1 \input texinfo.tex @c -*- mode: texinfo; coding: iso-2022-8 -*-
3 @setfilename ../info/xemacs-faq.info
4 @settitle Frequently asked questions about XEmacs
10 @subtitle Frequently asked questions about XEmacs @* Last Modified: $Date: 2000/04/26 07:18:27 $
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. It is much more than just a Text Editor.
37 This FAQ is freely redistributable. I take no liability for the
38 correctness and safety of any procedures or advice given here. This
39 FAQ is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY
40 WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
41 FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
43 If you have a Web browser, the official hypertext version is at
47 @uref{http://www.xemacs.org/faq/xemacs-faq.html}.
49 This version is somewhat nicer than the unofficial hypertext versions
50 that are archived at Utrecht, Oxford, Smart Pages, and other FAQ
55 This document is available in several different formats:
58 @uref{xemacs-faq.txt, As a single ASCII file}, produced by
59 @code{makeinfo --no-headers}
61 @uref{xemacs-faq.dvi, As a .dvi file}, as used with
62 @uref{http://www.tug.org, TeX.}
64 As a PostScript file @uref{xemacs-faq-a4.ps, in A4 format},
65 as well as in @uref{xemacs-faq-letter.ps, letter format}
67 In html format, @uref{xemacs-faq_1.html, split by chapter}, or in
68 @uref{xemacs-faq.html, one monolithic} document.
70 The canonical version of the FAQ is the texinfo document
71 @uref{xemacs-faq.texi, man/xemacs-faq.texi}.
73 If you do not have makeinfo installed, you may @uref{xemacs-faq.info,
74 download the faq} in info format, and install it in @file{<XEmacs
75 library directory>/info/}. For example in
76 @file{/usr/local/lib/xemacs-20.4/info/}.
84 @c end ifset points to CANONICAL
87 * Introduction:: Introduction, Policy, Credits.
88 * Installation:: Installation and Trouble Shooting.
89 * Customization:: Customization and Options.
90 * Subsystems:: Major Subsystems.
91 * Miscellaneous:: The Miscellaneous Stuff.
92 * MS Windows:: XEmacs on Microsoft Windows.
93 * Current Events:: What the Future Holds.
97 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
99 Introduction, Policy, Credits
101 * Q1.0.1:: What is XEmacs?
102 * Q1.0.2:: What is the current version of XEmacs?
103 * Q1.0.3:: Where can I find it?
104 * Q1.0.4:: Why Another Version of Emacs?
105 * Q1.0.5:: Why Haven't XEmacs and GNU Emacs Merged?
106 * Q1.0.6:: Where can I get help?
107 * Q1.0.7:: Where is the mailing list archived?
108 * Q1.0.8:: How do you pronounce XEmacs?
109 * Q1.0.9:: What does XEmacs look like?
110 * Q1.0.10:: Is there a port of XEmacs to Microsoft ('95 or NT)?
111 * Q1.0.11:: Is there a port of XEmacs to the Macintosh?
112 * Q1.0.12:: Is there a port of XEmacs to NextStep?
113 * Q1.0.13:: Is there a port of XEmacs to OS/2?
114 * Q1.0.14:: Where can I get a printed copy of the XEmacs users manual?
117 * Q1.1.1:: What is the FAQ editorial policy?
118 * Q1.1.2:: How do I become a Beta Tester?
119 * Q1.1.3:: How do I contribute to XEmacs itself?
122 * Q1.2.1:: Who wrote XEmacs?
123 * Q1.2.2:: Who contributed to this version of the FAQ?
124 * Q1.2.3:: Who contributed to the FAQ in the past?
126 Internationalization:
127 * Q1.3.1:: What is the status of XEmacs v20?
128 * Q1.3.2:: What is the status of Asian-language support, aka @var{mule}?
129 * Q1.3.3:: How do I type non-ASCII characters?
130 * Q1.3.4:: Can XEmacs messages come out in a different language?
131 * Q1.3.5:: Please explain the various input methods in MULE/XEmacs 20.0
132 * Q1.3.6:: How do I portably code for MULE/XEmacs 20.0?
133 * Q1.3.7:: How about Cyrillic Modes?
136 * Q1.4.1:: What is a @file{.emacs} and is there a sample one?
137 * Q1.4.2:: Can I use the same @file{.emacs} with the other Emacs?
138 * Q1.4.3:: Any good XEmacs tutorials around?
139 * Q1.4.4:: May I see an example of a useful XEmacs Lisp function?
140 * Q1.4.5:: And how do I bind it to a key?
141 * Q1.4.6:: What's the difference between a macro and a function?
143 Installation and Trouble Shooting
145 * Q2.0.1:: Running XEmacs without installing.
146 * Q2.0.2:: XEmacs is too big.
147 * Q2.0.3:: Compiling XEmacs with Netaudio.
148 * Q2.0.4:: Problems with Linux and ncurses.
149 * Q2.0.5:: Do I need X11 to run XEmacs?
150 * Q2.0.6:: I'm having strange crashes. What do I do?
151 * Q2.0.7:: Libraries in non-standard locations.
152 * Q2.0.8:: can't resolve symbol _h_errno
153 * Q2.0.9:: Where do I find external libraries?
154 * Q2.0.10:: After I run configure I find a coredump, is something wrong?
155 * Q2.0.11:: XEmacs can't resolve host names.
156 * Q2.0.12:: Why can't I strip XEmacs?
159 * Q2.1.1:: XEmacs just crashed on me!
160 * Q2.1.2:: Cryptic Minibuffer messages.
161 * Q2.1.3:: Translation Table Syntax messages at Startup.
162 * Q2.1.4:: Startup warnings about deducing proper fonts?
163 * Q2.1.5:: XEmacs cannot connect to my X Terminal.
164 * Q2.1.6:: XEmacs just locked up my Linux X server.
165 * Q2.1.7:: HP Alt key as Meta.
166 * Q2.1.8:: got (wrong-type-argument color-instance-p nil)!
167 * Q2.1.9:: XEmacs causes my OpenWindows 3.0 server to crash.
168 * Q2.1.10:: Warnings from incorrect key modifiers.
169 * Q2.1.11:: Can't instantiate image error... in toolbar
170 * Q2.1.12:: Regular Expression Problems on DEC OSF1.
171 * Q2.1.13:: HP/UX 10.10 and @code{create_process} failure
172 * Q2.1.14:: @kbd{C-g} doesn't work for me. Is it broken?
173 * Q2.1.15:: How to debug an XEmacs problem with a debugger.
174 * Q2.1.16:: XEmacs crashes in @code{strcat} on HP/UX 10.
175 * Q2.1.17:: @samp{Marker does not point anywhere}.
176 * Q2.1.18:: [This question intentionally left blank]
177 * Q2.1.19:: XEmacs does not follow the local timezone.
178 * Q2.1.20:: @samp{Symbol's function definition is void: hkey-help-show.}
179 * Q2.1.21:: [This question intentionally left blank]
180 * Q2.1.22:: XEmacs seems to take a really long time to do some things.
181 * Q2.1.23:: Movemail on Linux does not work for XEmacs 19.15 and later.
182 * Q2.1.24:: XEmacs won't start without network. (NEW)
184 Customization and Options
186 * Q3.0.1:: What version of Emacs am I running?
187 * Q3.0.2:: How do I evaluate Elisp expressions?
188 * Q3.0.3:: @code{(setq tab-width 6)} behaves oddly.
189 * Q3.0.4:: How can I add directories to the @code{load-path}?
190 * Q3.0.5:: How to check if a lisp function is defined?
191 * Q3.0.6:: Can I force the output of @code{(face-list)} to a buffer?
192 * Q3.0.7:: Font selections don't get saved after @code{Save Options}.
193 * Q3.0.8:: How do I make a single minibuffer frame?
194 * Q3.0.9:: What is @code{Customize}?
196 X Window System & Resources:
197 * Q3.1.1:: Where is a list of X resources?
198 * Q3.1.2:: How can I detect a color display?
199 * Q3.1.3:: [This question intentionally left blank]
200 * Q3.1.4:: [This question intentionally left blank]
201 * Q3.1.5:: How can I get the icon to just say @samp{XEmacs}?
202 * Q3.1.6:: How can I have the window title area display the full path?
203 * Q3.1.7:: @samp{xemacs -name junk} doesn't work?
204 * Q3.1.8:: @samp{-iconic} doesn't work.
206 Textual Fonts & Colors:
207 * Q3.2.1:: How can I set color options from @file{.emacs}?
208 * Q3.2.2:: How do I set the text, menu and modeline fonts?
209 * Q3.2.3:: How can I set the colors when highlighting a region?
210 * Q3.2.4:: How can I limit color map usage?
211 * Q3.2.5:: My tty supports color, but XEmacs doesn't use them.
212 * Q3.2.6:: Can I have pixmap backgrounds in XEmacs?
215 * Q3.3.1:: How can I make the modeline go away?
216 * Q3.3.2:: How do you have XEmacs display the line number in the modeline?
217 * Q3.3.3:: How do I get XEmacs to put the time of day on the modeline?
218 * Q3.3.4:: How do I turn off current chapter from AUC TeX modeline?
219 * Q3.3.5:: How can one change the modeline color based on the mode used?
221 Multiple Device Support:
222 * Q3.4.1:: How do I open a frame on another screen of my multi-headed display?
223 * Q3.4.2:: Can I really connect to a running XEmacs after calling up over a modem? How?
226 * Q3.5.1:: How can I bind complex functions (or macros) to keys?
227 * Q3.5.2:: How can I stop down-arrow from adding empty lines to the bottom of my buffers?
228 * Q3.5.3:: How do I bind C-. and C-; to scroll one line up and down?
229 * Q3.5.4:: Globally binding @kbd{Delete}?
230 * Q3.5.5:: Scrolling one line at a time.
231 * Q3.5.6:: How to map @kbd{Help} key alone on Sun type4 keyboard?
232 * Q3.5.7:: How can you type in special characters in XEmacs?
233 * Q3.5.8:: Why does @code{(global-set-key [delete-forward] 'delete-char)} complain?
234 * Q3.5.9:: How do I make the Delete key delete forward?
235 * Q3.5.10:: Can I turn on @dfn{sticky} modifier keys?
236 * Q3.5.11:: How do I map the arrow keys?
239 * Q3.6.1:: Is there a way to make the bar cursor thicker?
240 * 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?
241 * Q3.6.3:: Can I make the cursor blink?
243 The Mouse and Highlighting:
244 * Q3.7.1:: How can I turn off Mouse pasting?
245 * Q3.7.2:: How do I set control/meta/etc modifiers on mouse buttons?
246 * Q3.7.3:: Clicking the left button does not do anything in buffer list.
247 * Q3.7.4:: How can I get a list of buffers when I hit mouse button 3?
248 * Q3.7.5:: Why does cut-and-paste not work between XEmacs and a cmdtool?
249 * Q3.7.6:: How I can set XEmacs up so that it pastes where the text cursor is?
250 * Q3.7.7:: How do I select a rectangular region?
251 * Q3.7.8:: Why does @kbd{M-w} take so long?
253 The Menubar and Toolbar:
254 * Q3.8.1:: How do I get rid of the menu (or menubar)?
255 * Q3.8.2:: Can I customize the basic menubar?
256 * Q3.8.3:: How do I control how many buffers are listed in the menu @code{Buffers} list?
257 * Q3.8.4:: Resources like @code{Emacs*menubar*font} are not working?
258 * Q3.8.5:: How can I bind a key to a function to toggle the toolbar?
261 * Q3.9.1:: How can I disable the scrollbar?
262 * Q3.9.2:: How can one use resources to change scrollbar colors?
263 * Q3.9.3:: Moving the scrollbar can move the point; can I disable this?
264 * Q3.9.4:: How can I get automatic horizontal scrolling?
267 * Q3.10.1:: How can I turn off or change highlighted selections?
268 * Q3.10.2:: How do I get that typing on an active region removes it?
269 * Q3.10.3:: Can I turn off the highlight during isearch?
270 * Q3.10.4:: How do I turn off highlighting after @kbd{C-x C-p} (mark-page)?
271 * Q3.10.5:: The region disappears when I hit the end of buffer while scrolling.
275 * Q4.0.1:: How do I set up VM to retrieve remote mail using POP?
276 * Q4.0.2:: How do I get VM to filter mail for me?
277 * Q4.0.3:: How can I get VM to automatically check for new mail?
278 * Q4.0.4:: [This question intentionally left blank]
279 * Q4.0.5:: How do I get my outgoing mail archived?
280 * 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"?
281 * Q4.0.7:: Is there a mailing list or FAQ for VM?
282 * Q4.0.8:: Remote mail reading with VM.
283 * Q4.0.9:: rmail or VM gets an error incorporating new mail.
284 * Q4.0.10:: How do I make VM stay in a single frame?
285 * Q4.0.11:: How do I make VM or mh-e display graphical smilies?
286 * Q4.0.12:: Customization of VM not covered in the manual or here.
288 Web browsing with W3:
289 * Q4.1.1:: What is W3?
290 * Q4.1.2:: How do I run W3 from behind a firewall?
291 * Q4.1.3:: Is it true that W3 supports style sheets and tables?
293 Reading Netnews and Mail with Gnus:
294 * Q4.2.1:: GNUS, (ding) Gnus, Gnus 5, September Gnus, Red Gnus, Quassia Gnus, argh!
295 * Q4.2.2:: [This question intentionally left blank]
296 * Q4.2.3:: How do I make Gnus stay within a single frame?
297 * Q4.2.4:: How do I customize the From: line?
300 * Q4.3.1:: How can I read and/or compose MIME messages?
301 * Q4.3.2:: What is TM and where do I get it?
302 * Q4.3.3:: Why isn't this @code{movemail} program working?
303 * Q4.3.4:: Movemail is also distributed by Netscape? Can that cause problems?
304 * Q4.3.5:: Where do I find pstogif (required by tm)?
306 Sparcworks, EOS, and WorkShop:
307 * Q4.4.1:: What is SPARCworks, EOS, and WorkShop
308 * Q4.4.2:: How do I start the Sun Workshop support in XEmacs 21?
311 * Q4.5.1:: What is/was Energize?
314 * Q4.6.1:: What is Infodock?
316 Other Unbundled Packages:
317 * Q4.7.1:: What is AUC TeX? Where do you get it?
318 * Q4.7.2:: Are there any Emacs Lisp Spreadsheets?
319 * Q4.7.3:: [This question intentionally left blank]
320 * Q4.7.4:: Problems installing AUC TeX
321 * Q4.7.5:: Is there a reason for an Emacs package not to be included in XEmacs?
322 * Q4.7.6:: Is there a MatLab mode?
324 The Miscellaneous Stuff
326 * Q5.0.1:: How can I do source code highlighting using font-lock?
327 * Q5.0.2:: I do not like cc-mode. How do I use the old c-mode?
328 * Q5.0.3:: How do I get @samp{More} Syntax Highlighting on by default?
329 * Q5.0.4:: How can I enable auto-indent?
330 * Q5.0.5:: How can I get XEmacs to come up in text/auto-fill mode by default?
331 * Q5.0.6:: How do I start up a second shell buffer?
332 * Q5.0.7:: Telnet from shell filters too much.
333 * Q5.0.8:: Why does edt emulation not work?
334 * Q5.0.9:: How can I emulate VI and use it as my default mode?
335 * Q5.0.10:: [This question intentionally left blank]
336 * Q5.0.11:: How do I turn on filladapt for all buffers?
337 * Q5.0.12:: How do I disable gnuserv from opening a new frame?
338 * Q5.0.13:: How do I start gnuserv so that each subsequent XEmacs is a client?
339 * Q5.0.14:: Strange things are happening in Shell Mode.
340 * Q5.0.15:: Where do I get the latest CC Mode?
341 * Q5.0.16:: I find auto-show-mode disconcerting. How do I turn it off?
342 * Q5.0.17:: How can I get two instances of info?
343 * Q5.0.18:: [This question intentionally left blank]
344 * Q5.0.19:: Is there something better than LaTeX mode?
345 * Q5.0.20:: Is there a way to start a new XEmacs if there's no gnuserv running, and otherwise use gnuclient?
347 Emacs Lisp Programming Techniques:
348 * Q5.1.1:: The difference in key sequences between XEmacs and GNU Emacs?
349 * Q5.1.2:: Can I generate "fake" keyboard events?
350 * Q5.1.3:: Could you explain @code{read-kbd-macro} in more detail?
351 * Q5.1.4:: What is the performance hit of @code{let}?
352 * Q5.1.5:: What is the recommended use of @code{setq}?
353 * Q5.1.6:: What is the typical misuse of @code{setq} ?
354 * Q5.1.7:: I like the the @code{do} form of cl, does it slow things down?
355 * Q5.1.8:: I like recursion, does it slow things down?
356 * Q5.1.9:: How do I put a glyph as annotation in a buffer?
357 * Q5.1.10:: @code{map-extents} won't traverse all of my extents!
358 * Q5.1.11:: My elisp program is horribly slow. Is there an easy way to find out where it spends time?
361 * Q5.2.1:: How do I turn off the sound?
362 * Q5.2.2:: How do I get funky sounds instead of a boring beep?
363 * Q5.2.3:: What's NAS, how do I get it?
364 * Q5.2.4:: Sunsite sounds don't play.
367 * Q5.3.1:: How do you make XEmacs indent CL if-clauses correctly?
368 * Q5.3.2:: Fontifying hangs when editing a postscript file.
369 * Q5.3.3:: How can I print WYSIWYG a font-locked buffer?
370 * Q5.3.4:: Getting @kbd{M-x lpr} to work with postscript printer.
371 * Q5.3.5:: How do I specify the paths that XEmacs uses for finding files?
372 * Q5.3.6:: [This question intentionally left blank]
373 * Q5.3.7:: Can I have the end of the buffer delimited in some way?
374 * Q5.3.8:: How do I insert today's date into a buffer?
375 * Q5.3.9:: Are only certain syntactic character classes available for abbrevs?
376 * Q5.3.10:: How can I get those oh-so-neat X-Face lines?
377 * Q5.3.11:: How do I add new Info directories?
378 * Q5.3.12:: What do I need to change to make printing work?
383 * Q6.0.1:: What is the status of the XEmacs port to Windows?
384 * Q6.0.2:: What flavors of MS Windows are supported?
385 * Q6.0.3:: Are binary kits available?
386 * Q6.0.4:: Does XEmacs on MS Windows require an X server to run?
388 Building XEmacs on MS Windows:
389 * Q6.1.1:: I decided to run with X. Where do I get an X server?
390 * Q6.1.2:: What compiler do I need to compile XEmacs?
391 * Q6.1.3:: How do I compile for the native port?
392 * Q6.1.4:: How do I compile for the X port?
393 * Q6.1.5:: How do I compile for Cygnus' Cygwin?
394 * Q6.1.6:: What do I need for Cygwin?
396 Customization and User Interface:
397 * Q6.2.1:: How will the port cope with differences in the Windows user interface?
398 * Q6.2.2:: How do I change fonts in XEmacs on MS Windows?
399 * Q6.2.3:: Where do I put my @file{.emacs} file?
402 * Q6.3.1:: Will XEmacs rename all the win32-* symbols to w32-*?
403 * Q6.3.2:: What are the differences between the various MS Windows emacsen?
404 * Q6.3.3:: What is the porting team doing at the moment?
407 * Q6.4.1:: XEmacs won't start on Windows. (NEW)
411 * Q7.0.1:: What is new in 20.2?
412 * Q7.0.2:: What is new in 20.3?
413 * Q7.0.3:: What is new in 20.4?
414 * Q7.0.4:: Procedural changes in XEmacs development.
418 @node Introduction, Installation, Top, Top
419 @unnumbered 1 Introduction, Policy, Credits
421 Learning XEmacs is a lifelong activity. Even people who have used Emacs
422 for years keep discovering new features. Therefore this document cannot
423 be complete. Instead it is aimed at the person who is either
424 considering XEmacs for their own use, or has just obtained it and is
425 wondering what to do next. It is also useful as a reference to
428 The previous maintainer of the FAQ was @email{rossini@@biostat.washington.edu,
429 Anthony Rossini}, who started it, after getting tired of hearing JWZ
430 complain about repeatedly having to answer questions.
431 @email{ben@@xemacs.org, Ben Wing} and @email{cthomp@@xemacs.org, Chuck
432 Thompson}, the principal authors of XEmacs, then took over and Ben did
433 a massive update reorganizing the whole thing. At which point Anthony
434 took back over, but then had to give it up again. Some of the other
435 contributors to this FAQ are listed later in this document.
437 The previous version was converted to hypertext format, and edited by
438 @email{steve@@xemacs.org, Steven L. Baur}. It was converted back to
439 texinfo by @email{hniksic@@xemacs.org, Hrvoje Niksic}. The FAQ was then
440 maintained by @email{andreas@@sccon.com, Andreas Kaempf}, who passed it
441 on to ChristianNyb@o{}.
443 If you notice any errors or items which should be added or amended to
444 this FAQ please send email to @email{faq@@xemacs.org, Sandra
445 Wambold}. Include @samp{XEmacs FAQ} on the Subject: line.
449 * Q1.0.1:: What is XEmacs?
450 * Q1.0.2:: What is the current version of XEmacs?
451 * Q1.0.3:: Where can I find it?
452 * Q1.0.4:: Why Another Version of Emacs?
453 * Q1.0.5:: Why Haven't XEmacs and GNU Emacs Merged?
454 * Q1.0.6:: Where can I get help?
455 * Q1.0.7:: Where is the mailing list archived?
456 * Q1.0.8:: How do you pronounce XEmacs?
457 * Q1.0.9:: What does XEmacs look like?
458 * Q1.0.10:: Is there a port of XEmacs to Microsoft ('95 or NT)?
459 * Q1.0.11:: Is there a port of XEmacs to the Macintosh?
460 * Q1.0.12:: Is there a port of XEmacs to NextStep?
461 * Q1.0.13:: Is there a port of XEmacs to OS/2?
462 * Q1.0.14:: Where can I get a printed copy of the XEmacs users manual?
465 * Q1.1.1:: What is the FAQ editorial policy?
466 * Q1.1.2:: How do I become a Beta Tester?
467 * Q1.1.3:: How do I contribute to XEmacs itself?
470 * Q1.2.1:: Who wrote XEmacs?
471 * Q1.2.2:: Who contributed to this version of the FAQ?
472 * Q1.2.3:: Who contributed to the FAQ in the past?
474 Internationalization:
475 * Q1.3.1:: What is the status of XEmacs v20?
476 * Q1.3.2:: What is the status of Asian-language support, aka @var{mule}?
477 * Q1.3.3:: How do I type non-ASCII characters?
478 * Q1.3.4:: Can XEmacs messages come out in a different language?
479 * Q1.3.5:: Please explain the various input methods in MULE/XEmacs 20.0
480 * Q1.3.6:: How do I portably code for MULE/XEmacs 20.0?
481 * Q1.3.7:: How about Cyrillic Modes?
484 * Q1.4.1:: What is a @file{.emacs} and is there a sample one?
485 * Q1.4.2:: Can I use the same @file{.emacs} with the other Emacs?
486 * Q1.4.3:: Any good XEmacs tutorials around?
487 * Q1.4.4:: May I see an example of a useful XEmacs Lisp function?
488 * Q1.4.5:: And how do I bind it to a key?
489 * Q1.4.6:: What's the difference between a macro and a function?
492 @node Q1.0.1, Q1.0.2, Introduction, Introduction
493 @unnumberedsec 1.0: Introduction
494 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.0.1: What is XEmacs?
497 An alternative to GNU Emacs, originally based on an early alpha version
498 of FSF's version 19, and has diverged quite a bit since then. XEmacs
499 was known as Lucid Emacs through version 19.10. Almost all features of
500 GNU Emacs are supported in XEmacs. The maintainers of XEmacs actively
501 track changes to GNU Emacs while also working to add new features.
503 @node Q1.0.2, Q1.0.3, Q1.0.1, Introduction
504 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.0.2: What is the current version of XEmacs?
506 XEmacs 21.1.8 is the current stable version of XEmacs.
508 XEmacs 20.4 is a minor upgrade from 20.3, containing many bugfixes. It
509 was released in February 1998.
511 XEmacs 19.16 was the last release of v19, released in November, 1997,
512 which was also the last version without international language support.
514 @node Q1.0.3, Q1.0.4, Q1.0.2, Introduction
515 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.0.3: Where can I find it?
517 The canonical source and binaries can be found via anonymous FTP at:
520 @uref{ftp://ftp.xemacs.org/pub/xemacs/}
523 @node Q1.0.4, Q1.0.5, Q1.0.3, Introduction
524 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.0.4: Why Another Version of Emacs?
526 For a detailed description of the differences between GNU Emacs and
527 XEmacs and a detailed history of XEmacs, check out the
529 @uref{http://www.xemacs.org/About/XEmacsVsGNUemacs.html, NEWS file}
532 However, here is a list of some of the reasons why we think you might
540 The XEmacs maintainers are generally more receptive to suggestions than
541 the GNU Emacs maintainers.
544 Many more bundled packages than GNU Emacs
547 Binaries are available for many common operating systems.
550 Face support on TTY's.
556 Better Motif compliance.
559 Some internationalization support (including full MULE support, if
563 Variable-width fonts.
566 Variable-height lines.
569 Marginal annotations.
575 XEmacs can be used as an Xt widget, and can be embedded within another
579 Horizontal and vertical scrollbars (using real toolkit scrollbars).
582 Better APIs (and performance) for attaching fonts, colors, and other
586 The ability to embed arbitrary graphics in a buffer.
589 Completely compatible (at the C level) with the Xt-based toolkits.
592 First production Web Browser supporting Style Sheets.
595 @node Q1.0.5, Q1.0.6, Q1.0.4, Introduction
596 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.0.5: Why Haven't XEmacs and GNU Emacs Merged?
598 There are currently irreconcilable differences in the views about
599 technical, programming, design and organizational matters between RMS
600 and the XEmacs development team which provide little hope for a merge to
601 take place in the short-term future.
603 If you have a comment to add regarding the merge, it is a good idea to
604 avoid posting to the newsgroups, because of the very heated flamewars
605 that often result. Mail your questions to @email{xemacs-beta@@xemacs.org} and
606 @email{bug-gnu-emacs@@prep.ai.mit.edu}.
608 @node Q1.0.6, Q1.0.7, Q1.0.5, Introduction
609 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.0.6: Where can I get help?
611 Probably the easiest way, if everything is installed, is to use Info, by
612 pressing @kbd{C-h i}, or selecting @code{Manuals->Info} from the
613 Help Menu. @kbd{M-x apropos} can be used to look for particular commands.
615 For items not found in the manual, try reading this FAQ
616 @comment , examining the regular GNU Emacs FAQ (which can be
617 @comment found with the Emacs 19 distribution) as well as at
618 @comment @uref{http://www.eecs.nwu.edu/emacs/faq/}
619 and reading the Usenet group comp.emacs.xemacs.
