1 This is ../info/xemacs-faq.info, produced by makeinfo version 4.0 from
4 INFO-DIR-SECTION XEmacs Editor
6 * FAQ: (xemacs-faq). XEmacs FAQ.
10 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q5.1.5, Next: Q5.1.6, Prev: Q5.1.4, Up: Miscellaneous
12 Q5.1.5: What is the recommended use of `setq'?
13 ----------------------------------------------
17 You will typically `defvar' your global variable to a default
18 value, and use `setq' to set it later.
20 It is never a good practice to `setq' user variables (like
21 `case-fold-search', etc.), as it ignores the user's choice
22 unconditionally. Note that `defvar' doesn't change the value of a
23 variable if it was bound previously. If you wish to change a
24 user-variable temporarily, use `let':
26 (let ((case-fold-search nil))
27 ... ; code with searches that must be case-sensitive
30 You will notice the user-variables by their docstrings beginning
31 with an asterisk (a convention).
35 Bind them with `let', which will unbind them (or restore their
36 previous value, if they were bound) after exiting from the `let'
37 form. Change the value of local variables with `setq' or whatever
38 you like (e.g. `incf', `setf' and such). The `let' form can even
39 return one of its local variables.
43 ;; iterate through the elements of the list returned by
44 ;; `hairy-function-that-returns-list'
45 (let ((l (hairy-function-that-returns-list)))
47 ... do something with (car l) ...
50 Another typical usage includes building a value simply to work
53 ;; Build the mode keymap out of the key-translation-alist
54 (let ((inbox (file-truename (expand-file-name box)))
56 ... code dealing with inbox ...
59 This piece of code uses the local variable `inbox', which becomes
60 unbound (or regains old value) after exiting the form. The form
61 also returns the value of `inbox', which can be reused, for
64 (setq foo-processed-inbox
68 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q5.1.6, Next: Q5.1.7, Prev: Q5.1.5, Up: Miscellaneous
70 Q5.1.6: What is the typical misuse of `setq' ?
71 ----------------------------------------------
73 A typical misuse is probably `setq'ing a variable that was meant to
74 be local. Such a variable will remain bound forever, never to be
75 garbage-collected. For example, the code doing:
77 (defun my-function (whatever)
79 ... build a large list ...
82 does a bad thing, as `a' will keep consuming memory, never to be
83 unbound. The correct thing is to do it like this:
85 (defun my-function (whatever)
86 (let (a) ; default initialization is to nil
87 ... build a large list ...
88 ... and exit, unbinding `a' in the process ...)
90 Not only is this prettier syntactically, but it makes it possible for
91 Emacs to garbage-collect the objects which `a' used to reference.
93 Note that even global variables should not be `setq'ed without
94 `defvar'ing them first, because the byte-compiler issues warnings. The
95 reason for the warning is the following:
97 (defun flurgoze nil) ; ok, global internal variable
100 (setq flurghoze t) ; ops! a typo, but semantically correct.
101 ; however, the byte-compiler warns.
103 While compiling toplevel forms:
104 ** assignment to free variable flurghoze
107 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q5.1.7, Next: Q5.1.8, Prev: Q5.1.6, Up: Miscellaneous
109 Q5.1.7: I like the the `do' form of cl, does it slow things down?
110 -----------------------------------------------------------------
112 It shouldn't. Here is what Dave Gillespie has to say about cl.el
115 Many of the advanced features of this package, such as `defun*',
116 `loop', and `setf', are implemented as Lisp macros. In
117 byte-compiled code, these complex notations will be expanded into
118 equivalent Lisp code which is simple and efficient. For example,
124 are expanded at compile-time to the Lisp forms
127 (setcar p (cons x (car p)))
129 which are the most efficient ways of doing these respective
130 operations in Lisp. Thus, there is no performance penalty for
131 using the more readable `incf' and `push' forms in your compiled
134 _Interpreted_ code, on the other hand, must expand these macros
135 every time they are executed. For this reason it is strongly
136 recommended that code making heavy use of macros be compiled. (The
137 features labelled "Special Form" instead of "Function" in this
138 manual are macros.) A loop using `incf' a hundred times will
139 execute considerably faster if compiled, and will also
140 garbage-collect less because the macro expansion will not have to
141 be generated, used, and thrown away a hundred times.
143 You can find out how a macro expands by using the `cl-prettyexpand'
147 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q5.1.8, Next: Q5.1.9, Prev: Q5.1.7, Up: Miscellaneous
149 Q5.1.8: I like recursion, does it slow things down?
150 ---------------------------------------------------
152 Yes. Emacs byte-compiler cannot do much to optimize recursion. But
153 think well whether this is a real concern in Emacs. Much of the Emacs
154 slowness comes from internal mechanisms such as redisplay, or from the
155 fact that it is an interpreter.
