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: 2001/10/23 08:35:23 $
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-21.4/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 an @file{init.el} or @file{.emacs} and is there a sample one?
131 * Q1.4.2:: Can I use the same @file{init.el}/@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:: XEmacs is outputting lots of X errors.
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{init.el}/@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:: [This question intentionally left blank]
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 turn off automatic horizontal scrolling in specific modes?
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 and/or Filladapt?
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:: [This question intentionally left blank]
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:: [This question intentionally left blank]
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? The list name implies NT only.
382 * Q6.0.3:: Are binaries available?
383 * Q6.0.4:: Can I build XEmacs on MS Windows with X support? Do I need to?
384 * Q6.0.5:: I'd like to help out. What do I do?
385 * Q6.0.6:: What are Cygwin and MinGW, and do I need them to run XEmacs?
386 * Q6.0.7:: What exactly are all the different ways to build XEmacs under Windows?
388 Building XEmacs on MS Windows:
389 * Q6.1.1:: What compiler/libraries do I need to compile XEmacs?
390 * Q6.1.2:: How do I compile the native port?
391 * Q6.1.3:: What do I need for Cygwin?
392 * Q6.1.4:: How do I compile under Cygwin?
393 * Q6.1.5:: How do I compile using MinGW (aka @samp{the -mno-cygwin flag to gcc})?
394 * Q6.1.6:: I decided to run with X. Where do I get an X server?
395 * Q6.1.7:: How do I compile with X support?
397 Customization and User Interface:
398 * Q6.2.1:: How does the port cope with differences in the Windows user interface?
399 * Q6.2.2:: How do I change fonts in XEmacs on MS Windows?
400 * Q6.2.3:: Where do I put my @file{init.el}/@file{.emacs} file?
401 * Q6.2.4:: How do I get Windows Explorer to associate a file type with XEmacs?
402 * Q6.2.5:: Is it possible to print from XEmacs?
406 * Q6.3.1:: Does XEmacs rename all the @samp{win32-*} symbols to @samp{w32-*}?
407 * Q6.3.2:: What are the differences between the various MS Windows emacsen?
408 * Q6.3.3:: XEmacs 21.1 on Windows used to spawn an ugly console window on every startup. Has that been fixed?
409 * Q6.3.4:: What is the porting team doing at the moment?
412 * Q6.4.1:: XEmacs won't start on Windows.
413 * Q6.4.2:: Why do I get a blank toolbar on Windows 95?
416 * Q7.0.1:: What new features will be in XEmacs soon?
417 * Q7.0.2:: What's new in XEmacs 21.4?
418 * Q7.0.3:: What's new in XEmacs 21.1?
419 * Q7.0.4:: What's new in XEmacs 20.4?
420 * Q7.0.5:: What's new in XEmacs 20.3?
421 * Q7.0.6:: What's new in XEmacs 20.2?
425 @node Introduction, Installation, Top, Top
426 @unnumbered 1 Introduction, Policy, Credits
428 Learning XEmacs is a lifelong activity. Even people who have used Emacs
429 for years keep discovering new features. Therefore this document cannot
430 be complete. Instead it is aimed at the person who is either
431 considering XEmacs for their own use, or has just obtained it and is
432 wondering what to do next. It is also useful as a reference to
435 The previous maintainer of the FAQ was @email{rossini@@biostat.washington.edu,
436 Anthony Rossini}, who started it, after getting tired of hearing JWZ
437 complain about repeatedly having to answer questions.
438 @email{ben@@xemacs.org, Ben Wing} and @email{cthomp@@xemacs.org, Chuck
439 Thompson}, the principal authors of XEmacs, then took over and Ben did
440 a massive update reorganizing the whole thing. At which point Anthony
441 took back over, but then had to give it up again. Some of the other
442 contributors to this FAQ are listed later in this document.
444 The previous version was converted to hypertext format, and edited by
445 @email{steve@@xemacs.org, Steven L. Baur}. It was converted back to
446 texinfo by @email{hniksic@@xemacs.org, Hrvoje Niksic}. The FAQ was then
447 maintained by @email{andreas@@sccon.com, Andreas Kaempf}, who passed it
448 on to ChristianNyb@o{}.
450 If you notice any errors or items which should be added or amended to
451 this FAQ please send email to @email{faq@@xemacs.org, Sandra
452 Wambold}. Include @samp{XEmacs FAQ} on the Subject: line.
456 * Q1.0.1:: What is XEmacs?
457 * Q1.0.2:: What is the current version of XEmacs?
458 * Q1.0.3:: Where can I find it?
459 * Q1.0.4:: Why Another Version of Emacs?
460 * Q1.0.5:: Why Haven't XEmacs and GNU Emacs Merged?
461 * Q1.0.6:: Where can I get help?
462 * Q1.0.7:: Where are the mailing lists archived?
463 * Q1.0.8:: How do you pronounce XEmacs?
464 * Q1.0.9:: What does XEmacs look like?
465 * Q1.0.10:: Is there a port of XEmacs to Microsoft ('95 or NT)?
466 * Q1.0.11:: Is there a port of XEmacs to the Macintosh?
467 * Q1.0.12:: Is there a port of XEmacs to NextStep?
468 * Q1.0.13:: Is there a port of XEmacs to OS/2?
469 * Q1.0.14:: Where can I get a printed copy of the XEmacs users manual?
472 * Q1.1.1:: What is the FAQ editorial policy?
473 * Q1.1.2:: How do I become a Beta Tester?
474 * Q1.1.3:: How do I contribute to XEmacs itself?
477 * Q1.2.1:: Who wrote XEmacs?
478 * Q1.2.2:: Who contributed to this version of the FAQ?
479 * Q1.2.3:: Who contributed to the FAQ in the past?
481 Internationalization:
482 * Q1.3.1:: What is the status of internationalization support aka MULE (including Asian language support?
483 * Q1.3.2:: How can I help with internationalization?
484 * Q1.3.3:: How do I type non-ASCII characters?
485 * Q1.3.4:: Can XEmacs messages come out in a different language?
486 * Q1.3.5:: Please explain the various input methods in MULE/XEmacs
487 * Q1.3.6:: How do I portably code for MULE/XEmacs?
488 * Q1.3.7:: How about Cyrillic Modes?
491 * Q1.4.1:: What is an @file{init.el} or @file{.emacs} and is there a sample one?
492 * Q1.4.2:: Can I use the same @file{init.el}/@file{.emacs} with the other Emacs?
493 * Q1.4.3:: Any good XEmacs tutorials around?
494 * Q1.4.4:: May I see an example of a useful XEmacs Lisp function?
495 * Q1.4.5:: And how do I bind it to a key?
496 * Q1.4.6:: What's the difference between a macro and a function?
499 @node Q1.0.1, Q1.0.2, Introduction, Introduction
500 @unnumberedsec 1.0: Introduction
501 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.0.1: What is XEmacs?
504 XEmacs is a powerful, highly customizable open source text editor and
505 application development system, with full GUI support. It is protected
506 under the GNU Public License and related to other versions of Emacs, in
507 particular GNU Emacs. Its emphasis is on modern graphical user
508 interface support and an open software development model, similar to
509 Linux. XEmacs has an active development community numbering in the
510 hundreds (and thousands of active beta testers on top of this), and runs
511 on all versions of MS Windows, on Linux, and on nearly every other
512 version of Unix in existence. Support for XEmacs has been supplied by
513 Sun Microsystems, University of Illinois, Lucid, ETL/Electrotechnical
514 Laboratory, Amdahl Corporation, BeOpen, and others, as well as the
515 unpaid time of a great number of individual developers.
517 @node Q1.0.2, Q1.0.3, Q1.0.1, Introduction
518 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.0.2: What is the current version of XEmacs?
520 XEmacs versions 21.1.* are releases made from the current stable
521 sources. XEmacs versions 21.2.* are releases made from the development
522 sources. Check at @uref{http://www.xemacs.org} for the current minor
525 XEmacs 19.16 was the last release of v19, released in November, 1997,
526 which was also the last version without international language support.
528 @node Q1.0.3, Q1.0.4, Q1.0.2, Introduction
529 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.0.3: Where can I find it?
531 The canonical source and binaries can be found via anonymous FTP at:
534 @uref{ftp://ftp.xemacs.org/pub/xemacs/}
537 @node Q1.0.4, Q1.0.5, Q1.0.3, Introduction
538 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.0.4: Why Another Version of Emacs?
540 For a detailed description of the differences between GNU Emacs and
541 XEmacs and a detailed history of XEmacs, check out the
543 @uref{http://www.xemacs.org/About/XEmacsVsGNUemacs.html, NEWS file}
546 However, here is a list of some of the reasons why we think you might
554 The XEmacs maintainers are generally more receptive to suggestions than
555 the GNU Emacs maintainers.
558 Many more bundled packages than GNU Emacs.
561 Binaries are available for many common operating systems.
564 Face support on TTY's.
570 Better Motif compliance.
573 Some internationalization support (including full MULE support, if
577 Variable-width fonts.
580 Variable-height lines.
583 Marginal annotations.
589 XEmacs can be used as an Xt widget, and can be embedded within another
593 Horizontal and vertical scrollbars (using real toolkit scrollbars).
596 Better APIs (and performance) for attaching fonts, colors, and other
600 The ability to embed arbitrary graphics in a buffer.
603 Completely compatible (at the C level) with the Xt-based toolkits.
607 @node Q1.0.5, Q1.0.6, Q1.0.4, Introduction
608 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.0.5: Why Haven't XEmacs and GNU Emacs Merged?
610 There are currently irreconcilable differences in the views about
611 technical, programming, design and organizational matters between RMS
612 and the XEmacs development team which provide little hope for a merge to
613 take place in the short-term future.
615 If you have a comment to add regarding the merge, it is a good idea to
616 avoid posting to the newsgroups, because of the very heated flamewars
617 that often result. Mail your questions to @email{xemacs-beta@@xemacs.org} and
618 @email{bug-gnu-emacs@@prep.ai.mit.edu}.
620 @node Q1.0.6, Q1.0.7, Q1.0.5, Introduction
621 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.0.6: Where can I get help?
623 Probably the easiest way, if everything is installed, is to use Info, by
624 pressing @kbd{C-h i}, or looking for an Info item on the
625 Help Menu. @kbd{M-x apropos} can be used to look for particular commands.
627 For items not found in the manual, try reading this FAQ
628 @comment , examining the regular GNU Emacs FAQ (which can be
629 @comment found with the Emacs 19 distribution) as well as at
630 @comment @uref{http://www.eecs.nwu.edu/emacs/faq/}
631 and reading the Usenet group comp.emacs.xemacs.
633 If you choose to post to a newsgroup, @strong{please use
634 comp.emacs.xemacs}. Please do not post XEmacs related questions to
637 If you cannot post or read Usenet news, there is a corresponding mailing
638 list which is available. It can be subscribed to by sending a message
639 to @email{xemacs-request@@xemacs.org} with @samp{subscribe} in the
640 body of the message. Send to the list at @email{xemacs@@xemacs.org}.
641 list. To cancel a subscription, you @strong{must} use the
642 xemacs-request address. Send a message with a subject of
643 @samp{unsubscribe} to be removed.
645 @node Q1.0.7, Q1.0.8, Q1.0.6, Introduction
646 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.0.7: Where are the mailing lists archived?
648 The archives can be found at @uref{http://list-archive.xemacs.org}
650 @node Q1.0.8, Q1.0.9, Q1.0.7, Introduction
651 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.0.8: How do you pronounce XEmacs?
653 The most common pronounciation is @samp{Eks eemax}.
655 @node Q1.0.9, Q1.0.10, Q1.0.8, Introduction
656 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.0.9: What does XEmacs look like?
658 Screen snapshots are available at
659 @uref{http://www.xemacs.org/About/Screenshots/index.html}
660 as part of the XEmacs website.
662 @node Q1.0.10, Q1.0.11, Q1.0.9, Introduction
663 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.0.10: Is there a port of XEmacs to Microsoft ('95 or NT)?
665 Yes. XEmacs can be built under MS Windows and is fully-featured and
666 actively developed. See @ref{MS Windows}.
668 @node Q1.0.11, Q1.0.12, Q1.0.10, Introduction
669 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.0.11: Is there a port of XEmacs to the Macintosh?
672 @c There has been a port to the MachTen environment of XEmacs 19.13, but no
673 @c patches have been submitted to the maintainers to get this in the
674 @c mainstream distribution.
676 @c For the MacOS, there is a port of
677 @c @uref{ftp://ftp.cs.cornell.edu/pub/parmet/, Emacs 18.59}.
681 XEmacs 21.5 (perhaps 21.4 also?) works on MacOS X, although it certainly
682 will not feel very much like a Mac application as it has no Mac-specific
685 There is also a port of XEmacs 19.14 that works on all recent versions
686 of MacOS, from 8.1 through MacOS X, by @email{pjarvis@@ispchannel.com,
687 Pitts Jarvis}. It runs in an equivalent of TTY mode only (one single
688 Macintosh window, 25 colors), but has a large number of Mac-specific
689 additions. It's available at
690 @uref{http://homepage.mac.com/pjarvis/xemacs.html}.
692 @node Q1.0.12, Q1.0.13, Q1.0.11, Introduction
693 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.0.12: Is there a port of XEmacs to NextStep?
695 Carl Edman, apparently no longer at @email{cedman@@princeton.edu}, did
696 the port of GNU Emacs to NeXTstep and expressed interest in doing the
697 XEmacs port, but never went any farther.
699 @node Q1.0.13, Q1.0.14, Q1.0.12, Introduction
700 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.0.13: Is there a port of XEmacs to OS/2?
702 No, but Alexander Nikolaev <avn_1251@@mail.ru> is working on it.
704 @node Q1.0.14, Q1.1.1, Q1.0.13, Introduction
705 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.0.14: Where can I obtain a printed copy of the XEmacs User's Manual?
707 Pre-printed manuals are not available. If you are familiar with
708 TeX, you can generate your own manual from the XEmacs sources.
710 HTML and Postscript versions of XEmacs manuals are available from the
712 @uref{http://www.xemacs.org/Documentation/index.html}.
714 @node Q1.1.1, Q1.1.2, Q1.0.14, Introduction
715 @unnumberedsec 1.1: Policies
716 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.1.1: What is the FAQ editorial policy?
718 The FAQ is actively maintained and modified regularly. All links should
719 be up to date. Unfortunately, some of the information is out of date --
720 a situation which the FAQ maintainer is working on. All submissions are
721 welcome, please e-mail submissions to @email{faq@@xemacs.org, XEmacs FAQ
724 Please make sure that @samp{XEmacs FAQ} appears on the Subject: line.
725 If you think you have a better way of answering a question, or think a
726 question should be included, we'd like to hear about it. Questions and
727 answers included into the FAQ will be edited for spelling and grammar
728 and will be attributed. Answers appearing without attribution are
729 either from versions of the FAQ dated before May 1996 or are from
730 previous FAQ maintainers. Answers quoted from Usenet news articles will
731 always be attributed, regardless of the author.
733 @node Q1.1.2, Q1.1.3, Q1.1.1, Introduction
734 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.1.2: How do I become a Beta Tester?
736 Send an email message to @email{xemacs-beta-request@@xemacs.org} with
737 the line @samp{subscribe} in the body of the message.
739 Be prepared to get your hands dirty, as beta testers are expected to
740 identify problems as best they can.
742 @node Q1.1.3, Q1.2.1, Q1.1.2, Introduction
743 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.1.3: How do I contribute to XEmacs itself?
745 Ben Wing @email{ben@@xemacs.org} writes:
748 BTW if you have a wish list of things that you want added, you have to
749 speak up about it! More specifically, you can do the following if you
750 want a feature added (in increasing order of usefulness):
754 Make a posting about a feature you want added.
757 Become a beta tester and make more postings about those same features.
760 Convince us that you're going to use the features in some cool and
764 Come up with a clear and well-thought-out API concerning the features.
767 Write the code to implement a feature and send us a patch.
770 (not that we're necessarily requiring you to write the code, but we can
774 @node Q1.2.1, Q1.2.2, Q1.1.3, Introduction
775 @unnumberedsec 1.2: Credits
776 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.2.1: Who wrote XEmacs?
778 XEmacs is the result of the time and effort of many people. The
779 developers responsible for recent releases are:
782 @item @email{martin@@xemacs.org, Martin Buchholz}
784 <br><img src="mrb.jpeg" alt="Portrait of Martin Buchholz"><br>
788 @item @email{turnbull@@sk.tsukuba.ac.jp, Steven Turnbull}
791 @item @email{ben@@xemacs.org, Ben Wing}
793 <br><img src="wing.gif" alt="Portrait of Ben Wing"><br>
797 @item @email{hniksic@@xemacs.org, Hrvoje Niksic}
800 <br><img src="hniksic.jpeg" alt="Portrait of Hrvoje Niksic"><br>
805 The developers responsible for older releases were:
808 @item @email{steve@@xemacs.org, Steve Baur}
811 <br><img src="steve.gif" alt="Portrait of Steve Baur"><br>
814 @item @email{cthomp@@xemacs.org, Chuck Thompson}
816 <br><img src="cthomp.jpeg" alt="Portrait of Chuck Thompson"><br>
819 @item @email{jwz@@jwz.org, Jamie Zawinski}
821 <br><img src="jwz.gif" alt="Portrait of Jamie Zawinski"><br>
824 @item @email{mly@@adoc.xerox.com, Richard Mlynarik}
826 Steve Baur was the primary maintainer for 19.15 through 21.0.
828 Chuck Thompson and Ben Wing were the maintainers for 19.11 through 19.14
829 and heavy code contributors for 19.8 through 19.10.
831 Jamie Zawinski was the maintainer for 19.0 through 19.10 (the entire
832 history of Lucid Emacs). Richard Mlynarik was a heavy code contributor
833 to 19.6 through 19.8.
837 Along with many other contributors, partially enumerated in the
838 @samp{About XEmacs} option in the Help menu.
840 @node Q1.2.2, Q1.2.3, Q1.2.1, Introduction
841 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.2.2: Who contributed to this version of the FAQ?
843 The following people contributed valuable suggestions to building this
844 version of the FAQ (listed in alphabetical order):
847 @item @email{steve@@xemacs.org, SL Baur}
849 @item @email{hniksic@@xemacs.org, Hrvoje Niksic}
851 @item @email{Aki.Vehtari@@hut.fi, Aki Vehtari}
855 @node Q1.2.3, Q1.3.1, Q1.2.2, Introduction
856 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.2.3: Who contributed to the FAQ in the past?
858 This is only a partial list, as many names were lost in a hard disk
862 @item @email{binge@@aloft.att.com, Curtis.N.Bingham}
864 @item @email{bruncott@@dormeur.inria.fr, Georges Brun-Cottan}
866 @item @email{rjc@@cogsci.ed.ac.uk, Richard Caley}
868 @item @email{cognot@@ensg.u-nancy.fr, Richard Cognot}
870 @item @email{daku@@nortel.ca, Mark Daku}
872 @item @email{wgd@@martigny.ai.mit.edu, William G. Dubuque}
874 @item @email{eeide@@cs.utah.edu, Eric Eide}
876 @item @email{af@@biomath.jussieu.fr, Alain Fauconnet}
878 @item @email{cflatter@@nrao.edu, Chris Flatters}
880 @item @email{ginsparg@@adra.com, Evelyn Ginsparg}
882 @item @email{hall@@aplcenmp.apl.jhu.edu, Marty Hall}
884 @item @email{dkindred@@cmu.edu, Darrell Kindred}
886 @item @email{dmoore@@ucsd.edu, David Moore}
888 @item @email{arup+@@cmu.edu, Arup Mukherjee}
890 @item @email{nickel@@prz.tu-berlin.de, Juergen Nickelsen}
892 @item @email{powell@@csl.ncsa.uiuc.edu, Kevin R. Powell}
894 @item @email{dworkin@@ccs.neu.edu, Justin Sheehy}
896 @item @email{stig@@hackvan.com, Stig}
898 @item @email{Aki.Vehtari@@hut.fi, Aki Vehtari}
901 @node Q1.3.1, Q1.3.2, Q1.2.3, Introduction
902 @unnumberedsec 1.3: Internationalization
903 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.3.1: What is the status of internationalization support aka MULE (including Asian language support?
905 Both the stable and development versions of XEmacs include
906 internationalization support (aka MULE). MULE currently works on UNIX
907 and Linux systems; work for supporting MULE on Windows operating systems
908 is in progress. Binaries compiled without MULE support run faster than
909 MULE capable XEmacsen.
911 @node Q1.3.2, Q1.3.3, Q1.3.1, Introduction
912 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.3.2: How can I help with internationalization?
914 If you would like to help, you may want to join the
915 @email{xemacs-mule@@xemacs.org} mailing list. Especially needed are
916 people who speak/write languages other than English, who are willing to
917 use XEmacs/MULE regularly, and have some experience with Elisp.
921 @node Q1.3.3, Q1.3.4, Q1.3.2, Introduction
922 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.3.3: How do I type non-ASCII characters?
924 See question 3.5.7 (@pxref{Q3.5.7}) in part 3 of this FAQ.
926 @node Q1.3.4, Q1.3.5, Q1.3.3, Introduction
927 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.3.4: Can XEmacs messages come out in a different language?
929 The message-catalog support has mostly been written but doesn't
930 currently work. The first release of XEmacs 20 will @emph{not} support
931 it. However, menubar localization @emph{does} work. To
932 enable it, add to your @file{Emacs} file entries like this:
935 Emacs*XlwMenu.resourceLabels: True
936 Emacs*XlwMenu.file.labelString: Fichier
937 Emacs*XlwMenu.openInOtherWindow.labelString: In anderem Fenster oeffnen
940 The name of the resource is derived from the non-localized entry by
941 removing punctuation and capitalizing as above.
943 @node Q1.3.5, Q1.3.6, Q1.3.4, Introduction
944 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.3.5: Please explain the various input methods in MULE/XEmacs
946 @email{morioka@@jaist.ac.jp, MORIOKA Tomohiko} writes:
949 Original Mule supports the following input methods: Wnn4, Wnn6, Canna, SJ3
950 and XIM. Interfaces for Wnn and SJ3 uses the @code{egg} user
951 interface. Interface for Canna does not use @samp{egg}. I don't know
952 about XIM. It is to support ATOK, of course, it may work for another
955 Wnn supports Japanese, Chinese and Korean. It is made by OMRON and Kyôto
956 university. It is a powerful and complex system. Wnn4 is free and Wnn6
959 Canna supports only Japanese. It is made by NEC. It is a simple and
960 powerful system. Canna uses only grammar (Wnn uses grammar and
961 probability between words), so I think Wnn is cleverer than Canna,
962 however Canna users made a good grammar and dictionary. So for standard
963 modern Japanese, Canna seems cleverer than Wnn4. In addition, the UNIX
964 version of Canna is free (now there is a Microsoft Windows version).
966 SJ3 supports only Japanese. It is made by Sony. XIM supports was made
967 to use ATOK (a major input method in personal computer world). XIM is
968 the standard for accessing input methods bundled in Japanese versions of
969 Solaris. (XEmacs 20 will support XIM input).
971 Egg consists of following parts:
975 Input character Translation System (ITS) layer.
976 It translates ASCII inputs to Kana/PinYin/Hangul characters.
979 Kana/PinYin/Hangul to Kanji transfer layer.
980 It is interface layer for network Kana-Kanji server (Wnn and Sj3).
983 These input methods are modal, namely there are mode, alphabet mode and
984 Kana-Kanji transfer mode. However there are mode-less input methods for
985 Egg and Canna. @samp{Boiled-egg} is a mode-less input method running on
986 Egg. For Canna, @samp{canna.el} has a tiny boiled-egg like command,
987 @code{(canna-boil)}, and there are some boiled-egg like utilities. In
988 addition, it was planned to make an abstraction for all transfer type
989 input methods. However authors of input methods are busy, so maybe this
990 plan is stopped. Perhaps after Mule merged GNU Emacs will be released,
991 it will be continued.
994 @node Q1.3.6, Q1.3.7, Q1.3.5, Introduction
995 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.3.6: How do I portably code for MULE/XEmacs?
997 @email{morioka@@jaist.ac.jp, MORIOKA Tomohiko} writes:
1000 MULE and XEmacs are quite different. So the application
1001 implementor must write separate code for these mule variants.
1003 MULE and the next version of Emacs are similar but the symbols are very
1004 different---requiring separate code as well.
1006 Namely we must support 3 kinds of mule variants and 4 or 5 or 6 kinds of
1007 emacs variants... (;_;) I'm shocked, so I wrote a wrapper package called
1008 @code{emu} to provide a common interface.
1010 I have the following suggestions about dealing with mule variants:
1014 @code{(featurep 'mule)} @code{t} on all mule variants
1017 @code{(boundp 'MULE)} is @code{t} on only MULE. Maybe the next version
1018 of Emacs will not have this symbol.
1021 MULE has a variable @code{mule-version}. Perhaps the next version of
1022 Emacs will have this variable as well.
1025 Following is a sample to distinguish mule variants:
1028 (if (featurep 'mule)
1029 (cond ((boundp 'MULE)
1030 ;; for original Mule
1032 ((string-match "XEmacs" emacs-version)
1033 ;; for XEmacs with Mule
1036 ;; for next version of Emacs
1038 ;; for old emacs variants
1043 @node Q1.3.7, Q1.4.1, Q1.3.6, Introduction
1044 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.3.7: How about Cyrillic Modes?
1046 @email{ilya@@math.ohio-state.edu, Ilya Zakharevich} writes:
1049 There is a cyrillic mode in the file @file{mysetup.zip} in
1053 @uref{ftp://ftp.math.ohio-state.edu/pub/users/ilya/emacs/}. This is a
1054 modification to @email{ava@@math.jhu.ed, Valery Alexeev's} @file{russian.el}
1055 which can be obtained from
1058 @uref{http://ftpsearch.lycos.com/?query=russian.el.Z&form=medium}.
1060 @email{d.barsky@@ee.surrey.ac.uk, Dima Barsky} writes:
1063 There is another cyrillic mode for both GNU Emacs and XEmacs by
1064 @email{manin@@camelot.mssm.edu, Dmitrii
1069 @uref{http://kulichki-lat.rambler.ru/centrolit/manin/cyr.el}.
1070 @c Link above, <URL:http://camelot.mssm.edu/~manin/cyr.el> was dead.
1071 @c Changed to russian host instead
1074 @email{rebecca.ore@@op.net, Rebecca Ore} writes:
1077 The fullest resource I found on Russian language use (in and out of
1078 XEmacs) is @uref{http://www.ibiblio.org/sergei/Software/Software.html}
1081 @node Q1.4.1, Q1.4.2, Q1.3.7, Introduction
1082 @unnumberedsec 1.4: Getting Started, Backing up & Recovery
1083 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.4.1: What is an @file{init.el} or @file{.emacs} and is there a sample one?
1085 The @file{init.el} or @file{.emacs} file is used to customize XEmacs to
1086 your tastes. Starting in 21.4, the preferred location for the init file
1087 is @file{~/.xemacs/init.el}; in previous versions, it was
1088 @file{~/.emacs}. 21.4 still accepts the old location, but the first
1089 time you run it, it will ask to migrate your file to the new location.
1090 If you answer yes, the file will be moved, and a "compatibility"
1091 @file{.emacs} file will be placed in the old location so that you can
1092 still run older versions of XEmacs, and versions of GNU Emacs, which
1093 expect the old location. The @file{.emacs} file present is just a stub
1094 that loads the real file in @file{~/.xemacs/init.el}.
1096 No two init files are alike, nor are they expected to be alike, but
1097 that's the point. The XEmacs distribution contains an excellent starter
1098 example in the @file{etc/} directory called @file{sample.init.el}
1099 (starting in 21.4) or @file{sample.emacs} in older versions. Copy this
1100 file from there to @file{~/.xemacs/init.el} (starting in 21.4) or
1101 @file{~/.emacs} in older versions, where @samp{~} means your home
1102 directory, of course. Then edit it to suit.
1104 You may bring the @file{sample.init.el} or @file{sample.emacs} file into
1105 an XEmacs buffer from the menubar. (The menu entry for it is always
1106 under the @samp{Help} menu, but its location under that has changed in
1107 various versions. Recently, look under the @samp{Samples} submenu.) To
1108 determine the location of the @file{etc/} directory type the command
1109 @kbd{C-h v data-directory @key{RET}}.
1111 @node Q1.4.2, Q1.4.3, Q1.4.1, Introduction
1112 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.4.2: Can I use the same @file{init.el}/@file{.emacs} with the other Emacs?
1114 Yes. The sample @file{init.el}/@file{.emacs} included in the XEmacs
1115 distribution will show you how to handle different versions and flavors
1118 @node Q1.4.3, Q1.4.4, Q1.4.2, Introduction
1119 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.4.3: Any good tutorials around?
1121 There's the XEmacs tutorial available from the Help Menu under
1122 @samp{Basics->Tutorials}, or by typing @kbd{C-h t}. To check whether
1123 it's available in a non-english language, type @kbd{C-u C-h t TAB}, type
1124 the first letters of your preferred language, then type @key{RET}.
1126 @comment There's an Emacs Lisp tutorial at
1129 @comment @uref{ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu/emacs-lisp-intro-1.04.tar.gz}.
1130 @comment @end example
1132 @comment @email{erik@@petaxp.rug.ac.be, Erik Sundermann} has made a tutorial web
1137 @comment @uref{http://petaxp.rug.ac.be/~erik/xemacs/}.
1139 @node Q1.4.4, Q1.4.5, Q1.4.3, Introduction
1140 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.4.4: May I see an example of a useful XEmacs Lisp function?