621 If you choose to post to a newsgroup, @strong{please use
622 comp.emacs.xemacs}. Please do not post XEmacs related questions to
625 If you cannot post or read Usenet news, there is a corresponding mailing
626 list which is available. It can be subscribed to by sending a message
627 to @email{xemacs-request@@xemacs.org} with @samp{subscribe} in the
628 body of the message. Send to the list at @email{xemacs@@xemacs.org}.
629 list. To cancel a subscription, you @strong{must} use the
630 xemacs-request address. Send a message with a subject of
631 @samp{unsubscribe} to be removed.
633 @node Q1.0.7, Q1.0.8, Q1.0.6, Introduction
634 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.0.7: Where is the mailing list archived?
636 The archives can be found at @uref{http://www.xemacs.org/Lists/Archive}
638 @node Q1.0.8, Q1.0.9, Q1.0.7, Introduction
639 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.0.8: How do you pronounce XEmacs?
641 The most common pronounciation is @samp{Eks eemax}.
643 @node Q1.0.9, Q1.0.10, Q1.0.8, Introduction
644 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.0.9: What does XEmacs look like?
646 Screen snapshots are available in the WWW version of the FAQ.
648 @uref{http://www.xemacs.org/faq/xemacs-faq.html}
651 @node Q1.0.10, Q1.0.11, Q1.0.9, Introduction
652 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.0.10: Is there a port of XEmacs to Microsoft ('95 or NT)?
654 Yes, @xref{MS Windows}.
656 @comment Thanks to efforts of many people, coordinated by
657 @comment @email{davidh@@wr.com.au, David Hobley} and @email{marcpa@@cam.org, Marc
658 @comment Paquette}, beta versions of XEmacs now run on 32-bit Windows platforms
659 @comment (NT and 95). The current betas require having an X server to run
660 @comment XEmacs; however, a native NT/95 port is in alpha, thanks to
661 @comment @email{jhar@@tardis.ed.ac.uk, Jonathan Harris}.
663 @comment Although some features are still unimplemented, XEmacs 21.0 will support
666 @comment The NT development is now coordinated by a mailing list at
667 @comment @email{xemacs-nt@@xemacs.org}.
669 @comment If you are willing to contribute or want to follow the progress, mail to
673 @comment @email{xemacs-nt-request@@xemacs.org} to subscribe.
675 @comment Furthermore, Altrasoft is seeking corporate and government sponsors to
676 @comment help fund a fully native port of XEmacs to Windows 95 and NT using
677 @comment full-time, senior-level staff working under a professionally managed
678 @comment project structure. See @uref{http://www.altrasoft.com/, the Altrasoft
679 @comment web site} for more details
680 @comment or contact Altrasoft directly at 1-888-ALTSOFT.
683 @comment The closest existing port is @dfn{Win-Emacs}, which is based on Lucid
684 @comment Emacs 19.6. Available from @uref{http://www.pearlsoft.com/}.
686 @comment There's a port of GNU Emacs (not XEmacs) at
688 @comment @uref{http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/voelker/ntemacs.html}.
689 @comment @end example
691 @node Q1.0.11, Q1.0.12, Q1.0.10, Introduction
692 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.0.11: Is there a port of XEmacs to the Macintosh?
695 @c There has been a port to the MachTen environment of XEmacs 19.13, but no
696 @c patches have been submitted to the maintainers to get this in the
697 @c mainstream distribution.
699 @c For the MacOS, there is a port of
700 @c @uref{ftp://ftp.cs.cornell.edu/pub/parmet/, Emacs 18.59}.
702 Yes, there is a port of XEmacs 19.14, tested on MacOS 7.6.1 and MacOS
703 8.5.1 by @email{pjarvis@@ispchannel.com, Pitts Jarvis}. It's available
704 at @uref{http://my.ispchannel.com/~pjarvis/xemacs.html}.
706 @node Q1.0.12, Q1.0.13, Q1.0.11, Introduction
707 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.0.12: Is there a port of XEmacs to NextStep?
709 Carl Edman, apparently no longer at @email{cedman@@princeton.edu}, did
710 the port of GNU Emacs to NeXTstep and expressed interest in doing the
711 XEmacs port, but never went any farther.
713 @node Q1.0.13, Q1.0.14, Q1.0.12, Introduction
714 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.0.13: Is there a port of XEmacs to OS/2?
716 No, but Alexander Nikolaev <avn_1251@@mail.ru> is working on it.
718 @node Q1.0.14, Q1.1.1, Q1.0.13, Introduction
719 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.0.14: Where can I obtain a printed copy of the XEmacs users manual?
721 Pre-printed manuals are not available. If you are familiar with
722 TeX, you can generate your own manual from the XEmacs sources.
724 HTML and Postscript versions of XEmacs manuals may be available from the
725 XEmacs web site in the future.
728 @node Q1.1.1, Q1.1.2, Q1.0.14, Introduction
729 @unnumberedsec 1.1: Policies
730 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.1.1: What is the FAQ editorial policy?
732 The FAQ is actively maintained and modified regularly. All links should
733 be up to date. Unfortunately, some of the information is out of date --
734 a situation which the FAQ maintainer is working on. All submissions are
735 welcome, please e-mail submissions to @email{faq@@xemacs.org, XEmacs FAQ
738 Please make sure that @samp{XEmacs FAQ} appears on the Subject: line.
739 If you think you have a better way of answering a question, or think a
740 question should be included, we'd like to hear about it. Questions and
741 answers included into the FAQ will be edited for spelling and grammar,
742 and will be attributed. Answers appearing without attribution are
743 either from versions of the FAQ dated before May 1996, or are from one
744 of the four people listed at the top of this document. Answers quoted
745 from Usenet news articles will always be attributed, regardless of the
748 @node Q1.1.2, Q1.1.3, Q1.1.1, Introduction
749 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.1.2: How do I become a Beta Tester?
751 Send an email message to @email{xemacs-beta-request@@xemacs.org} with
752 the line @samp{subscribe} in the body of the message.
754 Be prepared to get your hands dirty, as beta testers are expected to
755 identify problems as best they can.
757 @node Q1.1.3, Q1.2.1, Q1.1.2, Introduction
758 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.1.3: How do I contribute to XEmacs itself?
760 Ben Wing @email{ben@@xemacs.org} writes:
763 BTW if you have a wish list of things that you want added, you have to
764 speak up about it! More specifically, you can do the following if you
765 want a feature added (in increasing order of usefulness):
769 Make a posting about a feature you want added.
772 Become a beta tester and make more postings about those same features.
775 Convince us that you're going to use the features in some cool and
779 Come up with a clear and well-thought-out API concerning the features.
782 Write the code to implement a feature and send us a patch.
785 (not that we're necessarily requiring you to write the code, but we can
789 @node Q1.2.1, Q1.2.2, Q1.1.3, Introduction
790 @unnumberedsec 1.2: Credits
791 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.2.1: Who wrote XEmacs?
793 XEmacs is the result of the time and effort of many people. The
794 developers responsible for the 19.16/20.x releases are:
797 @item @email{martin@@xemacs.org, Martin Buchholz}
799 <br><img src="mrb.jpeg" alt="Portrait of Martin Buchholz"><br>
803 @item @email{steve@@xemacs.org, Steve Baur}
806 <br><img src="steve.gif" alt="Portrait of Steve Baur"><br>
810 @item @email{hniksic@@xemacs.org, Hrvoje Niksic}
813 <br><img src="hniksic.jpeg" alt="Portrait of Hrvoje Niksic"><br>
818 The developers responsible for the 19.14 release are:
821 @item @email{cthomp@@xemacs.org, Chuck Thompson}
823 <br><img src="cthomp.jpeg" alt="Portrait of Chuck Thompson"><br>
826 Chuck was Mr. XEmacs from 19.11 through 19.14, and is responsible
827 for XEmacs becoming a widely distributed program over the Internet.
829 @item @email{ben@@xemacs.org, Ben Wing}
831 <br><img src="wing.gif" alt="Portrait of Ben Wing"><br>
838 @item @email{jwz@@jwz.org, Jamie Zawinski}
840 <br><img src="jwz.gif" alt="Portrait of Jamie Zawinski"><br>
843 Jamie Zawinski was Mr. Lucid Emacs from 19.0 through 19.10, the last
844 release actually named Lucid Emacs. Richard Mlynarik was crucial to
845 most of those releases.
847 @item @email{mly@@adoc.xerox.com, Richard Mlynarik}
850 Along with many other contributors, partially enumerated in the
851 @samp{About XEmacs} option in the Help menu.
853 @node Q1.2.2, Q1.2.3, Q1.2.1, Introduction
854 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.2.2: Who contributed to this version of the FAQ?
856 The following people contributed valuable suggestions to building this
857 version of the FAQ (listed in alphabetical order):
860 @item @email{steve@@xemacs.org, SL Baur}
862 @item @email{hniksic@@xemacs.org, Hrvoje Niksic}
864 @item @email{Aki.Vehtari@@hut.fi, Aki Vehtari}
868 @node Q1.2.3, Q1.3.1, Q1.2.2, Introduction
869 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.2.3: Who contributed to the FAQ in the past?
871 This is only a partial list, as many names were lost in a hard disk
875 @item @email{binge@@aloft.att.com, Curtis.N.Bingham}
877 @item @email{bruncott@@dormeur.inria.fr, Georges Brun-Cottan}
879 @item @email{rjc@@cogsci.ed.ac.uk, Richard Caley}
881 @item @email{cognot@@ensg.u-nancy.fr, Richard Cognot}
883 @item @email{daku@@nortel.ca, Mark Daku}
885 @item @email{wgd@@martigny.ai.mit.edu, William G. Dubuque}
887 @item @email{eeide@@cs.utah.edu, Eric Eide}
889 @item @email{af@@biomath.jussieu.fr, Alain Fauconnet}
891 @item @email{cflatter@@nrao.edu, Chris Flatters}
893 @item @email{ginsparg@@adra.com, Evelyn Ginsparg}
895 @item @email{hall@@aplcenmp.apl.jhu.edu, Marty Hall}
897 @item @email{dkindred@@cmu.edu, Darrell Kindred}
899 @item @email{dmoore@@ucsd.edu, David Moore}
901 @item @email{arup+@@cmu.edu, Arup Mukherjee}
903 @item @email{nickel@@prz.tu-berlin.de, Juergen Nickelsen}
905 @item @email{powell@@csl.ncsa.uiuc.edu, Kevin R. Powell}
907 @item @email{dworkin@@ccs.neu.edu, Justin Sheehy}
909 @item @email{stig@@hackvan.com, Stig}
911 @item @email{Aki.Vehtari@@hut.fi, Aki Vehtari}
914 @node Q1.3.1, Q1.3.2, Q1.2.3, Introduction
915 @unnumberedsec 1.3: Internationalization
916 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.3.1: What is the status of XEmacs v20?
918 XEmacs v20 is the version of XEmacs that includes MULE (Asian-language)
919 support. XEmacs 20.0 was released in February 1997, followed by XEmacs
920 20.2 in May, XEmacs 20.3 in November and XEmacs 20.4 in February 1998. When compiled without MULE
921 support, 20.4 is approximately as stable as 19.16, and probably faster
922 (due to additional optimization work.)
924 As of XEmacs 20.3, version 20 is @emph{the} supported version of
925 XEmacs. This means that 19.16 will optionally receive stability fixes
926 (if any), but that all the real development work will be done on the v20
929 The incompatible changes in XEmacs 20 include the additional byte-codes,
930 new primitive data types (@code{character}, @code{char-table}, and
931 @code{range-table}). This means that the character-integer equivalence
932 inherent to all the previous Emacs and XEmacs releases no longer
935 However, to avoid breaking old code, many functions that should normally
936 accept characters work with integers, and vice versa. For more
937 information, see the Lisp reference manual. Here is a relevant excerpt,
938 for your convenience.
941 In XEmacs version 19, and in all versions of FSF GNU Emacs, a
942 @dfn{character} in XEmacs Lisp is nothing more than an integer.
943 This is yet another holdover from XEmacs Lisp's derivation from
944 vintage-1980 Lisps; modern versions of Lisp consider this equivalence
945 a bad idea, and have separate character types. In XEmacs version 20,
946 the modern convention is followed, and characters are their own
947 primitive types. (This change was necessary in order for @sc{mule},
948 i.e. Asian-language, support to be correctly implemented.)
950 Even in XEmacs version 20, remnants of the equivalence between
951 characters and integers still exist; this is termed the @dfn{char-int
952 confoundance disease}. In particular, many functions such as @code{eq},
953 @code{equal}, and @code{memq} have equivalent functions (@code{old-eq},
954 @code{old-equal}, @code{old-memq}, etc.) that pretend like characters
955 are integers are the same. Byte code compiled under any version 19
956 Emacs will have all such functions mapped to their @code{old-} equivalents
957 when the byte code is read into XEmacs 20. This is to preserve
958 compatibility---Emacs 19 converts all constant characters to the equivalent
959 integer during byte-compilation, and thus there is no other way to preserve
960 byte-code compatibility even if the code has specifically been written
961 with the distinction between characters and integers in mind.
963 Every character has an equivalent integer, called the @dfn{character
964 code}. For example, the character @kbd{A} is represented as the
965 @w{integer 65}, following the standard @sc{ascii} representation of
966 characters. If XEmacs was not compiled with @sc{mule} support, the
967 range of this integer will always be 0 to 255---eight bits, or one
968 byte. (Integers outside this range are accepted but silently truncated;
969 however, you should most decidedly @emph{not} rely on this, because it
970 will not work under XEmacs with @sc{mule} support.) When @sc{mule}
971 support is present, the range of character codes is much
972 larger. (Currently, 19 bits are used.)
974 FSF GNU Emacs uses kludgy character codes above 255 to represent
975 keyboard input of @sc{ascii} characters in combination with certain
976 modifiers. XEmacs does not use this (a more general mechanism is
977 used that does not distinguish between @sc{ascii} keys and other
978 keys), so you will never find character codes above 255 in a
979 non-@sc{mule} XEmacs.
981 Individual characters are not often used in programs. It is far more
982 common to work with @emph{strings}, which are sequences composed of
986 @node Q1.3.2, Q1.3.3, Q1.3.1, Introduction
987 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.3.2: What is the status of Asian-language support, aka MULE?
989 MULE support is now available for UNIX versions of XEmacs.
991 If you would like to help, you may want to join the
992 @email{xemacs-mule@@xemacs.org} mailing list. Especially needed are
993 people who speak/write languages other than English, who are willing to
994 use XEmacs/MULE regularly, and have some experience with Elisp.
998 @node Q1.3.3, Q1.3.4, Q1.3.2, Introduction
999 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.3.3: How do I type non-ASCII characters?
1001 See question 3.5.7 (@pxref{Q3.5.7}) in part 3 of this FAQ.
1003 @node Q1.3.4, Q1.3.5, Q1.3.3, Introduction
1004 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.3.4: Can XEmacs messages come out in a different language?
1006 The message-catalog support has mostly been written but doesn't
1007 currently work. The first release of XEmacs 20 will @emph{not} support
1008 it. However, menubar localization @emph{does} work, even in 19.14. To
1009 enable it, add to your @file{Emacs} file entries like this:
1012 Emacs*XlwMenu.resourceLabels: True
1013 Emacs*XlwMenu.file.labelString: Fichier
1014 Emacs*XlwMenu.openInOtherWindow.labelString: In anderem Fenster offnen
1017 The name of the resource is derived from the non-localized entry by
1018 removing punctuation and capitalizing as above.
1020 @node Q1.3.5, Q1.3.6, Q1.3.4, Introduction
1021 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.3.5: Please explain the various input methods in MULE/XEmacs 20.0
1023 @email{morioka@@jaist.ac.jp, MORIOKA Tomohiko} writes:
1026 Original Mule supports the following input methods: Wnn4, Wnn6, Canna, SJ3
1027 and XIM. Interfaces for Wnn and SJ3 uses the @code{egg} user
1028 interface. Interface for Canna does not use @samp{egg}. I don't know
1029 about XIM. It is to support ATOK, of course, it may work for another
1032 Wnn supports Japanese, Chinese and Korean. It is made by OMRON and Kyôto
1033 university. It is a powerful and complex system. Wnn4 is free and Wnn6
1036 Canna supports only Japanese. It is made by NEC. It is a simple and
1037 powerful system. Canna uses only grammar (Wnn uses grammar and
1038 probability between words), so I think Wnn is cleverer than Canna,
1039 however Canna users made a good grammar and dictionary. So for standard
1040 modern Japanese, Canna seems cleverer than Wnn4. In addition, the UNIX
1041 version of Canna is free (now there is a Microsoft Windows version).
1043 SJ3 supports only Japanese. It is made by Sony. XIM supports was made
1044 to use ATOK (a major input method in personal computer world). XIM is
1045 the standard for accessing input methods bundled in Japanese versions of
1046 Solaris. (XEmacs 20 will support XIM input).
1048 Egg consists of following parts:
1052 Input character Translation System (ITS) layer.
1053 It translates ASCII inputs to Kana/PinYin/Hangul characters.
1056 Kana/PinYin/Hangul to Kanji transfer layer.
1057 It is interface layer for network Kana-Kanji server (Wnn and Sj3).
1060 These input methods are modal, namely there are mode, alphabet mode and
1061 Kana-Kanji transfer mode. However there are mode-less input methods for
1062 Egg and Canna. @samp{Boiled-egg} is a mode-less input method running on
1063 Egg. For Canna, @samp{canna.el} has a tiny boiled-egg like command,
1064 @code{(canna-boil)}, and there are some boiled-egg like utilities. In
1065 addition, it was planned to make an abstraction for all transfer type
1066 input methods. However authors of input methods are busy, so maybe this
1067 plan is stopped. Perhaps after Mule merged GNU Emacs will be released,
1068 it will be continued.
1071 @node Q1.3.6, Q1.3.7, Q1.3.5, Introduction
1072 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.3.6: How do I portably code for MULE/XEmacs 20?
1074 @email{morioka@@jaist.ac.jp, MORIOKA Tomohiko} writes:
1077 MULE and XEmacs are quite different. So the application
1078 implementor must write separate code for these mule variants.
1080 MULE and the next version of Emacs are similar but the symbols are very
1081 different---requiring separate code as well.
1083 Namely we must support 3 kinds of mule variants and 4 or 5 or 6 kinds of
1084 emacs variants... (;_;) I'm shocked, so I wrote a wrapper package called
1085 @code{emu} to provide a common interface.
1087 I have the following suggestions about dealing with mule variants:
1091 @code{(featurep 'mule)} @code{t} on all mule variants
1094 @code{(boundp 'MULE)} is @code{t} on only MULE. Maybe the next version
1095 of Emacs will not have this symbol.
1098 MULE has a variable @code{mule-version}. Perhaps the next version of
1099 Emacs will have this variable as well.
1102 Following is a sample to distinguish mule variants:
1105 (if (featurep 'mule)
1106 (cond ((boundp 'MULE)
1107 ;; for original Mule
1109 ((string-match "XEmacs" emacs-version)
1110 ;; for XEmacs with Mule
1113 ;; for next version of Emacs
1115 ;; for old emacs variants
1120 @node Q1.3.7, Q1.4.1, Q1.3.6, Introduction
1121 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.3.7: How about Cyrillic Modes?
1123 @email{ilya@@math.ohio-state.edu, Ilya Zakharevich} writes:
1126 There is a cyrillic mode in the file @file{mysetup.zip} in
1130 @uref{ftp://ftp.math.ohio-state.edu/pub/users/ilya/emacs/}. This is a
1131 modification to @email{ava@@math.jhu.ed, Valery Alexeev's} @file{russian.el}
1132 which can be obtained from
1135 @uref{http://ftpsearch.ntnu.no/?query=russian.el.Z}.
1138 @email{d.barsky@@ee.surrey.ac.uk, Dima Barsky} writes:
1141 There is another cyrillic mode for both GNU Emacs and XEmacs by
1142 @email{manin@@camelot.mssm.edu, Dmitrii
1147 @uref{http://kulichki-lat.rambler.ru/centrolit/manin/cyr.el}.
1148 @c Link above, <URL:http://camelot.mssm.edu/~manin/cyr.el> was dead.
1149 @c Changed to russian host instead
1152 @email{rebecca.ore@@op.net, Rebecca Ore} writes:
1155 The fullest resource I found on Russian language use (in and out of
1156 XEmacs) is @uref{http://sunsite.oit.unc.edu/sergei/Software/Software.html}
1159 @node Q1.4.1, Q1.4.2, Q1.3.7, Introduction
1160 @unnumberedsec 1.4: Getting Started, Backing up & Recovery
1161 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.4.1: What is a @file{.emacs} and is there a sample one?
1163 The @file{.emacs} file is used to customize XEmacs to your tastes. No
1164 two are alike, nor are they expected to be alike, but that's the point.
1165 The XEmacs distribution contains an excellent starter example in the etc
1166 directory called @file{sample.emacs}. Copy this file from there to your
1167 home directory and rename it @file{.emacs}. Then edit it to suit.
1169 Starting with 19.14, you may bring the @file{sample.emacs} into an
1170 XEmacs buffer by selecting @samp{Help->Sample .emacs} from the menubar.
1171 To determine the location of the @file{etc} directory type the command
1172 @kbd{C-h v data-directory @key{RET}}.
1174 @node Q1.4.2, Q1.4.3, Q1.4.1, Introduction
1175 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.4.2: Can I use the same @file{.emacs} with the other Emacs?
1177 Yes. The sample @file{.emacs} included in the XEmacs distribution will
1178 show you how to handle different versions and flavors of Emacs.
1180 @node Q1.4.3, Q1.4.4, Q1.4.2, Introduction
1181 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.4.3: Any good tutorials around?
1183 There's the XEmacs tutorial available from the Help Menu under
1184 @samp{Basics->Tutorials}, or by typing @kbd{C-h t}. To check whether
1185 it's available in a non-english language, type @kbd{C-u C-h t TAB}, type
1186 the first letters of your preferred language, then type @key{RET}.
1188 @comment There's an Emacs Lisp tutorial at
1191 @comment @uref{ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu/emacs-lisp-intro-1.04.tar.gz}.
1192 @comment @end example
1194 @comment @email{erik@@petaxp.rug.ac.be, Erik Sundermann} has made a tutorial web
1199 @comment @uref{http://petaxp.rug.ac.be/~erik/xemacs/}.
1201 @node Q1.4.4, Q1.4.5, Q1.4.3, Introduction
1202 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.4.4: May I see an example of a useful XEmacs Lisp function?
1204 The following function does a little bit of everything useful. It does
1205 something with the prefix argument, it examines the text around the
1206 cursor, and it's interactive so it may be bound to a key. It inserts
1207 copies of the current word the cursor is sitting on at the cursor. If
1208 you give it a prefix argument: @kbd{C-u 3 M-x double-word} then it will
1212 (defun double-word (count)
1213 "Insert a copy of the current word underneath the cursor"
1215 (let (here there string)
1220 (setq there (point))
1221 (setq string (buffer-substring here there)))
1227 The best way to see what is going on here is to let XEmacs tell you.
1228 Put the code into an XEmacs buffer, and do a @kbd{C-h f} with the cursor
1229 sitting just to the right of the function you want explained. Eg. move
1230 the cursor to the SPACE between @code{interactive} and @samp{"*p"} and
1231 hit @kbd{C-h f} to see what the function @code{interactive} does. Doing
1232 this will tell you that the @code{*} requires a writable buffer, and
1233 @code{p} converts the prefix argument to a number, and
1234 @code{interactive} allows you to execute the command with @kbd{M-x}.
1236 @node Q1.4.5, Q1.4.6, Q1.4.4, Introduction
1237 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.4.5: And how do I bind it to a key?
1239 To bind to a key do:
1242 (global-set-key "\C-cd" 'double-word)
1245 Or interactively, @kbd{M-x global-set-key} and follow the prompts.
1247 @node Q1.4.6, , Q1.4.5, Introduction
1248 @unnumberedsubsec Q1.4.6: What's the difference between a macro and a function?
1250 Quoting from the Lisp Reference (a.k.a @dfn{Lispref}) Manual:
1252 @dfn{Macros} enable you to define new control constructs and other
1253 language features. A macro is defined much like a function, but instead
1254 of telling how to compute a value, it tells how to compute another Lisp
1255 expression which will in turn compute the value. We call this
1256 expression the @dfn{expansion} of the macro.
1258 Macros can do this because they operate on the unevaluated expressions
1259 for the arguments, not on the argument values as functions do. They can
1260 therefore construct an expansion containing these argument expressions
1263 Do not confuse the two terms with @dfn{keyboard macros}, which are
1264 another matter, entirely. A keyboard macro is a key bound to several
1265 other keys. Refer to manual for details.
1267 @node Installation, Customization, Introduction, Top
1268 @unnumbered 2 Installation and Trouble Shooting
1270 This is part 2 of the XEmacs Frequently Asked Questions list. This
1271 section is devoted to Installation, Maintenance and Trouble Shooting.
1275 * Q2.0.1:: Running XEmacs without installing.
1276 * Q2.0.2:: XEmacs is too big.
1277 * Q2.0.3:: Compiling XEmacs with Netaudio.
1278 * Q2.0.4:: Problems with Linux and ncurses.
1279 * Q2.0.5:: Do I need X11 to run XEmacs?
1280 * Q2.0.6:: I'm having strange crashes. What do I do?
1281 * Q2.0.7:: Libraries in non-standard locations.
1282 * Q2.0.8:: can't resolve symbol _h_errno
1283 * Q2.0.9:: Where do I find external libraries?
1284 * Q2.0.10:: After I run configure I find a coredump, is something wrong?
1285 * Q2.0.11:: XEmacs can't resolve host names.
1286 * Q2.0.12:: Why can't I strip XEmacs?
1289 * Q2.1.1:: XEmacs just crashed on me!
1290 * Q2.1.2:: Cryptic Minibuffer messages.
1291 * Q2.1.3:: Translation Table Syntax messages at Startup.
1292 * Q2.1.4:: Startup warnings about deducing proper fonts?
1293 * Q2.1.5:: XEmacs cannot connect to my X Terminal.
1294 * Q2.1.6:: XEmacs just locked up my Linux X server.
1295 * Q2.1.7:: HP Alt key as Meta.
1296 * Q2.1.8:: got (wrong-type-argument color-instance-p nil)!
1297 * Q2.1.9:: XEmacs causes my OpenWindows 3.0 server to crash.
1298 * Q2.1.10:: Warnings from incorrect key modifiers.
1299 * Q2.1.11:: Can't instantiate image error... in toolbar
1300 * Q2.1.12:: Regular Expression Problems on DEC OSF1.
1301 * Q2.1.13:: HP/UX 10.10 and @code{create_process} failure
1302 * Q2.1.14:: @kbd{C-g} doesn't work for me. Is it broken?
