)} complain?
231 * Q3.5.9:: How do I make the Delete key delete forward?
232 * Q3.5.10:: Can I turn on @dfn{sticky} modifier keys?
233 * Q3.5.11:: How do I map the arrow keys?
236 * Q3.6.1:: Is there a way to make the bar cursor thicker?
237 * Q3.6.2:: Is there a way to get back the old block cursor where the cursor covers the character in front of the point?
238 * Q3.6.3:: Can I make the cursor blink?
240 The Mouse and Highlighting:
241 * Q3.7.1:: How can I turn off Mouse pasting?
242 * Q3.7.2:: How do I set control/meta/etc modifiers on mouse buttons?
243 * Q3.7.3:: Clicking the left button does not do anything in buffer list.
244 * Q3.7.4:: How can I get a list of buffers when I hit mouse button 3?
245 * Q3.7.5:: Why does cut-and-paste not work between XEmacs and a cmdtool?
246 * Q3.7.6:: How I can set XEmacs up so that it pastes where the text cursor is?
247 * Q3.7.7:: How do I select a rectangular region?
248 * Q3.7.8:: Why does @kbd{M-w} take so long?
250 The Menubar and Toolbar:
251 * Q3.8.1:: How do I get rid of the menu (or menubar)?
252 * Q3.8.2:: Can I customize the basic menubar?
253 * Q3.8.3:: How do I control how many buffers are listed in the menu @code{Buffers} list?
254 * Q3.8.4:: Resources like @code{Emacs*menubar*font} are not working?
255 * Q3.8.5:: How can I bind a key to a function to toggle the toolbar?
258 * Q3.9.1:: How can I disable the scrollbar?
259 * Q3.9.2:: How can one use resources to change scrollbar colors?
260 * Q3.9.3:: Moving the scrollbar can move the point; can I disable this?
261 * Q3.9.4:: How can I get automatic horizontal scrolling?
264 * Q3.10.1:: How can I turn off or change highlighted selections?
265 * Q3.10.2:: How do I get that typing on an active region removes it?
266 * Q3.10.3:: Can I turn off the highlight during isearch?
267 * Q3.10.4:: How do I turn off highlighting after @kbd{C-x C-p} (mark-page)?
268 * Q3.10.5:: The region disappears when I hit the end of buffer while scrolling.
272 * Q4.0.1:: How do I set up VM to retrieve remote mail using POP?
273 * Q4.0.2:: How do I get VM to filter mail for me?
274 * Q4.0.3:: How can I get VM to automatically check for new mail?
275 * Q4.0.4:: [This question intentionally left blank]
276 * Q4.0.5:: How do I get my outgoing mail archived?
277 * Q4.0.6:: I have various addresses at which I receive mail. How can I tell VM to ignore them when doing a "reply-all"?
278 * Q4.0.7:: Is there a mailing list or FAQ for VM?
279 * Q4.0.8:: Remote mail reading with VM.
280 * Q4.0.9:: rmail or VM gets an error incorporating new mail.
281 * Q4.0.10:: How do I make VM stay in a single frame?
282 * Q4.0.11:: How do I make VM or mh-e display graphical smilies?
283 * Q4.0.12:: Customization of VM not covered in the manual or here.
285 Web browsing with W3:
286 * Q4.1.1:: What is W3?
287 * Q4.1.2:: How do I run W3 from behind a firewall?
288 * Q4.1.3:: Is it true that W3 supports style sheets and tables?
290 Reading Netnews and Mail with Gnus:
291 * Q4.2.1:: GNUS, (ding) Gnus, Gnus 5, September Gnus, Red Gnus, Quassia Gnus, argh!
292 * Q4.2.2:: [This question intentionally left blank]
293 * Q4.2.3:: How do I make Gnus stay within a single frame?
294 * Q4.2.4:: How do I customize the From: line?
297 * Q4.3.1:: How can I read and/or compose MIME messages?
298 * Q4.3.2:: What is TM and where do I get it?
299 * Q4.3.3:: Why isn't this @code{movemail} program working?
300 * Q4.3.4:: Movemail is also distributed by Netscape? Can that cause problems?
301 * Q4.3.5:: Where do I find pstogif (required by tm)?
303 Sparcworks, EOS, and WorkShop:
304 * Q4.4.1:: What is SPARCworks, EOS, and WorkShop
305 * Q4.4.2:: How do I start the Sun Workshop support in XEmacs 21?
308 * Q4.5.1:: What is/was Energize?
311 * Q4.6.1:: What is Infodock?
313 Other Unbundled Packages:
314 * Q4.7.1:: What is AUC TeX? Where do you get it?
315 * Q4.7.2:: Are there any Emacs Lisp Spreadsheets?
316 * Q4.7.3:: [This question intentionally left blank]
317 * Q4.7.4:: Problems installing AUC TeX
318 * Q4.7.5:: Is there a reason for an Emacs package not to be included in XEmacs?
319 * Q4.7.6:: Is there a MatLab mode?
321 The Miscellaneous Stuff
323 * Q5.0.1:: How can I do source code highlighting using font-lock?
324 * Q5.0.2:: I do not like cc-mode. How do I use the old c-mode?
325 * Q5.0.3:: How do I get @samp{More} Syntax Highlighting on by default?
326 * Q5.0.4:: How can I enable auto-indent?
327 * Q5.0.5:: How can I get XEmacs to come up in text/auto-fill mode by default?
328 * Q5.0.6:: How do I start up a second shell buffer?
329 * Q5.0.7:: Telnet from shell filters too much.
330 * Q5.0.8:: Why does edt emulation not work?
331 * Q5.0.9:: How can I emulate VI and use it as my default mode?
332 * Q5.0.10:: [This question intentionally left blank]
333 * Q5.0.11:: How do I turn on filladapt for all buffers?
334 * Q5.0.12:: How do I disable gnuserv from opening a new frame?
335 * Q5.0.13:: How do I start gnuserv so that each subsequent XEmacs is a client?
336 * Q5.0.14:: Strange things are happening in Shell Mode.
337 * Q5.0.15:: Where do I get the latest CC Mode?
338 * Q5.0.16:: I find auto-show-mode disconcerting. How do I turn it off?
339 * Q5.0.17:: How can I get two instances of info?
340 * Q5.0.18:: [This question intentionally left blank]
341 * Q5.0.19:: Is there something better than LaTeX mode?
342 * Q5.0.20:: Is there a way to start a new XEmacs if there's no gnuserv running, and otherwise use gnuclient?
344 Emacs Lisp Programming Techniques:
345 * Q5.1.1:: The difference in key sequences between XEmacs and GNU Emacs?
346 * Q5.1.2:: Can I generate "fake" keyboard events?
347 * Q5.1.3:: Could you explain @code{read-kbd-macro} in more detail?
348 * Q5.1.4:: What is the performance hit of @code{let}?
349 * Q5.1.5:: What is the recommended use of @code{setq}?
350 * Q5.1.6:: What is the typical misuse of @code{setq} ?
351 * Q5.1.7:: I like the @code{do} form of cl, does it slow things down?
352 * Q5.1.8:: I like recursion, does it slow things down?
353 * Q5.1.9:: How do I put a glyph as annotation in a buffer?
354 * Q5.1.10:: @code{map-extents} won't traverse all of my extents!
355 * Q5.1.11:: My elisp program is horribly slow. Is there an easy way to find out where it spends time?
358 * Q5.2.1:: How do I turn off the sound?
359 * Q5.2.2:: How do I get funky sounds instead of a boring beep?
360 * Q5.2.3:: What's NAS, how do I get it?
361 * Q5.2.4:: Sunsite sounds don't play.
364 * Q5.3.1:: How do you make XEmacs indent CL if-clauses correctly?
365 * Q5.3.2:: Fontifying hangs when editing a postscript file.
366 * Q5.3.3:: How can I print WYSIWYG a font-locked buffer?
367 * Q5.3.4:: Getting @kbd{M-x lpr} to work with postscript printer.
368 * Q5.3.5:: How do I specify the paths that XEmacs uses for finding files?
369 * Q5.3.6:: [This question intentionally left blank]
370 * Q5.3.7:: Can I have the end of the buffer delimited in some way?
371 * Q5.3.8:: How do I insert today's date into a buffer?
372 * Q5.3.9:: Are only certain syntactic character classes available for abbrevs?
373 * Q5.3.10:: How can I get those oh-so-neat X-Face lines?
374 * Q5.3.11:: How do I add new Info directories?
375 * Q5.3.12:: What do I need to change to make printing work?
380 * Q6.0.1:: What is the status of the XEmacs port to Windows?
381 * Q6.0.2:: What flavors of MS Windows are supported?
382 * Q6.0.3:: Are binary kits available?
383 * Q6.0.4:: Does XEmacs on MS Windows require an X server to run?
385 Building XEmacs on MS Windows:
386 * Q6.1.1:: I decided to run with X. Where do I get an X server?
387 * Q6.1.2:: What compiler do I need to compile XEmacs?
388 * Q6.1.3:: How do I compile for the native port?
389 * Q6.1.4:: How do I compile for the X port?
390 * Q6.1.5:: How do I compile for Cygnus' Cygwin?
391 * Q6.1.6:: What do I need for Cygwin?
393 Customization and User Interface:
394 * Q6.2.1:: How will the port cope with differences in the Windows user interface?
395 * Q6.2.2:: How do I change fonts in XEmacs on MS Windows?
396 * Q6.2.3:: Where do I put my @file{.emacs} file?
399 * Q6.3.1:: Will XEmacs rename all the win32-* symbols to w32-*?
400 * Q6.3.2:: What are the differences between the various MS Windows emacsen?
401 * Q6.3.3:: What is the porting team doing at the moment?
404 * Q6.4.1:: XEmacs won't start on Windows. (NEW)
408 * Q7.0.1:: What is new in 20.2?
409 * Q7.0.2:: What is new in 20.3?
410 * Q7.0.3:: What is new in 20.4?
411 * Q7.0.4:: Procedural changes in XEmacs development.
415 @node Introduction, Installation, Top, Top
416 @unnumbered 1 Introduction, Policy, Credits
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 @email{rossini@@biostat.washington.edu,
426 Anthony Rossini}, who started it, after getting tired of hearing JWZ
427 complain about repeatedly having to answer questions.
428 @email{ben@@xemacs.org, Ben Wing} and @email{cthomp@@xemacs.org, Chuck
429 Thompson}, the principal authors of XEmacs, then took over and Ben did
430 a massive update reorganizing the whole thing. At which point Anthony
431 took back over, but then had to give it up again. Some of the other
432 contributors to this FAQ are listed later in this document.
434 The previous version was converted to hypertext format, and edited by
435 @email{steve@@xemacs.org, Steven L. Baur}. It was converted back to
436 texinfo by @email{hniksic@@xemacs.org, Hrvoje Niksic}. The FAQ was then
437 maintained by @email{andreas@@sccon.com, Andreas Kaempf}, who passed it
438 on to ChristianNyb@o{}.
440 If you notice any errors or items which should be added or amended to
441 this FAQ please send email to @email{faq@@xemacs.org, Sandra
442 Wambold}. Include @samp{XEmacs FAQ} on the Subject: line.
446 * Q1.0.1:: What is XEmacs?
447 * Q1.0.2:: What is the current version of XEmacs?
448 * Q1.0.3:: Where can I find it?
449 * Q1.0.4:: Why Another Version of Emacs?
450 * Q1.0.5:: Why Haven't XEmacs and GNU Emacs Merged?
451 * Q1.0.6:: Where can I get help?
452 * Q1.0.7:: Where are the mailing lists archived?
453 * Q1.0.8:: How do you pronounce XEmacs?
454 * Q1.0.9:: What does XEmacs look like?
455 * Q1.0.10:: Is there a port of XEmacs to Microsoft ('95 or NT)?
456 * Q1.0.11:: Is there a port of XEmacs to the Macintosh?
457 * Q1.0.12:: Is there a port of XEmacs to NextStep?
458 * Q1.0.13:: Is there a port of XEmacs to OS/2?
459 * Q1.0.14:: Where can I get a printed copy of the XEmacs users manual?
462 * Q1.1.1:: What is the FAQ editorial policy?
463 * Q1.1.2:: How do I become a Beta Tester?
464 * Q1.1.3:: How do I contribute to XEmacs itself?
467 * Q1.2.1:: Who wrote XEmacs?
468 * Q1.2.2:: Who contributed to this version of the FAQ?
469 * Q1.2.3:: Who contributed to the FAQ in the past?
471 Internationalization:
472 * Q1.3.1:: What is the status of internationalization support aka MULE (including Asian language support?
473 * Q1.3.2:: How can I help with internationalization?
474 * Q1.3.3:: How do I type non-ASCII characters?
475 * Q1.3.4:: Can XEmacs messages come out in a different language?
476 * Q1.3.5:: Please explain the various input methods in MULE/XEmacs
477 * Q1.3.6:: How do I portably code for MULE/XEmacs?
478 * Q1.3.7:: How about Cyrillic Modes?
481 * Q1.4.1:: What is a @file{.emacs} and is there a sample one?
482 * Q1.4.2:: Can I use the same @file{.emacs} with the other Emacs?
483 * Q1.4.3:: Any good XEmacs tutorials around?
484 * Q1.4.4:: May I see an example of a useful XEmacs Lisp function?
485 * Q1.4.5:: And how do I bind it to a key?
486 * Q1.4.6:: What's the difference between a macro and a function?
489 @node Q1.0.1, Q1.0.2, Introduction, Introduction
490 @unnumberedsec 1.0: Introduction
491 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.0.1: What is XEmacs?
494 An alternative to GNU Emacs, originally based on an early alpha version
495 of FSF's version 19, and has diverged quite a bit since then. XEmacs
496 was known as Lucid Emacs through version 19.10. Almost all features of
497 GNU Emacs are supported in XEmacs. The maintainers of XEmacs actively
498 track changes to GNU Emacs while also working to add new features.
500 @node Q1.0.2, Q1.0.3, Q1.0.1, Introduction
501 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.0.2: What is the current version of XEmacs?
503 XEmacs versions 21.1.* are releases made from the current stable
504 sources. XEmacs versions 21.2.* are releases made from the development
505 sources. Check at @uref{http://www.xemacs.org} for the current minor
508 XEmacs 19.16 was the last release of v19, released in November, 1997,
509 which was also the last version without international language support.
511 @node Q1.0.3, Q1.0.4, Q1.0.2, Introduction
512 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.0.3: Where can I find it?
514 The canonical source and binaries can be found via anonymous FTP at:
517 @uref{ftp://ftp.xemacs.org/pub/xemacs/}
520 @node Q1.0.4, Q1.0.5, Q1.0.3, Introduction
521 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.0.4: Why Another Version of Emacs?
523 For a detailed description of the differences between GNU Emacs and
524 XEmacs and a detailed history of XEmacs, check out the
526 @uref{http://www.xemacs.org/About/XEmacsVsGNUemacs.html, NEWS file}
529 However, here is a list of some of the reasons why we think you might
537 The XEmacs maintainers are generally more receptive to suggestions than
538 the GNU Emacs maintainers.
541 Many more bundled packages than GNU Emacs
544 Binaries are available for many common operating systems.
547 Face support on TTY's.
553 Better Motif compliance.
556 Some internationalization support (including full MULE support, if
560 Variable-width fonts.
563 Variable-height lines.
566 Marginal annotations.
572 XEmacs can be used as an Xt widget, and can be embedded within another
576 Horizontal and vertical scrollbars (using real toolkit scrollbars).
579 Better APIs (and performance) for attaching fonts, colors, and other
583 The ability to embed arbitrary graphics in a buffer.
586 Completely compatible (at the C level) with the Xt-based toolkits.
589 First production Web Browser supporting Style Sheets.
592 @node Q1.0.5, Q1.0.6, Q1.0.4, Introduction
593 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.0.5: Why Haven't XEmacs and GNU Emacs Merged?
595 There are currently irreconcilable differences in the views about
596 technical, programming, design and organizational matters between RMS
597 and the XEmacs development team which provide little hope for a merge to
598 take place in the short-term future.
600 If you have a comment to add regarding the merge, it is a good idea to
601 avoid posting to the newsgroups, because of the very heated flamewars
602 that often result. Mail your questions to @email{xemacs-beta@@xemacs.org} and
603 @email{bug-gnu-emacs@@prep.ai.mit.edu}.
605 @node Q1.0.6, Q1.0.7, Q1.0.5, Introduction
606 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.0.6: Where can I get help?
608 Probably the easiest way, if everything is installed, is to use Info, by
609 pressing @kbd{C-h i}, or selecting @code{Manuals->Info} from the
610 Help Menu. @kbd{M-x apropos} can be used to look for particular commands.
612 For items not found in the manual, try reading this FAQ
613 @comment , examining the regular GNU Emacs FAQ (which can be
614 @comment found with the Emacs 19 distribution) as well as at
615 @comment @uref{http://www.eecs.nwu.edu/emacs/faq/}
616 and reading the Usenet group comp.emacs.xemacs.
618 If you choose to post to a newsgroup, @strong{please use
619 comp.emacs.xemacs}. Please do not post XEmacs related questions to
622 If you cannot post or read Usenet news, there is a corresponding mailing
623 list which is available. It can be subscribed to by sending a message
624 to @email{xemacs-request@@xemacs.org} with @samp{subscribe} in the
625 body of the message. Send to the list at @email{xemacs@@xemacs.org}.
626 list. To cancel a subscription, you @strong{must} use the
627 xemacs-request address. Send a message with a subject of
628 @samp{unsubscribe} to be removed.
630 @node Q1.0.7, Q1.0.8, Q1.0.6, Introduction
631 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.0.7: Where are the mailing lists archived?
633 The archives can be found at @uref{http://www.xemacs.org/Lists/Archive}
635 @node Q1.0.8, Q1.0.9, Q1.0.7, Introduction
636 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.0.8: How do you pronounce XEmacs?
638 The most common pronounciation is @samp{Eks eemax}.
640 @node Q1.0.9, Q1.0.10, Q1.0.8, Introduction
641 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.0.9: What does XEmacs look like?
643 Screen snapshots are available in the WWW version of the FAQ.
645 @uref{http://www.xemacs.org/faq/xemacs-faq.html}
648 @node Q1.0.10, Q1.0.11, Q1.0.9, Introduction
649 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.0.10: Is there a port of XEmacs to Microsoft ('95 or NT)?
651 Yes, @xref{MS Windows}.
653 @comment Thanks to efforts of many people, coordinated by
654 @comment @email{davidh@@wr.com.au, David Hobley} and @email{marcpa@@cam.org, Marc
655 @comment Paquette}, beta versions of XEmacs now run on 32-bit Windows platforms
656 @comment (NT and 95). The current betas require having an X server to run
657 @comment XEmacs; however, a native NT/95 port is in alpha, thanks to
658 @comment @email{jhar@@tardis.ed.ac.uk, Jonathan Harris}.
660 @comment Although some features are still unimplemented, XEmacs 21.0 will support
663 @comment The NT development is now coordinated by a mailing list at
664 @comment @email{xemacs-nt@@xemacs.org}.
666 @comment If you are willing to contribute or want to follow the progress, mail to
670 @comment @email{xemacs-nt-request@@xemacs.org} to subscribe.
672 @comment Furthermore, Altrasoft is seeking corporate and government sponsors to
673 @comment help fund a fully native port of XEmacs to Windows 95 and NT using
674 @comment full-time, senior-level staff working under a professionally managed
675 @comment project structure. See @uref{http://www.altrasoft.com/, the Altrasoft
676 @comment web site} for more details
677 @comment or contact Altrasoft directly at 1-888-ALTSOFT.
680 @comment The closest existing port is @dfn{Win-Emacs}, which is based on Lucid
681 @comment Emacs 19.6. Available from @uref{http://www.pearlsoft.com/}.
683 @comment There's a port of GNU Emacs (not XEmacs) at
685 @comment @uref{http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/voelker/ntemacs.html}.
686 @comment @end example
688 @node Q1.0.11, Q1.0.12, Q1.0.10, Introduction
689 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.0.11: Is there a port of XEmacs to the Macintosh?
692 @c There has been a port to the MachTen environment of XEmacs 19.13, but no
693 @c patches have been submitted to the maintainers to get this in the
694 @c mainstream distribution.
696 @c For the MacOS, there is a port of
697 @c @uref{ftp://ftp.cs.cornell.edu/pub/parmet/, Emacs 18.59}.
699 Yes, there is a port of XEmacs 19.14, tested on MacOS 7.6.1 and MacOS
700 8.5.1 by @email{pjarvis@@ispchannel.com, Pitts Jarvis}. It's available
701 at @uref{http://my.ispchannel.com/~pjarvis/xemacs.html}.
703 @node Q1.0.12, Q1.0.13, Q1.0.11, Introduction
704 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.0.12: Is there a port of XEmacs to NextStep?
706 Carl Edman, apparently no longer at @email{cedman@@princeton.edu}, did
707 the port of GNU Emacs to NeXTstep and expressed interest in doing the
708 XEmacs port, but never went any farther.
710 @node Q1.0.13, Q1.0.14, Q1.0.12, Introduction
711 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.0.13: Is there a port of XEmacs to OS/2?
713 No, but Alexander Nikolaev <avn_1251@@mail.ru> is working on it.
715 @node Q1.0.14, Q1.1.1, Q1.0.13, Introduction
716 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.0.14: Where can I obtain a printed copy of the XEmacs users manual?
718 Pre-printed manuals are not available. If you are familiar with
719 TeX, you can generate your own manual from the XEmacs sources.
721 HTML and Postscript versions of XEmacs manuals may be available from the
722 XEmacs web site in the future. Send requests to @email{faq@@xemacs.org}.
724 @node Q1.1.1, Q1.1.2, Q1.0.14, Introduction
725 @unnumberedsec 1.1: Policies
726 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.1.1: What is the FAQ editorial policy?
728 The FAQ is actively maintained and modified regularly. All links should
729 be up to date. Unfortunately, some of the information is out of date --
730 a situation which the FAQ maintainer is working on. All submissions are
731 welcome, please e-mail submissions to @email{faq@@xemacs.org, XEmacs FAQ
734 Please make sure that @samp{XEmacs FAQ} appears on the Subject: line.
735 If you think you have a better way of answering a question, or think a
736 question should be included, we'd like to hear about it. Questions and
737 answers included into the FAQ will be edited for spelling and grammar
738 and will be attributed. Answers appearing without attribution are
739 either from versions of the FAQ dated before May 1996 or are from
740 previous FAQ maintainers. Answers quoted from Usenet news articles will
741 always be attributed, regardless of the author.
743 @node Q1.1.2, Q1.1.3, Q1.1.1, Introduction
744 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.1.2: How do I become a Beta Tester?
746 Send an email message to @email{xemacs-beta-request@@xemacs.org} with
747 the line @samp{subscribe} in the body of the message.
749 Be prepared to get your hands dirty, as beta testers are expected to
750 identify problems as best they can.
752 @node Q1.1.3, Q1.2.1, Q1.1.2, Introduction
753 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.1.3: How do I contribute to XEmacs itself?
755 Ben Wing @email{ben@@xemacs.org} writes:
758 BTW if you have a wish list of things that you want added, you have to
759 speak up about it! More specifically, you can do the following if you
760 want a feature added (in increasing order of usefulness):
764 Make a posting about a feature you want added.
767 Become a beta tester and make more postings about those same features.
770 Convince us that you're going to use the features in some cool and
774 Come up with a clear and well-thought-out API concerning the features.
777 Write the code to implement a feature and send us a patch.
780 (not that we're necessarily requiring you to write the code, but we can
784 @node Q1.2.1, Q1.2.2, Q1.1.3, Introduction
785 @unnumberedsec 1.2: Credits
786 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.2.1: Who wrote XEmacs?
788 XEmacs is the result of the time and effort of many people. The
789 developers responsible for the 19.16/20.x releases are:
792 @item @email{martin@@xemacs.org, Martin Buchholz}
794 <br><img src="mrb.jpeg" alt="Portrait of Martin Buchholz"><br>
798 @item @email{steve@@xemacs.org, Steve Baur}
801 <br><img src="steve.gif" alt="Portrait of Steve Baur"><br>
805 @item @email{hniksic@@xemacs.org, Hrvoje Niksic}
808 <br><img src="hniksic.jpeg" alt="Portrait of Hrvoje Niksic"><br>
813 The developers responsible for the 19.14 release are:
816 @item @email{cthomp@@xemacs.org, Chuck Thompson}
818 <br><img src="cthomp.jpeg" alt="Portrait of Chuck Thompson"><br>
821 Chuck was Mr. XEmacs from 19.11 through 19.14, and is responsible
822 for XEmacs becoming a widely distributed program over the Internet.
824 @item @email{ben@@xemacs.org, Ben Wing}
826 <br><img src="wing.gif" alt="Portrait of Ben Wing"><br>
833 @item @email{jwz@@jwz.org, Jamie Zawinski}
835 <br><img src="jwz.gif" alt="Portrait of Jamie Zawinski"><br>
838 Jamie Zawinski was Mr. Lucid Emacs from 19.0 through 19.10, the last
839 release actually named Lucid Emacs. Richard Mlynarik was crucial to
840 most of those releases.
842 @item @email{mly@@adoc.xerox.com, Richard Mlynarik}
845 Along with many other contributors, partially enumerated in the
846 @samp{About XEmacs} option in the Help menu.
848 @node Q1.2.2, Q1.2.3, Q1.2.1, Introduction
849 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.2.2: Who contributed to this version of the FAQ?
851 The following people contributed valuable suggestions to building this
852 version of the FAQ (listed in alphabetical order):
855 @item @email{steve@@xemacs.org, SL Baur}
857 @item @email{hniksic@@xemacs.org, Hrvoje Niksic}
859 @item @email{Aki.Vehtari@@hut.fi, Aki Vehtari}
863 @node Q1.2.3, Q1.3.1, Q1.2.2, Introduction
864 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.2.3: Who contributed to the FAQ in the past?
866 This is only a partial list, as many names were lost in a hard disk
870 @item @email{binge@@aloft.att.com, Curtis.N.Bingham}
872 @item @email{bruncott@@dormeur.inria.fr, Georges Brun-Cottan}
874 @item @email{rjc@@cogsci.ed.ac.uk, Richard Caley}
876 @item @email{cognot@@ensg.u-nancy.fr, Richard Cognot}
878 @item @email{daku@@nortel.ca, Mark Daku}
880 @item @email{wgd@@martigny.ai.mit.edu, William G. Dubuque}
882 @item @email{eeide@@cs.utah.edu, Eric Eide}
884 @item @email{af@@biomath.jussieu.fr, Alain Fauconnet}
886 @item @email{cflatter@@nrao.edu, Chris Flatters}
888 @item @email{ginsparg@@adra.com, Evelyn Ginsparg}
890 @item @email{hall@@aplcenmp.apl.jhu.edu, Marty Hall}
892 @item @email{dkindred@@cmu.edu, Darrell Kindred}
894 @item @email{dmoore@@ucsd.edu, David Moore}
896 @item @email{arup+@@cmu.edu, Arup Mukherjee}
898 @item @email{nickel@@prz.tu-berlin.de, Juergen Nickelsen}
900 @item @email{powell@@csl.ncsa.uiuc.edu, Kevin R. Powell}
902 @item @email{dworkin@@ccs.neu.edu, Justin Sheehy}
904 @item @email{stig@@hackvan.com, Stig}
906 @item @email{Aki.Vehtari@@hut.fi, Aki Vehtari}
909 @node Q1.3.1, Q1.3.2, Q1.2.3, Introduction
910 @unnumberedsec 1.3: Internationalization
911 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.3.1: What is the status of internationalization support aka MULE (including Asian language support?
913 Both the stable and development versions of XEmacs include
914 internationalization support (aka MULE). MULE currently works on UNIX
915 and Linux systems; work for supporting MULE on Windows operating systems
916 is in progress. Binaries compiled without MULE support run faster than
917 MULE capable XEmacsen.
919 @node Q1.3.2, Q1.3.3, Q1.3.1, Introduction
920 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.3.2: How can I help with internationalization?