1142 The following function does a little bit of everything useful. It does
1143 something with the prefix argument, it examines the text around the
1144 cursor, and it's interactive so it may be bound to a key. It inserts
1145 copies of the current word the cursor is sitting on at the cursor. If
1146 you give it a prefix argument: @kbd{C-u 3 M-x double-word} then it will
1150 (defun double-word (count)
1151 "Insert a copy of the current word underneath the cursor"
1153 (let (here there string)
1158 (setq there (point))
1159 (setq string (buffer-substring here there)))
1165 The best way to see what is going on here is to let XEmacs tell you.
1166 Put the code into an XEmacs buffer, and do a @kbd{C-h f} with the cursor
1167 sitting just to the right of the function you want explained. Eg. move
1168 the cursor to the SPACE between @code{interactive} and @samp{"*p"} and
1169 hit @kbd{C-h f} to see what the function @code{interactive} does. Doing
1170 this will tell you that the @code{*} requires a writable buffer, and
1171 @code{p} converts the prefix argument to a number, and
1172 @code{interactive} allows you to execute the command with @kbd{M-x}.
1174 @node Q1.4.5, Q1.4.6, Q1.4.4, Introduction
1175 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.4.5: And how do I bind it to a key?
1177 To bind to a key do:
1180 (global-set-key "\C-cd" 'double-word)
1183 Or interactively, @kbd{M-x global-set-key} and follow the prompts.
1185 @node Q1.4.6, , Q1.4.5, Introduction
1186 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.4.6: What's the difference between a macro and a function?
1188 Quoting from the Lisp Reference (a.k.a @dfn{Lispref}) Manual:
1190 @dfn{Macros} enable you to define new control constructs and other
1191 language features. A macro is defined much like a function, but instead
1192 of telling how to compute a value, it tells how to compute another Lisp
1193 expression which will in turn compute the value. We call this
1194 expression the @dfn{expansion} of the macro.
1196 Macros can do this because they operate on the unevaluated expressions
1197 for the arguments, not on the argument values as functions do. They can
1198 therefore construct an expansion containing these argument expressions
1201 Do not confuse the two terms with @dfn{keyboard macros}, which are
1202 another matter, entirely. A keyboard macro is a key bound to several
1203 other keys. Refer to manual for details.
1205 @node Installation, Customization, Introduction, Top
1206 @unnumbered 2 Installation and Trouble Shooting
1208 This is part 2 of the XEmacs Frequently Asked Questions list. This
1209 section is devoted to Installation, Maintenance and Trouble Shooting.
1213 * Q2.0.1:: Running XEmacs without installing.
1214 * Q2.0.2:: XEmacs is too big.
1215 * Q2.0.3:: Compiling XEmacs with Netaudio.
1216 * Q2.0.4:: Problems with Linux and ncurses.
1217 * Q2.0.5:: Do I need X11 to run XEmacs?
1218 * Q2.0.6:: I'm having strange crashes. What do I do?
1219 * Q2.0.7:: Libraries in non-standard locations.
1220 * Q2.0.8:: can't resolve symbol _h_errno
1221 * Q2.0.9:: Where do I find external libraries?
1222 * Q2.0.10:: After I run configure I find a coredump, is something wrong?
1223 * Q2.0.11:: XEmacs can't resolve host names.
1224 * Q2.0.12:: Why can't I strip XEmacs?
1225 * Q2.0.13:: I don't need no steenkin' packages. Do I? (NEW)
1226 * Q2.0.14:: I don't want to install a million .els one at a time! (NEW)
1229 * Q2.1.1:: XEmacs just crashed on me!
1230 * Q2.1.2:: Cryptic Minibuffer messages.
1231 * Q2.1.3:: Translation Table Syntax messages at Startup.
1232 * Q2.1.4:: Startup warnings about deducing proper fonts?
1233 * Q2.1.5:: XEmacs cannot connect to my X Terminal.
1234 * Q2.1.6:: XEmacs just locked up my Linux X server.
1235 * Q2.1.7:: HP Alt key as Meta.
1236 * Q2.1.8:: got (wrong-type-argument color-instance-p nil)!
1237 * Q2.1.9:: XEmacs causes my OpenWindows 3.0 server to crash.
1238 * Q2.1.10:: Warnings from incorrect key modifiers.
1239 * Q2.1.11:: Can't instantiate image error... in toolbar
1240 * Q2.1.12:: Regular Expression Problems on DEC OSF1.
1241 * Q2.1.13:: HP/UX 10.10 and @code{create_process} failure
1242 * Q2.1.14:: @kbd{C-g} doesn't work for me. Is it broken?
1243 * Q2.1.15:: How to debug an XEmacs problem with a debugger.
1244 * Q2.1.16:: XEmacs crashes in @code{strcat} on HP/UX 10.
1245 * Q2.1.17:: @samp{Marker does not point anywhere}.
1246 * Q2.1.18:: XEmacs is outputting lots of X errors.
1247 * Q2.1.19:: XEmacs does not follow the local timezone.
1248 * Q2.1.20:: @samp{Symbol's function definition is void: hkey-help-show.}
1249 * Q2.1.21:: [This question intentionally left blank]
1250 * Q2.1.22:: XEmacs seems to take a really long time to do some things.
1251 * Q2.1.23:: Movemail on Linux does not work for XEmacs 19.15 and later.
1252 * Q2.1.24:: XEmacs won't start without network. (NEW)
1253 * Q2.1.25:: After upgrading, XEmacs won't do `foo' any more! (NEW)
1256 @node Q2.0.1, Q2.0.2, Installation, Installation
1257 @unnumberedsec 2.0: Installation
1258 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.0.1: Running XEmacs without installing
1260 How can I just try XEmacs without installing it?
1262 XEmacs will run in place without requiring installation and copying of
1263 the Lisp directories, and without having to specify a special build-time
1264 flag. It's the copying of the Lisp directories that requires so much
1265 space. XEmacs is largely written in Lisp.
1267 A good method is to make a shell alias for xemacs:
1270 alias xemacs=/i/xemacs-20.2/src/xemacs
1273 (You will obviously use whatever directory you downloaded the source
1274 tree to instead of @file{/i/xemacs-20.2}).
1276 This will let you run XEmacs without massive copying.
1278 @node Q2.0.2, Q2.0.3, Q2.0.1, Installation
1279 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.0.2: XEmacs is too big
1281 The space required by the installation directories can be
1282 reduced dramatically if desired. Gzip all the .el files. Remove all
1283 the packages you'll never want to use. Remove the TexInfo manuals.
1284 Remove the Info (and use just hardcopy versions of the manual). Remove
1285 most of the stuff in etc. Remove or gzip all the source code. Gzip or
1286 remove the C source code. Configure it so that copies are not made of
1289 These are all Emacs Lisp source code and bytecompiled object code. You
1290 may safely gzip everything named *.el here. You may remove any package
1291 you don't use. @emph{Nothing bad will happen if you delete a package
1292 that you do not use}. You must be sure you do not use it though, so be
1293 conservative at first.
1295 Possible candidates for deletion include w3, games, hyperbole, mh-e,
1296 hm-html-menus, vm, viper, oobr, gnus, etc. Ask yourself, @emph{Do I
1297 ever want to use this package?} If the answer is no, then it is a
1298 candidate for removal.
1300 First, gzip all the .el files. Then go about package by package and
1301 start gzipping the .elc files. Then run XEmacs and do whatever it is
1302 you normally do. If nothing bad happens, then delete the directory. Be
1303 conservative about deleting directories, and it would be handy to have a
1304 backup around in case you get too zealous.
1306 @file{prim}, @file{modes}, @file{packages}, and @file{utils} are four
1307 directories you definitely do @strong{not} want to delete, although
1308 certain packages can be removed from them if you do not use them.
1310 Online texinfo sources in the @file{info} can either be compressed them
1311 or remove them. In either case, @kbd{C-h i} (info mode) will no longer
1314 @node Q2.0.3, Q2.0.4, Q2.0.2, Installation
1315 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.0.3: Compiling XEmacs with Netaudio.
1317 What is the best way to compile XEmacs with the netaudio system, since I
1318 have got the netaudio system compiled but installed at a weird place, I
1319 am not root. Also in the READMEs it does not say anything about
1320 compiling with the audioserver?
1322 You should only need to add some stuff to the configure command line.
1323 To tell it to compile in netaudio support: @samp{--with-sound=both}, or
1324 @samp{--with-sound=nas} if you don't want native sound support for some
1325 reason.) To tell it where to find the netaudio includes and libraries:
1328 --site-libraries=WHATEVER
1329 --site-includes=WHATEVER
1332 Then (fingers crossed) it should compile and it will use netaudio if you
1333 have a server running corresponding to the X server. The netaudio server
1334 has to be there when XEmacs starts. If the netaudio server goes away and
1335 another is run, XEmacs should cope (fingers crossed, error handling in
1336 netaudio isn't perfect).
1338 BTW, netaudio has been renamed as it has a name clash with something
1339 else, so if you see references to NAS or Network Audio System, it's the
1340 same thing. It also might be found at
1341 @uref{ftp://ftp.x.org/contrib/audio/nas/}.
1343 @node Q2.0.4, Q2.0.5, Q2.0.3, Installation
1344 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.0.4: Problems with Linux and ncurses.
1346 On Linux 1.3.98 with termcap 2.0.8 and the ncurses that came with libc
1347 5.2.18, XEmacs 20.0b20 is unable to open a tty device:
1351 Initialization error:
1355 Terminal type `xterm' undefined (or can't access database?)
1358 @email{ben@@xemacs.org, Ben Wing} writes:
1361 Your ncurses configuration is messed up. Your /usr/lib/terminfo is a
1362 bad pointer, perhaps to a CD-ROM that is not inserted.
1365 @node Q2.0.5, Q2.0.6, Q2.0.4, Installation
1366 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.0.5: Do I need X11 to run XEmacs?
1368 No. The name @dfn{XEmacs} is unfortunate in the sense that it is
1369 @strong{not} an X Window System-only version of Emacs. XEmacs has
1370 full color support on a color-capable character terminal.
1372 @node Q2.0.6, Q2.0.7, Q2.0.5, Installation
1373 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.0.6: I'm having strange crashes. What do I do?
1375 There have been a variety of reports of crashes due to compilers with
1376 buggy optimizers. Please see the @file{PROBLEMS} file that comes with
1377 XEmacs to read what it says about your platform.
1379 @node Q2.0.7, Q2.0.8, Q2.0.6, Installation
1380 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.0.7: Libraries in non-standard locations
1382 I have x-faces, jpeg, xpm etc. all in different places. I've tried
1383 space-separated, comma-separated, several --site-libraries, all to no
1387 --site-libraries='/path/one /path/two /path/etc'
1390 @node Q2.0.8, Q2.0.9, Q2.0.7, Installation
1391 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.0.8: can't resolve symbol _h_errno
1393 You are using the Linux/ELF distribution of XEmacs 19.14, and your ELF
1394 libraries are out of date. You have the following options:
1398 Upgrade your libc to at least 5.2.16 (better is 5.2.18, 5.3.12, or
1402 Patch the XEmacs binary by replacing all occurrences of
1403 @samp{_h_errno^@@} with
1407 @samp{h_errno^@@^@@}. Any version of Emacs will
1408 suffice. If you don't understand how to do this, don't do it.
1411 Rebuild XEmacs yourself---any working ELF version of libc should be
1415 @email{hniksic@@xemacs.org, Hrvoje Niksic} writes:
1418 Why not use a Perl one-liner for No. 2?
1421 perl -pi -e 's/_h_errno\0/h_errno\0\0/g' \
1422 /usr/local/bin/xemacs-19.14
1425 NB: You @emph{must} patch @file{/usr/local/bin/xemacs-19.14}, and not
1426 @file{xemacs} because @file{xemacs} is a link to @file{xemacs-19.14};
1427 the Perl @samp{-i} option will cause unwanted side-effects if applied to
1431 @email{steve@@xemacs.org, SL Baur} writes:
1434 If you build against a recent libc-5.4 (late enough to have caused
1435 problems earlier in the beta cycle) and then run with an earlier version
1440 xemacs: can't resolve symbol '__malloc_hook'
1441 zsh: 7942 segmentation fault (core dumped) xemacs
1444 (Example binary compiled against libc-5.4.23 and run with libc-5.4.16).
1446 The solution is to upgrade to at least libc-5.4.23. Sigh. Drat.
1449 @node Q2.0.9, Q2.0.10, Q2.0.8, Installation
1450 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.0.9: Where do I find external libraries?
1452 All external libraries used by XEmacs can be found at the XEmacs FTP
1457 @uref{ftp://ftp.xemacs.org/pub/xemacs/aux/}.
1459 @c Changed June Link above, <URL:ftp://ftp.xemacs.org/pub/aux/> was dead.
1460 @c This list is a pain in the you-know-what to keep in synch with the
1462 The canonical locations (at the time of this writing) are as follows:
1466 @uref{ftp://ftp.uu.net/graphics/jpeg/}. Version 6a is current.
1467 @c Check from host with legal IP address
1469 @uref{ftp://ftp.x.org/contrib/libraries/}. Version 3.4j is current.
1470 Older versions of this package are known to cause XEmacs crashes.
1473 @uref{ftp://ftp.sgi.com/graphics/tiff/}. v3.4 is current. The latest
1474 beta is v3.4b035. There is a HOWTO here.
1477 @uref{ftp://ftp.uu.net/graphics/png/}. 0.89c is current. XEmacs
1478 requires a fairly recent version to avoid using temporary files.
1479 @c Check from host with legal IP address
1481 @uref{ftp://swrinde.nde.swri.edu/pub/png/src/}
1484 @uref{ftp://ftp.cs.indiana.edu/pub/faces/compface/}. This library has
1485 been frozen for about 6 years, and is distributed without version
1486 numbers. @emph{It should be compiled with the same options that X11 was
1487 compiled with on your system}. The version of this library at
1488 XEmacs.org includes the @file{xbm2xface.pl} script, written by
1489 @email{stig@@hackvan.com}, which may be useful when generating your own xface.
1492 @uref{ftp://ftp.x.org/contrib/audio/nas/}.
1493 Version 1.2p5 is current. There is a FAQ here.
1496 @node Q2.0.10, Q2.0.11, Q2.0.9, Installation
1497 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.0.10: After I run configure I find a core dump, is something wrong?
1499 Not necessarily. If you have GNU sed 3.0 you should downgrade it to
1500 2.05. From the @file{README} at prep.ai.mit.edu:
1503 sed 3.0 has been withdrawn from distribution. It has major revisions,
1504 which mostly seem to be improvements; but it turns out to have bugs too
1505 which cause trouble in some common cases.
1507 Tom Lord won't be able to work fixing the bugs until May. So in the
1508 mean time, we've decided to withdraw sed 3.0 from distribution and make
1509 version 2.05 once again the recommended version.
1512 It has also been observed that the vfork test on Solaris will leave a
1515 @node Q2.0.11, Q2.0.12, Q2.0.10, Installation
1516 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.0.11: XEmacs doesn't resolve hostnames.
1518 This is the result of a long-standing problem with SunOS and the fact
1519 that stock SunOS systems do not ship with DNS resolver code in libc.
1521 @email{ckd@@loiosh.kei.com, Christopher Davis} writes:
1524 That's correct [The SunOS 4.1.3 precompiled binaries don't do name
1525 lookup]. Since Sun figured that everyone used NIS to do name lookups
1526 (that DNS thing was apparently only a passing fad, right?), the stock
1527 SunOS 4.x systems don't have DNS-based name lookups in libc.
1529 This is also why Netscape ships two binaries for SunOS 4.1.x.
1531 The best solution is to compile it yourself; the configure script will
1532 check to see if you've put DNS in the shared libc and will then proceed
1533 to link against the DNS resolver library code.
1536 @node Q2.0.12, Q2.0.13, Q2.0.11, Installation
1537 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.0.12: Why can't I strip XEmacs?
1539 @email{cognot@@fronsac.ensg.u-nancy.fr, Richard Cognot} writes:
1542 Because of the way XEmacs (and every other Emacsen, AFAIK) is built. The
1543 link gives you a bare-boned emacs (called temacs). temacs is then run,
1544 preloading some of the lisp files. The result is then dumped into a new
1545 executable, named xemacs, which will contain all of the preloaded lisp
1548 Now, during the dump itself, the executable (code+data+symbols) is
1549 written on disk using a special unexec() function. This function is
1550 obviously heavily system dependent. And on some systems, it leads to an
1551 executable which, although valid, cannot be stripped without damage. If
1552 memory serves, this is especially the case for AIX binaries. On other
1553 architectures it might work OK.
1555 The Right Way to strip the emacs binary is to strip temacs prior to
1556 dumping xemacs. This will always work, although you can do that only if
1557 you install from sources (as temacs is @file{not} part of the binary
1561 @email{nat@@nataa.fr.eu.org, Nat Makarevitch} writes:
1568 [ ./configure; make ]
1580 cp src/xemacs /usr/local/bin/xemacs
1583 cp lib-src/DOC-19.16-XEmacs
1587 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.16/i586-unknown-linuxaout
1591 @node Q2.0.13, Q2.0.14, Q2.0.12, Installation
1592 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.0.13: I don't need no steenkin' packages. Do I? (NEW)
1594 Strictly speaking, no. XEmacs will build and install just fine without
1595 any packages installed. However, only the most basic editing functions
1596 will be available with no packages installed, so installing packages is
1597 an essential part of making your installed XEmacs _useful_.
1599 @node Q2.0.14, Q2.1.1, Q2.0.13, Installation
1600 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.0.12: How do I figure out which packages to install? (NEW)
1602 Many people really liked the old way that packages were bundled and do
1603 not want to mess with packages at all. You can grab all the packages at
1604 once like you used to with old XEmacs versions. Download the file
1606 @file{xemacs-sumo.tar.gz}
1608 For an XEmacs compiled with Mule you also need
1610 @file{xemacs-mule-sumo.tar.gz}
1612 from the @file{packages} directory on your XEmacs mirror archive.
1613 N.B. They are called 'Sumo Tarballs' for good reason. They are
1614 currently about 15MB and 2.3MB (gzipped) respectively.
1618 @code{cd $prefix/lib/xemacs ; gunzip -c <tarballname> | tar xf -}
1620 See README.packages for more detailed installation instructions.
1622 As the Sumo tarballs are not regenerated as often as the individual
1623 packages, it is recommended that you use the automatic package tools
1624 afterwards to pick up any recent updates.
1626 @node Q2.1.1, Q2.1.2, Q2.0.14, Installation
1627 @unnumberedsec 2.1: Trouble Shooting
1628 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.1: Help! XEmacs just crashed on me!
1630 First of all, don't panic. Whenever XEmacs crashes, it tries extremely
1631 hard to auto-save all of your files before dying. (The main time that
1632 this will not happen is if the machine physically lost power or if you
1633 killed the XEmacs process using @code{kill -9}). The next time you try
1634 to edit those files, you will be informed that a more recent auto-save
1635 file exists. You can use @kbd{M-x recover-file} to retrieve the
1636 auto-saved version of the file.
1638 You can use the command @kbd{M-x recover-session} after a crash to pick
1639 up where you left off.
1641 Now, XEmacs is not perfect, and there may occasionally be times, or
1642 particular sequences of actions, that cause it to crash. If you can
1643 come up with a reproducible way of doing this (or even if you have a
1644 pretty good memory of exactly what you were doing at the time), the
1645 maintainers would be very interested in knowing about it. Post a
1646 message to comp.emacs.xemacs or send mail to @email{crashes@@xemacs.org}.
1647 Please note that the @samp{crashes} address is exclusively for crash
1650 If at all possible, include a stack backtrace of the core dump that was
1651 produced. This shows where exactly things went wrong, and makes it much
1652 easier to diagnose problems. To do this, you need to locate the core
1653 file (it's called @file{core}, and is usually sitting in the directory
1654 that you started XEmacs from, or your home directory if that other
1655 directory was not writable). Then, go to that directory and execute a
1659 gdb `which xemacs` core
1662 and then issue the command @samp{where} to get the stack backtrace. You
1663 might have to use @code{dbx} or some similar debugger in place of
1664 @code{gdb}. If you don't have any such debugger available, complain to
1665 your system administrator.
1667 It's possible that a core file didn't get produced, in which case you're
1668 out of luck. Go complain to your system administrator and tell him not
1669 to disable core files by default. Also see @ref{Q2.1.15}, for tips and
1670 techniques for dealing with a debugger.
1672 When making a problem report make sure that:
1676 Report @strong{all} of the information output by XEmacs during the
1680 You mention what O/S & Hardware you are running XEmacs on.
1683 What version of XEmacs you are running.
1686 What build options you are using.
1689 If the problem is related to graphics, we will also need to know what
1690 version of the X Window System you are running, and what window manager
1694 If the problem happened on a tty, please include the terminal type.
1697 @node Q2.1.2, Q2.1.3, Q2.1.1, Installation
1698 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.2: Cryptic Minibuffer messages.
1700 When I try to use some particular option of some particular package, I
1701 get a cryptic error in the minibuffer.
1703 If you can't figure out what's going on, select Options/General
1704 Options/Debug on Error from the Menubar and then try and make the error
1705 happen again. This will give you a backtrace that may be enlightening.
1706 If not, try reading through this FAQ; if that fails, you could try
1707 posting to comp.emacs.xemacs (making sure to include the backtrace) and
1708 someone may be able to help. If you can identify which Emacs lisp
1709 source file the error is coming from you can get a more detailed stack
1710 backtrace by doing the following:
1714 Visit the .el file in an XEmacs buffer.
1717 Issue the command @kbd{M-x eval-current-buffer}.
1720 Reproduce the error.
1723 Depending on the version of XEmacs, you may either select View->Show
1724 Message Log (recent versions), Edit->Show Messages (some earlier
1725 versions) or Help->Recent Keystrokes/Messages (other earlier versions)
1726 from the menubar to see the most recent messages. This command is bound
1727 to @kbd{C-h l} by default.
1729 @node Q2.1.3, Q2.1.4, Q2.1.2, Installation
1730 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.3: Translation Table Syntax messages at Startup
1732 I get tons of translation table syntax error messages during startup.
1733 How do I get rid of them?
1735 There are two causes of this problem. The first usually only strikes
1736 people using the prebuilt binaries. The culprit in both cases is the
1737 file @file{XKeysymDB}.
1741 The binary cannot find the @file{XKeysymDB} file. The location is
1742 hardcoded at compile time so if the system the binary was built on puts
1743 it a different place than your system does, you have problems. To fix,
1744 set the environment variable @var{XKEYSYMDB} to the location of the
1745 @file{XKeysymDB} file on your system or to the location of the one
1746 included with XEmacs which should be at
1750 @file{<xemacs_root_directory>/lib/xemacs-19.16/etc/XKeysymDB}.
1753 The binary is finding the XKeysymDB but it is out-of-date on your system
1754 and does not contain the necessary lines. Either ask your system
1755 administrator to replace it with the one which comes with XEmacs (which
1756 is the stock R6 version and is backwards compatible) or set your
1757 @var{XKEYSYMDB} variable to the location of XEmacs's described above.
1760 @node Q2.1.4, Q2.1.5, Q2.1.3, Installation
1761 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.4: Startup warnings about deducing proper fonts?
1763 How can I avoid the startup warnings about deducing proper fonts?
1765 This is highly dependent on your installation, but try with the
1766 following font as your base font for XEmacs and see what it does:
1769 -adobe-courier-medium-r-*-*-*-120-*-*-*-*-iso8859-1
1772 More precisely, do the following in your resource file:
1775 Emacs.default.attributeFont: \
1776 -adobe-courier-medium-r-*-*-*-120-*-*-*-*-iso8859-1
1779 If you just don't want to see the @samp{*Warnings*} buffer at startup
1780 time, you can set this:
1783 (setq display-warning-minimum-level 'error)
1786 The buffer still exists; it just isn't in your face.
1788 @node Q2.1.5, Q2.1.6, Q2.1.4, Installation
1789 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.5: XEmacs cannot connect to my X Terminal!
1791 Help! I can not get XEmacs to display on my Envizex X-terminal!
1793 Try setting the @var{DISPLAY} variable using the numeric IP address of
1794 the host you are running XEmacs from.
1796 @node Q2.1.6, Q2.1.7, Q2.1.5, Installation
1797 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.6: XEmacs just locked up my Linux X server!
1799 There have been several reports of the X server locking up under Linux.
1800 In all reported cases removing speedo and scaled fonts from the font
1801 path corrected the problem. This can be done with the command
1804 It is possible that using a font server may also solve the problem.
1806 @node Q2.1.7, Q2.1.8, Q2.1.6, Installation
1807 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.7: HP Alt key as Meta.
1809 How can I make XEmacs recognize the Alt key of my HP workstation as a
1812 Put the following line into a file and load it with xmodmap(1) before
1816 remove Mod1 = Mode_switch
1819 @node Q2.1.8, Q2.1.9, Q2.1.7, Installation
1820 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.8: got (wrong-type-argument color-instance-p nil)
1822 @email{nataliek@@rd.scitec.com.au, Natalie Kershaw} writes:
1825 I am trying to run xemacs 19.13 under X11R4. Whenever I move the mouse I
1826 get the following error. Has anyone seen anything like this? This
1827 doesn't occur on X11R5.
1831 (error "got (wrong-type-argument color-instance-p nil)
1832 and I don't know why!")
1836 @email{map01kd@@gold.ac.uk, dinos} writes:
1839 I think this is due to undefined resources; You need to define color
1840 backgrounds and foregrounds into your @file{.../app-defaults/Emacs}
1844 *Foreground: Black ;everything will be of black on grey95,
1845 *Background: Grey95 ;unless otherwise specified.
1846 *cursorColor: Red3 ;red3 cursor with grey95 border.
1847 *pointerColor: Red3 ;red3 pointer with grey95 border.
1851 Natalie Kershaw adds:
1854 What fixed the problem was adding some more colors to the X color
1855 database (copying the X11R5 colors over), and also defining the
1856 following resources:
1859 xemacs*cursorColor: black
1860 xemacs*pointerColor: black
1863 With the new colors installed the problem still occurs if the above
1864 resources are not defined.
1866 If the new colors are not present then an additional error occurs on
1867 XEmacs startup, which says @samp{Color Red3} not defined.
1870 @node Q2.1.9, Q2.1.10, Q2.1.8, Installation
1871 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.9: XEmacs causes my OpenWindows 3.0 server to crash.
1873 The OpenWindows 3.0 server is incredibly buggy. Your best bet is to
1874 replace it with one from the generic MIT X11 release. You might also
1875 try disabling parts of your @file{init.el}/@file{.emacs}, like those
1876 that enable background pixmaps.
1878 @node Q2.1.10, Q2.1.11, Q2.1.9, Installation
1879 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.10: Warnings from incorrect key modifiers.
1881 The following information comes from the @file{PROBLEMS} file that comes
1884 If you're having troubles with HP/UX it is because HP/UX defines the
1885 modifiers wrong in X. Here is a shell script to fix the problem; be
1886 sure that it is run after VUE configures the X server.
1890 xmodmap 2> /dev/null - << EOF
1891 keysym Alt_L = Meta_L
1892 keysym Alt_R = Meta_R
1897 keysym Mode_switch = NoSymbol
1899 keysym Meta_R = Mode_switch
1900 add mod2 = Mode_switch
1904 @node Q2.1.11, Q2.1.12, Q2.1.10, Installation
1905 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.11: @samp{Can't instantiate image error...} in toolbar
1908 @email{expt@@alanine.ram.org, Dr. Ram Samudrala} writes:
1910 I just installed the XEmacs (20.4-2) RPMS that I downloaded from
1911 @uref{http://www.xemacs.org/}. Everything works fine, except that when
1912 I place my mouse over the toolbar, it beeps and gives me this message:
1915 Can't instantiate image (probably cached):
1916 [xbm :mask-file "/usr/include/X11/bitmaps/leftptrmsk :mask-data
1917 (16 16 <strange control characters> ...
1920 @email{kyle_jones@@wonderworks.com, Kyle Jones} writes:
1922 This is problem specific to some Chips and Technologies video
1923 chips, when running XFree86. Putting
1925 @code{Option "sw_cursor"}
1927 in @file{XF86Config} gets rid of the problem.
1930 @node Q2.1.12, Q2.1.13, Q2.1.11, Installation
1931 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.12: Problems with Regular Expressions on DEC OSF1.
1933 I have xemacs 19.13 running on an alpha running OSF1 V3.2 148 and ispell
1934 would not run because it claimed the version number was incorrect
1935 although it was indeed OK. I traced the problem to the regular
1938 @email{douglask@@dstc.edu.au, Douglas Kosovic} writes:
1941 Actually it's a DEC cc optimization bug that screws up the regexp
1944 Rebuilding using the @samp{-migrate} switch for DEC cc (which uses a
1945 different sort of optimization) works fine.
1948 See @file{xemacs-19_13-dunix-3_2c.patch} at the following URL on how to
1949 build with the @samp{-migrate} flag:
1952 @uref{http://www-digital.cern.ch/carney/emacs/emacs.html}
1953 @c Link above, <URL:http://www-digital.cern.ch/carney/emacs/emacs.html> is
1954 @c dead. And the directory `carney' is empty.
1960 NOTE: There have been a variety of other problems reported that are
1961 fixed in this fashion.
1963 @node Q2.1.13, Q2.1.14, Q2.1.12, Installation
1964 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.13: HP/UX 10.10 and @code{create_process} failure.
1966 @email{Dave.Carrigan@@ipl.ca, Dave Carrigan} writes:
1969 With XEmacs 19.13 and HP/UX 10.10, anything that relies on the
1970 @code{create_process} function fails. This breaks a lot of things
1971 (shell-mode, compile, ange-ftp, to name a few).