1303 * Q2.1.15:: How to debug an XEmacs problem with a debugger.
1304 * Q2.1.16:: XEmacs crashes in @code{strcat} on HP/UX 10.
1305 * Q2.1.17:: @samp{Marker does not point anywhere}.
1306 * Q2.1.18:: [This question intentionally left blank]
1307 * Q2.1.19:: XEmacs does not follow the local timezone.
1308 * Q2.1.20:: @samp{Symbol's function definition is void: hkey-help-show.}
1309 * Q2.1.21:: [This question intentionally left blank]
1310 * Q2.1.22:: XEmacs seems to take a really long time to do some things.
1311 * Q2.1.23:: Movemail on Linux does not work for XEmacs 19.15 and later.
1312 * Q2.1.24:: XEmacs won't start without network. (NEW)
1315 @node Q2.0.1, Q2.0.2, Installation, Installation
1316 @unnumberedsec 2.0: Installation
1317 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.0.1: Running XEmacs without installing
1318 The @file{INSTALL} file says that up to 108 MB of space is needed
1319 temporarily during installation! How can I just try it out?
1321 XEmacs will run in place without requiring installation and copying of
1322 the Lisp directories, and without having to specify a special build-time
1323 flag. It's the copying of the Lisp directories that requires so much
1324 space. XEmacs is largely written in Lisp.
1326 A good method is to make a shell alias for xemacs:
1329 alias xemacs=/i/xemacs-20.2/src/xemacs
1332 (You will obviously use whatever directory you downloaded the source
1333 tree to instead of @file{/i/xemacs-20.2}).
1335 This will let you run XEmacs without massive copying.
1337 @node Q2.0.2, Q2.0.3, Q2.0.1, Installation
1338 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.0.2: XEmacs is too big
1340 Although this entry has been written for XEmacs 19.13, most of it still
1343 @email{steve@@xemacs.org, Steve Baur} writes:
1346 The 45MB of space required by the installation directories can be
1347 reduced dramatically if desired. Gzip all the .el files. Remove all
1348 the packages you'll never want to use (or even ones you do like the two
1349 obsolete mailcrypts and Gnus 4 in 19.13). Remove the TexInfo manuals.
1350 Remove the Info (and use just hardcopy versions of the manual). Remove
1351 most of the stuff in etc. Remove or gzip all the source code. Gzip or
1352 remove the C source code. Configure it so that copies are not made of
1353 the support lisp. I'm not advocating any of these things, just pointing
1354 out ways to reduce the disk requirements if desired.
1356 Now examine the space used by directory:
1359 0 /usr/local/bin/xemacs
1360 2048 /usr/local/bin/xemacs-19.13
1362 1546 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/i486-miranova-sco3.2v4.2
1363 1158 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/i486-unknown-linux1.2.13
1366 You need to keep these. XEmacs isn't stripped by default in
1367 installation, you should consider stripping. That will save you about
1371 207 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/etc/w3
1372 122 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/etc/sounds
1373 18 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/etc/sparcworks
1374 159 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/etc/vm
1375 6 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/etc/e
1376 21 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/etc/eos
1377 172 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/etc/toolbar
1378 61 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/etc/ns
1379 43 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/etc/gnus
1382 These are support directories for various packages. In general they
1383 match a directory under ./xemacs-19.13/lib/xemacs-19.13/lisp/. If you
1384 do not require the package, you may delete or gzip the support too.
1387 1959 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/etc
1388 175 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/lisp/bytecomp
1389 340 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/lisp/calendar
1390 342 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/lisp/comint
1391 517 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/lisp/dired
1392 42 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/lisp/electric
1393 212 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/lisp/emulators
1394 238 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/lisp/energize
1395 289 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/lisp/gnus
1396 457 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/lisp/ilisp
1397 1439 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/lisp/modes
1398 2276 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/lisp/packages
1399 1040 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/lisp/prim
1400 176 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/lisp/pcl-cvs
1401 154 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/lisp/rmail
1402 3 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/lisp/epoch
1403 45 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/lisp/term
1404 860 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/lisp/utils
1405 851 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/lisp/vm
1406 13 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/lisp/vms
1407 157 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/lisp/x11
1408 19 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/lisp/tooltalk
1409 14 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/lisp/sunpro
1410 291 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/lisp/games
1411 198 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/lisp/edebug
1412 619 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/lisp/w3
1413 229 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/lisp/eos
1414 55 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/lisp/iso
1415 59 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/lisp/mailcrypt
1416 187 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/lisp/eterm
1417 356 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/lisp/ediff
1418 408 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/lisp/hyperbole/kotl
1419 1262 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/lisp/hyperbole
1420 247 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/lisp/hm--html-menus
1421 161 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/lisp/mh-e
1422 299 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/lisp/viper
1423 53 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/lisp/oobr/tree-x
1424 4 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/lisp/oobr/tree-nx/English.lproj/DocWindow.nib
1425 3 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/lisp/oobr/tree-nx/English.lproj/InfoPanel.nib
1426 3 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/lisp/oobr/tree-nx/English.lproj/TreeView.nib
1427 11 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/lisp/oobr/tree-nx/English.lproj
1428 53 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/lisp/oobr/tree-nx
1429 466 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/lisp/oobr
1430 14142 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/lisp
1433 These are all Emacs Lisp source code and bytecompiled object code. You
1434 may safely gzip everything named *.el here. You may remove any package
1435 you don't use. @emph{Nothing bad will happen if you delete a package
1436 that you do not use}. You must be sure you do not use it though, so be
1437 conservative at first.
1439 Possible candidates for deletion include w3 (newer versions exist, or
1440 you may just use Lynx or Netscape for web browsing), games, hyperbole,
1441 mh-e, hm--html-menus (better packages exist), vm, viper, oobr, gnus (new
1442 versions exist), etc. Ask yourself, @emph{Do I ever want to use this
1443 package?} If the answer is no, then it is a candidate for removal.
1445 First, gzip all the .el files. Then go about package by package and
1446 start gzipping the .elc files. Then run XEmacs and do whatever it is
1447 you normally do. If nothing bad happens, then delete the directory. Be
1448 conservative about deleting directories, and it would be handy to have a
1449 backup tape around in case you get too zealous.
1451 @file{prim}, @file{modes}, @file{packages}, and @file{utils} are four
1452 directories you definitely do @strong{not} want to delete, although
1453 certain packages can be removed from them if you do not use them.
1456 1972 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/info
1459 These are online texinfo sources. You may either gzip them or remove
1460 them. In either case, @kbd{C-h i} (info mode) will no longer work.
1463 20778 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13
1466 The 20MB achieved is less than half of what the full distribution takes up,
1467 @strong{and} can be achieved without deleting a single file.
1470 @email{boffi@@hp735.stru.polimi.it, Giacomo Boffi} provides this procedure:
1473 Substitute @file{/usr/local/lib/} with the path where the xemacs tree is
1474 rooted, then use this script:
1479 r=/usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.13/lisp
1481 cd $r ; rm -f cmpr ; touch cmpr
1486 if test -d $d ; then
1489 # compress (remove) only (ONLY) the sources that have a
1490 # corresponding compiled file --- do not (DO NOT)
1491 # touch other sources
1492 if test -f $@{f@}c ; then gzip -v9 $f >> $r/cmpr ; fi
1501 A step beyond would be substituting @samp{rm -f} for @samp{gzip -v9},
1502 but you have to be desperate for removing the sources (remember that
1503 emacs can access compressed files transparently).
1505 Also, a good megabyte could easily be trimmed from the $r/../etc
1506 directory, e.g., the termcap files, some O+NEWS, others that I don't
1511 XEmacs 21.0 will unbundle the lisp hierarchy and allow the installer
1512 to choose exactly how much support code gets installed.
1515 @node Q2.0.3, Q2.0.4, Q2.0.2, Installation
1516 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.0.3: Compiling XEmacs with Netaudio.
1518 What is the best way to compile XEmacs with the netaudio system, since I
1519 have got the netaudio system compiled but installed at a weird place, I
1520 am not root. Also in the READMEs it does not say anything about
1521 compiling with the audioserver?
1523 You should only need to add some stuff to the configure command line.
1524 To tell it to compile in netaudio support: @samp{--with-sound=both}, or
1525 @samp{--with-sound=nas} if you don't want native sound support for some
1526 reason.) To tell it where to find the netaudio includes and libraries:
1529 --site-libraries=WHATEVER
1530 --site-includes=WHATEVER
1533 Then (fingers crossed) it should compile and it will use netaudio if you
1534 have a server running corresponding to the X server. The netaudio server
1535 has to be there when XEmacs starts. If the netaudio server goes away and
1536 another is run, XEmacs should cope (fingers crossed, error handling in
1537 netaudio isn't perfect).
1539 BTW, netaudio has been renamed as it has a name clash with something
1540 else, so if you see references to NAS or Network Audio System, it's the
1541 same thing. It also might be found at
1542 @uref{ftp://ftp.x.org/contrib/audio/nas/}.
1544 @node Q2.0.4, Q2.0.5, Q2.0.3, Installation
1545 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.0.4: Problems with Linux and ncurses.
1547 On Linux 1.3.98 with termcap 2.0.8 and the ncurses that came with libc
1548 5.2.18, XEmacs 20.0b20 is unable to open a tty device:
1552 Initialization error:
1556 Terminal type `xterm' undefined (or can't access database?)
1559 @email{ben@@xemacs.org, Ben Wing} writes:
1562 Your ncurses configuration is messed up. Your /usr/lib/terminfo is a
1563 bad pointer, perhaps to a CD-ROM that is not inserted.
1566 @node Q2.0.5, Q2.0.6, Q2.0.4, Installation
1567 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.0.5: Do I need X11 to run XEmacs?
1569 No. The name @dfn{XEmacs} is unfortunate in the sense that it is
1570 @strong{not} an X Window System-only version of Emacs. Starting with
1571 19.14 XEmacs has full color support on a color-capable character
1574 @node Q2.0.6, Q2.0.7, Q2.0.5, Installation
1575 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.0.6: I'm having strange crashes. What do I do?
1577 There have been a variety of reports of crashes due to compilers with
1578 buggy optimizers. Please see the @file{PROBLEMS} file that comes with
1579 XEmacs to read what it says about your platform.
1581 @node Q2.0.7, Q2.0.8, Q2.0.6, Installation
1582 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.0.7: Libraries in non-standard locations
1584 I have x-faces, jpeg, xpm etc. all in different places. I've tried
1585 space-separated, comma-separated, several --site-libraries, all to no
1589 --site-libraries='/path/one /path/two /path/etc'
1592 @node Q2.0.8, Q2.0.9, Q2.0.7, Installation
1593 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.0.8: can't resolve symbol _h_errno
1595 You are using the Linux/ELF distribution of XEmacs 19.14, and your ELF
1596 libraries are out of date. You have the following options:
1600 Upgrade your libc to at least 5.2.16 (better is 5.2.18, 5.3.12, or
1604 Patch the XEmacs binary by replacing all occurrences of
1605 @samp{_h_errno^@@} with
1609 @samp{h_errno^@@^@@}. Any version of Emacs will
1610 suffice. If you don't understand how to do this, don't do it.
1613 Rebuild XEmacs yourself---any working ELF version of libc should be
1617 @email{hniksic@@xemacs.org, Hrvoje Niksic} writes:
1620 Why not use a Perl one-liner for No. 2?
1623 perl -pi -e 's/_h_errno\0/h_errno\0\0/g' \
1624 /usr/local/bin/xemacs-19.14
1627 NB: You @emph{must} patch @file{/usr/local/bin/xemacs-19.14}, and not
1628 @file{xemacs} because @file{xemacs} is a link to @file{xemacs-19.14};
1629 the Perl @samp{-i} option will cause unwanted side-effects if applied to
1633 @email{steve@@xemacs.org, SL Baur} writes:
1636 If you build against a recent libc-5.4 (late enough to have caused
1637 problems earlier in the beta cycle) and then run with an earlier version
1642 xemacs: can't resolve symbol '__malloc_hook'
1643 zsh: 7942 segmentation fault (core dumped) xemacs
1646 (Example binary compiled against libc-5.4.23 and run with libc-5.4.16).
1648 The solution is to upgrade to at least libc-5.4.23. Sigh. Drat.
1651 @node Q2.0.9, Q2.0.10, Q2.0.8, Installation
1652 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.0.9: Where do I find external libraries?
1654 All external libraries used by XEmacs can be found at the XEmacs FTP
1659 @uref{ftp://ftp.xemacs.org/pub/xemacs/aux/}.
1661 @c Changed June Link above, <URL:ftp://ftp.xemacs.org/pub/aux/> was dead.
1662 @c This list is a pain in the you-know-what to keep in synch with the
1664 The canonical locations (at the time of this writing) are as follows:
1668 @uref{ftp://ftp.uu.net/graphics/jpeg/}. Version 6a is current.
1669 @c Check from host with legal IP address
1671 @uref{ftp://ftp.x.org/contrib/libraries/}. Version 3.4j is current.
1672 Older versions of this package are known to cause XEmacs crashes.
1675 @uref{ftp://ftp.sgi.com/graphics/tiff/}. v3.4 is current. The latest
1676 beta is v3.4b035. There is a HOWTO here.
1679 @uref{ftp://ftp.uu.net/graphics/png/}. 0.89c is current. XEmacs
1680 requires a fairly recent version to avoid using temporary files.
1681 @c Check from host with legal IP address
1683 @uref{ftp://swrinde.nde.swri.edu/pub/png/src/}
1686 @uref{ftp://ftp.cs.indiana.edu/pub/faces/compface/}. This library has
1687 been frozen for about 6 years, and is distributed without version
1688 numbers. @emph{It should be compiled with the same options that X11 was
1689 compiled with on your system}. The version of this library at
1690 XEmacs.org includes the @file{xbm2xface.pl} script, written by
1691 @email{stig@@hackvan.com}, which may be useful when generating your own xface.
1694 @uref{ftp://ftp.x.org/contrib/audio/nas/}.
1695 Version 1.2p5 is current. There is a FAQ here.
1698 @node Q2.0.10, Q2.0.11, Q2.0.9, Installation
1699 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.0.10: After I run configure I find a core dump, is something wrong?
1701 Not necessarily. If you have GNU sed 3.0 you should downgrade it to
1702 2.05. From the @file{README} at prep.ai.mit.edu:
1705 sed 3.0 has been withdrawn from distribution. It has major revisions,
1706 which mostly seem to be improvements; but it turns out to have bugs too
1707 which cause trouble in some common cases.
1709 Tom Lord won't be able to work fixing the bugs until May. So in the
1710 mean time, we've decided to withdraw sed 3.0 from distribution and make
1711 version 2.05 once again the recommended version.
1714 It has also been observed that the vfork test on Solaris will leave a
1717 @node Q2.0.11, Q2.0.12, Q2.0.10, Installation
1718 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.0.11: XEmacs doesn't resolve hostnames.
1720 This is the result of a long-standing problem with SunOS and the fact
1721 that stock SunOS systems do not ship with DNS resolver code in libc.
1723 @email{ckd@@loiosh.kei.com, Christopher Davis} writes:
1726 That's correct [The SunOS 4.1.3 precompiled binaries don't do name
1727 lookup]. Since Sun figured that everyone used NIS to do name lookups
1728 (that DNS thing was apparently only a passing fad, right?), the stock
1729 SunOS 4.x systems don't have DNS-based name lookups in libc.
1731 This is also why Netscape ships two binaries for SunOS 4.1.x.
1733 The best solution is to compile it yourself; the configure script will
1734 check to see if you've put DNS in the shared libc and will then proceed
1735 to link against the DNS resolver library code.
1738 @node Q2.0.12, Q2.1.1, Q2.0.11, Installation
1739 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.0.12: Why can't I strip XEmacs?
1741 @email{cognot@@fronsac.ensg.u-nancy.fr, Richard Cognot} writes:
1744 Because of the way XEmacs (and every other Emacsen, AFAIK) is built. The
1745 link gives you a bare-boned emacs (called temacs). temacs is then run,
1746 preloading some of the lisp files. The result is then dumped into a new
1747 executable, named xemacs, which will contain all of the preloaded lisp
1750 Now, during the dump itself, the executable (code+data+symbols) is
1751 written on disk using a special unexec() function. This function is
1752 obviously heavily system dependent. And on some systems, it leads to an
1753 executable which, although valid, cannot be stripped without damage. If
1754 memory serves, this is especially the case for AIX binaries. On other
1755 architecture it might work OK.
1757 The Right Way to strip the emacs binary is to strip temacs prior to
1758 dumping xemacs. This will always work, although you can do that only if
1759 you install from sources (as temacs is @file{not} part of the binary
1763 @email{nat@@nataa.fr.eu.org, Nat Makarevitch} writes:
1770 [ ./configure; make ]
1782 cp src/xemacs /usr/local/bin/xemacs
1785 cp lib-src/DOC-19.16-XEmacs
1789 /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.16/i586-unknown-linuxaout
1793 @node Q2.1.1, Q2.1.2, Q2.0.12, Installation
1794 @unnumberedsec 2.1: Trouble Shooting
1795 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.1: Help! XEmacs just crashed on me!
1797 First of all, don't panic. Whenever XEmacs crashes, it tries extremely
1798 hard to auto-save all of your files before dying. (The main time that
1799 this will not happen is if the machine physically lost power or if you
1800 killed the XEmacs process using @code{kill -9}). The next time you try
1801 to edit those files, you will be informed that a more recent auto-save
1802 file exists. You can use @kbd{M-x recover-file} to retrieve the
1803 auto-saved version of the file.
1805 Starting with 19.14, you may use the command @kbd{M-x recover-session}
1806 after a crash to pick up where you left off.
1808 Now, XEmacs is not perfect, and there may occasionally be times, or
1809 particular sequences of actions, that cause it to crash. If you can
1810 come up with a reproducible way of doing this (or even if you have a
1811 pretty good memory of exactly what you were doing at the time), the
1812 maintainers would be very interested in knowing about it. Post a
1813 message to comp.emacs.xemacs or send mail to @email{crashes@@xemacs.org}.
1814 Please note that the @samp{crashes} address is exclusively for crash
1817 If at all possible, include a stack backtrace of the core dump that was
1818 produced. This shows where exactly things went wrong, and makes it much
1819 easier to diagnose problems. To do this, you need to locate the core
1820 file (it's called @file{core}, and is usually sitting in the directory
1821 that you started XEmacs from, or your home directory if that other
1822 directory was not writable). Then, go to that directory and execute a
1826 gdb `which xemacs` core
1829 and then issue the command @samp{where} to get the stack backtrace. You
1830 might have to use @code{dbx} or some similar debugger in place of
1831 @code{gdb}. If you don't have any such debugger available, complain to
1832 your system administrator.
1834 It's possible that a core file didn't get produced, in which case you're
1835 out of luck. Go complain to your system administrator and tell him not
1836 to disable core files by default. Also @xref{Q2.1.15}, for tips and
1837 techniques for dealing with a debugger.
1839 When making a problem report make sure that:
1843 Report @strong{all} of the information output by XEmacs during the
1847 You mention what O/S & Hardware you are running XEmacs on.
1850 What version of XEmacs you are running.
1853 What build options you are using.
1856 If the problem is related to graphics, we will also need to know what
1857 version of the X Window System you are running, and what window manager
1861 If the problem happened on a tty, please include the terminal type.
1864 @node Q2.1.2, Q2.1.3, Q2.1.1, Installation
1865 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.2: Cryptic Minibuffer messages.
1867 When I try to use some particular option of some particular package, I
1868 get a cryptic error in the minibuffer.
1870 If you can't figure out what's going on, select Options/General
1871 Options/Debug on Error from the Menubar and then try and make the error
1872 happen again. This will give you a backtrace that may be enlightening.
1873 If not, try reading through this FAQ; if that fails, you could try
1874 posting to comp.emacs.xemacs (making sure to include the backtrace) and
1875 someone may be able to help. If you can identify which Emacs lisp
1876 source file the error is coming from you can get a more detailed stack
1877 backtrace by doing the following:
1881 Visit the .el file in an XEmacs buffer.
1884 Issue the command @kbd{M-x eval-current-buffer}.
1887 Reproduce the error.
1890 Depending on the version of XEmacs, you may either select Edit->Show
1891 Messages (19.13 and earlier) or Help->Recent Keystrokes/Messages (19.14
1892 and later) from the menubar to see the most recent messages. This
1893 command is bound to @kbd{C-h l} by default.
1895 @node Q2.1.3, Q2.1.4, Q2.1.2, Installation
1896 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.3: Translation Table Syntax messages at Startup
1898 I get tons of translation table syntax error messages during startup.
1899 How do I get rid of them?
1901 There are two causes of this problem. The first usually only strikes
1902 people using the prebuilt binaries. The culprit in both cases is the
1903 file @file{XKeysymDB}.
1907 The binary cannot find the @file{XKeysymDB} file. The location is
1908 hardcoded at compile time so if the system the binary was built on puts
1909 it a different place than your system does, you have problems. To fix,
1910 set the environment variable @var{XKEYSYMDB} to the location of the
1911 @file{XKeysymDB} file on your system or to the location of the one
1912 included with XEmacs which should be at
1916 @file{<xemacs_root_directory>/lib/xemacs-19.16/etc/XKeysymDB}.
1919 The binary is finding the XKeysymDB but it is out-of-date on your system
1920 and does not contain the necessary lines. Either ask your system
1921 administrator to replace it with the one which comes with XEmacs (which
1922 is the stock R6 version and is backwards compatible) or set your
1923 @var{XKEYSYMDB} variable to the location of XEmacs's described above.
1926 @node Q2.1.4, Q2.1.5, Q2.1.3, Installation
1927 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.4: Startup warnings about deducing proper fonts?
1929 How can I avoid the startup warnings about deducing proper fonts?
1931 This is highly dependent on your installation, but try with the
1932 following font as your base font for XEmacs and see what it does:
1935 -adobe-courier-medium-r-*-*-*-120-*-*-*-*-iso8859-1
1938 More precisely, do the following in your resource file:
1941 Emacs.default.attributeFont: \
1942 -adobe-courier-medium-r-*-*-*-120-*-*-*-*-iso8859-1
1945 If you just don't want to see the @samp{*Warnings*} buffer at startup
1946 time, you can set this:
1949 (setq display-warning-minimum-level 'error)
1952 The buffer still exists; it just isn't in your face.
1954 @node Q2.1.5, Q2.1.6, Q2.1.4, Installation
1955 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.5: XEmacs cannot connect to my X Terminal!
1957 Help! I can not get XEmacs to display on my Envizex X-terminal!
1959 Try setting the @var{DISPLAY} variable using the numeric IP address of
1960 the host you are running XEmacs from.
1962 @node Q2.1.6, Q2.1.7, Q2.1.5, Installation
1963 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.6: XEmacs just locked up my Linux X server!
1965 There have been several reports of the X server locking up under Linux.
1966 In all reported cases removing speedo and scaled fonts from the font
1967 path corrected the problem. This can be done with the command
1970 It is possible that using a font server may also solve the problem.
1972 @node Q2.1.7, Q2.1.8, Q2.1.6, Installation
1973 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.7: HP Alt key as Meta.
1975 How can I make XEmacs recognize the Alt key of my HP workstation as a
1978 Put the following line into a file and load it with xmodmap(1) before
1982 remove Mod1 = Mode_switch
1985 @node Q2.1.8, Q2.1.9, Q2.1.7, Installation
1986 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.8: got (wrong-type-argument color-instance-p nil)
1988 @email{nataliek@@rd.scitec.com.au, Natalie Kershaw} writes:
1991 I am trying to run xemacs 19.13 under X11R4. Whenever I move the mouse I
1992 get the following error. Has anyone seen anything like this? This
1993 doesn't occur on X11R5.
1997 (error "got (wrong-type-argument color-instance-p nil)
1998 and I don't know why!")
2002 @email{map01kd@@gold.ac.uk, dinos} writes:
2005 I think this is due to undefined resources; You need to define color
2006 backgrounds and foregrounds into your @file{.../app-defaults/Emacs}
2010 *Foreground: Black ;everything will be of black on grey95,
2011 *Background: Grey95 ;unless otherwise specified.
2012 *cursorColor: Red3 ;red3 cursor with grey95 border.
2013 *pointerColor: Red3 ;red3 pointer with grey95 border.
2017 Natalie Kershaw adds:
2020 What fixed the problem was adding some more colors to the X color
2021 database (copying the X11R5 colors over), and also defining the
2022 following resources:
2025 xemacs*cursorColor: black
2026 xemacs*pointerColor: black
2029 With the new colors installed the problem still occurs if the above
2030 resources are not defined.
2032 If the new colors are not present then an additional error occurs on
2033 XEmacs startup, which says @samp{Color Red3} not defined.
2036 @node Q2.1.9, Q2.1.10, Q2.1.8, Installation
2037 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.9: XEmacs causes my OpenWindows 3.0 server to crash.
2039 The OpenWindows 3.0 server is incredibly buggy. Your best bet is to
2040 replace it with one from the generic MIT X11 release. You might also
2041 try disabling parts of your @file{.emacs}, like enabling background
2044 @node Q2.1.10, Q2.1.11, Q2.1.9, Installation
2045 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.10: Warnings from incorrect key modifiers.
2047 The following information comes from the @file{PROBLEMS} file that comes
2050 If you're having troubles with HP/UX it is because HP/UX defines the
2051 modifiers wrong in X. Here is a shell script to fix the problem; be
2052 sure that it is run after VUE configures the X server.
2056 xmodmap 2> /dev/null - << EOF
2057 keysym Alt_L = Meta_L
2058 keysym Alt_R = Meta_R
2063 keysym Mode_switch = NoSymbol
2065 keysym Meta_R = Mode_switch
2066 add mod2 = Mode_switch
2070 @node Q2.1.11, Q2.1.12, Q2.1.10, Installation
2071 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.11: @samp{Can't instantiate image error...} in toolbar
2074 @email{expt@@alanine.ram.org, Dr. Ram Samudrala} writes:
2076 I just installed the XEmacs (20.4-2) RPMS that I downloaded from
2077 @uref{http://www.xemacs.org/}. Everything works fine, except that when
2078 I place my mouse over the toolbar, it beeps and gives me this message:
2081 Can't instantiate image (probably cached):
2082 [xbm :mask-file "/usr/include/X11/bitmaps/leftptrmsk :mask-data
2083 (16 16 <strange control characters> ...
2086 @email{kyle_jones@@wonderworks.com, Kyle Jones} writes:
2088 This is problem specific to some Chips and Technologies video
2089 chips, when running XFree86. Putting
2091 @code{Option "sw_cursor"}
2093 in @file{XF86Config} gets rid of the problem.
2096 @node Q2.1.12, Q2.1.13, Q2.1.11, Installation
2097 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.12: Problems with Regular Expressions on DEC OSF1.