157 Please try not to make your code much uglier to gain a very small
158 speed gain. It's not usually worth it.
161 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q5.1.9, Next: Q5.1.10, Prev: Q5.1.8, Up: Miscellaneous
163 Q5.1.9: How do I put a glyph as annotation in a buffer?
164 -------------------------------------------------------
166 Here is a solution that will insert the glyph annotation at the
169 (make-annotation (make-glyph '([FORMAT :file FILE]
170 [string :data "fallback-text"]))
175 Replace `FORMAT' with an unquoted symbol representing the format of
176 the image (e.g. `xpm', `xbm', `gif', `jpeg', etc.) Instead of `FILE',
177 use the image file name (e.g.
178 `/usr/local/lib/xemacs-20.2/etc/recycle.xpm').
180 You can turn this to a function (that optionally prompts you for a
181 file name), and inserts the glyph at `(point)' instead of `(point-min)'.
184 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q5.1.10, Next: Q5.1.11, Prev: Q5.1.9, Up: Miscellaneous
186 Q5.1.10: `map-extents' won't traverse all of my extents!
187 --------------------------------------------------------
189 I tried to use `map-extents' to do an operation on all the extents
190 in a region. However, it seems to quit after processing a random number
191 of extents. Is it buggy?
193 No. The documentation of `map-extents' states that it will iterate
194 across the extents as long as FUNCTION returns `nil'. Unexperienced
195 programmers often forget to return `nil' explicitly, which results in
196 buggy code. For instance, the following code is supposed to delete all
197 the extents in a buffer, and issue as many `fubar!' messages.
199 (map-extents (lambda (ext ignore)
203 Instead, it will delete only the first extent, and stop right there -
204 because `message' will return a non-nil value. The correct code is:
206 (map-extents (lambda (ext ignore)
212 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q5.1.11, Next: Q5.2.1, Prev: Q5.1.10, Up: Miscellaneous
214 Q5.1.11: My elisp program is horribly slow. Is there
215 -----------------------------------------------------
217 an easy way to find out where it spends time?
219 zHrvoje Niksic <hniksic@xemacs.org> writes:
220 Under XEmacs 20.4 and later you can use `M-x
221 profile-key-sequence', press a key (say <RET> in the Gnus Group
222 buffer), and get the results using `M-x profile-results'. It
223 should give you an idea of where the time is being spent.
226 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q5.2.1, Next: Q5.2.2, Prev: Q5.1.11, Up: Miscellaneous
228 Q5.2.1: How do I turn off the sound?
229 ------------------------------------
231 Add the following line to your `.emacs':
234 (setq sound-alist nil)
236 That will make your XEmacs totally silent - even the default ding
237 sound (TTY beep on TTY-s) will be gone.
239 Starting with XEmacs-20.2 you can also change these with Customize.
240 Select from the `Options' menu
241 `Customize->Emacs->Environment->Sound->Sound...' or type `M-x customize
245 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q5.2.2, Next: Q5.2.3, Prev: Q5.2.1, Up: Miscellaneous
247 Q5.2.2: How do I get funky sounds instead of a boring beep?
248 -----------------------------------------------------------
250 Make sure your XEmacs was compiled with sound support, and then put
251 this in your `.emacs':
253 (load-default-sounds)
255 The sound support in XEmacs 19.14 was greatly improved over previous
259 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q5.2.3, Next: Q5.2.4, Prev: Q5.2.2, Up: Miscellaneous
261 Q5.2.3: What's NAS, how do I get it?
262 ------------------------------------
264 *Note Q2.0.3::, for an explanation of the "Network Audio System".
267 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q5.2.4, Next: Q5.3.1, Prev: Q5.2.3, Up: Miscellaneous
269 Q5.2.4: Sunsite sounds don't play.
270 ----------------------------------
272 I'm having some trouble with sounds I've downloaded from sunsite.
273 They play when I run them through `showaudio' or cat them directly to
274 `/dev/audio', but XEmacs refuses to play them.
276 Markus Gutschke <gutschk@uni-muenster.de> writes:
278 [Many of] These files have an (erroneous) 24byte header that tells
279 about the format that they have been recorded in. If you cat them
280 to `/dev/audio', the header will be ignored and the default
281 behavior for /dev/audio will be used. This happens to be 8kHz
282 uLaw. It is probably possible to fix the header by piping through
283 `sox' and passing explicit parameters for specifying the sampling
284 format; you then need to perform a 'null' conversion from SunAudio
288 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q5.3.1, Next: Q5.3.2, Prev: Q5.2.4, Up: Miscellaneous
293 Q5.3.1: How do you make XEmacs indent CL if-clauses correctly?
294 --------------------------------------------------------------
296 I'd like XEmacs to indent all the clauses of a Common Lisp `if' the
297 same amount instead of indenting the 3rd clause differently from the
300 One way is to add, to `.emacs':
302 (put 'if 'lisp-indent-function nil)
304 However, note that the package `cl-indent' that comes with XEmacs
305 sets up this kind of indentation by default. `cl-indent' also knows
306 about many other CL-specific forms. To use `cl-indent', one can do
310 (setq lisp-indent-function (function common-lisp-indent-function))
312 One can also customize `cl-indent.el' so it mimics the default `if'
313 indentation `then' indented more than the `else'. Here's how:
315 (put 'if 'common-lisp-indent-function '(nil nil &body))
317 Also, a new version (1.2) of `cl-indent.el' was posted to
318 comp.emacs.xemacs on 12/9/94. This version includes more documentation
319 than previous versions. This may prove useful if you need to customize
320 any indent-functions.