1974 @email{johnson@@dtc.hp.com, Phil Johnson} writes:
1977 This is a problem specific to HP-UX 10.10. It only occurs when XEmacs
1978 is compiled for shared libraries (the default), so you can work around
1979 it by compiling a statically-linked binary (run configure with
1980 @samp{--dynamic=no}).
1982 I'm not sure whether the problem is with a particular shared library or
1983 if it's a kernel problem which crept into 10.10.
1986 @email{cognot@@ensg.u-nancy.fr, Richard Cognot} writes:
1989 I had a few problems with 10.10. Apparently, some of them were solved by
1990 forcing a static link of libc (manually).
1993 @node Q2.1.14, Q2.1.15, Q2.1.13, Installation
1994 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.14: @kbd{C-g} doesn't work for me. Is it broken?
1996 @email{ben@@xemacs.org, Ben Wing} writes:
1999 @kbd{C-g} does work for most people in most circumstances. If it
2000 doesn't, there are only two explanations:
2004 The code is wrapped with a binding of @code{inhibit-quit} to
2005 @code{t}. @kbd{Ctrl-Shift-G} should still work, I think.
2008 SIGIO is broken on your system, but BROKEN_SIGIO isn't defined.
2011 To test #2, try executing @code{(while t)} from the @samp{*scratch*}
2012 buffer. If @kbd{C-g} doesn't interrupt, then you're seeing #2.
2015 @email{terra@@diku.dk, Morten Welinder} writes:
2018 On some (but @emph{not} all) machines a hung XEmacs can be revived by
2019 @code{kill -FPE <pid>}. This is a hack, of course, not a solution.
2020 This technique works on a Sun4 running 4.1.3_U1. To see if it works for
2021 you, start another XEmacs and test with that first. If you get a core
2022 dump the method doesn't work and if you get @samp{Arithmetic error} then
2026 @node Q2.1.15, Q2.1.16, Q2.1.14, Installation
2027 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.15: How to Debug an XEmacs problem with a debugger
2029 If XEmacs does crash on you, one of the most productive things you can
2030 do to help get the bug fixed is to poke around a bit with the debugger.
2031 Here are some hints:
2035 First of all, if the crash is at all reproducible, consider very
2036 strongly recompiling your XEmacs with debugging symbols and with no
2037 optimization (e.g. with GCC use the compiler flags @samp{-g -O0} --
2038 that's an "oh" followed by a zero), and with the configure options
2039 @samp{--debug=yes} and @samp{--error-checking=all}. This will make your
2040 XEmacs run somewhat slower but make it a lot more likely to catch the
2041 problem earlier (closer to its source), and a lot easier to determine
2042 what's going on with a debugger.
2045 If you're able to run XEmacs under a debugger and reproduce the crash
2046 (if it's inconvenient to do this because XEmacs is already running or is
2047 running in batch mode as part of a bunch of scripts, consider attaching
2048 to the existing process with your debugger; most debuggers let you do
2049 this by substituting the process ID for the core file when you invoke
2050 the debugger from the command line, or by using the @code{attach}
2051 command or something similar), here are some things you can do:
2054 If XEmacs is hitting an assertion failure, put a breakpoint on
2055 @code{assert_failed()}.
2058 If XEmacs is hitting some weird Lisp error that's causing it to crash
2059 (e.g. during startup), put a breakpoint on @code{signal_1()}---this is
2060 declared static in eval.c.
2063 If XEmacs is outputting lots of X errors, put a breakpoint on
2064 @code{x_error_handler()}; that will tell you which call is causing them.
2067 Internally, you will probably see lots of variables that hold objects of
2068 type @code{Lisp_Object}. These are exactly what they appear to be,
2069 i.e. references to Lisp objects. Printing them out with the debugger
2070 probably won't be too useful---you'll likely just see a number. To
2071 decode them, do this:
2074 call debug_print (OBJECT)
2077 where @var{OBJECT} is whatever you want to decode (it can be a variable,
2078 a function call, etc.). This will print out a readable representation
2079 on the TTY from which the xemacs process was invoked.
2082 If you want to get a Lisp backtrace showing the Lisp call
2086 call debug_backtrace ()
2090 Using @code{debug_print} and @code{debug_backtrace} has two
2091 disadvantages - it can only be used with a running xemacs process, and
2092 it cannot display the internal C structure of a Lisp Object. Even if
2093 all you've got is a core dump, all is not lost.
2095 If you're using GDB, there are some macros in the file
2096 @file{src/.gdbinit} in the XEmacs source distribution that should make
2097 it easier for you to decode Lisp objects. This file is automatically
2098 read by gdb if gdb is run in the directory where xemacs was built, and
2099 contains these useful macros to inspect the state of xemacs:
2103 Usage: pobj lisp_object @*
2104 Print the internal C representation of a lisp object.
2107 Usage: xtype lisp_object @*
2108 Print the Lisp type of a lisp object.
2112 Print the current Lisp stack trace.
2113 Requires a running xemacs process.
2116 Usage: ldp lisp_object @*
2117 Print a Lisp Object value using the Lisp printer.
2118 Requires a running xemacs process.
2121 Usage: run-temacs @*
2122 Run temacs interactively, like xemacs.
2123 Use this with debugging tools (like purify) that cannot deal with dumping,
2124 or when temacs builds successfully, but xemacs does not.
2127 Usage: dump-temacs @*
2128 Run the dumping part of the build procedure.
2129 Use when debugging temacs, not xemacs!
2130 Use this when temacs builds successfully, but xemacs does not.
2133 Usage: check-xemacs @*
2134 Run the test suite. Equivalent to 'make check'.
2137 Usage: check-temacs @*
2138 Run the test suite on temacs. Equivalent to 'make check-temacs'.
2139 Use this with debugging tools (like purify) that cannot deal with dumping,
2140 or when temacs builds successfully, but xemacs does not.
2143 If you are using Sun's @file{dbx} debugger, there is an equivalent file
2144 @file{src/.dbxrc}, which defines the same commands for dbx.
2147 If you're using a debugger to get a C stack backtrace and you're seeing
2148 stack traces with some of the innermost frames mangled, it may be due to
2149 dynamic linking. (This happens especially under Linux.) Consider
2150 reconfiguring with @samp{--dynamic=no}. Also, sometimes (again under
2151 Linux), stack backtraces of core dumps will have the frame where the
2152 fatal signal occurred mangled; if you can obtain a stack trace while
2153 running the XEmacs process under a debugger, the stack trace should be
2156 @email{1CMC3466@@ibm.mtsac.edu, Curtiss} suggests upgrading to ld.so version 1.8
2157 if dynamic linking and debugging is a problem on Linux.
2160 If you're using a debugger to get a C stack backtrace and you're
2161 getting a completely mangled and bogus stack trace, it's probably due to
2162 one of the following:
2166 Your executable has been stripped. Bad news. Tell your sysadmin not to
2167 do this---it doesn't accomplish anything except to save a bit of disk
2168 space, and makes debugging much much harder.
2171 Your stack is getting trashed. Debugging this is hard; you have to do a
2172 binary-search type of narrowing down where the crash occurs, until you
2173 figure out exactly which line is causing the problem. Of course, this
2174 only works if the bug is highly reproducible.
2177 If your stack trace has exactly one frame in it, with address 0x0, this
2178 could simply mean that XEmacs attempted to execute code at that address,
2179 e.g. through jumping to a null function pointer. Unfortunately, under
2180 those circumstances, GDB under Linux doesn't know how to get a stack
2181 trace. (Yes, this is the third Linux-related problem I've mentioned. I
2182 have no idea why GDB under Linux is so bogus. Complain to the GDB
2183 authors, or to comp.os.linux.development.system). Again, you'll have to
2184 use the narrowing-down process described above.
2187 You will get a Lisp backtrace output when XEmacs crashes, so you'll have
2193 If you compile with the newer gcc variants gcc-2.8 or egcs, you will
2194 also need gdb 4.17 or above. Earlier releases of gdb can't handle the
2195 debug information generated by the newer compilers.
2198 In versions of XEmacs before 21.2.27, @file{src/.gdbinit} was named
2199 @file{src/gdbinit}. This had the disadvantage of not being sourced
2200 automatically by gdb, so you had to set that up yourself.
2204 @node Q2.1.16, Q2.1.17, Q2.1.15, Installation
2205 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.16: XEmacs crashes in @code{strcat} on HP/UX 10
2207 From the problems database (through
2208 the former address http://support.mayfield.hp.com/):
2211 Problem Report: 5003302299
2214 System/Model: 9000/700
2215 Product Name: HPUX S800 10.0X
2216 Product Vers: 9245XB.10.00
2218 Description: strcat(3C) may read beyond
2219 end of source string, can cause SIGSEGV
2222 *** PROBLEM TEXT ***
2223 strcat(3C) may read beyond the source string onto an unmapped page,
2224 causing a segmentation violation.
2227 @node Q2.1.17, Q2.1.18, Q2.1.16, Installation
2228 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.17: @samp{Marker does not point anywhere}
2230 As with other errors, set @code{debug-on-error} to @code{t} to get the
2231 backtrace when the error occurs. Specifically, two problems have been
2232 reported (and fixed).
2236 A problem with line-number-mode in XEmacs 19.14 affected a large number
2237 of other packages. If you see this error message, turn off
2241 A problem with some early versions of Gnus 5.4 caused this error.
2245 @node Q2.1.18, Q2.1.19, Q2.1.17, Installation
2246 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.18: XEmacs is outputting lots of X errors.
2248 If this is happening, we would very much like to know what's causing
2249 them. To find this out, see @ref{Q2.1.15}. Try to get both a C and Lisp
2250 backtrace, and send them to @email{xemacs-beta@@xemacs.org}.
2252 @node Q2.1.19, Q2.1.20, Q2.1.18, Installation
2253 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.19: XEmacs does not follow the local timezone.
2255 When using one of the prebuilt binaries many users have observed that
2256 XEmacs uses the timezone under which it was built, but not the timezone
2257 under which it is running. The solution is to add:
2260 (set-time-zone-rule "MET")
2263 to your @file{init.el}/@file{.emacs} or the @file{site-start.el} file if
2264 you can. Replace @code{MET} with your local timezone.
2266 @node Q2.1.20, Q2.1.21, Q2.1.19, Installation
2267 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.20: @samp{Symbol's function definition is void: hkey-help-show.}
2269 This is a problem with a partially loaded hyperbole. Try adding:
2272 (require 'hmouse-drv)
2275 where you load hyperbole and the problem should go away.
2277 @node Q2.1.21, Q2.1.22, Q2.1.20, Installation
2278 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.21: [This question intentionally left blank]
2280 @node Q2.1.22, Q2.1.23, Q2.1.21, Installation
2281 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.22: XEmacs seems to take a really long time to do some things
2283 @email{dmoore@@ucsd.edu, David Moore} writes:
2286 Two things you can do:
2290 When you see it going mad like this, you might want to use gdb from an
2291 'xterm' to attach to the running process and get a stack trace. To do
2295 gdb /path/to/xemacs/xemacs ####
2298 Where @code{####} is the process id of your xemacs, instead of
2299 specifying the core. When gdb attaches, the xemacs will stop [1] and
2300 you can type `where' in gdb to get a stack trace as usual. To get
2301 things moving again, you can just type `quit' in gdb. It'll tell you
2302 the program is running and ask if you want to quit anyways. Say 'y' and
2303 it'll quit and have your emacs continue from where it was at.
2307 Turn on debug-on-quit early on. When you think things are going slow
2308 hit C-g and it may pop you in the debugger so you can see what routine
2309 is running. Press `c' to get going again.
2311 debug-on-quit doesn't work if something's turned on inhibit-quit or in
2312 some other strange cases.
2315 @node Q2.1.23, Q2.1.24, Q2.1.22, Installation
2316 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.23: Movemail on Linux does not work for XEmacs 19.15 and later.
2318 Movemail used to work fine in 19.14 but has stopped working in 19.15
2319 and 20.x. I am using Linux.
2321 @email{steve@@xemacs.org, SL Baur} writes:
2324 Movemail on Linux used to default to using flock file locking. With
2325 19.15 and later versions it now defaults to using @code{.lock} file
2326 locking. If this is not appropriate for your system, edit src/s/linux.h
2327 and uncomment the line that reads:
2330 #define MAIL_USE_FLOCK
2334 @node Q2.1.24, Q2.1.25, Q2.1.23, Installation
2335 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.24: XEmacs won't start without network. (NEW)
2337 If XEmacs starts when you're on the network, but fails when you're not
2338 on the network, you may be missing a "localhost" entry in your
2339 @file{/etc/hosts} file. The file should contain an entry like:
2345 Add that line, and XEmacs will be happy.
2347 @node Q2.1.25, , Q2.1.24, Installation
2348 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.25:: After upgrading, XEmacs won't do `foo' any more! (NEW)
2350 You have been used to doing `foo', but now when you invoke it (or click
2351 the toolbar button or select the menu item), nothing (or an error)
2352 happens. The simplest explanation is that you are missing a package
2353 that is essential to you. You can either track it down and install it
2354 (there is a list of packages and brief descriptions of their contents in
2355 @file{etc/PACKAGES}), or install the `Sumo Tarball' (@pxref{Q2.0.14}).
2357 @c #### should xref to XEmacs manual here
2359 @node Customization, Subsystems, Installation, Top
2360 @unnumbered 3 Customization and Options
2362 This is part 3 of the XEmacs Frequently Asked Questions list. This
2363 section is devoted to Customization and screen settings.
2366 Customization---Emacs Lisp and @file{init.el}/@file{.emacs}:
2367 * Q3.0.1:: What version of Emacs am I running?
2368 * Q3.0.2:: How do I evaluate Elisp expressions?
2369 * Q3.0.3:: @code{(setq tab-width 6)} behaves oddly.
2370 * Q3.0.4:: How can I add directories to the @code{load-path}?
2371 * Q3.0.5:: How to check if a lisp function is defined?
2372 * Q3.0.6:: Can I force the output of @code{(face-list)} to a buffer?
2373 * Q3.0.7:: Font selections don't get saved after @code{Save Options}.
2374 * Q3.0.8:: How do I make a single minibuffer frame?
2375 * Q3.0.9:: What is @code{Customize}?
2377 X Window System & Resources:
2378 * Q3.1.1:: Where is a list of X resources?
2379 * Q3.1.2:: How can I detect a color display?
2380 * Q3.1.3:: [This question intentionally left blank]
2381 * Q3.1.4:: [This question intentionally left blank]
2382 * Q3.1.5:: How can I get the icon to just say @samp{XEmacs}?
2383 * Q3.1.6:: How can I have the window title area display the full path?
2384 * Q3.1.7:: @samp{xemacs -name junk} doesn't work?
2385 * Q3.1.8:: @samp{-iconic} doesn't work.
2387 Textual Fonts & Colors:
2388 * Q3.2.1:: How can I set color options from @file{init.el}/@file{.emacs}?
2389 * Q3.2.2:: How do I set the text, menu and modeline fonts?
2390 * Q3.2.3:: How can I set the colors when highlighting a region?
2391 * Q3.2.4:: How can I limit color map usage?
2392 * Q3.2.5:: My tty supports color, but XEmacs doesn't use them.
2393 * Q3.2.6:: Can I have pixmap backgrounds in XEmacs?
2396 * Q3.3.1:: How can I make the modeline go away?
2397 * Q3.3.2:: How do you have XEmacs display the line number in the modeline?
2398 * Q3.3.3:: How do I get XEmacs to put the time of day on the modeline?
2399 * Q3.3.4:: How do I turn off current chapter from AUC TeX modeline?
2400 * Q3.3.5:: How can one change the modeline color based on the mode used?
2402 3.4 Multiple Device Support:
2403 * Q3.4.1:: How do I open a frame on another screen of my multi-headed display?
2404 * Q3.4.2:: Can I really connect to a running XEmacs after calling up over a modem? How?
2407 * Q3.5.1:: How can I bind complex functions (or macros) to keys?
2408 * Q3.5.2:: How can I stop down-arrow from adding empty lines to the bottom of my buffers?
2409 * Q3.5.3:: How do I bind C-. and C-; to scroll one line up and down?
2410 * Q3.5.4:: Globally binding @kbd{Delete}?
2411 * Q3.5.5:: Scrolling one line at a time.
2412 * Q3.5.6:: How to map @kbd{Help} key alone on Sun type4 keyboard?
2413 * Q3.5.7:: How can you type in special characters in XEmacs?
2414 * Q3.5.8:: [This question intentionally left blank]
2415 * Q3.5.9:: How do I make the Delete key delete forward?
2416 * Q3.5.10:: Can I turn on @dfn{sticky} modifier keys?
2417 * Q3.5.11:: How do I map the arrow keys?
2420 * Q3.6.1:: Is there a way to make the bar cursor thicker?
2421 * 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?
2422 * Q3.6.3:: Can I make the cursor blink?
2424 The Mouse and Highlighting:
2425 * Q3.7.1:: How can I turn off Mouse pasting?
2426 * Q3.7.2:: How do I set control/meta/etc modifiers on mouse buttons?
2427 * Q3.7.3:: Clicking the left button does not do anything in buffer list.
2428 * Q3.7.4:: How can I get a list of buffers when I hit mouse button 3?
2429 * Q3.7.5:: Why does cut-and-paste not work between XEmacs and a cmdtool?
2430 * Q3.7.6:: How I can set XEmacs up so that it pastes where the text cursor is?
2431 * Q3.7.7:: How do I select a rectangular region?
2432 * Q3.7.8:: Why does @kbd{M-w} take so long?
2434 The Menubar and Toolbar:
2435 * Q3.8.1:: How do I get rid of the menu (or menubar)?
2436 * Q3.8.2:: Can I customize the basic menubar?
2437 * Q3.8.3:: How do I control how many buffers are listed in the menu @code{Buffers} list?
2438 * Q3.8.4:: Resources like @code{Emacs*menubar*font} are not working?
2439 * Q3.8.5:: How can I bind a key to a function to toggle the toolbar?
2442 * Q3.9.1:: How can I disable the scrollbar?
2443 * Q3.9.2:: How can one use resources to change scrollbar colors?
2444 * Q3.9.3:: Moving the scrollbar can move the point; can I disable this?
2445 * Q3.9.4:: How can I turn off automatic horizontal scrolling in specific modes?
2448 * Q3.10.1:: How can I turn off or change highlighted selections?
2449 * Q3.10.2:: How do I get that typing on an active region removes it?
2450 * Q3.10.3:: Can I turn off the highlight during isearch?
2451 * Q3.10.4:: How do I turn off highlighting after @kbd{C-x C-p} (mark-page)?
2452 * Q3.10.5:: The region disappears when I hit the end of buffer while scrolling.
2455 @node Q3.0.1, Q3.0.2, Customization, Customization
2456 @unnumberedsec 3.0: Customization -- Emacs Lisp and @file{init.el}/@file{.emacs}
2457 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.0.1: What version of Emacs am I running?
2459 How can @file{init.el}/@file{.emacs} determine which of the family of
2462 To determine if you are currently running GNU Emacs 18, GNU Emacs 19,
2463 XEmacs 19, XEmacs 20, or Epoch, and use appropriate code, check out the
2464 example given in @file{etc/sample.init.el} (@file{etc/sample.emacs} in
2465 XEmacs versions prior to 21.4). There are other nifty things in there
2468 For all new code, all you really need to do is:
2471 (defvar running-xemacs (string-match "XEmacs\\|Lucid" emacs-version))
2474 @node Q3.0.2, Q3.0.3, Q3.0.1, Customization
2475 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.0.2: How can I evaluate Emacs-Lisp expressions?
2477 I know I can evaluate Elisp expressions from @code{*scratch*} buffer
2478 with @kbd{C-j} after the expression. How do I do it from another
2481 Press @kbd{M-:} (the default binding of @code{eval-expression}), and
2482 enter the expression to the minibuffer.
2484 @node Q3.0.3, Q3.0.4, Q3.0.2, Customization
2485 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.0.3: @code{(setq tab-width 6)} behaves oddly.
2487 If you put @code{(setq tab-width 6)} in your
2488 @file{init.el}/@file{.emacs} file it does not work! Is there a reason
2489 for this? If you do it at the EVAL prompt it works fine!! How strange.
2491 Use @code{setq-default} instead, since @code{tab-width} is
2494 @node Q3.0.4, Q3.0.5, Q3.0.3, Customization
2495 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.0.4: How can I add directories to the @code{load-path}?
2497 Here are two ways to do that, one that puts your directories at the
2498 front of the load-path, the other at the end:
2501 ;;; Add things at the beginning of the load-path, do not add
2502 ;;; duplicate directories:
2503 (pushnew "bar" load-path :test 'equal)
2505 (pushnew "foo" load-path :test 'equal)
2507 ;;; Add things at the end, unconditionally
2508 (setq load-path (nconc load-path '("foo" "bar")))
2511 @email{keithh@@nortel.ca, keith (k.p.) hanlan} writes:
2514 To add directories using Unix shell metacharacters use
2515 @file{expand-file-name} like this:
2518 (push (expand-file-name "~keithh/.emacsdir") load-path)
2522 @node Q3.0.5, Q3.0.6, Q3.0.4, Customization
2523 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.0.5: How to check if a lisp function is defined?
2525 Use the following elisp:
2531 It's almost always a mistake to test @code{emacs-version} or any similar
2534 Instead, use feature-tests, such as @code{featurep}, @code{boundp},
2535 @code{fboundp}, or even simple behavioral tests, eg.:
2538 (defvar foo-old-losing-code-p
2539 (condition-case nil (progn (losing-code t) nil)
2540 (wrong-number-of-arguments t)))
2543 There is an incredible amount of broken code out there which could work
2544 much better more often in more places if it did the above instead of
2545 trying to divine its environment from the value of one variable.
2547 @node Q3.0.6, Q3.0.7, Q3.0.5, Customization
2548 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.0.6: Can I force the output of @code{(face-list)} to a buffer?
2550 It would be good having it in a buffer, as the output of
2551 @code{(face-list)} is too wide to fit to a minibuffer.
2553 Evaluate the expression in the @samp{*scratch*} buffer with point after
2554 the rightmost paren and typing @kbd{C-j}.
2556 If the minibuffer smallness is the only problem you encounter, you can
2557 simply press @kbd{C-h l} to get the former minibuffer contents in a
2560 @node Q3.0.7, Q3.0.8, Q3.0.6, Customization
2561 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.0.7: Font selections in don't get saved after @code{Save Options}.
2563 @email{mannj@@ll.mit.edu, John Mann} writes:
2566 You have to go to Options->Frame Appearance and unselect
2567 @samp{Frame-Local Font Menu}. If this option is selected, font changes
2568 are only applied to the @emph{current} frame and do @emph{not} get saved
2569 when you save options.
2572 Also, set the following in your @file{init.el}/@file{.emacs}:
2575 (setq options-save-faces t)
2578 @node Q3.0.8, Q3.0.9, Q3.0.7, Customization
2579 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.0.8: How do I get a single minibuffer frame?
2581 @email{acs@@acm.org, Vin Shelton} writes:
2584 (setq initial-frame-plist '(minibuffer nil))
2585 (setq default-frame-plist '(minibuffer nil))
2586 (setq default-minibuffer-frame
2591 menubar-visible-p nil
2592 default-toolbar-visible-p nil
2596 has-modeline-p nil)))
2597 (frame-notice-user-settings)
2600 @strong{Please note:} The single minibuffer frame may not be to everyone's
2601 taste, and there any number of other XEmacs options settings that may
2602 make it difficult or inconvenient to use.
2604 @node Q3.0.9, Q3.1.1, Q3.0.8, Customization
2605 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.0.9: What is @code{Customize}?
2607 Starting with XEmacs 20.2 there is new system 'Customize' for customizing
2610 You can access @code{Customize} from the @code{Options} menu
2611 or invoking one of customize commands by typing eg.
2612 @kbd{M-x customize}, @kbd{M-x customize-face},
2613 @kbd{M-x customize-variable} or @kbd{M-x customize-apropos}.
2615 Starting with XEmacs 20.3 there is also new `browser' mode for Customize.
2616 Try it out with @kbd{M-x customize-browse}
2618 @node Q3.1.1, Q3.1.2, Q3.0.9, Customization
2619 @unnumberedsec 3.1: X Window System & Resources
2620 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.1.1: Where is a list of X resources?
2622 Search through the @file{NEWS} file for @samp{X Resources}. A fairly
2623 comprehensive list is given after it.
2625 In addition, an @file{app-defaults} file is supplied,
2626 @file{etc/Emacs.ad} listing the defaults. The file
2627 @file{etc/sample.Xdefaults} gives a set of defaults that you might
2628 consider. It is essentially the same as @file{etc/Emacs.ad} but some
2629 entries are slightly altered. Be careful about installing the contents
2630 of this file into your @file{.Xdefaults} or @file{.Xresources} file if
2631 you use GNU Emacs under X11 as well.
2633 @node Q3.1.2, Q3.1.3, Q3.1.1, Customization
2634 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.1.2: How can I detect a color display?
2636 You can test the return value of the function @code{(device-class)}, as
2640 (when (eq (device-class) 'color)
2641 (set-face-foreground 'font-lock-comment-face "Grey")
2642 (set-face-foreground 'font-lock-string-face "Red")
2647 @node Q3.1.3, Q3.1.4, Q3.1.2, Customization
2648 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.1.3: [This question intentionally left blank]
2650 @node Q3.1.4, Q3.1.5, Q3.1.3, Customization
2651 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.1.4: [This question intentionally left blank]
2653 @node Q3.1.5, Q3.1.6, Q3.1.4, Customization
2654 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.1.5: How can I get the icon to just say @samp{XEmacs}?
2656 I'd like the icon to just say @samp{XEmacs}, and not include the name of
2657 the current file in it.
2659 Add the following line to your @file{init.el}/@file{.emacs}:
2662 (setq frame-icon-title-format "XEmacs")
2665 @node Q3.1.6, Q3.1.7, Q3.1.5, Customization
2666 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.1.6: How can I have the window title area display the full path?
2668 I'd like to have the window title area display the full directory/name
2669 of the current buffer file and not just the name.
2671 Add the following line to your @file{init.el}/@file{.emacs}:
2674 (setq frame-title-format "%S: %f")
2677 A more sophisticated title might be:
2680 (setq frame-title-format
2681 '("%S: " (buffer-file-name "%f"
2682 (dired-directory dired-directory "%b"))))
2685 That is, use the file name, or the dired-directory, or the buffer name.
2687 @node Q3.1.7, Q3.1.8, Q3.1.6, Customization
2688 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.1.7: @samp{xemacs -name junk} doesn't work?
2690 When I run @samp{xterm -name junk}, I get an xterm whose class name
2691 according to xprop, is @samp{junk}. This is the way it's supposed to
2692 work, I think. When I run @samp{xemacs -name junk} the class name is
2693 not set to @samp{junk}. It's still @samp{emacs}. What does
2694 @samp{xemacs -name} really do? The reason I ask is that my window
2695 manager (fvwm) will make a window sticky and I use XEmacs to read my
2696 mail. I want that XEmacs window to be sticky, without having to use the
2697 window manager's function to set the window sticky. What gives?
2699 @samp{xemacs -name} sets the application name for the program (that is,
2700 the thing which normally comes from @samp{argv[0]}). Using @samp{-name}
2701 is the same as making a copy of the executable with that new name. The
2702 @code{WM_CLASS} property on each frame is set to the frame-name, and the
2703 application-class. So, if you did @samp{xemacs -name FOO} and then
2704 created a frame named @var{BAR}, you'd get an X window with WM_CLASS =
2705 @code{( "BAR", "Emacs")}. However, the resource hierarchy for this
2709 Name: FOO .shell .container .BAR
2710 Class: Emacs .TopLevelEmacsShell.EmacsManager.EmacsFrame
2713 instead of the default
2716 Name: xemacs.shell .container .emacs
2717 Class: Emacs .TopLevelEmacsShell.EmacsManager.EmacsFrame
2721 It is arguable that the first element of WM_CLASS should be set to the
2722 application-name instead of the frame-name, but I think that's less
2723 flexible, since it does not give you the ability to have multiple frames
2724 with different WM_CLASS properties. Another possibility would be for
2725 the default frame name to come from the application name instead of
2726 simply being @samp{emacs}. However, at this point, making that change
2727 would be troublesome: it would mean that many users would have to make
2728 yet another change to their resource files (since the default frame name
2729 would suddenly change from @samp{emacs} to @samp{xemacs}, or whatever
2730 the executable happened to be named), so we'd rather avoid it.
2732 To make a frame with a particular name use:
2735 (make-frame '((name . "the-name")))
2738 @node Q3.1.8, Q3.2.1, Q3.1.7, Customization
2739 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.1.8: @samp{-iconic} doesn't work.
2741 When I start up XEmacs using @samp{-iconic} it doesn't work right.
2742 Using @samp{-unmapped} on the command line, and setting the
2743 @code{initiallyUnmapped} X Resource don't seem to help much either...
2745 @email{ben@@xemacs.org, Ben Wing} writes:
2748 Ugh, this stuff is such an incredible mess that I've about given up
2749 getting it to work. The principal problem is numerous window-manager
2753 @node Q3.2.1, Q3.2.2, Q3.1.8, Customization
2754 @unnumberedsec 3.2: Textual Fonts & Colors
2755 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.2.1: How can I set color options from @file{init.el}/@file{.emacs}?
2757 How can I set the most commonly used color options from my
2758 @file{init.el}/@file{.emacs} instead of from my @file{.Xdefaults}?