2099 I have xemacs 19.13 running on an alpha running OSF1 V3.2 148 and ispell
2100 would not run because it claimed the version number was incorrect
2101 although it was indeed OK. I traced the problem to the regular
2104 @email{douglask@@dstc.edu.au, Douglas Kosovic} writes:
2107 Actually it's a DEC cc optimization bug that screws up the regexp
2110 Rebuilding using the @samp{-migrate} switch for DEC cc (which uses a
2111 different sort of optimization) works fine.
2114 See @file{xemacs-19_13-dunix-3_2c.patch} at the following URL on how to
2115 build with the @samp{-migrate} flag:
2118 @uref{http://www-digital.cern.ch/carney/emacs/emacs.html}
2119 @c Link above, <URL:http://www-digital.cern.ch/carney/emacs/emacs.html> is
2120 @c dead. And the directory `carney' is empty.
2126 NOTE: There have been a variety of other problems reported that are
2127 fixed in this fashion.
2129 @node Q2.1.13, Q2.1.14, Q2.1.12, Installation
2130 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.13: HP/UX 10.10 and @code{create_process} failure.
2132 @email{Dave.Carrigan@@ipl.ca, Dave Carrigan} writes:
2135 With XEmacs 19.13 and HP/UX 10.10, anything that relies on the
2136 @code{create_process} function fails. This breaks a lot of things
2137 (shell-mode, compile, ange-ftp, to name a few).
2140 @email{johnson@@dtc.hp.com, Phil Johnson} writes:
2143 This is a problem specific to HP-UX 10.10. It only occurs when XEmacs
2144 is compiled for shared libraries (the default), so you can work around
2145 it by compiling a statically-linked binary (run configure with
2146 @samp{--dynamic=no}).
2148 I'm not sure whether the problem is with a particular shared library or
2149 if it's a kernel problem which crept into 10.10.
2152 @email{cognot@@ensg.u-nancy.fr, Richard Cognot} writes:
2155 I had a few problems with 10.10. Apparently, some of them were solved by
2156 forcing a static link of libc (manually).
2159 @node Q2.1.14, Q2.1.15, Q2.1.13, Installation
2160 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.14: @kbd{C-g} doesn't work for me. Is it broken?
2162 @email{ben@@xemacs.org, Ben Wing} writes:
2165 @kbd{C-g} does work for most people in most circumstances. If it
2166 doesn't, there are only two explanations:
2170 The code is wrapped with a binding of @code{inhibit-quit} to
2171 @code{t}. @kbd{Ctrl-Shift-G} should still work, I think.
2174 SIGIO is broken on your system, but BROKEN_SIGIO isn't defined.
2177 To test #2, try executing @code{(while t)} from the @samp{*scratch*}
2178 buffer. If @kbd{C-g} doesn't interrupt, then you're seeing #2.
2181 @email{terra@@diku.dk, Morten Welinder} writes:
2184 On some (but @emph{not} all) machines a hung XEmacs can be revived by
2185 @code{kill -FPE <pid>}. This is a hack, of course, not a solution.
2186 This technique works on a Sun4 running 4.1.3_U1. To see if it works for
2187 you, start another XEmacs and test with that first. If you get a core
2188 dump the method doesn't work and if you get @samp{Arithmetic error} then
2192 @node Q2.1.15, Q2.1.16, Q2.1.14, Installation
2193 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.15: How to Debug an XEmacs problem with a debugger
2195 If XEmacs does crash on you, one of the most productive things you can
2196 do to help get the bug fixed is to poke around a bit with the debugger.
2197 Here are some hints:
2201 First of all, if the crash is at all reproducible, consider very
2202 strongly recompiling your XEmacs with debugging symbols, with no
2203 optimization, and with the configure options @samp{--debug=yes} and
2204 @samp{--error-checking=all}. This will make your XEmacs run somewhat
2205 slower but make it a lot more likely to catch the problem earlier
2206 (closer to its source), and a lot easier to determine what's going on
2210 If you're able to run XEmacs under a debugger and reproduce the crash
2211 (if it's inconvenient to do this because XEmacs is already running or is
2212 running in batch mode as part of a bunch of scripts, consider attaching
2213 to the existing process with your debugger; most debuggers let you do
2214 this by substituting the process ID for the core file when you invoke
2215 the debugger from the command line, or by using the @code{attach}
2216 command or something similar), here are some things you can do:
2219 If XEmacs is hitting an assertion failure, put a breakpoint on
2220 @code{assert_failed()}.
2223 If XEmacs is hitting some weird Lisp error that's causing it to crash
2224 (e.g. during startup), put a breakpoint on @code{signal_1()}---this is
2225 declared static in eval.c.
2228 Internally, you will probably see lots of variables that hold objects of
2229 type @code{Lisp_Object}. These are exactly what they appear to be,
2230 i.e. references to Lisp objects. Printing them out with the debugger
2231 probably won't be too useful---you'll likely just see a number. To
2232 decode them, do this:
2235 call debug_print (OBJECT)
2238 where @var{OBJECT} is whatever you want to decode (it can be a variable,
2239 a function call, etc.). This will print out a readable representation
2240 on the TTY from which the xemacs process was invoked.
2243 If you want to get a Lisp backtrace showing the Lisp call
2247 call debug_backtrace ()
2251 Using @code{debug_print} and @code{debug_backtrace} has two
2252 disadvantages - it can only be used with a running xemacs process, and
2253 it cannot display the internal C structure of a Lisp Object. Even if
2254 all you've got is a core dump, all is not lost.
2256 If you're using GDB, there are some macros in the file
2257 @file{src/.gdbinit} in the XEmacs source distribution that should make
2258 it easier for you to decode Lisp objects. This file is automatically
2259 read by gdb if gdb is run in the directory where xemacs was built, and
2260 contains these useful macros to inspect the state of xemacs:
2264 Usage: pobj lisp_object @*
2265 Print the internal C representation of a lisp object.
2268 Usage: xtype lisp_object @*
2269 Print the Lisp type of a lisp object.
2273 Print the current Lisp stack trace.
2274 Requires a running xemacs process.
2277 Usage: ldp lisp_object @*
2278 Print a Lisp Object value using the Lisp printer.
2279 Requires a running xemacs process.
2282 Usage: run-temacs @*
2283 Run temacs interactively, like xemacs.
2284 Use this with debugging tools (like purify) that cannot deal with dumping,
2285 or when temacs builds successfully, but xemacs does not.
2288 Usage: dump-temacs @*
2289 Run the dumping part of the build procedure.
2290 Use when debugging temacs, not xemacs!
2291 Use this when temacs builds successfully, but xemacs does not.
2294 Usage: check-xemacs @*
2295 Run the test suite. Equivalent to 'make check'.
2298 Usage: check-temacs @*
2299 Run the test suite on temacs. Equivalent to 'make check-temacs'.
2300 Use this with debugging tools (like purify) that cannot deal with dumping,
2301 or when temacs builds successfully, but xemacs does not.
2304 If you are using Sun's @file{dbx} debugger, there is an equivalent file
2305 @file{src/.dbxrc}, which defines the same commands for dbx.
2308 If you're using a debugger to get a C stack backtrace and you're seeing
2309 stack traces with some of the innermost frames mangled, it may be due to
2310 dynamic linking. (This happens especially under Linux.) Consider
2311 reconfiguring with @samp{--dynamic=no}. Also, sometimes (again under
2312 Linux), stack backtraces of core dumps will have the frame where the
2313 fatal signal occurred mangled; if you can obtain a stack trace while
2314 running the XEmacs process under a debugger, the stack trace should be
2317 @email{1CMC3466@@ibm.mtsac.edu, Curtiss} suggests upgrading to ld.so version 1.8
2318 if dynamic linking and debugging is a problem on Linux.
2321 If you're using a debugger to get a C stack backtrace and you're
2322 getting a completely mangled and bogus stack trace, it's probably due to
2323 one of the following:
2327 Your executable has been stripped. Bad news. Tell your sysadmin not to
2328 do this---it doesn't accomplish anything except to save a bit of disk
2329 space, and makes debugging much much harder.
2332 Your stack is getting trashed. Debugging this is hard; you have to do a
2333 binary-search type of narrowing down where the crash occurs, until you
2334 figure out exactly which line is causing the problem. Of course, this
2335 only works if the bug is highly reproducible.
2338 If your stack trace has exactly one frame in it, with address 0x0, this
2339 could simply mean that XEmacs attempted to execute code at that address,
2340 e.g. through jumping to a null function pointer. Unfortunately, under
2341 those circumstances, GDB under Linux doesn't know how to get a stack
2342 trace. (Yes, this is the third Linux-related problem I've mentioned. I
2343 have no idea why GDB under Linux is so bogus. Complain to the GDB
2344 authors, or to comp.os.linux.development.system). Again, you'll have to
2345 use the narrowing-down process described above.
2348 If you compiled 19.14 with @samp{--debug} (or by default in later
2349 versions), you will get a Lisp backtrace output when XEmacs crashes, so
2350 you'll have something useful.
2355 If you compile with the newer gcc variants gcc-2.8 or egcs, you will
2356 also need gdb 4.17 or above. Earlier releases of gdb can't handle the
2357 debug information generated by the newer compilers.
2360 In versions of XEmacs before 21.2.27, @file{src/.gdbinit} was named
2361 @file{src/gdbinit}. This had the disadvantage of not being sourced
2362 automatically by gdb, so you had to set that up yourself.
2366 @node Q2.1.16, Q2.1.17, Q2.1.15, Installation
2367 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.16: XEmacs crashes in @code{strcat} on HP/UX 10
2369 From the problems database (through
2370 the former address http://support.mayfield.hp.com/):
2373 Problem Report: 5003302299
2376 System/Model: 9000/700
2377 Product Name: HPUX S800 10.0X
2378 Product Vers: 9245XB.10.00
2380 Description: strcat(3C) may read beyond
2381 end of source string, can cause SIGSEGV
2384 *** PROBLEM TEXT ***
2385 strcat(3C) may read beyond the source string onto an unmapped page,
2386 causing a segmentation violation.
2389 @node Q2.1.17, Q2.1.18, Q2.1.16, Installation
2390 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.17: @samp{Marker does not point anywhere}
2392 As with other errors, set @code{debug-on-error} to @code{t} to get the
2393 backtrace when the error occurs. Specifically, two problems have been
2394 reported (and fixed).
2398 A problem with line-number-mode in XEmacs 19.14 affected a large number
2399 of other packages. If you see this error message, turn off
2403 A problem with some early versions of Gnus 5.4 caused this error.
2407 @node Q2.1.18, Q2.1.19, Q2.1.17, Installation
2408 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.18: removed
2410 @node Q2.1.19, Q2.1.20, Q2.1.18, Installation
2411 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.19: XEmacs does not follow the local timezone.
2413 When using one of the prebuilt binaries many users have observed that
2414 XEmacs uses the timezone under which it was built, but not the timezone
2415 under which it is running. The solution is to add:
2418 (set-time-zone-rule "MET")
2421 to your @file{.emacs} or the @file{site-start.el} file if you can.
2422 Replace @code{MET} with your local timezone.
2424 @node Q2.1.20, Q2.1.21, Q2.1.19, Installation
2425 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.20: @samp{Symbol's function definition is void: hkey-help-show.}
2427 This is a problem with a partially loaded hyperbole. Try adding:
2430 (require 'hmouse-drv)
2433 where you load hyperbole and the problem should go away.
2435 @node Q2.1.21, Q2.1.22, Q2.1.20, Installation
2436 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.21: [This question intentionally left blank]
2438 @node Q2.1.22, Q2.1.23, Q2.1.21, Installation
2439 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.22: XEmacs seems to take a really long time to do some things
2441 @email{dmoore@@ucsd.edu, David Moore} writes:
2444 Two things you can do:
2448 When you see it going mad like this, you might want to use gdb from an
2449 'xterm' to attach to the running process and get a stack trace. To do
2453 gdb /path/to/xemacs/xemacs ####
2456 Where @code{####} is the process id of your xemacs, instead of
2457 specifying the core. When gdb attaches, the xemacs will stop [1] and
2458 you can type `where' in gdb to get a stack trace as usual. To get
2459 things moving again, you can just type `quit' in gdb. It'll tell you
2460 the program is running and ask if you want to quit anyways. Say 'y' and
2461 it'll quit and have your emacs continue from where it was at.
2465 Turn on debug-on-quit early on. When you think things are going slow
2466 hit C-g and it may pop you in the debugger so you can see what routine
2467 is running. Press `c' to get going again.
2469 debug-on-quit doesn't work if something's turned on inhibit-quit or in
2470 some other strange cases.
2473 @node Q2.1.23, Q2.1.24, Q2.1.22, Installation
2474 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.23: Movemail on Linux does not work for XEmacs 19.15 and later.
2476 Movemail used to work fine in 19.14 but has stopped working in 19.15
2477 and 20.x. I am using Linux.
2479 @email{steve@@xemacs.org, SL Baur} writes:
2482 Movemail on Linux used to default to using flock file locking. With
2483 19.15 and later versions it now defaults to using @code{.lock} file
2484 locking. If this is not appropriate for your system, edit src/s/linux.h
2485 and uncomment the line that reads:
2488 #define MAIL_USE_FLOCK
2492 @node Q2.1.24, , Q2.1.23, Installation
2493 @unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.24: XEmacs won't start without network. (NEW)
2495 If XEmacs starts when you're on the network, but fails when you're not
2496 on the network, you may be missing a "localhost" entry in your
2497 @file{/etc/hosts} file. The file should contain an entry like:
2503 Add that line, and XEmacs will be happy.
2505 @node Customization, Subsystems, Installation, Top
2506 @unnumbered 3 Customization and Options
2508 This is part 3 of the XEmacs Frequently Asked Questions list. This
2509 section is devoted to Customization and screen settings.
2512 Customization---Emacs Lisp and @file{.emacs}:
2513 * Q3.0.1:: What version of Emacs am I running?
2514 * Q3.0.2:: How do I evaluate Elisp expressions?
2515 * Q3.0.3:: @code{(setq tab-width 6)} behaves oddly.
2516 * Q3.0.4:: How can I add directories to the @code{load-path}?
2517 * Q3.0.5:: How to check if a lisp function is defined?
2518 * Q3.0.6:: Can I force the output of @code{(face-list)} to a buffer?
2519 * Q3.0.7:: Font selections don't get saved after @code{Save Options}.
2520 * Q3.0.8:: How do I make a single minibuffer frame?
2521 * Q3.0.9:: What is @code{Customize}?
2523 X Window System & Resources:
2524 * Q3.1.1:: Where is a list of X resources?
2525 * Q3.1.2:: How can I detect a color display?
2526 * Q3.1.3:: [This question intentionally left blank]
2527 * Q3.1.4:: [This question intentionally left blank]
2528 * Q3.1.5:: How can I get the icon to just say @samp{XEmacs}?
2529 * Q3.1.6:: How can I have the window title area display the full path?
2530 * Q3.1.7:: @samp{xemacs -name junk} doesn't work?
2531 * Q3.1.8:: @samp{-iconic} doesn't work.
2533 Textual Fonts & Colors:
2534 * Q3.2.1:: How can I set color options from @file{.emacs}?
2535 * Q3.2.2:: How do I set the text, menu and modeline fonts?
2536 * Q3.2.3:: How can I set the colors when highlighting a region?
2537 * Q3.2.4:: How can I limit color map usage?
2538 * Q3.2.5:: My tty supports color, but XEmacs doesn't use them.
2539 * Q3.2.6:: Can I have pixmap backgrounds in XEmacs?
2542 * Q3.3.1:: How can I make the modeline go away?
2543 * Q3.3.2:: How do you have XEmacs display the line number in the modeline?
2544 * Q3.3.3:: How do I get XEmacs to put the time of day on the modeline?
2545 * Q3.3.4:: How do I turn off current chapter from AUC TeX modeline?
2546 * Q3.3.5:: How can one change the modeline color based on the mode used?
2548 3.4 Multiple Device Support:
2549 * Q3.4.1:: How do I open a frame on another screen of my multi-headed display?
2550 * Q3.4.2:: Can I really connect to a running XEmacs after calling up over a modem? How?
2553 * Q3.5.1:: How can I bind complex functions (or macros) to keys?
2554 * Q3.5.2:: How can I stop down-arrow from adding empty lines to the bottom of my buffers?
2555 * Q3.5.3:: How do I bind C-. and C-; to scroll one line up and down?
2556 * Q3.5.4:: Globally binding @kbd{Delete}?
2557 * Q3.5.5:: Scrolling one line at a time.
2558 * Q3.5.6:: How to map @kbd{Help} key alone on Sun type4 keyboard?
2559 * Q3.5.7:: How can you type in special characters in XEmacs?
2560 * Q3.5.8:: Why does @code{(global-set-key [delete-forward] 'delete-char)} complain?
2561 * Q3.5.9:: How do I make the Delete key delete forward?
2562 * Q3.5.10:: Can I turn on @dfn{sticky} modifier keys?
2563 * Q3.5.11:: How do I map the arrow keys?
2566 * Q3.6.1:: Is there a way to make the bar cursor thicker?
2567 * 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?
2568 * Q3.6.3:: Can I make the cursor blink?
2570 The Mouse and Highlighting:
2571 * Q3.7.1:: How can I turn off Mouse pasting?
2572 * Q3.7.2:: How do I set control/meta/etc modifiers on mouse buttons?
2573 * Q3.7.3:: Clicking the left button does not do anything in buffer list.
2574 * Q3.7.4:: How can I get a list of buffers when I hit mouse button 3?
2575 * Q3.7.5:: Why does cut-and-paste not work between XEmacs and a cmdtool?
2576 * Q3.7.6:: How I can set XEmacs up so that it pastes where the text cursor is?
2577 * Q3.7.7:: How do I select a rectangular region?
2578 * Q3.7.8:: Why does @kbd{M-w} take so long?
2580 The Menubar and Toolbar:
2581 * Q3.8.1:: How do I get rid of the menu (or menubar)?
2582 * Q3.8.2:: Can I customize the basic menubar?
2583 * Q3.8.3:: How do I control how many buffers are listed in the menu @code{Buffers} list?
2584 * Q3.8.4:: Resources like @code{Emacs*menubar*font} are not working?
2585 * Q3.8.5:: How can I bind a key to a function to toggle the toolbar?
2588 * Q3.9.1:: How can I disable the scrollbar?
2589 * Q3.9.2:: How can one use resources to change scrollbar colors?
2590 * Q3.9.3:: Moving the scrollbar can move the point; can I disable this?
2591 * Q3.9.4:: How can I get automatic horizontal scrolling?
2594 * Q3.10.1:: How can I turn off or change highlighted selections?
2595 * Q3.10.2:: How do I get that typing on an active region removes it?
2596 * Q3.10.3:: Can I turn off the highlight during isearch?
2597 * Q3.10.4:: How do I turn off highlighting after @kbd{C-x C-p} (mark-page)?
2598 * Q3.10.5:: The region disappears when I hit the end of buffer while scrolling.
2601 @node Q3.0.1, Q3.0.2, Customization, Customization
2602 @unnumberedsec 3.0: Customization -- Emacs Lisp and .emacs
2603 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.0.1: What version of Emacs am I running?
2605 How can @file{.emacs} determine which of the family of Emacsen I am
2608 To determine if you are currently running GNU Emacs 18, GNU Emacs 19,
2609 XEmacs 19, XEmacs 20, or Epoch, and use appropriate code, check out the
2610 example given in @file{etc/sample.emacs}. There are other nifty things
2613 For all new code, all you really need to do is:
2616 (defvar running-xemacs (string-match "XEmacs\\|Lucid" emacs-version))
2619 @node Q3.0.2, Q3.0.3, Q3.0.1, Customization
2620 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.0.2: How can I evaluate Emacs-Lisp expressions?
2622 I know I can evaluate Elisp expressions from @code{*scratch*} buffer
2623 with @kbd{C-j} after the expression. How do I do it from another
2626 Press @kbd{M-:} (the default binding of @code{eval-expression}), and
2627 enter the expression to the minibuffer. In XEmacs prior to 19.15
2628 @code{eval-expression} used to be a disabled command by default. If
2629 this is the case, upgrade your XEmacs.
2631 @node Q3.0.3, Q3.0.4, Q3.0.2, Customization
2632 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.0.3: @code{(setq tab-width 6)} behaves oddly.
2634 If you put @code{(setq tab-width 6)} in your @file{.emacs} file it does
2635 not work! Is there a reason for this? If you do it at the EVAL prompt
2636 it works fine!! How strange.
2638 Use @code{setq-default} instead, since @code{tab-width} is
2641 @node Q3.0.4, Q3.0.5, Q3.0.3, Customization
2642 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.0.4: How can I add directories to the @code{load-path}?
2644 Here are two ways to do that, one that puts your directories at the
2645 front of the load-path, the other at the end:
2648 ;;; Add things at the beginning of the load-path, do not add
2649 ;;; duplicate directories:
2650 (pushnew "bar" load-path :test 'equal)
2652 (pushnew "foo" load-path :test 'equal)
2654 ;;; Add things at the end, unconditionally
2655 (setq load-path (nconc load-path '("foo" "bar")))
2658 @email{keithh@@nortel.ca, keith (k.p.) hanlan} writes:
2661 To add directories using Unix shell metacharacters use
2662 @file{expand-file-name} like this:
2665 (push (expand-file-name "~keithh/.emacsdir") load-path)
2669 @node Q3.0.5, Q3.0.6, Q3.0.4, Customization
2670 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.0.5: How to check if a lisp function is defined?
2672 Use the following elisp:
2678 It's almost always a mistake to test @code{emacs-version} or any similar
2681 Instead, use feature-tests, such as @code{featurep}, @code{boundp},
2682 @code{fboundp}, or even simple behavioral tests, eg.:
2685 (defvar foo-old-losing-code-p
2686 (condition-case nil (progn (losing-code t) nil)
2687 (wrong-number-of-arguments t)))
2690 There is an incredible amount of broken code out there which could work
2691 much better more often in more places if it did the above instead of
2692 trying to divine its environment from the value of one variable.
2694 @node Q3.0.6, Q3.0.7, Q3.0.5, Customization
2695 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.0.6: Can I force the output of @code{(face-list)} to a buffer?
2697 It would be good having it in a buffer, as the output of
2698 @code{(face-list)} is too wide to fit to a minibuffer.
2700 Evaluate the expression in the @samp{*scratch*} buffer with point after
2701 the rightmost paren and typing @kbd{C-j}.
2703 If the minibuffer smallness is the only problem you encounter, you can
2704 simply press @kbd{C-h l} to get the former minibuffer contents in a
2707 @node Q3.0.7, Q3.0.8, Q3.0.6, Customization
2708 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.0.7: Font selections in don't get saved after @code{Save Options}.
2710 For XEmacs 19.14 and previous:
2712 @email{mannj@@ll.mit.edu, John Mann} writes:
2715 You have to go to Options->Frame Appearance and unselect
2716 @samp{Frame-Local Font Menu}. If this option is selected, font changes
2717 are only applied to the @emph{current} frame and do @emph{not} get saved
2718 when you save options.
2721 For XEmacs 19.15 and later:
2723 Implement the above as well as set the following in your @file{.emacs}
2726 (setq options-save-faces t)
2729 @node Q3.0.8, Q3.0.9, Q3.0.7, Customization
2730 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.0.8: How do I get a single minibuffer frame?
2732 @email{acs@@acm.org, Vin Shelton} writes:
2735 (setq initial-frame-plist '(minibuffer nil))
2736 (setq default-frame-plist '(minibuffer nil))
2737 (setq default-minibuffer-frame
2742 menubar-visible-p nil
2743 default-toolbar-visible-p nil
2747 has-modeline-p nil)))
2748 (frame-notice-user-settings)
2751 @strong{Please note:} The single minibuffer frame may not be to everyone's
2752 taste, and there any number of other XEmacs options settings that may
2753 make it difficult or inconvenient to use.
2755 @node Q3.0.9, Q3.1.1, Q3.0.8, Customization
2756 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.0.9: What is @code{Customize}?
2758 Starting with XEmacs 20.2 there is new system 'Customize' for customizing
2761 You can access @code{Customize} from the @code{Options} menu
2762 or invoking one of customize commands by typing eg.
2763 @kbd{M-x customize}, @kbd{M-x customize-face},
2764 @kbd{M-x customize-variable} or @kbd{M-x customize-apropos}.
2766 Starting with XEmacs 20.3 there is also new `browser' mode for Customize.
2767 Try it out with @kbd{M-x customize-browse}
2769 @node Q3.1.1, Q3.1.2, Q3.0.9, Customization
2770 @unnumberedsec 3.1: X Window System & Resources
2771 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.1.1: Where is a list of X resources?
2773 Search through the @file{NEWS} file for @samp{X Resources}. A fairly
2774 comprehensive list is given after it.
2776 In addition, an @file{app-defaults} file is supplied,
2777 @file{etc/Emacs.ad} listing the defaults. The file
2778 @file{etc/sample.Xdefaults} gives a set of defaults that you might
2779 consider. It is essentially the same as @file{etc/Emacs.ad} but some
2780 entries are slightly altered. Be careful about installing the contents
2781 of this file into your @file{.Xdefaults} or @file{.Xresources} file if
2782 you use GNU Emacs under X11 as well.
2784 @node Q3.1.2, Q3.1.3, Q3.1.1, Customization
2785 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.1.2: How can I detect a color display?
2787 You can test the return value of the function @code{(device-class)}, as
2791 (when (eq (device-class) 'color)
2792 (set-face-foreground 'font-lock-comment-face "Grey")
2793 (set-face-foreground 'font-lock-string-face "Red")
2798 @node Q3.1.3, Q3.1.4, Q3.1.2, Customization
2799 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.1.3: [This question intentionally left blank]
2801 @node Q3.1.4, Q3.1.5, Q3.1.3, Customization
2802 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.1.4: [This question intentionally left blank]
2804 @node Q3.1.5, Q3.1.6, Q3.1.4, Customization
2805 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.1.5: How can I get the icon to just say @samp{XEmacs}?
2807 I'd like the icon to just say @samp{XEmacs}, and not include the name of
2808 the current file in it.
2810 Add the following line to your @file{.emacs}:
2813 (setq frame-icon-title-format "XEmacs")
2816 @node Q3.1.6, Q3.1.7, Q3.1.5, Customization
2817 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.1.6: How can I have the window title area display the full path?
2819 I'd like to have the window title area display the full directory/name
2820 of the current buffer file and not just the name.
2822 Add the following line to your @file{.emacs}:
2825 (setq frame-title-format "%S: %f")
2828 A more sophisticated title might be:
2831 (setq frame-title-format
2832 '("%S: " (buffer-file-name "%f"
2833 (dired-directory dired-directory "%b"))))
2836 That is, use the file name, or the dired-directory, or the buffer name.
2838 @node Q3.1.7, Q3.1.8, Q3.1.6, Customization
2839 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.1.7: @samp{xemacs -name junk} doesn't work?