323 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q5.3.2, Next: Q5.3.3, Prev: Q5.3.1, Up: Miscellaneous
325 Q5.3.2: Fontifying hang when editing a postscript file.
326 -------------------------------------------------------
328 When I try to edit a postscript file it gets stuck saying:
329 `fontifying 'filename' (regexps....)' and it just sits there. If I
330 press `C-c' in the window where XEmacs was started, it suddenly becomes
333 This was caused by a bug in the Postscript font-lock regular
334 expressions. It was fixed in 19.13. For earlier versions of XEmacs,
335 have a look at your `.emacs' file. You will probably have a line like:
337 (add-hook 'postscript-mode-hook 'turn-on-font-lock)
339 Take it out, restart XEmacs, and it won't try to fontify your
340 postscript files anymore.
343 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q5.3.3, Next: Q5.3.4, Prev: Q5.3.2, Up: Miscellaneous
345 Q5.3.3: How can I print WYSIWYG a font-locked buffer?
346 -----------------------------------------------------
348 Font-lock looks nice. How can I print (WYSIWYG) the highlighted
351 The package `ps-print', which is now included with XEmacs, provides
352 the ability to do this. The source code contains complete instructions
353 on its use, in `<xemacs_src_root>/lisp/packages/ps-print.el'.
356 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q5.3.4, Next: Q5.3.5, Prev: Q5.3.3, Up: Miscellaneous
358 Q5.3.4: Getting `M-x lpr' to work with postscript printer.
359 ----------------------------------------------------------
361 My printer is a Postscript printer and `lpr' only works for
362 Postscript files, so how do I get `M-x lpr-region' and `M-x lpr-buffer'
365 Put something like this in your `.emacs':
367 (setq lpr-command "a2ps")
368 (setq lpr-switches '("-p" "-1"))
370 If you don't use a2ps to convert ASCII to postscript (why not, it's
371 free?), replace with the command you do use. Note also that some
372 versions of a2ps require a `-Pprinter' to ensure spooling.
375 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q5.3.5, Next: Q5.3.6, Prev: Q5.3.4, Up: Miscellaneous
377 Q5.3.5: How do I specify the paths that XEmacs uses for finding files?
378 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
380 You can specify what paths to use by using a number of different
381 flags when running configure. See the section MAKE VARIABLES in the
382 top-level file INSTALL in the XEmacs distribution for a listing of
385 Most of the time, however, the simplest fix is: *do not* specify
386 paths as you might for GNU Emacs. XEmacs can generally determine the
387 necessary paths dynamically at run time. The only path that generally
388 needs to be specified is the root directory to install into. That can
389 be specified by passing the `--prefix' flag to configure. For a
390 description of the XEmacs install tree, please consult the `NEWS' file.
393 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q5.3.6, Next: Q5.3.7, Prev: Q5.3.5, Up: Miscellaneous
395 Q5.3.6: [This question intentionally left blank]
396 ------------------------------------------------
398 Obsolete question, left blank to avoid renumbering.
401 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q5.3.7, Next: Q5.3.8, Prev: Q5.3.6, Up: Miscellaneous