2763 (set-face-background 'default "bisque") ; frame background
2764 (set-face-foreground 'default "black") ; normal text
2765 (set-face-background 'zmacs-region "red") ; When selecting w/
2767 (set-face-foreground 'zmacs-region "yellow")
2768 (set-face-font 'default "*courier-bold-r*120-100-100*")
2769 (set-face-background 'highlight "blue") ; Ie when selecting
2771 (set-face-foreground 'highlight "yellow")
2772 (set-face-background 'modeline "blue") ; Line at bottom
2774 (set-face-foreground 'modeline "white")
2775 (set-face-font 'modeline "*bold-r-normal*140-100-100*")
2776 (set-face-background 'isearch "yellow") ; When highlighting
2778 (set-face-foreground 'isearch "red")
2779 (setq x-pointer-foreground-color "black") ; Adds to bg color,
2781 (setq x-pointer-background-color "blue") ; This is color
2786 @node Q3.2.2, Q3.2.3, Q3.2.1, Customization
2787 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.2.2: How do I set the text, menu and modeline fonts?
2789 Note that you should use @samp{Emacs.} and not @samp{Emacs*} when
2790 setting face values.
2792 In @file{.Xdefaults}:
2795 Emacs.default.attributeFont: -*-*-medium-r-*-*-*-120-*-*-m-*-*-*
2796 Emacs*menubar*font: fixed
2797 Emacs.modeline.attributeFont: fixed
2800 This is confusing because modeline is a face, and can be found listed
2801 with all faces in the current mode by using @kbd{M-x set-face-font
2802 (enter) ?}. It uses the face specification of @code{attributeFont},
2803 while menubar is a normal X thing that uses the specification
2804 @code{font}. With Motif it may be necessary to use @code{fontList}
2805 instead of @code{font}.
2807 @node Q3.2.3, Q3.2.4, Q3.2.2, Customization
2808 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.2.3: How can I set the colors when highlighting a region?
2810 How can I set the background/foreground colors when highlighting a
2813 You can change the face @code{zmacs-region} either in your
2817 Emacs.zmacs-region.attributeForeground: firebrick
2818 Emacs.zmacs-region.attributeBackground: lightseagreen
2821 or in your @file{init.el}/@file{.emacs}:
2824 (set-face-background 'zmacs-region "red")
2825 (set-face-foreground 'zmacs-region "yellow")
2828 @node Q3.2.4, Q3.2.5, Q3.2.3, Customization
2829 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.2.4: How can I limit color map usage?
2831 I'm using Netscape (or another color grabber like XEmacs);
2832 is there any way to limit the number of available colors in the color map?
2834 Answer: No, but you can start Netscape before XEmacs, and it will use
2835 the closest available color if the colormap is full. You can also limit
2836 the number of colors Netscape uses, using the flags -mono, -ncols <#> or
2837 -install (for mono, limiting to <#> colors, or for using a private color
2840 If you have the money, another solution would be to use a truecolor or
2843 @node Q3.2.5, Q3.2.6, Q3.2.4, Customization
2844 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.2.5: My tty supports color, but XEmacs doesn't use them.
2846 XEmacs tries to automatically determine whether your tty supports color,
2847 but sometimes guesses wrong. In that case, you can make XEmacs Do The
2848 Right Thing using this Lisp code:
2851 (if (eq 'tty (device-type))
2852 (set-device-class nil 'color))
2855 @node Q3.2.6, Q3.3.1, Q3.2.5, Customization
2856 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.2.6: Can I have pixmap backgrounds in XEmacs?
2858 @email{jvillaci@@wahnsinnig.extreme.indiana.edu, Juan Villacis} writes:
2861 There are several ways to do it. For example, you could specify a
2862 default pixmap image to use in your @file{~/.Xresources}, e.g.,
2866 Emacs*EmacsFrame.default.attributeBackgroundPixmap: /path/to/image.xpm
2870 and then reload ~/.Xresources and restart XEmacs. Alternatively,
2871 since each face can have its own pixmap background, a better way
2872 would be to set a face's pixmap within your XEmacs init file, e.g.,
2875 (set-face-background-pixmap 'default "/path/to/image.xpm")
2876 (set-face-background-pixmap 'bold "/path/to/another_image.xpm")
2879 and so on. You can also do this interactively via @kbd{M-x edit-faces}.
2883 @node Q3.3.1, Q3.3.2, Q3.2.6, Customization
2884 @unnumberedsec 3.3: The Modeline
2885 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.3.1: How can I make the modeline go away?
2888 (set-specifier has-modeline-p nil)
2891 @c Starting with XEmacs 19.14 the modeline responds to mouse clicks, so if
2892 @c you haven't liked or used the modeline in the past, you might want to
2893 @c try the new version out.
2895 @node Q3.3.2, Q3.3.3, Q3.3.1, Customization
2896 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.3.2: How do you have XEmacs display the line number in the modeline?
2898 Add the following line to your @file{init.el}/@file{.emacs} file to
2899 display the line number:
2902 (line-number-mode 1)
2905 Use the following to display the column number:
2908 (column-number-mode 1)
2911 Or select from the @code{Options} menu
2915 @code{Advanced (Customize)->Emacs->Editing->Basics->Line Number Mode}
2920 @code{Advanced (Customize)->Emacs->Editing->Basics->Column Number Mode}
2922 Or type @kbd{M-x customize @key{RET} editing-basics @key{RET}}.
2924 @node Q3.3.3, Q3.3.4, Q3.3.2, Customization
2925 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.3.3: How do I get XEmacs to put the time of day on the modeline?
2927 Add the following line to your @file{init.el}/@file{.emacs} file to
2934 See @code{Customize} from the @code{Options} menu for customization.
2936 @node Q3.3.4, Q3.3.5, Q3.3.3, Customization
2937 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.3.4: How do I turn off current chapter from AUC TeX modeline?
2939 With AUC TeX, fast typing is hard because the current chapter, section
2940 etc. are given in the modeline. How can I turn this off?
2942 It's not AUC TeX, it comes from @code{func-menu} in @file{func-menu.el}.
2944 @c Add this code to your @file{init.el}/@file{.emacs} to turn it off:
2947 @c (setq fume-display-in-modeline-p nil)
2950 @c Or just add a hook to @code{TeX-mode-hook} to turn it off only for TeX
2954 @c (add-hook 'TeX-mode-hook
2955 @c '(lambda () (setq fume-display-in-modeline-p nil)))
2958 @email{dhughes@@origin-at.co.uk, David Hughes} writes:
2961 Try this; you'll still get the function name displayed in the modeline,
2962 but it won't attempt to keep track when you modify the file. To refresh
2963 when it gets out of synch, you simply need click on the @samp{Rescan
2964 Buffer} option in the function-menu.
2967 (setq-default fume-auto-rescan-buffer-p nil)
2971 @node Q3.3.5, Q3.4.1, Q3.3.4, Customization
2972 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.3.5: How can one change the modeline color based on the mode used?
2974 You can use something like the following:
2977 (add-hook 'lisp-mode-hook
2979 (set-face-background 'modeline "red" (current-buffer))))
2982 Then, when editing a Lisp file (i.e. when in Lisp mode), the modeline
2983 colors change from the default set in your @file{init.el}/@file{.emacs}.
2984 The change will only be made in the buffer you just entered (which
2985 contains the Lisp file you are editing) and will not affect the modeline
2986 colors anywhere else.
2992 @item The hook is the mode name plus @code{-hook}. eg. c-mode-hook,
2993 c++-mode-hook, emacs-lisp-mode-hook (used for your
2994 @file{init.el}/@file{.emacs} or a @file{xx.el} file),
2995 lisp-interaction-mode-hook (the @samp{*scratch*} buffer),
2996 text-mode-hook, etc.
2999 Be sure to use @code{add-hook}, not @code{(setq c-mode-hook xxxx)},
3000 otherwise you will erase anything that anybody has already put on the
3004 You can also do @code{(set-face-font 'modeline @var{font})},
3005 eg. @code{(set-face-font 'modeline "*bold-r-normal*140-100-100*"
3006 (current-buffer))} if you wish the modeline font to vary based on the
3010 There are additional modeline faces, @code{modeline-buffer-id},
3011 @code{modeline-mousable}, and @code{modeline-mousable-minor-mode}, which
3012 you may want to customize.
3014 @node Q3.4.1, Q3.4.2, Q3.3.5, Customization
3015 @unnumberedsec 3.4: Multiple Device Support
3016 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.4.1: How do I open a frame on another screen of my multi-headed display?
3018 Use the command @kbd{M-x make-frame-on-display}. This command is also
3019 on the File menu in the menubar.
3021 The command @code{make-frame-on-tty} also exists, which will establish a
3022 connection to any tty-like device. Opening the TTY devices should be
3023 left to @code{gnuclient}, though.
3025 @node Q3.4.2, Q3.5.1, Q3.4.1, Customization
3026 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.4.2: Can I really connect to a running XEmacs after calling up over a modem? How?
3028 Yes. Use @code{gnuclient -nw}. (Prior to 20.3, use the @code{gnuattach}
3029 program supplied with XEmacs instead.)
3031 Also see @ref{Q5.0.12}.
3033 @node Q3.5.1, Q3.5.2, Q3.4.2, Customization
3034 @unnumberedsec 3.5: The Keyboard
3035 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.5.1: How can I bind complex functions (or macros) to keys?
3037 As an example, say you want the @kbd{paste} key on a Sun keyboard to
3038 insert the current Primary X selection at point. You can accomplish this
3042 (define-key global-map [f18] 'x-insert-selection)
3045 However, this only works if there is a current X selection (the
3046 selection will be highlighted). The functionality I like is for the
3047 @kbd{paste} key to insert the current X selection if there is one,
3048 otherwise insert the contents of the clipboard. To do this you need to
3049 pass arguments to @code{x-insert-selection}. This is done by wrapping
3050 the call in a 'lambda form:
3053 (global-set-key [f18]
3054 (lambda () (interactive) (x-insert-selection t nil)))
3057 This binds the f18 key to a @dfn{generic} functional object. The
3058 interactive spec is required because only interactive functions can be
3061 For the FAQ example you could use:
3064 (global-set-key [(control ?.)]
3065 (lambda () (interactive) (scroll-up 1)))
3066 (global-set-key [(control ?;)]
3067 (lambda () (interactive) (scroll-up -1)))
3070 This is fine if you only need a few functions within the lambda body.
3071 If you're doing more it's cleaner to define a separate function as in
3072 question 3.5.3 (@pxref{Q3.5.3}).
3074 @node Q3.5.2, Q3.5.3, Q3.5.1, Customization
3075 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.5.2: How can I stop down-arrow from adding empty lines to the bottom of my buffers?
3077 Add the following line to your @file{init.el}/@file{.emacs} file:
3080 (setq next-line-add-newlines nil)
3083 This has been the default setting in XEmacs for some time.
3085 @node Q3.5.3, Q3.5.4, Q3.5.2, Customization
3086 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.5.3: How do I bind C-. and C-; to scroll one line up and down?
3088 Add the following (Thanks to @email{mly@@adoc.xerox.com, Richard Mlynarik} and
3089 @email{wayne@@zen.cac.stratus.com, Wayne Newberry}) to @file{.emacs}:
3092 (defun scroll-up-one-line ()
3096 (defun scroll-down-one-line ()
3100 (global-set-key [(control ?.)] 'scroll-up-one-line) ; C-.
3101 (global-set-key [(control ?;)] 'scroll-down-one-line) ; C-;
3104 The key point is that you can only bind simple functions to keys; you
3105 can not bind a key to a function that you're also passing arguments to.
3106 (@pxref{Q3.5.1} for a better answer).
3108 @node Q3.5.4, Q3.5.5, Q3.5.3, Customization
3109 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.5.4: Globally binding @kbd{Delete}?
3111 I cannot manage to globally bind my @kbd{Delete} key to something other
3112 than the default. How does one do this?
3114 Answer: The problem is that many modes explicitly bind @kbd{Delete}. To
3115 get around this, try the following:
3120 (message "You hit DELETE"))
3122 (define-key key-translation-map 'delete 'redirected-delete)
3123 (global-set-key 'redirected-delete 'foo)
3126 Also see @ref{Q3.5.10}.
3128 @node Q3.5.5, Q3.5.6, Q3.5.4, Customization
3129 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.5.5: Scrolling one line at a time.
3131 Can the cursor keys scroll the screen a line at a time, rather than the
3132 default half page jump? I tend it to find it disorienting.
3137 (defun scroll-one-line-up (&optional arg)
3138 "Scroll the selected window up (forward in the text) one line (or N lines)."
3140 (scroll-up (or arg 1)))
3142 (defun scroll-one-line-down (&optional arg)
3143 "Scroll the selected window down (backward in the text) one line (or N)."
3145 (scroll-down (or arg 1)))
3147 (global-set-key [up] 'scroll-one-line-up)
3148 (global-set-key [down] 'scroll-one-line-down)
3151 The following will also work but will affect more than just the cursor
3152 keys (i.e. @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p}):
3155 (setq scroll-step 1)
3158 Starting with XEmacs-20.3 you can also change this with Customize.
3159 Select from the @code{Options} menu
3160 @code{Advanced (Customize)->Emacs->Environment->Windows->Scroll Step...} or type
3161 @kbd{M-x customize @key{RET} windows @key{RET}}.
3163 @node Q3.5.6, Q3.5.7, Q3.5.5, Customization
3164 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.5.6: How to map @kbd{Help} key alone on Sun type4 keyboard?
3166 The following works in GNU Emacs 19:
3169 (global-set-key [help] 'help-command);; Help
3172 The following works in XEmacs with the addition of shift:
3175 (global-set-key [(shift help)] 'help-command);; Help
3178 But it doesn't work alone. This is in the file @file{PROBLEMS} which
3179 should have come with your XEmacs installation: @emph{Emacs ignores the
3180 @kbd{help} key when running OLWM}.
3182 OLWM grabs the @kbd{help} key, and retransmits it to the appropriate
3187 @code{XSendEvent}. Allowing Emacs to react to synthetic
3188 events is a security hole, so this is turned off by default. You can
3189 enable it by setting the variable @code{x-allow-sendevents} to t. You
3190 can also cause fix this by telling OLWM to not grab the help key, with
3191 the null binding @code{OpenWindows.KeyboardCommand.Help:}.
3193 @node Q3.5.7, Q3.5.8, Q3.5.6, Customization
3194 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.5.7: How can you type in special characters in XEmacs?
3196 One way is to use the package @code{x-compose}. Then you can use
3197 sequences like @kbd{Compose " a} to get ä, etc.
3199 Another way is to use the @code{iso-insert} package. Then you can use
3200 sequences like @kbd{C-x 8 " a} to get ä, etc.
3202 @email{glynn@@sensei.co.uk, Glynn Clements} writes:
3205 It depends upon your X server.
3207 Generally, the simplest way is to define a key as Multi_key with
3209 @c hey, show some respect, willya -- there's xkeycaps, isn't there? --
3212 xmodmap -e 'keycode 0xff20 = Multi_key'
3215 You will need to pick an appropriate keycode. Use xev to find out the
3216 keycodes for each key.
3218 [NB: On a `Windows' keyboard, recent versions of XFree86 automatically
3219 define the right `Windows' key as Multi_key'.]
3221 Once you have Multi_key defined, you can use e.g.
3230 Also, recent versions of XFree86 define various AltGr-<key>
3231 combinations as dead keys, i.e.
3233 AltGr [ => dead_diaeresis
3234 AltGr ] => dead_tilde
3235 AltGr ; => dead_acute
3239 Running @samp{xmodmap -pk} will list all of the defined keysyms.
3242 @node Q3.5.8, Q3.5.9, Q3.5.7, Customization
3243 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.5.8: [This question intentionally left blank]
3245 Obsolete question, left blank to avoid renumbering.
3247 @node Q3.5.9, Q3.5.10, Q3.5.8, Customization
3248 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.5.9: How do I make the Delete key delete forward?
3250 With XEmacs-20.2 use the @code{delbs} package:
3256 This will give you the functions @code{delbs-enable-delete-forward} to
3257 set things up, and @code{delbs-disable-delete-forward} to revert to
3258 ``normal'' behavior. Note that @code{delbackspace} package is obsolete.
3260 Starting with XEmacs-20.3 better solution is to set variable
3261 @code{delete-key-deletes-forward} to t. You can also change this with
3262 Customize. Select from the @code{Options} menu
3263 @code{Advanced (Customize)->Emacs->Editing->Basics->Delete Key Deletes Forward} or
3264 type @kbd{M-x customize @key{RET} editing-basics @key{RET}}.
3266 Also see @ref{Q3.5.4}.
3268 @node Q3.5.10, Q3.5.11, Q3.5.9, Customization
3269 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.5.10: Can I turn on @dfn{sticky} modifier keys?
3271 Yes, with @code{(setq modifier-keys-are-sticky t)}. This will give the
3272 effect of being able to press and release Shift and have the next
3273 character typed come out in upper case. This will affect all the other
3274 modifier keys like Control and Meta as well.
3276 @email{ben@@xemacs.org, Ben Wing} writes:
3279 One thing about the sticky modifiers is that if you move the mouse out
3280 of the frame and back in, it cancels all currently ``stuck'' modifiers.
3283 @node Q3.5.11, Q3.6.1, Q3.5.10, Customization
3284 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.5.11: How do I map the arrow keys?
3286 Say you want to map @kbd{C-@key{right}} to forward-word:
3288 @email{sds@@usa.net, Sam Steingold} writes:
3292 ; both XEmacs and Emacs
3293 (define-key global-map [(control right)] 'forward-word)
3298 (define-key global-map [C-right] 'forward-word)
3303 (define-key global-map (kbd "C-<right>") 'forward-word)
3309 @node Q3.6.1, Q3.6.2, Q3.5.11, Customization
3310 @unnumberedsec 3.6: The Cursor
3311 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.6.1: Is there a way to make the bar cursor thicker?
3313 I'd like to have the bar cursor a little thicker, as I tend to "lose" it
3316 For a 1 pixel bar cursor, use:
3322 For a 2 pixel bar cursor, use:
3325 (setq bar-cursor 'anything-else)
3328 Starting with XEmacs-20.3 you can also change these with Customize.
3329 Select from the @code{Options} menu
3330 @code{Advanced (Customize)->Emacs->Environment->Display->Bar Cursor...} or type
3331 @kbd{M-x customize @key{RET} display @key{RET}}.
3333 You can use a color to make it stand out better:
3336 Emacs*cursorColor: Red
3339 @node Q3.6.2, Q3.6.3, Q3.6.1, Customization
3340 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.6.2: Is there a way to get back the block cursor?
3343 (setq bar-cursor nil)
3346 Starting with XEmacs 20.3 you can also change this with Customize.
3347 Select from the @code{Options} menu
3348 @code{Advanced (Customize)->Emacs->Environment->Display->Bar Cursor...} or type
3349 @kbd{M-x customize @key{RET} display @key{RET}}.
3351 @node Q3.6.3, Q3.7.1, Q3.6.2, Customization
3352 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.6.3: Can I make the cursor blink?
3360 This function toggles between a steady cursor and a blinking cursor.
3361 You may also set this mode from the menu bar by selecting @samp{Options
3362 => Frame Appearance => Blinking Cursor}. Remember to save options.
3364 @node Q3.7.1, Q3.7.2, Q3.6.3, Customization
3365 @unnumberedsec 3.7: The Mouse and Highlighting
3366 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.7.1: How can I turn off Mouse pasting?
3368 I keep hitting the middle mouse button by accident and getting stuff
3369 pasted into my buffer so how can I turn this off?
3371 Here is an alternative binding, whereby the middle mouse button selects
3372 (but does not cut) the expression under the mouse. Clicking middle on a
3373 left or right paren will select to the matching one. Note that you can
3374 use @code{define-key} or @code{global-set-key}.
3377 (defun mouse-set-point-and-select (event)
3378 "Sets the point at the mouse location, then marks following form"
3380 (mouse-set-point event)
3382 (define-key global-map [button2] 'mouse-set-point-and-select)
3385 @node Q3.7.2, Q3.7.3, Q3.7.1, Customization
3386 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.7.2: How do I set control/meta/etc modifiers on mouse buttons?
3388 Use, for instance, @code{[(meta button1)]}. For example, here is a common
3389 setting for Common Lisp programmers who use the bundled @code{ilisp}
3390 package, whereby meta-button1 on a function name will find the file where
3391 the function name was defined, and put you at that location in the source
3394 [Inside a function that gets called by the lisp-mode-hook and
3398 (local-set-key [(meta button1)] 'edit-definitions-lisp)
3401 @node Q3.7.3, Q3.7.4, Q3.7.2, Customization
3402 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.7.3: Clicking the left button does not do anything in buffer list.
3404 I do @kbd{C-x C-b} to get a list of buffers and the entries get
3405 highlighted when I move the mouse over them but clicking the left mouse
3406 does not do anything.
3408 Use the middle mouse button.
3410 @node Q3.7.4, Q3.7.5, Q3.7.3, Customization
3411 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.7.4: How can I get a list of buffers when I hit mouse button 3?
3413 The following code will replace the default popup on button3:
3416 (global-set-key [button3] 'popup-buffer-menu)
3419 @node Q3.7.5, Q3.7.6, Q3.7.4, Customization
3420 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.7.5: Why does cut-and-paste not work between XEmacs and a cmdtool?
3422 We don't know. It's a bug. There does seem to be a work-around,
3423 however. Try running xclipboard first. It appears to fix the problem
3424 even if you exit it. (This should be mostly fixed in 19.13, but we
3425 haven't yet verified that).
3427 @node Q3.7.6, Q3.7.7, Q3.7.5, Customization
3428 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.7.6: How I can set XEmacs up so that it pastes where the text cursor is?
3430 By default XEmacs pastes X selections where the mouse pointer is. How
3433 Examine the function @code{mouse-yank}, by typing @kbd{C-h f mouse-yank
3436 To get XEmacs to paste at the text cursor, add this your @file{init.el}/@file{.emacs}:
3439 (setq mouse-yank-at-point t)
3442 Starting with XEmacs-20.2 you can also change this with Customize.
3443 Select from the @code{Options} menu
3444 @code{Advanced (Customize)->Emacs->Editing->Mouse->Yank At Point...} or type
3445 @kbd{M-x customize @key{RET} mouse @key{RET}}.
3447 @node Q3.7.7, Q3.7.8, Q3.7.6, Customization
3448 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.7.7: How do I select a rectangular region?
3450 Just select the region normally, then use the rectangle commands (e.g.
3451 @code{kill-rectangle} on it. The region does not highlight as a
3452 rectangle, but the commands work just fine.
3454 To actually sweep out rectangular regions with the mouse you can use
3455 @code{mouse-track-do-rectangle} which is assigned to @kbd{M-button1}.
3456 Then use rectangle commands.
3458 You can also do the following to change default behavior to sweep out
3459 rectangular regions:
3462 (setq mouse-track-rectangle-p t)
3465 Starting with XEmacs-20.2 you can also change this with Customize.
3466 Select from the @code{Options} menu
3467 @code{Advanced (Customize)->Emacs->Editing->Mouse->Track Rectangle...} or type
3468 @kbd{M-x customize @key{RET} mouse @key{RET}}.
3472 mouse-track-do-rectangle: (event)
3473 -- an interactive compiled Lisp function.
3474 Like `mouse-track' but selects rectangles instead of regions.
3477 @node Q3.7.8, Q3.8.1, Q3.7.7, Customization
3478 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.7.8: Why does @kbd{M-w} take so long?
3480 It actually doesn't. It leaves the region visible for a second so that
3481 you can see what area is being yanked. If you start working, though, it
3482 will immediately complete its operation. In other words, it will only
3483 delay for a second if you let it.
3485 @node Q3.8.1, Q3.8.2, Q3.7.8, Customization
3486 @unnumberedsec 3.8: The Menubar and Toolbar
3487 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.8.1: How do I get rid of the menu (or menubar)?
3489 @c If you are running XEmacs 19.13 or earlier, add this command to your
3490 @c @file{init.el}/@file{.emacs}.
3493 @c (set-menubar nil)
3496 @c Starting with XEmacs 19.14 the preferred method is:
3499 (set-specifier menubar-visible-p nil)
3502 @node Q3.8.2, Q3.8.3, Q3.8.1, Customization
3503 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.8.2: Can I customize the basic menubar?
3505 For an extensive menubar, add this line to your @file{init.el}/@file{.emacs}:
3508 (load "big-menubar")
3511 If you'd like to write your own, this file provides as good a set of
3512 examples as any to start from. The file is located in
3513 @file{lisp/packages/big-menubar.el} in the XEmacs installation
3516 @node Q3.8.3, Q3.8.4, Q3.8.2, Customization
3517 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.8.3: How do I control how many buffers are listed in the menu @code{Buffers List}?
3519 Add the following to your @file{init.el}/@file{.emacs} (suit to fit):
3522 (setq buffers-menu-max-size 20)
3525 For no limit, use an argument of @samp{nil}.
3527 Starting with XEmacs-20.3 you can also change this with Customize.
3528 Select from the @code{Options} menu
3529 @code{Advanced (Customize)->Emacs->Environment->Menu->Buffers Menu->Max Size...} or
3530 type @kbd{M-x customize @key{RET} buffers-menu @key{RET}}.
3532 @node Q3.8.4, Q3.8.5, Q3.8.3, Customization
3533 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.8.4: Resources like @code{Emacs*menubar*font} are not working?
3535 I am trying to use a resource like @code{Emacs*menubar*font} to set the
3536 font of the menubar but it's not working.
3538 If you are using the real Motif menubar, this resource is not
3539 recognized; you have to say:
3542 Emacs*menubar*fontList: FONT
3545 If you are using the Lucid menubar, the former resource will be
3546 recognized only if the latter resource is unset. This means that the
3556 Emacs*menubar*font: FONT
3559 even though the latter is more specific.
3561 @node Q3.8.5, Q3.9.1, Q3.8.4, Customization
3562 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.8.5: How can I bind a key to a function to toggle the toolbar?
3567 (defun my-toggle-toolbar ()
3569 (set-specifier default-toolbar-visible-p
3570 (not (specifier-instance default-toolbar-visible-p))))
3571 (global-set-key "\C-xT" 'my-toggle-toolbar)
3574 There are redisplay bugs in 19.14 that may make the preceding result in
3575 a messed-up display, especially for frames with multiple windows. You
3576 may need to resize the frame before XEmacs completely realizes the
3577 toolbar is really gone.
3579 Thanks to @email{martin@@xemacs.org, Martin Buchholz} for the correct
3582 @node Q3.9.1, Q3.9.2, Q3.8.5, Customization
3583 @unnumberedsec 3.9: Scrollbars
3584 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.9.1: How can I disable the scrollbar?
3586 To disable them for all frames, add the following line to
3587 your @file{.Xdefaults}:
3590 Emacs.scrollBarWidth: 0
3593 Or select from the @code{Options} menu @code{Frame Appearance->Scrollbars}.
3594 Remember to save options.
3596 To turn the scrollbar off on a per-frame basis, use the following
3600 (set-specifier scrollbar-width 0 (selected-frame))
3603 You can actually turn the scrollbars on at any level you want by
3604 substituting for (selected-frame) in the above command. For example, to
3605 turn the scrollbars off only in a single buffer:
3608 (set-specifier scrollbar-width 0 (current-buffer))
3611 @c In XEmacs versions prior to 19.14, you had to use the hairier construct:
3614 @c (set-specifier scrollbar-width (cons (selected-frame) 0))
3617 @node Q3.9.2, Q3.9.3, Q3.9.1, Customization
3618 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.9.2: How can one use resources to change scrollbar colors?
3620 Here's a recap of how to use resources to change your scrollbar colors:
3625 Emacs*XmScrollBar.Background: skyblue
3626 Emacs*XmScrollBar.troughColor: lightgray
3630 Emacs*Scrollbar.Foreground: skyblue
3631 Emacs*Scrollbar.Background: lightgray
3634 Note the capitalization of @code{Scrollbar} for the Athena widget.
3636 @node Q3.9.3, Q3.9.4, Q3.9.2, Customization
3637 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.9.3: Moving the scrollbar can move the point; can I disable this?
3639 When I move the scrollbar in an XEmacs window, it moves the point as
3640 well, which should not be the default behavior. Is this a bug or a
3641 feature? Can I disable it?
3643 The current behavior is a feature, not a bug. Point remains at the same
3644 buffer position as long as that position does not scroll off the screen.
3645 In that event, point will end up in either the upper-left or lower-left
3648 This cannot be changed.
3650 @node Q3.9.4, Q3.10.1, Q3.9.3, Customization
3651 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.9.4: How can I turn off automatic horizontal scrolling in specific modes?
3653 Do @code{(setq truncate-lines t)} in the mode-hooks for any modes
3654 in which you want lines truncated.
3656 More precisely: If @code{truncate-lines} is nil, horizontal scrollbars
3657 will never appear. Otherwise, they will appear only if the value of
3658 @code{scrollbar-height} for that buffer/window/etc. is non-zero. If you
3662 (set-specifier scrollbar-height 0)
3665 then horizontal scrollbars will not appear in truncated buffers unless
3666 the package specifically asked for them.
3668 @node Q3.10.1, Q3.10.2, Q3.9.4, Customization
3669 @unnumberedsec 3.10: Text Selections
3670 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.10.1: How can I turn off or change highlighted selections?
3672 The @code{zmacs} mode allows for what some might call gratuitous
3673 highlighting for selected regions (either by setting mark or by using
3674 the mouse). This is the default behavior. To turn off, add the
3675 following line to your @file{init.el}/@file{.emacs} file:
3678 (setq zmacs-regions nil)
3681 Starting with XEmacs-20.2 you can also change this with Customize. Select
3682 from the @code{Options} menu @code{Advanced (Customize)->Emacs->Editing->Basics->Zmacs
3683 Regions} or type @kbd{M-x customize @key{RET} editing-basics @key{RET}}.
3685 To change the face for selection, look at @code{Options->Customize} on
3688 @node Q3.10.2, Q3.10.3, Q3.10.1, Customization
3689 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.10.2: How do I get that typing on an active region removes it?