922 If you would like to help, you may want to join the
923 @email{xemacs-mule@@xemacs.org} mailing list. Especially needed are
924 people who speak/write languages other than English, who are willing to
925 use XEmacs/MULE regularly, and have some experience with Elisp.
929 @node Q1.3.3, Q1.3.4, Q1.3.2, Introduction
930 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.3.3: How do I type non-ASCII characters?
932 See question 3.5.7 (@pxref{Q3.5.7}) in part 3 of this FAQ.
934 @node Q1.3.4, Q1.3.5, Q1.3.3, Introduction
935 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.3.4: Can XEmacs messages come out in a different language?
937 The message-catalog support has mostly been written but doesn't
938 currently work. The first release of XEmacs 20 will @emph{not} support
939 it. However, menubar localization @emph{does} work. To
940 enable it, add to your @file{Emacs} file entries like this:
943 Emacs*XlwMenu.resourceLabels: True
944 Emacs*XlwMenu.file.labelString: Fichier
945 Emacs*XlwMenu.openInOtherWindow.labelString: In anderem Fenster oeffnen
948 The name of the resource is derived from the non-localized entry by
949 removing punctuation and capitalizing as above.
951 @node Q1.3.5, Q1.3.6, Q1.3.4, Introduction
952 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.3.5: Please explain the various input methods in MULE/XEmacs
954 @email{morioka@@jaist.ac.jp, MORIOKA Tomohiko} writes:
957 Original Mule supports the following input methods: Wnn4, Wnn6, Canna, SJ3
958 and XIM. Interfaces for Wnn and SJ3 uses the @code{egg} user
959 interface. Interface for Canna does not use @samp{egg}. I don't know
960 about XIM. It is to support ATOK, of course, it may work for another
963 Wnn supports Japanese, Chinese and Korean. It is made by OMRON and Kyôto
964 university. It is a powerful and complex system. Wnn4 is free and Wnn6
967 Canna supports only Japanese. It is made by NEC. It is a simple and
968 powerful system. Canna uses only grammar (Wnn uses grammar and
969 probability between words), so I think Wnn is cleverer than Canna,
970 however Canna users made a good grammar and dictionary. So for standard
971 modern Japanese, Canna seems cleverer than Wnn4. In addition, the UNIX
972 version of Canna is free (now there is a Microsoft Windows version).
974 SJ3 supports only Japanese. It is made by Sony. XIM supports was made
975 to use ATOK (a major input method in personal computer world). XIM is
976 the standard for accessing input methods bundled in Japanese versions of
977 Solaris. (XEmacs 20 will support XIM input).
979 Egg consists of following parts:
983 Input character Translation System (ITS) layer.
984 It translates ASCII inputs to Kana/PinYin/Hangul characters.
987 Kana/PinYin/Hangul to Kanji transfer layer.
988 It is interface layer for network Kana-Kanji server (Wnn and Sj3).
991 These input methods are modal, namely there are mode, alphabet mode and
992 Kana-Kanji transfer mode. However there are mode-less input methods for
993 Egg and Canna. @samp{Boiled-egg} is a mode-less input method running on
994 Egg. For Canna, @samp{canna.el} has a tiny boiled-egg like command,
995 @code{(canna-boil)}, and there are some boiled-egg like utilities. In
996 addition, it was planned to make an abstraction for all transfer type
997 input methods. However authors of input methods are busy, so maybe this
998 plan is stopped. Perhaps after Mule merged GNU Emacs will be released,
999 it will be continued.
1002 @node Q1.3.6, Q1.3.7, Q1.3.5, Introduction
1003 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.3.6: How do I portably code for MULE/XEmacs?
1005 @email{morioka@@jaist.ac.jp, MORIOKA Tomohiko} writes:
1008 MULE and XEmacs are quite different. So the application
1009 implementor must write separate code for these mule variants.
1011 MULE and the next version of Emacs are similar but the symbols are very
1012 different---requiring separate code as well.
1014 Namely we must support 3 kinds of mule variants and 4 or 5 or 6 kinds of
1015 emacs variants... (;_;) I'm shocked, so I wrote a wrapper package called
1016 @code{emu} to provide a common interface.
1018 I have the following suggestions about dealing with mule variants:
1022 @code{(featurep 'mule)} @code{t} on all mule variants
1025 @code{(boundp 'MULE)} is @code{t} on only MULE. Maybe the next version
1026 of Emacs will not have this symbol.
1029 MULE has a variable @code{mule-version}. Perhaps the next version of
1030 Emacs will have this variable as well.
1033 Following is a sample to distinguish mule variants:
1036 (if (featurep 'mule)
1037 (cond ((boundp 'MULE)
1038 ;; for original Mule
1040 ((string-match "XEmacs" emacs-version)
1041 ;; for XEmacs with Mule
1044 ;; for next version of Emacs
1046 ;; for old emacs variants
1051 @node Q1.3.7, Q1.4.1, Q1.3.6, Introduction
1052 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.3.7: How about Cyrillic Modes?
1054 @email{ilya@@math.ohio-state.edu, Ilya Zakharevich} writes:
1057 There is a cyrillic mode in the file @file{mysetup.zip} in
1061 @uref{ftp://ftp.math.ohio-state.edu/pub/users/ilya/emacs/}. This is a
1062 modification to @email{ava@@math.jhu.ed, Valery Alexeev's} @file{russian.el}
1063 which can be obtained from
1066 @uref{http://ftpsearch.ntnu.no/?query=russian.el.Z}.
1069 @email{d.barsky@@ee.surrey.ac.uk, Dima Barsky} writes:
1072 There is another cyrillic mode for both GNU Emacs and XEmacs by
1073 @email{manin@@camelot.mssm.edu, Dmitrii
1078 @uref{http://kulichki-lat.rambler.ru/centrolit/manin/cyr.el}.
1079 @c Link above, <URL:http://camelot.mssm.edu/~manin/cyr.el> was dead.
1080 @c Changed to russian host instead
1083 @email{rebecca.ore@@op.net, Rebecca Ore} writes:
1086 The fullest resource I found on Russian language use (in and out of
1087 XEmacs) is @uref{http://sunsite.oit.unc.edu/sergei/Software/Software.html}
1090 @node Q1.4.1, Q1.4.2, Q1.3.7, Introduction
1091 @unnumberedsec 1.4: Getting Started, Backing up & Recovery
1092 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.4.1: What is a @file{.emacs} and is there a sample one?
1094 The @file{.emacs} file is used to customize XEmacs to your tastes. No
1095 two are alike, nor are they expected to be alike, but that's the point.
1096 The XEmacs distribution contains an excellent starter example in the etc
1097 directory called @file{sample.emacs}. Copy this file from there to your
1098 home directory and rename it @file{.emacs}. Then edit it to suit.
1100 Starting with 19.14, you may bring the @file{sample.emacs} into an
1101 XEmacs buffer by selecting @samp{Help->Sample .emacs} from the menubar.
1102 To determine the location of the @file{etc} directory type the command
1103 @kbd{C-h v data-directory @key{RET}}.
1105 @node Q1.4.2, Q1.4.3, Q1.4.1, Introduction
1106 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.4.2: Can I use the same @file{.emacs} with the other Emacs?
1108 Yes. The sample @file{.emacs} included in the XEmacs distribution will
1109 show you how to handle different versions and flavors of Emacs.
1111 @node Q1.4.3, Q1.4.4, Q1.4.2, Introduction
1112 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.4.3: Any good tutorials around?
1114 There's the XEmacs tutorial available from the Help Menu under
1115 @samp{Basics->Tutorials}, or by typing @kbd{C-h t}. To check whether
1116 it's available in a non-english language, type @kbd{C-u C-h t TAB}, type
1117 the first letters of your preferred language, then type @key{RET}.
1119 @comment There's an Emacs Lisp tutorial at
1122 @comment @uref{ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu/emacs-lisp-intro-1.04.tar.gz}.
1123 @comment @end example
1125 @comment @email{erik@@petaxp.rug.ac.be, Erik Sundermann} has made a tutorial web
1130 @comment @uref{http://petaxp.rug.ac.be/~erik/xemacs/}.
1132 @node Q1.4.4, Q1.4.5, Q1.4.3, Introduction
1133 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.4.4: May I see an example of a useful XEmacs Lisp function?
1135 The following function does a little bit of everything useful. It does
1136 something with the prefix argument, it examines the text around the
1137 cursor, and it's interactive so it may be bound to a key. It inserts
1138 copies of the current word the cursor is sitting on at the cursor. If
1139 you give it a prefix argument: @kbd{C-u 3 M-x double-word} then it will
1143 (defun double-word (count)
1144 "Insert a copy of the current word underneath the cursor"
1146 (let (here there string)
1151 (setq there (point))
1152 (setq string (buffer-substring here there)))
1158 The best way to see what is going on here is to let XEmacs tell you.
1159 Put the code into an XEmacs buffer, and do a @kbd{C-h f} with the cursor
1160 sitting just to the right of the function you want explained. Eg. move
1161 the cursor to the SPACE between @code{interactive} and @samp{"*p"} and
1162 hit @kbd{C-h f} to see what the function @code{interactive} does. Doing
1163 this will tell you that the @code{*} requires a writable buffer, and
1164 @code{p} converts the prefix argument to a number, and
1165 @code{interactive} allows you to execute the command with @kbd{M-x}.
1167 @node Q1.4.5, Q1.4.6, Q1.4.4, Introduction
1168 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.4.5: And how do I bind it to a key?
1170 To bind to a key do:
1173 (global-set-key "\C-cd" 'double-word)
1176 Or interactively, @kbd{M-x global-set-key} and follow the prompts.
1178 @node Q1.4.6, , Q1.4.5, Introduction
1179 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.4.6: What's the difference between a macro and a function?
1181 Quoting from the Lisp Reference (a.k.a @dfn{Lispref}) Manual:
1183 @dfn{Macros} enable you to define new control constructs and other
1184 language features. A macro is defined much like a function, but instead
1185 of telling how to compute a value, it tells how to compute another Lisp
1186 expression which will in turn compute the value. We call this
1187 expression the @dfn{expansion} of the macro.
1189 Macros can do this because they operate on the unevaluated expressions
1190 for the arguments, not on the argument values as functions do. They can
1191 therefore construct an expansion containing these argument expressions
1194 Do not confuse the two terms with @dfn{keyboard macros}, which are
1195 another matter, entirely. A keyboard macro is a key bound to several
1196 other keys. Refer to manual for details.
1198 @node Installation, Customization, Introduction, Top
1199 @unnumbered 2 Installation and Trouble Shooting
1201 This is part 2 of the XEmacs Frequently Asked Questions list. This
1202 section is devoted to Installation, Maintenance and Trouble Shooting.
1206 * Q2.0.1:: Running XEmacs without installing.
1207 * Q2.0.2:: XEmacs is too big.
1208 * Q2.0.3:: Compiling XEmacs with Netaudio.
1209 * Q2.0.4:: Problems with Linux and ncurses.
1210 * Q2.0.5:: Do I need X11 to run XEmacs?
1211 * Q2.0.6:: I'm having strange crashes. What do I do?
1212 * Q2.0.7:: Libraries in non-standard locations.
1213 * Q2.0.8:: can't resolve symbol _h_errno
1214 * Q2.0.9:: Where do I find external libraries?
1215 * Q2.0.10:: After I run configure I find a coredump, is something wrong?
1216 * Q2.0.11:: XEmacs can't resolve host names.
1217 * Q2.0.12:: Why can't I strip XEmacs?
1218 * Q2.0.13:: I don't need no steenkin' packages. Do I? (NEW)
1219 * Q2.0.14:: I don't want to install a million .els one at a time! (NEW)
1222 * Q2.1.1:: XEmacs just crashed on me!
1223 * Q2.1.2:: Cryptic Minibuffer messages.
1224 * Q2.1.3:: Translation Table Syntax messages at Startup.
1225 * Q2.1.4:: Startup warnings about deducing proper fonts?
1226 * Q2.1.5:: XEmacs cannot connect to my X Terminal.
1227 * Q2.1.6:: XEmacs just locked up my Linux X server.
1228 * Q2.1.7:: HP Alt key as Meta.
1229 * Q2.1.8:: got (wrong-type-argument color-instance-p nil)!
1230 * Q2.1.9:: XEmacs causes my OpenWindows 3.0 server to crash.
1231 * Q2.1.10:: Warnings from incorrect key modifiers.
1232 * Q2.1.11:: Can't instantiate image error... in toolbar
1233 * Q2.1.12:: Regular Expression Problems on DEC OSF1.
1234 * Q2.1.13:: HP/UX 10.10 and @code{create_process} failure
1235 * Q2.1.14:: @kbd{C-g} doesn't work for me. Is it broken?
1236 * Q2.1.15:: How to debug an XEmacs problem with a debugger.
1237 * Q2.1.16:: XEmacs crashes in @code{strcat} on HP/UX 10.
1238 * Q2.1.17:: @samp{Marker does not point anywhere}.
1239 * Q2.1.18:: [This question intentionally left blank]
1240 * Q2.1.19:: XEmacs does not follow the local timezone.
1241 * Q2.1.20:: @samp{Symbol's function definition is void: hkey-help-show.}
1242 * Q2.1.21:: [This question intentionally left blank]
1243 * Q2.1.22:: XEmacs seems to take a really long time to do some things.
1244 * Q2.1.23:: Movemail on Linux does not work for XEmacs 19.15 and later.
1245 * Q2.1.24:: XEmacs won't start without network. (NEW)
1246 * Q2.1.25:: After upgrading, XEmacs won't do `foo' any more! (NEW)
1249 @node Q2.0.1, Q2.0.2, Installation, Installation
1250 @unnumberedsec 2.0: Installation
1251 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.0.1: Running XEmacs without installing
1253 How can I just try XEmacs without installing it?
1255 XEmacs will run in place without requiring installation and copying of
1256 the Lisp directories, and without having to specify a special build-time
1257 flag. It's the copying of the Lisp directories that requires so much
1258 space. XEmacs is largely written in Lisp.
1260 A good method is to make a shell alias for xemacs:
1263 alias xemacs=/i/xemacs-20.2/src/xemacs
1266 (You will obviously use whatever directory you downloaded the source
1267 tree to instead of @file{/i/xemacs-20.2}).
1269 This will let you run XEmacs without massive copying.
1271 @node Q2.0.2, Q2.0.3, Q2.0.1, Installation
1272 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.0.2: XEmacs is too big
1274 The space required by the installation directories can be
1275 reduced dramatically if desired. Gzip all the .el files. Remove all
1276 the packages you'll never want to use. Remove the TexInfo manuals.
1277 Remove the Info (and use just hardcopy versions of the manual). Remove
1278 most of the stuff in etc. Remove or gzip all the source code. Gzip or
1279 remove the C source code. Configure it so that copies are not made of
1282 These are all Emacs Lisp source code and bytecompiled object code. You
1283 may safely gzip everything named *.el here. You may remove any package
1284 you don't use. @emph{Nothing bad will happen if you delete a package
1285 that you do not use}. You must be sure you do not use it though, so be
1286 conservative at first.
1288 Possible candidates for deletion include w3, games, hyperbole, mh-e,
1289 hm-html-menus, vm, viper, oobr, gnus, etc. Ask yourself, @emph{Do I
1290 ever want to use this package?} If the answer is no, then it is a
1291 candidate for removal.
1293 First, gzip all the .el files. Then go about package by package and
1294 start gzipping the .elc files. Then run XEmacs and do whatever it is
1295 you normally do. If nothing bad happens, then delete the directory. Be
1296 conservative about deleting directories, and it would be handy to have a
1297 backup around in case you get too zealous.
1299 @file{prim}, @file{modes}, @file{packages}, and @file{utils} are four
1300 directories you definitely do @strong{not} want to delete, although
1301 certain packages can be removed from them if you do not use them.
1303 Online texinfo sources in the @file{info} can either be compressed them
1304 or remove them. In either case, @kbd{C-h i} (info mode) will no longer
1307 @node Q2.0.3, Q2.0.4, Q2.0.2, Installation
1308 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.0.3: Compiling XEmacs with Netaudio.
1310 What is the best way to compile XEmacs with the netaudio system, since I
1311 have got the netaudio system compiled but installed at a weird place, I
1312 am not root. Also in the READMEs it does not say anything about
1313 compiling with the audioserver?
1315 You should only need to add some stuff to the configure command line.
1316 To tell it to compile in netaudio support: @samp{--with-sound=both}, or
1317 @samp{--with-sound=nas} if you don't want native sound support for some
1318 reason.) To tell it where to find the netaudio includes and libraries:
1321 --site-libraries=WHATEVER
1322 --site-includes=WHATEVER
1325 Then (fingers crossed) it should compile and it will use netaudio if you
1326 have a server running corresponding to the X server. The netaudio server
1327 has to be there when XEmacs starts. If the netaudio server goes away and
1328 another is run, XEmacs should cope (fingers crossed, error handling in
1329 netaudio isn't perfect).
1331 BTW, netaudio has been renamed as it has a name clash with something
1332 else, so if you see references to NAS or Network Audio System, it's the
1333 same thing. It also might be found at
1334 @uref{ftp://ftp.x.org/contrib/audio/nas/}.
1336 @node Q2.0.4, Q2.0.5, Q2.0.3, Installation
1337 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.0.4: Problems with Linux and ncurses.
1339 On Linux 1.3.98 with termcap 2.0.8 and the ncurses that came with libc
1340 5.2.18, XEmacs 20.0b20 is unable to open a tty device:
1344 Initialization error:
1348 Terminal type `xterm' undefined (or can't access database?)
1351 @email{ben@@xemacs.org, Ben Wing} writes:
1354 Your ncurses configuration is messed up. Your /usr/lib/terminfo is a
1355 bad pointer, perhaps to a CD-ROM that is not inserted.
1358 @node Q2.0.5, Q2.0.6, Q2.0.4, Installation
1359 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.0.5: Do I need X11 to run XEmacs?
1361 No. The name @dfn{XEmacs} is unfortunate in the sense that it is
1362 @strong{not} an X Window System-only version of Emacs. XEmacs has
1363 full color support on a color-capable character terminal.
1365 @node Q2.0.6, Q2.0.7, Q2.0.5, Installation
1366 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.0.6: I'm having strange crashes. What do I do?
1368 There have been a variety of reports of crashes due to compilers with
1369 buggy optimizers. Please see the @file{PROBLEMS} file that comes with
1370 XEmacs to read what it says about your platform.
1372 @node Q2.0.7, Q2.0.8, Q2.0.6, Installation
1373 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.0.7: Libraries in non-standard locations
1375 I have x-faces, jpeg, xpm etc. all in different places. I've tried
1376 space-separated, comma-separated, several --site-libraries, all to no
1380 --site-libraries='/path/one /path/two /path/etc'
1383 @node Q2.0.8, Q2.0.9, Q2.0.7, Installation
1384 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.0.8: can't resolve symbol _h_errno
1386 You are using the Linux/ELF distribution of XEmacs 19.14, and your ELF
1387 libraries are out of date. You have the following options:
1391 Upgrade your libc to at least 5.2.16 (better is 5.2.18, 5.3.12, or
1395 Patch the XEmacs binary by replacing all occurrences of
1396 @samp{_h_errno^@@} with
1400 @samp{h_errno^@@^@@}. Any version of Emacs will
1401 suffice. If you don't understand how to do this, don't do it.
1404 Rebuild XEmacs yourself---any working ELF version of libc should be
1408 @email{hniksic@@xemacs.org, Hrvoje Niksic} writes:
1411 Why not use a Perl one-liner for No. 2?
1414 perl -pi -e 's/_h_errno\0/h_errno\0\0/g' \
1415 /usr/local/bin/xemacs-19.14
1418 NB: You @emph{must} patch @file{/usr/local/bin/xemacs-19.14}, and not
1419 @file{xemacs} because @file{xemacs} is a link to @file{xemacs-19.14};
1420 the Perl @samp{-i} option will cause unwanted side-effects if applied to
1424 @email{steve@@xemacs.org, SL Baur} writes:
1427 If you build against a recent libc-5.4 (late enough to have caused
1428 problems earlier in the beta cycle) and then run with an earlier version
1433 xemacs: can't resolve symbol '__malloc_hook'
1434 zsh: 7942 segmentation fault (core dumped) xemacs
1437 (Example binary compiled against libc-5.4.23 and run with libc-5.4.16).
1439 The solution is to upgrade to at least libc-5.4.23. Sigh. Drat.
1442 @node Q2.0.9, Q2.0.10, Q2.0.8, Installation
1443 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.0.9: Where do I find external libraries?
1445 All external libraries used by XEmacs can be found at the XEmacs FTP
1450 @uref{ftp://ftp.xemacs.org/pub/xemacs/aux/}.
1452 @c Changed June Link above, <URL:ftp://ftp.xemacs.org/pub/aux/> was dead.
1453 @c This list is a pain in the you-know-what to keep in synch with the
1455 The canonical locations (at the time of this writing) are as follows:
1459 @uref{ftp://ftp.uu.net/graphics/jpeg/}. Version 6a is current.
1460 @c Check from host with legal IP address
1462 @uref{ftp://ftp.x.org/contrib/libraries/}. Version 3.4j is current.
1463 Older versions of this package are known to cause XEmacs crashes.
1466 @uref{ftp://ftp.sgi.com/graphics/tiff/}. v3.4 is current. The latest
1467 beta is v3.4b035. There is a HOWTO here.
1470 @uref{ftp://ftp.uu.net/graphics/png/}. 0.89c is current. XEmacs
1471 requires a fairly recent version to avoid using temporary files.
1472 @c Check from host with legal IP address
1474 @uref{ftp://swrinde.nde.swri.edu/pub/png/src/}
1477 @uref{ftp://ftp.cs.indiana.edu/pub/faces/compface/}. This library has
1478 been frozen for about 6 years, and is distributed without version
1479 numbers. @emph{It should be compiled with the same options that X11 was
1480 compiled with on your system}. The version of this library at
1481 XEmacs.org includes the @file{xbm2xface.pl} script, written by
1482 @email{stig@@hackvan.com}, which may be useful when generating your own xface.
1485 @uref{ftp://ftp.x.org/contrib/audio/nas/}.
1486 Version 1.2p5 is current. There is a FAQ here.
1489 @node Q2.0.10, Q2.0.11, Q2.0.9, Installation
1490 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.0.10: After I run configure I find a core dump, is something wrong?
1492 Not necessarily. If you have GNU sed 3.0 you should downgrade it to
1493 2.05. From the @file{README} at prep.ai.mit.edu:
1496 sed 3.0 has been withdrawn from distribution. It has major revisions,
1497 which mostly seem to be improvements; but it turns out to have bugs too
1498 which cause trouble in some common cases.
1500 Tom Lord won't be able to work fixing the bugs until May. So in the
1501 mean time, we've decided to withdraw sed 3.0 from distribution and make
1502 version 2.05 once again the recommended version.
1505 It has also been observed that the vfork test on Solaris will leave a
1508 @node Q2.0.11, Q2.0.12, Q2.0.10, Installation
1509 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.0.11: XEmacs doesn't resolve hostnames.
1511 This is the result of a long-standing problem with SunOS and the fact
1512 that stock SunOS systems do not ship with DNS resolver code in libc.
1514 @email{ckd@@loiosh.kei.com, Christopher Davis} writes:
1517 That's correct [The SunOS 4.1.3 precompiled binaries don't do name
1518 lookup]. Since Sun figured that everyone used NIS to do name lookups
1519 (that DNS thing was apparently only a passing fad, right?), the stock
1520 SunOS 4.x systems don't have DNS-based name lookups in libc.
1522 This is also why Netscape ships two binaries for SunOS 4.1.x.
1524 The best solution is to compile it yourself; the configure script will
1525 check to see if you've put DNS in the shared libc and will then proceed
1526 to link against the DNS resolver library code.
1529 @node Q2.0.12, Q2.0.13, Q2.0.11, Installation
1530 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.0.12: Why can't I strip XEmacs?
1532 @email{cognot@@fronsac.ensg.u-nancy.fr, Richard Cognot} writes:
1535 Because of the way XEmacs (and every other Emacsen, AFAIK) is built. The
1536 link gives you a bare-boned emacs (called temacs). temacs is then run,
1537 preloading some of the lisp files. The result is then dumped into a new
1538 executable, named xemacs, which will contain all of the preloaded lisp
1541 Now, during the dump itself, the executable (code+data+symbols) is
1542 written on disk using a special unexec() function. This function is
1543 obviously heavily system dependent. And on some systems, it leads to an
1544 executable which, although valid, cannot be stripped without damage. If
1545 memory serves, this is especially the case for AIX binaries. On other
1546 architecture it might work OK.
1548 The Right Way to strip the emacs binary is to strip temacs prior to
1549 dumping xemacs. This will always work, although you can do that only if
1550 you install from sources (as temacs is @file{not} part of the binary
1554 @email{nat@@nataa.fr.eu.org, Nat Makarevitch} writes:
1561 [ ./configure; make ]
1573 cp src/xemacs /usr/local/bin/xemacs
1576 cp lib-src/DOC-19.16-XEmacs
1580 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.16/i586-unknown-linuxaout
1584 @node Q2.0.13, Q2.0.14, Q2.0.12, Installation
1585 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.0.13: I don't need no steenkin' packages. Do I? (NEW)
1587 Strictly speaking, no. XEmacs will build and install just fine without
1588 any packages installed. However, only the most basic editing functions
1589 will be available with no packages installed, so installing packages is
1590 an essential part of making your installed XEmacs _useful_.
1592 @node Q2.0.14, Q2.1.1, Q2.0.13, Installation
1593 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.0.12: How do I figure out which packages to install? (NEW)
1595 Many people really liked the old way that packages were bundled and do
1596 not want to mess with packages at all. You can grab all the packages at
1597 once like you used to with old XEmacs versions. Download the file
1599 @file{xemacs-sumo.tar.gz}
1601 For an XEmacs compiled with Mule you also need
1603 @file{xemacs-mule-sumo.tar.gz}
1605 from the @file{packages} directory on your XEmacs mirror archive.
1606 N.B. They are called 'Sumo Tarballs' for good reason. They are
1607 currently about 15MB and 2.3MB (gzipped) respectively.
1611 @code{cd $prefix/lib/xemacs ; gunzip -c <tarballname> | tar xf -}
1613 See README.packages for more detailed installation instructions.
1615 As the Sumo tarballs are not regenerated as often as the individual
1616 packages, it is recommended that you use the automatic package tools
1617 afterwards to pick up any recent updates.
1619 @node Q2.1.1, Q2.1.2, Q2.0.14, Installation
1620 @unnumberedsec 2.1: Trouble Shooting
1621 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.1: Help! XEmacs just crashed on me!
1623 First of all, don't panic. Whenever XEmacs crashes, it tries extremely
1624 hard to auto-save all of your files before dying. (The main time that
1625 this will not happen is if the machine physically lost power or if you
1626 killed the XEmacs process using @code{kill -9}). The next time you try
1627 to edit those files, you will be informed that a more recent auto-save
1628 file exists. You can use @kbd{M-x recover-file} to retrieve the
1629 auto-saved version of the file.
1631 Starting with 19.14, you may use the command @kbd{M-x recover-session}
1632 after a crash to pick up where you left off.
1634 Now, XEmacs is not perfect, and there may occasionally be times, or
1635 particular sequences of actions, that cause it to crash. If you can
1636 come up with a reproducible way of doing this (or even if you have a
1637 pretty good memory of exactly what you were doing at the time), the
1638 maintainers would be very interested in knowing about it. Post a
1639 message to comp.emacs.xemacs or send mail to @email{crashes@@xemacs.org}.