403 Q5.3.7: Can I have the end of the buffer delimited in some way?
404 ---------------------------------------------------------------
410 (let ((ext (make-extent (point-min) (point-max))))
411 (set-extent-property ext 'start-closed t)
412 (set-extent-property ext 'end-closed t)
413 (set-extent-property ext 'detachable nil)
414 (set-extent-end-glyph ext (make-glyph [string :data "[END]"])))
416 Since this is XEmacs, you can specify an icon to be shown on
417 window-system devices. To do so, change the `make-glyph' call to
420 (make-glyph '([xpm :file "~/something.xpm"]
421 [string :data "[END]"]))
423 You can inline the XPM definition yourself by specifying `:data'
424 instead of `:file'. Here is such a full-featured version that works on
425 both X and TTY devices:
427 (let ((ext (make-extent (point-min) (point-max))))
428 (set-extent-property ext 'start-closed t)
429 (set-extent-property ext 'end-closed t)
430 (set-extent-property ext 'detachable nil)
431 (set-extent-end-glyph ext (make-glyph '([xpm :data "\
442 \"___________`_`_`___b_b_b_b_________`____\",
443 \"_________`_`_`___b_c_c_c_b_b____________\",
444 \"_____`_`_`_e___b_b_c_c_c___b___b_______`\",
445 \"___`_`_e_a___b_b_d___b___b___b___b______\",
446 \"_`_`_e_a_e___b_b_d_b___b___b___b___b____\",
447 \"_`_`_a_e_a___b_b_d___b___b___b___b___b__\",
448 \"_`_`_e_a_e___b_b_d_b___b___b___b___b_b__\",
449 \"___`_`_e_a___b_b_b_d_c___b___b___d_b____\",
450 \"_____`_`_e_e___b_b_b_d_c___b_b_d_b______\",
451 \"_`_____`_`_`_`___b_b_b_d_d_d_d_b________\",
452 \"___`_____`_`_`_`___b_b_b_b_b_b__________\",
454 [string :data "[END]"]))))
456 Note that you might want to make this a function, and put it to a
457 hook. We leave that as an exercise for the reader.
460 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q5.3.8, Next: Q5.3.9, Prev: Q5.3.7, Up: Miscellaneous
462 Q5.3.8: How do I insert today's date into a buffer?
463 ---------------------------------------------------
467 (insert (current-time-string))
470 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q5.3.9, Next: Q5.3.10, Prev: Q5.3.8, Up: Miscellaneous
472 Q5.3.9: Are only certain syntactic character classes available for abbrevs?
473 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
475 Markus Gutschke <gutschk@uni-muenster.de> writes:
477 Yes, abbrevs only expands word-syntax strings. While XEmacs does
478 not prevent you from defining (e.g. with `C-x a g' or `C-x a l')
479 abbrevs that contain special characters, it will refuse to expand
480 them. So you need to ensure, that the abbreviation contains
481 letters and digits only. This means that `xd', `d5', and `5d' are
482 valid abbrevs, but `&d', and `x d' are not.
484 If this sounds confusing to you, (re-)read the online
485 documentation for abbrevs (`C-h i m XEmacs <RET> m Abbrevs
486 <RET>'), and then come back and read this question/answer again.
488 Starting with XEmacs 20.3 this restriction has been lifted.
491 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q5.3.10, Next: Q5.3.11, Prev: Q5.3.9, Up: Miscellaneous
493 Q5.3.10: How can I get those oh-so-neat X-Face lines?
494 -----------------------------------------------------
496 Firstly there is an ftp site which describes X-faces and has the
497 associated tools mentioned below, at
498 `ftp://ftp.cs.indiana.edu:/pub/faces/'.
502 1. Create 48x48x1 bitmap with your favorite tool
504 2. Convert to "icon" format using one of xbm2ikon, pbmtoicon, etc.,
505 and then compile the face.
507 3. cat file.xbm | xbm2ikon |compface > file.face
509 4. Then be sure to quote things that are necessary for emacs strings:
511 cat ./file.face | sed 's/\\/\\\\/g'
512 | sed 's/\"/\\\"/g' > ./file.face.quoted
514 5. Then set up emacs to include the file as a mail header - there
515 were a couple of suggestions here--either something like:
517 (setq mail-default-headers
518 "X-Face: <Ugly looking text string here>")
520 Or, alternatively, as:
522 (defun mail-insert-x-face ()
524 (goto-char (point-min))
525 (search-forward mail-header-separator)
528 (insert-file-contents "~/.face")))
530 (add-hook 'mail-setup-hook 'mail-insert-x-face)
532 However, 2 things might be wrong:
534 Some versions of pbmtoicon produces some header lines that is not
535 expected by the version of compface that I grabbed. So I found I had to
536 include a `tail +3' in the pipeline like this:
538 cat file.xbm | xbm2ikon | tail +3 |compface > file.face
540 Some people have also found that if one uses the `(insert-file)'
541 method, one should NOT quote the face string using the sed script .
543 It might also be helpful to use Stig's <stig@hackvan.com> script
544 (included in the compface distribution at XEmacs.org) to do the
547 Contributors for this item:
549 Paul Emsley, Ricardo Marek, Amir J. Katz, Glen McCort, Heinz Uphoff,
550 Peter Arius, Paul Harrison, and Vegard Vesterheim
553 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q5.3.11, Next: Q5.3.12, Prev: Q5.3.10, Up: Miscellaneous
555 Q5.3.11: How do I add new Info directories?
556 -------------------------------------------
558 You use something like:
560 (setq Info-directory-list (cons
561 (expand-file-name "~/info")
562 Info-default-directory-list))
564 David Masterson <davidm@prism.kla.com> writes:
566 Emacs Info and XEmacs Info do many things differently. If you're
567 trying to support a number of versions of Emacs, here are some
570 1. Emacs Info scans `Info-directory-list' from right-to-left
571 while XEmacs Info reads it from left-to-right, so append to
572 the _correct_ end of the list.