2841 When I run @samp{xterm -name junk}, I get an xterm whose class name
2842 according to xprop, is @samp{junk}. This is the way it's supposed to
2843 work, I think. When I run @samp{xemacs -name junk} the class name is
2844 not set to @samp{junk}. It's still @samp{emacs}. What does
2845 @samp{xemacs -name} really do? The reason I ask is that my window
2846 manager (fvwm) will make a window sticky and I use XEmacs to read my
2847 mail. I want that XEmacs window to be sticky, without having to use the
2848 window manager's function to set the window sticky. What gives?
2850 @samp{xemacs -name} sets the application name for the program (that is,
2851 the thing which normally comes from @samp{argv[0]}). Using @samp{-name}
2852 is the same as making a copy of the executable with that new name. The
2853 @code{WM_CLASS} property on each frame is set to the frame-name, and the
2854 application-class. So, if you did @samp{xemacs -name FOO} and then
2855 created a frame named @var{BAR}, you'd get an X window with WM_CLASS =
2856 @code{( "BAR", "Emacs")}. However, the resource hierarchy for this
2860 Name: FOO .shell .container .BAR
2861 Class: Emacs .TopLevelEmacsShell.EmacsManager.EmacsFrame
2864 instead of the default
2867 Name: xemacs.shell .container .emacs
2868 Class: Emacs .TopLevelEmacsShell.EmacsManager.EmacsFrame
2872 It is arguable that the first element of WM_CLASS should be set to the
2873 application-name instead of the frame-name, but I think that's less
2874 flexible, since it does not give you the ability to have multiple frames
2875 with different WM_CLASS properties. Another possibility would be for
2876 the default frame name to come from the application name instead of
2877 simply being @samp{emacs}. However, at this point, making that change
2878 would be troublesome: it would mean that many users would have to make
2879 yet another change to their resource files (since the default frame name
2880 would suddenly change from @samp{emacs} to @samp{xemacs}, or whatever
2881 the executable happened to be named), so we'd rather avoid it.
2883 To make a frame with a particular name use:
2886 (make-frame '((name . "the-name")))
2889 @node Q3.1.8, Q3.2.1, Q3.1.7, Customization
2890 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.1.8: @samp{-iconic} doesn't work.
2892 When I start up XEmacs using @samp{-iconic} it doesn't work right.
2893 Using @samp{-unmapped} on the command line, and setting the
2894 @code{initiallyUnmapped} X Resource don't seem to help much either...
2896 @email{ben@@xemacs.org, Ben Wing} writes:
2899 Ugh, this stuff is such an incredible mess that I've about given up
2900 getting it to work. The principal problem is numerous window-manager
2904 @node Q3.2.1, Q3.2.2, Q3.1.8, Customization
2905 @unnumberedsec 3.2: Textual Fonts & Colors
2906 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.2.1: How can I set color options from @file{.emacs}?
2908 How can I set the most commonly used color options from my @file{.emacs}
2909 instead of from my @file{.Xdefaults}?
2914 (set-face-background 'default "bisque") ; frame background
2915 (set-face-foreground 'default "black") ; normal text
2916 (set-face-background 'zmacs-region "red") ; When selecting w/
2918 (set-face-foreground 'zmacs-region "yellow")
2919 (set-face-font 'default "*courier-bold-r*120-100-100*")
2920 (set-face-background 'highlight "blue") ; Ie when selecting
2922 (set-face-foreground 'highlight "yellow")
2923 (set-face-background 'modeline "blue") ; Line at bottom
2925 (set-face-foreground 'modeline "white")
2926 (set-face-font 'modeline "*bold-r-normal*140-100-100*")
2927 (set-face-background 'isearch "yellow") ; When highlighting
2929 (set-face-foreground 'isearch "red")
2930 (setq x-pointer-foreground-color "black") ; Adds to bg color,
2932 (setq x-pointer-background-color "blue") ; This is color
2937 @node Q3.2.2, Q3.2.3, Q3.2.1, Customization
2938 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.2.2: How do I set the text, menu and modeline fonts?
2940 Note that you should use @samp{Emacs.} and not @samp{Emacs*} when
2941 setting face values.
2943 In @file{.Xdefaults}:
2946 Emacs.default.attributeFont: -*-*-medium-r-*-*-*-120-*-*-m-*-*-*
2947 Emacs*menubar*font: fixed
2948 Emacs.modeline.attributeFont: fixed
2951 This is confusing because modeline is a face, and can be found listed
2952 with all faces in the current mode by using @kbd{M-x set-face-font
2953 (enter) ?}. It uses the face specification of @code{attributeFont},
2954 while menubar is a normal X thing that uses the specification
2955 @code{font}. With Motif it may be necessary to use @code{fontList}
2956 instead of @code{font}.
2958 @node Q3.2.3, Q3.2.4, Q3.2.2, Customization
2959 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.2.3: How can I set the colors when highlighting a region?
2961 How can I set the background/foreground colors when highlighting a
2964 You can change the face @code{zmacs-region} either in your
2968 Emacs.zmacs-region.attributeForeground: firebrick
2969 Emacs.zmacs-region.attributeBackground: lightseagreen
2972 or in your @file{.emacs}:
2975 (set-face-background 'zmacs-region "red")
2976 (set-face-foreground 'zmacs-region "yellow")
2979 @node Q3.2.4, Q3.2.5, Q3.2.3, Customization
2980 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.2.4: How can I limit color map usage?
2982 I'm using Netscape (or another color grabber like XEmacs);
2983 is there anyway to limit the number of available colors in the color map?
2985 XEmacs 19.13 didn't have such a mechanism (unlike netscape, or other
2986 color-hogs). One solution is to start XEmacs prior to netscape, since
2987 this will prevent Netscape from grabbing all colors (but Netscape will
2988 complain). You can use the flags for Netscape, like -mono, -ncols <#>
2989 or -install (for mono, limiting to <#> colors, or for using a private
2990 color map). Since Netscape will take the entire colormap and never
2991 release it, the only reasonable way to run it is with @samp{-install}.
2993 If you have the money, another solution would be to use a truecolor or
2996 Starting with XEmacs 19.14, XEmacs uses the closest available color if
2997 the colormap is full, so it's O.K. now to start Netscape first.
2999 @node Q3.2.5, Q3.2.6, Q3.2.4, Customization
3000 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.2.5: My tty supports color, but XEmacs doesn't use them.
3002 XEmacs tries to automatically determine whether your tty supports color,
3003 but sometimes guesses wrong. In that case, you can make XEmacs Do The
3004 Right Thing using this Lisp code:
3007 (if (eq 'tty (device-type))
3008 (set-device-class nil 'color))
3011 @node Q3.2.6, Q3.3.1, Q3.2.5, Customization
3012 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.2.6: Can I have pixmap backgrounds in XEmacs?
3014 @email{jvillaci@@wahnsinnig.extreme.indiana.edu, Juan Villacis} writes:
3017 There are several ways to do it. For example, you could specify a
3018 default pixmap image to use in your @file{~/.Xresources}, e.g.,
3022 Emacs*EmacsFrame.default.attributeBackgroundPixmap: /path/to/image.xpm
3026 and then reload ~/.Xresources and restart XEmacs. Alternatively,
3027 since each face can have its own pixmap background, a better way
3028 would be to set a face's pixmap within your XEmacs init file, e.g.,
3031 (set-face-background-pixmap 'default "/path/to/image.xpm")
3032 (set-face-background-pixmap 'bold "/path/to/another_image.xpm")
3035 and so on. You can also do this interactively via @kbd{M-x edit-faces}.
3039 @node Q3.3.1, Q3.3.2, Q3.2.6, Customization
3040 @unnumberedsec 3.3: The Modeline
3041 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.3.1: How can I make the modeline go away?
3044 (set-specifier has-modeline-p nil)
3047 Starting with XEmacs 19.14 the modeline responds to mouse clicks, so if
3048 you haven't liked or used the modeline in the past, you might want to
3049 try the new version out.
3051 @node Q3.3.2, Q3.3.3, Q3.3.1, Customization
3052 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.3.2: How do you have XEmacs display the line number in the modeline?
3054 Add the following line to your @file{.emacs} file to display the
3058 (line-number-mode 1)
3061 Use the following to display the column number:
3064 (column-number-mode 1)
3067 Or select from the @code{Options} menu
3071 @code{Customize->Emacs->Editing->Basics->Line Number Mode}
3076 @code{Customize->Emacs->Editing->Basics->Column Number Mode}
3078 Or type @kbd{M-x customize @key{RET} editing-basics @key{RET}}.
3080 @node Q3.3.3, Q3.3.4, Q3.3.2, Customization
3081 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.3.3: How do I get XEmacs to put the time of day on the modeline?
3083 Add the following line to your @file{.emacs} file to display the
3090 See @code{Customize} from the @code{Options} menu for customization.
3092 @node Q3.3.4, Q3.3.5, Q3.3.3, Customization
3093 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.3.4: How do I turn off current chapter from AUC TeX modeline?
3095 With AUC TeX, fast typing is hard because the current chapter, section
3096 etc. are given in the modeline. How can I turn this off?
3098 It's not AUC TeX, it comes from @code{func-menu} in @file{func-menu.el}.
3099 Add this code to your @file{.emacs} to turn it off:
3102 (setq fume-display-in-modeline-p nil)
3105 Or just add a hook to @code{TeX-mode-hook} to turn it off only for TeX
3109 (add-hook 'TeX-mode-hook
3110 '(lambda () (setq fume-display-in-modeline-p nil)))
3113 @email{dhughes@@origin-at.co.uk, David Hughes} writes:
3116 If you have 19.14 or later, try this instead; you'll still get the
3117 function name displayed in the modeline, but it won't attempt to keep
3118 track when you modify the file. To refresh when it gets out of synch,
3119 you simply need click on the @samp{Rescan Buffer} option in the
3123 (setq-default fume-auto-rescan-buffer-p nil)
3127 @node Q3.3.5, Q3.4.1, Q3.3.4, Customization
3128 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.3.5: How can one change the modeline color based on the mode used?
3130 You can use something like the following:
3133 (add-hook 'lisp-mode-hook
3135 (set-face-background 'modeline "red" (current-buffer))))
3138 Then, when editing a Lisp file (i.e. when in Lisp mode), the modeline
3139 colors change from the default set in your @file{.emacs}. The change
3140 will only be made in the buffer you just entered (which contains the
3141 Lisp file you are editing) and will not affect the modeline colors
3149 The hook is the mode name plus @code{-hook}. eg. c-mode-hook,
3150 c++-mode-hook, emacs-lisp-mode-hook (used for your @file{.emacs} or a
3151 @file{xx.el} file), lisp-interaction-mode-hook (the @samp{*scratch*}
3152 buffer), text-mode-hook, etc.
3155 Be sure to use @code{add-hook}, not @code{(setq c-mode-hook xxxx)},
3156 otherwise you will erase anything that anybody has already put on the
3160 You can also do @code{(set-face-font 'modeline @var{font})},
3161 eg. @code{(set-face-font 'modeline "*bold-r-normal*140-100-100*"
3162 (current-buffer))} if you wish the modeline font to vary based on the
3166 This works in 19.15 as well, but there are additional modeline faces,
3167 @code{modeline-buffer-id}, @code{modeline-mousable}, and
3168 @code{modeline-mousable-minor-mode}, which you may want to customize.
3170 @node Q3.4.1, Q3.4.2, Q3.3.5, Customization
3171 @unnumberedsec 3.4: Multiple Device Support
3172 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.4.1: How do I open a frame on another screen of my multi-headed display?
3174 The support for this was revamped for 19.14. Use the command
3175 @kbd{M-x make-frame-on-display}. This command is also on the File menu
3178 XEmacs 19.14 and later also have the command @code{make-frame-on-tty}
3179 which will establish a connection to any tty-like device. Opening the
3180 TTY devices should be left to @code{gnuclient}, though.
3182 @node Q3.4.2, Q3.5.1, Q3.4.1, Customization
3183 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.4.2: Can I really connect to a running XEmacs after calling up over a modem? How?
3185 If you're not running at least XEmacs 19.14, you can't. Otherwise check
3186 out the @code{gnuattach} program supplied with XEmacs. Starting with
3187 XEmacs 20.3, @code{gnuattach} and @code{gnudoit} functionality is
3188 provided by @code{gnuclient}.
3190 Also @xref{Q5.0.12}.
3192 @node Q3.5.1, Q3.5.2, Q3.4.2, Customization
3193 @unnumberedsec 3.5: The Keyboard
3194 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.5.1: How can I bind complex functions (or macros) to keys?
3196 As an example, say you want the @kbd{paste} key on a Sun keyboard to
3197 insert the current Primary X selection at point. You can accomplish this
3201 (define-key global-map [f18] 'x-insert-selection)
3204 However, this only works if there is a current X selection (the
3205 selection will be highlighted). The functionality I like is for the
3206 @kbd{paste} key to insert the current X selection if there is one,
3207 otherwise insert the contents of the clipboard. To do this you need to
3208 pass arguments to @code{x-insert-selection}. This is done by wrapping
3209 the call in a 'lambda form:
3212 (global-set-key [f18]
3213 (lambda () (interactive) (x-insert-selection t nil)))
3216 This binds the f18 key to a @dfn{generic} functional object. The
3217 interactive spec is required because only interactive functions can be
3220 For the FAQ example you could use:
3223 (global-set-key [(control ?.)]
3224 (lambda () (interactive) (scroll-up 1)))
3225 (global-set-key [(control ?;)]
3226 (lambda () (interactive) (scroll-up -1)))
3229 This is fine if you only need a few functions within the lambda body.
3230 If you're doing more it's cleaner to define a separate function as in
3231 question 3.5.3 (@pxref{Q3.5.3}).
3233 @node Q3.5.2, Q3.5.3, Q3.5.1, Customization
3234 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.5.2: How can I stop down-arrow from adding empty lines to the bottom of my buffers?
3236 Add the following line to your @file{.emacs} file:
3239 (setq next-line-add-newlines nil)
3242 This has been the default setting in XEmacs for some time.
3244 @node Q3.5.3, Q3.5.4, Q3.5.2, Customization
3245 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.5.3: How do I bind C-. and C-; to scroll one line up and down?
3247 Add the following (Thanks to @email{mly@@adoc.xerox.com, Richard Mlynarik} and
3248 @email{wayne@@zen.cac.stratus.com, Wayne Newberry}) to @file{.emacs}:
3251 (defun scroll-up-one-line ()
3255 (defun scroll-down-one-line ()
3259 (global-set-key [(control ?.)] 'scroll-up-one-line) ; C-.
3260 (global-set-key [(control ?;)] 'scroll-down-one-line) ; C-;
3263 The key point is that you can only bind simple functions to keys; you
3264 can not bind a key to a function that you're also passing arguments to.
3265 (@pxref{Q3.5.1} for a better answer).
3267 @node Q3.5.4, Q3.5.5, Q3.5.3, Customization
3268 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.5.4: Globally binding @kbd{Delete}?
3270 I cannot manage to globally bind my @kbd{Delete} key to something other
3271 than the default. How does one do this?
3276 (message "You hit DELETE"))
3278 (global-set-key 'delete 'foo)
3281 However, some modes explicitly bind @kbd{Delete}, so you would need to
3282 add a hook that does @code{local-set-key} for them. If what you want to
3283 do is make the Backspace and Delete keys work more PC/Motif-like, then
3284 take a look at the @file{delbs.el} package.
3286 New in XEmacs 19.14 is a variable called @code{key-translation-map}
3287 which makes it easier to bind @kbd{Delete}. @file{delbs.el} is a
3288 good example of how to do this correctly.
3290 Also @xref{Q3.5.10}.
3292 @node Q3.5.5, Q3.5.6, Q3.5.4, Customization
3293 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.5.5: Scrolling one line at a time.
3295 Can the cursor keys scroll the screen a line at a time, rather than the
3296 default half page jump? I tend it to find it disorienting.
3301 (defun scroll-one-line-up (&optional arg)
3302 "Scroll the selected window up (forward in the text) one line (or N lines)."
3304 (scroll-up (or arg 1)))
3306 (defun scroll-one-line-down (&optional arg)
3307 "Scroll the selected window down (backward in the text) one line (or N)."
3309 (scroll-down (or arg 1)))
3311 (global-set-key [up] 'scroll-one-line-up)
3312 (global-set-key [down] 'scroll-one-line-down)
3315 The following will also work but will affect more than just the cursor
3316 keys (i.e. @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p}):
3319 (setq scroll-step 1)
3322 Starting with XEmacs-20.3 you can also change this with Customize.
3323 Select from the @code{Options} menu
3324 @code{Customize->Emacs->Environment->Windows->Scroll Step...} or type
3325 @kbd{M-x customize @key{RET} windows @key{RET}}.
3327 @node Q3.5.6, Q3.5.7, Q3.5.5, Customization
3328 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.5.6: How to map @kbd{Help} key alone on Sun type4 keyboard?
3330 The following works in GNU Emacs 19:
3333 (global-set-key [help] 'help-command);; Help
3336 The following works in XEmacs 19.15 with the addition of shift:
3339 (global-set-key [(shift help)] 'help-command);; Help
3342 But it doesn't work alone. This is in the file @file{PROBLEMS} which
3343 should have come with your XEmacs installation: @emph{Emacs ignores the
3344 @kbd{help} key when running OLWM}.
3346 OLWM grabs the @kbd{help} key, and retransmits it to the appropriate
3351 @code{XSendEvent}. Allowing Emacs to react to synthetic
3352 events is a security hole, so this is turned off by default. You can
3353 enable it by setting the variable @code{x-allow-sendevents} to t. You
3354 can also cause fix this by telling OLWM to not grab the help key, with
3355 the null binding @code{OpenWindows.KeyboardCommand.Help:}.
3357 @node Q3.5.7, Q3.5.8, Q3.5.6, Customization
3358 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.5.7: How can you type in special characters in XEmacs?
3360 One way is to use the package @code{x-compose}. Then you can use
3361 sequences like @kbd{Compose " a} to get ä, etc.
3363 Another way is to use the @code{iso-insert} package, provided in XEmacs
3364 19.15 and later. Then you can use sequences like @kbd{C-x 8 " a} to get
3367 @email{glynn@@sensei.co.uk, Glynn Clements} writes:
3370 It depends upon your X server.
3372 Generally, the simplest way is to define a key as Multi_key with
3374 @c hey, show some respect, willya -- there's xkeycaps, isn't there? --
3377 xmodmap -e 'keycode 0xff20 = Multi_key'
3380 You will need to pick an appropriate keycode. Use xev to find out the
3381 keycodes for each key.
3383 [NB: On a `Windows' keyboard, recent versions of XFree86 automatically
3384 define the right `Windows' key as Multi_key'.]
3386 Once you have Multi_key defined, you can use e.g.
3395 Also, recent versions of XFree86 define various AltGr-<key>
3396 combinations as dead keys, i.e.
3398 AltGr [ => dead_diaeresis
3399 AltGr ] => dead_tilde
3400 AltGr ; => dead_acute
3404 Running @samp{xmodmap -pk} will list all of the defined keysyms.
3407 @node Q3.5.8, Q3.5.9, Q3.5.7, Customization
3408 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.5.8: Why does @code{(global-set-key [delete-forward] 'delete-char)} complain?
3410 Why does @code{(define-key global-map [ delete-forward ] 'delete-char)}
3411 complain of not being able to bind an unknown key?
3416 (define-key global-map [delete_forward] 'delete-char)
3421 What you are seeing above is a bug due to code that is trying to check
3422 for GNU Emacs syntax like:
3424 (define-key global-map [C-M-a] 'delete-char)
3426 which otherwise would cause no errors but would not result in the
3429 This bug has been fixed in 19.14.
3431 @node Q3.5.9, Q3.5.10, Q3.5.8, Customization
3432 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.5.9: How do I make the Delete key delete forward?
3434 With XEmacs-20.2 use the @code{delbs} package:
3440 This will give you the functions @code{delbs-enable-delete-forward} to
3441 set things up, and @code{delbs-disable-delete-forward} to revert to
3442 ``normal'' behavior. Note that @code{delbackspace} package is obsolete.
3444 Starting with XEmacs-20.3 better solution is to set variable
3445 @code{delete-key-deletes-forward} to t. You can also change this with
3446 Customize. Select from the @code{Options} menu
3447 @code{Customize->Emacs->Editing->Basics->Delete Key Deletes Forward} or
3448 type @kbd{M-x customize @key{RET} editing-basics @key{RET}}.
3452 @node Q3.5.10, Q3.5.11, Q3.5.9, Customization
3453 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.5.10: Can I turn on @dfn{sticky} modifier keys?
3455 Yes, with @code{(setq modifier-keys-are-sticky t)}. This will give the
3456 effect of being able to press and release Shift and have the next
3457 character typed come out in upper case. This will affect all the other
3458 modifier keys like Control and Meta as well.
3460 @email{ben@@xemacs.org, Ben Wing} writes:
3463 One thing about the sticky modifiers is that if you move the mouse out
3464 of the frame and back in, it cancels all currently ``stuck'' modifiers.
3467 @node Q3.5.11, Q3.6.1, Q3.5.10, Customization
3468 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.5.11: How do I map the arrow keys?
3470 Say you want to map @kbd{C-@key{right}} to forward-word:
3472 @email{sds@@usa.net, Sam Steingold} writes:
3476 ; both XEmacs and Emacs
3477 (define-key global-map [(control right)] 'forward-word)
3482 (define-key global-map [C-right] 'forward-word)
3487 (define-key global-map (kbd "C-<right>") 'forward-word)
3493 @node Q3.6.1, Q3.6.2, Q3.5.11, Customization
3494 @unnumberedsec 3.6: The Cursor
3495 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.6.1: Is there a way to make the bar cursor thicker?
3497 I'd like to have the bar cursor a little thicker, as I tend to "lose" it
3500 For a 1 pixel bar cursor, use:
3506 For a 2 pixel bar cursor, use:
3509 (setq bar-cursor 'anything-else)
3512 Starting with XEmacs-20.3 you can also change these with Customize.
3513 Select from the @code{Options} menu
3514 @code{Customize->Emacs->Environment->Display->Bar Cursor...} or type
3515 @kbd{M-x customize @key{RET} display @key{RET}}.
3517 You can use a color to make it stand out better:
3520 Emacs*cursorColor: Red
3523 @node Q3.6.2, Q3.6.3, Q3.6.1, Customization
3524 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.6.2: Is there a way to get back the block cursor?
3527 (setq bar-cursor nil)
3530 Starting with XEmacs-20.3 you can also change this with Customize.
3531 Select from the @code{Options} menu
3532 @code{Customize->Emacs->Environment->Display->Bar Cursor...} or type
3533 @kbd{M-x customize @key{RET} display @key{RET}}.
3535 @node Q3.6.3, Q3.7.1, Q3.6.2, Customization
3536 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.6.3: Can I make the cursor blink?
3538 If you are running a version of XEmacs older than 19.14, no. Otherwise
3539 you can do the following:
3545 This function toggles between a steady cursor and a blinking cursor.
3546 You may also set this mode from the menu bar by selecting @samp{Options
3547 => Frame Appearance => Blinking Cursor}. Remember to save options.
3549 @node Q3.7.1, Q3.7.2, Q3.6.3, Customization
3550 @unnumberedsec 3.7: The Mouse and Highlighting
3551 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.7.1: How can I turn off Mouse pasting?
3553 I keep hitting the middle mouse button by accident and getting stuff
3554 pasted into my buffer so how can I turn this off?
3556 Here is an alternative binding, whereby the middle mouse button selects
3557 (but does not cut) the expression under the mouse. Clicking middle on a
3558 left or right paren will select to the matching one. Note that you can
3559 use @code{define-key} or @code{global-set-key}.
3562 (defun mouse-set-point-and-select (event)
3563 "Sets the point at the mouse location, then marks following form"
3565 (mouse-set-point event)
3567 (define-key global-map [button2] 'mouse-set-point-and-select)
3570 @node Q3.7.2, Q3.7.3, Q3.7.1, Customization
3571 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.7.2: How do I set control/meta/etc modifiers on mouse buttons?
3573 Use, for instance, @code{[(meta button1)]}. For example, here is a common
3574 setting for Common Lisp programmers who use the bundled @code{ilisp}
3575 package, whereby meta-button1 on a function name will find the file where
3576 the function name was defined, and put you at that location in the source
3579 [Inside a function that gets called by the lisp-mode-hook and
3583 (local-set-key [(meta button1)] 'edit-definitions-lisp)
3586 @node Q3.7.3, Q3.7.4, Q3.7.2, Customization
3587 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.7.3: Clicking the left button does not do anything in buffer list.
3589 I do @kbd{C-x C-b} to get a list of buffers and the entries get
3590 highlighted when I move the mouse over them but clicking the left mouse
3591 does not do anything.
3593 Use the middle mouse button.
3595 @node Q3.7.4, Q3.7.5, Q3.7.3, Customization
3596 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.7.4: How can I get a list of buffers when I hit mouse button 3?
3598 The following code will replace the default popup on button3:
3601 (global-set-key [button3] 'popup-buffer-menu)
3604 @node Q3.7.5, Q3.7.6, Q3.7.4, Customization
3605 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.7.5: Why does cut-and-paste not work between XEmacs and a cmdtool?
3607 We don't know. It's a bug. There does seem to be a work-around,
3608 however. Try running xclipboard first. It appears to fix the problem
3609 even if you exit it. (This should be mostly fixed in 19.13, but we
3610 haven't yet verified that).
3612 @node Q3.7.6, Q3.7.7, Q3.7.5, Customization
3613 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.7.6: How I can set XEmacs up so that it pastes where the text cursor is?
3615 By default XEmacs pastes X selections where the mouse pointer is. How
3618 Examine the function @code{mouse-yank}, by typing @kbd{C-h f mouse-yank
3621 To get XEmacs to paste at the text cursor, add this your @file{.emacs}:
3624 (setq mouse-yank-at-point t)
3627 Starting with XEmacs-20.2 you can also change this with Customize.
3628 Select from the @code{Options} menu
3629 @code{Customize->Emacs->Editing->Mouse->Yank At Point...} or type
3630 @kbd{M-x customize @key{RET} mouse @key{RET}}.
3632 @node Q3.7.7, Q3.7.8, Q3.7.6, Customization
3633 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.7.7: How do I select a rectangular region?
3635 Just select the region normally, then use the rectangle commands (e.g.
3636 @code{kill-rectangle} on it. The region does not highlight as a
3637 rectangle, but the commands work just fine.
3639 To actually sweep out rectangular regions with the mouse you can use
3640 @code{mouse-track-do-rectangle} which is assigned to @kbd{M-button1}.