1640 Please note that the @samp{crashes} address is exclusively for crash
1643 If at all possible, include a stack backtrace of the core dump that was
1644 produced. This shows where exactly things went wrong, and makes it much
1645 easier to diagnose problems. To do this, you need to locate the core
1646 file (it's called @file{core}, and is usually sitting in the directory
1647 that you started XEmacs from, or your home directory if that other
1648 directory was not writable). Then, go to that directory and execute a
1652 gdb `which xemacs` core
1655 and then issue the command @samp{where} to get the stack backtrace. You
1656 might have to use @code{dbx} or some similar debugger in place of
1657 @code{gdb}. If you don't have any such debugger available, complain to
1658 your system administrator.
1660 It's possible that a core file didn't get produced, in which case you're
1661 out of luck. Go complain to your system administrator and tell him not
1662 to disable core files by default. Also @xref{Q2.1.15}, for tips and
1663 techniques for dealing with a debugger.
1665 When making a problem report make sure that:
1669 Report @strong{all} of the information output by XEmacs during the
1673 You mention what O/S & Hardware you are running XEmacs on.
1676 What version of XEmacs you are running.
1679 What build options you are using.
1682 If the problem is related to graphics, we will also need to know what
1683 version of the X Window System you are running, and what window manager
1687 If the problem happened on a tty, please include the terminal type.
1690 @node Q2.1.2, Q2.1.3, Q2.1.1, Installation
1691 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.2: Cryptic Minibuffer messages.
1693 When I try to use some particular option of some particular package, I
1694 get a cryptic error in the minibuffer.
1696 If you can't figure out what's going on, select Options/General
1697 Options/Debug on Error from the Menubar and then try and make the error
1698 happen again. This will give you a backtrace that may be enlightening.
1699 If not, try reading through this FAQ; if that fails, you could try
1700 posting to comp.emacs.xemacs (making sure to include the backtrace) and
1701 someone may be able to help. If you can identify which Emacs lisp
1702 source file the error is coming from you can get a more detailed stack
1703 backtrace by doing the following:
1707 Visit the .el file in an XEmacs buffer.
1710 Issue the command @kbd{M-x eval-current-buffer}.
1713 Reproduce the error.
1716 Depending on the version of XEmacs, you may either select Edit->Show
1717 Messages (19.13 and earlier) or Help->Recent Keystrokes/Messages (19.14
1718 and later) from the menubar to see the most recent messages. This
1719 command is bound to @kbd{C-h l} by default.
1721 @node Q2.1.3, Q2.1.4, Q2.1.2, Installation
1722 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.3: Translation Table Syntax messages at Startup
1724 I get tons of translation table syntax error messages during startup.
1725 How do I get rid of them?
1727 There are two causes of this problem. The first usually only strikes
1728 people using the prebuilt binaries. The culprit in both cases is the
1729 file @file{XKeysymDB}.
1733 The binary cannot find the @file{XKeysymDB} file. The location is
1734 hardcoded at compile time so if the system the binary was built on puts
1735 it a different place than your system does, you have problems. To fix,
1736 set the environment variable @var{XKEYSYMDB} to the location of the
1737 @file{XKeysymDB} file on your system or to the location of the one
1738 included with XEmacs which should be at
1742 @file{<xemacs_root_directory>/lib/xemacs-19.16/etc/XKeysymDB}.
1745 The binary is finding the XKeysymDB but it is out-of-date on your system
1746 and does not contain the necessary lines. Either ask your system
1747 administrator to replace it with the one which comes with XEmacs (which
1748 is the stock R6 version and is backwards compatible) or set your
1749 @var{XKEYSYMDB} variable to the location of XEmacs's described above.
1752 @node Q2.1.4, Q2.1.5, Q2.1.3, Installation
1753 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.4: Startup warnings about deducing proper fonts?
1755 How can I avoid the startup warnings about deducing proper fonts?
1757 This is highly dependent on your installation, but try with the
1758 following font as your base font for XEmacs and see what it does:
1761 -adobe-courier-medium-r-*-*-*-120-*-*-*-*-iso8859-1
1764 More precisely, do the following in your resource file:
1767 Emacs.default.attributeFont: \
1768 -adobe-courier-medium-r-*-*-*-120-*-*-*-*-iso8859-1
1771 If you just don't want to see the @samp{*Warnings*} buffer at startup
1772 time, you can set this:
1775 (setq display-warning-minimum-level 'error)
1778 The buffer still exists; it just isn't in your face.
1780 @node Q2.1.5, Q2.1.6, Q2.1.4, Installation
1781 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.5: XEmacs cannot connect to my X Terminal!
1783 Help! I can not get XEmacs to display on my Envizex X-terminal!
1785 Try setting the @var{DISPLAY} variable using the numeric IP address of
1786 the host you are running XEmacs from.
1788 @node Q2.1.6, Q2.1.7, Q2.1.5, Installation
1789 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.6: XEmacs just locked up my Linux X server!
1791 There have been several reports of the X server locking up under Linux.
1792 In all reported cases removing speedo and scaled fonts from the font
1793 path corrected the problem. This can be done with the command
1796 It is possible that using a font server may also solve the problem.
1798 @node Q2.1.7, Q2.1.8, Q2.1.6, Installation
1799 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.7: HP Alt key as Meta.
1801 How can I make XEmacs recognize the Alt key of my HP workstation as a
1804 Put the following line into a file and load it with xmodmap(1) before
1808 remove Mod1 = Mode_switch
1811 @node Q2.1.8, Q2.1.9, Q2.1.7, Installation
1812 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.8: got (wrong-type-argument color-instance-p nil)
1814 @email{nataliek@@rd.scitec.com.au, Natalie Kershaw} writes:
1817 I am trying to run xemacs 19.13 under X11R4. Whenever I move the mouse I
1818 get the following error. Has anyone seen anything like this? This
1819 doesn't occur on X11R5.
1823 (error "got (wrong-type-argument color-instance-p nil)
1824 and I don't know why!")
1828 @email{map01kd@@gold.ac.uk, dinos} writes:
1831 I think this is due to undefined resources; You need to define color
1832 backgrounds and foregrounds into your @file{.../app-defaults/Emacs}
1836 *Foreground: Black ;everything will be of black on grey95,
1837 *Background: Grey95 ;unless otherwise specified.
1838 *cursorColor: Red3 ;red3 cursor with grey95 border.
1839 *pointerColor: Red3 ;red3 pointer with grey95 border.
1843 Natalie Kershaw adds:
1846 What fixed the problem was adding some more colors to the X color
1847 database (copying the X11R5 colors over), and also defining the
1848 following resources:
1851 xemacs*cursorColor: black
1852 xemacs*pointerColor: black
1855 With the new colors installed the problem still occurs if the above
1856 resources are not defined.
1858 If the new colors are not present then an additional error occurs on
1859 XEmacs startup, which says @samp{Color Red3} not defined.
1862 @node Q2.1.9, Q2.1.10, Q2.1.8, Installation
1863 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.9: XEmacs causes my OpenWindows 3.0 server to crash.
1865 The OpenWindows 3.0 server is incredibly buggy. Your best bet is to
1866 replace it with one from the generic MIT X11 release. You might also
1867 try disabling parts of your @file{.emacs}, like enabling background
1870 @node Q2.1.10, Q2.1.11, Q2.1.9, Installation
1871 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.10: Warnings from incorrect key modifiers.
1873 The following information comes from the @file{PROBLEMS} file that comes
1876 If you're having troubles with HP/UX it is because HP/UX defines the
1877 modifiers wrong in X. Here is a shell script to fix the problem; be
1878 sure that it is run after VUE configures the X server.
1882 xmodmap 2> /dev/null - << EOF
1883 keysym Alt_L = Meta_L
1884 keysym Alt_R = Meta_R
1889 keysym Mode_switch = NoSymbol
1891 keysym Meta_R = Mode_switch
1892 add mod2 = Mode_switch
1896 @node Q2.1.11, Q2.1.12, Q2.1.10, Installation
1897 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.11: @samp{Can't instantiate image error...} in toolbar
1900 @email{expt@@alanine.ram.org, Dr. Ram Samudrala} writes:
1902 I just installed the XEmacs (20.4-2) RPMS that I downloaded from
1903 @uref{http://www.xemacs.org/}. Everything works fine, except that when
1904 I place my mouse over the toolbar, it beeps and gives me this message:
1907 Can't instantiate image (probably cached):
1908 [xbm :mask-file "/usr/include/X11/bitmaps/leftptrmsk :mask-data
1909 (16 16 <strange control characters> ...
1912 @email{kyle_jones@@wonderworks.com, Kyle Jones} writes:
1914 This is problem specific to some Chips and Technologies video
1915 chips, when running XFree86. Putting
1917 @code{Option "sw_cursor"}
1919 in @file{XF86Config} gets rid of the problem.
1922 @node Q2.1.12, Q2.1.13, Q2.1.11, Installation
1923 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.12: Problems with Regular Expressions on DEC OSF1.
1925 I have xemacs 19.13 running on an alpha running OSF1 V3.2 148 and ispell
1926 would not run because it claimed the version number was incorrect
1927 although it was indeed OK. I traced the problem to the regular
1930 @email{douglask@@dstc.edu.au, Douglas Kosovic} writes:
1933 Actually it's a DEC cc optimization bug that screws up the regexp
1936 Rebuilding using the @samp{-migrate} switch for DEC cc (which uses a
1937 different sort of optimization) works fine.
1940 See @file{xemacs-19_13-dunix-3_2c.patch} at the following URL on how to
1941 build with the @samp{-migrate} flag:
1944 @uref{http://www-digital.cern.ch/carney/emacs/emacs.html}
1945 @c Link above, <URL:http://www-digital.cern.ch/carney/emacs/emacs.html> is
1946 @c dead. And the directory `carney' is empty.
1952 NOTE: There have been a variety of other problems reported that are
1953 fixed in this fashion.
1955 @node Q2.1.13, Q2.1.14, Q2.1.12, Installation
1956 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.13: HP/UX 10.10 and @code{create_process} failure.
1958 @email{Dave.Carrigan@@ipl.ca, Dave Carrigan} writes:
1961 With XEmacs 19.13 and HP/UX 10.10, anything that relies on the
1962 @code{create_process} function fails. This breaks a lot of things
1963 (shell-mode, compile, ange-ftp, to name a few).
1966 @email{johnson@@dtc.hp.com, Phil Johnson} writes:
1969 This is a problem specific to HP-UX 10.10. It only occurs when XEmacs
1970 is compiled for shared libraries (the default), so you can work around
1971 it by compiling a statically-linked binary (run configure with
1972 @samp{--dynamic=no}).
1974 I'm not sure whether the problem is with a particular shared library or
1975 if it's a kernel problem which crept into 10.10.
1978 @email{cognot@@ensg.u-nancy.fr, Richard Cognot} writes:
1981 I had a few problems with 10.10. Apparently, some of them were solved by
1982 forcing a static link of libc (manually).
1985 @node Q2.1.14, Q2.1.15, Q2.1.13, Installation
1986 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.14: @kbd{C-g} doesn't work for me. Is it broken?
1988 @email{ben@@xemacs.org, Ben Wing} writes:
1991 @kbd{C-g} does work for most people in most circumstances. If it
1992 doesn't, there are only two explanations:
1996 The code is wrapped with a binding of @code{inhibit-quit} to
1997 @code{t}. @kbd{Ctrl-Shift-G} should still work, I think.
2000 SIGIO is broken on your system, but BROKEN_SIGIO isn't defined.
2003 To test #2, try executing @code{(while t)} from the @samp{*scratch*}
2004 buffer. If @kbd{C-g} doesn't interrupt, then you're seeing #2.
2007 @email{terra@@diku.dk, Morten Welinder} writes:
2010 On some (but @emph{not} all) machines a hung XEmacs can be revived by
2011 @code{kill -FPE <pid>}. This is a hack, of course, not a solution.
2012 This technique works on a Sun4 running 4.1.3_U1. To see if it works for
2013 you, start another XEmacs and test with that first. If you get a core
2014 dump the method doesn't work and if you get @samp{Arithmetic error} then
2018 @node Q2.1.15, Q2.1.16, Q2.1.14, Installation
2019 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.15: How to Debug an XEmacs problem with a debugger
2021 If XEmacs does crash on you, one of the most productive things you can
2022 do to help get the bug fixed is to poke around a bit with the debugger.
2023 Here are some hints:
2027 First of all, if the crash is at all reproducible, consider very
2028 strongly recompiling your XEmacs with debugging symbols, with no
2029 optimization, and with the configure options @samp{--debug=yes} and
2030 @samp{--error-checking=all}. This will make your XEmacs run somewhat
2031 slower but make it a lot more likely to catch the problem earlier
2032 (closer to its source), and a lot easier to determine what's going on
2036 If you're able to run XEmacs under a debugger and reproduce the crash
2037 (if it's inconvenient to do this because XEmacs is already running or is
2038 running in batch mode as part of a bunch of scripts, consider attaching
2039 to the existing process with your debugger; most debuggers let you do
2040 this by substituting the process ID for the core file when you invoke
2041 the debugger from the command line, or by using the @code{attach}
2042 command or something similar), here are some things you can do:
2045 If XEmacs is hitting an assertion failure, put a breakpoint on
2046 @code{assert_failed()}.
2049 If XEmacs is hitting some weird Lisp error that's causing it to crash
2050 (e.g. during startup), put a breakpoint on @code{signal_1()}---this is
2051 declared static in eval.c.
2054 Internally, you will probably see lots of variables that hold objects of
2055 type @code{Lisp_Object}. These are exactly what they appear to be,
2056 i.e. references to Lisp objects. Printing them out with the debugger
2057 probably won't be too useful---you'll likely just see a number. To
2058 decode them, do this:
2061 call debug_print (OBJECT)
2064 where @var{OBJECT} is whatever you want to decode (it can be a variable,
2065 a function call, etc.). This will print out a readable representation
2066 on the TTY from which the xemacs process was invoked.
2069 If you want to get a Lisp backtrace showing the Lisp call
2073 call debug_backtrace ()
2077 Using @code{debug_print} and @code{debug_backtrace} has two
2078 disadvantages - it can only be used with a running xemacs process, and
2079 it cannot display the internal C structure of a Lisp Object. Even if
2080 all you've got is a core dump, all is not lost.
2082 If you're using GDB, there are some macros in the file
2083 @file{src/.gdbinit} in the XEmacs source distribution that should make
2084 it easier for you to decode Lisp objects. This file is automatically
2085 read by gdb if gdb is run in the directory where xemacs was built, and
2086 contains these useful macros to inspect the state of xemacs:
2090 Usage: pobj lisp_object @*
2091 Print the internal C representation of a lisp object.
2094 Usage: xtype lisp_object @*
2095 Print the Lisp type of a lisp object.
2099 Print the current Lisp stack trace.
2100 Requires a running xemacs process.
2103 Usage: ldp lisp_object @*
2104 Print a Lisp Object value using the Lisp printer.
2105 Requires a running xemacs process.
2108 Usage: run-temacs @*
2109 Run temacs interactively, like xemacs.
2110 Use this with debugging tools (like purify) that cannot deal with dumping,
2111 or when temacs builds successfully, but xemacs does not.
2114 Usage: dump-temacs @*
2115 Run the dumping part of the build procedure.
2116 Use when debugging temacs, not xemacs!
2117 Use this when temacs builds successfully, but xemacs does not.
2120 Usage: check-xemacs @*
2121 Run the test suite. Equivalent to 'make check'.
2124 Usage: check-temacs @*
2125 Run the test suite on temacs. Equivalent to 'make check-temacs'.
2126 Use this with debugging tools (like purify) that cannot deal with dumping,
2127 or when temacs builds successfully, but xemacs does not.
2130 If you are using Sun's @file{dbx} debugger, there is an equivalent file
2131 @file{src/.dbxrc}, which defines the same commands for dbx.
2134 If you're using a debugger to get a C stack backtrace and you're seeing
2135 stack traces with some of the innermost frames mangled, it may be due to
2136 dynamic linking. (This happens especially under Linux.) Consider
2137 reconfiguring with @samp{--dynamic=no}. Also, sometimes (again under
2138 Linux), stack backtraces of core dumps will have the frame where the
2139 fatal signal occurred mangled; if you can obtain a stack trace while
2140 running the XEmacs process under a debugger, the stack trace should be
2143 @email{1CMC3466@@ibm.mtsac.edu, Curtiss} suggests upgrading to ld.so version 1.8
2144 if dynamic linking and debugging is a problem on Linux.
2147 If you're using a debugger to get a C stack backtrace and you're
2148 getting a completely mangled and bogus stack trace, it's probably due to
2149 one of the following:
2153 Your executable has been stripped. Bad news. Tell your sysadmin not to
2154 do this---it doesn't accomplish anything except to save a bit of disk
2155 space, and makes debugging much much harder.
2158 Your stack is getting trashed. Debugging this is hard; you have to do a
2159 binary-search type of narrowing down where the crash occurs, until you
2160 figure out exactly which line is causing the problem. Of course, this
2161 only works if the bug is highly reproducible.
2164 If your stack trace has exactly one frame in it, with address 0x0, this
2165 could simply mean that XEmacs attempted to execute code at that address,
2166 e.g. through jumping to a null function pointer. Unfortunately, under
2167 those circumstances, GDB under Linux doesn't know how to get a stack
2168 trace. (Yes, this is the third Linux-related problem I've mentioned. I
2169 have no idea why GDB under Linux is so bogus. Complain to the GDB
2170 authors, or to comp.os.linux.development.system). Again, you'll have to
2171 use the narrowing-down process described above.
2174 If you compiled 19.14 with @samp{--debug} (or by default in later
2175 versions), you will get a Lisp backtrace output when XEmacs crashes, so
2176 you'll have something useful.
2181 If you compile with the newer gcc variants gcc-2.8 or egcs, you will
2182 also need gdb 4.17 or above. Earlier releases of gdb can't handle the
2183 debug information generated by the newer compilers.
2186 In versions of XEmacs before 21.2.27, @file{src/.gdbinit} was named
2187 @file{src/gdbinit}. This had the disadvantage of not being sourced
2188 automatically by gdb, so you had to set that up yourself.
2192 @node Q2.1.16, Q2.1.17, Q2.1.15, Installation
2193 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.16: XEmacs crashes in @code{strcat} on HP/UX 10
2195 From the problems database (through
2196 the former address http://support.mayfield.hp.com/):
2199 Problem Report: 5003302299
2202 System/Model: 9000/700
2203 Product Name: HPUX S800 10.0X
2204 Product Vers: 9245XB.10.00
2206 Description: strcat(3C) may read beyond
2207 end of source string, can cause SIGSEGV
2210 *** PROBLEM TEXT ***
2211 strcat(3C) may read beyond the source string onto an unmapped page,
2212 causing a segmentation violation.
2215 @node Q2.1.17, Q2.1.18, Q2.1.16, Installation
2216 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.17: @samp{Marker does not point anywhere}
2218 As with other errors, set @code{debug-on-error} to @code{t} to get the
2219 backtrace when the error occurs. Specifically, two problems have been
2220 reported (and fixed).
2224 A problem with line-number-mode in XEmacs 19.14 affected a large number
2225 of other packages. If you see this error message, turn off
2229 A problem with some early versions of Gnus 5.4 caused this error.
2233 @node Q2.1.18, Q2.1.19, Q2.1.17, Installation
2234 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.18: removed
2236 @node Q2.1.19, Q2.1.20, Q2.1.18, Installation
2237 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.19: XEmacs does not follow the local timezone.
2239 When using one of the prebuilt binaries many users have observed that
2240 XEmacs uses the timezone under which it was built, but not the timezone
2241 under which it is running. The solution is to add:
2244 (set-time-zone-rule "MET")
2247 to your @file{.emacs} or the @file{site-start.el} file if you can.
2248 Replace @code{MET} with your local timezone.
2250 @node Q2.1.20, Q2.1.21, Q2.1.19, Installation
2251 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.20: @samp{Symbol's function definition is void: hkey-help-show.}
2253 This is a problem with a partially loaded hyperbole. Try adding:
2256 (require 'hmouse-drv)
2259 where you load hyperbole and the problem should go away.
2261 @node Q2.1.21, Q2.1.22, Q2.1.20, Installation
2262 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.21: [This question intentionally left blank]
2264 @node Q2.1.22, Q2.1.23, Q2.1.21, Installation
2265 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.22: XEmacs seems to take a really long time to do some things
2267 @email{dmoore@@ucsd.edu, David Moore} writes:
2270 Two things you can do:
2274 When you see it going mad like this, you might want to use gdb from an
2275 'xterm' to attach to the running process and get a stack trace. To do
2279 gdb /path/to/xemacs/xemacs ####
2282 Where @code{####} is the process id of your xemacs, instead of
2283 specifying the core. When gdb attaches, the xemacs will stop [1] and
2284 you can type `where' in gdb to get a stack trace as usual. To get
2285 things moving again, you can just type `quit' in gdb. It'll tell you
2286 the program is running and ask if you want to quit anyways. Say 'y' and
2287 it'll quit and have your emacs continue from where it was at.
2291 Turn on debug-on-quit early on. When you think things are going slow
2292 hit C-g and it may pop you in the debugger so you can see what routine
2293 is running. Press `c' to get going again.
2295 debug-on-quit doesn't work if something's turned on inhibit-quit or in
2296 some other strange cases.
2299 @node Q2.1.23, Q2.1.24, Q2.1.22, Installation
2300 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.23: Movemail on Linux does not work for XEmacs 19.15 and later.
2302 Movemail used to work fine in 19.14 but has stopped working in 19.15
2303 and 20.x. I am using Linux.
2305 @email{steve@@xemacs.org, SL Baur} writes:
2308 Movemail on Linux used to default to using flock file locking. With
2309 19.15 and later versions it now defaults to using @code{.lock} file
2310 locking. If this is not appropriate for your system, edit src/s/linux.h
2311 and uncomment the line that reads:
2314 #define MAIL_USE_FLOCK
2318 @node Q2.1.24, Q2.1.25, Q2.1.23, Installation
2319 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.24: XEmacs won't start without network. (NEW)
2321 If XEmacs starts when you're on the network, but fails when you're not
2322 on the network, you may be missing a "localhost" entry in your
2323 @file{/etc/hosts} file. The file should contain an entry like:
2329 Add that line, and XEmacs will be happy.
2331 @node Q2.1.25, , Q2.1.24, Installation
2332 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.25:: After upgrading, XEmacs won't do `foo' any more! (NEW)
2334 You have been used to doing `foo', but now when you invoke it (or click
2335 the toolbar button or select the menu item), nothing (or an error)
2336 happens. The simplest explanation is that you are missing a package
2337 that is essential to you. You can either track it down and install it
2338 (there is a list of packages and brief descriptions of their contents in
2339 @file{etc/PACKAGES}), or install the `Sumo Tarball' (see @pxref{Q2.0.14}).
2341 @c #### should xref to XEmacs manual here
2343 @node Customization, Subsystems, Installation, Top
2344 @unnumbered 3 Customization and Options
2346 This is part 3 of the XEmacs Frequently Asked Questions list. This
2347 section is devoted to Customization and screen settings.
2350 Customization---Emacs Lisp and @file{.emacs}:
2351 * Q3.0.1:: What version of Emacs am I running?
2352 * Q3.0.2:: How do I evaluate Elisp expressions?
2353 * Q3.0.3:: @code{(setq tab-width 6)} behaves oddly.
2354 * Q3.0.4:: How can I add directories to the @code{load-path}?
2355 * Q3.0.5:: How to check if a lisp function is defined?
2356 * Q3.0.6:: Can I force the output of @code{(face-list)} to a buffer?
2357 * Q3.0.7:: Font selections don't get saved after @code{Save Options}.
2358 * Q3.0.8:: How do I make a single minibuffer frame?
2359 * Q3.0.9:: What is @code{Customize}?
2361 X Window System & Resources:
2362 * Q3.1.1:: Where is a list of X resources?
2363 * Q3.1.2:: How can I detect a color display?
2364 * Q3.1.3:: [This question intentionally left blank]
2365 * Q3.1.4:: [This question intentionally left blank]
2366 * Q3.1.5:: How can I get the icon to just say @samp{XEmacs}?
2367 * Q3.1.6:: How can I have the window title area display the full path?
2368 * Q3.1.7:: @samp{xemacs -name junk} doesn't work?
2369 * Q3.1.8:: @samp{-iconic} doesn't work.
2371 Textual Fonts & Colors:
2372 * Q3.2.1:: How can I set color options from @file{.emacs}?
2373 * Q3.2.2:: How do I set the text, menu and modeline fonts?
2374 * Q3.2.3:: How can I set the colors when highlighting a region?
2375 * Q3.2.4:: How can I limit color map usage?
2376 * Q3.2.5:: My tty supports color, but XEmacs doesn't use them.
2377 * Q3.2.6:: Can I have pixmap backgrounds in XEmacs?
2380 * Q3.3.1:: How can I make the modeline go away?
2381 * Q3.3.2:: How do you have XEmacs display the line number in the modeline?
2382 * Q3.3.3:: How do I get XEmacs to put the time of day on the modeline?
2383 * Q3.3.4:: How do I turn off current chapter from AUC TeX modeline?
2384 * Q3.3.5:: How can one change the modeline color based on the mode used?
2386 3.4 Multiple Device Support:
2387 * Q3.4.1:: How do I open a frame on another screen of my multi-headed display?
2388 * Q3.4.2:: Can I really connect to a running XEmacs after calling up over a modem? How?
2391 * Q3.5.1:: How can I bind complex functions (or macros) to keys?
2392 * Q3.5.2:: How can I stop down-arrow from adding empty lines to the bottom of my buffers?
2393 * Q3.5.3:: How do I bind C-. and C-; to scroll one line up and down?
2394 * Q3.5.4:: Globally binding @kbd{Delete}?
2395 * Q3.5.5:: Scrolling one line at a time.
2396 * Q3.5.6:: How to map @kbd{Help} key alone on Sun type4 keyboard?
2397 * Q3.5.7:: How can you type in special characters in XEmacs?
2398 * Q3.5.8:: Why does @code{(global-set-key [delete-forward] 'delete-char)} complain?
2399 * Q3.5.9:: How do I make the Delete key delete forward?
2400 * Q3.5.10:: Can I turn on @dfn{sticky} modifier keys?
2401 * Q3.5.11:: How do I map the arrow keys?
2404 * Q3.6.1:: Is there a way to make the bar cursor thicker?
2405 * Q3.6.2:: Is there a way to get back the old block cursor where the cursor covers the character in front of the point?
2406 * Q3.6.3:: Can I make the cursor blink?
2408 The Mouse and Highlighting:
2409 * Q3.7.1:: How can I turn off Mouse pasting?
2410 * Q3.7.2:: How do I set control/meta/etc modifiers on mouse buttons?
2411 * Q3.7.3:: Clicking the left button does not do anything in buffer list.
2412 * Q3.7.4:: How can I get a list of buffers when I hit mouse button 3?
2413 * Q3.7.5:: Why does cut-and-paste not work between XEmacs and a cmdtool?
2414 * Q3.7.6:: How I can set XEmacs up so that it pastes where the text cursor is?
2415 * Q3.7.7:: How do I select a rectangular region?
2416 * Q3.7.8:: Why does @kbd{M-w} take so long?
2418 The Menubar and Toolbar:
2419 * Q3.8.1:: How do I get rid of the menu (or menubar)?
2420 * Q3.8.2:: Can I customize the basic menubar?
2421 * Q3.8.3:: How do I control how many buffers are listed in the menu @code{Buffers} list?
2422 * Q3.8.4:: Resources like @code{Emacs*menubar*font} are not working?
2423 * Q3.8.5:: How can I bind a key to a function to toggle the toolbar?
2426 * Q3.9.1:: How can I disable the scrollbar?
2427 * Q3.9.2:: How can one use resources to change scrollbar colors?
2428 * Q3.9.3:: Moving the scrollbar can move the point; can I disable this?
2429 * Q3.9.4:: How can I get automatic horizontal scrolling?
2432 * Q3.10.1:: How can I turn off or change highlighted selections?
2433 * Q3.10.2:: How do I get that typing on an active region removes it?