3691 I want to change things so that if I select some text and start typing,
3692 the typed text replaces the selected text, similar to Motif.
3694 You want to use something called @dfn{pending delete}. Pending delete
3695 is what happens when you select a region (with the mouse or keyboard)
3696 and you press a key to replace the selected region by the key you typed.
3697 Usually backspace kills the selected region.
3699 To get this behavior, add the following lines to your @file{init.el}/@file{.emacs}:
3703 ((fboundp 'turn-on-pending-delete)
3704 (turn-on-pending-delete))
3705 ((fboundp 'pending-delete-on)
3706 (pending-delete-on t)))
3709 Note that this will work with both Backspace and Delete. This code is a
3710 tad more complicated than it has to be for XEmacs in order to make it
3713 @node Q3.10.3, Q3.10.4, Q3.10.2, Customization
3714 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.10.3: Can I turn off the highlight during isearch?
3716 I do not like my text highlighted while I am doing isearch as I am not
3717 able to see what's underneath. How do I turn it off?
3719 Put the following in your @file{init.el}/@file{.emacs}:
3722 (setq isearch-highlight nil)
3725 Starting with XEmacs-20.2 you can also change this with Customize. Type
3726 @kbd{M-x customize-variable @key{RET} isearch-highlight @key{RET}}.
3728 Note also that isearch-highlight affects query-replace and ispell.
3729 Instead of disabling isearch-highlight you may find that a better
3730 solution consists of customizing the @code{isearch} face.
3732 @node Q3.10.4, Q3.10.5, Q3.10.3, Customization
3733 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.10.4: How do I turn off highlighting after @kbd{C-x C-p} (mark-page)?
3735 Put this in your @code{.emacs}:
3738 (setq zmacs-regions nil)
3741 @strong{Warning: This command turns off all region highlighting.}
3743 Also see @ref{Q3.10.1}.
3745 @node Q3.10.5, , Q3.10.4, Customization
3746 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.10.5: The region disappears when I hit the end of buffer while scrolling.
3748 This has been fixed by default starting with XEmacs-20.3.
3750 With older versions you can turn this feature (if it indeed is a feature)
3754 (defadvice scroll-up (around scroll-up freeze)
3756 (let ((zmacs-region-stays t))
3760 (end-of-buffer (goto-char (point-max))))
3763 (defadvice scroll-down (around scroll-down freeze)
3765 (let ((zmacs-region-stays t))
3769 (beginning-of-buffer (goto-char (point-min))))
3773 Thanks to @email{raman@@adobe.com, T. V. Raman} for assistance in deriving this
3776 @node Subsystems, Miscellaneous, Customization, Top
3777 @unnumbered 4 Major Subsystems
3779 This is part 4 of the XEmacs Frequently Asked Questions list. This
3780 section is devoted to major XEmacs subsystems.
3783 Reading Mail with VM:
3784 * Q4.0.1:: How do I set up VM to retrieve remote mail using POP?
3785 * Q4.0.2:: How do I get VM to filter mail for me?
3786 * Q4.0.3:: How can I get VM to automatically check for new mail?
3787 * Q4.0.4:: [This question intentionally left blank]
3788 * Q4.0.5:: How do I get my outgoing mail archived?
3789 * 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"?
3790 * Q4.0.7:: Is there a mailing list or FAQ for VM?
3791 * Q4.0.8:: Remote mail reading with VM.
3792 * Q4.0.9:: rmail or VM gets an error incorporating new mail.
3793 * Q4.0.10:: How do I make VM stay in a single frame?
3794 * Q4.0.11:: How do I make VM or mh-e display graphical smilies?
3795 * Q4.0.12:: Customization of VM not covered in the manual or here.
3797 Web browsing with W3:
3798 * Q4.1.1:: What is W3?
3799 * Q4.1.2:: How do I run W3 from behind a firewall?
3800 * Q4.1.3:: Is it true that W3 supports style sheets and tables?
3802 Reading Netnews and Mail with Gnus:
3803 * Q4.2.1:: GNUS, (ding) Gnus, Gnus 5, September Gnus, Red Gnus,argh!
3804 * Q4.2.2:: [This question intentionally left blank]
3805 * Q4.2.3:: How do I make Gnus stay within a single frame?
3806 * Q4.2.4:: How do I customize the From: line?
3809 * Q4.3.1:: How can I read and/or compose MIME messages?
3810 * Q4.3.2:: What is TM and where do I get it?
3811 * Q4.3.3:: Why isn't this @code{movemail} program working?
3812 * Q4.3.4:: Movemail is also distributed by Netscape? Can that cause problems?
3813 * Q4.3.5:: Where do I find pstogif (required by tm)?
3815 Sparcworks, EOS, and WorkShop:
3816 * Q4.4.1:: What is SPARCworks, EOS, and WorkShop
3817 * Q4.4.2:: How do I start the Sun Workshop support in XEmacs 21?
3820 * Q4.5.1:: What is/was Energize?
3823 * Q4.6.1:: What is Infodock?
3825 Other Unbundled Packages:
3826 * Q4.7.1:: What is AUC TeX? Where do you get it?
3827 * Q4.7.2:: Are there any Emacs Lisp Spreadsheets?
3828 * Q4.7.3:: [This question intentionally left blank]
3829 * Q4.7.4:: Problems installing AUC TeX
3830 * Q4.7.5:: Is there a reason for an Emacs package not to be included in XEmacs?
3831 * Q4.7.6:: Is there a MatLab mode?
3834 @node Q4.0.1, Q4.0.2, Subsystems, Subsystems
3835 @unnumberedsec 4.0: Reading Mail with VM
3836 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.0.1: How do I set up VM to retrieve mail from a remote site using POP?
3838 Use @code{vm-spool-files}, like this for example:
3841 (setq vm-spool-files '("/var/spool/mail/wing"
3842 "netcom23.netcom.com:110:pass:wing:MYPASS"))
3845 Of course substitute your actual password for MYPASS.
3847 @node Q4.0.2, Q4.0.3, Q4.0.1, Subsystems
3848 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.0.2: How do I get VM to filter mail for me?
3850 One possibility is to use procmail to split your mail before it gets to
3851 VM. I prefer this personally, since there are many strange and
3852 wonderful things one can do with procmail. Procmail may be found at
3853 @uref{ftp://ftp.informatik.rwth-aachen.de/pub/packages/procmail/}.
3855 Also see the Mail Filtering FAQ at:
3859 @uref{ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/mail/filtering-faq}.
3861 @c <URL:http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/mail/filtering-faq/faq.html>
3864 @node Q4.0.3, Q4.0.4, Q4.0.2, Subsystems
3865 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.0.3: How can I get VM to automatically check for new mail?
3867 @email{turner@@lanl.gov, John Turner} writes:
3873 (setq vm-auto-get-new-mail 60)
3877 @node Q4.0.4, Q4.0.5, Q4.0.3, Subsystems
3878 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.0.4: [This question intentionally left blank]
3880 Obsolete question, left blank to avoid renumbering.
3882 @node Q4.0.5, Q4.0.6, Q4.0.4, Subsystems
3883 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.0.5: How do I get my outgoing mail archived?
3886 (setq mail-archive-file-name "~/outbox")
3889 @node Q4.0.6, Q4.0.7, Q4.0.5, Subsystems
3890 @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"?
3892 Set @code{vm-reply-ignored-addresses} to a list, like
3895 (setq vm-reply-ignored-addresses
3896 '("wing@@nuspl@@nvwls.cc.purdue.edu,netcom[0-9]*.netcom.com"
3897 "wing@@netcom.com" "wing@@xemacs.org"))
3900 Note that each string is a regular expression.
3902 @node Q4.0.7, Q4.0.8, Q4.0.6, Subsystems
3903 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.0.7: Is there a mailing list or FAQ for VM?
3905 A FAQ for VM exists at @uref{http://www.wonderworks.com/vm/FAQ.html}.
3907 VM has its own newsgroups gnu.emacs.vm.info and gnu.emacs.vm.bug.
3909 @node Q4.0.8, Q4.0.9, Q4.0.7, Subsystems
3910 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.0.8: Remote mail reading with VM.
3912 My mailbox lives at the office on a big honkin server. My regular INBOX
3913 lives on my honkin desktop machine. I now can PPP to the office from
3914 home which is far from honking... I'd like to be able to read mail at
3915 home without storing it here and I'd like to use xemacs and VM at
3916 home... Is there a recommended setup?
3918 @email{nuspl@@nvwls.cc.purdue.edu, Joseph J. Nuspl Jr.} writes:
3921 There are several ways to do this.
3925 Set your display to your home machine and run dxpc or one of the other X
3929 NFS mount your desktop machine on your home machine and modify your pop
3930 command on your home machine to rsh to your desktop machine and actually
3934 Run a POP server on your desktop machine as well and do a sort of two
3939 @email{wmperry@@monolith.spry.com, William Perry} adds:
3942 Or you could run a pop script periodically on your desktop machine, and
3943 just use ange-ftp or NFS to get to your mailbox. I used to do this all
3944 the time back at IU.
3947 @node Q4.0.9, Q4.0.10, Q4.0.8, Subsystems
3948 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.0.9: rmail or VM gets an error incorporating new mail.
3950 Quoting the XEmacs PROBLEMS file:
3953 rmail and VM get new mail from @file{/usr/spool/mail/$USER} using a
3954 program called @code{movemail}. This program interlocks with
3955 @code{/bin/mail} using the protocol defined by @code{/bin/mail}.
3957 There are two different protocols in general use. One of them uses the
3958 @code{flock} system call. The other involves creating a lock file;
3959 @code{movemail} must be able to write in @file{/usr/spool/mail} in order
3960 to do this. You control which one is used by defining, or not defining,
3961 the macro @code{MAIL_USE_FLOCK} in @file{config.h} or the m- or s- file
3964 @strong{IF YOU DON'T USE THE FORM OF INTERLOCKING THAT IS NORMAL ON YOUR
3965 SYSTEM, YOU CAN LOSE MAIL!}
3967 If your system uses the lock file protocol, and fascist restrictions
3968 prevent ordinary users from writing the lock files in
3969 @file{/usr/spool/mail}, you may need to make @code{movemail} setgid to a
3970 suitable group such as @samp{mail}. You can use these commands (as
3978 If your system uses the lock file protocol, and fascist restrictions
3979 prevent ordinary users from writing the lock files in
3980 @file{/usr/spool/mail}, you may need to make @code{movemail} setgid to a
3981 suitable group such as @code{mail}. To do this, use the following
3982 commands (as root) after doing the make install.
3989 Installation normally copies movemail from the build directory to an
3990 installation directory which is usually under @file{/usr/local/lib}.
3991 The installed copy of @code{movemail} is usually in the directory
3992 @file{/usr/local/lib/emacs/VERSION/TARGET}. You must change the group
3993 and mode of the installed copy; changing the group and mode of the build
3994 directory copy is ineffective.
3997 @node Q4.0.10, Q4.0.11, Q4.0.9, Subsystems
3998 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.0.10: How do I make VM stay in a single frame?
4000 John.@email{Cooper@@Eng.Sun.COM, John S Cooper} writes:
4004 ; Don't use multiple frames
4005 (setq vm-frame-per-composition nil)
4006 (setq vm-frame-per-folder nil)
4007 (setq vm-frame-per-edit nil)
4008 (setq vm-frame-per-summary nil)
4012 @node Q4.0.11, Q4.0.12, Q4.0.10, Subsystems
4013 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.0.11: How do I make VM or mh-e display graphical smilies?
4015 For mh-e use the following:
4018 (add-hook 'mh-show-mode-hook '(lambda ()
4019 (smiley-region (point-min)
4023 @email{bill@@carpenter.ORG, WJCarpenter} writes:
4024 For VM use the following:
4026 (autoload 'smiley-region "smiley" nil t)
4027 (add-hook 'vm-select-message-hook
4029 (smiley-region (point-min)
4033 For tm use the following:
4035 (autoload 'smiley-buffer "smiley" nil t)
4036 (add-hook 'mime-viewer/plain-text-preview-hook 'smiley-buffer)
4039 @node Q4.0.12, Q4.1.1, Q4.0.11, Subsystems
4040 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.0.12: Customization of VM not covered in the manual, or here.
4042 @email{boffi@@hp735.stru.polimi.it, giacomo boffi} writes:
4045 The meta-answer is to look into the file @file{vm-vars.el}, in the vm
4046 directory of the lisp library.
4048 @file{vm-vars.el} contains, initializes and carefully describes, with
4049 examples of usage, the plethora of user options that @emph{fully}
4050 control VM's behavior.
4052 Enter vm-vars, @code{forward-search} for toolbar, find the variables
4053 that control the toolbar placement, appearance, existence, copy to your
4054 @file{init.el}/@file{.emacs} or @file{.vm} and modify according to the
4055 detailed instructions.
4057 The above also applies to all the various features of VM: search for
4058 some keywords, maybe the first you conjure isn't appropriate, find the
4059 appropriate variables, copy and experiment.
4062 @node Q4.1.1, Q4.1.2, Q4.0.12, Subsystems
4063 @unnumberedsec 4.1: Web browsing with W3
4064 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.1.1: What is W3?
4066 W3 is an advanced graphical browser written in Emacs lisp that runs on
4067 XEmacs. It has full support for cascaded style sheets, and more...
4069 It has a home web page at
4070 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/elisp/w3/docs.html}.
4072 @node Q4.1.2, Q4.1.3, Q4.1.1, Subsystems
4073 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.1.2: How do I run W3 from behind a firewall?
4075 There is a long, well-written, detailed section in the W3 manual that
4076 describes how to do this. Look in the section entitled "Firewalls".
4078 @node Q4.1.3, Q4.2.1, Q4.1.2, Subsystems
4079 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.1.3: Is it true that W3 supports style sheets and tables?
4081 Yes, and much more. W3, as distributed with the latest XEmacs is a
4082 full-featured web browser.
4084 @node Q4.2.1, Q4.2.2, Q4.1.3, Subsystems
4085 @unnumberedsec 4.2: Reading Netnews and Mail with Gnus
4086 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.2.1: GNUS, (ding) Gnus, Gnus 5, September Gnus, Red Gnus, Quassia Gnus, argh!
4088 The Gnus numbering issues are not meant for mere mortals to know them.
4089 If you feel you @emph{must} enter the muddy waters of Gnus, visit the
4090 excellent FAQ, maintained by Justin Sheehy, at:
4093 @uref{http://www.ccs.neu.edu/software/contrib/gnus/}
4096 See also Gnus home page
4098 @uref{http://www.gnus.org/}
4101 @node Q4.2.2, Q4.2.3, Q4.2.1, Subsystems
4102 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.2.2: This question intentionally left blank.
4104 Obsolete question, left blank to avoid renumbering.
4106 @node Q4.2.3, Q4.2.4, Q4.2.2, Subsystems
4107 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.2.3: How do I make Gnus stay within a single frame?
4109 The toolbar code to start Gnus opens the new frame---and it's a feature
4110 rather than a bug. If you don't like it, but would still like to click
4111 on the seemly icon, use the following code:
4114 (defun toolbar-news ()
4118 It will redefine the callback function of the icon to just call
4119 @code{gnus}, without all the fancy frame stuff.
4121 @node Q4.2.4, Q4.3.1, Q4.2.3, Subsystems
4122 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.2.4: How do I customize the From: line?
4124 How do I change the @code{From:} line? I have set gnus-user-from-line
4127 Gail Gurman <gail.gurman@@sybase.com>
4129 @noindent , but XEmacs Gnus doesn't use
4132 Gail Mara Gurman @email{gailg@@deall}
4134 @noindent and then complains
4135 that it's incorrect. Also, as you perhaps can see, my Message-ID is
4136 screwy. How can I change that?
4138 @email{larsi@@ifi.uio.no, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen} writes:
4141 Set @code{user-mail-address} to @samp{gail.gurman@@sybase.com} or
4142 @code{mail-host-address} to @samp{sybase.com}.
4145 @node Q4.3.1, Q4.3.2, Q4.2.4, Subsystems
4146 @unnumberedsec 4.3: Other Mail & News
4147 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.3.1: How can I read and/or compose MIME messages?
4150 VM supports MIME natively.
4152 You probably want to use the Tools for MIME (tm). @xref{Q4.3.2}, for
4155 @email{trey@@cs.berkeley.edu, Trey Jackson} has an Emacs & MIME web page at
4159 @uref{http://bmrc.berkeley.edu/~trey/emacs/mime.html}.
4162 Another possibility is RMIME. You may find RMIME at
4166 @uref{http://www.cinti.net/~rmoody/rmime/index.html}.
4169 @node Q4.3.2, Q4.3.3, Q4.3.1, Subsystems
4170 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.3.2: What is TM and where do I get it?
4172 TM stands for @dfn{Tools for MIME} and not Tiny MIME. TM integrates
4173 with all major XEmacs packages like Gnus (all flavors), VM, MH-E, and
4174 mailcrypt. It provides totally transparent and trouble-free MIME
4175 support. When appropriate a message will be decoded in place in an
4178 TM now comes as a package with XEmacs 19.16 and XEmacs 20.2.
4180 TM was written by @email{morioka@@jaist.ac.jp, MORIOKA Tomohiko} and
4181 @email{shuhei-k@@jaist.ac.jp, KOBAYASHI
4184 It is based on the work of @email{umerin@@mse.kyutech.ac.jp, UMEDA
4185 Masanobu}, the original writer of GNUS.
4187 The following information is from the @file{README}:
4189 @dfn{tm} is a MIME package for GNU Emacs.
4190 tm has following functions:
4193 @item MIME style multilingual header.
4194 @item MIME message viewer (mime/viewer-mode).
4195 @item MIME message composer (mime/editor-mode).
4196 @item MIME extenders for mh-e, GNUS, RMAIL and VM.
4199 tm is available from following anonymous ftp sites:
4201 @comment @item @uref{ftp://ftp.jaist.ac.jp/pub/GNU/elisp/mime/} (Japan).
4202 @comment @item @uref{ftp://ftp.nis.co.jp/pub/gnu/emacs-lisp/tm/} (Japan).
4203 @comment @c The host above is unknown.
4204 @comment @item @uref{ftp://ftp.nisiq.net/pub/gnu/emacs-lisp/tm/} (US).
4205 @comment @item @uref{ftp://ftp.miranova.com/pub/gnus/jaist.ac.jp/} (US).
4206 @item @uref{ftp://ftp.unicamp.br/pub/mail/mime/tm/} (Brasil).
4207 @item @uref{ftp://ftp.th-darmstadt.de/pub/editors/GNU-Emacs/lisp/mime/} (Germany).
4208 @item @uref{ftp://ftp.tnt.uni-hannover.de/pub/editors/xemacs/contrib/} (Germany).
4211 Don't let the installation procedure & instructions stop you from trying
4212 this package out---it's much simpler than it looks, and once installed,
4215 @node Q4.3.3, Q4.3.4, Q4.3.2, Subsystems
4216 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.3.3: Why isn't this @code{movemail} program working?
4218 Ben Wing @email{ben@@xemacs.org} writes:
4221 It wasn't chown'ed/chmod'd correctly.
4224 @node Q4.3.4, Q4.3.5, Q4.3.3, Subsystems
4225 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.3.4: Movemail is also distributed by Netscape? Can that cause problems?
4227 @email{steve@@xemacs.org, Steve Baur} writes:
4230 Yes. Always use the movemail installed with your XEmacs. Failure to do
4231 so can result in lost mail.
4234 Please refer to @email{jwz@@jwz.org, Jamie Zawinski's} notes at
4238 @uref{http://home.netscape.com/eng/mozilla/2.0/relnotes/demo/movemail.html}.
4239 In particular, this document will show you how to make Netscape use the
4240 version of movemail configured for your system by the person who built
4243 @node Q4.3.5, Q4.4.1, Q4.3.4, Subsystems
4244 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.3.5: Where do I find pstogif (required by tm)?
4246 pstogif is part of the latex2html package.
4248 @email{vroonhof@@math.ethz.ch, Jan Vroonhof} writes:
4250 latex2html is best found at the CTAN hosts and their mirrors
4255 @file{tex-archive/support/latex2html}.
4260 @item @uref{ftp://ftp.tex.ac.uk/tex-archive/support/latex2html/}.
4261 @item @uref{ftp://ftp.dante.de/tex-archive/support/latex2html/}.
4264 There is a good mirror at ftp.cdrom.com;
4268 @uref{ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/pub/tex/ctan/support/latex2html/}.
4270 @node Q4.4.1, Q4.4.2, Q4.3.5, Subsystems
4271 @unnumberedsec 4.4: Sparcworks, EOS, and WorkShop
4272 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.4.1: What is SPARCworks, EOS, and WorkShop?
4274 @email{turner@@lanl.gov, John Turner} writes:
4277 SPARCworks is SunSoft's development environment, comprising compilers
4278 (C, C++, FORTRAN 77, Fortran 90, Ada, and Pascal), a debugger, and other
4279 tools such as TeamWare (for configuration management), MakeTool, etc.
4282 See @uref{http://www.sun.com/software/Developer-products/}
4285 EOS stands for "Era on SPARCworks", but I don't know what Era stands
4288 EOS is the integration of XEmacs with the SPARCworks debugger. It
4289 allows one to use an XEmacs frame to view code (complete with
4290 fontification, etc.), set breakpoints, print variables, etc., while
4291 using the SPARCworks debugger. It works very well and I use it all the
4294 @email{cthomp@@xemacs.org, Chuck Thompson} writes:
4297 Era stood for "Emacs Rewritten Again". It was what we were calling the
4298 modified version of Lucid Emacs for Sun when I was dragged, er, allowed
4299 to work on this wonderful editor.
4302 @email{martin@@xemacs.org, Martin Buchholz} writes:
4305 EOS is being replaced with a new graphical development environment
4306 called Sun WorkShop, which is currently (07/96) in Alpha Test. For more
4311 @uref{http://www.sun.com/software/Products/Developer-products}.
4314 @node Q4.4.2, Q4.5.1, Q4.4.1, Subsystems
4315 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.4.2: How do I start the Sun Workshop support in XEmacs 21?
4317 Add the switch ---with-workshop to the configure command when building
4318 XEmacs and put the following in one of your startup files
4319 (e.g. site-start.el or .emacs):
4322 (when (featurep 'tooltalk)
4323 (load "tooltalk-macros")
4324 (load "tooltalk-util")
4325 (load "tooltalk-init"))
4326 (when (featurep 'sparcworks)
4327 (load "sunpro-init")
4330 (load "annotations")
4334 If you are not using the latest Workshop (5.0) you have to apply the
4338 --- /opt/SUNWspro/lib/eserve.el.ORIG Fri May 14 15:23:26 1999
4339 +++ /opt/SUNWspro/lib/eserve.el Fri May 14 15:24:54 1999
4340 @@@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@@@
4341 (defvar running-xemacs nil "t if we're running XEmacs")
4342 (defvar running-emacs nil "t if we're running GNU Emacs 19")
4344 -(if (string-match "^\\(19\\|20\\)\..*\\(XEmacs\\|Lucid\\)" emacs-version)
4345 +(if (string-match "\\(XEmacs\\|Lucid\\)" emacs-version)
4346 (setq running-xemacs t)
4347 (setq running-emacs t))
4352 @node Q4.5.1, Q4.6.1, Q4.4.2, Subsystems
4353 @unnumberedsec 4.5: Energize
4354 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.5.1: What is/was Energize?
4356 @email{gray@@meteor.harlequin.com, David N Gray} writes:
4358 The files in @file{lisp/energize} are to enable Emacs to interface with
4359 the "Energize Programming System", a C and C++ development environment,
4360 which was a product of Lucid, Inc. Tragically, Lucid went out of
4361 business in 1994, so although Energize is still a great system, if you
4362 don't already have it, there isn't any way to get it now. (Unless you
4363 happen to be in Japan; INS Engineering may still be selling it there.
4364 Tartan bought the rights to sell it in the rest of the world, but never
4368 @node Q4.6.1, Q4.7.1, Q4.5.1, Subsystems
4369 @unnumberedsec 4.6: Infodock
4370 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.6.1: What is Infodock?
4372 @uref{http://sourceforge.net/projects/infodock/, InfoDock} is an
4373 integrated productivity toolset, mainly aimed at technical people,
4374 hosted at SourceForge.
4376 InfoDock is built atop the XEmacs variant of GNU Emacs and so has all of
4377 the power of Emacs, but with an easier to use and more comprehensive
4378 menu-based user interface. The bottom portion of this text describes
4379 how it differs from XEmacs and GNU Emacs from the Free Software
4382 InfoDock is aimed at people who want a free, turn-key productivity
4383 environment. Although InfoDock is customizable, it is not intended for
4384 people who like basic versions of Emacs which need to be customized
4385 extensively for local use; standard Emacs distributions are better for
4386 such uses. InfoDock is for those people who want a complete,
4387 pre-customized environment in one package, which they need not touch
4388 more than once or twice a year to update to new revisions.
4390 InfoDock is pre-built for SPARC SunOS/Solaris systems, PA-RISC HP-UX,
4391 and Intel Linux systems. It is intended for use on a color display,
4392 although most features will work on monochrome monitors. Simply unpack
4393 InfoDock according to the instructions in the ID-INSTALL file and you
4396 The InfoDock Manual is concise, yet sufficient as a user guide for users
4397 who have never used an Emacs-type editor before. For users who are
4398 already familiar with Emacs, it supplements the information in the GNU
4401 InfoDock menus are much more extensive and more mature than standard
4402 Emacs menus. Each menu offers a @samp{Manual} item which displays
4403 documentation associated with the menu's functions.
4406 Four types of menubars are provided:
4409 An extensive menubar providing access to global InfoDock commands.
4411 Mode-specific menubars tailored to the current major mode.
4413 A simple menubar for basic editing to help novices get started with InfoDock.
4415 The standard XEmacs menubar.
4418 Most modes also include mode-specific popup menus. Additionally, region and
4419 rectangle popup menus are included.
4421 @samp{Hyperbole}, the everyday information manager, is a core part of
4422 InfoDock. This provides context-sensitive mouse keys, a rolodex-type
4423 contact manager, programmable hypertext buttons, and an autonumbered
4424 outliner with embedded hyperlink anchors.
4426 The @samp{OO-Browser}, a multi-language object-oriented code browser, is a
4427 standard part of InfoDock.
4429 InfoDock saves a more extensive set of user options than other Emacs
4432 InfoDock inserts a useful file header in many file types, showing the
4433 author, summary, and last modification time of each file. A summary
4434 program can then be used to summarize all of the files in a directory,
4435 for easy MANIFEST file creation.
4437 Your working set of buffers is automatically saved and restored (if you
4438 answer yes to a prompt) between InfoDock sessions.
4440 Refined color choices for code highlighting are provided for both dark and
4441 light background display frames.
4443 The @kbd{C-z} key prefix performs frame-based commands which parallel the
4444 @kbd{C-x} key prefix for window-based commands.
4446 The Smart Menu system is included for producing command menus on dumb
4449 Lisp libraries are better categorized according to function.
4451 Extensions and improvements to many areas of Emacs are included, such as:
4452 paragraph filling, mail reading with Rmail, shell handling, outlining, code
4453 highlighting and browsing, and man page browsing.
4455 InfoDock questions, answers and discussion should go to the mail list
4459 @email{infodock@@infodock.com}. Use
4460 @email{infodock-request@@infodock.com} to be added or removed from the
4461 list. Always include your InfoDock version number when sending help
4464 InfoDock is available across the Internet via anonymous FTP. To get
4465 it, first move to a directory into which you want the InfoDock archive
4466 files placed. We will call this <DIST-DIR>.
4472 Ftp to ftp.xemacs.org (Internet Host ID = 128.174.252.16):
4475 prompt> ftp ftp.xemacs.org
4478 Login as @samp{anonymous} with your own <user-id>@@<site-name> as a password.
4481 Name (ftp.xemacs.org): anonymous
4482 331 Guest login ok, send your complete e-mail address as password.
4483 Password: -<your-user-id>@@<your-domain>
4484 230 Guest login ok, access restrictions apply.
4487 Move to the location of the InfoDock archives:
4490 ftp> cd pub/infodock
4493 Set your transfer mode to binary:
4504 Interactive mode off.
4507 Retrieve the InfoDock archives that you want, either by using a
4508 @samp{get <file>} for each file you want or by using the following to
4509 get a complete distribution, including all binaries:
4512 ftp> mget ID-INSTALL
4516 Close the FTP connection:
4523 Read the @file{ID-INSTALL} file which you just retrieved for
4524 step-by-step installation instructions.
4526 @node Q4.7.1, Q4.7.2, Q4.6.1, Subsystems
4527 @unnumberedsec 4.7: Other Unbundled Packages
4528 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.7.1: What is AUC TeX? Where do you get it?
4530 AUC TeX is a package written by @email{abraham@@dina.kvl.dk, Per Abrahamsen}.
4531 Starting with XEmacs 19.16, AUC TeX is bundled with XEmacs. The
4532 following information is from the @file{README} and website.
4534 AUC TeX is an extensible package that supports writing and formatting
4535 TeX files for most variants of GNU Emacs. Many different macro packages
4536 are supported, including AMS TeX, LaTeX, and TeXinfo.
4538 The most recent version is always available by ftp at
4542 @uref{ftp://sunsite.dk/packages/auctex/auctex.tar.gz}.
4544 In case you don't have access to anonymous ftp, you can get it by an
4545 email request to @email{ftpmail@@decwrl.dec.com}.