3641 Then use rectangle commands.
3643 You can also do the following to change default behavior to sweep out
3644 rectangular regions:
3647 (setq mouse-track-rectangle-p t)
3650 Starting with XEmacs-20.2 you can also change this with Customize.
3651 Select from the @code{Options} menu
3652 @code{Customize->Emacs->Editing->Mouse->Track Rectangle...} or type
3653 @kbd{M-x customize @key{RET} mouse @key{RET}}.
3657 mouse-track-do-rectangle: (event)
3658 -- an interactive compiled Lisp function.
3659 Like `mouse-track' but selects rectangles instead of regions.
3662 @node Q3.7.8, Q3.8.1, Q3.7.7, Customization
3663 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.7.8: Why does @kbd{M-w} take so long?
3665 It actually doesn't. It leaves the region visible for a second so that
3666 you can see what area is being yanked. If you start working, though, it
3667 will immediately complete its operation. In other words, it will only
3668 delay for a second if you let it.
3670 @node Q3.8.1, Q3.8.2, Q3.7.8, Customization
3671 @unnumberedsec 3.8: The Menubar and Toolbar
3672 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.8.1: How do I get rid of the menu (or menubar)?
3674 If you are running XEmacs 19.13 and earlier, add this command to your
3681 Starting with XEmacs 19.14 the preferred method is:
3684 (set-specifier menubar-visible-p nil)
3687 @node Q3.8.2, Q3.8.3, Q3.8.1, Customization
3688 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.8.2: Can I customize the basic menubar?
3690 For an extensive menubar, add this line to your @file{.emacs}:
3693 (load "big-menubar")
3696 If you'd like to write your own, this file provides as good a set of
3697 examples as any to start from. The file is located in
3698 @file{lisp/packages/big-menubar.el} in the XEmacs installation
3701 @node Q3.8.3, Q3.8.4, Q3.8.2, Customization
3702 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.8.3: How do I control how many buffers are listed in the menu @code{Buffers List}?
3704 Add the following to your @file{.emacs} (suit to fit):
3707 (setq buffers-menu-max-size 20)
3710 For no limit, use an argument of @samp{nil}.
3712 Starting with XEmacs-20.3 you can also change this with Customize.
3713 Select from the @code{Options} menu
3714 @code{Customize->Emacs->Environment->Menu->Buffers Menu->Max Size...} or
3715 type @kbd{M-x customize @key{RET} buffers-menu @key{RET}}.
3717 @node Q3.8.4, Q3.8.5, Q3.8.3, Customization
3718 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.8.4: Resources like @code{Emacs*menubar*font} are not working?
3720 I am trying to use a resource like @code{Emacs*menubar*font} to set the
3721 font of the menubar but it's not working.
3723 If you are using the real Motif menubar, this resource is not
3724 recognized; you have to say:
3727 Emacs*menubar*fontList: FONT
3730 If you are using the Lucid menubar, the former resource will be
3731 recognized only if the latter resource is unset. This means that the
3741 Emacs*menubar*font: FONT
3744 even though the latter is more specific.
3746 @node Q3.8.5, Q3.9.1, Q3.8.4, Customization
3747 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.8.5: How can I bind a key to a function to toggle the toolbar?
3752 (defun my-toggle-toolbar ()
3754 (set-specifier default-toolbar-visible-p
3755 (not (specifier-instance default-toolbar-visible-p))))
3756 (global-set-key "\C-xT" 'my-toggle-toolbar)
3759 There are redisplay bugs in 19.14 that may make the preceding result in
3760 a messed-up display, especially for frames with multiple windows. You
3761 may need to resize the frame before XEmacs completely realizes the
3762 toolbar is really gone.
3764 Thanks to @email{martin@@xemacs.org, Martin Buchholz} for the correct
3767 @node Q3.9.1, Q3.9.2, Q3.8.5, Customization
3768 @unnumberedsec 3.9: Scrollbars
3769 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.9.1: How can I disable the scrollbar?
3771 To disable them for all frames, add the following line to
3772 your @file{.Xdefaults}:
3775 Emacs.scrollBarWidth: 0
3778 Or select from the @code{Options} menu @code{Frame Appearance->Scrollbars}.
3779 Remember to save options.
3781 To turn the scrollbar off on a per-frame basis, use the following
3785 (set-specifier scrollbar-width 0 (selected-frame))
3788 You can actually turn the scrollbars on at any level you want by
3789 substituting for (selected-frame) in the above command. For example, to
3790 turn the scrollbars off only in a single buffer:
3793 (set-specifier scrollbar-width 0 (current-buffer))
3796 In XEmacs versions prior to 19.14, you had to use the hairier construct:
3799 (set-specifier scrollbar-width (cons (selected-frame) 0))
3802 @node Q3.9.2, Q3.9.3, Q3.9.1, Customization
3803 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.9.2: How can one use resources to change scrollbar colors?
3805 Here's a recap of how to use resources to change your scrollbar colors:
3810 Emacs*XmScrollBar.Background: skyblue
3811 Emacs*XmScrollBar.troughColor: lightgray
3815 Emacs*Scrollbar.Foreground: skyblue
3816 Emacs*Scrollbar.Background: lightgray
3819 Note the capitalization of @code{Scrollbar} for the Athena widget.
3821 @node Q3.9.3, Q3.9.4, Q3.9.2, Customization
3822 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.9.3: Moving the scrollbar can move the point; can I disable this?
3824 When I move the scrollbar in an XEmacs window, it moves the point as
3825 well, which should not be the default behavior. Is this a bug or a
3826 feature? Can I disable it?
3828 The current behavior is a feature, not a bug. Point remains at the same
3829 buffer position as long as that position does not scroll off the screen.
3830 In that event, point will end up in either the upper-left or lower-left
3833 This cannot be changed.
3835 @node Q3.9.4, Q3.10.1, Q3.9.3, Customization
3836 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.9.4: How can I get automatic horizontal scrolling?
3838 By the same token, how can I turn it off in specific modes?
3840 To do this, add to your @file{.emacs} file:
3843 (require 'auto-show)
3846 Then do @code{(setq truncate-lines t)} in the mode-hooks for any modes
3847 in which you want lines truncated.
3849 More precisely: If @code{truncate-lines} is nil, horizontal scrollbars
3850 will never appear. Otherwise, they will appear only if the value of
3851 @code{scrollbar-height} for that buffer/window/etc. is non-zero. If you
3855 (set-specifier scrollbar-height 0)
3858 then horizontal scrollbars will not appear in truncated buffers unless
3859 the package specifically asked for them.
3861 Automatic horizontal scrolling is now standard, starting with 19.14.
3863 @node Q3.10.1, Q3.10.2, Q3.9.4, Customization
3864 @unnumberedsec 3.10: Text Selections
3865 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.10.1: How can I turn off or change highlighted selections?
3867 The @code{zmacs} mode allows for what some might call gratuitous
3868 highlighting for selected regions (either by setting mark or by using
3869 the mouse). This is the default behavior. To turn off, add the
3870 following line to your @file{.emacs} file:
3873 (setq zmacs-regions nil)
3876 Starting with XEmacs-20.2 you can also change this with Customize. Select
3877 from the @code{Options} menu @code{Customize->Emacs->Editing->Basics->Zmacs
3878 Regions} or type @kbd{M-x customize @key{RET} editing-basics @key{RET}}.
3880 To change the face for selection, look at @code{Options->Customize} on
3883 @node Q3.10.2, Q3.10.3, Q3.10.1, Customization
3884 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.10.2: How do I get that typing on an active region removes it?
3886 I want to change things so that if I select some text and start typing,
3887 the typed text replaces the selected text, similar to Motif.
3889 You want to use something called @dfn{pending delete}. Pending delete
3890 is what happens when you select a region (with the mouse or keyboard)
3891 and you press a key to replace the selected region by the key you typed.
3892 Usually backspace kills the selected region.
3894 To get this behavior, add the following lines to your @file{.emacs}:
3898 ((fboundp 'turn-on-pending-delete)
3899 (turn-on-pending-delete))
3900 ((fboundp 'pending-delete-on)
3901 (pending-delete-on t)))
3904 Note that this will work with both Backspace and Delete. This code is a
3905 tad more complicated than it has to be for XEmacs in order to make it
3908 @node Q3.10.3, Q3.10.4, Q3.10.2, Customization
3909 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.10.3: Can I turn off the highlight during isearch?
3911 I do not like my text highlighted while I am doing isearch as I am not
3912 able to see what's underneath. How do I turn it off?
3914 Put the following in your @file{.emacs}:
3917 (setq isearch-highlight nil)
3920 Starting with XEmacs-20.2 you can also change this with Customize. Type
3921 @kbd{M-x customize-variable @key{RET} isearch-highlight @key{RET}}.
3923 Note also that isearch-highlight affects query-replace and ispell.
3924 Instead of disabling isearch-highlight you may find that a better
3925 solution consists of customizing the @code{isearch} face.
3927 @node Q3.10.4, Q3.10.5, Q3.10.3, Customization
3928 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.10.4: How do I turn off highlighting after @kbd{C-x C-p} (mark-page)?
3930 Put this in your @code{.emacs}:
3933 (setq zmacs-regions nil)
3936 @strong{Warning: This command turns off all region highlighting.}
3938 Also @xref{Q3.10.1}.
3940 @node Q3.10.5, , Q3.10.4, Customization
3941 @unnumberedsubsec Q3.10.5: The region disappears when I hit the end of buffer while scrolling.
3943 This has been fixed by default starting with XEmacs-20.3.
3945 With older versions you can turn this feature (if it indeed is a feature)
3949 (defadvice scroll-up (around scroll-up freeze)
3951 (let ((zmacs-region-stays t))
3955 (end-of-buffer (goto-char (point-max))))
3958 (defadvice scroll-down (around scroll-down freeze)
3960 (let ((zmacs-region-stays t))
3964 (beginning-of-buffer (goto-char (point-min))))
3968 Thanks to @email{raman@@adobe.com, T. V. Raman} for assistance in deriving this
3971 @node Subsystems, Miscellaneous, Customization, Top
3972 @unnumbered 4 Major Subsystems
3974 This is part 4 of the XEmacs Frequently Asked Questions list. This
3975 section is devoted to major XEmacs subsystems.
3978 Reading Mail with VM:
3979 * Q4.0.1:: How do I set up VM to retrieve remote mail using POP?
3980 * Q4.0.2:: How do I get VM to filter mail for me?
3981 * Q4.0.3:: How can I get VM to automatically check for new mail?
3982 * Q4.0.4:: [This question intentionally left blank]
3983 * Q4.0.5:: How do I get my outgoing mail archived?
3984 * 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"?
3985 * Q4.0.7:: Is there a mailing list or FAQ for VM?
3986 * Q4.0.8:: Remote mail reading with VM.
3987 * Q4.0.9:: rmail or VM gets an error incorporating new mail.
3988 * Q4.0.10:: How do I make VM stay in a single frame?
3989 * Q4.0.11:: How do I make VM or mh-e display graphical smilies?
3990 * Q4.0.12:: Customization of VM not covered in the manual or here.
3992 Web browsing with W3:
3993 * Q4.1.1:: What is W3?
3994 * Q4.1.2:: How do I run W3 from behind a firewall?
3995 * Q4.1.3:: Is it true that W3 supports style sheets and tables?
3997 Reading Netnews and Mail with Gnus:
3998 * Q4.2.1:: GNUS, (ding) Gnus, Gnus 5, September Gnus, Red Gnus,argh!
3999 * Q4.2.2:: [This question intentionally left blank]
4000 * Q4.2.3:: How do I make Gnus stay within a single frame?
4001 * Q4.2.4:: How do I customize the From: line?
4004 * Q4.3.1:: How can I read and/or compose MIME messages?
4005 * Q4.3.2:: What is TM and where do I get it?
4006 * Q4.3.3:: Why isn't this @code{movemail} program working?
4007 * Q4.3.4:: Movemail is also distributed by Netscape? Can that cause problems?
4008 * Q4.3.5:: Where do I find pstogif (required by tm)?
4010 Sparcworks, EOS, and WorkShop:
4011 * Q4.4.1:: What is SPARCworks, EOS, and WorkShop
4012 * Q4.4.2:: How do I start the Sun Workshop support in XEmacs 21?
4015 * Q4.5.1:: What is/was Energize?
4018 * Q4.6.1:: What is Infodock?
4020 Other Unbundled Packages:
4021 * Q4.7.1:: What is AUC TeX? Where do you get it?
4022 * Q4.7.2:: Are there any Emacs Lisp Spreadsheets?
4023 * Q4.7.3:: [This question intentionally left blank]
4024 * Q4.7.4:: Problems installing AUC TeX
4025 * Q4.7.5:: Is there a reason for an Emacs package not to be included in XEmacs?
4026 * Q4.7.6:: Is there a MatLab mode?
4029 @node Q4.0.1, Q4.0.2, Subsystems, Subsystems
4030 @unnumberedsec 4.0: Reading Mail with VM
4031 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.0.1: How do I set up VM to retrieve mail from a remote site using POP?
4033 Use @code{vm-spool-files}, like this for example:
4036 (setq vm-spool-files '("/var/spool/mail/wing"
4037 "netcom23.netcom.com:110:pass:wing:MYPASS"))
4040 Of course substitute your actual password for MYPASS.
4042 @node Q4.0.2, Q4.0.3, Q4.0.1, Subsystems
4043 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.0.2: How do I get VM to filter mail for me?
4045 One possibility is to use procmail to split your mail before it gets to
4046 VM. I prefer this personally, since there are many strange and
4047 wonderful things one can do with procmail. Procmail may be found at
4048 @uref{ftp://ftp.informatik.rwth-aachen.de/pub/packages/procmail/}.
4050 Also see the Mail Filtering FAQ at:
4054 @uref{ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/mail/filtering-faq}.
4056 @c <URL:http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/mail/filtering-faq/faq.html>
4059 @node Q4.0.3, Q4.0.4, Q4.0.2, Subsystems
4060 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.0.3: How can I get VM to automatically check for new mail?
4062 @email{turner@@lanl.gov, John Turner} writes:
4068 (setq vm-auto-get-new-mail 60)
4072 @node Q4.0.4, Q4.0.5, Q4.0.3, Subsystems
4073 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.0.4: [This question intentionally left blank]
4075 Obsolete question, left blank to avoid renumbering.
4077 @node Q4.0.5, Q4.0.6, Q4.0.4, Subsystems
4078 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.0.5: How do I get my outgoing mail archived?
4081 (setq mail-archive-file-name "~/outbox")
4084 @node Q4.0.6, Q4.0.7, Q4.0.5, Subsystems
4085 @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"?
4087 Set @code{vm-reply-ignored-addresses} to a list, like
4090 (setq vm-reply-ignored-addresses
4091 '("wing@@nuspl@@nvwls.cc.purdue.edu,netcom[0-9]*.netcom.com"
4092 "wing@@netcom.com" "wing@@xemacs.org"))
4095 Note that each string is a regular expression.
4097 @node Q4.0.7, Q4.0.8, Q4.0.6, Subsystems
4098 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.0.7: Is there a mailing list or FAQ for VM?
4100 A FAQ for VM exists at @uref{http://www.cyberpass.net/~gorkab/vmfaq.htm}.
4102 VM has its own newsgroups gnu.emacs.vm.info and gnu.emacs.vm.bug.
4104 @node Q4.0.8, Q4.0.9, Q4.0.7, Subsystems
4105 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.0.8: Remote mail reading with VM.
4107 My mailbox lives at the office on a big honkin server. My regular INBOX
4108 lives on my honkin desktop machine. I now can PPP to the office from
4109 home which is far from honking... I'd like to be able to read mail at
4110 home without storing it here and I'd like to use xemacs and VM at
4111 home... Is there a recommended setup?
4113 @email{nuspl@@nvwls.cc.purdue.edu, Joseph J. Nuspl Jr.} writes:
4116 There are several ways to do this.
4120 Set your display to your home machine and run dxpc or one of the other X
4124 NFS mount your desktop machine on your home machine and modify your pop
4125 command on your home machine to rsh to your desktop machine and actually
4129 Run a POP server on your desktop machine as well and do a sort of two
4134 @email{wmperry@@monolith.spry.com, William Perry} adds:
4137 Or you could run a pop script periodically on your desktop machine, and
4138 just use ange-ftp or NFS to get to your mailbox. I used to do this all
4139 the time back at IU.
4142 @node Q4.0.9, Q4.0.10, Q4.0.8, Subsystems
4143 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.0.9: rmail or VM gets an error incorporating new mail.
4145 Quoting the XEmacs PROBLEMS file:
4148 rmail and VM get new mail from @file{/usr/spool/mail/$USER} using a
4149 program called @code{movemail}. This program interlocks with
4150 @code{/bin/mail} using the protocol defined by @code{/bin/mail}.
4152 There are two different protocols in general use. One of them uses the
4153 @code{flock} system call. The other involves creating a lock file;
4154 @code{movemail} must be able to write in @file{/usr/spool/mail} in order
4155 to do this. You control which one is used by defining, or not defining,
4156 the macro @code{MAIL_USE_FLOCK} in @file{config.h} or the m- or s- file
4159 @strong{IF YOU DON'T USE THE FORM OF INTERLOCKING THAT IS NORMAL ON YOUR
4160 SYSTEM, YOU CAN LOSE MAIL!}
4162 If your system uses the lock file protocol, and fascist restrictions
4163 prevent ordinary users from writing the lock files in
4164 @file{/usr/spool/mail}, you may need to make @code{movemail} setgid to a
4165 suitable group such as @samp{mail}. You can use these commands (as
4173 If your system uses the lock file protocol, and fascist restrictions
4174 prevent ordinary users from writing the lock files in
4175 @file{/usr/spool/mail}, you may need to make @code{movemail} setgid to a
4176 suitable group such as @code{mail}. To do this, use the following
4177 commands (as root) after doing the make install.
4184 Installation normally copies movemail from the build directory to an
4185 installation directory which is usually under @file{/usr/local/lib}.
4186 The installed copy of @code{movemail} is usually in the directory
4187 @file{/usr/local/lib/emacs/VERSION/TARGET}. You must change the group
4188 and mode of the installed copy; changing the group and mode of the build
4189 directory copy is ineffective.
4192 @node Q4.0.10, Q4.0.11, Q4.0.9, Subsystems
4193 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.0.10: How do I make VM stay in a single frame?
4195 John.@email{Cooper@@Eng.Sun.COM, John S Cooper} writes:
4199 ; Don't use multiple frames
4200 (setq vm-frame-per-composition nil)
4201 (setq vm-frame-per-folder nil)
4202 (setq vm-frame-per-edit nil)
4203 (setq vm-frame-per-summary nil)
4207 @node Q4.0.11, Q4.0.12, Q4.0.10, Subsystems
4208 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.0.11: How do I make VM or mh-e display graphical smilies?
4210 For mh-e use the following:
4213 (add-hook 'mh-show-mode-hook '(lambda ()
4214 (smiley-region (point-min)
4218 @email{bill@@carpenter.ORG, WJCarpenter} writes:
4219 For VM use the following:
4221 (autoload 'smiley-region "smiley" nil t)
4222 (add-hook 'vm-select-message-hook
4224 (smiley-region (point-min)
4228 For tm use the following:
4230 (autoload 'smiley-buffer "smiley" nil t)
4231 (add-hook 'mime-viewer/plain-text-preview-hook 'smiley-buffer)
4234 @node Q4.0.12, Q4.1.1, Q4.0.11, Subsystems
4235 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.0.12: Customization of VM not covered in the manual, or here.
4237 @email{boffi@@hp735.stru.polimi.it, giacomo boffi} writes:
4240 The meta-answer is to look into the file @file{vm-vars.el}, in the vm
4241 directory of the lisp library.
4243 @file{vm-vars.el} contains, initializes and carefully describes, with
4244 examples of usage, the plethora of user options that @emph{fully}
4245 control VM's behavior.
4247 Enter vm-vars, @code{forward-search} for toolbar, find the variables
4248 that control the toolbar placement, appearance, existence, copy to your
4249 @file{.emacs} or @file{.vm} and modify according to the detailed
4252 The above also applies to all the various features of VM: search for
4253 some keywords, maybe the first you conjure isn't appropriate, find the
4254 appropriate variables, copy and experiment.
4257 @node Q4.1.1, Q4.1.2, Q4.0.12, Subsystems
4258 @unnumberedsec 4.1: Web browsing with W3
4259 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.1.1: What is W3?
4261 W3 is an advanced graphical browser written in Emacs lisp that runs on
4262 XEmacs. It has full support for cascaded style sheets, and more...
4264 It has a home web page at
4265 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/elisp/w3/docs.html}.
4267 @node Q4.1.2, Q4.1.3, Q4.1.1, Subsystems
4268 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.1.2: How do I run W3 from behind a firewall?
4270 There is a long, well-written, detailed section in the W3 manual that
4271 describes how to do this. Look in the section entitled "Firewalls".
4273 @node Q4.1.3, Q4.2.1, Q4.1.2, Subsystems
4274 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.1.3: Is it true that W3 supports style sheets and tables?
4276 Yes, and much more. W3, as distributed with the latest XEmacs is a
4277 full-featured web browser.
4279 @node Q4.2.1, Q4.2.2, Q4.1.3, Subsystems
4280 @unnumberedsec 4.2: Reading Netnews and Mail with Gnus
4281 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.2.1: GNUS, (ding) Gnus, Gnus 5, September Gnus, Red Gnus, Quassia Gnus, argh!
4283 The Gnus numbering issues are not meant for mere mortals to know them.
4284 If you feel you @emph{must} enter the muddy waters of Gnus, visit the
4285 excellent FAQ, maintained by Justin Sheehy, at:
4288 @uref{http://www.ccs.neu.edu/software/contrib/gnus/}
4291 See also Gnus home page
4293 @uref{http://www.gnus.org/}
4296 @node Q4.2.2, Q4.2.3, Q4.2.1, Subsystems
4297 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.2.2: This question intentionally left blank.
4299 Obsolete question, left blank to avoid renumbering.
4301 @node Q4.2.3, Q4.2.4, Q4.2.2, Subsystems
4302 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.2.3: How do I make Gnus stay within a single frame?
4304 The toolbar code to start Gnus opens the new frame---and it's a feature
4305 rather than a bug. If you don't like it, but would still like to click
4306 on the seemly icon, use the following code:
4309 (defun toolbar-news ()
4313 It will redefine the callback function of the icon to just call
4314 @code{gnus}, without all the fancy frame stuff.
4316 @node Q4.2.4, Q4.3.1, Q4.2.3, Subsystems
4317 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.2.4: How do I customize the From: line?
4319 How do I change the @code{From:} line? I have set gnus-user-from-line
4322 Gail Gurman <gail.gurman@@sybase.com>
4324 @noindent , but XEmacs Gnus doesn't use
4327 Gail Mara Gurman @email{gailg@@deall}
4329 @noindent and then complains
4330 that it's incorrect. Also, as you perhaps can see, my Message-ID is
4331 screwy. How can I change that?
4333 @email{larsi@@ifi.uio.no, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen} writes:
4336 Set @code{user-mail-address} to @samp{gail.gurman@@sybase.com} or
4337 @code{mail-host-address} to @samp{sybase.com}.
4340 @node Q4.3.1, Q4.3.2, Q4.2.4, Subsystems
4341 @unnumberedsec 4.3: Other Mail & News
4342 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.3.1: How can I read and/or compose MIME messages?
4345 VM supports MIME natively.
4347 You probably want to use the Tools for MIME (tm). @xref{Q4.3.2}, for
4350 @email{trey@@cs.berkeley.edu, Trey Jackson} has an Emacs & MIME web page at
4354 @uref{http://bmrc.berkeley.edu/~trey/emacs/mime.html}.
4357 Another possibility is RMIME. You may find RMIME at
4361 @uref{http://www.cinti.net/~rmoody/rmime/index.html}.
4364 @node Q4.3.2, Q4.3.3, Q4.3.1, Subsystems
4365 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.3.2: What is TM and where do I get it?
4367 TM stands for @dfn{Tools for MIME} and not Tiny MIME. TM integrates
4368 with all major XEmacs packages like Gnus (all flavors), VM, MH-E, and
4369 mailcrypt. It provides totally transparent and trouble-free MIME
4370 support. When appropriate a message will be decoded in place in an
4373 TM now comes as a package with XEmacs 19.16 and XEmacs 20.2.
4375 TM was written by @email{morioka@@jaist.ac.jp, MORIOKA Tomohiko} and
4376 @email{shuhei-k@@jaist.ac.jp, KOBAYASHI
4379 It is based on the work of @email{umerin@@mse.kyutech.ac.jp, UMEDA
4380 Masanobu}, the original writer of GNUS.
4382 The following information is from the @file{README}:
4384 @dfn{tm} is a MIME package for GNU Emacs.
4385 tm has following functions:
4388 @item MIME style multilingual header.
4389 @item MIME message viewer (mime/viewer-mode).
4390 @item MIME message composer (mime/editor-mode).
4391 @item MIME extenders for mh-e, GNUS, RMAIL and VM.
4394 tm is available from following anonymous ftp sites:
4396 @comment @item @uref{ftp://ftp.jaist.ac.jp/pub/GNU/elisp/mime/} (Japan).
4397 @comment @item @uref{ftp://ftp.nis.co.jp/pub/gnu/emacs-lisp/tm/} (Japan).
4398 @comment @c The host above is unknown.
4399 @comment @item @uref{ftp://ftp.nisiq.net/pub/gnu/emacs-lisp/tm/} (US).
4400 @comment @item @uref{ftp://ftp.miranova.com/pub/gnus/jaist.ac.jp/} (US).
4401 @item @uref{ftp://ftp.unicamp.br/pub/mail/mime/tm/} (Brasil).
4402 @item @uref{ftp://ftp.th-darmstadt.de/pub/editors/GNU-Emacs/lisp/mime/} (Germany).
4403 @item @uref{ftp://ftp.tnt.uni-hannover.de/pub/editors/xemacs/contrib/} (Germany).
4406 Don't let the installation procedure & instructions stop you from trying
4407 this package out---it's much simpler than it looks, and once installed,
4410 @node Q4.3.3, Q4.3.4, Q4.3.2, Subsystems
4411 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.3.3: Why isn't this @code{movemail} program working?
4413 Ben Wing @email{ben@@xemacs.org} writes:
4416 It wasn't chown'ed/chmod'd correctly.
4419 @node Q4.3.4, Q4.3.5, Q4.3.3, Subsystems
4420 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.3.4: Movemail is also distributed by Netscape? Can that cause problems?
4422 @email{steve@@xemacs.org, Steve Baur} writes:
4425 Yes. Always use the movemail installed with your XEmacs. Failure to do
4426 so can result in lost mail.
4429 Please refer to @email{jwz@@jwz.org, Jamie Zawinski's} notes at
4433 @uref{http://home.netscape.com/eng/mozilla/2.0/relnotes/demo/movemail.html}.