2434 * Q3.10.3:: Can I turn off the highlight during isearch?
2435 * Q3.10.4:: How do I turn off highlighting after @kbd{C-x C-p} (mark-page)?
2436 * Q3.10.5:: The region disappears when I hit the end of buffer while scrolling.
2439 @node Q3.0.1, Q3.0.2, Customization, Customization
2440 @unnumberedsec 3.0: Customization -- Emacs Lisp and .emacs
2441 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.0.1: What version of Emacs am I running?
2443 How can @file{.emacs} determine which of the family of Emacsen I am
2446 To determine if you are currently running GNU Emacs 18, GNU Emacs 19,
2447 XEmacs 19, XEmacs 20, or Epoch, and use appropriate code, check out the
2448 example given in @file{etc/sample.emacs}. There are other nifty things
2451 For all new code, all you really need to do is:
2454 (defvar running-xemacs (string-match "XEmacs\\|Lucid" emacs-version))
2457 @node Q3.0.2, Q3.0.3, Q3.0.1, Customization
2458 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.0.2: How can I evaluate Emacs-Lisp expressions?
2460 I know I can evaluate Elisp expressions from @code{*scratch*} buffer
2461 with @kbd{C-j} after the expression. How do I do it from another
2464 Press @kbd{M-:} (the default binding of @code{eval-expression}), and
2465 enter the expression to the minibuffer. In XEmacs prior to 19.15
2466 @code{eval-expression} used to be a disabled command by default. If
2467 this is the case, upgrade your XEmacs.
2469 @node Q3.0.3, Q3.0.4, Q3.0.2, Customization
2470 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.0.3: @code{(setq tab-width 6)} behaves oddly.
2472 If you put @code{(setq tab-width 6)} in your @file{.emacs} file it does
2473 not work! Is there a reason for this? If you do it at the EVAL prompt
2474 it works fine!! How strange.
2476 Use @code{setq-default} instead, since @code{tab-width} is
2479 @node Q3.0.4, Q3.0.5, Q3.0.3, Customization
2480 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.0.4: How can I add directories to the @code{load-path}?
2482 Here are two ways to do that, one that puts your directories at the
2483 front of the load-path, the other at the end:
2486 ;;; Add things at the beginning of the load-path, do not add
2487 ;;; duplicate directories:
2488 (pushnew "bar" load-path :test 'equal)
2490 (pushnew "foo" load-path :test 'equal)
2492 ;;; Add things at the end, unconditionally
2493 (setq load-path (nconc load-path '("foo" "bar")))
2496 @email{keithh@@nortel.ca, keith (k.p.) hanlan} writes:
2499 To add directories using Unix shell metacharacters use
2500 @file{expand-file-name} like this:
2503 (push (expand-file-name "~keithh/.emacsdir") load-path)
2507 @node Q3.0.5, Q3.0.6, Q3.0.4, Customization
2508 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.0.5: How to check if a lisp function is defined?
2510 Use the following elisp:
2516 It's almost always a mistake to test @code{emacs-version} or any similar
2519 Instead, use feature-tests, such as @code{featurep}, @code{boundp},
2520 @code{fboundp}, or even simple behavioral tests, eg.:
2523 (defvar foo-old-losing-code-p
2524 (condition-case nil (progn (losing-code t) nil)
2525 (wrong-number-of-arguments t)))
2528 There is an incredible amount of broken code out there which could work
2529 much better more often in more places if it did the above instead of
2530 trying to divine its environment from the value of one variable.
2532 @node Q3.0.6, Q3.0.7, Q3.0.5, Customization
2533 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.0.6: Can I force the output of @code{(face-list)} to a buffer?
2535 It would be good having it in a buffer, as the output of
2536 @code{(face-list)} is too wide to fit to a minibuffer.
2538 Evaluate the expression in the @samp{*scratch*} buffer with point after
2539 the rightmost paren and typing @kbd{C-j}.
2541 If the minibuffer smallness is the only problem you encounter, you can
2542 simply press @kbd{C-h l} to get the former minibuffer contents in a
2545 @node Q3.0.7, Q3.0.8, Q3.0.6, Customization
2546 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.0.7: Font selections in don't get saved after @code{Save Options}.
2548 For XEmacs 19.14 and previous:
2550 @email{mannj@@ll.mit.edu, John Mann} writes:
2553 You have to go to Options->Frame Appearance and unselect
2554 @samp{Frame-Local Font Menu}. If this option is selected, font changes
2555 are only applied to the @emph{current} frame and do @emph{not} get saved
2556 when you save options.
2559 For XEmacs 19.15 and later:
2561 Implement the above as well as set the following in your @file{.emacs}
2564 (setq options-save-faces t)
2567 @node Q3.0.8, Q3.0.9, Q3.0.7, Customization
2568 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.0.8: How do I get a single minibuffer frame?
2570 @email{acs@@acm.org, Vin Shelton} writes:
2573 (setq initial-frame-plist '(minibuffer nil))
2574 (setq default-frame-plist '(minibuffer nil))
2575 (setq default-minibuffer-frame
2580 menubar-visible-p nil
2581 default-toolbar-visible-p nil
2585 has-modeline-p nil)))
2586 (frame-notice-user-settings)
2589 @strong{Please note:} The single minibuffer frame may not be to everyone's
2590 taste, and there any number of other XEmacs options settings that may
2591 make it difficult or inconvenient to use.
2593 @node Q3.0.9, Q3.1.1, Q3.0.8, Customization
2594 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.0.9: What is @code{Customize}?
2596 Starting with XEmacs 20.2 there is new system 'Customize' for customizing
2599 You can access @code{Customize} from the @code{Options} menu
2600 or invoking one of customize commands by typing eg.
2601 @kbd{M-x customize}, @kbd{M-x customize-face},
2602 @kbd{M-x customize-variable} or @kbd{M-x customize-apropos}.
2604 Starting with XEmacs 20.3 there is also new `browser' mode for Customize.
2605 Try it out with @kbd{M-x customize-browse}
2607 @node Q3.1.1, Q3.1.2, Q3.0.9, Customization
2608 @unnumberedsec 3.1: X Window System & Resources
2609 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.1.1: Where is a list of X resources?
2611 Search through the @file{NEWS} file for @samp{X Resources}. A fairly
2612 comprehensive list is given after it.
2614 In addition, an @file{app-defaults} file is supplied,
2615 @file{etc/Emacs.ad} listing the defaults. The file
2616 @file{etc/sample.Xdefaults} gives a set of defaults that you might
2617 consider. It is essentially the same as @file{etc/Emacs.ad} but some
2618 entries are slightly altered. Be careful about installing the contents
2619 of this file into your @file{.Xdefaults} or @file{.Xresources} file if
2620 you use GNU Emacs under X11 as well.
2622 @node Q3.1.2, Q3.1.3, Q3.1.1, Customization
2623 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.1.2: How can I detect a color display?
2625 You can test the return value of the function @code{(device-class)}, as
2629 (when (eq (device-class) 'color)
2630 (set-face-foreground 'font-lock-comment-face "Grey")
2631 (set-face-foreground 'font-lock-string-face "Red")
2636 @node Q3.1.3, Q3.1.4, Q3.1.2, Customization
2637 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.1.3: [This question intentionally left blank]
2639 @node Q3.1.4, Q3.1.5, Q3.1.3, Customization
2640 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.1.4: [This question intentionally left blank]
2642 @node Q3.1.5, Q3.1.6, Q3.1.4, Customization
2643 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.1.5: How can I get the icon to just say @samp{XEmacs}?
2645 I'd like the icon to just say @samp{XEmacs}, and not include the name of
2646 the current file in it.
2648 Add the following line to your @file{.emacs}:
2651 (setq frame-icon-title-format "XEmacs")
2654 @node Q3.1.6, Q3.1.7, Q3.1.5, Customization
2655 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.1.6: How can I have the window title area display the full path?
2657 I'd like to have the window title area display the full directory/name
2658 of the current buffer file and not just the name.
2660 Add the following line to your @file{.emacs}:
2663 (setq frame-title-format "%S: %f")
2666 A more sophisticated title might be:
2669 (setq frame-title-format
2670 '("%S: " (buffer-file-name "%f"
2671 (dired-directory dired-directory "%b"))))
2674 That is, use the file name, or the dired-directory, or the buffer name.
2676 @node Q3.1.7, Q3.1.8, Q3.1.6, Customization
2677 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.1.7: @samp{xemacs -name junk} doesn't work?
2679 When I run @samp{xterm -name junk}, I get an xterm whose class name
2680 according to xprop, is @samp{junk}. This is the way it's supposed to
2681 work, I think. When I run @samp{xemacs -name junk} the class name is
2682 not set to @samp{junk}. It's still @samp{emacs}. What does
2683 @samp{xemacs -name} really do? The reason I ask is that my window
2684 manager (fvwm) will make a window sticky and I use XEmacs to read my
2685 mail. I want that XEmacs window to be sticky, without having to use the
2686 window manager's function to set the window sticky. What gives?
2688 @samp{xemacs -name} sets the application name for the program (that is,
2689 the thing which normally comes from @samp{argv[0]}). Using @samp{-name}
2690 is the same as making a copy of the executable with that new name. The
2691 @code{WM_CLASS} property on each frame is set to the frame-name, and the
2692 application-class. So, if you did @samp{xemacs -name FOO} and then
2693 created a frame named @var{BAR}, you'd get an X window with WM_CLASS =
2694 @code{( "BAR", "Emacs")}. However, the resource hierarchy for this
2698 Name: FOO .shell .container .BAR
2699 Class: Emacs .TopLevelEmacsShell.EmacsManager.EmacsFrame
2702 instead of the default
2705 Name: xemacs.shell .container .emacs
2706 Class: Emacs .TopLevelEmacsShell.EmacsManager.EmacsFrame
2710 It is arguable that the first element of WM_CLASS should be set to the
2711 application-name instead of the frame-name, but I think that's less
2712 flexible, since it does not give you the ability to have multiple frames
2713 with different WM_CLASS properties. Another possibility would be for
2714 the default frame name to come from the application name instead of
2715 simply being @samp{emacs}. However, at this point, making that change
2716 would be troublesome: it would mean that many users would have to make
2717 yet another change to their resource files (since the default frame name
2718 would suddenly change from @samp{emacs} to @samp{xemacs}, or whatever
2719 the executable happened to be named), so we'd rather avoid it.
2721 To make a frame with a particular name use:
2724 (make-frame '((name . "the-name")))
2727 @node Q3.1.8, Q3.2.1, Q3.1.7, Customization
2728 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.1.8: @samp{-iconic} doesn't work.
2730 When I start up XEmacs using @samp{-iconic} it doesn't work right.
2731 Using @samp{-unmapped} on the command line, and setting the
2732 @code{initiallyUnmapped} X Resource don't seem to help much either...
2734 @email{ben@@xemacs.org, Ben Wing} writes:
2737 Ugh, this stuff is such an incredible mess that I've about given up
2738 getting it to work. The principal problem is numerous window-manager
2742 @node Q3.2.1, Q3.2.2, Q3.1.8, Customization
2743 @unnumberedsec 3.2: Textual Fonts & Colors
2744 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.2.1: How can I set color options from @file{.emacs}?
2746 How can I set the most commonly used color options from my @file{.emacs}
2747 instead of from my @file{.Xdefaults}?
2752 (set-face-background 'default "bisque") ; frame background
2753 (set-face-foreground 'default "black") ; normal text
2754 (set-face-background 'zmacs-region "red") ; When selecting w/
2756 (set-face-foreground 'zmacs-region "yellow")
2757 (set-face-font 'default "*courier-bold-r*120-100-100*")
2758 (set-face-background 'highlight "blue") ; Ie when selecting
2760 (set-face-foreground 'highlight "yellow")
2761 (set-face-background 'modeline "blue") ; Line at bottom
2763 (set-face-foreground 'modeline "white")
2764 (set-face-font 'modeline "*bold-r-normal*140-100-100*")
2765 (set-face-background 'isearch "yellow") ; When highlighting
2767 (set-face-foreground 'isearch "red")
2768 (setq x-pointer-foreground-color "black") ; Adds to bg color,
2770 (setq x-pointer-background-color "blue") ; This is color
2775 @node Q3.2.2, Q3.2.3, Q3.2.1, Customization
2776 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.2.2: How do I set the text, menu and modeline fonts?
2778 Note that you should use @samp{Emacs.} and not @samp{Emacs*} when
2779 setting face values.
2781 In @file{.Xdefaults}:
2784 Emacs.default.attributeFont: -*-*-medium-r-*-*-*-120-*-*-m-*-*-*
2785 Emacs*menubar*font: fixed
2786 Emacs.modeline.attributeFont: fixed
2789 This is confusing because modeline is a face, and can be found listed
2790 with all faces in the current mode by using @kbd{M-x set-face-font
2791 (enter) ?}. It uses the face specification of @code{attributeFont},
2792 while menubar is a normal X thing that uses the specification
2793 @code{font}. With Motif it may be necessary to use @code{fontList}
2794 instead of @code{font}.
2796 @node Q3.2.3, Q3.2.4, Q3.2.2, Customization
2797 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.2.3: How can I set the colors when highlighting a region?
2799 How can I set the background/foreground colors when highlighting a
2802 You can change the face @code{zmacs-region} either in your
2806 Emacs.zmacs-region.attributeForeground: firebrick
2807 Emacs.zmacs-region.attributeBackground: lightseagreen
2810 or in your @file{.emacs}:
2813 (set-face-background 'zmacs-region "red")
2814 (set-face-foreground 'zmacs-region "yellow")
2817 @node Q3.2.4, Q3.2.5, Q3.2.3, Customization
2818 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.2.4: How can I limit color map usage?
2820 I'm using Netscape (or another color grabber like XEmacs);
2821 is there anyway to limit the number of available colors in the color map?
2823 XEmacs 19.13 didn't have such a mechanism (unlike netscape, or other
2824 color-hogs). One solution is to start XEmacs prior to netscape, since
2825 this will prevent Netscape from grabbing all colors (but Netscape will
2826 complain). You can use the flags for Netscape, like -mono, -ncols <#>
2827 or -install (for mono, limiting to <#> colors, or for using a private
2828 color map). Since Netscape will take the entire colormap and never
2829 release it, the only reasonable way to run it is with @samp{-install}.
2831 If you have the money, another solution would be to use a truecolor or
2834 Starting with XEmacs 19.14, XEmacs uses the closest available color if
2835 the colormap is full, so it's O.K. now to start Netscape first.
2837 @node Q3.2.5, Q3.2.6, Q3.2.4, Customization
2838 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.2.5: My tty supports color, but XEmacs doesn't use them.
2840 XEmacs tries to automatically determine whether your tty supports color,
2841 but sometimes guesses wrong. In that case, you can make XEmacs Do The
2842 Right Thing using this Lisp code:
2845 (if (eq 'tty (device-type))
2846 (set-device-class nil 'color))
2849 @node Q3.2.6, Q3.3.1, Q3.2.5, Customization
2850 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.2.6: Can I have pixmap backgrounds in XEmacs?
2852 @email{jvillaci@@wahnsinnig.extreme.indiana.edu, Juan Villacis} writes:
2855 There are several ways to do it. For example, you could specify a
2856 default pixmap image to use in your @file{~/.Xresources}, e.g.,
2860 Emacs*EmacsFrame.default.attributeBackgroundPixmap: /path/to/image.xpm
2864 and then reload ~/.Xresources and restart XEmacs. Alternatively,
2865 since each face can have its own pixmap background, a better way
2866 would be to set a face's pixmap within your XEmacs init file, e.g.,
2869 (set-face-background-pixmap 'default "/path/to/image.xpm")
2870 (set-face-background-pixmap 'bold "/path/to/another_image.xpm")
2873 and so on. You can also do this interactively via @kbd{M-x edit-faces}.
2877 @node Q3.3.1, Q3.3.2, Q3.2.6, Customization
2878 @unnumberedsec 3.3: The Modeline
2879 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.3.1: How can I make the modeline go away?
2882 (set-specifier has-modeline-p nil)
2885 Starting with XEmacs 19.14 the modeline responds to mouse clicks, so if
2886 you haven't liked or used the modeline in the past, you might want to
2887 try the new version out.
2889 @node Q3.3.2, Q3.3.3, Q3.3.1, Customization
2890 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.3.2: How do you have XEmacs display the line number in the modeline?
2892 Add the following line to your @file{.emacs} file to display the
2896 (line-number-mode 1)
2899 Use the following to display the column number:
2902 (column-number-mode 1)
2905 Or select from the @code{Options} menu
2909 @code{Customize->Emacs->Editing->Basics->Line Number Mode}
2914 @code{Customize->Emacs->Editing->Basics->Column Number Mode}
2916 Or type @kbd{M-x customize @key{RET} editing-basics @key{RET}}.
2918 @node Q3.3.3, Q3.3.4, Q3.3.2, Customization
2919 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.3.3: How do I get XEmacs to put the time of day on the modeline?
2921 Add the following line to your @file{.emacs} file to display the
2928 See @code{Customize} from the @code{Options} menu for customization.
2930 @node Q3.3.4, Q3.3.5, Q3.3.3, Customization
2931 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.3.4: How do I turn off current chapter from AUC TeX modeline?
2933 With AUC TeX, fast typing is hard because the current chapter, section
2934 etc. are given in the modeline. How can I turn this off?
2936 It's not AUC TeX, it comes from @code{func-menu} in @file{func-menu.el}.
2937 Add this code to your @file{.emacs} to turn it off:
2940 (setq fume-display-in-modeline-p nil)
2943 Or just add a hook to @code{TeX-mode-hook} to turn it off only for TeX
2947 (add-hook 'TeX-mode-hook
2948 '(lambda () (setq fume-display-in-modeline-p nil)))
2951 @email{dhughes@@origin-at.co.uk, David Hughes} writes:
2954 If you have 19.14 or later, try this instead; you'll still get the
2955 function name displayed in the modeline, but it won't attempt to keep
2956 track when you modify the file. To refresh when it gets out of synch,
2957 you simply need click on the @samp{Rescan Buffer} option in the
2961 (setq-default fume-auto-rescan-buffer-p nil)
2965 @node Q3.3.5, Q3.4.1, Q3.3.4, Customization
2966 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.3.5: How can one change the modeline color based on the mode used?
2968 You can use something like the following:
2971 (add-hook 'lisp-mode-hook
2973 (set-face-background 'modeline "red" (current-buffer))))
2976 Then, when editing a Lisp file (i.e. when in Lisp mode), the modeline
2977 colors change from the default set in your @file{.emacs}. The change
2978 will only be made in the buffer you just entered (which contains the
2979 Lisp file you are editing) and will not affect the modeline colors
2987 The hook is the mode name plus @code{-hook}. eg. c-mode-hook,
2988 c++-mode-hook, emacs-lisp-mode-hook (used for your @file{.emacs} or a
2989 @file{xx.el} file), lisp-interaction-mode-hook (the @samp{*scratch*}
2990 buffer), text-mode-hook, etc.
2993 Be sure to use @code{add-hook}, not @code{(setq c-mode-hook xxxx)},
2994 otherwise you will erase anything that anybody has already put on the
2998 You can also do @code{(set-face-font 'modeline @var{font})},
2999 eg. @code{(set-face-font 'modeline "*bold-r-normal*140-100-100*"
3000 (current-buffer))} if you wish the modeline font to vary based on the
3004 This works in 19.15 as well, but there are additional modeline faces,
3005 @code{modeline-buffer-id}, @code{modeline-mousable}, and
3006 @code{modeline-mousable-minor-mode}, which you may want to customize.
3008 @node Q3.4.1, Q3.4.2, Q3.3.5, Customization
3009 @unnumberedsec 3.4: Multiple Device Support
3010 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.4.1: How do I open a frame on another screen of my multi-headed display?
3012 The support for this was revamped for 19.14. Use the command
3013 @kbd{M-x make-frame-on-display}. This command is also on the File menu
3016 XEmacs 19.14 and later also have the command @code{make-frame-on-tty}
3017 which will establish a connection to any tty-like device. Opening the
3018 TTY devices should be left to @code{gnuclient}, though.
3020 @node Q3.4.2, Q3.5.1, Q3.4.1, Customization
3021 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.4.2: Can I really connect to a running XEmacs after calling up over a modem? How?
3023 If you're not running at least XEmacs 19.14, you can't. Otherwise check
3024 out the @code{gnuattach} program supplied with XEmacs. Starting with
3025 XEmacs 20.3, @code{gnuattach} and @code{gnudoit} functionality is
3026 provided by @code{gnuclient}.
3028 Also @xref{Q5.0.12}.
3030 @node Q3.5.1, Q3.5.2, Q3.4.2, Customization
3031 @unnumberedsec 3.5: The Keyboard
3032 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.5.1: How can I bind complex functions (or macros) to keys?
3034 As an example, say you want the @kbd{paste} key on a Sun keyboard to
3035 insert the current Primary X selection at point. You can accomplish this
3039 (define-key global-map [f18] 'x-insert-selection)
3042 However, this only works if there is a current X selection (the
3043 selection will be highlighted). The functionality I like is for the
3044 @kbd{paste} key to insert the current X selection if there is one,
3045 otherwise insert the contents of the clipboard. To do this you need to
3046 pass arguments to @code{x-insert-selection}. This is done by wrapping
3047 the call in a 'lambda form:
3050 (global-set-key [f18]
3051 (lambda () (interactive) (x-insert-selection t nil)))
3054 This binds the f18 key to a @dfn{generic} functional object. The
3055 interactive spec is required because only interactive functions can be
3058 For the FAQ example you could use:
3061 (global-set-key [(control ?.)]
3062 (lambda () (interactive) (scroll-up 1)))
3063 (global-set-key [(control ?;)]
3064 (lambda () (interactive) (scroll-up -1)))
3067 This is fine if you only need a few functions within the lambda body.
3068 If you're doing more it's cleaner to define a separate function as in
3069 question 3.5.3 (@pxref{Q3.5.3}).
3071 @node Q3.5.2, Q3.5.3, Q3.5.1, Customization
3072 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.5.2: How can I stop down-arrow from adding empty lines to the bottom of my buffers?
3074 Add the following line to your @file{.emacs} file:
3077 (setq next-line-add-newlines nil)
3080 This has been the default setting in XEmacs for some time.
3082 @node Q3.5.3, Q3.5.4, Q3.5.2, Customization
3083 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.5.3: How do I bind C-. and C-; to scroll one line up and down?
3085 Add the following (Thanks to @email{mly@@adoc.xerox.com, Richard Mlynarik} and
3086 @email{wayne@@zen.cac.stratus.com, Wayne Newberry}) to @file{.emacs}:
3089 (defun scroll-up-one-line ()
3093 (defun scroll-down-one-line ()
3097 (global-set-key [(control ?.)] 'scroll-up-one-line) ; C-.
3098 (global-set-key [(control ?;)] 'scroll-down-one-line) ; C-;
3101 The key point is that you can only bind simple functions to keys; you
3102 can not bind a key to a function that you're also passing arguments to.
3103 (@pxref{Q3.5.1} for a better answer).
3105 @node Q3.5.4, Q3.5.5, Q3.5.3, Customization
3106 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.5.4: Globally binding @kbd{Delete}?
3108 I cannot manage to globally bind my @kbd{Delete} key to something other
3109 than the default. How does one do this?
3114 (message "You hit DELETE"))
3116 (global-set-key 'delete 'foo)
3119 However, some modes explicitly bind @kbd{Delete}, so you would need to
3120 add a hook that does @code{local-set-key} for them. If what you want to
3121 do is make the Backspace and Delete keys work more PC/Motif-like, then
3122 take a look at the @file{delbs.el} package.
3124 New in XEmacs 19.14 is a variable called @code{key-translation-map}
3125 which makes it easier to bind @kbd{Delete}. @file{delbs.el} is a
3126 good example of how to do this correctly.
3128 Also @xref{Q3.5.10}.
3130 @node Q3.5.5, Q3.5.6, Q3.5.4, Customization
3131 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.5.5: Scrolling one line at a time.
3133 Can the cursor keys scroll the screen a line at a time, rather than the
3134 default half page jump? I tend it to find it disorienting.
3139 (defun scroll-one-line-up (&optional arg)
3140 "Scroll the selected window up (forward in the text) one line (or N lines)."
3142 (scroll-up (or arg 1)))
3144 (defun scroll-one-line-down (&optional arg)
3145 "Scroll the selected window down (backward in the text) one line (or N)."
3147 (scroll-down (or arg 1)))
3149 (global-set-key [up] 'scroll-one-line-up)
3150 (global-set-key [down] 'scroll-one-line-down)
3153 The following will also work but will affect more than just the cursor
3154 keys (i.e. @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p}):
3157 (setq scroll-step 1)
3160 Starting with XEmacs-20.3 you can also change this with Customize.
3161 Select from the @code{Options} menu
3162 @code{Customize->Emacs->Environment->Windows->Scroll Step...} or type
3163 @kbd{M-x customize @key{RET} windows @key{RET}}.
3165 @node Q3.5.6, Q3.5.7, Q3.5.5, Customization
3166 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.5.6: How to map @kbd{Help} key alone on Sun type4 keyboard?
3168 The following works in GNU Emacs 19:
3171 (global-set-key [help] 'help-command);; Help
3174 The following works in XEmacs 19.15 with the addition of shift:
3177 (global-set-key [(shift help)] 'help-command);; Help
3180 But it doesn't work alone. This is in the file @file{PROBLEMS} which
3181 should have come with your XEmacs installation: @emph{Emacs ignores the
3182 @kbd{help} key when running OLWM}.
3184 OLWM grabs the @kbd{help} key, and retransmits it to the appropriate
3189 @code{XSendEvent}. Allowing Emacs to react to synthetic
3190 events is a security hole, so this is turned off by default. You can
3191 enable it by setting the variable @code{x-allow-sendevents} to t. You
3192 can also cause fix this by telling OLWM to not grab the help key, with
3193 the null binding @code{OpenWindows.KeyboardCommand.Help:}.
3195 @node Q3.5.7, Q3.5.8, Q3.5.6, Customization
3196 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.5.7: How can you type in special characters in XEmacs?
3198 One way is to use the package @code{x-compose}. Then you can use
3199 sequences like @kbd{Compose " a} to get ä, etc.
3201 Another way is to use the @code{iso-insert} package, provided in XEmacs
3202 19.15 and later. Then you can use sequences like @kbd{C-x 8 " a} to get
3205 @email{glynn@@sensei.co.uk, Glynn Clements} writes:
3208 It depends upon your X server.
3210 Generally, the simplest way is to define a key as Multi_key with
3212 @c hey, show some respect, willya -- there's xkeycaps, isn't there? --
3215 xmodmap -e 'keycode 0xff20 = Multi_key'
3218 You will need to pick an appropriate keycode. Use xev to find out the
3219 keycodes for each key.
3221 [NB: On a `Windows' keyboard, recent versions of XFree86 automatically
3222 define the right `Windows' key as Multi_key'.]
3224 Once you have Multi_key defined, you can use e.g.
3233 Also, recent versions of XFree86 define various AltGr-<key>
3234 combinations as dead keys, i.e.
3236 AltGr [ => dead_diaeresis
3237 AltGr ] => dead_tilde
3238 AltGr ; => dead_acute
3242 Running @samp{xmodmap -pk} will list all of the defined keysyms.
3245 @node Q3.5.8, Q3.5.9, Q3.5.7, Customization
3246 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.5.8: Why does @code{(global-set-key [delete-forward] 'delete-char)} complain?
3248 Why does @code{(define-key global-map [ delete-forward ] 'delete-char)}
3249 complain of not being able to bind an unknown key?
3254 (define-key global-map [delete_forward] 'delete-char)
3259 What you are seeing above is a bug due to code that is trying to check
3260 for GNU Emacs syntax like:
3262 (define-key global-map [C-M-a] 'delete-char)
3264 which otherwise would cause no errors but would not result in the
3267 This bug has been fixed in 19.14.
3269 @node Q3.5.9, Q3.5.10, Q3.5.8, Customization
3270 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.5.9: How do I make the Delete key delete forward?