574 2. Use `Info-default-directory-list' to initialize
575 `Info-directory-list' _if_ it is available at startup, but not
576 all Emacsen define it.
578 3. Emacs Info looks for a standard `dir' file in each of the
579 directories scanned from #1 and magically concatenates them
582 4. XEmacs Info looks for a `localdir' file (which consists of
583 just the menu entries from a `dir' file) in each of the
584 directories scanned from #1 (except the first), does a simple
585 concatenation of them, and magically attaches the resulting
586 list to the end of the menu in the `dir' file in the first
589 Another alternative is to convert the documentation to HTML with
590 texi2html and read it from a web browser like Lynx or W3.
593 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q5.3.12, Prev: Q5.3.11, Up: Miscellaneous
595 Q5.3.12: What do I need to change to make printing work?
596 --------------------------------------------------------
598 For regular printing there are two variables that can be customized.
601 This should be set to a command that takes standard input and sends
602 it to a printer. Something like:
604 (setq lpr-command "lp")
607 This should be set to a list that contains whatever the print
608 command requires to do its job. Something like:
610 (setq lpr-switches '("-depson"))
612 For postscript printing there are three analogous variables to
616 This should be set to a command that takes postscript on standard
617 input and directs it to a postscript printer.
620 This should be set to a list of switches required for
621 `ps-lpr-command' to do its job.
624 This boolean variable should be set `t' if printing will be done in
625 color, otherwise it should be set to `nil'.
627 NOTE: It is an undocumented limitation in XEmacs that postscript
628 printing (the `Pretty Print Buffer' menu item) *requires* a window
629 system environment. It cannot be used outside of X11.
632 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: MS Windows, Next: Current Events, Prev: Miscellaneous, Up: Top
634 6 XEmacs on MS Windows
635 **********************
637 This is part 6 of the XEmacs Frequently Asked Questions list,
638 written by Hrvoje Niksic and others. This section is devoted to the MS
639 Windows port of XEmacs.
645 * Q6.0.1:: What is the status of the XEmacs port to Windows?
646 * Q6.0.2:: What flavors of MS Windows are supported?
647 * Q6.0.3:: Where are the XEmacs on MS Windows binaries?
648 * Q6.0.4:: Does XEmacs on MS Windows require an X server to run?
650 Building XEmacs on MS Windows
651 * Q6.1.1:: I decided to run with X. Where do I get an X server?
652 * Q6.1.2:: What compiler do I need to compile XEmacs?
653 * Q6.1.3:: How do I compile for the native port?
654 * Q6.1.4:: How do I compile for the X port?
655 * Q6.1.5:: How do I compile for Cygnus' Cygwin?
656 * Q6.1.6:: What do I need for Cygwin?
658 Customization and User Interface
659 * Q6.2.1:: How will the port cope with differences in the Windows user interface?
660 * Q6.2.2:: How do I change fonts in XEmacs on MS Windows?
661 * Q6.2.3:: Where do I put my `.emacs' file?
664 * Q6.3.1:: Will XEmacs rename all the win32-* symbols to w32-*?
665 * Q6.3.2:: What are the differences between the various MS Windows emacsen?
666 * Q6.3.3:: What is the porting team doing at the moment?
669 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q6.0.1, Next: Q6.0.2, Prev: MS Windows, Up: MS Windows
674 Q6.0.1: What is the status of the XEmacs port to Windows?
675 ---------------------------------------------------------
677 Is XEmacs really getting ported to MS Windows? What is the status
680 Yes, a group of volunteers actively works on making XEmacs code base
681 cleanly compile and run on MS Windows operating systems. The mailing
682 list at <xemacs-nt@xemacs.org> is dedicated to that effort (please use
683 the -request address to subscribe).
685 At this time, XEmacs on MS Windows is usable, but lacks some of the
686 features of XEmacs on UNIX and UNIX-like systems. Notably,
687 internationalization does not work.
690 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q6.0.2, Next: Q6.0.3, Prev: Q6.0.1, Up: MS Windows
692 Q6.0.2: What flavors of MS Windows are supported? The list name implies NT only.
693 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
695 The list name is misleading, as XEmacs will support both Windows 95,
696 Windows 98 and Windows NT. The MS Windows-specific code is based on
697 Microsoft Win32 API, and will not work on MS Windows 3.x or on MS-DOS.
700 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q6.0.3, Next: Q6.0.4, Prev: Q6.0.2, Up: MS Windows
702 Q6.0.3: Are binary kits available?
703 ----------------------------------
705 Binary kits are available at
706 `ftp://ftp.xemacs.org/pub/xemacs/binary-kits/win32/' for the "plain" MS
710 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q6.0.4, Next: Q6.1.1, Prev: Q6.0.3, Up: MS Windows
712 Q6.0.4: Does XEmacs on MS Windows require an X server to run?
713 -------------------------------------------------------------
717 Long answer: XEmacs can be built in several ways in the MS Windows
718 environment, some of them requiring an X server and some not.