4547 WWW users may want to check out the AUC TeX page at
4551 @uref{http://sunsite.dk/auctex/}.
4553 @node Q4.7.2, Q4.7.3, Q4.7.1, Subsystems
4554 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.7.2: Are there any Emacs Lisp Spreadsheets?
4556 Yes. Check out @dfn{dismal} (which stands for Dis' Mode Ain't Lotus) at
4560 @uref{ftp://cs.nyu.edu/pub/local/fox/dismal/}.
4562 @node Q4.7.3, Q4.7.4, Q4.7.2, Subsystems
4563 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.7.3: [This question intentionally left blank]
4565 @node Q4.7.4, Q4.7.5, Q4.7.3, Subsystems
4566 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.7.4: Problems installing AUC TeX.
4568 @email{vroonhof@@math.ethz.ch, Jan Vroonhof} writes:
4571 AUC TeX works fine on both stock Emacs and XEmacs has been doing so for
4572 a very very long time. This is mostly due to the work of
4573 @email{abraham@@dina.kvl.dk, Per Abrahamsen} (clap clap) in particular his @file{easymenu}
4574 package. Which leads to what is probably the problem...
4577 Most problems with AUC TeX are one of two things:
4581 The TeX-lisp-directory in @file{tex-site.el} and the makefile don't
4584 Fix: make sure you configure AUC TeX properly @strong{before} installing.
4587 You have an old version of easymenu.el in your path.
4589 Fix: use @code{locate-library} and remove old versions to make sure it
4590 @strong{only} finds the one that came with XEmacs.
4594 @node Q4.7.5, Q4.7.6, Q4.7.4, Subsystems
4595 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.7.5: Is there a reason for an Emacs package not to be included in XEmacs?
4597 The reason for an Emacs package not to be included in XEmacs is
4598 usually one or more of the following:
4602 The package has not been ported to XEmacs. This will typically happen
4603 when it uses GNU-Emacs-specific features, which make it fail under
4606 Porting a package to XEmacs can range from a trivial amount of change to
4607 a partial or full rewrite. Fortunately, the authors of modern packages
4608 usually choose to support both Emacsen themselves.
4611 The package has been decided not to be appropriate for XEmacs. It may
4612 have an equivalent or better replacement within XEmacs, in which case
4613 the developers may choose not to burden themselves with supporting an
4616 Each package bundled with XEmacs means more work for the maintainers,
4617 whether they want it or not. If you are ready to take over the
4618 maintenance responsibilities for the package you port, be sure to say
4619 so---we will more likely include it.
4622 The package simply hasn't been noted by the XEmacs development. If
4623 that's the case, the messages like yours are very useful for attracting
4627 The package was noted by the developers, but they simply haven't yet
4628 gotten around to including/porting it. Wait for the next release or,
4629 even better, offer your help. It will be gladly accepted and
4633 @node Q4.7.6, , Q4.7.5, Subsystems
4634 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.7.5: Is there a MatLab mode?
4636 Yes, a matlab mode and other items are available at the
4637 @uref{ftp://ftp.mathworks.com/pub/contrib/emacs_add_ons,
4638 MathWorks' emacs_add_ons ftp directory}.
4640 @node Miscellaneous, MS Windows, Subsystems, Top
4641 @unnumbered 5 The Miscellaneous Stuff
4643 This is part 5 of the XEmacs Frequently Asked Questions list. This
4644 section is devoted to anything that doesn't fit neatly into the other
4648 Major & Minor Modes:
4649 * Q5.0.1:: How can I do source code highlighting using font-lock?
4650 * Q5.0.2:: I do not like cc-mode. How do I use the old c-mode?
4651 * Q5.0.3:: How do I get @samp{More} Syntax Highlighting on by default?
4652 * Q5.0.4:: How can I enable auto-indent and/or Filladapt?
4653 * Q5.0.5:: How can I get XEmacs to come up in text/auto-fill mode by default?
4654 * Q5.0.6:: How do I start up a second shell buffer?
4655 * Q5.0.7:: Telnet from shell filters too much.
4656 * Q5.0.8:: Why does edt emulation not work?
4657 * Q5.0.9:: How can I emulate VI and use it as my default mode?
4658 * Q5.0.10:: [This question intentionally left blank]
4659 * Q5.0.11:: [This question intentionally left blank]
4660 * Q5.0.12:: How do I disable gnuserv from opening a new frame?
4661 * Q5.0.13:: How do I start gnuserv so that each subsequent XEmacs is a client?
4662 * Q5.0.14:: Strange things are happening in Shell Mode.
4663 * Q5.0.15:: Where do I get the latest CC Mode?
4664 * Q5.0.16:: I find auto-show-mode disconcerting. How do I turn it off?
4665 * Q5.0.17:: How can I get two instances of info?
4666 * Q5.0.18:: [This question intentionally left blank]
4667 * Q5.0.19:: Is there something better than LaTeX mode?
4668 * Q5.0.20:: Is there a way to start a new XEmacs if there's no gnuserv running, and otherwise use gnuclient?
4670 Emacs Lisp Programming Techniques:
4671 * Q5.1.1:: The difference in key sequences between XEmacs and GNU Emacs?
4672 * Q5.1.2:: Can I generate "fake" keyboard events?
4673 * Q5.1.3:: Could you explain @code{read-kbd-macro} in more detail?
4674 * Q5.1.4:: What is the performance hit of @code{let}?
4675 * Q5.1.5:: What is the recommended use of @code{setq}?
4676 * Q5.1.6:: What is the typical misuse of @code{setq}?
4677 * Q5.1.7:: I like the @code{do} form of cl, does it slow things down?
4678 * Q5.1.8:: I like recursion, does it slow things down?
4679 * Q5.1.9:: How do I put a glyph as annotation in a buffer?
4680 * Q5.1.10:: @code{map-extents} won't traverse all of my extents!
4681 * Q5.1.11:: My elisp program is horribly slow. Is there an easy way to find out where it spends time?
4684 * Q5.2.1:: How do I turn off the sound?
4685 * Q5.2.2:: How do I get funky sounds instead of a boring beep?
4686 * Q5.2.3:: What's NAS, how do I get it?
4687 * Q5.2.4:: Sunsite sounds don't play.
4690 * Q5.3.1:: How do you make XEmacs indent CL if-clauses correctly?
4691 * Q5.3.2:: [This question intentionally left blank]
4692 * Q5.3.3:: How can I print WYSIWYG a font-locked buffer?
4693 * Q5.3.4:: Getting @kbd{M-x lpr} to work with postscript printer.
4694 * Q5.3.5:: How do I specify the paths that XEmacs uses for finding files?
4695 * Q5.3.6:: [This question intentionally left blank]
4696 * Q5.3.7:: Can I have the end of the buffer delimited in some way?
4697 * Q5.3.8:: How do I insert today's date into a buffer?
4698 * Q5.3.9:: Are only certain syntactic character classes available for abbrevs?
4699 * Q5.3.10:: How can I get those oh-so-neat X-Face lines?
4700 * Q5.3.11:: How do I add new Info directories?
4701 * Q5.3.12:: What do I need to change to make printing work?
4704 @node Q5.0.1, Q5.0.2, Miscellaneous, Miscellaneous
4705 @unnumberedsec 5.0: Major & Minor Modes
4706 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.1: How can I do source code highlighting using font-lock?
4708 For most modes, font-lock is already set up and just needs to be turned
4709 on. This can be done by adding the line:
4712 (require 'font-lock)
4715 to your @file{init.el}/@file{.emacs}. (You can turn it on for the
4716 current buffer and session only by @kbd{M-x font-lock-mode}.) See the
4717 file @file{etc/sample.init.el} (@file{etc/sample.emacs} in XEmacs
4718 versions prior to 21.4) for more information.
4721 @c (add-hook 'emacs-lisp-mode-hook 'turn-on-font-lock)
4722 @c (add-hook 'dired-mode-hook 'turn-on-font-lock)
4724 See also @code{Syntax Highlighting} from the @code{Options} menu.
4725 Remember to save options.
4727 @node Q5.0.2, Q5.0.3, Q5.0.1, Miscellaneous
4728 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.2: I do not like cc-mode. How do I use the old c-mode?
4730 Well, first off, consider if you really want to do this. cc-mode is
4731 much more powerful than the old c-mode. If you're having trouble
4732 getting your old offsets to work, try using @code{c-set-offset} instead.
4733 You might also consider using the package @code{cc-compat}.
4735 But, if you still insist, add the following lines to your @file{init.el}/@file{.emacs}:
4738 (fmakunbound 'c-mode)
4739 (makunbound 'c-mode-map)
4740 (fmakunbound 'c++-mode)
4741 (makunbound 'c++-mode-map)
4742 (makunbound 'c-style-alist)
4743 (load-library "old-c-mode")
4744 (load-library "old-c++-mode")
4747 This must be done before any other reference is made to either c-mode or
4750 @node Q5.0.3, Q5.0.4, Q5.0.2, Miscellaneous
4751 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.3: How do I get @samp{More} Syntax Highlighting on by default?
4753 Use the following code in your @file{init.el}/@file{.emacs}:
4756 (setq-default font-lock-maximum-decoration t)
4759 @c In versions of XEmacs prior to 19.14, you had to use a kludgy solution
4763 @c (setq c-font-lock-keywords c-font-lock-keywords-2
4764 @c c++-font-lock-keywords c++-font-lock-keywords-2
4765 @c lisp-font-lock-keywords lisp-font-lock-keywords-2)
4768 @c It will work for C, C++ and Lisp.
4770 See also @code{Syntax Highlighting} from the @code{Options} menu.
4771 Remember to save options.
4773 @node Q5.0.4, Q5.0.5, Q5.0.3, Miscellaneous
4774 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.4: How can I enable auto-indent and/or Filladapt?
4776 Put the following line in your @file{init.el}/@file{.emacs}:
4779 (setq indent-line-function 'indent-relative-maybe)
4782 If you want to get fancy, try the @code{filladapt} package available
4783 standard with XEmacs. Put this into your @file{init.el}/@file{.emacs}:
4786 (require 'filladapt)
4787 (setq-default filladapt-mode t)
4788 (add-hook 'c-mode-hook 'turn-off-filladapt-mode)
4791 This will enable Filladapt for all modes except C mode, where it doesn't
4792 work well. To turn Filladapt on only in particular major modes, remove
4793 the @code{(setq-default ...)} line and use
4794 @code{turn-on-filladapt-mode}, like this:
4797 (add-hook 'text-mode-hook 'turn-on-filladapt-mode)
4800 You can customize filling and adaptive filling with Customize.
4801 Select from the @code{Options} menu
4802 @code{Advanced (Customize)->Emacs->Editing->Fill->Fill...}
4803 or type @kbd{M-x customize @key{RET} fill @key{RET}}.
4805 Note that well-behaving text-lookalike modes will run
4806 @code{text-mode-hook} by default (e.g. that's what Message does). For
4807 the nasty ones, you'll have to provide the @code{add-hook}s yourself.
4809 Please note that the @code{fa-extras} package is no longer useful.
4811 @node Q5.0.5, Q5.0.6, Q5.0.4, Miscellaneous
4812 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.5: How can I get XEmacs to come up in text/auto-fill mode by default?
4814 Try the following lisp in your @file{init.el}/@file{.emacs}:
4817 (setq default-major-mode 'text-mode)
4818 (setq text-mode-hook 'turn-on-auto-fill)
4821 @strong{WARNING}: note that changing the value of
4822 @code{default-major-mode} from @code{fundamental-mode} can break a large
4823 amount of built-in code that expects newly created buffers to be in
4824 @code{fundamental-mode}. (Changing from @code{fundamental-mode} to
4825 @code{text-mode} might not wreak too much havoc, but changing to
4826 something more exotic like a lisp-mode would break many Emacs packages).
4828 Note that Emacs by default starts up in buffer @code{*scratch*} in
4829 @code{initial-major-mode}, which defaults to
4830 @code{lisp-interaction-mode}. Thus adding the following form to your
4831 Emacs init file will cause the initial @code{*scratch*} buffer to be put
4832 into auto-fill'ed @code{text-mode}:
4835 (setq initial-major-mode
4838 (turn-on-auto-fill)))
4841 Note that after your init file is loaded, if
4842 @code{inhibit-startup-message} is @code{nil} (the default) and the
4843 startup buffer is @code{*scratch*} then the startup message will be
4844 inserted into @code{*scratch*}; it will be removed after a timeout by
4845 erasing the entire @code{*scratch*} buffer. Keep in mind this default
4846 usage of @code{*scratch*} if you desire any prior manipulation of
4847 @code{*scratch*} from within your Emacs init file. In particular,
4848 anything you insert into @code{*scratch*} from your init file will be
4849 later erased. Also, if you change the mode of the @code{*scratch*}
4850 buffer, be sure that this will not interfere with possible later
4851 insertion of the startup message (e.g. if you put @code{*scratch*} into
4852 a nonstandard mode that has automatic font lock rules, then the startup
4853 message might get fontified in a strange foreign manner, e.g. as code in
4854 some programming language).
4856 @node Q5.0.6, Q5.0.7, Q5.0.5, Miscellaneous
4857 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.6: How do I start up a second shell buffer?
4859 In the @code{*shell*} buffer:
4862 M-x rename-buffer @key{RET} *shell-1* @key{RET}
4866 This will then start a second shell. The key is that no buffer named
4867 @samp{*shell*} can exist. It might be preferable to use @kbd{M-x
4868 rename-uniquely} to rename the @code{*shell*} buffer instead of @kbd{M-x
4871 Alternately, you can set the variable @code{shell-multiple-shells}.
4872 If the value of this variable is non-nil, each time shell mode is invoked,
4875 @node Q5.0.7, Q5.0.8, Q5.0.6, Miscellaneous
4876 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.7: Telnet from shell filters too much
4878 I'm using the Emacs @kbd{M-x shell} function, and I would like to invoke
4879 and use a telnet session within it. Everything works fine except that
4880 now all @samp{^M}'s are filtered out by Emacs. Fixes?
4882 Use @kbd{M-x rsh} or @kbd{M-x telnet} to open remote sessions rather
4883 than doing rsh or telnet within the local shell buffer. Starting with
4884 XEmacs-20.3 you can also use @kbd{M-x ssh} to open secure remote session
4885 if you have @code{ssh} installed.
4887 @node Q5.0.8, Q5.0.9, Q5.0.7, Miscellaneous
4888 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.8: Why does edt emulation not work?
4890 We don't know, but you can use tpu-edt emulation instead, which works
4891 fine and is a little fancier than the standard edt emulation. To do
4892 this, add the following line to your @file{init.el}/@file{.emacs}:
4898 If you don't want it to replace @kbd{C-h} with an edt-style help menu
4902 (global-set-key [(control h)] 'help-for-help)
4905 @node Q5.0.9, Q5.0.10, Q5.0.8, Miscellaneous
4906 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.9: How can I emulate VI and use it as my default mode?
4908 Our recommended VI emulator is viper. To make viper-mode the default,
4909 add this to your @file{init.el}/@file{.emacs}:
4915 @email{kifer@@CS.SunySB.EDU, Michael Kifer} writes:
4918 This should be added as close to the top of @file{init.el}/@file{.emacs} as you can get
4919 it, otherwise some minor modes may not get viper-ized.
4922 @node Q5.0.10, Q5.0.11, Q5.0.9, Miscellaneous
4923 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.10: [This question intentionally left blank]
4925 Obsolete question, left blank to avoid renumbering
4927 @node Q5.0.11, Q5.0.12, Q5.0.10, Miscellaneous
4928 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.11: [This question intentionally left blank]
4930 Obsolete question, left blank to avoid renumbering
4932 @node Q5.0.12, Q5.0.13, Q5.0.11, Miscellaneous
4933 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.12: How do I disable gnuserv from opening a new frame?
4935 If you set the @code{gnuserv-frame} variable to the frame that should be
4936 used to display buffers that are pulled up, a new frame will not be
4937 created. For example, you could put
4940 (setq gnuserv-frame (selected-frame))
4943 early on in your @file{init.el}/@file{.emacs}, to ensure that the first frame created
4944 is the one used for your gnuserv buffers.
4946 There is an option to set the gnuserv target to the current frame. See
4947 @code{Options->Display->"Other Window" Location->Make Current Frame Gnuserv Target}
4949 Starting with XEmacs-20.3 you can also change this with Customize.
4950 Select from the @code{Options} menu
4951 @code{Advanced (Customize)->Emacs->Environment->Gnuserv->Gnuserv Frame...}
4952 or type @kbd{M-x customize @key{RET} gnuserv @key{RET}}.
4955 @node Q5.0.13, Q5.0.14, Q5.0.12, Miscellaneous
4956 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.13: How do I start gnuserv so that each subsequent XEmacs is a client?
4958 Put the following in your @file{init.el}/@file{.emacs} file to start the server:
4964 Start your first XEmacs as usual. After that, you can do:
4967 gnuclient randomfilename
4970 from the command line to get your existing XEmacs process to open a new
4971 frame and visit randomfilename in that window. When you're done editing
4972 randomfilename, hit @kbd{C-x #} to kill the buffer and get rid of the
4975 See also man page of gnuclient.
4977 @node Q5.0.14, Q5.0.15, Q5.0.13, Miscellaneous
4978 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.14: Strange things are happening in Shell Mode.
4980 Sometimes (i.e. it's not repeatable, and I can't work out why it
4981 happens) when I'm typing into shell mode, I hit return and only a
4982 portion of the command is given to the shell, and a blank prompt is
4983 returned. If I hit return again, the rest of the previous command is
4986 @email{martin@@xemacs.org, Martin Buchholz} writes:
4989 There is a known problem with interaction between @code{csh} and the
4990 @code{filec} option and XEmacs. You should add the following to your
4994 if ( "$TERM" == emacs || "$TERM" == unknown ) unset filec
4998 @node Q5.0.15, Q5.0.16, Q5.0.14, Miscellaneous
4999 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.15: Where do I get the latest CC Mode?
5001 @email{bwarsaw@@cnri.reston.va.us, Barry A. Warsaw} writes:
5004 This can be had from @uref{http://www.python.org/emacs/}.
5007 @node Q5.0.16, Q5.0.17, Q5.0.15, Miscellaneous
5008 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.16: I find auto-show-mode disconcerting. How do I turn it off?
5010 @code{auto-show-mode} controls whether or not a horizontal scrollbar
5011 magically appears when a line is too long to be displayed. This is
5012 enabled by default. To turn it off, put the following in your
5013 @file{init.el}/@file{.emacs}:
5016 (setq auto-show-mode nil)
5017 (setq-default auto-show-mode nil)
5020 @node Q5.0.17, Q5.0.18, Q5.0.16, Miscellaneous
5021 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.17: How can I get two instances of info?
5023 Before 21.4, you can't. The @code{info} package does not provide for
5024 multiple info buffers. In 21.4, this should be fixed. #### how?
5026 @node Q5.0.18, Q5.0.19, Q5.0.17, Miscellaneous
5027 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.18: [This question intentionally left blank]
5029 @node Q5.0.19, Q5.0.20, Q5.0.18, Miscellaneous
5030 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.19: Is there something better than LaTeX mode?
5032 @email{dak@@fsnif.neuroinformatik.ruhr-uni-bochum.de, David Kastrup} writes:
5035 The standard TeX modes leave much to be desired, and are somewhat
5036 leniently maintained. Serious TeX users use AUC TeX (@pxref{Q4.7.1}).
5039 @node Q5.0.20, Q5.1.1, Q5.0.19, Miscellaneous
5040 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.20: Is there a way to start a new XEmacs if there's no gnuserv running, and otherwise use gnuclient?
5042 @email{vroonhof@@math.ethz.ch, Jan Vroonhof} writes:
5044 Here is one of the solutions, we have this in a script called
5045 @file{etc/editclient.sh}.
5048 if gnuclient -batch -eval t >/dev/null 2>&1
5050 exec gnuclient $@{1+"$@@"@}
5052 xemacs -unmapped -f gnuserv-start &
5053 until gnuclient -batch -eval t >/dev/null 2>&1
5057 exec gnuclient $@{1+"$@@"@}
5061 Note that there is a known problem when running XEmacs and 'gnuclient
5062 -nw' on the same TTY.
5065 @node Q5.1.1, Q5.1.2, Q5.0.20, Miscellaneous
5066 @unnumberedsec 5.1: Emacs Lisp Programming Techniques
5067 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.1.1: What is the difference in key sequences between XEmacs and GNU Emacs?
5069 @email{clerik@@naggum.no, Erik Naggum} writes;
5072 Emacs has a legacy of keyboards that produced characters with modifier
5073 bits, and therefore map a variety of input systems into this scheme even
5074 today. XEmacs is instead optimized for X events. This causes an
5075 incompatibility in the way key sequences are specified, but both Emacs
5076 and XEmacs will accept a key sequence as a vector of lists of modifiers
5077 that ends with a key, e.g., to bind @kbd{M-C-a}, you would say
5078 @code{[(meta control a)]} in both Emacsen. XEmacs has an abbreviated
5079 form for a single key, just (meta control a). Emacs has an abbreviated
5080 form for the Control and the Meta modifiers to string-characters (the
5081 ASCII characters), as in @samp{\M-\C-a}. XEmacs users need to be aware
5082 that the abbreviated form works only for one-character key sequences,
5083 while Emacs users need to be aware that the string-character is rather
5084 limited. Specifically, the string-character can accommodate only 256
5085 different values, 128 of which have the Meta modifier and 128 of which
5086 have not. In each of these blocks, only 32 characters have the Control
5087 modifier. Whereas @code{[(meta control A)]} differs from @code{[(meta
5088 control a)]} because the case differs, @samp{\M-\C-a} and @samp{\M-\C-A}
5089 do not. Programmers are advised to use the full common form, both
5090 because it is more readable and less error-prone, and because it is
5091 supported by both Emacsen.
5094 Another (even safer) way to be sure of the key-sequences is to use the
5095 @code{read-kbd-macro} function, which takes a string like @samp{C-c
5096 <up>}, and converts it to the internal key representation of the Emacs
5097 you use. The function is available both on XEmacs and GNU Emacs.
5099 @node Q5.1.2, Q5.1.3, Q5.1.1, Miscellaneous
5100 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.1.2: Can I generate "fake" keyboard events?
5102 I wonder if there is an interactive function that can generate
5103 @dfn{fake} keyboard events. This way, I could simply map them inside
5109 (defun cg--generate-char-event (ch)
5110 "Generate an event, as if ch has been typed"
5111 (dispatch-event (character-to-event ch)))
5113 ;; Backspace and Delete stuff
5114 (global-set-key [backspace]
5115 (lambda () (interactive) (cg--generate-char-event 127)))
5116 (global-set-key [unknown_keysym_0x4]
5117 (lambda () (interactive) (cg--generate-char-event 4)))
5120 @node Q5.1.3, Q5.1.4, Q5.1.2, Miscellaneous
5121 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.1.3: Could you explain @code{read-kbd-macro} in more detail?
5123 The @code{read-kbd-macro} function returns the internal Emacs
5124 representation of a human-readable string (which is its argument).
5128 (read-kbd-macro "C-c C-a")
5129 @result{} [(control ?c) (control ?a)]
5131 (read-kbd-macro "C-c C-. <up>")
5132 @result{} [(control ?c) (control ?.) up]
5135 In GNU Emacs the same forms will be evaluated to what GNU Emacs
5136 understands internally---the sequences @code{"\C-x\C-c"} and @code{[3
5137 67108910 up]}, respectively.
5139 The exact @dfn{human-readable} syntax is defined in the docstring of
5140 @code{edmacro-mode}. I'll repeat it here, for completeness.
5143 Format of keyboard macros during editing:
5145 Text is divided into @dfn{words} separated by whitespace. Except for
5146 the words described below, the characters of each word go directly as
5147 characters of the macro. The whitespace that separates words is
5148 ignored. Whitespace in the macro must be written explicitly, as in
5149 @kbd{foo @key{SPC} bar @key{RET}}.
5153 The special words @kbd{RET}, @kbd{SPC}, @kbd{TAB}, @kbd{DEL}, @kbd{LFD},
5154 @kbd{ESC}, and @kbd{NUL} represent special control characters. The
5155 words must be written in uppercase.
5158 A word in angle brackets, e.g., @code{<return>}, @code{<down>}, or
5159 @code{<f1>}, represents a function key. (Note that in the standard
5160 configuration, the function key @code{<return>} and the control key
5161 @key{RET} are synonymous.) You can use angle brackets on the words
5162 @key{RET}, @key{SPC}, etc., but they are not required there.
5165 Keys can be written by their @sc{ascii} code, using a backslash followed
5166 by up to six octal digits. This is the only way to represent keys with
5170 One or more prefixes @kbd{M-} (meta), @kbd{C-} (control), @kbd{S-}
5171 (shift), @kbd{A-} (alt), @kbd{H-} (hyper), and @kbd{s-} (super) may
5172 precede a character or key notation. For function keys, the prefixes
5173 may go inside or outside of the brackets: @code{C-<down>} @equiv{}
5174 @code{<C-down>}. The prefixes may be written in any order: @kbd{M-C-x}
5175 @equiv{} @kbd{C-M-x}.
5177 Prefixes are not allowed on multi-key words, e.g., @kbd{C-abc}, except
5178 that the Meta prefix is allowed on a sequence of digits and optional
5179 minus sign: @kbd{M--123} @equiv{} @kbd{M-- M-1 M-2 M-3}.
5182 The @code{^} notation for control characters also works: @kbd{^M}
5186 Double angle brackets enclose command names: @code{<<next-line>>} is
5187 shorthand for @kbd{M-x next-line @key{RET}}.
5190 Finally, @code{REM} or @code{;;} causes the rest of the line to be
5191 ignored as a comment.
5194 Any word may be prefixed by a multiplier in the form of a decimal number
5195 and @code{*}: @code{3*<right>} @equiv{} @code{<right> <right> <right>},
5196 and @code{10*foo} @equiv{}
5200 @code{foofoofoofoofoofoofoofoofoofoo}.
5202 Multiple text keys can normally be strung together to form a word, but
5203 you may need to add whitespace if the word would look like one of the
5204 above notations: @code{; ; ;} is a keyboard macro with three semicolons,
5205 but @code{;;;} is a comment. Likewise, @code{\ 1 2 3} is four keys but
5206 @code{\123} is a single key written in octal, and @code{< right >} is
5207 seven keys but @code{<right>} is a single function key. When in doubt,
5211 @node Q5.1.4, Q5.1.5, Q5.1.3, Miscellaneous
5212 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.1.4: What is the performance hit of @code{let}?
5214 In most cases, not noticeable. Besides, there's no avoiding
5215 @code{let}---you have to bind your local variables, after all. Some
5216 pose a question whether to nest @code{let}s, or use one @code{let} per
5217 function. I think because of clarity and maintenance (and possible
5218 future implementation), @code{let}-s should be used (nested) in a way to
5219 provide the clearest code.
5221 @node Q5.1.5, Q5.1.6, Q5.1.4, Miscellaneous
5222 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.1.5: What is the recommended use of @code{setq}?
5225 @item Global variables
5227 You will typically @code{defvar} your global variable to a default
5228 value, and use @code{setq} to set it later.
5230 It is never a good practice to @code{setq} user variables (like
5231 @code{case-fold-search}, etc.), as it ignores the user's choice
5232 unconditionally. Note that @code{defvar} doesn't change the value of a
5233 variable if it was bound previously. If you wish to change a
5234 user-variable temporarily, use @code{let}:
5237 (let ((case-fold-search nil))
5238 ... ; code with searches that must be case-sensitive
5242 You will notice the user-variables by their docstrings beginning with an
5243 asterisk (a convention).
5245 @item Local variables
5247 Bind them with @code{let}, which will unbind them (or restore their
5248 previous value, if they were bound) after exiting from the @code{let}
5249 form. Change the value of local variables with @code{setq} or whatever
5250 you like (e.g. @code{incf}, @code{setf} and such). The @code{let} form
5251 can even return one of its local variables.
5256 ;; iterate through the elements of the list returned by
5257 ;; `hairy-function-that-returns-list'
5258 (let ((l (hairy-function-that-returns-list)))
5260 ... do something with (car l) ...
5264 Another typical usage includes building a value simply to work with it.
5267 ;; Build the mode keymap out of the key-translation-alist
5268 (let ((inbox (file-truename (expand-file-name box)))
5270 ... code dealing with inbox ...
5274 This piece of code uses the local variable @code{inbox}, which becomes
5275 unbound (or regains old value) after exiting the form. The form also
5276 returns the value of @code{inbox}, which can be reused, for instance:
5279 (setq foo-processed-inbox
5284 @node Q5.1.6, Q5.1.7, Q5.1.5, Miscellaneous
5285 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.1.6: What is the typical misuse of @code{setq} ?
5287 A typical misuse is probably @code{setq}ing a variable that was meant to
5288 be local. Such a variable will remain bound forever, never to be
5289 garbage-collected. For example, the code doing:
5292 (defun my-function (whatever)
5294 ... build a large list ...
5298 does a bad thing, as @code{a} will keep consuming memory, never to be
5299 unbound. The correct thing is to do it like this:
5302 (defun my-function (whatever)
5303 (let (a) ; default initialization is to nil
5304 ... build a large list ...
5305 ... and exit, unbinding `a' in the process ...)
5308 Not only is this prettier syntactically, but it makes it possible for
5309 Emacs to garbage-collect the objects which @code{a} used to reference.
5311 Note that even global variables should not be @code{setq}ed without
5312 @code{defvar}ing them first, because the byte-compiler issues warnings.
5313 The reason for the warning is the following:
5316 (defun flurgoze nil) ; ok, global internal variable
5319 (setq flurghoze t) ; ops! a typo, but semantically correct.