3272 With XEmacs-20.2 use the @code{delbs} package:
3278 This will give you the functions @code{delbs-enable-delete-forward} to
3279 set things up, and @code{delbs-disable-delete-forward} to revert to
3280 ``normal'' behavior. Note that @code{delbackspace} package is obsolete.
3282 Starting with XEmacs-20.3 better solution is to set variable
3283 @code{delete-key-deletes-forward} to t. You can also change this with
3284 Customize. Select from the @code{Options} menu
3285 @code{Customize->Emacs->Editing->Basics->Delete Key Deletes Forward} or
3286 type @kbd{M-x customize @key{RET} editing-basics @key{RET}}.
3290 @node Q3.5.10, Q3.5.11, Q3.5.9, Customization
3291 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.5.10: Can I turn on @dfn{sticky} modifier keys?
3293 Yes, with @code{(setq modifier-keys-are-sticky t)}. This will give the
3294 effect of being able to press and release Shift and have the next
3295 character typed come out in upper case. This will affect all the other
3296 modifier keys like Control and Meta as well.
3298 @email{ben@@xemacs.org, Ben Wing} writes:
3301 One thing about the sticky modifiers is that if you move the mouse out
3302 of the frame and back in, it cancels all currently ``stuck'' modifiers.
3305 @node Q3.5.11, Q3.6.1, Q3.5.10, Customization
3306 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.5.11: How do I map the arrow keys?
3308 Say you want to map @kbd{C-@key{right}} to forward-word:
3310 @email{sds@@usa.net, Sam Steingold} writes:
3314 ; both XEmacs and Emacs
3315 (define-key global-map [(control right)] 'forward-word)
3320 (define-key global-map [C-right] 'forward-word)
3325 (define-key global-map (kbd "C-<right>") 'forward-word)
3331 @node Q3.6.1, Q3.6.2, Q3.5.11, Customization
3332 @unnumberedsec 3.6: The Cursor
3333 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.6.1: Is there a way to make the bar cursor thicker?
3335 I'd like to have the bar cursor a little thicker, as I tend to "lose" it
3338 For a 1 pixel bar cursor, use:
3344 For a 2 pixel bar cursor, use:
3347 (setq bar-cursor 'anything-else)
3350 Starting with XEmacs-20.3 you can also change these with Customize.
3351 Select from the @code{Options} menu
3352 @code{Customize->Emacs->Environment->Display->Bar Cursor...} or type
3353 @kbd{M-x customize @key{RET} display @key{RET}}.
3355 You can use a color to make it stand out better:
3358 Emacs*cursorColor: Red
3361 @node Q3.6.2, Q3.6.3, Q3.6.1, Customization
3362 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.6.2: Is there a way to get back the block cursor?
3365 (setq bar-cursor nil)
3368 Starting with XEmacs-20.3 you can also change this with Customize.
3369 Select from the @code{Options} menu
3370 @code{Customize->Emacs->Environment->Display->Bar Cursor...} or type
3371 @kbd{M-x customize @key{RET} display @key{RET}}.
3373 @node Q3.6.3, Q3.7.1, Q3.6.2, Customization
3374 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.6.3: Can I make the cursor blink?
3376 If you are running a version of XEmacs older than 19.14, no. Otherwise
3377 you can do the following:
3383 This function toggles between a steady cursor and a blinking cursor.
3384 You may also set this mode from the menu bar by selecting @samp{Options
3385 => Frame Appearance => Blinking Cursor}. Remember to save options.
3387 @node Q3.7.1, Q3.7.2, Q3.6.3, Customization
3388 @unnumberedsec 3.7: The Mouse and Highlighting
3389 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.7.1: How can I turn off Mouse pasting?
3391 I keep hitting the middle mouse button by accident and getting stuff
3392 pasted into my buffer so how can I turn this off?
3394 Here is an alternative binding, whereby the middle mouse button selects
3395 (but does not cut) the expression under the mouse. Clicking middle on a
3396 left or right paren will select to the matching one. Note that you can
3397 use @code{define-key} or @code{global-set-key}.
3400 (defun mouse-set-point-and-select (event)
3401 "Sets the point at the mouse location, then marks following form"
3403 (mouse-set-point event)
3405 (define-key global-map [button2] 'mouse-set-point-and-select)
3408 @node Q3.7.2, Q3.7.3, Q3.7.1, Customization
3409 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.7.2: How do I set control/meta/etc modifiers on mouse buttons?
3411 Use, for instance, @code{[(meta button1)]}. For example, here is a common
3412 setting for Common Lisp programmers who use the bundled @code{ilisp}
3413 package, whereby meta-button1 on a function name will find the file where
3414 the function name was defined, and put you at that location in the source
3417 [Inside a function that gets called by the lisp-mode-hook and
3421 (local-set-key [(meta button1)] 'edit-definitions-lisp)
3424 @node Q3.7.3, Q3.7.4, Q3.7.2, Customization
3425 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.7.3: Clicking the left button does not do anything in buffer list.
3427 I do @kbd{C-x C-b} to get a list of buffers and the entries get
3428 highlighted when I move the mouse over them but clicking the left mouse
3429 does not do anything.
3431 Use the middle mouse button.
3433 @node Q3.7.4, Q3.7.5, Q3.7.3, Customization
3434 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.7.4: How can I get a list of buffers when I hit mouse button 3?
3436 The following code will replace the default popup on button3:
3439 (global-set-key [button3] 'popup-buffer-menu)
3442 @node Q3.7.5, Q3.7.6, Q3.7.4, Customization
3443 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.7.5: Why does cut-and-paste not work between XEmacs and a cmdtool?
3445 We don't know. It's a bug. There does seem to be a work-around,
3446 however. Try running xclipboard first. It appears to fix the problem
3447 even if you exit it. (This should be mostly fixed in 19.13, but we
3448 haven't yet verified that).
3450 @node Q3.7.6, Q3.7.7, Q3.7.5, Customization
3451 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.7.6: How I can set XEmacs up so that it pastes where the text cursor is?
3453 By default XEmacs pastes X selections where the mouse pointer is. How
3456 Examine the function @code{mouse-yank}, by typing @kbd{C-h f mouse-yank
3459 To get XEmacs to paste at the text cursor, add this your @file{.emacs}:
3462 (setq mouse-yank-at-point t)
3465 Starting with XEmacs-20.2 you can also change this with Customize.
3466 Select from the @code{Options} menu
3467 @code{Customize->Emacs->Editing->Mouse->Yank At Point...} or type
3468 @kbd{M-x customize @key{RET} mouse @key{RET}}.
3470 @node Q3.7.7, Q3.7.8, Q3.7.6, Customization
3471 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.7.7: How do I select a rectangular region?
3473 Just select the region normally, then use the rectangle commands (e.g.
3474 @code{kill-rectangle} on it. The region does not highlight as a
3475 rectangle, but the commands work just fine.
3477 To actually sweep out rectangular regions with the mouse you can use
3478 @code{mouse-track-do-rectangle} which is assigned to @kbd{M-button1}.
3479 Then use rectangle commands.
3481 You can also do the following to change default behavior to sweep out
3482 rectangular regions:
3485 (setq mouse-track-rectangle-p t)
3488 Starting with XEmacs-20.2 you can also change this with Customize.
3489 Select from the @code{Options} menu
3490 @code{Customize->Emacs->Editing->Mouse->Track Rectangle...} or type
3491 @kbd{M-x customize @key{RET} mouse @key{RET}}.
3495 mouse-track-do-rectangle: (event)
3496 -- an interactive compiled Lisp function.
3497 Like `mouse-track' but selects rectangles instead of regions.
3500 @node Q3.7.8, Q3.8.1, Q3.7.7, Customization
3501 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.7.8: Why does @kbd{M-w} take so long?
3503 It actually doesn't. It leaves the region visible for a second so that
3504 you can see what area is being yanked. If you start working, though, it
3505 will immediately complete its operation. In other words, it will only
3506 delay for a second if you let it.
3508 @node Q3.8.1, Q3.8.2, Q3.7.8, Customization
3509 @unnumberedsec 3.8: The Menubar and Toolbar
3510 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.8.1: How do I get rid of the menu (or menubar)?
3512 If you are running XEmacs 19.13 and earlier, add this command to your
3519 Starting with XEmacs 19.14 the preferred method is:
3522 (set-specifier menubar-visible-p nil)
3525 @node Q3.8.2, Q3.8.3, Q3.8.1, Customization
3526 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.8.2: Can I customize the basic menubar?
3528 For an extensive menubar, add this line to your @file{.emacs}:
3531 (load "big-menubar")
3534 If you'd like to write your own, this file provides as good a set of
3535 examples as any to start from. The file is located in
3536 @file{lisp/packages/big-menubar.el} in the XEmacs installation
3539 @node Q3.8.3, Q3.8.4, Q3.8.2, Customization
3540 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.8.3: How do I control how many buffers are listed in the menu @code{Buffers List}?
3542 Add the following to your @file{.emacs} (suit to fit):
3545 (setq buffers-menu-max-size 20)
3548 For no limit, use an argument of @samp{nil}.
3550 Starting with XEmacs-20.3 you can also change this with Customize.
3551 Select from the @code{Options} menu
3552 @code{Customize->Emacs->Environment->Menu->Buffers Menu->Max Size...} or
3553 type @kbd{M-x customize @key{RET} buffers-menu @key{RET}}.
3555 @node Q3.8.4, Q3.8.5, Q3.8.3, Customization
3556 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.8.4: Resources like @code{Emacs*menubar*font} are not working?
3558 I am trying to use a resource like @code{Emacs*menubar*font} to set the
3559 font of the menubar but it's not working.
3561 If you are using the real Motif menubar, this resource is not
3562 recognized; you have to say:
3565 Emacs*menubar*fontList: FONT
3568 If you are using the Lucid menubar, the former resource will be
3569 recognized only if the latter resource is unset. This means that the
3579 Emacs*menubar*font: FONT
3582 even though the latter is more specific.
3584 @node Q3.8.5, Q3.9.1, Q3.8.4, Customization
3585 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.8.5: How can I bind a key to a function to toggle the toolbar?
3590 (defun my-toggle-toolbar ()
3592 (set-specifier default-toolbar-visible-p
3593 (not (specifier-instance default-toolbar-visible-p))))
3594 (global-set-key "\C-xT" 'my-toggle-toolbar)
3597 There are redisplay bugs in 19.14 that may make the preceding result in
3598 a messed-up display, especially for frames with multiple windows. You
3599 may need to resize the frame before XEmacs completely realizes the
3600 toolbar is really gone.
3602 Thanks to @email{martin@@xemacs.org, Martin Buchholz} for the correct
3605 @node Q3.9.1, Q3.9.2, Q3.8.5, Customization
3606 @unnumberedsec 3.9: Scrollbars
3607 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.9.1: How can I disable the scrollbar?
3609 To disable them for all frames, add the following line to
3610 your @file{.Xdefaults}:
3613 Emacs.scrollBarWidth: 0
3616 Or select from the @code{Options} menu @code{Frame Appearance->Scrollbars}.
3617 Remember to save options.
3619 To turn the scrollbar off on a per-frame basis, use the following
3623 (set-specifier scrollbar-width 0 (selected-frame))
3626 You can actually turn the scrollbars on at any level you want by
3627 substituting for (selected-frame) in the above command. For example, to
3628 turn the scrollbars off only in a single buffer:
3631 (set-specifier scrollbar-width 0 (current-buffer))
3634 In XEmacs versions prior to 19.14, you had to use the hairier construct:
3637 (set-specifier scrollbar-width (cons (selected-frame) 0))
3640 @node Q3.9.2, Q3.9.3, Q3.9.1, Customization
3641 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.9.2: How can one use resources to change scrollbar colors?
3643 Here's a recap of how to use resources to change your scrollbar colors:
3648 Emacs*XmScrollBar.Background: skyblue
3649 Emacs*XmScrollBar.troughColor: lightgray
3653 Emacs*Scrollbar.Foreground: skyblue
3654 Emacs*Scrollbar.Background: lightgray
3657 Note the capitalization of @code{Scrollbar} for the Athena widget.
3659 @node Q3.9.3, Q3.9.4, Q3.9.2, Customization
3660 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.9.3: Moving the scrollbar can move the point; can I disable this?
3662 When I move the scrollbar in an XEmacs window, it moves the point as
3663 well, which should not be the default behavior. Is this a bug or a
3664 feature? Can I disable it?
3666 The current behavior is a feature, not a bug. Point remains at the same
3667 buffer position as long as that position does not scroll off the screen.
3668 In that event, point will end up in either the upper-left or lower-left
3671 This cannot be changed.
3673 @node Q3.9.4, Q3.10.1, Q3.9.3, Customization
3674 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.9.4: How can I get automatic horizontal scrolling?
3676 By the same token, how can I turn it off in specific modes?
3678 To do this, add to your @file{.emacs} file:
3681 (require 'auto-show)
3684 Then do @code{(setq truncate-lines t)} in the mode-hooks for any modes
3685 in which you want lines truncated.
3687 More precisely: If @code{truncate-lines} is nil, horizontal scrollbars
3688 will never appear. Otherwise, they will appear only if the value of
3689 @code{scrollbar-height} for that buffer/window/etc. is non-zero. If you
3693 (set-specifier scrollbar-height 0)
3696 then horizontal scrollbars will not appear in truncated buffers unless
3697 the package specifically asked for them.
3699 Automatic horizontal scrolling is now standard, starting with 19.14.
3701 @node Q3.10.1, Q3.10.2, Q3.9.4, Customization
3702 @unnumberedsec 3.10: Text Selections
3703 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.10.1: How can I turn off or change highlighted selections?
3705 The @code{zmacs} mode allows for what some might call gratuitous
3706 highlighting for selected regions (either by setting mark or by using
3707 the mouse). This is the default behavior. To turn off, add the
3708 following line to your @file{.emacs} file:
3711 (setq zmacs-regions nil)
3714 Starting with XEmacs-20.2 you can also change this with Customize. Select
3715 from the @code{Options} menu @code{Customize->Emacs->Editing->Basics->Zmacs
3716 Regions} or type @kbd{M-x customize @key{RET} editing-basics @key{RET}}.
3718 To change the face for selection, look at @code{Options->Customize} on
3721 @node Q3.10.2, Q3.10.3, Q3.10.1, Customization
3722 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.10.2: How do I get that typing on an active region removes it?
3724 I want to change things so that if I select some text and start typing,
3725 the typed text replaces the selected text, similar to Motif.
3727 You want to use something called @dfn{pending delete}. Pending delete
3728 is what happens when you select a region (with the mouse or keyboard)
3729 and you press a key to replace the selected region by the key you typed.
3730 Usually backspace kills the selected region.
3732 To get this behavior, add the following lines to your @file{.emacs}:
3736 ((fboundp 'turn-on-pending-delete)
3737 (turn-on-pending-delete))
3738 ((fboundp 'pending-delete-on)
3739 (pending-delete-on t)))
3742 Note that this will work with both Backspace and Delete. This code is a
3743 tad more complicated than it has to be for XEmacs in order to make it
3746 @node Q3.10.3, Q3.10.4, Q3.10.2, Customization
3747 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.10.3: Can I turn off the highlight during isearch?
3749 I do not like my text highlighted while I am doing isearch as I am not
3750 able to see what's underneath. How do I turn it off?
3752 Put the following in your @file{.emacs}:
3755 (setq isearch-highlight nil)
3758 Starting with XEmacs-20.2 you can also change this with Customize. Type
3759 @kbd{M-x customize-variable @key{RET} isearch-highlight @key{RET}}.
3761 Note also that isearch-highlight affects query-replace and ispell.
3762 Instead of disabling isearch-highlight you may find that a better
3763 solution consists of customizing the @code{isearch} face.
3765 @node Q3.10.4, Q3.10.5, Q3.10.3, Customization
3766 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.10.4: How do I turn off highlighting after @kbd{C-x C-p} (mark-page)?
3768 Put this in your @code{.emacs}:
3771 (setq zmacs-regions nil)
3774 @strong{Warning: This command turns off all region highlighting.}
3776 Also @xref{Q3.10.1}.
3778 @node Q3.10.5, , Q3.10.4, Customization
3779 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.10.5: The region disappears when I hit the end of buffer while scrolling.
3781 This has been fixed by default starting with XEmacs-20.3.
3783 With older versions you can turn this feature (if it indeed is a feature)
3787 (defadvice scroll-up (around scroll-up freeze)
3789 (let ((zmacs-region-stays t))
3793 (end-of-buffer (goto-char (point-max))))
3796 (defadvice scroll-down (around scroll-down freeze)
3798 (let ((zmacs-region-stays t))
3802 (beginning-of-buffer (goto-char (point-min))))
3806 Thanks to @email{raman@@adobe.com, T. V. Raman} for assistance in deriving this
3809 @node Subsystems, Miscellaneous, Customization, Top
3810 @unnumbered 4 Major Subsystems
3812 This is part 4 of the XEmacs Frequently Asked Questions list. This
3813 section is devoted to major XEmacs subsystems.
3816 Reading Mail with VM:
3817 * Q4.0.1:: How do I set up VM to retrieve remote mail using POP?
3818 * Q4.0.2:: How do I get VM to filter mail for me?
3819 * Q4.0.3:: How can I get VM to automatically check for new mail?
3820 * Q4.0.4:: [This question intentionally left blank]
3821 * Q4.0.5:: How do I get my outgoing mail archived?
3822 * Q4.0.6:: I have various addresses at which I receive mail. How can I tell VM to ignore them when doing a "reply-all"?
3823 * Q4.0.7:: Is there a mailing list or FAQ for VM?
3824 * Q4.0.8:: Remote mail reading with VM.
3825 * Q4.0.9:: rmail or VM gets an error incorporating new mail.
3826 * Q4.0.10:: How do I make VM stay in a single frame?
3827 * Q4.0.11:: How do I make VM or mh-e display graphical smilies?
3828 * Q4.0.12:: Customization of VM not covered in the manual or here.
3830 Web browsing with W3:
3831 * Q4.1.1:: What is W3?
3832 * Q4.1.2:: How do I run W3 from behind a firewall?
3833 * Q4.1.3:: Is it true that W3 supports style sheets and tables?
3835 Reading Netnews and Mail with Gnus:
3836 * Q4.2.1:: GNUS, (ding) Gnus, Gnus 5, September Gnus, Red Gnus,argh!
3837 * Q4.2.2:: [This question intentionally left blank]
3838 * Q4.2.3:: How do I make Gnus stay within a single frame?
3839 * Q4.2.4:: How do I customize the From: line?
3842 * Q4.3.1:: How can I read and/or compose MIME messages?
3843 * Q4.3.2:: What is TM and where do I get it?
3844 * Q4.3.3:: Why isn't this @code{movemail} program working?
3845 * Q4.3.4:: Movemail is also distributed by Netscape? Can that cause problems?
3846 * Q4.3.5:: Where do I find pstogif (required by tm)?
3848 Sparcworks, EOS, and WorkShop:
3849 * Q4.4.1:: What is SPARCworks, EOS, and WorkShop
3850 * Q4.4.2:: How do I start the Sun Workshop support in XEmacs 21?
3853 * Q4.5.1:: What is/was Energize?
3856 * Q4.6.1:: What is Infodock?
3858 Other Unbundled Packages:
3859 * Q4.7.1:: What is AUC TeX? Where do you get it?
3860 * Q4.7.2:: Are there any Emacs Lisp Spreadsheets?
3861 * Q4.7.3:: [This question intentionally left blank]
3862 * Q4.7.4:: Problems installing AUC TeX
3863 * Q4.7.5:: Is there a reason for an Emacs package not to be included in XEmacs?
3864 * Q4.7.6:: Is there a MatLab mode?
3867 @node Q4.0.1, Q4.0.2, Subsystems, Subsystems
3868 @unnumberedsec 4.0: Reading Mail with VM
3869 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.0.1: How do I set up VM to retrieve mail from a remote site using POP?
3871 Use @code{vm-spool-files}, like this for example:
3874 (setq vm-spool-files '("/var/spool/mail/wing"
3875 "netcom23.netcom.com:110:pass:wing:MYPASS"))
3878 Of course substitute your actual password for MYPASS.
3880 @node Q4.0.2, Q4.0.3, Q4.0.1, Subsystems
3881 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.0.2: How do I get VM to filter mail for me?
3883 One possibility is to use procmail to split your mail before it gets to
3884 VM. I prefer this personally, since there are many strange and
3885 wonderful things one can do with procmail. Procmail may be found at
3886 @uref{ftp://ftp.informatik.rwth-aachen.de/pub/packages/procmail/}.
3888 Also see the Mail Filtering FAQ at:
3892 @uref{ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/mail/filtering-faq}.
3894 @c <URL:http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/mail/filtering-faq/faq.html>
3897 @node Q4.0.3, Q4.0.4, Q4.0.2, Subsystems
3898 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.0.3: How can I get VM to automatically check for new mail?
3900 @email{turner@@lanl.gov, John Turner} writes:
3906 (setq vm-auto-get-new-mail 60)
3910 @node Q4.0.4, Q4.0.5, Q4.0.3, Subsystems
3911 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.0.4: [This question intentionally left blank]
3913 Obsolete question, left blank to avoid renumbering.
3915 @node Q4.0.5, Q4.0.6, Q4.0.4, Subsystems
3916 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.0.5: How do I get my outgoing mail archived?
3919 (setq mail-archive-file-name "~/outbox")
3922 @node Q4.0.6, Q4.0.7, Q4.0.5, Subsystems
3923 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.0.6: I have various addresses at which I receive mail. How can I tell VM to ignore them when doing a "reply-all"?
3925 Set @code{vm-reply-ignored-addresses} to a list, like
3928 (setq vm-reply-ignored-addresses
3929 '("wing@@nuspl@@nvwls.cc.purdue.edu,netcom[0-9]*.netcom.com"
3930 "wing@@netcom.com" "wing@@xemacs.org"))
3933 Note that each string is a regular expression.
3935 @node Q4.0.7, Q4.0.8, Q4.0.6, Subsystems
3936 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.0.7: Is there a mailing list or FAQ for VM?
3938 A FAQ for VM exists at @uref{http://www.cyberpass.net/~gorkab/vmfaq.htm}.
3940 VM has its own newsgroups gnu.emacs.vm.info and gnu.emacs.vm.bug.
3942 @node Q4.0.8, Q4.0.9, Q4.0.7, Subsystems
3943 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.0.8: Remote mail reading with VM.
3945 My mailbox lives at the office on a big honkin server. My regular INBOX
3946 lives on my honkin desktop machine. I now can PPP to the office from
3947 home which is far from honking... I'd like to be able to read mail at
3948 home without storing it here and I'd like to use xemacs and VM at
3949 home... Is there a recommended setup?
3951 @email{nuspl@@nvwls.cc.purdue.edu, Joseph J. Nuspl Jr.} writes:
3954 There are several ways to do this.
3958 Set your display to your home machine and run dxpc or one of the other X
3962 NFS mount your desktop machine on your home machine and modify your pop
3963 command on your home machine to rsh to your desktop machine and actually
3967 Run a POP server on your desktop machine as well and do a sort of two
3972 @email{wmperry@@monolith.spry.com, William Perry} adds:
3975 Or you could run a pop script periodically on your desktop machine, and
3976 just use ange-ftp or NFS to get to your mailbox. I used to do this all
3977 the time back at IU.
3980 @node Q4.0.9, Q4.0.10, Q4.0.8, Subsystems
3981 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.0.9: rmail or VM gets an error incorporating new mail.
3983 Quoting the XEmacs PROBLEMS file:
3986 rmail and VM get new mail from @file{/usr/spool/mail/$USER} using a
3987 program called @code{movemail}. This program interlocks with
3988 @code{/bin/mail} using the protocol defined by @code{/bin/mail}.
3990 There are two different protocols in general use. One of them uses the
3991 @code{flock} system call. The other involves creating a lock file;
3992 @code{movemail} must be able to write in @file{/usr/spool/mail} in order
3993 to do this. You control which one is used by defining, or not defining,
3994 the macro @code{MAIL_USE_FLOCK} in @file{config.h} or the m- or s- file
3997 @strong{IF YOU DON'T USE THE FORM OF INTERLOCKING THAT IS NORMAL ON YOUR
3998 SYSTEM, YOU CAN LOSE MAIL!}
4000 If your system uses the lock file protocol, and fascist restrictions
4001 prevent ordinary users from writing the lock files in
4002 @file{/usr/spool/mail}, you may need to make @code{movemail} setgid to a
4003 suitable group such as @samp{mail}. You can use these commands (as
4011 If your system uses the lock file protocol, and fascist restrictions
4012 prevent ordinary users from writing the lock files in
4013 @file{/usr/spool/mail}, you may need to make @code{movemail} setgid to a
4014 suitable group such as @code{mail}. To do this, use the following
4015 commands (as root) after doing the make install.
4022 Installation normally copies movemail from the build directory to an
4023 installation directory which is usually under @file{/usr/local/lib}.
4024 The installed copy of @code{movemail} is usually in the directory
4025 @file{/usr/local/lib/emacs/VERSION/TARGET}. You must change the group
4026 and mode of the installed copy; changing the group and mode of the build
4027 directory copy is ineffective.
4030 @node Q4.0.10, Q4.0.11, Q4.0.9, Subsystems
4031 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.0.10: How do I make VM stay in a single frame?
4033 John.@email{Cooper@@Eng.Sun.COM, John S Cooper} writes:
4037 ; Don't use multiple frames
4038 (setq vm-frame-per-composition nil)
4039 (setq vm-frame-per-folder nil)
4040 (setq vm-frame-per-edit nil)
4041 (setq vm-frame-per-summary nil)
4045 @node Q4.0.11, Q4.0.12, Q4.0.10, Subsystems
4046 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.0.11: How do I make VM or mh-e display graphical smilies?
4048 For mh-e use the following:
4051 (add-hook 'mh-show-mode-hook '(lambda ()
4052 (smiley-region (point-min)
4056 @email{bill@@carpenter.ORG, WJCarpenter} writes:
4057 For VM use the following:
4059 (autoload 'smiley-region "smiley" nil t)
4060 (add-hook 'vm-select-message-hook
4062 (smiley-region (point-min)
4066 For tm use the following:
4068 (autoload 'smiley-buffer "smiley" nil t)
4069 (add-hook 'mime-viewer/plain-text-preview-hook 'smiley-buffer)
4072 @node Q4.0.12, Q4.1.1, Q4.0.11, Subsystems
4073 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.0.12: Customization of VM not covered in the manual, or here.
4075 @email{boffi@@hp735.stru.polimi.it, giacomo boffi} writes:
4078 The meta-answer is to look into the file @file{vm-vars.el}, in the vm
4079 directory of the lisp library.
4081 @file{vm-vars.el} contains, initializes and carefully describes, with
4082 examples of usage, the plethora of user options that @emph{fully}
4083 control VM's behavior.
4085 Enter vm-vars, @code{forward-search} for toolbar, find the variables
4086 that control the toolbar placement, appearance, existence, copy to your
4087 @file{.emacs} or @file{.vm} and modify according to the detailed
4090 The above also applies to all the various features of VM: search for
4091 some keywords, maybe the first you conjure isn't appropriate, find the
4092 appropriate variables, copy and experiment.
4095 @node Q4.1.1, Q4.1.2, Q4.0.12, Subsystems
4096 @unnumberedsec 4.1: Web browsing with W3
4097 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.1.1: What is W3?
4099 W3 is an advanced graphical browser written in Emacs lisp that runs on
4100 XEmacs. It has full support for cascaded style sheets, and more...
4102 It has a home web page at
4103 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/elisp/w3/docs.html}.
4105 @node Q4.1.2, Q4.1.3, Q4.1.1, Subsystems
4106 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.1.2: How do I run W3 from behind a firewall?