720 One is what we call the "X" port - it requires X libraries to build
721 and an X server to run. Internally it uses the Xt event loop and makes
722 use of X toolkits. Its look is quite un-Windowsy, but it works
723 reliably and supports all of the graphical features of Unix XEmacs.
725 The other is what we call the "native" port. It uses the Win32 API
726 and does not require X libraries to build, nor does it require an X to
727 run. In fact, it has no connection with X whatsoever. At this time,
728 the native port obsoletes the X port, providing almost all of its
729 features, including support for menus, scrollbars, toolbars, embedded
730 images and background pixmaps, frame pointers, etc. Most of the future
731 work will be based on the native port.
733 There is also a third special case, the Cygwin port. It takes
734 advantage of Cygnus emulation library under Win32, which enables it to
735 reuse much of the Unix XEmacs code base, such as processes and network
736 support, or internal select() mechanisms.
738 Cygwin port supports all display types - TTY, X & MS gui, and can be
739 built with support for all three. If you build with ms gui support
740 then the Cygwin version uses the majority of the msw code, which is
741 mostly related to display. If you want to build with X support you
742 need X libraries. If you want to build with tty support you need
743 ncurses. MS gui requires no additional libraries.
745 Some of the advantages of the Cygwin version are that it:
747 * integrates well with Cygwin environment for existing Cygwin users;
749 * uses configure so building with different features is very easy;
751 * has process support in X & tty.
754 The disadvantage is that it requires several Unix utilities and the
755 whole Cygwin environment, whereas the native port requires only a
756 suitable MS Windows compiler. Also, it follows the Unix filesystem and
757 process model very closely (some will undoubtedly view this as an
761 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q6.1.1, Next: Q6.1.2, Prev: Q6.0.4, Up: MS Windows
763 6.1: Building XEmacs on MS Windows
764 ==================================
766 Q6.1.1: I decided to run with X. Where do I get an X server?
767 -------------------------------------------------------------
769 Pointers to X servers can be found at
770 `http://dao.gsfc.nasa.gov/software/grads/win32/X11R6.3/';
772 look for "Where to get an X server". Also note that, although the
773 above page talks about Cygnus gnu-win32 (Cygwin), the information on X
774 servers is Cygwin-independent. You don't have to be running/using
775 Cygwin to use these X servers, and you don't have to compile XEmacs
776 under Cygwin to use XEmacs with these X servers. An "X port" XEmacs
777 compiled under Visual C++ will work with these X servers (as will
778 XEmacs running on a Unix box, redirected to the server running on your
782 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q6.1.2, Next: Q6.1.3, Prev: Q6.1.1, Up: MS Windows
784 Q6.1.2: What compiler do I need to compile XEmacs?
785 --------------------------------------------------
787 You need Visual C++ 4.2 or 5.0, with the exception of the Cygwin
788 port, which uses Gcc.
791 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q6.1.3, Next: Q6.1.4, Prev: Q6.1.2, Up: MS Windows
793 Q6.1.3: How do I compile for the native port?
794 ---------------------------------------------
796 Please read the file `nt/README' in the XEmacs distribution, which
797 contains the full description.
800 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q6.1.4, Next: Q6.1.5, Prev: Q6.1.3, Up: MS Windows
802 Q6.1.4: How do I compile for the X port?
803 ----------------------------------------
805 Again, it is described in `nt/README' in some detail. Basically, you
806 need to get X11 libraries from ftp.x.org, and compile them. If the
807 precompiled versions are available somewhere, I don't know of it.
810 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q6.1.5, Next: Q6.1.6, Prev: Q6.1.4, Up: MS Windows
812 Q6.1.5: How do I compile for Cygnus' Cygwin?
813 --------------------------------------------
815 Similar as on Unix; use the usual `configure' and `make' process.
816 Some problems to watch out for:
818 * make sure HOME is set. This controls where you `.emacs' file comes
821 * CYGWIN32 needs to be set to tty for process support work. e.g.
824 * picking up some other grep or other unix like tools can kill
827 * static heap too small, adjust src/sheap-adjust.h to a more positive
830 * The Cygwin version doesn't understand `//machine/path' type paths
831 so you will need to manually mount a directory of this form under
832 a unix style directory for a build to work on the directory.