4434 In particular, this document will show you how to make Netscape use the
4435 version of movemail configured for your system by the person who built
4438 @node Q4.3.5, Q4.4.1, Q4.3.4, Subsystems
4439 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.3.5: Where do I find pstogif (required by tm)?
4441 pstogif is part of the latex2html package.
4443 @email{vroonhof@@math.ethz.ch, Jan Vroonhof} writes:
4445 latex2html is best found at the CTAN hosts and their mirrors
4450 @file{tex-archive/support/latex2html}.
4455 @item @uref{ftp://ftp.tex.ac.uk/tex-archive/support/latex2html/}.
4456 @item @uref{ftp://ftp.dante.de/tex-archive/support/latex2html/}.
4459 There is a good mirror at ftp.cdrom.com;
4463 @uref{ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/pub/tex/ctan/support/latex2html/}.
4465 @node Q4.4.1, Q4.4.2, Q4.3.5, Subsystems
4466 @unnumberedsec 4.4: Sparcworks, EOS, and WorkShop
4467 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.4.1: What is SPARCworks, EOS, and WorkShop?
4469 @email{turner@@lanl.gov, John Turner} writes:
4472 SPARCworks is SunSoft's development environment, comprising compilers
4473 (C, C++, FORTRAN 77, Fortran 90, Ada, and Pascal), a debugger, and other
4474 tools such as TeamWare (for configuration management), MakeTool, etc.
4477 See @uref{http://www.sun.com/software/Developer-products/}
4480 EOS stands for "Era on SPARCworks", but I don't know what Era stands
4483 EOS is the integration of XEmacs with the SPARCworks debugger. It
4484 allows one to use an XEmacs frame to view code (complete with
4485 fontification, etc.), set breakpoints, print variables, etc., while
4486 using the SPARCworks debugger. It works very well and I use it all the
4489 @email{cthomp@@xemacs.org, Chuck Thompson} writes:
4492 Era stood for "Emacs Rewritten Again". It was what we were calling the
4493 modified version of Lucid Emacs for Sun when I was dragged, er, allowed
4494 to work on this wonderful editor.
4497 @email{martin@@xemacs.org, Martin Buchholz} writes:
4500 EOS is being replaced with a new graphical development environment
4501 called Sun WorkShop, which is currently (07/96) in Alpha Test. For more
4506 @uref{http://www.sun.com/software/Products/Developer-products}.
4509 @node Q4.4.2, Q4.5.1, Q4.4.1, Subsystems
4510 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.4.2: How do I start the Sun Workshop support in XEmacs 21?
4512 Add the switch ---with-workshop to the configure command when building
4513 XEmacs and put the following in one of your startup files
4514 (e.g. site-start.el or .emacs):
4517 (when (featurep 'tooltalk)
4518 (load "tooltalk-macros")
4519 (load "tooltalk-util")
4520 (load "tooltalk-init"))
4521 (when (featurep 'sparcworks)
4522 (load "sunpro-init")
4525 (load "annotations")
4529 If you are not using the latest Workshop (5.0) you have to apply the
4533 --- /opt/SUNWspro/lib/eserve.el.ORIG Fri May 14 15:23:26 1999
4534 +++ /opt/SUNWspro/lib/eserve.el Fri May 14 15:24:54 1999
4535 @@@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@@@
4536 (defvar running-xemacs nil "t if we're running XEmacs")
4537 (defvar running-emacs nil "t if we're running GNU Emacs 19")
4539 -(if (string-match "^\\(19\\|20\\)\..*\\(XEmacs\\|Lucid\\)" emacs-version)
4540 +(if (string-match "\\(XEmacs\\|Lucid\\)" emacs-version)
4541 (setq running-xemacs t)
4542 (setq running-emacs t))
4547 @node Q4.5.1, Q4.6.1, Q4.4.2, Subsystems
4548 @unnumberedsec 4.5: Energize
4549 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.5.1: What is/was Energize?
4551 @email{gray@@meteor.harlequin.com, David N Gray} writes:
4553 The files in @file{lisp/energize} are to enable Emacs to interface with
4554 the "Energize Programming System", a C and C++ development environment,
4555 which was a product of Lucid, Inc. Tragically, Lucid went out of
4556 business in 1994, so although Energize is still a great system, if you
4557 don't already have it, there isn't any way to get it now. (Unless you
4558 happen to be in Japan; INS Engineering may still be selling it there.
4559 Tartan bought the rights to sell it in the rest of the world, but never
4563 @node Q4.6.1, Q4.7.1, Q4.5.1, Subsystems
4564 @unnumberedsec 4.6: Infodock
4565 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.6.1: What is Infodock?
4567 InfoDock is an integrated productivity toolset, mainly aimed at
4568 technical people. It is developed and supported by InfoDock
4569 Associates, a firm that offers custom support and development
4570 for InfoDock, XEmacs and GNU Emacs. ( @uref{http://www.infodock.com},
4571 @email{info@@infodock.com}, +1 408 243 3300).
4573 InfoDock is built atop the XEmacs variant of GNU Emacs and so has all of
4574 the power of Emacs, but with an easier to use and more comprehensive
4575 menu-based user interface. The bottom portion of this text describes
4576 how it differs from XEmacs and GNU Emacs from the Free Software
4579 InfoDock is aimed at people who want a free, turn-key productivity
4580 environment. Although InfoDock is customizable, it is not intended for
4581 people who like basic versions of Emacs which need to be customized
4582 extensively for local use; standard Emacs distributions are better for
4583 such uses. InfoDock is for those people who want a complete,
4584 pre-customized environment in one package, which they need not touch
4585 more than once or twice a year to update to new revisions.
4587 InfoDock is pre-built for SPARC SunOS/Solaris systems, PA-RISC HP-UX,
4588 and Intel Linux systems. It is intended for use on a color display,
4589 although most features will work on monochrome monitors. Simply unpack
4590 InfoDock according to the instructions in the ID-INSTALL file and you
4593 The InfoDock Manual is concise, yet sufficient as a user guide for users
4594 who have never used an Emacs-type editor before. For users who are
4595 already familiar with Emacs, it supplements the information in the GNU
4598 InfoDock menus are much more extensive and more mature than standard
4599 Emacs menus. Each menu offers a @samp{Manual} item which displays
4600 documentation associated with the menu's functions.
4603 Four types of menubars are provided:
4606 An extensive menubar providing access to global InfoDock commands.
4608 Mode-specific menubars tailored to the current major mode.
4610 A simple menubar for basic editing to help novices get started with InfoDock.
4612 The standard XEmacs menubar.
4615 Most modes also include mode-specific popup menus. Additionally, region and
4616 rectangle popup menus are included.
4618 @samp{Hyperbole}, the everyday information manager, is a core part of
4619 InfoDock. This provides context-sensitive mouse keys, a rolodex-type
4620 contact manager, programmable hypertext buttons, and an autonumbered
4621 outliner with embedded hyperlink anchors.
4623 The @samp{OO-Browser}, a multi-language object-oriented code browser, is a
4624 standard part of InfoDock.
4626 InfoDock saves a more extensive set of user options than other Emacs
4629 InfoDock inserts a useful file header in many file types, showing the
4630 author, summary, and last modification time of each file. A summary
4631 program can then be used to summarize all of the files in a directory,
4632 for easy MANIFEST file creation.
4634 Your working set of buffers is automatically saved and restored (if you
4635 answer yes to a prompt) between InfoDock sessions.
4637 Refined color choices for code highlighting are provided for both dark and
4638 light background display frames.
4640 The @kbd{C-z} key prefix performs frame-based commands which parallel the
4641 @kbd{C-x} key prefix for window-based commands.
4643 The Smart Menu system is included for producing command menus on dumb
4646 Lisp libraries are better categorized according to function.
4648 Extensions and improvements to many areas of Emacs are included, such as:
4649 paragraph filling, mail reading with Rmail, shell handling, outlining, code
4650 highlighting and browsing, and man page browsing.
4652 InfoDock questions, answers and discussion should go to the mail list
4656 @email{infodock@@infodock.com}. Use
4657 @email{infodock-request@@infodock.com} to be added or removed from the
4658 list. Always include your InfoDock version number when sending help
4661 InfoDock is available across the Internet via anonymous FTP. To get
4662 it, first move to a directory into which you want the InfoDock archive
4663 files placed. We will call this <DIST-DIR>.
4669 Ftp to ftp.xemacs.org (Internet Host ID = 128.174.252.16):
4672 prompt> ftp ftp.xemacs.org
4675 Login as @samp{anonymous} with your own <user-id>@@<site-name> as a password.
4678 Name (ftp.xemacs.org): anonymous
4679 331 Guest login ok, send your complete e-mail address as password.
4680 Password: -<your-user-id>@@<your-domain>
4681 230 Guest login ok, access restrictions apply.
4684 Move to the location of the InfoDock archives:
4687 ftp> cd pub/infodock
4690 Set your transfer mode to binary:
4701 Interactive mode off.
4704 Retrieve the InfoDock archives that you want, either by using a
4705 @samp{get <file>} for each file you want or by using the following to
4706 get a complete distribution, including all binaries:
4709 ftp> mget ID-INSTALL
4713 Close the FTP connection:
4720 Read the @file{ID-INSTALL} file which you just retrieved for
4721 step-by-step installation instructions.
4723 @node Q4.7.1, Q4.7.2, Q4.6.1, Subsystems
4724 @unnumberedsec 4.7: Other Unbundled Packages
4725 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.7.1: What is AUC TeX? Where do you get it?
4727 AUC TeX is a package written by @email{abraham@@dina.kvl.dk, Per Abrahamsen}.
4728 Starting with XEmacs 19.16, AUC TeX is bundled with XEmacs. The
4729 following information is from the @file{README} and website.
4731 AUC TeX is an extensible package that supports writing and formatting
4732 TeX files for most variants of GNU Emacs. Many different macro packages
4733 are supported, including AMS TeX, LaTeX, and TeXinfo.
4735 The most recent version is always available by ftp at
4739 @uref{ftp://sunsite.auc.dk/packages/auctex/auctex.tar.gz}.
4741 In case you don't have access to anonymous ftp, you can get it by an
4742 email request to @email{ftpmail@@decwrl.dec.com}.
4744 WWW users may want to check out the AUC TeX page at
4748 @uref{http://sunsite.auc.dk/auctex/}.
4750 @node Q4.7.2, Q4.7.3, Q4.7.1, Subsystems
4751 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.7.2: Are there any Emacs Lisp Spreadsheets?
4753 Yes. Check out @dfn{dismal} (which stands for Dis' Mode Ain't Lotus) at
4757 @uref{ftp://cs.nyu.edu/pub/local/fox/dismal/}.
4759 @node Q4.7.3, Q4.7.4, Q4.7.2, Subsystems
4760 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.7.3: [This question intentionally left blank]
4762 @node Q4.7.4, Q4.7.5, Q4.7.3, Subsystems
4763 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.7.4: Problems installing AUC TeX.
4765 @email{vroonhof@@math.ethz.ch, Jan Vroonhof} writes:
4768 AUC TeX works fine on both stock Emacs and XEmacs has been doing so for
4769 a very very long time. This is mostly due to the work of
4770 @email{abraham@@dina.kvl.dk, Per Abrahamsen} (clap clap) in particular his @file{easymenu}
4771 package. Which leads to what is probably the problem...
4774 Most problems with AUC TeX are one of two things:
4778 The TeX-lisp-directory in @file{tex-site.el} and the makefile don't
4781 Fix: make sure you configure AUC TeX properly @strong{before} installing.
4784 You have an old version of easymenu.el in your path.
4786 Fix: use @code{locate-library} and remove old versions to make sure it
4787 @strong{only} finds the one that came with XEmacs.
4791 @node Q4.7.5, Q4.7.6, Q4.7.4, Subsystems
4792 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.7.5: Is there a reason for an Emacs package not to be included in XEmacs?
4794 The reason for an Emacs package not to be included in XEmacs is
4795 usually one or more of the following:
4799 The package has not been ported to XEmacs. This will typically happen
4800 when it uses GNU-Emacs-specific features, which make it fail under
4803 Porting a package to XEmacs can range from a trivial amount of change to
4804 a partial or full rewrite. Fortunately, the authors of modern packages
4805 usually choose to support both Emacsen themselves.
4808 The package has been decided not to be appropriate for XEmacs. It may
4809 have an equivalent or better replacement within XEmacs, in which case
4810 the developers may choose not to burden themselves with supporting an
4813 Each package bundled with XEmacs means more work for the maintainers,
4814 whether they want it or not. If you are ready to take over the
4815 maintenance responsibilities for the package you port, be sure to say
4816 so---we will more likely include it.
4819 The package simply hasn't been noted by the XEmacs development. If
4820 that's the case, the messages like yours are very useful for attracting
4824 The package was noted by the developers, but they simply haven't yet
4825 gotten around to including/porting it. Wait for the next release or,
4826 even better, offer your help. It will be gladly accepted and
4830 @node Q4.7.6, , Q4.7.5, Subsystems
4831 @unnumberedsubsec Q4.7.5: Is there a MatLab mode?
4833 Yes, a matlab mode and other items are available at the
4834 @uref{ftp://ftp.mathworks.com/pub/contrib/emacs_add_ons,
4835 MathWorks' emacs_add_ons ftp directory}.
4837 @node Miscellaneous, MS Windows, Subsystems, Top
4838 @unnumbered 5 The Miscellaneous Stuff
4840 This is part 5 of the XEmacs Frequently Asked Questions list. This
4841 section is devoted to anything that doesn't fit neatly into the other
4845 Major & Minor Modes:
4846 * Q5.0.1:: How can I do source code highlighting using font-lock?
4847 * Q5.0.2:: I do not like cc-mode. How do I use the old c-mode?
4848 * Q5.0.3:: How do I get @samp{More} Syntax Highlighting on by default?
4849 * Q5.0.4:: How can I enable auto-indent?
4850 * Q5.0.5:: How can I get XEmacs to come up in text/auto-fill mode by default?
4851 * Q5.0.6:: How do I start up a second shell buffer?
4852 * Q5.0.7:: Telnet from shell filters too much.
4853 * Q5.0.8:: Why does edt emulation not work?
4854 * Q5.0.9:: How can I emulate VI and use it as my default mode?
4855 * Q5.0.10:: [This question intentionally left blank]
4856 * Q5.0.11:: How do I turn on filladapt for all buffers?
4857 * Q5.0.12:: How do I disable gnuserv from opening a new frame?
4858 * Q5.0.13:: How do I start gnuserv so that each subsequent XEmacs is a client?
4859 * Q5.0.14:: Strange things are happening in Shell Mode.
4860 * Q5.0.15:: Where do I get the latest CC Mode?
4861 * Q5.0.16:: I find auto-show-mode disconcerting. How do I turn it off?
4862 * Q5.0.17:: How can I get two instances of info?
4863 * Q5.0.18:: [This question intentionally left blank]
4864 * Q5.0.19:: Is there something better than LaTeX mode?
4865 * Q5.0.20:: Is there a way to start a new XEmacs if there's no gnuserv running, and otherwise use gnuclient?
4867 Emacs Lisp Programming Techniques:
4868 * Q5.1.1:: The difference in key sequences between XEmacs and GNU Emacs?
4869 * Q5.1.2:: Can I generate "fake" keyboard events?
4870 * Q5.1.3:: Could you explain @code{read-kbd-macro} in more detail?
4871 * Q5.1.4:: What is the performance hit of @code{let}?
4872 * Q5.1.5:: What is the recommended use of @code{setq}?
4873 * Q5.1.6:: What is the typical misuse of @code{setq}?
4874 * Q5.1.7:: I like the the @code{do} form of cl, does it slow things down?
4875 * Q5.1.8:: I like recursion, does it slow things down?
4876 * Q5.1.9:: How do I put a glyph as annotation in a buffer?
4877 * Q5.1.10:: @code{map-extents} won't traverse all of my extents!
4878 * Q5.1.11:: My elisp program is horribly slow. Is there an easy way to find out where it spends time?
4881 * Q5.2.1:: How do I turn off the sound?
4882 * Q5.2.2:: How do I get funky sounds instead of a boring beep?
4883 * Q5.2.3:: What's NAS, how do I get it?
4884 * Q5.2.4:: Sunsite sounds don't play.
4887 * Q5.3.1:: How do you make XEmacs indent CL if-clauses correctly?
4888 * Q5.3.2:: Fontifying hangs when editing a postscript file.
4889 * Q5.3.3:: How can I print WYSIWYG a font-locked buffer?
4890 * Q5.3.4:: Getting @kbd{M-x lpr} to work with postscript printer.
4891 * Q5.3.5:: How do I specify the paths that XEmacs uses for finding files?
4892 * Q5.3.6:: [This question intentionally left blank]
4893 * Q5.3.7:: Can I have the end of the buffer delimited in some way?
4894 * Q5.3.8:: How do I insert today's date into a buffer?
4895 * Q5.3.9:: Are only certain syntactic character classes available for abbrevs?
4896 * Q5.3.10:: How can I get those oh-so-neat X-Face lines?
4897 * Q5.3.11:: How do I add new Info directories?
4898 * Q5.3.12:: What do I need to change to make printing work?
4901 @node Q5.0.1, Q5.0.2, Miscellaneous, Miscellaneous
4902 @unnumberedsec 5.0: Major & Minor Modes
4903 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.1: How can I do source code highlighting using font-lock?
4905 For most modes, font-lock is already set up and just needs to be turned
4906 on. This can be done by @kbd{M-x font-lock-mode}, or by having XEmacs
4907 automatically start it by adding lines like:
4910 (add-hook 'emacs-lisp-mode-hook 'turn-on-font-lock)
4911 (add-hook 'dired-mode-hook 'turn-on-font-lock)
4914 to your @file{.emacs}. See the file @file{etc/sample.emacs} for more
4917 See also @code{Syntax Highlighting} from the @code{Options} menu.
4918 Remember to save options.
4920 @node Q5.0.2, Q5.0.3, Q5.0.1, Miscellaneous
4921 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.2: I do not like cc-mode. How do I use the old c-mode?
4923 Well, first off, consider if you really want to do this. cc-mode is
4924 much more powerful than the old c-mode. If you're having trouble
4925 getting your old offsets to work, try using @code{c-set-offset} instead.
4926 You might also consider using the package @code{cc-compat}.
4928 But, if you still insist, add the following lines to your @file{.emacs}:
4931 (fmakunbound 'c-mode)
4932 (makunbound 'c-mode-map)
4933 (fmakunbound 'c++-mode)
4934 (makunbound 'c++-mode-map)
4935 (makunbound 'c-style-alist)
4936 (load-library "old-c-mode")
4937 (load-library "old-c++-mode")
4940 This must be done before any other reference is made to either c-mode or
4943 @node Q5.0.3, Q5.0.4, Q5.0.2, Miscellaneous
4944 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.3: How do I get @samp{More} Syntax Highlighting on by default?
4946 Use the following code in your @file{.emacs}:
4949 (setq-default font-lock-maximum-decoration t)
4952 In versions of XEmacs prior to 19.14, you had to use a kludgy solution
4956 (setq c-font-lock-keywords c-font-lock-keywords-2
4957 c++-font-lock-keywords c++-font-lock-keywords-2
4958 lisp-font-lock-keywords lisp-font-lock-keywords-2)
4961 It will work for C, C++ and Lisp.
4963 See also @code{Syntax Highlighting} from the @code{Options} menu.
4964 Remember to save options.
4966 @node Q5.0.4, Q5.0.5, Q5.0.3, Miscellaneous
4967 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.4: How can I enable auto-indent?
4969 Put the following line in your @file{.emacs}:
4972 (setq indent-line-function 'indent-relative-maybe)
4975 If you want to get fancy, try the @code{filladapt} package available
4976 standard with XEmacs. Put this into your @file{.emacs}:
4979 (require 'filladapt)
4980 (add-hook 'text-mode-hook 'turn-on-filladapt-mode)
4984 You can customize filling and adaptive filling with Customize.
4985 Select from the @code{Options} menu
4986 @code{Customize->Emacs->->Editing->Fill->Fill...}
4987 or type @kbd{M-x customize @key{RET} fill @key{RET}}.
4989 Note that well-behaving text-lookalike modes will run
4990 @code{text-mode-hook} by default (e.g. that's what Message does). For
4991 the nasty ones, you'll have to provide the @code{add-hook}s yourself.
4993 Please note that the @code{fa-extras} package is no longer useful.
4995 @node Q5.0.5, Q5.0.6, Q5.0.4, Miscellaneous
4996 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.5: How can I get XEmacs to come up in text/auto-fill mode by default?
4998 Try the following lisp in your @file{.emacs}:
5001 (setq default-major-mode 'text-mode)
5002 (setq text-mode-hook 'turn-on-auto-fill)
5005 @strong{WARNING}: note that changing the value of
5006 @code{default-major-mode} from @code{fundamental-mode} can break a large
5007 amount of built-in code that expects newly created buffers to be in
5008 @code{fundamental-mode}. (Changing from @code{fundamental-mode} to
5009 @code{text-mode} might not wreak too much havoc, but changing to
5010 something more exotic like a lisp-mode would break many Emacs packages).
5012 Note that Emacs by default starts up in buffer @code{*scratch*} in
5013 @code{initial-major-mode}, which defaults to
5014 @code{lisp-interaction-mode}. Thus adding the following form to your
5015 Emacs init file will cause the initial @code{*scratch*} buffer to be put
5016 into auto-fill'ed @code{text-mode}:
5019 (setq initial-major-mode
5022 (turn-on-auto-fill)))
5025 Note that after your init file is loaded, if
5026 @code{inhibit-startup-message} is @code{nil} (the default) and the
5027 startup buffer is @code{*scratch*} then the startup message will be
5028 inserted into @code{*scratch*}; it will be removed after a timeout by
5029 erasing the entire @code{*scratch*} buffer. Keep in mind this default
5030 usage of @code{*scratch*} if you desire any prior manipulation of
5031 @code{*scratch*} from within your Emacs init file. In particular,
5032 anything you insert into @code{*scratch*} from your init file will be
5033 later erased. Also, if you change the mode of the @code{*scratch*}
5034 buffer, be sure that this will not interfere with possible later
5035 insertion of the startup message (e.g. if you put @code{*scratch*} into
5036 a nonstandard mode that has automatic font lock rules, then the startup
5037 message might get fontified in a strange foreign manner, e.g. as code in
5038 some programming language).
5040 @node Q5.0.6, Q5.0.7, Q5.0.5, Miscellaneous
5041 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.6: How do I start up a second shell buffer?
5043 In the @code{*shell*} buffer:
5046 M-x rename-buffer @key{RET} *shell-1* @key{RET}
5050 This will then start a second shell. The key is that no buffer named
5051 @samp{*shell*} can exist. It might be preferable to use @kbd{M-x
5052 rename-uniquely} to rename the @code{*shell*} buffer instead of @kbd{M-x
5055 Alternately, you can set the variable @code{shell-multiple-shells}.
5056 If the value of this variable is non-nil, each time shell mode is invoked,
5059 @node Q5.0.7, Q5.0.8, Q5.0.6, Miscellaneous
5060 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.7: Telnet from shell filters too much
5062 I'm using the Emacs @kbd{M-x shell} function, and I would like to invoke
5063 and use a telnet session within it. Everything works fine except that
5064 now all @samp{^M}'s are filtered out by Emacs. Fixes?
5066 Use @kbd{M-x rsh} or @kbd{M-x telnet} to open remote sessions rather
5067 than doing rsh or telnet within the local shell buffer. Starting with
5068 XEmacs-20.3 you can also use @kbd{M-x ssh} to open secure remote session
5069 if you have @code{ssh} installed.
5071 @node Q5.0.8, Q5.0.9, Q5.0.7, Miscellaneous
5072 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.8: Why does edt emulation not work?
5074 We don't know, but you can use tpu-edt emulation instead, which works
5075 fine and is a little fancier than the standard edt emulation. To do
5076 this, add the following line to your @file{.emacs}:
5082 If you don't want it to replace @kbd{C-h} with an edt-style help menu
5086 (global-set-key [(control h)] 'help-for-help)
5089 @node Q5.0.9, Q5.0.10, Q5.0.8, Miscellaneous
5090 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.9: How can I emulate VI and use it as my default mode?
5092 Our recommended VI emulator is viper. To make viper-mode the default,
5093 add this to your @file{.emacs}:
5099 @email{kifer@@CS.SunySB.EDU, Michael Kifer} writes:
5102 This should be added as close to the top of @file{.emacs} as you can get
5103 it, otherwise some minor modes may not get viper-ized.
5106 @node Q5.0.10, Q5.0.11, Q5.0.9, Miscellaneous
5107 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.10: [This question intentionally left blank]
5109 Obsolete question, left blank to avoid renumbering
5111 @node Q5.0.11, Q5.0.12, Q5.0.10, Miscellaneous
5112 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.11: How do I turn on filladapt for all buffers?
5114 Filladapt is a minor mode and minor modes are traditionally off by
5115 default. The following added to your @file{.emacs} will turn it on for
5119 (setq-default filladapt-mode t)
5122 Use @code{turn-on-filladapt-mode} to turn Filladapt on in particular
5123 major modes, like this:
5126 (add-hook 'text-mode-hook 'turn-on-filladapt-mode)
5129 @node Q5.0.12, Q5.0.13, Q5.0.11, Miscellaneous
5130 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.12: How do I disable gnuserv from opening a new frame?
5132 If you set the @code{gnuserv-frame} variable to the frame that should be
5133 used to display buffers that are pulled up, a new frame will not be
5134 created. For example, you could put
5137 (setq gnuserv-frame (selected-frame))
5140 early on in your @file{.emacs}, to ensure that the first frame created
5141 is the one used for your gnuserv buffers.
5143 Starting in 19.15, there is an option to set the gnuserv target to
5144 the current frame. See
5145 @code{Options->"Other Window" Location->Make current frame gnuserv target}
5147 Starting with XEmacs-20.3 you can also change this with Customize.
5148 Select from the @code{Options} menu
5149 @code{Customize->Emacs->Environment->Gnuserv->Gnuserv Frame...} or type
5150 @kbd{M-x customize @key{RET} gnuserv @key{RET}}.
5153 @node Q5.0.13, Q5.0.14, Q5.0.12, Miscellaneous
5154 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.13: How do I start gnuserv so that each subsequent XEmacs is a client?
5156 Put the following in your @file{.emacs} file to start the server:
5162 Start your first XEmacs as usual. After that, you can do:
5165 gnuclient randomfilename
5168 from the command line to get your existing XEmacs process to open a new
5169 frame and visit randomfilename in that window. When you're done editing
5170 randomfilename, hit @kbd{C-x #} to kill the buffer and get rid of the
5173 See also man page of gnuclient.
5175 @node Q5.0.14, Q5.0.15, Q5.0.13, Miscellaneous
5176 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.14: Strange things are happening in Shell Mode.