5320 ; however, the byte-compiler warns.
5322 While compiling toplevel forms:
5323 ** assignment to free variable flurghoze
5326 @node Q5.1.7, Q5.1.8, Q5.1.6, Miscellaneous
5327 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.1.7: I like the @code{do} form of cl, does it slow things down?
5329 It shouldn't. Here is what Dave Gillespie has to say about cl.el
5333 Many of the advanced features of this package, such as @code{defun*},
5334 @code{loop}, and @code{setf}, are implemented as Lisp macros. In
5335 byte-compiled code, these complex notations will be expanded into
5336 equivalent Lisp code which is simple and efficient. For example, the
5344 are expanded at compile-time to the Lisp forms
5348 (setcar p (cons x (car p)))
5351 which are the most efficient ways of doing these respective operations
5352 in Lisp. Thus, there is no performance penalty for using the more
5353 readable @code{incf} and @code{push} forms in your compiled code.
5355 @emph{Interpreted} code, on the other hand, must expand these macros
5356 every time they are executed. For this reason it is strongly
5357 recommended that code making heavy use of macros be compiled. (The
5358 features labelled @dfn{Special Form} instead of @dfn{Function} in this
5359 manual are macros.) A loop using @code{incf} a hundred times will
5360 execute considerably faster if compiled, and will also garbage-collect
5361 less because the macro expansion will not have to be generated, used,
5362 and thrown away a hundred times.
5364 You can find out how a macro expands by using the @code{cl-prettyexpand}
5368 @node Q5.1.8, Q5.1.9, Q5.1.7, Miscellaneous
5369 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.1.8: I like recursion, does it slow things down?
5371 Yes. Emacs byte-compiler cannot do much to optimize recursion. But
5372 think well whether this is a real concern in Emacs. Much of the Emacs
5373 slowness comes from internal mechanisms such as redisplay, or from the
5374 fact that it is an interpreter.
5376 Please try not to make your code much uglier to gain a very small speed
5377 gain. It's not usually worth it.
5379 @node Q5.1.9, Q5.1.10, Q5.1.8, Miscellaneous
5380 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.1.9: How do I put a glyph as annotation in a buffer?
5382 Here is a solution that will insert the glyph annotation at the
5383 beginning of buffer:
5386 (make-annotation (make-glyph '([FORMAT :file FILE]
5387 [string :data "fallback-text"]))
5393 Replace @samp{FORMAT} with an unquoted symbol representing the format of
5394 the image (e.g. @code{xpm}, @code{xbm}, @code{gif}, @code{jpeg}, etc.)
5395 Instead of @samp{FILE}, use the image file name
5400 @file{/usr/local/lib/xemacs-21.4/etc/recycle.xpm}).
5402 You can turn this to a function (that optionally prompts you for a file
5403 name), and inserts the glyph at @code{(point)} instead of
5406 @node Q5.1.10, Q5.1.11, Q5.1.9, Miscellaneous
5407 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.1.10: @code{map-extents} won't traverse all of my extents!
5409 I tried to use @code{map-extents} to do an operation on all the extents
5410 in a region. However, it seems to quit after processing a random number
5411 of extents. Is it buggy?
5413 No. The documentation of @code{map-extents} states that it will iterate
5414 across the extents as long as @var{function} returns @code{nil}.
5415 Unexperienced programmers often forget to return @code{nil} explicitly,
5416 which results in buggy code. For instance, the following code is
5417 supposed to delete all the extents in a buffer, and issue as many
5418 @samp{fubar!} messages.
5421 (map-extents (lambda (ext ignore)
5423 (message "fubar!")))
5426 Instead, it will delete only the first extent, and stop right there --
5427 because @code{message} will return a non-nil value. The correct code
5431 (map-extents (lambda (ext ignore)
5437 @node Q5.1.11, Q5.2.1, Q5.1.10, Miscellaneous
5438 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.1.11: My elisp program is horribly slow. Is there
5439 an easy way to find out where it spends time?
5442 @email{hniksic@@xemacs.org, Hrvoje Niksic} writes:
5444 Under XEmacs 20.4 and later you can use @kbd{M-x profile-key-sequence},
5445 press a key (say @key{RET} in the Gnus Group buffer), and get the
5446 results using @kbd{M-x profile-results}. It should give you an idea of
5447 where the time is being spent.
5450 @node Q5.2.1, Q5.2.2, Q5.1.11, Miscellaneous
5451 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.2.1: How do I turn off the sound?
5453 Add the following line to your @file{init.el}/@file{.emacs}:
5456 (setq bell-volume 0)
5457 (setq sound-alist nil)
5460 That will make your XEmacs totally silent---even the default ding sound
5461 (TTY beep on TTY-s) will be gone.
5463 Starting with XEmacs 20.2 you can also change these with Customize.
5464 Select from the @code{Options} menu
5465 @code{Advanced (Customize)->Emacs->Environment->Sound->Sound...} or type
5466 @kbd{M-x customize @key{RET} sound @key{RET}}.
5469 @node Q5.2.2, Q5.2.3, Q5.2.1, Miscellaneous
5470 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.2.2: How do I get funky sounds instead of a boring beep?
5472 Make sure your XEmacs was compiled with sound support, and then put this
5473 in your @file{init.el}/@file{.emacs}:
5476 (load-default-sounds)
5479 @c The sound support in XEmacs 19.14 was greatly improved over previous
5482 @node Q5.2.3, Q5.2.4, Q5.2.2, Miscellaneous
5483 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.2.3: What's NAS, how do I get it?
5485 @xref{Q2.0.3}, for an explanation of the @dfn{Network Audio System}.
5487 @node Q5.2.4, Q5.3.1, Q5.2.3, Miscellaneous
5488 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.2.4: Sunsite sounds don't play.
5490 I'm having some trouble with sounds I've downloaded from sunsite. They
5491 play when I run them through @code{showaudio} or cat them directly to
5492 @file{/dev/audio}, but XEmacs refuses to play them.
5494 @email{gutschk@@uni-muenster.de, Markus Gutschke} writes:
5497 [Many of] These files have an (erroneous) 24byte header that tells about
5498 the format that they have been recorded in. If you cat them to
5499 @file{/dev/audio}, the header will be ignored and the default behavior
5500 for /dev/audio will be used. This happens to be 8kHz uLaw. It is
5501 probably possible to fix the header by piping through @code{sox} and
5502 passing explicit parameters for specifying the sampling format; you then
5503 need to perform a 'null' conversion from SunAudio to SunAudio.
5506 @node Q5.3.1, Q5.3.2, Q5.2.4, Miscellaneous
5507 @unnumberedsec 5.3: Miscellaneous
5508 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.3.1: How do you make XEmacs indent CL if-clauses correctly?
5510 I'd like XEmacs to indent all the clauses of a Common Lisp @code{if} the
5511 same amount instead of indenting the 3rd clause differently from the
5514 One way is to add, to @file{init.el}/@file{.emacs}:
5517 (put 'if 'lisp-indent-function nil)
5520 However, note that the package @code{cl-indent} that comes with
5521 XEmacs sets up this kind of indentation by default. @code{cl-indent}
5522 also knows about many other CL-specific forms. To use @code{cl-indent},
5527 (setq lisp-indent-function (function common-lisp-indent-function))
5530 One can also customize @file{cl-indent.el} so it mimics the default
5531 @code{if} indentation @code{then} indented more than the @code{else}.
5535 (put 'if 'common-lisp-indent-function '(nil nil &body))
5538 Also, a new version (1.2) of @file{cl-indent.el} was posted to
5539 comp.emacs.xemacs on 12/9/94. This version includes more documentation
5540 than previous versions. This may prove useful if you need to customize
5541 any indent-functions.
5543 @node Q5.3.2, Q5.3.3, Q5.3.1, Miscellaneous
5544 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.3.2: [This question intentionally left blank]
5546 Obsolete question, left blank to avoid renumbering.
5548 @node Q5.3.3, Q5.3.4, Q5.3.2, Miscellaneous
5549 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.3.3: How can I print WYSIWYG a font-locked buffer?
5551 Font-lock looks nice. How can I print (WYSIWYG) the highlighted
5554 The package @code{ps-print}, which is now included with XEmacs, provides
5555 the ability to do this. The source code contains complete instructions
5556 on its use, in @file{<xemacs_src_root>/lisp/packages/ps-print.el}.
5558 @node Q5.3.4, Q5.3.5, Q5.3.3, Miscellaneous
5559 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.3.4: Getting @kbd{M-x lpr} to work with postscript printer.
5561 My printer is a Postscript printer and @code{lpr} only works for
5562 Postscript files, so how do I get @kbd{M-x lpr-region} and @kbd{M-x
5563 lpr-buffer} to work?
5565 Put something like this in your @file{init.el}/@file{.emacs}:
5568 (setq lpr-command "a2ps")
5569 (setq lpr-switches '("-p" "-1"))
5572 If you don't use a2ps to convert ASCII to postscript (why not, it's
5573 free?), replace with the command you do use. Note also that some
5574 versions of a2ps require a @samp{-Pprinter} to ensure spooling.
5576 @node Q5.3.5, Q5.3.6, Q5.3.4, Miscellaneous
5577 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.3.5: How do I specify the paths that XEmacs uses for finding files?
5579 You can specify what paths to use by using a number of different flags
5580 when running configure. See the section MAKE VARIABLES in the top-level
5581 file INSTALL in the XEmacs distribution for a listing of those flags.
5583 Most of the time, however, the simplest fix is: @strong{do not} specify
5584 paths as you might for GNU Emacs. XEmacs can generally determine the
5585 necessary paths dynamically at run time. The only path that generally
5586 needs to be specified is the root directory to install into. That can
5587 be specified by passing the @code{--prefix} flag to configure. For a
5588 description of the XEmacs install tree, please consult the @file{NEWS}
5591 @node Q5.3.6, Q5.3.7, Q5.3.5, Miscellaneous
5592 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.3.6: [This question intentionally left blank]
5594 Obsolete question, left blank to avoid renumbering.
5596 @node Q5.3.7, Q5.3.8, Q5.3.6, Miscellaneous
5597 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.3.7: Can I have the end of the buffer delimited in some way?
5599 Say, with: @samp{[END]}?
5604 (let ((ext (make-extent (point-min) (point-max))))
5605 (set-extent-property ext 'start-closed t)
5606 (set-extent-property ext 'end-closed t)
5607 (set-extent-property ext 'detachable nil)
5608 (set-extent-end-glyph ext (make-glyph [string :data "[END]"])))
5611 Since this is XEmacs, you can specify an icon to be shown on
5612 window-system devices. To do so, change the @code{make-glyph} call to
5613 something like this:
5616 (make-glyph '([xpm :file "~/something.xpm"]
5617 [string :data "[END]"]))
5620 You can inline the @sc{xpm} definition yourself by specifying
5621 @code{:data} instead of @code{:file}. Here is such a full-featured
5622 version that works on both X and TTY devices:
5625 (let ((ext (make-extent (point-min) (point-max))))
5626 (set-extent-property ext 'start-closed t)
5627 (set-extent-property ext 'end-closed t)
5628 (set-extent-property ext 'detachable nil)
5629 (set-extent-end-glyph ext (make-glyph '([xpm :data "\
5631 static char* eye = @{
5640 \"___________`_`_`___b_b_b_b_________`____\",
5641 \"_________`_`_`___b_c_c_c_b_b____________\",
5642 \"_____`_`_`_e___b_b_c_c_c___b___b_______`\",
5643 \"___`_`_e_a___b_b_d___b___b___b___b______\",
5644 \"_`_`_e_a_e___b_b_d_b___b___b___b___b____\",
5645 \"_`_`_a_e_a___b_b_d___b___b___b___b___b__\",
5646 \"_`_`_e_a_e___b_b_d_b___b___b___b___b_b__\",
5647 \"___`_`_e_a___b_b_b_d_c___b___b___d_b____\",
5648 \"_____`_`_e_e___b_b_b_d_c___b_b_d_b______\",
5649 \"_`_____`_`_`_`___b_b_b_d_d_d_d_b________\",
5650 \"___`_____`_`_`_`___b_b_b_b_b_b__________\",
5652 [string :data "[END]"]))))
5655 Note that you might want to make this a function, and put it to a hook.
5656 We leave that as an exercise for the reader.
5658 @node Q5.3.8, Q5.3.9, Q5.3.7, Miscellaneous
5659 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.3.8: How do I insert today's date into a buffer?
5664 (insert (current-time-string))
5667 @node Q5.3.9, Q5.3.10, Q5.3.8, Miscellaneous
5668 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.3.9: Are only certain syntactic character classes available for abbrevs?
5670 @email{gutschk@@uni-muenster.de, Markus Gutschke} writes:
5673 Yes, abbrevs only expands word-syntax strings. While XEmacs does not
5674 prevent you from defining (e.g. with @kbd{C-x a g} or @kbd{C-x a l})
5675 abbrevs that contain special characters, it will refuse to expand
5676 them. So you need to ensure, that the abbreviation contains letters and
5677 digits only. This means that @samp{xd}, @samp{d5}, and @samp{5d} are
5678 valid abbrevs, but @samp{&d}, and @samp{x d} are not.
5680 If this sounds confusing to you, (re-)read the online documentation for
5681 abbrevs (@kbd{C-h i m XEmacs @key{RET} m Abbrevs @key{RET}}), and then come back and
5682 read this question/answer again.
5685 Starting with XEmacs 20.3 this restriction has been lifted.
5687 @node Q5.3.10, Q5.3.11, Q5.3.9, Miscellaneous
5688 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.3.10: How can I get those oh-so-neat X-Face lines?
5690 Firstly there is an ftp site which describes X-faces and has the
5691 associated tools mentioned below, at
5692 @uref{ftp://ftp.cs.indiana.edu:/pub/faces/}.
5698 Create 48x48x1 bitmap with your favorite tool
5701 Convert to "icon" format using one of xbm2ikon, pbmtoicon, etc.,
5702 and then compile the face.
5706 cat file.xbm | xbm2ikon |compface > file.face
5710 Then be sure to quote things that are necessary for emacs strings:
5713 cat ./file.face | sed 's/\\/\\\\/g'
5717 | sed 's/\"/\\\"/g' > ./file.face.quoted
5721 Then set up emacs to include the file as a mail header - there were a
5722 couple of suggestions here---either something like:
5725 (setq mail-default-headers
5726 "X-Face: @email{Ugly looking text string here}")
5729 Or, alternatively, as:
5732 (defun mail-insert-x-face ()
5734 (goto-char (point-min))
5735 (search-forward mail-header-separator)
5738 (insert-file-contents "~/.face")))
5740 (add-hook 'mail-setup-hook 'mail-insert-x-face)
5744 However, 2 things might be wrong:
5746 Some versions of pbmtoicon produces some header lines that is not
5747 expected by the version of compface that I grabbed. So I found I had to
5748 include a @code{tail +3} in the pipeline like this:
5751 cat file.xbm | xbm2ikon | tail +3 |compface > file.face
5754 Some people have also found that if one uses the @code{(insert-file)}
5755 method, one should NOT quote the face string using the sed script .
5757 It might also be helpful to use @email{stig@@hackvan.com, Stig's} script
5758 (included in the compface distribution at XEmacs.org) to do the
5760 @comment For convenience xbm2xface is available for anonymous FTP at
5761 @comment @uref{ftp://ftp.miranova.com/pub/xemacs/xbm2xface.pl}.
5763 Contributors for this item:
5774 @node Q5.3.11, Q5.3.12, Q5.3.10, Miscellaneous
5775 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.3.11: How do I add new Info directories?
5777 You use something like:
5780 (setq Info-directory-list (cons
5781 (expand-file-name "~/info")
5782 Info-default-directory-list))
5785 @email{davidm@@prism.kla.com, David Masterson} writes:
5788 Emacs Info and XEmacs Info do many things differently. If you're trying to
5789 support a number of versions of Emacs, here are some notes to remember:
5793 Emacs Info scans @code{Info-directory-list} from right-to-left while
5794 XEmacs Info reads it from left-to-right, so append to the @emph{correct}
5798 Use @code{Info-default-directory-list} to initialize
5799 @code{Info-directory-list} @emph{if} it is available at startup, but not
5800 all Emacsen define it.
5803 Emacs Info looks for a standard @file{dir} file in each of the
5804 directories scanned from #1 and magically concatenates them together.
5807 XEmacs Info looks for a @file{localdir} file (which consists of just the
5808 menu entries from a @file{dir} file) in each of the directories scanned
5809 from #1 (except the first), does a simple concatenation of them, and
5810 magically attaches the resulting list to the end of the menu in the
5811 @file{dir} file in the first directory.
5814 Another alternative is to convert the documentation to HTML with
5815 texi2html and read it from a web browser like Lynx or W3.
5818 @node Q5.3.12, , Q5.3.11, Miscellaneous
5819 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.3.12: What do I need to change to make printing work?
5821 For regular printing there are two variables that can be customized.
5825 This should be set to a command that takes standard input and sends
5826 it to a printer. Something like:
5829 (setq lpr-command "lp")
5833 This should be set to a list that contains whatever the print command
5834 requires to do its job. Something like:
5837 (setq lpr-switches '("-depson"))
5841 For postscript printing there are three analogous variables to
5845 @item ps-lpr-command
5846 This should be set to a command that takes postscript on standard input
5847 and directs it to a postscript printer.
5849 @item ps-lpr-switches
5850 This should be set to a list of switches required for
5851 @code{ps-lpr-command} to do its job.
5853 @item ps-print-color-p
5854 This boolean variable should be set @code{t} if printing will be done in
5855 color, otherwise it should be set to @code{nil}.
5858 NOTE: It is an undocumented limitation in XEmacs that postscript
5859 printing (the @code{Pretty Print Buffer} menu item) @strong{requires} a
5860 window system environment. It cannot be used outside of X11.
5862 @node MS Windows, Current Events, Miscellaneous, Top
5863 @unnumbered 6 XEmacs on MS Windows
5865 This is part 6 of the XEmacs Frequently Asked Questions list, written by
5866 Hrvoje Niksic and others. This section is devoted to the MS Windows
5872 * Q6.0.1:: What is the status of the XEmacs port to Windows?
5873 * Q6.0.2:: What flavors of MS Windows are supported?
5874 * Q6.0.3:: Where are the XEmacs on MS Windows binaries?
5875 * Q6.0.4:: Can I build XEmacs on MS Windows with X support? Do I need to?
5876 * Q6.0.5:: I'd like to help out. What do I do?
5877 * Q6.0.6:: What are Cygwin and MinGW, and do I need them to run XEmacs?
5878 * Q6.0.7:: What exactly are all the different ways to build XEmacs under Windows?
5880 Building XEmacs on MS Windows
5881 * Q6.1.1:: What compiler/libraries do I need to compile XEmacs?
5882 * Q6.1.2:: How do I compile the native port?
5883 * Q6.1.3:: What do I need for Cygwin?
5884 * Q6.1.4:: How do I compile under Cygwin?
5885 * Q6.1.5:: How do I compile using MinGW (aka @samp{the -mno-cygwin flag to gcc})?
5886 * Q6.1.6:: I decided to run with X. Where do I get an X server?
5887 * Q6.1.7:: How do I compile with X support?
5889 Customization and User Interface
5890 * Q6.2.1:: How does the port cope with differences in the Windows user interface?
5891 * Q6.2.2:: How do I change fonts in XEmacs on MS Windows?
5892 * Q6.2.3:: Where do I put my @file{init.el}/@file{.emacs} file?
5893 * Q6.2.4:: How do I get Windows Explorer to associate a file type with XEmacs?
5894 * Q6.2.5:: Is it possible to print from XEmacs?
5897 * Q6.3.1:: Does XEmacs rename all the win32-* symbols to w32-*?
5898 * Q6.3.2:: What are the differences between the various MS Windows emacsen?
5899 * Q6.3.3:: XEmacs 21.1 on Windows used to spawn an ugly console window on every startup. Has that been fixed?
5900 * Q6.3.4:: What is the porting team doing at the moment?
5903 * Q6.4.1:: XEmacs won't start on Windows.
5904 * Q6.4.2:: Why do I get a blank toolbar on Windows 95?
5907 @node Q6.0.1, Q6.0.2, MS Windows, MS Windows
5908 @unnumberedsec 6.0: General Info
5909 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.0.1: What is the status of the XEmacs port to Windows?
5911 Is XEmacs really ported to MS Windows? What is the status of the port?
5913 Beginning with release 21.0, XEmacs has worked under MS Windows. A
5914 group of dedicated developers actively maintains and improves the
5915 Windows-specific portions of the code. The mailing list at
5916 @email{xemacs-nt@@xemacs.org} is dedicated to that effort (please use
5917 the -request address to subscribe). (Despite its name, XEmacs actually
5918 works on all versions of Windows.)
5920 As of May 2001, XEmacs on MS Windows is stable and full-featured, and
5921 has been so for a year or more -- in fact, some features, such as
5922 printing, actually work better on Windows than native Unix. However,
5923 the internationalization (Mule) support does not work -- although this
5924 is being actively worked on.
5927 @node Q6.0.2, Q6.0.3, Q6.0.1, MS Windows
5928 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.0.2: What flavors of MS Windows are supported? The list name implies NT only.
5930 The list name is misleading, as XEmacs supports and has been compiled on
5931 Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows ME, Windows
5932 XP, and all newer versions of Windows. The MS Windows-specific code is
5933 based on Microsoft Win32 API, and will not work on MS Windows 3.x or on
5936 XEmacs also supports the Cygwin and MinGW development and runtime
5937 environments, where it also uses native Windows code for graphical
5941 @node Q6.0.3, Q6.0.4, Q6.0.2, MS Windows
5942 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.0.3: Are binaries available?
5944 Binaries are available at @uref{http://www.xemacs.org/Download/win32/}
5945 for the native and Cygwin MS Windows versions of 21.4, and the native
5948 The 21.4 binaries use a modified version of the Cygwin installer. Run
5949 the provided @file{setup.exe}, and follow the instructions.
5952 @node Q6.0.4, Q6.0.5, Q6.0.3, MS Windows
5953 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.0.4: Can I build XEmacs on MS Windows with X support? Do I need to?
5955 Yes, you can, but no you do not need to. In fact, we recommend that you
5956 use a native-GUI version unless you have a specific need for an X
5959 @node Q6.0.5, Q6.0.6, Q6.0.4, MS Windows
5960 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.0.5: I'd like to help out. What do I do?
5962 It depends on the knowledge and time you possess. If you are a
5963 programmer, try to build XEmacs and see if you can improve it.
5964 Windows-specific improvements like integration with established
5965 Windows environments are especially sought after.
5967 Otherwise, you can still help by downloading the binaries, using
5968 XEmacs as your everyday editor and reporting bugs you find to the
5971 Another area where we need help is the documentation: We need good
5972 documentation for building XEmacs and for using it. This FAQ is a
5973 small step in that direction.
5975 @node Q6.0.6, Q6.0.7, Q6.0.5, MS Windows
5976 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.0.6: What are Cygwin and MinGW, and do I need them to run XEmacs?
5978 To answer the second part of the question: No, you, you don't need
5979 Cygwin or MinGW to build or to run XEmacs. But if you have them and
5980 want to use them, XEmacs supports these environments.
5982 (One important reason to support Cygwin is that it lets the MS Windows
5983 developers test out their code in a Unix environment without actually
5984 having to have a Unix machine around. For this reason alone, Cygwin
5985 support is likely to remain supported for a long time in XEmacs. Same
5986 goes for the X support under Cygwin, for the same reasons. MinGW
5987 support, on the other hand, depends on volunteers to keep it up to date;
5988 but this is generally not hard.)
5990 Cygwin is a set of tools providing Unix-like API on top of Win32.
5991 It makes it easy to port large Unix programs without significant
5992 changes to their source code. It is a development environment as well
5993 as a runtime environment.
5995 When built with Cygwin, XEmacs supports all display types -- TTY, X &
5996 Win32 GUI, and can be built with support for all three simultaneously.
5997 If you build with Win32 GUI support then the Cygwin version uses the
5998 majority of the Windows-specific code, which is mostly related to
5999 display. If you want to build with X support you need X libraries (and
6000 an X server to display XEmacs on); see @ref{Q6.1.4}. TTY and Win32 GUI
6001 require no additional libraries beyond what comes standard with Cygwin.
6003 The advantages of the Cygwin version are that it integrates well with
6004 the Cygwin environment for existing Cygwin users; uses configure so
6005 building with different features is very easy; and actively supports X &
6006 TTY. Furthermore, the entire Cygwin environment and compiler are free,
6007 whereas Visual C++ costs money.
6009 The disadvantage is that it requires the whole Cygwin environment,
6010 whereas the native port requires only a suitable MS Windows compiler.
6011 Also, it follows the Unix filesystem and process model very closely
6012 (some will undoubtedly view this as an advantage).
6014 See @uref{http://sources.redhat.com/cygwin/} for more information on
6017 MinGW is a collection of header files and import libraries that allow
6018 one to use GCC under the Cygwin environment to compile and produce
6019 exactly the same native Win32 programs that you can using Visual C++.
6020 Programs compiled with MinGW make use of the standard Microsoft runtime
6021 library @file{MSVCRT.DLL}, present on all Windows systems, and look,
6022 feel, and act like a standard Visual-C-produced application. (The only
6023 difference is the compiler.) This means that, unlike a
6024 standardly-compiled Cygwin application, no extra runtime support
6025 (e.g. Cygwin's @file{cygwin1.dll}) is required. This, along with the
6026 fact that GCC is free (and works in a nice Unix-y way in a nice Unix-y
6027 environment, for those die-hard Unix hackers out there), is the main
6028 advantage of MinGW. It is also potentially faster than Cygwin because
6029 it has less overhead when calling Windows, but you lose the POSIX
6030 emulation layer, which makes Unix programs harder to port. (But this is
6031 irrelevant for XEmacs since it's already ported to Win32.)
6033 See @uref{http://www.mingw.org/} for more information on MinGW.
6035 @node Q6.0.7, Q6.1.1, Q6.0.6, MS Windows
6036 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.0.7: What exactly are all the different ways to build XEmacs under Windows?
6038 XEmacs can be built in several ways in the MS Windows environment.
6040 The standard way is what we call the "native" port. It uses the Win32
6041 API and has no connection with X whatsoever -- it does not require X
6042 libraries to build, nor does it require an X server to run. The native
6043 port is the most reliable version and provides the best graphical
6044 support. Almost all development is geared towards this version, and
6045 there is little reason not to use it.
6047 The second way to build is the Cygwin port. It takes advantage of
6048 Cygnus emulation library under Win32. @xref{Q6.0.6}, for more
6051 A third way is the MinGW port. It uses the Cygwin environment to build
6052 but does not require it at runtime. @xref{Q6.0.6}, for more
6055 Finally, you might also be able to build the non-Cygwin, non-MinGW "X"
6056 port. This was actually the first version of XEmacs that ran under MS
6057 Windows, and although the code is still in XEmacs, it's essentially
6058 orphaned and it's unlikely it will compile without a lot of work. If
6059 you want an MS Windows versin of XEmacs that supports X, use the Cygwin
6060 version. (The X support there is actively maintained, so that Windows
6061 developers can test the X support in XEmacs.)
6064 @node Q6.1.1, Q6.1.2, Q6.0.7, MS Windows
6065 @unnumberedsec 6.1: Building XEmacs on MS Windows
6066 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.1.1: What compiler/libraries do I need to compile XEmacs?
6068 You need Visual C++ 4.2, 5.0, or 6.0 for the native version. (We have
6069 some beta testers currently trying to compile with VC.NET, aka version
6070 7.0, but we can't yet report complete success.) For the Cygwin and MinGW
6071 versions, you need the Cygwin environment, which comes with GCC, the
6072 compiler used for those versions. @xref{Q6.0.6}, for more information
6073 on Cygwin and MinGW.
6075 @node Q6.1.2, Q6.1.3, Q6.1.1, MS Windows
6076 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.1.2: How do I compile the native port?
6078 Please read the file @file{nt/README} in the XEmacs distribution, which
6079 contains the full description.
6081 @node Q6.1.3, Q6.1.4, Q6.1.2, MS Windows
6082 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.1.3: What do I need for Cygwin?
6084 You can find the Cygwin tools and compiler at:
6086 @uref{http://sources.redhat.com/cygwin/}
6088 Click on the @samp{Install now!} link, which will download a file
6089 @file{setup.exe}, which you can use to download everything else. (You
6090 will need to pick a mirror site; @samp{mirrors.rcn.net} is probably the
6091 best.) You should go ahead and install everything -- you'll get various
6092 ancillary libraries that XEmacs needs or likes, e.g. XPM, PNG, JPEG,
6095 If you want to compile under X, you will also need the X libraries; see
6099 @node Q6.1.4, Q6.1.5, Q6.1.3, MS Windows
6100 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.1.4: How do I compile under Cygwin?
6102 Similar as on Unix; use the usual `configure' and `make' process.
6103 Some problems to watch out for:
6107 make sure HOME is set. This controls where you
6108 @file{init.el}/@file{.emacs} file comes from;
6111 CYGWIN needs to be set to tty for process support to work, e.g. CYGWIN=tty;
6114 picking up some other grep or other UNIX-like tools can kill configure;
6117 static heap too small, adjust @file{src/sheap-adjust.h} to a more positive
6121 (Unconfirmed) The Cygwin version doesn't understand
6122 @file{//machine/path} type paths so you will need to manually mount a
6123 directory of this form under a unix style directory for a build to work
6127 If you're building @strong{WITHOUT} X11, don't forget to change symlinks
6128 @file{/usr/lib/libXpm.a} and @file{/usr/lib/libXpm.dll.a} to point to
6129 the non-X versions of these libraries. By default they point to the X
6133 /usr/lib/libXpm.a -> /usr/lib/libXpm-noX.a
6134 /usr/lib/libXpm.dll.a -> /usr/lib/libXpm-noX.dll.a
6139 Other problems are listed in the @file{PROBLEMS} file, in the top-level
6140 directory of the XEmacs sources.