836 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q6.1.6, Next: Q6.2.1, Prev: Q6.1.5, Up: MS Windows
838 Q6.1.6: What do I need for Cygwin?
839 ----------------------------------
841 You can find the Cygwin tools and compiler at:
843 `http://sourceware.cygnus.com/cygwin/'
845 You will need version b19 or later.
847 You will also need the X libraries. There are libraries at
848 `http://dao.gsfc.nasa.gov/software/grads/win32/X11R6.3/', but these are
849 not b19 compatible. You can get b19 X11R6.3 binaries, as well as
850 pre-built ncurses and graphic libraries, from:
852 `ftp://ftp.parallax.co.uk/pub/andyp/'.
855 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q6.2.1, Next: Q6.2.2, Prev: Q6.1.6, Up: MS Windows
857 6.2: Customization and User Interface
858 =====================================
860 Q6.2.1: How will the port cope with differences in the Windows user interface?
861 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
863 XEmacs (and Emacs in general) UI is pretty different from what is
864 expected of a typical MS Windows program. How will the MS Windows port
867 Fortunately, Emacs is also one of the most configurable editor beasts
868 in the world. The MS Windows "look and feel" (mark via shift-arrow,
869 self-inserting deletes region, etc.) can be easily configured via
870 various packages distributed with XEmacs. The `pending-delete' package
871 is an example of such a utility.
873 In future versions, some of these packages might be turned on by
874 default in the MS Windows environment.
877 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q6.2.2, Next: Q6.2.3, Prev: Q6.2.1, Up: MS Windows
879 Q6.2.2: How do I change fonts in XEmacs on MS Windows?
880 ------------------------------------------------------
882 You can change font manually, but not from the menubar, yet. For
885 (set-face-font 'default "Lucida Console:Regular:10")
886 (set-face-font 'modeline "MS Sans Serif:Regular:10")
889 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q6.2.3, Next: Q6.3.1, Prev: Q6.2.2, Up: MS Windows
891 Q6.2.3: Where do I put my `.emacs' file?
892 ----------------------------------------
894 If the HOME environment variable is set, `.emacs' will be looked for
895 there. Else the directory defaults to `c:\'.
898 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q6.3.1, Next: Q6.3.2, Prev: Q6.2.3, Up: MS Windows
903 Q6.3.1: Will XEmacs rename all the win32-* symbols to w32-*?
904 ------------------------------------------------------------
906 In his flavor of Emacs 20, Richard Stallman has renamed all the
907 win32-* symbols to w32-*. Will XEmacs do the same?
909 We consider such a move counter-productive, thus we will not use the
910 `w32' prefix. However, we do recognize that Win32 name is little more
911 than a marketing buzzword (will it be Win64 in the next release?), so
912 we decided not to use it. Using `windows-' would be wrong because the
913 term is too generic, which is why we settled on a compromise
916 Thus all the XEmacs variables and functions directly related to Win32
917 are prefixed `mswindows-'. The user-variables shared with NT Emacs
918 will be provided as compatibility aliases.
920 Architectural note: We believe that there should be a very small
921 number of window-systems-specific variables, and will try to provide
922 generic interfaces whenever possible.
925 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q6.3.2, Next: Q6.3.3, Prev: Q6.3.1, Up: MS Windows
927 Q6.3.2: What are the differences between the various MS Windows emacsen?
928 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
930 XEmacs, Win-Emacs, DOS Emacs, NT Emacs, this is all very confusing.
931 Could you briefly explain the differences between them?
933 Here is a recount of various Emacs versions running on MS Windows:
937 - Win-Emacs is a port of Lucid Emacs 19.6 to MS Windows using X
938 compatibility libraries. Win-Emacs has been written by Ben
939 Wing. The MS Windows code has not made it back to Lucid
940 Emacs, which left Win-Emacs pretty much dead for our
941 purposes. Win-Emacs used to be available at Pearlsoft, but
942 not anymore, since Pearlsoft went out of business.
946 - GNU Emacs features support for MS-DOS and DJGPP (D.J.
947 Delorie's DOS port of Gcc). Such an Emacs is heavily
948 underfeatured, because it does not supports long file names,
949 lacks proper subprocesses support, and is far too big
950 compared to typical DOS editors.
952 * GNU Emacs compiled with Win32
954 - Starting with version 19.30, it has been possible to compile
955 GNU Emacs under MS Windows using the DJGPP compiler and X
956 libraries. The result is is very similar to GNU Emacs
957 compiled under MS DOS, only it supports longer file names,
958 etc. This "port" is similar to the "X" flavor of XEmacs on
963 - NT Emacs is a version of GNU Emacs modified to compile and
964 run under MS MS Windows 95 and NT using the native Win32 API.
965 As such, it is close in spirit to the XEmacs "native" port.
967 - NT Emacs has been written by Geoff Voelker, and more
968 information can be found at
969 `http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/voelker/ntemacs.html'.
974 - Beginning with XEmacs 19.12, XEmacs' architecture has been
975 redesigned in such a way to allow clean support of multiple
976 window systems. At this time the TTY support was added,
977 making X and TTY the first two "window systems" XEmacs
978 supported. The 19.12 design is the basis for the current
979 native MS Windows code.