4108 There is a long, well-written, detailed section in the W3 manual that
4109 describes how to do this. Look in the section entitled "Firewalls".
4111 @node Q4.1.3, Q4.2.1, Q4.1.2, Subsystems
4112 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.1.3: Is it true that W3 supports style sheets and tables?
4114 Yes, and much more. W3, as distributed with the latest XEmacs is a
4115 full-featured web browser.
4117 @node Q4.2.1, Q4.2.2, Q4.1.3, Subsystems
4118 @unnumberedsec 4.2: Reading Netnews and Mail with Gnus
4119 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.2.1: GNUS, (ding) Gnus, Gnus 5, September Gnus, Red Gnus, Quassia Gnus, argh!
4121 The Gnus numbering issues are not meant for mere mortals to know them.
4122 If you feel you @emph{must} enter the muddy waters of Gnus, visit the
4123 excellent FAQ, maintained by Justin Sheehy, at:
4126 @uref{http://www.ccs.neu.edu/software/contrib/gnus/}
4129 See also Gnus home page
4131 @uref{http://www.gnus.org/}
4134 @node Q4.2.2, Q4.2.3, Q4.2.1, Subsystems
4135 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.2.2: This question intentionally left blank.
4137 Obsolete question, left blank to avoid renumbering.
4139 @node Q4.2.3, Q4.2.4, Q4.2.2, Subsystems
4140 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.2.3: How do I make Gnus stay within a single frame?
4142 The toolbar code to start Gnus opens the new frame---and it's a feature
4143 rather than a bug. If you don't like it, but would still like to click
4144 on the seemly icon, use the following code:
4147 (defun toolbar-news ()
4151 It will redefine the callback function of the icon to just call
4152 @code{gnus}, without all the fancy frame stuff.
4154 @node Q4.2.4, Q4.3.1, Q4.2.3, Subsystems
4155 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.2.4: How do I customize the From: line?
4157 How do I change the @code{From:} line? I have set gnus-user-from-line
4160 Gail Gurman <gail.gurman@@sybase.com>
4162 @noindent , but XEmacs Gnus doesn't use
4165 Gail Mara Gurman @email{gailg@@deall}
4167 @noindent and then complains
4168 that it's incorrect. Also, as you perhaps can see, my Message-ID is
4169 screwy. How can I change that?
4171 @email{larsi@@ifi.uio.no, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen} writes:
4174 Set @code{user-mail-address} to @samp{gail.gurman@@sybase.com} or
4175 @code{mail-host-address} to @samp{sybase.com}.
4178 @node Q4.3.1, Q4.3.2, Q4.2.4, Subsystems
4179 @unnumberedsec 4.3: Other Mail & News
4180 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.3.1: How can I read and/or compose MIME messages?
4183 VM supports MIME natively.
4185 You probably want to use the Tools for MIME (tm). @xref{Q4.3.2}, for
4188 @email{trey@@cs.berkeley.edu, Trey Jackson} has an Emacs & MIME web page at
4192 @uref{http://bmrc.berkeley.edu/~trey/emacs/mime.html}.
4195 Another possibility is RMIME. You may find RMIME at
4199 @uref{http://www.cinti.net/~rmoody/rmime/index.html}.
4202 @node Q4.3.2, Q4.3.3, Q4.3.1, Subsystems
4203 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.3.2: What is TM and where do I get it?
4205 TM stands for @dfn{Tools for MIME} and not Tiny MIME. TM integrates
4206 with all major XEmacs packages like Gnus (all flavors), VM, MH-E, and
4207 mailcrypt. It provides totally transparent and trouble-free MIME
4208 support. When appropriate a message will be decoded in place in an
4211 TM now comes as a package with XEmacs 19.16 and XEmacs 20.2.
4213 TM was written by @email{morioka@@jaist.ac.jp, MORIOKA Tomohiko} and
4214 @email{shuhei-k@@jaist.ac.jp, KOBAYASHI
4217 It is based on the work of @email{umerin@@mse.kyutech.ac.jp, UMEDA
4218 Masanobu}, the original writer of GNUS.
4220 The following information is from the @file{README}:
4222 @dfn{tm} is a MIME package for GNU Emacs.
4223 tm has following functions:
4226 @item MIME style multilingual header.
4227 @item MIME message viewer (mime/viewer-mode).
4228 @item MIME message composer (mime/editor-mode).
4229 @item MIME extenders for mh-e, GNUS, RMAIL and VM.
4232 tm is available from following anonymous ftp sites:
4234 @comment @item @uref{ftp://ftp.jaist.ac.jp/pub/GNU/elisp/mime/} (Japan).
4235 @comment @item @uref{ftp://ftp.nis.co.jp/pub/gnu/emacs-lisp/tm/} (Japan).
4236 @comment @c The host above is unknown.
4237 @comment @item @uref{ftp://ftp.nisiq.net/pub/gnu/emacs-lisp/tm/} (US).
4238 @comment @item @uref{ftp://ftp.miranova.com/pub/gnus/jaist.ac.jp/} (US).
4239 @item @uref{ftp://ftp.unicamp.br/pub/mail/mime/tm/} (Brasil).
4240 @item @uref{ftp://ftp.th-darmstadt.de/pub/editors/GNU-Emacs/lisp/mime/} (Germany).
4241 @item @uref{ftp://ftp.tnt.uni-hannover.de/pub/editors/xemacs/contrib/} (Germany).
4244 Don't let the installation procedure & instructions stop you from trying
4245 this package out---it's much simpler than it looks, and once installed,
4248 @node Q4.3.3, Q4.3.4, Q4.3.2, Subsystems
4249 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.3.3: Why isn't this @code{movemail} program working?
4251 Ben Wing @email{ben@@xemacs.org} writes:
4254 It wasn't chown'ed/chmod'd correctly.
4257 @node Q4.3.4, Q4.3.5, Q4.3.3, Subsystems
4258 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.3.4: Movemail is also distributed by Netscape? Can that cause problems?
4260 @email{steve@@xemacs.org, Steve Baur} writes:
4263 Yes. Always use the movemail installed with your XEmacs. Failure to do
4264 so can result in lost mail.
4267 Please refer to @email{jwz@@jwz.org, Jamie Zawinski's} notes at
4271 @uref{http://home.netscape.com/eng/mozilla/2.0/relnotes/demo/movemail.html}.
4272 In particular, this document will show you how to make Netscape use the
4273 version of movemail configured for your system by the person who built
4276 @node Q4.3.5, Q4.4.1, Q4.3.4, Subsystems
4277 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.3.5: Where do I find pstogif (required by tm)?
4279 pstogif is part of the latex2html package.
4281 @email{vroonhof@@math.ethz.ch, Jan Vroonhof} writes:
4283 latex2html is best found at the CTAN hosts and their mirrors
4288 @file{tex-archive/support/latex2html}.
4293 @item @uref{ftp://ftp.tex.ac.uk/tex-archive/support/latex2html/}.
4294 @item @uref{ftp://ftp.dante.de/tex-archive/support/latex2html/}.
4297 There is a good mirror at ftp.cdrom.com;
4301 @uref{ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/pub/tex/ctan/support/latex2html/}.
4303 @node Q4.4.1, Q4.4.2, Q4.3.5, Subsystems
4304 @unnumberedsec 4.4: Sparcworks, EOS, and WorkShop
4305 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.4.1: What is SPARCworks, EOS, and WorkShop?
4307 @email{turner@@lanl.gov, John Turner} writes:
4310 SPARCworks is SunSoft's development environment, comprising compilers
4311 (C, C++, FORTRAN 77, Fortran 90, Ada, and Pascal), a debugger, and other
4312 tools such as TeamWare (for configuration management), MakeTool, etc.
4315 See @uref{http://www.sun.com/software/Developer-products/}
4318 EOS stands for "Era on SPARCworks", but I don't know what Era stands
4321 EOS is the integration of XEmacs with the SPARCworks debugger. It
4322 allows one to use an XEmacs frame to view code (complete with
4323 fontification, etc.), set breakpoints, print variables, etc., while
4324 using the SPARCworks debugger. It works very well and I use it all the
4327 @email{cthomp@@xemacs.org, Chuck Thompson} writes:
4330 Era stood for "Emacs Rewritten Again". It was what we were calling the
4331 modified version of Lucid Emacs for Sun when I was dragged, er, allowed
4332 to work on this wonderful editor.
4335 @email{martin@@xemacs.org, Martin Buchholz} writes:
4338 EOS is being replaced with a new graphical development environment
4339 called Sun WorkShop, which is currently (07/96) in Alpha Test. For more
4344 @uref{http://www.sun.com/software/Products/Developer-products}.
4347 @node Q4.4.2, Q4.5.1, Q4.4.1, Subsystems
4348 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.4.2: How do I start the Sun Workshop support in XEmacs 21?
4350 Add the switch ---with-workshop to the configure command when building
4351 XEmacs and put the following in one of your startup files
4352 (e.g. site-start.el or .emacs):
4355 (when (featurep 'tooltalk)
4356 (load "tooltalk-macros")
4357 (load "tooltalk-util")
4358 (load "tooltalk-init"))
4359 (when (featurep 'sparcworks)
4360 (load "sunpro-init")
4363 (load "annotations")
4367 If you are not using the latest Workshop (5.0) you have to apply the
4371 --- /opt/SUNWspro/lib/eserve.el.ORIG Fri May 14 15:23:26 1999
4372 +++ /opt/SUNWspro/lib/eserve.el Fri May 14 15:24:54 1999
4373 @@@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@@@
4374 (defvar running-xemacs nil "t if we're running XEmacs")
4375 (defvar running-emacs nil "t if we're running GNU Emacs 19")
4377 -(if (string-match "^\\(19\\|20\\)\..*\\(XEmacs\\|Lucid\\)" emacs-version)
4378 +(if (string-match "\\(XEmacs\\|Lucid\\)" emacs-version)
4379 (setq running-xemacs t)
4380 (setq running-emacs t))
4385 @node Q4.5.1, Q4.6.1, Q4.4.2, Subsystems
4386 @unnumberedsec 4.5: Energize
4387 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.5.1: What is/was Energize?
4389 @email{gray@@meteor.harlequin.com, David N Gray} writes:
4391 The files in @file{lisp/energize} are to enable Emacs to interface with
4392 the "Energize Programming System", a C and C++ development environment,
4393 which was a product of Lucid, Inc. Tragically, Lucid went out of
4394 business in 1994, so although Energize is still a great system, if you
4395 don't already have it, there isn't any way to get it now. (Unless you
4396 happen to be in Japan; INS Engineering may still be selling it there.
4397 Tartan bought the rights to sell it in the rest of the world, but never
4401 @node Q4.6.1, Q4.7.1, Q4.5.1, Subsystems
4402 @unnumberedsec 4.6: Infodock
4403 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.6.1: What is Infodock?
4405 InfoDock is an integrated productivity toolset, mainly aimed at
4406 technical people. It is developed and supported by InfoDock
4407 Associates, a firm that offers custom support and development
4408 for InfoDock, XEmacs and GNU Emacs. ( @uref{http://www.infodock.com},
4409 @email{info@@infodock.com}, +1 408 243 3300).
4411 InfoDock is built atop the XEmacs variant of GNU Emacs and so has all of
4412 the power of Emacs, but with an easier to use and more comprehensive
4413 menu-based user interface. The bottom portion of this text describes
4414 how it differs from XEmacs and GNU Emacs from the Free Software
4417 InfoDock is aimed at people who want a free, turn-key productivity
4418 environment. Although InfoDock is customizable, it is not intended for
4419 people who like basic versions of Emacs which need to be customized
4420 extensively for local use; standard Emacs distributions are better for
4421 such uses. InfoDock is for those people who want a complete,
4422 pre-customized environment in one package, which they need not touch
4423 more than once or twice a year to update to new revisions.
4425 InfoDock is pre-built for SPARC SunOS/Solaris systems, PA-RISC HP-UX,
4426 and Intel Linux systems. It is intended for use on a color display,
4427 although most features will work on monochrome monitors. Simply unpack
4428 InfoDock according to the instructions in the ID-INSTALL file and you
4431 The InfoDock Manual is concise, yet sufficient as a user guide for users
4432 who have never used an Emacs-type editor before. For users who are
4433 already familiar with Emacs, it supplements the information in the GNU
4436 InfoDock menus are much more extensive and more mature than standard
4437 Emacs menus. Each menu offers a @samp{Manual} item which displays
4438 documentation associated with the menu's functions.
4441 Four types of menubars are provided:
4444 An extensive menubar providing access to global InfoDock commands.
4446 Mode-specific menubars tailored to the current major mode.
4448 A simple menubar for basic editing to help novices get started with InfoDock.
4450 The standard XEmacs menubar.
4453 Most modes also include mode-specific popup menus. Additionally, region and
4454 rectangle popup menus are included.
4456 @samp{Hyperbole}, the everyday information manager, is a core part of
4457 InfoDock. This provides context-sensitive mouse keys, a rolodex-type
4458 contact manager, programmable hypertext buttons, and an autonumbered
4459 outliner with embedded hyperlink anchors.
4461 The @samp{OO-Browser}, a multi-language object-oriented code browser, is a
4462 standard part of InfoDock.
4464 InfoDock saves a more extensive set of user options than other Emacs
4467 InfoDock inserts a useful file header in many file types, showing the
4468 author, summary, and last modification time of each file. A summary
4469 program can then be used to summarize all of the files in a directory,
4470 for easy MANIFEST file creation.
4472 Your working set of buffers is automatically saved and restored (if you
4473 answer yes to a prompt) between InfoDock sessions.
4475 Refined color choices for code highlighting are provided for both dark and
4476 light background display frames.
4478 The @kbd{C-z} key prefix performs frame-based commands which parallel the
4479 @kbd{C-x} key prefix for window-based commands.
4481 The Smart Menu system is included for producing command menus on dumb
4484 Lisp libraries are better categorized according to function.
4486 Extensions and improvements to many areas of Emacs are included, such as:
4487 paragraph filling, mail reading with Rmail, shell handling, outlining, code
4488 highlighting and browsing, and man page browsing.
4490 InfoDock questions, answers and discussion should go to the mail list
4494 @email{infodock@@infodock.com}. Use
4495 @email{infodock-request@@infodock.com} to be added or removed from the
4496 list. Always include your InfoDock version number when sending help
4499 InfoDock is available across the Internet via anonymous FTP. To get
4500 it, first move to a directory into which you want the InfoDock archive
4501 files placed. We will call this <DIST-DIR>.
4507 Ftp to ftp.xemacs.org (Internet Host ID = 128.174.252.16):
4510 prompt> ftp ftp.xemacs.org
4513 Login as @samp{anonymous} with your own <user-id>@@<site-name> as a password.
4516 Name (ftp.xemacs.org): anonymous
4517 331 Guest login ok, send your complete e-mail address as password.
4518 Password: -<your-user-id>@@<your-domain>
4519 230 Guest login ok, access restrictions apply.
4522 Move to the location of the InfoDock archives:
4525 ftp> cd pub/infodock
4528 Set your transfer mode to binary:
4539 Interactive mode off.
4542 Retrieve the InfoDock archives that you want, either by using a
4543 @samp{get <file>} for each file you want or by using the following to
4544 get a complete distribution, including all binaries:
4547 ftp> mget ID-INSTALL
4551 Close the FTP connection:
4558 Read the @file{ID-INSTALL} file which you just retrieved for
4559 step-by-step installation instructions.
4561 @node Q4.7.1, Q4.7.2, Q4.6.1, Subsystems
4562 @unnumberedsec 4.7: Other Unbundled Packages
4563 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.7.1: What is AUC TeX? Where do you get it?
4565 AUC TeX is a package written by @email{abraham@@dina.kvl.dk, Per Abrahamsen}.
4566 Starting with XEmacs 19.16, AUC TeX is bundled with XEmacs. The
4567 following information is from the @file{README} and website.
4569 AUC TeX is an extensible package that supports writing and formatting
4570 TeX files for most variants of GNU Emacs. Many different macro packages
4571 are supported, including AMS TeX, LaTeX, and TeXinfo.
4573 The most recent version is always available by ftp at
4577 @uref{ftp://sunsite.auc.dk/packages/auctex/auctex.tar.gz}.
4579 In case you don't have access to anonymous ftp, you can get it by an
4580 email request to @email{ftpmail@@decwrl.dec.com}.
4582 WWW users may want to check out the AUC TeX page at
4586 @uref{http://sunsite.auc.dk/auctex/}.
4588 @node Q4.7.2, Q4.7.3, Q4.7.1, Subsystems
4589 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.7.2: Are there any Emacs Lisp Spreadsheets?
4591 Yes. Check out @dfn{dismal} (which stands for Dis' Mode Ain't Lotus) at
4595 @uref{ftp://cs.nyu.edu/pub/local/fox/dismal/}.
4597 @node Q4.7.3, Q4.7.4, Q4.7.2, Subsystems
4598 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.7.3: [This question intentionally left blank]
4600 @node Q4.7.4, Q4.7.5, Q4.7.3, Subsystems
4601 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.7.4: Problems installing AUC TeX.
4603 @email{vroonhof@@math.ethz.ch, Jan Vroonhof} writes:
4606 AUC TeX works fine on both stock Emacs and XEmacs has been doing so for
4607 a very very long time. This is mostly due to the work of
4608 @email{abraham@@dina.kvl.dk, Per Abrahamsen} (clap clap) in particular his @file{easymenu}
4609 package. Which leads to what is probably the problem...
4612 Most problems with AUC TeX are one of two things:
4616 The TeX-lisp-directory in @file{tex-site.el} and the makefile don't
4619 Fix: make sure you configure AUC TeX properly @strong{before} installing.
4622 You have an old version of easymenu.el in your path.
4624 Fix: use @code{locate-library} and remove old versions to make sure it
4625 @strong{only} finds the one that came with XEmacs.
4629 @node Q4.7.5, Q4.7.6, Q4.7.4, Subsystems
4630 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.7.5: Is there a reason for an Emacs package not to be included in XEmacs?
4632 The reason for an Emacs package not to be included in XEmacs is
4633 usually one or more of the following:
4637 The package has not been ported to XEmacs. This will typically happen
4638 when it uses GNU-Emacs-specific features, which make it fail under
4641 Porting a package to XEmacs can range from a trivial amount of change to
4642 a partial or full rewrite. Fortunately, the authors of modern packages
4643 usually choose to support both Emacsen themselves.
4646 The package has been decided not to be appropriate for XEmacs. It may
4647 have an equivalent or better replacement within XEmacs, in which case
4648 the developers may choose not to burden themselves with supporting an
4651 Each package bundled with XEmacs means more work for the maintainers,
4652 whether they want it or not. If you are ready to take over the
4653 maintenance responsibilities for the package you port, be sure to say
4654 so---we will more likely include it.
4657 The package simply hasn't been noted by the XEmacs development. If
4658 that's the case, the messages like yours are very useful for attracting
4662 The package was noted by the developers, but they simply haven't yet
4663 gotten around to including/porting it. Wait for the next release or,
4664 even better, offer your help. It will be gladly accepted and
4668 @node Q4.7.6, , Q4.7.5, Subsystems
4669 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.7.5: Is there a MatLab mode?
4671 Yes, a matlab mode and other items are available at the
4672 @uref{ftp://ftp.mathworks.com/pub/contrib/emacs_add_ons,
4673 MathWorks' emacs_add_ons ftp directory}.
4675 @node Miscellaneous, MS Windows, Subsystems, Top
4676 @unnumbered 5 The Miscellaneous Stuff
4678 This is part 5 of the XEmacs Frequently Asked Questions list. This
4679 section is devoted to anything that doesn't fit neatly into the other
4683 Major & Minor Modes:
4684 * Q5.0.1:: How can I do source code highlighting using font-lock?
4685 * Q5.0.2:: I do not like cc-mode. How do I use the old c-mode?
4686 * Q5.0.3:: How do I get @samp{More} Syntax Highlighting on by default?
4687 * Q5.0.4:: How can I enable auto-indent?
4688 * Q5.0.5:: How can I get XEmacs to come up in text/auto-fill mode by default?
4689 * Q5.0.6:: How do I start up a second shell buffer?
4690 * Q5.0.7:: Telnet from shell filters too much.
4691 * Q5.0.8:: Why does edt emulation not work?
4692 * Q5.0.9:: How can I emulate VI and use it as my default mode?
4693 * Q5.0.10:: [This question intentionally left blank]
4694 * Q5.0.11:: How do I turn on filladapt for all buffers?
4695 * Q5.0.12:: How do I disable gnuserv from opening a new frame?
4696 * Q5.0.13:: How do I start gnuserv so that each subsequent XEmacs is a client?
4697 * Q5.0.14:: Strange things are happening in Shell Mode.
4698 * Q5.0.15:: Where do I get the latest CC Mode?
4699 * Q5.0.16:: I find auto-show-mode disconcerting. How do I turn it off?
4700 * Q5.0.17:: How can I get two instances of info?
4701 * Q5.0.18:: [This question intentionally left blank]
4702 * Q5.0.19:: Is there something better than LaTeX mode?
4703 * Q5.0.20:: Is there a way to start a new XEmacs if there's no gnuserv running, and otherwise use gnuclient?
4705 Emacs Lisp Programming Techniques:
4706 * Q5.1.1:: The difference in key sequences between XEmacs and GNU Emacs?
4707 * Q5.1.2:: Can I generate "fake" keyboard events?
4708 * Q5.1.3:: Could you explain @code{read-kbd-macro} in more detail?
4709 * Q5.1.4:: What is the performance hit of @code{let}?
4710 * Q5.1.5:: What is the recommended use of @code{setq}?
4711 * Q5.1.6:: What is the typical misuse of @code{setq}?
4712 * Q5.1.7:: I like the @code{do} form of cl, does it slow things down?
4713 * Q5.1.8:: I like recursion, does it slow things down?
4714 * Q5.1.9:: How do I put a glyph as annotation in a buffer?
4715 * Q5.1.10:: @code{map-extents} won't traverse all of my extents!
4716 * Q5.1.11:: My elisp program is horribly slow. Is there an easy way to find out where it spends time?
4719 * Q5.2.1:: How do I turn off the sound?
4720 * Q5.2.2:: How do I get funky sounds instead of a boring beep?
4721 * Q5.2.3:: What's NAS, how do I get it?
4722 * Q5.2.4:: Sunsite sounds don't play.
4725 * Q5.3.1:: How do you make XEmacs indent CL if-clauses correctly?
4726 * Q5.3.2:: Fontifying hangs when editing a postscript file.
4727 * Q5.3.3:: How can I print WYSIWYG a font-locked buffer?
4728 * Q5.3.4:: Getting @kbd{M-x lpr} to work with postscript printer.
4729 * Q5.3.5:: How do I specify the paths that XEmacs uses for finding files?
4730 * Q5.3.6:: [This question intentionally left blank]
4731 * Q5.3.7:: Can I have the end of the buffer delimited in some way?
4732 * Q5.3.8:: How do I insert today's date into a buffer?
4733 * Q5.3.9:: Are only certain syntactic character classes available for abbrevs?
4734 * Q5.3.10:: How can I get those oh-so-neat X-Face lines?
4735 * Q5.3.11:: How do I add new Info directories?
4736 * Q5.3.12:: What do I need to change to make printing work?
4739 @node Q5.0.1, Q5.0.2, Miscellaneous, Miscellaneous
4740 @unnumberedsec 5.0: Major & Minor Modes
4741 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.1: How can I do source code highlighting using font-lock?
4743 For most modes, font-lock is already set up and just needs to be turned
4744 on. This can be done by @kbd{M-x font-lock-mode}, or by having XEmacs
4745 automatically start it by adding lines like:
4748 (add-hook 'emacs-lisp-mode-hook 'turn-on-font-lock)
4749 (add-hook 'dired-mode-hook 'turn-on-font-lock)
4752 to your @file{.emacs}. See the file @file{etc/sample.emacs} for more
4755 See also @code{Syntax Highlighting} from the @code{Options} menu.
4756 Remember to save options.
4758 @node Q5.0.2, Q5.0.3, Q5.0.1, Miscellaneous
4759 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.2: I do not like cc-mode. How do I use the old c-mode?
4761 Well, first off, consider if you really want to do this. cc-mode is
4762 much more powerful than the old c-mode. If you're having trouble
4763 getting your old offsets to work, try using @code{c-set-offset} instead.
4764 You might also consider using the package @code{cc-compat}.
4766 But, if you still insist, add the following lines to your @file{.emacs}:
4769 (fmakunbound 'c-mode)
4770 (makunbound 'c-mode-map)
4771 (fmakunbound 'c++-mode)
4772 (makunbound 'c++-mode-map)
4773 (makunbound 'c-style-alist)
4774 (load-library "old-c-mode")
4775 (load-library "old-c++-mode")
4778 This must be done before any other reference is made to either c-mode or
4781 @node Q5.0.3, Q5.0.4, Q5.0.2, Miscellaneous
4782 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.3: How do I get @samp{More} Syntax Highlighting on by default?
4784 Use the following code in your @file{.emacs}:
4787 (setq-default font-lock-maximum-decoration t)
4790 In versions of XEmacs prior to 19.14, you had to use a kludgy solution
4794 (setq c-font-lock-keywords c-font-lock-keywords-2
4795 c++-font-lock-keywords c++-font-lock-keywords-2
4796 lisp-font-lock-keywords lisp-font-lock-keywords-2)
4799 It will work for C, C++ and Lisp.
4801 See also @code{Syntax Highlighting} from the @code{Options} menu.
4802 Remember to save options.
4804 @node Q5.0.4, Q5.0.5, Q5.0.3, Miscellaneous
4805 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.4: How can I enable auto-indent?
4807 Put the following line in your @file{.emacs}:
4810 (setq indent-line-function 'indent-relative-maybe)
4813 If you want to get fancy, try the @code{filladapt} package available
4814 standard with XEmacs. Put this into your @file{.emacs}:
4817 (require 'filladapt)
4818 (add-hook 'text-mode-hook 'turn-on-filladapt-mode)
4822 You can customize filling and adaptive filling with Customize.
4823 Select from the @code{Options} menu
4824 @code{Customize->Emacs->->Editing->Fill->Fill...}
4825 or type @kbd{M-x customize @key{RET} fill @key{RET}}.
4827 Note that well-behaving text-lookalike modes will run
4828 @code{text-mode-hook} by default (e.g. that's what Message does). For
4829 the nasty ones, you'll have to provide the @code{add-hook}s yourself.
4831 Please note that the @code{fa-extras} package is no longer useful.
4833 @node Q5.0.5, Q5.0.6, Q5.0.4, Miscellaneous
4834 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.5: How can I get XEmacs to come up in text/auto-fill mode by default?
4836 Try the following lisp in your @file{.emacs}:
4839 (setq default-major-mode 'text-mode)
4840 (setq text-mode-hook 'turn-on-auto-fill)
4843 @strong{WARNING}: note that changing the value of
4844 @code{default-major-mode} from @code{fundamental-mode} can break a large
4845 amount of built-in code that expects newly created buffers to be in
4846 @code{fundamental-mode}. (Changing from @code{fundamental-mode} to
4847 @code{text-mode} might not wreak too much havoc, but changing to
4848 something more exotic like a lisp-mode would break many Emacs packages).
4850 Note that Emacs by default starts up in buffer @code{*scratch*} in
4851 @code{initial-major-mode}, which defaults to
4852 @code{lisp-interaction-mode}. Thus adding the following form to your
4853 Emacs init file will cause the initial @code{*scratch*} buffer to be put
4854 into auto-fill'ed @code{text-mode}:
4857 (setq initial-major-mode
4860 (turn-on-auto-fill)))
4863 Note that after your init file is loaded, if
4864 @code{inhibit-startup-message} is @code{nil} (the default) and the
4865 startup buffer is @code{*scratch*} then the startup message will be
4866 inserted into @code{*scratch*}; it will be removed after a timeout by
4867 erasing the entire @code{*scratch*} buffer. Keep in mind this default
4868 usage of @code{*scratch*} if you desire any prior manipulation of
4869 @code{*scratch*} from within your Emacs init file. In particular,
4870 anything you insert into @code{*scratch*} from your init file will be
4871 later erased. Also, if you change the mode of the @code{*scratch*}
4872 buffer, be sure that this will not interfere with possible later
4873 insertion of the startup message (e.g. if you put @code{*scratch*} into
4874 a nonstandard mode that has automatic font lock rules, then the startup
4875 message might get fontified in a strange foreign manner, e.g. as code in
4876 some programming language).