6145 @node Q6.1.5, Q6.1.6, Q6.1.4, MS Windows
6146 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.1.5: How do I compile using MinGW (aka @samp{the -mno-cygwin flag to gcc})?
6148 Similar to the method for Unix. Things to remember:
6152 Specify the target host on the command line for @file{./configure}, e.g.
6153 @samp{./configure i586-pc-mingw32}.
6156 Be sure that your build directory is mounted such that it has the
6157 same path either as a cygwin path (@file{/build/xemacs}) or as a Windows
6158 path (@file{c:\build\xemacs}).
6161 Build @samp{gcc -mno-cygwin} versions of the extra libs, i.e. @file{libpng},
6162 @file{compface}, etc.
6165 Specify the target location of the extra libs on the command line
6166 to @file{configure}, e.g.
6167 @samp{./configure --site-prefixes=/build/libs i586-pc-mingw32}.
6171 @node Q6.1.6, Q6.1.7, Q6.1.5, MS Windows
6172 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.1.6: I decided to run with X. Where do I get an X server?
6174 As of May 2001, we are recommending that you use the port of XFree86 to
6175 Cygwin. This has recently stabilized, and will undoubtedly soon make
6176 most other MS Windows X servers obsolete. It is what the Windows
6177 developers use to test the MS Windows X support.
6179 To install, go to @uref{http://xfree86.cygwin.com/}. There is a
6180 detailed description on that site of exactly how to install it. This
6181 installation also provides the libraries, include files, and other stuff
6182 needed for development; a large collection of internationalized fonts;
6183 the standard X utilities (xterm, twm, etc.) -- in a word, the works.
6185 NOTE: As of late May 2001, there is a bug in the file
6186 @file{startxwin.bat}, used to start X Windows. It passes the option
6187 @samp{-engine -4} to the X server, which is bogus -- you need to edit
6188 the file and change it to @samp{-engine 4}.
6191 @node Q6.1.7, Q6.2.1, Q6.1.6, MS Windows
6192 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.1.7: How do I compile with X support?
6194 To compile under Cygwin, all you need to do is install XFree86
6195 (@pxref{Q6.1.6}). Once installed, @file{configure} should automatically
6196 find the X libraries and compile with X support.
6198 As noted above, the non-Cygwin X support is basically orphaned, and
6199 probably won't work. But if it want to try, it's described in
6200 @file{nt/README} in some detail. Basically, you need to get X11
6201 libraries from ftp.x.org, and compile them. If the precompiled versions
6202 are available somewhere, we don't know of it.
6205 @node Q6.2.1, Q6.2.2, Q6.1.7, MS Windows
6206 @unnumberedsec 6.2: Customization and User Interface
6207 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.2.1: How does the port cope with differences in the Windows user interface?
6209 XEmacs (and Emacs in general) UI is pretty different from what is
6210 expected of a typical MS Windows program. How does the MS Windows port
6213 As a general rule, we follow native MS Windows conventions as much as
6214 possible. In cases where there's a clear UI conflict, we currently use
6215 normal Unix XEmacs behavior by default, but make sure the MS Windows
6216 "look and feel" (mark via shift-arrow, self-inserting deletes region,
6217 Alt selects menu items, etc.) is easily configurable (respectively:
6218 using the variable @code{shifted-motion-keys-select-region} in 21.4 and
6219 above [it's in fact the default in these versions], or the
6220 @file{pc-select} package; using the @file{pending-del} package; and
6221 setting the variable @code{menu-accelerator-enabled} to
6222 @code{menu-force} in 21.4 and above). In fact, if you use the sample
6223 @file{init.el} file as your init file, you will get all these behaviors
6224 automatically turned on.
6226 In future versions, some of these features might be turned on by
6227 default in the MS Windows environment.
6230 @node Q6.2.2, Q6.2.3, Q6.2.1, MS Windows
6231 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.2.2: How do I change fonts in XEmacs on MS Windows?
6233 In 21.4 and above, use the font menu. In all versions, you can change
6234 font manually. For example:
6237 (set-face-font 'default "Lucida Console:Regular:10")
6238 (set-face-font 'modeline "MS Sans Serif:Regular:10")
6242 @node Q6.2.3, Q6.2.4, Q6.2.2, MS Windows
6243 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.2.3: Where do I put my @file{init.el}/@file{.emacs} file?
6245 @file{init.el} is the name of the init file starting with 21.4, and is
6246 located in the subdirectory @file{.xemacs/} of your home directory. In
6247 prior versions, the init file is called @file{.emacs} and is located in
6248 your home directory. Your home directory under Windows is determined by
6249 the @samp{HOME} environment variable. If this is not set, it defaults to
6252 To set this variable, modify @file{AUTOEXEC.BAT} under Windows 95/98, or
6253 select @samp{Control Panel->System->Advanced->Environment Variables...}
6254 under Windows NT/2000.
6257 @node Q6.2.4, Q6.2.5, Q6.2.3, MS Windows
6258 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.2.4: How do I get Windows Explorer to associate a file type with XEmacs?
6260 @unnumberedsubsubsec Associating a new file type with XEmacs.
6262 In Explorer select @samp{View/Options/File Types}, press @samp{[New
6263 Type...]} and fill in the dialog box, e.g.:
6266 Description of type: Emacs Lisp source
6267 Associated extension: el
6268 Content Type (MIME): text/plain
6271 then press @samp{[New...]} and fill in the @samp{Action} dialog box as
6278 Application used to perform action:
6279 D:\Full\path\for\xemacs.exe "%1"
6289 DDE Application Not Running:
6296 @unnumberedsubsubsec Associating an existing file type with XEmacs.
6298 In Explorer select @samp{View/Options/File Types}. Click on the file
6299 type in the list and press @samp{[Edit...]}. If the file type already
6300 has an @samp{Open} action, double click on it and fill in the
6301 @samp{Action} dialog box as described above; otherwise create a new
6304 If the file type has more than one action listed, you probably want to
6305 make the @samp{Open} action that you just edited the default by clicking on
6306 it and pressing @samp{Set Default}.
6308 Note for Windows 2000 users: Under Windows 2000, get to @samp{File Types}
6309 using @samp{Control Panel->Folder Options->File Types}.
6312 @node Q6.2.5, Q6.3.1, Q6.2.4, MS Windows
6313 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.2.5: Is it possible to print from XEmacs?
6315 As of 21.4, printing works on Windows, using simply @samp{File->Print},
6316 and can be configured with @samp{File->Page Setup}.
6318 Prior to 21.4, there is no built-in support, but there are some clever
6319 hacks out there. If you know how, please let us know and we'll put it
6323 @node Q6.3.1, Q6.3.2, Q6.2.5, MS Windows
6324 @unnumberedsec 6.3: Miscellaneous
6325 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.3.1: Does XEmacs rename all the @samp{win32-*} symbols to @samp{w32-*}?
6327 In his flavor of Emacs 20, Richard Stallman has renamed all the @samp{win32-*}
6328 symbols to @samp{w32-*}. Does XEmacs do the same?
6330 We consider such a move counter-productive, thus we do not use the
6331 @samp{w32} prefix. (His rather questionable justification was that he
6332 did not consider Windows to be a "winning" platform.) However, the name
6333 @samp{Win32} is not particularly descriptive outside the Windows world,
6334 and using just @samp{windows-} would be too generic. So we chose a
6335 compromise, the prefix @samp{mswindows-} for Windows-related variables
6338 Thus all the XEmacs variables and functions directly related to either
6339 the Windows GUI or OS are prefixed @samp{mswindows-} (except for a
6340 couple of debugging variables, prefixed @samp{debug-mswindows-}). From
6341 an architectural perspective, however, we believe that this is mostly a
6342 non-issue because there should be a very small number of
6343 window-systems-specific variables anyway. Whenever possible, we try to
6344 provide generic interfaces that apply to all window systems.
6347 @c The user variables
6348 @c that share functionality with existing NT Emacs variables are be named
6349 @c with our convention, but we provide the GNU Emacs names as
6350 @c compatibility aliases.
6352 @node Q6.3.2, Q6.3.3, Q6.3.1, MS Windows
6353 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.3.2: What are the differences between the various MS Windows emacsen?
6355 XEmacs, Win-Emacs, DOS Emacs, NT Emacs, this is all very confusing.
6356 Could you briefly explain the differences between them?
6358 Here is a recount of various Emacs versions running on MS Windows:
6368 Beginning with XEmacs 19.12, XEmacs' architecture was redesigned
6369 in such a way to allow clean support of multiple window systems. At
6370 this time the TTY support was added, making X and TTY the first two
6371 "window systems" XEmacs supported. The 19.12 design is the basis for
6372 the current native MS Windows code.
6375 Some time during 1997, David Hobley (soon joined by Marc Paquette)
6376 imported some of the NT-specific portions of GNU Emacs, making XEmacs
6377 with X support compile under Windows NT, and creating the "X" port.
6380 Several months later, Jonathan Harris sent out initial patches to use
6381 the Win32 API, thus creating the native port. Since then, various
6382 people have contributed, including Kirill M. Katsnelson (contributed
6383 support for menubars, subprocesses and network, as well as loads of
6384 other code), Andy Piper (ported XEmacs to Cygwin environment,
6385 contributed Windows unexec, Windows-specific glyphs and toolbars code,
6386 and more), Ben Wing (loads of improvements; currently the most active MS
6387 Windows developer), Jeff Sparkes (contributed scrollbars support) and
6397 GNU Emacs features support for MS-DOS and DJGPP (D. J. Delorie's DOS
6398 port of GCC). Such an Emacs is heavily underfeatured, because it does
6399 not supports long file names, lacks proper subprocesses support, and
6400 is far too big compared with typical DOS editors.
6404 GNU Emacs compiled with Win32
6409 Starting with version 19.30, it has been possible to compile GNU Emacs
6410 under MS Windows using the DJGPP compiler and X libraries. The result
6411 is very similar to GNU Emacs compiled under MS DOS, except that it
6412 supports longer file names, etc. This "port" is similar to the "X"
6413 flavor of XEmacs on MS Windows.
6422 NT Emacs is a version of GNU Emacs modified to compile and run under MS
6423 Windows 95 and NT using the native Win32 API. As such, it is close in
6424 spirit to the XEmacs "native" port.
6427 NT Emacs has been written by Geoff Voelker, and more information can be
6432 @uref{http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/voelker/ntemacs.html}.
6441 Win-Emacs was a port of Lucid Emacs 19.6 to MS Windows using X
6442 compatibility libraries. Win-Emacs was written by Ben Wing. The MS
6443 Windows code never made it back to Lucid Emacs, and its creator (Pearl
6444 Software) has long since gone out of business.
6453 GNU Emacs features support for MS-DOS and DJGPP (D.J. Delorie's DOS
6454 port of Gcc). Such an Emacs is heavily underfeatured, because it does
6455 not support long file names, lacks proper subprocesses support, and
6456 is far too big compared to typical DOS editors.
6460 GNU Emacs compiled with Win32
6465 Starting with version 19.30, it has been possible to compile GNU Emacs
6466 under MS Windows using the DJGPP compiler and X libraries. The result
6467 is is very similar to GNU Emacs compiled under MS DOS, only it
6468 supports longer file names, etc. This "port" is similar to the "X"
6469 flavor of XEmacs on MS Windows.
6475 @node Q6.3.3, Q6.3.4, Q6.3.2, MS Windows
6476 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.3.3: XEmacs 21.1 on Windows used to spawn an ugly console window on every startup. Has that been fixed?
6480 The console was there because @file{temacs} (and in turn, @file{xemacs})
6481 was a console application, and Windows typically creates a new
6482 console for a console process unless the creating process requests that
6483 one isn't created. This used to be fixed with @file{runemacs}, a small
6484 Windows application that existed merely to start @file{xemacs}, stating
6485 that it didn't want a console.
6487 XEmacs 21.4 fixes this cleanly by the virtue of being a true "GUI"
6488 application. The explanation of what that means is included for
6491 When building an application to be run in a Win32 environment, you must
6492 state which sub-system it is to run in. Valid subsystems include
6493 "console" and "gui". The subsystem you use affects the run time
6494 libraries linked into your application, the start up function that is
6495 run before control is handed over to your application, the entry point
6496 to your program, and how Windows normally invokes your program. (Console
6497 programs automatically get a console created for them at startup if
6498 their stdin/stdout don't point anywhere useful, which is the case when
6499 run from the GUI. This is a stupid design, of course -- instead, the
6500 console should get created only when the first I/O actually occurs!
6501 GUI programs have an equally stupid design: When called from
6502 @file{CMD.EXE}/@file{COMMAND.COM}, their stdin/stdout will be set to
6503 point nowhere useful, even though the command shell has its own
6504 stdin/stdout. It's as if someone who had learned a bit about stdio but
6505 had no actual knowledge of interprocess communication designed the
6506 scheme; unfortunately, the whole process-communication aspect of the
6507 Win32 API is equally badly designed.) For example, the entry point for a
6508 console app is "main" (which is what you'd expect for a C/C++ program),
6509 but the entry point for a "gui" app is "WinMain". This confuses and
6510 annoys a lot of programmers who've grown up on Unix systems, where the
6511 kernel doesn't really care whether your application is a gui program or
6514 For reasons not altogether clear, and are lost in the mists of time and
6515 tradition, XEmacs on Win32 started out as a console application, and
6516 therefore a console was automatically created for it. (It may have been
6517 made a console application partly because a console is needed in some
6518 circumstances, especially under Win95, to interrupt, terminate, or send
6519 signals to a child process, and because of the bogosity mentioned above
6520 with GUI programs and the standard command shell. Currently, XEmacs
6521 just creates and immediately hides a console when necessary, and
6522 works around the "no useful stdio" problem by creating its own console
6523 window as necessary to display messages in.)
6526 @node Q6.3.4, Q6.4.1, Q6.3.3, MS Windows
6527 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.3.4: What is the porting team doing at the moment?
6531 The porting team is continuing work on the MS Windows-specific code.
6532 Major projects are the development of Mule (internationalization)
6533 support for Windows and the improvement of the widget support (better
6534 support for dialog boxes, buttons, edit fields, and similar UI
6538 @node Q6.4.1, Q6.4.2, Q6.3.4, MS Windows
6539 @unnumberedsec 6.3: Troubleshooting
6540 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.4.1 XEmacs won't start on Windows.
6542 XEmacs relies on a process called "dumping" to generate a working
6543 executable. Under MS-Windows this process effectively fixes the memory
6544 addresses of information in the executable. When XEmacs starts up it tries
6545 to reserve these memory addresses so that the dumping process can be
6546 reversed -- putting the information back at the correct addresses.
6547 Unfortunately some .DLLs (for instance the soundblaster driver) occupy
6548 memory addresses that can conflict with those needed by the dumped XEmacs
6549 executable. In this instance XEmacs will fail to start without any
6550 explanation. Note that this is extremely machine specific.
6552 21.1.10 includes a fix for this that makes more intelligent guesses
6553 about which memory addresses will be free, and this should cure the
6554 problem for most people. 21.4 implements "portable dumping", which
6555 eliminates the problem altogether. We recommend you use the 21.4
6556 binaries, but you can use the 21.1 binaries if you are very paranoid
6557 about stability. @xref{Q6.0.3}.
6559 @node Q6.4.2, , Q6.4.1, MS Windows
6560 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.4.2 Why do I get a blank toolbar on Windows 95?
6562 You need at least version 4.71 of the system file @file{comctl32.dll}.
6563 The updated version is supplied with Internet Explorer 4 and later but if
6564 you are avoiding IE you can also download it from the Microsoft web
6565 site. Go into support and search for @file{comctl32.dll}. The download
6566 is a self-installing executable.
6569 @node Current Events, , MS Windows, Top
6570 @unnumbered 7 What the Future Holds
6572 This is part 7 of the XEmacs Frequently Asked Questions list. This
6573 section will change frequently, and (in theory) should contain any
6574 interesting items that have transpired recently. (But in practice it's
6575 not getting updated like this.)
6577 This section also contains descriptions of the new features in all the
6578 recent releases of XEmacs. For the most part, the information below is
6579 a synopsis of the more complete information that can be found in the
6580 file @file{NEWS} in the @file{etc} directory of the XEmacs distribution.
6581 You can view this file in XEmacs using @kbd{C-h n} or the @samp{Help}
6584 Information on older versions of XEmacs can be find in @file{ONEWS} in
6585 the same directory, or @file{OONEWS} for really old versions.
6589 * Q7.0.1:: What new features will be in XEmacs soon?
6590 * Q7.0.2:: What's new in XEmacs 21.4?
6591 * Q7.0.3:: What's new in XEmacs 21.1?
6592 * Q7.0.4:: What's new in XEmacs 20.4?
6593 * Q7.0.5:: What's new in XEmacs 20.3?
6594 * Q7.0.6:: What's new in XEmacs 20.2?
6597 @node Q7.0.1, Q7.0.2, Current Events, Current Events
6598 @unnumberedsec 7.0: Changes
6599 @unnumberedsubsec Q7.0.1: What new features will be in XEmacs soon?
6603 @node Q7.0.2, Q7.0.3, Q7.0.1, Current Events
6604 @unnumberedsubsec Q7.0.2: What's new in XEmacs 21.4?
6606 21.4 was the "stable" version of the 21.2 series, which was considered
6607 "experimental" throughout its life; thus there were no "official"
6608 releases at all. In essence, XEmacs is now following the "alternating"
6609 scheme of Linux, where at any point there are at least two different
6610 development branches, one "stable" and one "experimental". Periodic
6611 releases happen in both branches, but those in the experimental branch
6612 are not tested as well, and there's no guarantee they will work at all.
6613 The experiemental branch is open to any and all code that's acceptable
6614 to the developers; the stable branch, however, is in general limited
6615 only to bug fixes, and all contributions are carefully reviewed to make
6616 sure they will increase and not decrease stability.
6618 21.3 never existed at all; it was decided to follow the Linux scheme
6619 exactly, where odd-numbered series are experimental and even-numbered
6622 The following lists summarizes the essential changes made in this
6623 version. For a fuller list, see the @file{NEWS} in the @file{etc}
6624 directory of the XEmacs distribution, or use @kbd{C-h n} or the
6625 @samp{Help} menu to view this file inside of XEmacs.
6627 @unnumberedsubsubsec User-visible changes
6632 The delete key now deletes forward by default.
6634 Shifted motion keys now select text by default.
6636 You can now build XEmacs with support for GTK+ widget set.
6638 ~/.xemacs/init.el is now the preferred location for the init
6639 file. (XEmacs now supports a `~/.xemacs/init.el' startup file. Custom
6640 file will move to ~/.xemacs/custom.el.)
6642 Much-improved sample init.el, showing how to use many useful features.
6644 XEmacs support for menu accelerators has been much improved.
6646 Default menubar improvements. (Default menubar has many new commands and
6647 better organization. The font-menu is now available under MS Windows.)
6649 Dialog box improvements, including a real file dialog box. (XEmacs now has a proper file dialog box under MS Windows (and GTK)! The old clunky file dialog box is improved. Keyboard traversal now works correctly in MS Windows dialog boxes. There is a Search dialog box available from Edit->Find...)
6653 There is a new MS Windows installer, netinstall, ported from Cygwin.
6655 The subprocess quote-handling mechanism under Windows is much improved.
6657 Printing support now available under MS Windows.
6659 Selection improvements. (Kill and yank now interact with the clipboard under Windows. MS Windows support for selection is now much more robust. Motif selection support is now more correct (but slower).)
6661 Mail spool locking now works correctly.
6663 International support changes. (The default coding-priority-list is now
6664 safer. International keysyms are now supported under X. MS Windows
6665 1251 code page now supported. Czech, Thai, Cyrillic-KOI8, Vietnamese,
6666 Ethiopic now supported. Proper support for words in Latin 3 and Latin
6669 Help buffers contain hyperlinks, and other changes.
6671 The modeline's text is now scrollable.
6673 The mouse wheel under MS Windows now functions correctly.
6675 Interactive searching and matching case improvements. (Incremental search will now highlight all visible matches. Interactive searches always respect uppercase characters.)
6677 Rectangle functions rewritten to avoid inserting extra spaces.
6679 New command `kill-entire-line' that always kills the entire line.
6681 Default values correctly stored in minibuffer histories.
6683 You can now create "indirect buffers", like in GNU Emacs.
6685 Pixel-based scrolling has been implemented.
6687 Operation progress can be displayed using graphical widgets.
6689 User names following a tilde can now be completed at file name prompts.
6691 XEmacs can now play sound using Enlightenment Sound Daemon (ESD).
6693 X-Face support is now available under MS Windows.
6695 The PostgreSQL Relational Database Management System is now supported.
6697 Indentation no longer indents comments that begin at column zero.
6699 Face and variable settings can have comments in Customize.
6701 New locations for early package hierarchies.
6703 The `auto-save' library has been greatly improved.
6705 New variable `mswindows-alt-by-itself-activates-menu'.
6707 Other init-file-related changes. (Init file in your home directory may be called `.emacs.el'. New command-line switches -user-init-file and -user-init-directory.)
6709 Etags changes. See @file{NEWS} for full details.
6712 @unnumberedsubsubsec Lisp and internal changes
6716 @c APA: Texi2html produces invalid HTML from an empty list of bullets!
6717 @c Please uncomment following list when it does contain bullets.
6721 @node Q7.0.3, Q7.0.4, Q7.0.2, Current Events
6722 @unnumberedsubsec Q7.0.3: What's new in XEmacs 21.1?
6724 21.1 was the "stable" version of "experimental" 21.0 series.
6727 The following lists summarizes the essential changes made in this
6728 version. For a fuller list, see the @file{NEWS} in the @file{etc}
6729 directory of the XEmacs distribution, or use @kbd{C-h n} or the
6730 @samp{Help} menu to view this file inside of XEmacs.
6732 @unnumberedsubsubsec User-visible changes
6737 XEmacs is now supported under Microsoft Windows 95/98 and Windows NT
6738 operating systems. To discuss Windows-specific issues, subscribe to the
6739 mailing list at @email{xemacs-nt-request@@xemacs.org}.
6742 XEmacs has been unbundled into constituent installable packages.
6745 @strong{Other notable changes}: The @samp{Options} menu has been ported to
6746 Custom; XEmacs now is able to choose X visuals and use private
6747 colormaps; You can drag the vertical divider of "horizontally"
6748 (side-by-side) split windows.
6751 @strong{Building changes}: XEmacs can be built with support for 31-bit Lisp
6752 integers and 32-bit pointers (previously, it was 28-bit integers and
6753 pointers); XEmacs can be built with LDAP support; @file{dir} files can be
6754 removed in the Info subsystem, and will be regenerated on-the-fly.
6757 @strong{New packages}: @file{imenu}, @file{popper}, @file{gdb-highlight}
6760 @strong{Package changes}: Many changes to @file{cc-mode}, @file{gnus},
6761 @file{gnuclient}. See @file{NEWS} for full details.
6764 @strong{New commands, variables and functions}:
6765 @code{center-to-window-line} (like @code{recenter} but doesn't force a
6766 redisplay); variable @code{user-full-name} (customize what your full
6767 name looks like in mail); @kbd{M-x customize-changed-options} (customize
6768 options whose default values changes because you upgraded your XEmacs);
6769 @kbd{M-x add-log-convert} (converts an old-style ChangeLog buffer to
6770 new-style); @kbd{M-x zap-up-to-char} (like @code{zap-to-char} but
6771 doesn't delete the char searched for); commands to store, retrieve and
6772 increment numbers in registers, useful for macros.
6775 @strong{Changes to commands, variables, and functions}: @kbd{M-x
6776 query-replace} and friends operate only on the region when it's active;
6777 @code{echo-keystrokes} can now be a floating-point number; @kbd{M-.}
6778 searches exact tag matches before inexact ones; function
6779 @code{user-full-name} with no arguments returns the var
6780 @code{user-full-name}; a prefix arg to @kbd{M-:} and @kbd{C-h c} inserts
6781 the result in the current buffer.
6784 @strong{Other changes}: Under X, new application class @samp{XEmacs};
6785 byte-compilation of user-specs now works.
6788 @strong{XEmacs/Mule (internationalization) changes}: Mule support now
6789 works on TTY's; Egg/SJ3 input method now officially supported (Quail and
6790 Egg/Skk already available through LEIM since 20.3); localized Japanese
6791 menubars if XEmacs is built with the right support.
6795 @unnumberedsubsubsec Lisp and internal changes
6800 @strong{Specifier changes}: The window locale now has a higher
6801 precedence than the buffer locale when instantiating; new macro
6802 @code{let-specifier}; new specifiers
6803 @code{vertical-scrollbar-visible-p}, horizontal-scrollbar-visible-p',
6804 @code{scrollbar-on-left-p}, @code{scrollbar-on-top-p},
6805 @code{vertical-divider-always-visible-p},
6806 @code{vertical-divider-shadow-thickness},
6807 @code{vertical-divider-line-width}, @code{vertical-divider-spacing};
6808 specifiers and symbols whose value is a specifier allowed as modeline
6812 @strong{Frame focus changes}: @code{focus-follows-mouse} works like FSF,
6813 prevents any attempt to permanently change the selected frame; new
6814 function @code{focus-frame} sets the window system focus a frame; new
6815 special forms @code{save-selected-frame} and @code{with-selected-frame}.
6818 @strong{Window function changes}: @code{select-window} now has optional
6819 argument @var{NORECORD} to inhibit recording a buffer change;
6820 @code{vertical-motion} now correctly handles optional @var{WINDOW}
6821 argument and has new optional argument @var{PIXELS}, to have the
6822 returned values be in pixels; new function
6823 @code{vertical-motion-pixels}; new functions
6824 @code{window-text-area-pixel-@{width,height,edges@}}; new functions
6825 @code{shrink-window-pixels} and @code{enlarge-window-pixels}; new
6826 function @code{window-displayed-text-pixel-height}.
6829 @strong{Other function changes}: Arithmetic comparison functions
6830 @code{<}, @code{>}, @code{=}, @code{/=} now accept a variable number of
6831 arguments; hashtables now have a consistent read/print syntax; keyword
6832 symbols cannot be set to a value other than themselves; @code{concat} no
6833 longer accepts integer arguments; new function @code{string}, like
6834 @code{list}, @code{vector}, etc.; new function @code{temp-directory}
6835 (OS-independent way to get a temp directory); @code{load-average} has
6836 optional argument @var{USE-FLOATS}; @code{make-event} implemented
6837 completely; new function @code{function-interactive} (returns a
6838 function's interactive spec); new functions @code{lmessage},
6839 @code{lwarn} (printf-like versions of @code{display-wessage},
6840 @code{display-warning}); new keyword @code{:version} to
6844 @strong{Performance}: when the new GNU Malloc aka Doug Lea Malloc is
6845 available, it will be used (better performance on libc6 Linux systems);
6846 tracking line-numbers in modeline is now efficient; profiling records a
6847 call-count of all called functions, retrievable through
6848 @code{profile-call-count-results}.
6851 @strong{Startup and path searching}: code to assemble paths at startup
6852 rewritten for new package system; new function @code{split-path} (splits
6853 by @code{path-separator}); @code{Info-default-directory-list} obsolete,
6854 use @code{Info-directory-list} instead; site-lisp is deprecated and no
6855 longer on the load-path by default.
6859 @node Q7.0.4, Q7.0.5, Q7.0.3, Current Events
6860 @unnumberedsubsec Q7.0.4: What's new in XEmacs 20.4?
6862 XEmacs 20.4 is a bugfix release with no user-visible changes.
6863 @c Filled in from NEWS file of 20.5-b33
6865 @node Q7.0.5, Q7.0.6, Q7.0.4, Current Events
6866 @unnumberedsubsec Q7.0.5: What's new in XEmacs 20.3?
6868 XEmacs 20.3 was released in November 1997. It contains many bugfixes,
6869 and a number of new features, including Autoconf 2 based configuration,
6870 additional support for Mule (Multi-language extensions to Emacs), many
6871 more customizations, multiple frames on TTY-s, support for multiple info
6872 directories, an enhanced gnuclient, improvements to regexp matching,
6873 increased MIME support, and many, many synches with GNU Emacs 20.
6875 The XEmacs/Mule support has been only seriously tested in a Japanese
6876 locale, and no doubt many problems still remain. The support for
6877 ISO-Latin-1 and Japanese is fairly strong. MULE support comes at a
6878 price---about a 30% slowdown from 19.16. We're making progress on
6879 improving performance and XEmacs 20.3 compiled without Mule (which is
6880 the default) is definitely faster than XEmacs 19.16.
6882 XEmacs 20.3 is the first non-beta v20 release, and will be the
6883 basis for all further development.
6885 @node Q7.0.6, , Q7.0.5, Current Events
6886 @unnumberedsubsec Q7.0.6: What's new in XEmacs 20.2?
6888 The biggest changes in 20.2 include integration of EFS (the next
6889 generation of ange-ftp) and AUC Tex (the Emacs subsystem that includes a
6890 major mode for editing Tex and LaTeX, and a lot of other stuff). Many
6891 bugs from 20.0 have been fixed for this release. 20.2 also contains a
6892 new system for customizing XEmacs options, invoked via @kbd{M-x
6895 XEmacs 20.2 is the development release (20.0 was beta), and is no longer
6896 considered unstable.
6898 For older news, see the file @file{ONEWS} in the @file{etc} directory of
6899 the XEmacs distribution.