981 - Some time during 1997, David Hobley (soon joined by Marc
982 Paquette) imported some of the NT-specific portions of GNU
983 Emacs, making XEmacs with X support compile under Windows NT,
984 and creating the "X" port.
986 - Several months later, Jonathan Harris sent out initial
987 patches to use the Win32 API, thus creating the native port.
988 Since then, various people have contributed, including Kirill
989 M. Katsnelson (contributed support for menubars, subprocesses
990 and network, as well as loads of other code), Andy Piper
991 (ported XEmacs to Cygwin environment, contributed Windows
992 unexec, Windows-specific glyphs and toolbars code, and more),
993 Jeff Sparkes (contributed scrollbars support) and many others.
998 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q6.3.3, Prev: Q6.3.2, Up: MS Windows
1000 Q6.3.3: What is the porting team doing at the moment?
1001 -----------------------------------------------------
1003 The porting team is continuing work on the MS Windows-specific code.
1006 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Current Events, Prev: MS Windows, Up: Top
1008 7 What the Future Holds
1009 ***********************
1011 This is part 7 of the XEmacs Frequently Asked Questions list. This
1012 section will change monthly, and contains any interesting items that
1013 have transpired over the previous month. If you are reading this from
1014 the XEmacs distribution, please see the version on the Web or archived
1015 at the various FAQ FTP sites, as this file is surely out of date.
1019 * Q7.0.1:: What is new in 20.2?
1020 * Q7.0.2:: What is new in 20.3?
1021 * Q7.0.3:: What is new in 20.4?
1022 * Q7.0.4:: Procedural changes in XEmacs development.
1025 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q7.0.1, Next: Q7.0.2, Prev: Current Events, Up: Current Events
1030 Q7.0.1: What is new in 20.2?
1031 ----------------------------
1033 The biggest changes in 20.2 include integration of EFS (the next
1034 generation of ange-ftp) and AUC Tex (the Emacs subsystem that includes a
1035 major mode for editing Tex and LaTeX, and a lot of other stuff). Many
1036 bugs from 20.0 have been fixed for this release. 20.2 also contains a
1037 new system for customizing XEmacs options, invoked via `M-x customize'.
1039 XEmacs 20.2 is the development release (20.0 was beta), and is no
1040 longer considered unstable.
1043 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q7.0.2, Next: Q7.0.3, Prev: Q7.0.1, Up: Current Events
1045 Q7.0.2: What is new in 20.3?
1046 ----------------------------
1048 XEmacs 20.3 was released in November 1997. It contains many bugfixes,
1049 and a number of new features, including Autoconf 2 based configuration,
1050 additional support for Mule (Multi-language extensions to Emacs), many
1051 more customizations, multiple frames on TTY-s, support for multiple info
1052 directories, an enhanced gnuclient, improvements to regexp matching,
1053 increased MIME support, and many, many synches with GNU Emacs 20.
1055 The XEmacs/Mule support has been only seriously tested in a Japanese
1056 locale, and no doubt many problems still remain. The support for
1057 ISO-Latin-1 and Japanese is fairly strong. MULE support comes at a
1058 price - about a 30% slowdown from 19.16. We're making progress on
1059 improving performance and XEmacs 20.3 compiled without Mule (which is
1060 the default) is definitely faster than XEmacs 19.16.
1062 XEmacs 20.3 is the first non-beta v20 release, and will be the basis
1063 for all further development.
1066 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q7.0.3, Next: Q7.0.4, Prev: Q7.0.2, Up: Current Events
1068 Q7.0.3: What's new in XEmacs 20.4?
1069 ----------------------------------
1071 XEmacs 20.4 is a bugfix release with no user-visible changes.
1074 File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q7.0.4, Prev: Q7.0.3, Up: Current Events
1076 Q7.0.4: Procedural changes in XEmacs development.
1077 -------------------------------------------------
1079 1. Discussion about the development of XEmacs occurs on the
1080 xemacs-beta mailing list. Subscriptions to this list will now be
1081 fully automated instead of being handled by hand. Send a mail
1082 message to <xemacs-beta-request@xemacs.org> with `subscribe' as the
1083 BODY of the message to join the list. Please note this is a
1084 developers mailing list for people who have an active interest in
1085 the development process.
1087 The discussion of NT XEmacs development is taking place on a
1088 separate mailing list. Send mail to
1089 <xemacs-nt-request@xemacs.org> to subscribe.
1091 2. Due to the long development cycle in between releases, it has been
1092 decided that intermediate versions will be made available in
1093 source only form for the truly interested.
1095 XEmacs 19.16 was the last 19 release, basically consisting of
1096 19.15 plus the collected bugfixes.
1098 3. As of December 1996, Steve Baur <steve@xemacs.org> has become the
1099 lead maintainer of XEmacs.