4878 @node Q5.0.6, Q5.0.7, Q5.0.5, Miscellaneous
4879 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.6: How do I start up a second shell buffer?
4881 In the @code{*shell*} buffer:
4884 M-x rename-buffer @key{RET} *shell-1* @key{RET}
4888 This will then start a second shell. The key is that no buffer named
4889 @samp{*shell*} can exist. It might be preferable to use @kbd{M-x
4890 rename-uniquely} to rename the @code{*shell*} buffer instead of @kbd{M-x
4893 Alternately, you can set the variable @code{shell-multiple-shells}.
4894 If the value of this variable is non-nil, each time shell mode is invoked,
4897 @node Q5.0.7, Q5.0.8, Q5.0.6, Miscellaneous
4898 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.7: Telnet from shell filters too much
4900 I'm using the Emacs @kbd{M-x shell} function, and I would like to invoke
4901 and use a telnet session within it. Everything works fine except that
4902 now all @samp{^M}'s are filtered out by Emacs. Fixes?
4904 Use @kbd{M-x rsh} or @kbd{M-x telnet} to open remote sessions rather
4905 than doing rsh or telnet within the local shell buffer. Starting with
4906 XEmacs-20.3 you can also use @kbd{M-x ssh} to open secure remote session
4907 if you have @code{ssh} installed.
4909 @node Q5.0.8, Q5.0.9, Q5.0.7, Miscellaneous
4910 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.8: Why does edt emulation not work?
4912 We don't know, but you can use tpu-edt emulation instead, which works
4913 fine and is a little fancier than the standard edt emulation. To do
4914 this, add the following line to your @file{.emacs}:
4920 If you don't want it to replace @kbd{C-h} with an edt-style help menu
4924 (global-set-key [(control h)] 'help-for-help)
4927 @node Q5.0.9, Q5.0.10, Q5.0.8, Miscellaneous
4928 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.9: How can I emulate VI and use it as my default mode?
4930 Our recommended VI emulator is viper. To make viper-mode the default,
4931 add this to your @file{.emacs}:
4937 @email{kifer@@CS.SunySB.EDU, Michael Kifer} writes:
4940 This should be added as close to the top of @file{.emacs} as you can get
4941 it, otherwise some minor modes may not get viper-ized.
4944 @node Q5.0.10, Q5.0.11, Q5.0.9, Miscellaneous
4945 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.10: [This question intentionally left blank]
4947 Obsolete question, left blank to avoid renumbering
4949 @node Q5.0.11, Q5.0.12, Q5.0.10, Miscellaneous
4950 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.11: How do I turn on filladapt for all buffers?
4952 Filladapt is a minor mode and minor modes are traditionally off by
4953 default. The following added to your @file{.emacs} will turn it on for
4957 (setq-default filladapt-mode t)
4960 Use @code{turn-on-filladapt-mode} to turn Filladapt on in particular
4961 major modes, like this:
4964 (add-hook 'text-mode-hook 'turn-on-filladapt-mode)
4967 @node Q5.0.12, Q5.0.13, Q5.0.11, Miscellaneous
4968 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.12: How do I disable gnuserv from opening a new frame?
4970 If you set the @code{gnuserv-frame} variable to the frame that should be
4971 used to display buffers that are pulled up, a new frame will not be
4972 created. For example, you could put
4975 (setq gnuserv-frame (selected-frame))
4978 early on in your @file{.emacs}, to ensure that the first frame created
4979 is the one used for your gnuserv buffers.
4981 Starting in 19.15, there is an option to set the gnuserv target to
4982 the current frame. See
4983 @code{Options->"Other Window" Location->Make current frame gnuserv target}
4985 Starting with XEmacs-20.3 you can also change this with Customize.
4986 Select from the @code{Options} menu
4987 @code{Customize->Emacs->Environment->Gnuserv->Gnuserv Frame...} or type
4988 @kbd{M-x customize @key{RET} gnuserv @key{RET}}.
4991 @node Q5.0.13, Q5.0.14, Q5.0.12, Miscellaneous
4992 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.13: How do I start gnuserv so that each subsequent XEmacs is a client?
4994 Put the following in your @file{.emacs} file to start the server:
5000 Start your first XEmacs as usual. After that, you can do:
5003 gnuclient randomfilename
5006 from the command line to get your existing XEmacs process to open a new
5007 frame and visit randomfilename in that window. When you're done editing
5008 randomfilename, hit @kbd{C-x #} to kill the buffer and get rid of the
5011 See also man page of gnuclient.
5013 @node Q5.0.14, Q5.0.15, Q5.0.13, Miscellaneous
5014 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.14: Strange things are happening in Shell Mode.
5016 Sometimes (i.e. it's not repeatable, and I can't work out why it
5017 happens) when I'm typing into shell mode, I hit return and only a
5018 portion of the command is given to the shell, and a blank prompt is
5019 returned. If I hit return again, the rest of the previous command is
5022 @email{martin@@xemacs.org, Martin Buchholz} writes:
5025 There is a known problem with interaction between @code{csh} and the
5026 @code{filec} option and XEmacs. You should add the following to your
5030 if ( "$TERM" == emacs || "$TERM" == unknown ) unset filec
5034 @node Q5.0.15, Q5.0.16, Q5.0.14, Miscellaneous
5035 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.15: Where do I get the latest CC Mode?
5037 @email{bwarsaw@@cnri.reston.va.us, Barry A. Warsaw} writes:
5040 This can be had from @uref{http://www.python.org/emacs/}.
5043 @node Q5.0.16, Q5.0.17, Q5.0.15, Miscellaneous
5044 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.16: I find auto-show-mode disconcerting. How do I turn it off?
5046 @code{auto-show-mode} controls whether or not a horizontal scrollbar
5047 magically appears when a line is too long to be displayed. This is
5048 enabled by default. To turn it off, put the following in your
5052 (setq auto-show-mode nil)
5053 (setq-default auto-show-mode nil)
5056 @node Q5.0.17, Q5.0.18, Q5.0.16, Miscellaneous
5057 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.17: How can I get two instances of info?
5059 You can't. The @code{info} package does not provide for multiple info buffers.
5061 @node Q5.0.18, Q5.0.19, Q5.0.17, Miscellaneous
5062 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.18: [This question intentionally left blank]
5064 @node Q5.0.19, Q5.0.20, Q5.0.18, Miscellaneous
5065 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.19: Is there something better than LaTeX mode?
5067 @email{dak@@fsnif.neuroinformatik.ruhr-uni-bochum.de, David Kastrup} writes:
5070 The standard TeX modes leave much to be desired, and are somewhat
5071 leniently maintained. Serious TeX users use AUC TeX (@pxref{Q4.7.1}).
5074 @node Q5.0.20, Q5.1.1, Q5.0.19, Miscellaneous
5075 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.20: Is there a way to start a new XEmacs if there's no gnuserv running, and otherwise use gnuclient?
5077 @email{vroonhof@@math.ethz.ch, Jan Vroonhof} writes:
5079 Here is one of the solutions, we have this in a script called
5080 @file{etc/editclient.sh}.
5083 if gnuclient -batch -eval t >/dev/null 2>&1
5085 exec gnuclient $@{1+"$@@"@}
5087 xemacs -unmapped -f gnuserv-start &
5088 until gnuclient -batch -eval t >/dev/null 2>&1
5092 exec gnuclient $@{1+"$@@"@}
5096 Note that there is a known problem when running XEmacs and 'gnuclient
5097 -nw' on the same TTY.
5100 @node Q5.1.1, Q5.1.2, Q5.0.20, Miscellaneous
5101 @unnumberedsec 5.1: Emacs Lisp Programming Techniques
5102 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.1.1: What is the difference in key sequences between XEmacs and GNU Emacs?
5104 @email{clerik@@naggum.no, Erik Naggum} writes;
5107 Emacs has a legacy of keyboards that produced characters with modifier
5108 bits, and therefore map a variety of input systems into this scheme even
5109 today. XEmacs is instead optimized for X events. This causes an
5110 incompatibility in the way key sequences are specified, but both Emacs
5111 and XEmacs will accept a key sequence as a vector of lists of modifiers
5112 that ends with a key, e.g., to bind @kbd{M-C-a}, you would say
5113 @code{[(meta control a)]} in both Emacsen. XEmacs has an abbreviated
5114 form for a single key, just (meta control a). Emacs has an abbreviated
5115 form for the Control and the Meta modifiers to string-characters (the
5116 ASCII characters), as in @samp{\M-\C-a}. XEmacs users need to be aware
5117 that the abbreviated form works only for one-character key sequences,
5118 while Emacs users need to be aware that the string-character is rather
5119 limited. Specifically, the string-character can accommodate only 256
5120 different values, 128 of which have the Meta modifier and 128 of which
5121 have not. In each of these blocks, only 32 characters have the Control
5122 modifier. Whereas @code{[(meta control A)]} differs from @code{[(meta
5123 control a)]} because the case differs, @samp{\M-\C-a} and @samp{\M-\C-A}
5124 do not. Programmers are advised to use the full common form, both
5125 because it is more readable and less error-prone, and because it is
5126 supported by both Emacsen.
5129 Another (even safer) way to be sure of the key-sequences is to use the
5130 @code{read-kbd-macro} function, which takes a string like @samp{C-c
5131 <up>}, and converts it to the internal key representation of the Emacs
5132 you use. The function is available both on XEmacs and GNU Emacs.
5134 @node Q5.1.2, Q5.1.3, Q5.1.1, Miscellaneous
5135 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.1.2: Can I generate "fake" keyboard events?
5137 I wonder if there is an interactive function that can generate
5138 @dfn{fake} keyboard events. This way, I could simply map them inside
5144 (defun cg--generate-char-event (ch)
5145 "Generate an event, as if ch has been typed"
5146 (dispatch-event (character-to-event ch)))
5148 ;; Backspace and Delete stuff
5149 (global-set-key [backspace]
5150 (lambda () (interactive) (cg--generate-char-event 127)))
5151 (global-set-key [unknown_keysym_0x4]
5152 (lambda () (interactive) (cg--generate-char-event 4)))
5155 @node Q5.1.3, Q5.1.4, Q5.1.2, Miscellaneous
5156 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.1.3: Could you explain @code{read-kbd-macro} in more detail?
5158 The @code{read-kbd-macro} function returns the internal Emacs
5159 representation of a human-readable string (which is its argument).
5163 (read-kbd-macro "C-c C-a")
5164 @result{} [(control ?c) (control ?a)]
5166 (read-kbd-macro "C-c C-. <up>")
5167 @result{} [(control ?c) (control ?.) up]
5170 In GNU Emacs the same forms will be evaluated to what GNU Emacs
5171 understands internally---the sequences @code{"\C-x\C-c"} and @code{[3
5172 67108910 up]}, respectively.
5174 The exact @dfn{human-readable} syntax is defined in the docstring of
5175 @code{edmacro-mode}. I'll repeat it here, for completeness.
5178 Format of keyboard macros during editing:
5180 Text is divided into @dfn{words} separated by whitespace. Except for
5181 the words described below, the characters of each word go directly as
5182 characters of the macro. The whitespace that separates words is
5183 ignored. Whitespace in the macro must be written explicitly, as in
5184 @kbd{foo @key{SPC} bar @key{RET}}.
5188 The special words @kbd{RET}, @kbd{SPC}, @kbd{TAB}, @kbd{DEL}, @kbd{LFD},
5189 @kbd{ESC}, and @kbd{NUL} represent special control characters. The
5190 words must be written in uppercase.
5193 A word in angle brackets, e.g., @code{<return>}, @code{<down>}, or
5194 @code{<f1>}, represents a function key. (Note that in the standard
5195 configuration, the function key @code{<return>} and the control key
5196 @key{RET} are synonymous.) You can use angle brackets on the words
5197 @key{RET}, @key{SPC}, etc., but they are not required there.
5200 Keys can be written by their @sc{ascii} code, using a backslash followed
5201 by up to six octal digits. This is the only way to represent keys with
5205 One or more prefixes @kbd{M-} (meta), @kbd{C-} (control), @kbd{S-}
5206 (shift), @kbd{A-} (alt), @kbd{H-} (hyper), and @kbd{s-} (super) may
5207 precede a character or key notation. For function keys, the prefixes
5208 may go inside or outside of the brackets: @code{C-<down>} @equiv{}
5209 @code{<C-down>}. The prefixes may be written in any order: @kbd{M-C-x}
5210 @equiv{} @kbd{C-M-x}.
5212 Prefixes are not allowed on multi-key words, e.g., @kbd{C-abc}, except
5213 that the Meta prefix is allowed on a sequence of digits and optional
5214 minus sign: @kbd{M--123} @equiv{} @kbd{M-- M-1 M-2 M-3}.
5217 The @code{^} notation for control characters also works: @kbd{^M}
5221 Double angle brackets enclose command names: @code{<<next-line>>} is
5222 shorthand for @kbd{M-x next-line @key{RET}}.
5225 Finally, @code{REM} or @code{;;} causes the rest of the line to be
5226 ignored as a comment.
5229 Any word may be prefixed by a multiplier in the form of a decimal number
5230 and @code{*}: @code{3*<right>} @equiv{} @code{<right> <right> <right>},
5231 and @code{10*foo} @equiv{}
5235 @code{foofoofoofoofoofoofoofoofoofoo}.
5237 Multiple text keys can normally be strung together to form a word, but
5238 you may need to add whitespace if the word would look like one of the
5239 above notations: @code{; ; ;} is a keyboard macro with three semicolons,
5240 but @code{;;;} is a comment. Likewise, @code{\ 1 2 3} is four keys but
5241 @code{\123} is a single key written in octal, and @code{< right >} is
5242 seven keys but @code{<right>} is a single function key. When in doubt,
5246 @node Q5.1.4, Q5.1.5, Q5.1.3, Miscellaneous
5247 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.1.4: What is the performance hit of @code{let}?
5249 In most cases, not noticeable. Besides, there's no avoiding
5250 @code{let}---you have to bind your local variables, after all. Some
5251 pose a question whether to nest @code{let}s, or use one @code{let} per
5252 function. I think because of clarity and maintenance (and possible
5253 future implementation), @code{let}-s should be used (nested) in a way to
5254 provide the clearest code.
5256 @node Q5.1.5, Q5.1.6, Q5.1.4, Miscellaneous
5257 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.1.5: What is the recommended use of @code{setq}?
5260 @item Global variables
5262 You will typically @code{defvar} your global variable to a default
5263 value, and use @code{setq} to set it later.
5265 It is never a good practice to @code{setq} user variables (like
5266 @code{case-fold-search}, etc.), as it ignores the user's choice
5267 unconditionally. Note that @code{defvar} doesn't change the value of a
5268 variable if it was bound previously. If you wish to change a
5269 user-variable temporarily, use @code{let}:
5272 (let ((case-fold-search nil))
5273 ... ; code with searches that must be case-sensitive
5277 You will notice the user-variables by their docstrings beginning with an
5278 asterisk (a convention).
5280 @item Local variables
5282 Bind them with @code{let}, which will unbind them (or restore their
5283 previous value, if they were bound) after exiting from the @code{let}
5284 form. Change the value of local variables with @code{setq} or whatever
5285 you like (e.g. @code{incf}, @code{setf} and such). The @code{let} form
5286 can even return one of its local variables.
5291 ;; iterate through the elements of the list returned by
5292 ;; `hairy-function-that-returns-list'
5293 (let ((l (hairy-function-that-returns-list)))
5295 ... do something with (car l) ...
5299 Another typical usage includes building a value simply to work with it.
5302 ;; Build the mode keymap out of the key-translation-alist
5303 (let ((inbox (file-truename (expand-file-name box)))
5305 ... code dealing with inbox ...
5309 This piece of code uses the local variable @code{inbox}, which becomes
5310 unbound (or regains old value) after exiting the form. The form also
5311 returns the value of @code{inbox}, which can be reused, for instance:
5314 (setq foo-processed-inbox
5319 @node Q5.1.6, Q5.1.7, Q5.1.5, Miscellaneous
5320 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.1.6: What is the typical misuse of @code{setq} ?
5322 A typical misuse is probably @code{setq}ing a variable that was meant to
5323 be local. Such a variable will remain bound forever, never to be
5324 garbage-collected. For example, the code doing:
5327 (defun my-function (whatever)
5329 ... build a large list ...
5333 does a bad thing, as @code{a} will keep consuming memory, never to be
5334 unbound. The correct thing is to do it like this:
5337 (defun my-function (whatever)
5338 (let (a) ; default initialization is to nil
5339 ... build a large list ...
5340 ... and exit, unbinding `a' in the process ...)
5343 Not only is this prettier syntactically, but it makes it possible for
5344 Emacs to garbage-collect the objects which @code{a} used to reference.
5346 Note that even global variables should not be @code{setq}ed without
5347 @code{defvar}ing them first, because the byte-compiler issues warnings.
5348 The reason for the warning is the following:
5351 (defun flurgoze nil) ; ok, global internal variable
5354 (setq flurghoze t) ; ops! a typo, but semantically correct.
5355 ; however, the byte-compiler warns.
5357 While compiling toplevel forms:
5358 ** assignment to free variable flurghoze
5361 @node Q5.1.7, Q5.1.8, Q5.1.6, Miscellaneous
5362 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.1.7: I like the @code{do} form of cl, does it slow things down?
5364 It shouldn't. Here is what Dave Gillespie has to say about cl.el
5368 Many of the advanced features of this package, such as @code{defun*},
5369 @code{loop}, and @code{setf}, are implemented as Lisp macros. In
5370 byte-compiled code, these complex notations will be expanded into
5371 equivalent Lisp code which is simple and efficient. For example, the
5379 are expanded at compile-time to the Lisp forms
5383 (setcar p (cons x (car p)))
5386 which are the most efficient ways of doing these respective operations
5387 in Lisp. Thus, there is no performance penalty for using the more
5388 readable @code{incf} and @code{push} forms in your compiled code.
5390 @emph{Interpreted} code, on the other hand, must expand these macros
5391 every time they are executed. For this reason it is strongly
5392 recommended that code making heavy use of macros be compiled. (The
5393 features labelled @dfn{Special Form} instead of @dfn{Function} in this
5394 manual are macros.) A loop using @code{incf} a hundred times will
5395 execute considerably faster if compiled, and will also garbage-collect
5396 less because the macro expansion will not have to be generated, used,
5397 and thrown away a hundred times.
5399 You can find out how a macro expands by using the @code{cl-prettyexpand}
5403 @node Q5.1.8, Q5.1.9, Q5.1.7, Miscellaneous
5404 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.1.8: I like recursion, does it slow things down?
5406 Yes. Emacs byte-compiler cannot do much to optimize recursion. But
5407 think well whether this is a real concern in Emacs. Much of the Emacs
5408 slowness comes from internal mechanisms such as redisplay, or from the
5409 fact that it is an interpreter.
5411 Please try not to make your code much uglier to gain a very small speed
5412 gain. It's not usually worth it.
5414 @node Q5.1.9, Q5.1.10, Q5.1.8, Miscellaneous
5415 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.1.9: How do I put a glyph as annotation in a buffer?
5417 Here is a solution that will insert the glyph annotation at the
5418 beginning of buffer:
5421 (make-annotation (make-glyph '([FORMAT :file FILE]
5422 [string :data "fallback-text"]))
5428 Replace @samp{FORMAT} with an unquoted symbol representing the format of
5429 the image (e.g. @code{xpm}, @code{xbm}, @code{gif}, @code{jpeg}, etc.)
5430 Instead of @samp{FILE}, use the image file name
5435 @file{/usr/local/lib/xemacs-20.2/etc/recycle.xpm}).
5437 You can turn this to a function (that optionally prompts you for a file
5438 name), and inserts the glyph at @code{(point)} instead of
5441 @node Q5.1.10, Q5.1.11, Q5.1.9, Miscellaneous
5442 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.1.10: @code{map-extents} won't traverse all of my extents!
5444 I tried to use @code{map-extents} to do an operation on all the extents
5445 in a region. However, it seems to quit after processing a random number
5446 of extents. Is it buggy?
5448 No. The documentation of @code{map-extents} states that it will iterate
5449 across the extents as long as @var{function} returns @code{nil}.
5450 Unexperienced programmers often forget to return @code{nil} explicitly,
5451 which results in buggy code. For instance, the following code is
5452 supposed to delete all the extents in a buffer, and issue as many
5453 @samp{fubar!} messages.
5456 (map-extents (lambda (ext ignore)
5458 (message "fubar!")))
5461 Instead, it will delete only the first extent, and stop right there --
5462 because @code{message} will return a non-nil value. The correct code
5466 (map-extents (lambda (ext ignore)
5472 @node Q5.1.11, Q5.2.1, Q5.1.10, Miscellaneous
5473 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.1.11: My elisp program is horribly slow. Is there
5474 an easy way to find out where it spends time?
5477 z@email{hniksic@@xemacs.org, Hrvoje Niksic} writes:
5479 Under XEmacs 20.4 and later you can use @kbd{M-x profile-key-sequence}, press a key
5480 (say @key{RET} in the Gnus Group buffer), and get the results using
5481 @kbd{M-x profile-results}. It should give you an idea of where the time
5485 @node Q5.2.1, Q5.2.2, Q5.1.11, Miscellaneous
5486 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.2.1: How do I turn off the sound?
5488 Add the following line to your @file{.emacs}:
5491 (setq bell-volume 0)
5492 (setq sound-alist nil)
5495 That will make your XEmacs totally silent---even the default ding sound
5496 (TTY beep on TTY-s) will be gone.
5498 Starting with XEmacs-20.2 you can also change these with Customize.
5499 Select from the @code{Options} menu
5500 @code{Customize->Emacs->Environment->Sound->Sound...} or type
5501 @kbd{M-x customize @key{RET} sound @key{RET}}.
5504 @node Q5.2.2, Q5.2.3, Q5.2.1, Miscellaneous
5505 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.2.2: How do I get funky sounds instead of a boring beep?
5507 Make sure your XEmacs was compiled with sound support, and then put this
5508 in your @file{.emacs}:
5511 (load-default-sounds)
5514 The sound support in XEmacs 19.14 was greatly improved over previous
5517 @node Q5.2.3, Q5.2.4, Q5.2.2, Miscellaneous
5518 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.2.3: What's NAS, how do I get it?
5520 @xref{Q2.0.3}, for an explanation of the @dfn{Network Audio System}.
5522 @node Q5.2.4, Q5.3.1, Q5.2.3, Miscellaneous
5523 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.2.4: Sunsite sounds don't play.
5525 I'm having some trouble with sounds I've downloaded from sunsite. They
5526 play when I run them through @code{showaudio} or cat them directly to
5527 @file{/dev/audio}, but XEmacs refuses to play them.
5529 @email{gutschk@@uni-muenster.de, Markus Gutschke} writes:
5532 [Many of] These files have an (erroneous) 24byte header that tells about
5533 the format that they have been recorded in. If you cat them to
5534 @file{/dev/audio}, the header will be ignored and the default behavior
5535 for /dev/audio will be used. This happens to be 8kHz uLaw. It is
5536 probably possible to fix the header by piping through @code{sox} and
5537 passing explicit parameters for specifying the sampling format; you then
5538 need to perform a 'null' conversion from SunAudio to SunAudio.
5541 @node Q5.3.1, Q5.3.2, Q5.2.4, Miscellaneous
5542 @unnumberedsec 5.3: Miscellaneous
5543 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.3.1: How do you make XEmacs indent CL if-clauses correctly?
5545 I'd like XEmacs to indent all the clauses of a Common Lisp @code{if} the
5546 same amount instead of indenting the 3rd clause differently from the
5549 One way is to add, to @file{.emacs}:
5552 (put 'if 'lisp-indent-function nil)
5555 However, note that the package @code{cl-indent} that comes with
5556 XEmacs sets up this kind of indentation by default. @code{cl-indent}
5557 also knows about many other CL-specific forms. To use @code{cl-indent},
5562 (setq lisp-indent-function (function common-lisp-indent-function))
5565 One can also customize @file{cl-indent.el} so it mimics the default
5566 @code{if} indentation @code{then} indented more than the @code{else}.
5570 (put 'if 'common-lisp-indent-function '(nil nil &body))
5573 Also, a new version (1.2) of @file{cl-indent.el} was posted to
5574 comp.emacs.xemacs on 12/9/94. This version includes more documentation
5575 than previous versions. This may prove useful if you need to customize
5576 any indent-functions.
5578 @node Q5.3.2, Q5.3.3, Q5.3.1, Miscellaneous
5579 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.3.2: Fontifying hang when editing a postscript file.
5581 When I try to edit a postscript file it gets stuck saying:
5582 @samp{fontifying 'filename' (regexps....)} and it just sits there. If I
5583 press @kbd{C-c} in the window where XEmacs was started, it suddenly
5584 becomes alive again.
5586 This was caused by a bug in the Postscript font-lock regular
5587 expressions. It was fixed in 19.13. For earlier versions of XEmacs,
5588 have a look at your @file{.emacs} file. You will probably have a line
5592 (add-hook 'postscript-mode-hook 'turn-on-font-lock)
5595 Take it out, restart XEmacs, and it won't try to fontify your postscript
5598 @node Q5.3.3, Q5.3.4, Q5.3.2, Miscellaneous
5599 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.3.3: How can I print WYSIWYG a font-locked buffer?
5601 Font-lock looks nice. How can I print (WYSIWYG) the highlighted
5604 The package @code{ps-print}, which is now included with XEmacs, provides
5605 the ability to do this. The source code contains complete instructions
5606 on its use, in @file{<xemacs_src_root>/lisp/packages/ps-print.el}.
5608 @node Q5.3.4, Q5.3.5, Q5.3.3, Miscellaneous
5609 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.3.4: Getting @kbd{M-x lpr} to work with postscript printer.
5611 My printer is a Postscript printer and @code{lpr} only works for
5612 Postscript files, so how do I get @kbd{M-x lpr-region} and @kbd{M-x
5613 lpr-buffer} to work?
5615 Put something like this in your @file{.emacs}:
5618 (setq lpr-command "a2ps")
5619 (setq lpr-switches '("-p" "-1"))
5622 If you don't use a2ps to convert ASCII to postscript (why not, it's
5623 free?), replace with the command you do use. Note also that some
5624 versions of a2ps require a @samp{-Pprinter} to ensure spooling.
5626 @node Q5.3.5, Q5.3.6, Q5.3.4, Miscellaneous
5627 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.3.5: How do I specify the paths that XEmacs uses for finding files?
5629 You can specify what paths to use by using a number of different flags
5630 when running configure. See the section MAKE VARIABLES in the top-level
5631 file INSTALL in the XEmacs distribution for a listing of those flags.
5633 Most of the time, however, the simplest fix is: @strong{do not} specify
5634 paths as you might for GNU Emacs. XEmacs can generally determine the
5635 necessary paths dynamically at run time. The only path that generally
5636 needs to be specified is the root directory to install into. That can
5637 be specified by passing the @code{--prefix} flag to configure. For a
5638 description of the XEmacs install tree, please consult the @file{NEWS}
5641 @node Q5.3.6, Q5.3.7, Q5.3.5, Miscellaneous
5642 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.3.6: [This question intentionally left blank]
5644 Obsolete question, left blank to avoid renumbering.
5646 @node Q5.3.7, Q5.3.8, Q5.3.6, Miscellaneous
5647 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.3.7: Can I have the end of the buffer delimited in some way?
5649 Say, with: @samp{[END]}?
5654 (let ((ext (make-extent (point-min) (point-max))))
5655 (set-extent-property ext 'start-closed t)
5656 (set-extent-property ext 'end-closed t)
5657 (set-extent-property ext 'detachable nil)
5658 (set-extent-end-glyph ext (make-glyph [string :data "[END]"])))
5661 Since this is XEmacs, you can specify an icon to be shown on
5662 window-system devices. To do so, change the @code{make-glyph} call to
5663 something like this:
5666 (make-glyph '([xpm :file "~/something.xpm"]
5667 [string :data "[END]"]))
5670 You can inline the @sc{xpm} definition yourself by specifying
5671 @code{:data} instead of @code{:file}. Here is such a full-featured
5672 version that works on both X and TTY devices:
5675 (let ((ext (make-extent (point-min) (point-max))))
5676 (set-extent-property ext 'start-closed t)
5677 (set-extent-property ext 'end-closed t)
5678 (set-extent-property ext 'detachable nil)
5679 (set-extent-end-glyph ext (make-glyph '([xpm :data "\
5681 static char* eye = @{
5690 \"___________`_`_`___b_b_b_b_________`____\",
5691 \"_________`_`_`___b_c_c_c_b_b____________\",
5692 \"_____`_`_`_e___b_b_c_c_c___b___b_______`\",
5693 \"___`_`_e_a___b_b_d___b___b___b___b______\",
5694 \"_`_`_e_a_e___b_b_d_b___b___b___b___b____\",
5695 \"_`_`_a_e_a___b_b_d___b___b___b___b___b__\",
5696 \"_`_`_e_a_e___b_b_d_b___b___b___b___b_b__\",
5697 \"___`_`_e_a___b_b_b_d_c___b___b___d_b____\",
5698 \"_____`_`_e_e___b_b_b_d_c___b_b_d_b______\",
5699 \"_`_____`_`_`_`___b_b_b_d_d_d_d_b________\",
5700 \"___`_____`_`_`_`___b_b_b_b_b_b__________\",
5702 [string :data "[END]"]))))
5705 Note that you might want to make this a function, and put it to a hook.
5706 We leave that as an exercise for the reader.
5708 @node Q5.3.8, Q5.3.9, Q5.3.7, Miscellaneous
5709 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.3.8: How do I insert today's date into a buffer?
5714 (insert (current-time-string))
5717 @node Q5.3.9, Q5.3.10, Q5.3.8, Miscellaneous
5718 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.3.9: Are only certain syntactic character classes available for abbrevs?
5720 @email{gutschk@@uni-muenster.de, Markus Gutschke} writes:
5723 Yes, abbrevs only expands word-syntax strings. While XEmacs does not
5724 prevent you from defining (e.g. with @kbd{C-x a g} or @kbd{C-x a l})
5725 abbrevs that contain special characters, it will refuse to expand
5726 them. So you need to ensure, that the abbreviation contains letters and
5727 digits only. This means that @samp{xd}, @samp{d5}, and @samp{5d} are
5728 valid abbrevs, but @samp{&d}, and @samp{x d} are not.
5730 If this sounds confusing to you, (re-)read the online documentation for
5731 abbrevs (@kbd{C-h i m XEmacs @key{RET} m Abbrevs @key{RET}}), and then come back and
5732 read this question/answer again.
5735 Starting with XEmacs 20.3 this restriction has been lifted.
5737 @node Q5.3.10, Q5.3.11, Q5.3.9, Miscellaneous
5738 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.3.10: How can I get those oh-so-neat X-Face lines?
5740 Firstly there is an ftp site which describes X-faces and has the
5741 associated tools mentioned below, at
5742 @uref{ftp://ftp.cs.indiana.edu:/pub/faces/}.
5748 Create 48x48x1 bitmap with your favorite tool
5751 Convert to "icon" format using one of xbm2ikon, pbmtoicon, etc.,
5752 and then compile the face.
5756 cat file.xbm | xbm2ikon |compface > file.face
5760 Then be sure to quote things that are necessary for emacs strings:
5763 cat ./file.face | sed 's/\\/\\\\/g'
5767 | sed 's/\"/\\\"/g' > ./file.face.quoted
5771 Then set up emacs to include the file as a mail header - there were a
5772 couple of suggestions here---either something like:
5775 (setq mail-default-headers
5776 "X-Face: @email{Ugly looking text string here}")
5779 Or, alternatively, as:
5782 (defun mail-insert-x-face ()
5784 (goto-char (point-min))
5785 (search-forward mail-header-separator)
5788 (insert-file-contents "~/.face")))
5790 (add-hook 'mail-setup-hook 'mail-insert-x-face)
5794 However, 2 things might be wrong:
5796 Some versions of pbmtoicon produces some header lines that is not
5797 expected by the version of compface that I grabbed. So I found I had to
5798 include a @code{tail +3} in the pipeline like this:
5801 cat file.xbm | xbm2ikon | tail +3 |compface > file.face
5804 Some people have also found that if one uses the @code{(insert-file)}
5805 method, one should NOT quote the face string using the sed script .
5807 It might also be helpful to use @email{stig@@hackvan.com, Stig's} script
5808 (included in the compface distribution at XEmacs.org) to do the
5810 @comment For convenience xbm2xface is available for anonymous FTP at
5811 @comment @uref{ftp://ftp.miranova.com/pub/xemacs/xbm2xface.pl}.
5813 Contributors for this item:
5824 @node Q5.3.11, Q5.3.12, Q5.3.10, Miscellaneous
5825 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.3.11: How do I add new Info directories?
5827 You use something like:
5830 (setq Info-directory-list (cons
5831 (expand-file-name "~/info")
5832 Info-default-directory-list))
5835 @email{davidm@@prism.kla.com, David Masterson} writes:
5838 Emacs Info and XEmacs Info do many things differently. If you're trying to
5839 support a number of versions of Emacs, here are some notes to remember:
5843 Emacs Info scans @code{Info-directory-list} from right-to-left while
5844 XEmacs Info reads it from left-to-right, so append to the @emph{correct}
5848 Use @code{Info-default-directory-list} to initialize
5849 @code{Info-directory-list} @emph{if} it is available at startup, but not
5850 all Emacsen define it.
5853 Emacs Info looks for a standard @file{dir} file in each of the
5854 directories scanned from #1 and magically concatenates them together.
5857 XEmacs Info looks for a @file{localdir} file (which consists of just the
5858 menu entries from a @file{dir} file) in each of the directories scanned
5859 from #1 (except the first), does a simple concatenation of them, and
5860 magically attaches the resulting list to the end of the menu in the
5861 @file{dir} file in the first directory.
5864 Another alternative is to convert the documentation to HTML with
5865 texi2html and read it from a web browser like Lynx or W3.
5868 @node Q5.3.12, , Q5.3.11, Miscellaneous
5869 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.3.12: What do I need to change to make printing work?
5871 For regular printing there are two variables that can be customized.
5875 This should be set to a command that takes standard input and sends
5876 it to a printer. Something like:
5879 (setq lpr-command "lp")
5883 This should be set to a list that contains whatever the print command
5884 requires to do its job. Something like:
5887 (setq lpr-switches '("-depson"))
5891 For postscript printing there are three analogous variables to
5895 @item ps-lpr-command
5896 This should be set to a command that takes postscript on standard input
5897 and directs it to a postscript printer.
5899 @item ps-lpr-switches
5900 This should be set to a list of switches required for
5901 @code{ps-lpr-command} to do its job.
5903 @item ps-print-color-p
5904 This boolean variable should be set @code{t} if printing will be done in
5905 color, otherwise it should be set to @code{nil}.
5908 NOTE: It is an undocumented limitation in XEmacs that postscript
5909 printing (the @code{Pretty Print Buffer} menu item) @strong{requires} a
5910 window system environment. It cannot be used outside of X11.
5912 @node MS Windows, Current Events, Miscellaneous, Top
5913 @unnumbered 6 XEmacs on MS Windows
5915 This is part 6 of the XEmacs Frequently Asked Questions list, written by
5916 Hrvoje Niksic and others. This section is devoted to the MS Windows
5922 * Q6.0.1:: What is the status of the XEmacs port to Windows?
5923 * Q6.0.2:: What flavors of MS Windows are supported?
5924 * Q6.0.3:: Where are the XEmacs on MS Windows binaries?
5925 * Q6.0.4:: Does XEmacs on MS Windows require an X server to run?
5927 Building XEmacs on MS Windows
5928 * Q6.1.1:: I decided to run with X. Where do I get an X server?
5929 * Q6.1.2:: What compiler do I need to compile XEmacs?
5930 * Q6.1.3:: How do I compile for the native port?
5931 * Q6.1.4:: How do I compile for the X port?
5932 * Q6.1.5:: How do I compile for Cygnus' Cygwin?
5933 * Q6.1.6:: What do I need for Cygwin?
5935 Customization and User Interface
5936 * Q6.2.1:: How will the port cope with differences in the Windows user interface?
5937 * Q6.2.2:: How do I change fonts in XEmacs on MS Windows?
5938 * Q6.2.3:: Where do I put my @file{.emacs} file?
5941 * Q6.3.1:: Will XEmacs rename all the win32-* symbols to w32-*?
5942 * Q6.3.2:: What are the differences between the various MS Windows emacsen?
5943 * Q6.3.3:: What is the porting team doing at the moment?
5946 * Q6.4.1:: XEmacs won't start on Windows. (NEW)
5950 @node Q6.0.1, Q6.0.2, MS Windows, MS Windows
5951 @unnumberedsec 6.0: General Info
5952 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.0.1: What is the status of the XEmacs port to Windows?
5954 Is XEmacs really getting ported to MS Windows? What is the status of the port?
5956 Yes, a group of volunteers actively works on making XEmacs code base
5957 cleanly compile and run on MS Windows operating systems. The mailing
5958 list at @email{xemacs-nt@@xemacs.org} is dedicated to that effort (please use
5959 the -request address to subscribe).
5961 At this time, XEmacs on MS Windows is usable, but lacks some of the
5962 features of XEmacs on UNIX and UNIX-like systems. Notably,
5963 internationalization does not work.
5965 @node Q6.0.2, Q6.0.3, Q6.0.1, MS Windows
5966 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.0.2: What flavors of MS Windows are supported? The list name implies NT only.
5968 The list name is misleading, as XEmacs will support both Windows 95,
5969 Windows 98 and Windows NT. The MS Windows-specific code is based on
5970 Microsoft Win32 API, and will not work on MS Windows 3.x or on MS-DOS.
5973 @node Q6.0.3, Q6.0.4, Q6.0.2, MS Windows
5974 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.0.3: Are binary kits available?
5976 Binary kits are available at
5977 @uref{ftp://ftp.xemacs.org/pub/xemacs/binary-kits/win32/} for the
5978 "plain" MS Windows version.
5980 @node Q6.0.4, Q6.1.1, Q6.0.3, MS Windows
5981 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.0.4: Does XEmacs on MS Windows require an X server to run?
5985 Long answer: XEmacs can be built in several ways in the MS Windows
5986 environment, some of them requiring an X server and some not.
5988 One is what we call the "X" port---it requires X libraries to build
5989 and an X server to run. Internally it uses the Xt event loop and
5990 makes use of X toolkits. Its look is quite un-Windowsy, but it works
5991 reliably and supports all of the graphical features of Unix XEmacs.
5993 The other is what we call the "native" port. It uses the Win32 API
5994 and does not require X libraries to build, nor does it require an X to
5995 run. In fact, it has no connection with X whatsoever. At this time,
5996 the native port obsoletes the X port, providing almost all of its
5997 features, including support for menus, scrollbars, toolbars, embedded
5998 images and background pixmaps, frame pointers, etc. Most of the
5999 future work will be based on the native port.
6001 There is also a third special case, the Cygwin port. It takes
6002 advantage of Cygnus emulation library under Win32, which enables it to
6003 reuse much of the Unix XEmacs code base, such as processes and network
6004 support, or internal select() mechanisms.
6006 Cygwin port supports all display types---TTY, X & MS gui, and can be
6007 built with support for all three. If you build with ms gui support
6008 then the Cygwin version uses the majority of the msw code, which is
6009 mostly related to display. If you want to build with X support you
6010 need X libraries. If you want to build with tty support you need
6011 ncurses. MS gui requires no additional libraries.
6013 Some of the advantages of the Cygwin version are that it:
6017 @item integrates well with Cygwin environment for existing Cygwin users;
6018 @item uses configure so building with different features is very easy;
6019 @item has process support in X & tty.
6023 The disadvantage is that it requires several Unix utilities and the
6024 whole Cygwin environment, whereas the native port requires only a
6025 suitable MS Windows compiler. Also, it follows the Unix filesystem and
6026 process model very closely (some will undoubtedly view this as an
6029 @node Q6.1.1, Q6.1.2, Q6.0.4, MS Windows
6030 @unnumberedsec 6.1: Building XEmacs on MS Windows
6031 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.1.1: I decided to run with X. Where do I get an X server?
6033 Pointers to X servers can be found at
6037 @uref{http://dao.gsfc.nasa.gov/software/grads/win32/X11R6.3/};
6039 look for "Where to get an X server". Also note that, although the above
6040 page talks about Cygnus gnu-win32 (Cygwin), the information on X servers
6041 is Cygwin-independent. You don't have to be running/using Cygwin to use
6042 these X servers, and you don't have to compile XEmacs under Cygwin to
6043 use XEmacs with these X servers. An "X port" XEmacs compiled under
6044 Visual C++ will work with these X servers (as will XEmacs running on a
6045 Unix box, redirected to the server running on your PC).
6048 @node Q6.1.2, Q6.1.3, Q6.1.1, MS Windows
6049 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.1.2: What compiler do I need to compile XEmacs?
6051 You need Visual C++ 4.2, 5.0, or 6.0, with the exception of the Cygwin
6052 port, which uses Gcc. There is also a MINGW32 port of XEmacs (using
6053 Gcc, but using native libraries rather than the Cygwin libraries). ####
6054 More information about this should be provided.
6057 @node Q6.1.3, Q6.1.4, Q6.1.2, MS Windows
6058 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.1.3: How do I compile for the native port?
6060 Please read the file @file{nt/README} in the XEmacs distribution, which
6061 contains the full description.
6064 @node Q6.1.4, Q6.1.5, Q6.1.3, MS Windows
6065 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.1.4: How do I compile for the X port?
6067 Again, it is described in @file{nt/README} in some detail. Basically, you
6068 need to get X11 libraries from ftp.x.org, and compile them. If the
6069 precompiled versions are available somewhere, I don't know of it.
6072 @node Q6.1.5, Q6.1.6, Q6.1.4, MS Windows
6073 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.1.5: How do I compile for Cygnus' Cygwin?
6075 Similar as on Unix; use the usual `configure' and `make' process.
6076 Some problems to watch out for:
6080 make sure HOME is set. This controls where you @file{.emacs} file comes
6084 CYGWIN needs to be set to tty for process support work. e.g. CYGWIN=tty;
6085 (use CYGWIN32=tty under b19 and older.)
6088 picking up some other grep or other unix like tools can kill configure;
6091 static heap too small, adjust src/sheap-adjust.h to a more positive
6095 The Cygwin version doesn't understand @file{//machine/path} type paths so you
6096 will need to manually mount a directory of this form under a unix style
6097 directory for a build to work on the directory.
6101 @node Q6.1.6, Q6.2.1, Q6.1.5, MS Windows
6102 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.1.6: What do I need for Cygwin?
6104 You can find the Cygwin tools and compiler at:
6106 @uref{http://sourceware.cygnus.com/cygwin/}
6108 You will need version b19 or later.
6109 The latest current version is 1.1.1.
6110 Other common versions you will see are b20.1.
6112 Another location, one of the mirror sites of the site just mentioned,
6113 is usually a last faster:
6115 @uref{ftp://ftp.freesoftware.com/pub/sourceware/cygwin/}
6117 You can obtain the latest version (currently 1.1.1) from the
6118 @samp{latest/} subdirectory of either of the above two just-mentioned
6121 @strong{WARNING: The version of GCC supplied under @samp{latest/}, as of
6122 June 6th, 2000, does not appear to work. It generates loads of spurious
6123 preprocessor warnings and errors, which makes it impossible to compile
6126 You will also need the X libraries. You can get them on the XEmacs FTP
6129 @uref{ftp://ftp.xemacs.org/pub/xemacs/aux/cygwin/}
6131 You will find b19 and b20 versions of the X libraries, plus b19 and b20
6132 versions of stuff that should go into @samp{/usr/local/}, donated by
6133 Andy Piper. This includes pre-built versions of various graphics libraries,
6134 such as PNG, JPEG, TIFF, and XPM. (Remember, GIF support is built-in to
6137 (X libraries for v1 and beyond of Cygwin can be found on the Cygwin site
6138 itself -- look in the @samp{xfree/} subdirectory.)
6140 @emph{NOTE:} There are two versions of the XPM library provided in
6141 Andy's packets. Once is for building with X support, and the other for
6142 building without. The X version should work if you're building with
6143 both X and Windows support. The two files are called @file{libXpm-X.a}
6144 and @file{libXpm-noX.a} respectively, and you must symlink the
6145 appropriate one to @file{libXpm.a}. @strong{CAREFUL:} By default, the
6146 non-X version is symlinked in. If you then configure XEmacs with X,
6147 you won't run into problems until you start compiling @file{events.c},
6148 at which point you'll get strange and decidedly non-obvious errors.
6150 Please see @uref{http://www.xemacs.freeserve.co.uk/} (Andy Piper's home
6151 page) for more information.
6153 BTW There are also libraries at
6157 @uref{http://dao.gsfc.nasa.gov/software/grads/win32/X11R6.3/}, but
6158 these are not b19 compatible, and may in fact be native-compiled.
6161 @node Q6.2.1, Q6.2.2, Q6.1.6, MS Windows
6162 @unnumberedsec 6.2: Customization and User Interface
6163 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.2.1: How will the port cope with differences in the Windows user interface?
6165 XEmacs (and Emacs in general) UI is pretty
6166 different from what is expected of a typical MS Windows program. How will
6167 the MS Windows port cope with it?
6169 Fortunately, Emacs is also one of the most configurable editor beasts
6170 in the world. The MS Windows "look and feel" (mark via shift-arrow,
6171 self-inserting deletes region, etc.) can be easily configured via
6172 various packages distributed with XEmacs. The `pending-delete'
6173 package is an example of such a utility.
6175 In future versions, some of these packages might be turned on by
6176 default in the MS Windows environment.
6179 @node Q6.2.2, Q6.2.3, Q6.2.1, MS Windows
6180 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.2.2: How do I change fonts in XEmacs on MS Windows?
6182 In 21.2.*, use the font menu. In 21.1.*, you can change font
6183 manually. For example:
6186 (set-face-font 'default "Lucida Console:Regular:10")
6187 (set-face-font 'modeline "MS Sans Serif:Regular:10")
6191 @node Q6.2.3, Q6.3.1, Q6.2.2, MS Windows
6192 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.2.3: Where do I put my @file{.emacs} file?
6194 If the HOME environment variable is set, @file{.emacs} will be looked for
6195 there. Else the directory defaults to `c:\'.
6197 @node Q6.3.1, Q6.3.2, Q6.2.3, MS Windows
6198 @unnumberedsec 6.3: Miscellaneous
6199 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.3.1: Will XEmacs rename all the win32-* symbols to w32-*?
6201 In his flavor of Emacs 20, Richard Stallman has renamed all the win32-*
6202 symbols to w32-*. Will XEmacs do the same?
6204 We consider such a move counter-productive, thus we will not use the
6205 `w32' prefix. However, we do recognize that Win32 name is little more
6206 than a marketing buzzword (will it be Win64 in the next release?), so
6207 we decided not to use it. Using `windows-' would be wrong because the
6208 term is too generic, which is why we settled on a compromise
6211 Thus all the XEmacs variables and functions directly related to Win32
6212 are prefixed `mswindows-'. The user-variables shared with NT Emacs
6213 will be provided as compatibility aliases.
6215 Architectural note: We believe that there should be a very small
6216 number of window-systems-specific variables, and will try to provide
6217 generic interfaces whenever possible.
6220 @node Q6.3.2, Q6.3.3, Q6.3.1, MS Windows
6221 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.3.2: What are the differences between the various MS Windows emacsen?
6223 XEmacs, Win-Emacs, DOS Emacs, NT Emacs, this is all very confusing.
6224 Could you briefly explain the differences between them?
6226 Here is a recount of various Emacs versions running on MS Windows:
6236 Win-Emacs is a port of Lucid Emacs 19.6 to MS Windows using X
6237 compatibility libraries. Win-Emacs has been written by Ben Wing. The
6238 MS Windows code has not made it back to Lucid Emacs, which left Win-Emacs
6239 pretty much dead for our purposes. Win-Emacs used to be available at
6240 Pearlsoft, but not anymore, since Pearlsoft went out of business.
6249 GNU Emacs features support for MS-DOS and DJGPP (D.J. Delorie's DOS
6250 port of Gcc). Such an Emacs is heavily underfeatured, because it does
6251 not supports long file names, lacks proper subprocesses support, and
6252 is far too big compared to typical DOS editors.
6256 GNU Emacs compiled with Win32
6261 Starting with version 19.30, it has been possible to compile GNU Emacs
6262 under MS Windows using the DJGPP compiler and X libraries. The result
6263 is is very similar to GNU Emacs compiled under MS DOS, only it
6264 supports longer file names, etc. This "port" is similar to the "X"
6265 flavor of XEmacs on MS Windows.
6274 NT Emacs is a version of GNU Emacs modified to compile and run under
6275 MS MS Windows 95 and NT using the native Win32 API. As such, it is close
6276 in spirit to the XEmacs "native" port.
6279 NT Emacs has been written by Geoff Voelker, and more information can be
6284 @uref{http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/voelker/ntemacs.html}.
6294 Beginning with XEmacs 19.12, XEmacs' architecture has been redesigned
6295 in such a way to allow clean support of multiple window systems. At
6296 this time the TTY support was added, making X and TTY the first two
6297 "window systems" XEmacs supported. The 19.12 design is the basis for
6298 the current native MS Windows code.
6301 Some time during 1997, David Hobley (soon joined by Marc Paquette)
6302 imported some of the NT-specific portions of GNU Emacs, making XEmacs
6303 with X support compile under Windows NT, and creating the "X" port.
6306 Several months later, Jonathan Harris sent out initial patches to use
6307 the Win32 API, thus creating the native port. Since then, various
6308 people have contributed, including Kirill M. Katsnelson (contributed
6309 support for menubars, subprocesses and network, as well as loads of
6310 other code), Andy Piper (ported XEmacs to Cygwin environment,
6311 contributed Windows unexec, Windows-specific glyphs and toolbars code,
6312 and more), Jeff Sparkes (contributed scrollbars support) and many
6320 @node Q6.3.3, Q6.4.1, Q6.3.2, MS Windows
6321 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.3.3: What is the porting team doing at the moment?
6323 The porting team is continuing work on the MS Windows-specific code.
6325 @node Q6.4.1, ,Q6.3.3, MS Windows
6326 @unnumberedsec 6.3: Troubleshooting
6327 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.4.1 XEmacs won't start on Windows. (NEW)
6329 XEmacs relies on a process called "dumping" to generate a working
6330 executable. Under MS-Windows this process effectively fixes the memory
6331 addresses of information in the executable. When XEmacs starts up it tries
6332 to reserve these memory addresses so that the dumping process can be
6333 reversed - putting the information back at the correct addresses.
6334 Unfortunately some .dlls (For instance the soundblaster driver) occupy
6335 memory addresses that can conflict with those needed by the dumped XEmacs
6336 executable. In this instance XEmacs will fail to start without any
6337 explanation. Note that this is extremely machine specific.
6339 21.1.10 includes a fix for this that makes more intelligent guesses
6340 about which memory addresses will be free, and this should cure the
6341 problem for most people. Unfortunately, no binary is yet available for
6342 this version. Check back periodically at
6344 @uref{ftp://ftp.xemacs.org/pub/xemacs/binaries/}.
6346 21.2 implements "portable dumping" which will eliminate the problem
6347 altogether. You might have better luck with the 21.2 beta binary,
6350 @uref{ftp://ftp.xemacs.org/pub/xemacs/beta/binaries/}.
6353 @node Current Events, , MS Windows, Top
6354 @unnumbered 7 What the Future Holds
6356 This is part 7 of the XEmacs Frequently Asked Questions list. This
6357 section will change monthly, and contains any interesting items that have
6358 transpired over the previous month. If you are reading this from the
6359 XEmacs distribution, please see the version on the Web or archived at the
6360 various FAQ FTP sites, as this file is surely out of date.
6363 * Q7.0.1:: What is new in 20.2?
6364 * Q7.0.2:: What is new in 20.3?
6365 * Q7.0.3:: What is new in 20.4?
6366 * Q7.0.4:: Procedural changes in XEmacs development.
6369 @node Q7.0.1, Q7.0.2, Current Events, Current Events
6370 @unnumberedsec 7.0: Changes
6371 @unnumberedsubsec Q7.0.1: What is new in 20.2?
6373 The biggest changes in 20.2 include integration of EFS (the next
6374 generation of ange-ftp) and AUC Tex (the Emacs subsystem that includes a
6375 major mode for editing Tex and LaTeX, and a lot of other stuff). Many
6376 bugs from 20.0 have been fixed for this release. 20.2 also contains a
6377 new system for customizing XEmacs options, invoked via @kbd{M-x
6380 XEmacs 20.2 is the development release (20.0 was beta), and is no longer
6381 considered unstable.
6383 @node Q7.0.2, Q7.0.3, Q7.0.1, Current Events
6384 @unnumberedsubsec Q7.0.2: What is new in 20.3?
6386 XEmacs 20.3 was released in November 1997. It contains many bugfixes,
6387 and a number of new features, including Autoconf 2 based configuration,
6388 additional support for Mule (Multi-language extensions to Emacs), many
6389 more customizations, multiple frames on TTY-s, support for multiple info
6390 directories, an enhanced gnuclient, improvements to regexp matching,
6391 increased MIME support, and many, many synches with GNU Emacs 20.
6393 The XEmacs/Mule support has been only seriously tested in a Japanese
6394 locale, and no doubt many problems still remain. The support for
6395 ISO-Latin-1 and Japanese is fairly strong. MULE support comes at a
6396 price---about a 30% slowdown from 19.16. We're making progress on
6397 improving performance and XEmacs 20.3 compiled without Mule (which is
6398 the default) is definitely faster than XEmacs 19.16.
6400 XEmacs 20.3 is the first non-beta v20 release, and will be the
6401 basis for all further development.
6403 @node Q7.0.3, Q7.0.4, Q7.0.2, Current Events
6404 @unnumberedsubsec Q7.0.3: What's new in XEmacs 20.4?
6406 XEmacs 20.4 is a bugfix release with no user-visible changes.
6407 @c Filled in from NEWS file of 20.5-b33
6410 @node Q7.0.4, , Q7.0.3, Current Events
6411 @unnumberedsubsec Q7.0.4: Procedural changes in XEmacs development.
6415 Discussion about the development of XEmacs occurs on the xemacs-beta
6416 mailing list. Subscriptions to this list will now be fully automated
6417 instead of being handled by hand. Send a mail message to
6418 @email{xemacs-beta-request@@xemacs.org} with @samp{subscribe} as the
6419 BODY of the message to join the list. Please note this is a developers
6420 mailing list for people who have an active interest in the development
6423 The discussion of NT XEmacs development is taking place on a separate
6424 mailing list. Send mail to
6428 @email{xemacs-nt-request@@xemacs.org} to
6432 Due to the long development cycle in between releases, it has been
6433 decided that intermediate versions will be made available in source only
6434 form for the truly interested.
6436 XEmacs 19.16 was the last 19 release, basically consisting of 19.15 plus
6437 the collected bugfixes.
6440 As of December 1996, @email{steve@@xemacs.org, Steve Baur} has become
6441 the lead maintainer of XEmacs.