5178 Sometimes (i.e. it's not repeatable, and I can't work out why it
5179 happens) when I'm typing into shell mode, I hit return and only a
5180 portion of the command is given to the shell, and a blank prompt is
5181 returned. If I hit return again, the rest of the previous command is
5184 @email{martin@@xemacs.org, Martin Buchholz} writes:
5187 There is a known problem with interaction between @code{csh} and the
5188 @code{filec} option and XEmacs. You should add the following to your
5192 if ( "$TERM" == emacs || "$TERM" == unknown ) unset filec
5196 @node Q5.0.15, Q5.0.16, Q5.0.14, Miscellaneous
5197 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.15: Where do I get the latest CC Mode?
5199 @email{bwarsaw@@cnri.reston.va.us, Barry A. Warsaw} writes:
5202 This can be had from @uref{http://www.python.org/emacs/}.
5205 @node Q5.0.16, Q5.0.17, Q5.0.15, Miscellaneous
5206 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.16: I find auto-show-mode disconcerting. How do I turn it off?
5208 @code{auto-show-mode} controls whether or not a horizontal scrollbar
5209 magically appears when a line is too long to be displayed. This is
5210 enabled by default. To turn it off, put the following in your
5214 (setq auto-show-mode nil)
5215 (setq-default auto-show-mode nil)
5218 @node Q5.0.17, Q5.0.18, Q5.0.16, Miscellaneous
5219 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.17: How can I get two instances of info?
5221 You can't. The @code{info} package does not provide for multiple info buffers.
5223 @node Q5.0.18, Q5.0.19, Q5.0.17, Miscellaneous
5224 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.18: [This question intentionally left blank]
5226 @node Q5.0.19, Q5.0.20, Q5.0.18, Miscellaneous
5227 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.19: Is there something better than LaTeX mode?
5229 @email{dak@@fsnif.neuroinformatik.ruhr-uni-bochum.de, David Kastrup} writes:
5232 The standard TeX modes leave much to be desired, and are somewhat
5233 leniently maintained. Serious TeX users use AUC TeX (@pxref{Q4.7.1}).
5236 @node Q5.0.20, Q5.1.1, Q5.0.19, Miscellaneous
5237 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.20: Is there a way to start a new XEmacs if there's no gnuserv running, and otherwise use gnuclient?
5239 @email{vroonhof@@math.ethz.ch, Jan Vroonhof} writes:
5241 Here is one of the solutions, we have this in a script called
5242 @file{etc/editclient.sh}.
5245 if gnuclient -batch -eval t >/dev/null 2>&1
5247 exec gnuclient $@{1+"$@@"@}
5249 xemacs -unmapped -f gnuserv-start &
5250 until gnuclient -batch -eval t >/dev/null 2>&1
5254 exec gnuclient $@{1+"$@@"@}
5258 Note that there is a known problem when running XEmacs and 'gnuclient
5259 -nw' on the same TTY.
5262 @node Q5.1.1, Q5.1.2, Q5.0.20, Miscellaneous
5263 @unnumberedsec 5.1: Emacs Lisp Programming Techniques
5264 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.1.1: What is the difference in key sequences between XEmacs and GNU Emacs?
5266 @email{clerik@@naggum.no, Erik Naggum} writes;
5269 Emacs has a legacy of keyboards that produced characters with modifier
5270 bits, and therefore map a variety of input systems into this scheme even
5271 today. XEmacs is instead optimized for X events. This causes an
5272 incompatibility in the way key sequences are specified, but both Emacs
5273 and XEmacs will accept a key sequence as a vector of lists of modifiers
5274 that ends with a key, e.g., to bind @kbd{M-C-a}, you would say
5275 @code{[(meta control a)]} in both Emacsen. XEmacs has an abbreviated
5276 form for a single key, just (meta control a). Emacs has an abbreviated
5277 form for the Control and the Meta modifiers to string-characters (the
5278 ASCII characters), as in @samp{\M-\C-a}. XEmacs users need to be aware
5279 that the abbreviated form works only for one-character key sequences,
5280 while Emacs users need to be aware that the string-character is rather
5281 limited. Specifically, the string-character can accommodate only 256
5282 different values, 128 of which have the Meta modifier and 128 of which
5283 have not. In each of these blocks, only 32 characters have the Control
5284 modifier. Whereas @code{[(meta control A)]} differs from @code{[(meta
5285 control a)]} because the case differs, @samp{\M-\C-a} and @samp{\M-\C-A}
5286 do not. Programmers are advised to use the full common form, both
5287 because it is more readable and less error-prone, and because it is
5288 supported by both Emacsen.
5291 Another (even safer) way to be sure of the key-sequences is to use the
5292 @code{read-kbd-macro} function, which takes a string like @samp{C-c
5293 <up>}, and converts it to the internal key representation of the Emacs
5294 you use. The function is available both on XEmacs and GNU Emacs.
5296 @node Q5.1.2, Q5.1.3, Q5.1.1, Miscellaneous
5297 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.1.2: Can I generate "fake" keyboard events?
5299 I wonder if there is an interactive function that can generate
5300 @dfn{fake} keyboard events. This way, I could simply map them inside
5306 (defun cg--generate-char-event (ch)
5307 "Generate an event, as if ch has been typed"
5308 (dispatch-event (character-to-event ch)))
5310 ;; Backspace and Delete stuff
5311 (global-set-key [backspace]
5312 (lambda () (interactive) (cg--generate-char-event 127)))
5313 (global-set-key [unknown_keysym_0x4]
5314 (lambda () (interactive) (cg--generate-char-event 4)))
5317 @node Q5.1.3, Q5.1.4, Q5.1.2, Miscellaneous
5318 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.1.3: Could you explain @code{read-kbd-macro} in more detail?
5320 The @code{read-kbd-macro} function returns the internal Emacs
5321 representation of a human-readable string (which is its argument).
5325 (read-kbd-macro "C-c C-a")
5326 @result{} [(control ?c) (control ?a)]
5328 (read-kbd-macro "C-c C-. <up>")
5329 @result{} [(control ?c) (control ?.) up]
5332 In GNU Emacs the same forms will be evaluated to what GNU Emacs
5333 understands internally---the sequences @code{"\C-x\C-c"} and @code{[3
5334 67108910 up]}, respectively.
5336 The exact @dfn{human-readable} syntax is defined in the docstring of
5337 @code{edmacro-mode}. I'll repeat it here, for completeness.
5340 Format of keyboard macros during editing:
5342 Text is divided into @dfn{words} separated by whitespace. Except for
5343 the words described below, the characters of each word go directly as
5344 characters of the macro. The whitespace that separates words is
5345 ignored. Whitespace in the macro must be written explicitly, as in
5346 @kbd{foo @key{SPC} bar @key{RET}}.
5350 The special words @kbd{RET}, @kbd{SPC}, @kbd{TAB}, @kbd{DEL}, @kbd{LFD},
5351 @kbd{ESC}, and @kbd{NUL} represent special control characters. The
5352 words must be written in uppercase.
5355 A word in angle brackets, e.g., @code{<return>}, @code{<down>}, or
5356 @code{<f1>}, represents a function key. (Note that in the standard
5357 configuration, the function key @code{<return>} and the control key
5358 @key{RET} are synonymous.) You can use angle brackets on the words
5359 @key{RET}, @key{SPC}, etc., but they are not required there.
5362 Keys can be written by their @sc{ascii} code, using a backslash followed
5363 by up to six octal digits. This is the only way to represent keys with
5367 One or more prefixes @kbd{M-} (meta), @kbd{C-} (control), @kbd{S-}
5368 (shift), @kbd{A-} (alt), @kbd{H-} (hyper), and @kbd{s-} (super) may
5369 precede a character or key notation. For function keys, the prefixes
5370 may go inside or outside of the brackets: @code{C-<down>} @equiv{}
5371 @code{<C-down>}. The prefixes may be written in any order: @kbd{M-C-x}
5372 @equiv{} @kbd{C-M-x}.
5374 Prefixes are not allowed on multi-key words, e.g., @kbd{C-abc}, except
5375 that the Meta prefix is allowed on a sequence of digits and optional
5376 minus sign: @kbd{M--123} @equiv{} @kbd{M-- M-1 M-2 M-3}.
5379 The @code{^} notation for control characters also works: @kbd{^M}
5383 Double angle brackets enclose command names: @code{<<next-line>>} is
5384 shorthand for @kbd{M-x next-line @key{RET}}.
5387 Finally, @code{REM} or @code{;;} causes the rest of the line to be
5388 ignored as a comment.
5391 Any word may be prefixed by a multiplier in the form of a decimal number
5392 and @code{*}: @code{3*<right>} @equiv{} @code{<right> <right> <right>},
5393 and @code{10*foo} @equiv{}
5397 @code{foofoofoofoofoofoofoofoofoofoo}.
5399 Multiple text keys can normally be strung together to form a word, but
5400 you may need to add whitespace if the word would look like one of the
5401 above notations: @code{; ; ;} is a keyboard macro with three semicolons,
5402 but @code{;;;} is a comment. Likewise, @code{\ 1 2 3} is four keys but
5403 @code{\123} is a single key written in octal, and @code{< right >} is
5404 seven keys but @code{<right>} is a single function key. When in doubt,
5408 @node Q5.1.4, Q5.1.5, Q5.1.3, Miscellaneous
5409 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.1.4: What is the performance hit of @code{let}?
5411 In most cases, not noticeable. Besides, there's no avoiding
5412 @code{let}---you have to bind your local variables, after all. Some
5413 pose a question whether to nest @code{let}s, or use one @code{let} per
5414 function. I think because of clarity and maintenance (and possible
5415 future implementation), @code{let}-s should be used (nested) in a way to
5416 provide the clearest code.
5418 @node Q5.1.5, Q5.1.6, Q5.1.4, Miscellaneous
5419 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.1.5: What is the recommended use of @code{setq}?
5422 @item Global variables
5424 You will typically @code{defvar} your global variable to a default
5425 value, and use @code{setq} to set it later.
5427 It is never a good practice to @code{setq} user variables (like
5428 @code{case-fold-search}, etc.), as it ignores the user's choice
5429 unconditionally. Note that @code{defvar} doesn't change the value of a
5430 variable if it was bound previously. If you wish to change a
5431 user-variable temporarily, use @code{let}:
5434 (let ((case-fold-search nil))
5435 ... ; code with searches that must be case-sensitive
5439 You will notice the user-variables by their docstrings beginning with an
5440 asterisk (a convention).
5442 @item Local variables
5444 Bind them with @code{let}, which will unbind them (or restore their
5445 previous value, if they were bound) after exiting from the @code{let}
5446 form. Change the value of local variables with @code{setq} or whatever
5447 you like (e.g. @code{incf}, @code{setf} and such). The @code{let} form
5448 can even return one of its local variables.
5453 ;; iterate through the elements of the list returned by
5454 ;; `hairy-function-that-returns-list'
5455 (let ((l (hairy-function-that-returns-list)))
5457 ... do something with (car l) ...
5461 Another typical usage includes building a value simply to work with it.
5464 ;; Build the mode keymap out of the key-translation-alist
5465 (let ((inbox (file-truename (expand-file-name box)))
5467 ... code dealing with inbox ...
5471 This piece of code uses the local variable @code{inbox}, which becomes
5472 unbound (or regains old value) after exiting the form. The form also
5473 returns the value of @code{inbox}, which can be reused, for instance:
5476 (setq foo-processed-inbox
5481 @node Q5.1.6, Q5.1.7, Q5.1.5, Miscellaneous
5482 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.1.6: What is the typical misuse of @code{setq} ?
5484 A typical misuse is probably @code{setq}ing a variable that was meant to
5485 be local. Such a variable will remain bound forever, never to be
5486 garbage-collected. For example, the code doing:
5489 (defun my-function (whatever)
5491 ... build a large list ...
5495 does a bad thing, as @code{a} will keep consuming memory, never to be
5496 unbound. The correct thing is to do it like this:
5499 (defun my-function (whatever)
5500 (let (a) ; default initialization is to nil
5501 ... build a large list ...
5502 ... and exit, unbinding `a' in the process ...)
5505 Not only is this prettier syntactically, but it makes it possible for
5506 Emacs to garbage-collect the objects which @code{a} used to reference.
5508 Note that even global variables should not be @code{setq}ed without
5509 @code{defvar}ing them first, because the byte-compiler issues warnings.
5510 The reason for the warning is the following:
5513 (defun flurgoze nil) ; ok, global internal variable
5516 (setq flurghoze t) ; ops! a typo, but semantically correct.
5517 ; however, the byte-compiler warns.
5519 While compiling toplevel forms:
5520 ** assignment to free variable flurghoze
5523 @node Q5.1.7, Q5.1.8, Q5.1.6, Miscellaneous
5524 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.1.7: I like the the @code{do} form of cl, does it slow things down?
5526 It shouldn't. Here is what Dave Gillespie has to say about cl.el
5530 Many of the advanced features of this package, such as @code{defun*},
5531 @code{loop}, and @code{setf}, are implemented as Lisp macros. In
5532 byte-compiled code, these complex notations will be expanded into
5533 equivalent Lisp code which is simple and efficient. For example, the
5541 are expanded at compile-time to the Lisp forms
5545 (setcar p (cons x (car p)))
5548 which are the most efficient ways of doing these respective operations
5549 in Lisp. Thus, there is no performance penalty for using the more
5550 readable @code{incf} and @code{push} forms in your compiled code.
5552 @emph{Interpreted} code, on the other hand, must expand these macros
5553 every time they are executed. For this reason it is strongly
5554 recommended that code making heavy use of macros be compiled. (The
5555 features labelled @dfn{Special Form} instead of @dfn{Function} in this
5556 manual are macros.) A loop using @code{incf} a hundred times will
5557 execute considerably faster if compiled, and will also garbage-collect
5558 less because the macro expansion will not have to be generated, used,
5559 and thrown away a hundred times.
5561 You can find out how a macro expands by using the @code{cl-prettyexpand}
5565 @node Q5.1.8, Q5.1.9, Q5.1.7, Miscellaneous
5566 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.1.8: I like recursion, does it slow things down?
5568 Yes. Emacs byte-compiler cannot do much to optimize recursion. But
5569 think well whether this is a real concern in Emacs. Much of the Emacs
5570 slowness comes from internal mechanisms such as redisplay, or from the
5571 fact that it is an interpreter.
5573 Please try not to make your code much uglier to gain a very small speed
5574 gain. It's not usually worth it.
5576 @node Q5.1.9, Q5.1.10, Q5.1.8, Miscellaneous
5577 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.1.9: How do I put a glyph as annotation in a buffer?
5579 Here is a solution that will insert the glyph annotation at the
5580 beginning of buffer:
5583 (make-annotation (make-glyph '([FORMAT :file FILE]
5584 [string :data "fallback-text"]))
5590 Replace @samp{FORMAT} with an unquoted symbol representing the format of
5591 the image (e.g. @code{xpm}, @code{xbm}, @code{gif}, @code{jpeg}, etc.)
5592 Instead of @samp{FILE}, use the image file name
5597 @file{/usr/local/lib/xemacs-20.2/etc/recycle.xpm}).
5599 You can turn this to a function (that optionally prompts you for a file
5600 name), and inserts the glyph at @code{(point)} instead of
5603 @node Q5.1.10, Q5.1.11, Q5.1.9, Miscellaneous
5604 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.1.10: @code{map-extents} won't traverse all of my extents!
5606 I tried to use @code{map-extents} to do an operation on all the extents
5607 in a region. However, it seems to quit after processing a random number
5608 of extents. Is it buggy?
5610 No. The documentation of @code{map-extents} states that it will iterate
5611 across the extents as long as @var{function} returns @code{nil}.
5612 Unexperienced programmers often forget to return @code{nil} explicitly,
5613 which results in buggy code. For instance, the following code is
5614 supposed to delete all the extents in a buffer, and issue as many
5615 @samp{fubar!} messages.
5618 (map-extents (lambda (ext ignore)
5620 (message "fubar!")))
5623 Instead, it will delete only the first extent, and stop right there --
5624 because @code{message} will return a non-nil value. The correct code
5628 (map-extents (lambda (ext ignore)
5634 @node Q5.1.11, Q5.2.1, Q5.1.10, Miscellaneous
5635 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.1.11: My elisp program is horribly slow. Is there
5636 an easy way to find out where it spends time?
5639 z@email{hniksic@@xemacs.org, Hrvoje Niksic} writes:
5641 Under XEmacs 20.4 and later you can use @kbd{M-x profile-key-sequence}, press a key
5642 (say @key{RET} in the Gnus Group buffer), and get the results using
5643 @kbd{M-x profile-results}. It should give you an idea of where the time
5647 @node Q5.2.1, Q5.2.2, Q5.1.11, Miscellaneous
5648 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.2.1: How do I turn off the sound?
5650 Add the following line to your @file{.emacs}:
5653 (setq bell-volume 0)
5654 (setq sound-alist nil)
5657 That will make your XEmacs totally silent---even the default ding sound
5658 (TTY beep on TTY-s) will be gone.
5660 Starting with XEmacs-20.2 you can also change these with Customize.
5661 Select from the @code{Options} menu
5662 @code{Customize->Emacs->Environment->Sound->Sound...} or type
5663 @kbd{M-x customize @key{RET} sound @key{RET}}.
5666 @node Q5.2.2, Q5.2.3, Q5.2.1, Miscellaneous
5667 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.2.2: How do I get funky sounds instead of a boring beep?
5669 Make sure your XEmacs was compiled with sound support, and then put this
5670 in your @file{.emacs}:
5673 (load-default-sounds)
5676 The sound support in XEmacs 19.14 was greatly improved over previous
5679 @node Q5.2.3, Q5.2.4, Q5.2.2, Miscellaneous
5680 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.2.3: What's NAS, how do I get it?
5682 @xref{Q2.0.3}, for an explanation of the @dfn{Network Audio System}.
5684 @node Q5.2.4, Q5.3.1, Q5.2.3, Miscellaneous
5685 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.2.4: Sunsite sounds don't play.
5687 I'm having some trouble with sounds I've downloaded from sunsite. They
5688 play when I run them through @code{showaudio} or cat them directly to
5689 @file{/dev/audio}, but XEmacs refuses to play them.
5691 @email{gutschk@@uni-muenster.de, Markus Gutschke} writes:
5694 [Many of] These files have an (erroneous) 24byte header that tells about
5695 the format that they have been recorded in. If you cat them to
5696 @file{/dev/audio}, the header will be ignored and the default behavior
5697 for /dev/audio will be used. This happens to be 8kHz uLaw. It is
5698 probably possible to fix the header by piping through @code{sox} and
5699 passing explicit parameters for specifying the sampling format; you then
5700 need to perform a 'null' conversion from SunAudio to SunAudio.
5703 @node Q5.3.1, Q5.3.2, Q5.2.4, Miscellaneous
5704 @unnumberedsec 5.3: Miscellaneous
5705 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.3.1: How do you make XEmacs indent CL if-clauses correctly?
5707 I'd like XEmacs to indent all the clauses of a Common Lisp @code{if} the
5708 same amount instead of indenting the 3rd clause differently from the
5711 One way is to add, to @file{.emacs}:
5714 (put 'if 'lisp-indent-function nil)
5717 However, note that the package @code{cl-indent} that comes with
5718 XEmacs sets up this kind of indentation by default. @code{cl-indent}
5719 also knows about many other CL-specific forms. To use @code{cl-indent},
5724 (setq lisp-indent-function (function common-lisp-indent-function))
5727 One can also customize @file{cl-indent.el} so it mimics the default
5728 @code{if} indentation @code{then} indented more than the @code{else}.
5732 (put 'if 'common-lisp-indent-function '(nil nil &body))
5735 Also, a new version (1.2) of @file{cl-indent.el} was posted to
5736 comp.emacs.xemacs on 12/9/94. This version includes more documentation
5737 than previous versions. This may prove useful if you need to customize
5738 any indent-functions.
5740 @node Q5.3.2, Q5.3.3, Q5.3.1, Miscellaneous
5741 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.3.2: Fontifying hang when editing a postscript file.
5743 When I try to edit a postscript file it gets stuck saying:
5744 @samp{fontifying 'filename' (regexps....)} and it just sits there. If I
5745 press @kbd{C-c} in the window where XEmacs was started, it suddenly
5746 becomes alive again.
5748 This was caused by a bug in the Postscript font-lock regular
5749 expressions. It was fixed in 19.13. For earlier versions of XEmacs,
5750 have a look at your @file{.emacs} file. You will probably have a line
5754 (add-hook 'postscript-mode-hook 'turn-on-font-lock)
5757 Take it out, restart XEmacs, and it won't try to fontify your postscript
5760 @node Q5.3.3, Q5.3.4, Q5.3.2, Miscellaneous
5761 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.3.3: How can I print WYSIWYG a font-locked buffer?
5763 Font-lock looks nice. How can I print (WYSIWYG) the highlighted
5766 The package @code{ps-print}, which is now included with XEmacs, provides
5767 the ability to do this. The source code contains complete instructions
5768 on its use, in @file{<xemacs_src_root>/lisp/packages/ps-print.el}.
5770 @node Q5.3.4, Q5.3.5, Q5.3.3, Miscellaneous
5771 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.3.4: Getting @kbd{M-x lpr} to work with postscript printer.
5773 My printer is a Postscript printer and @code{lpr} only works for
5774 Postscript files, so how do I get @kbd{M-x lpr-region} and @kbd{M-x
5775 lpr-buffer} to work?
5777 Put something like this in your @file{.emacs}:
5780 (setq lpr-command "a2ps")
5781 (setq lpr-switches '("-p" "-1"))
5784 If you don't use a2ps to convert ASCII to postscript (why not, it's
5785 free?), replace with the command you do use. Note also that some
5786 versions of a2ps require a @samp{-Pprinter} to ensure spooling.
5788 @node Q5.3.5, Q5.3.6, Q5.3.4, Miscellaneous
5789 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.3.5: How do I specify the paths that XEmacs uses for finding files?
5791 You can specify what paths to use by using a number of different flags
5792 when running configure. See the section MAKE VARIABLES in the top-level
5793 file INSTALL in the XEmacs distribution for a listing of those flags.
5795 Most of the time, however, the simplest fix is: @strong{do not} specify
5796 paths as you might for GNU Emacs. XEmacs can generally determine the
5797 necessary paths dynamically at run time. The only path that generally
5798 needs to be specified is the root directory to install into. That can
5799 be specified by passing the @code{--prefix} flag to configure. For a
5800 description of the XEmacs install tree, please consult the @file{NEWS}
5803 @node Q5.3.6, Q5.3.7, Q5.3.5, Miscellaneous
5804 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.3.6: [This question intentionally left blank]
5806 Obsolete question, left blank to avoid renumbering.
5808 @node Q5.3.7, Q5.3.8, Q5.3.6, Miscellaneous
5809 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.3.7: Can I have the end of the buffer delimited in some way?
5811 Say, with: @samp{[END]}?
5816 (let ((ext (make-extent (point-min) (point-max))))
5817 (set-extent-property ext 'start-closed t)
5818 (set-extent-property ext 'end-closed t)
5819 (set-extent-property ext 'detachable nil)
5820 (set-extent-end-glyph ext (make-glyph [string :data "[END]"])))
5823 Since this is XEmacs, you can specify an icon to be shown on
5824 window-system devices. To do so, change the @code{make-glyph} call to
5825 something like this:
5828 (make-glyph '([xpm :file "~/something.xpm"]
5829 [string :data "[END]"]))
5832 You can inline the @sc{xpm} definition yourself by specifying
5833 @code{:data} instead of @code{:file}. Here is such a full-featured
5834 version that works on both X and TTY devices:
5837 (let ((ext (make-extent (point-min) (point-max))))
5838 (set-extent-property ext 'start-closed t)
5839 (set-extent-property ext 'end-closed t)
5840 (set-extent-property ext 'detachable nil)
5841 (set-extent-end-glyph ext (make-glyph '([xpm :data "\
5843 static char* eye = @{
5852 \"___________`_`_`___b_b_b_b_________`____\",
5853 \"_________`_`_`___b_c_c_c_b_b____________\",
5854 \"_____`_`_`_e___b_b_c_c_c___b___b_______`\",
5855 \"___`_`_e_a___b_b_d___b___b___b___b______\",
5856 \"_`_`_e_a_e___b_b_d_b___b___b___b___b____\",
5857 \"_`_`_a_e_a___b_b_d___b___b___b___b___b__\",
5858 \"_`_`_e_a_e___b_b_d_b___b___b___b___b_b__\",
5859 \"___`_`_e_a___b_b_b_d_c___b___b___d_b____\",
5860 \"_____`_`_e_e___b_b_b_d_c___b_b_d_b______\",
5861 \"_`_____`_`_`_`___b_b_b_d_d_d_d_b________\",
5862 \"___`_____`_`_`_`___b_b_b_b_b_b__________\",
5864 [string :data "[END]"]))))
5867 Note that you might want to make this a function, and put it to a hook.
5868 We leave that as an exercise for the reader.
5870 @node Q5.3.8, Q5.3.9, Q5.3.7, Miscellaneous
5871 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.3.8: How do I insert today's date into a buffer?
5876 (insert (current-time-string))
5879 @node Q5.3.9, Q5.3.10, Q5.3.8, Miscellaneous
5880 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.3.9: Are only certain syntactic character classes available for abbrevs?
5882 @email{gutschk@@uni-muenster.de, Markus Gutschke} writes:
5885 Yes, abbrevs only expands word-syntax strings. While XEmacs does not
5886 prevent you from defining (e.g. with @kbd{C-x a g} or @kbd{C-x a l})
5887 abbrevs that contain special characters, it will refuse to expand
5888 them. So you need to ensure, that the abbreviation contains letters and
5889 digits only. This means that @samp{xd}, @samp{d5}, and @samp{5d} are
5890 valid abbrevs, but @samp{&d}, and @samp{x d} are not.
5892 If this sounds confusing to you, (re-)read the online documentation for
5893 abbrevs (@kbd{C-h i m XEmacs @key{RET} m Abbrevs @key{RET}}), and then come back and
5894 read this question/answer again.
5897 Starting with XEmacs 20.3 this restriction has been lifted.
5899 @node Q5.3.10, Q5.3.11, Q5.3.9, Miscellaneous
5900 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.3.10: How can I get those oh-so-neat X-Face lines?
5902 Firstly there is an ftp site which describes X-faces and has the
5903 associated tools mentioned below, at
5904 @uref{ftp://ftp.cs.indiana.edu:/pub/faces/}.
5910 Create 48x48x1 bitmap with your favorite tool
5913 Convert to "icon" format using one of xbm2ikon, pbmtoicon, etc.,
5914 and then compile the face.
5918 cat file.xbm | xbm2ikon |compface > file.face
5922 Then be sure to quote things that are necessary for emacs strings:
5925 cat ./file.face | sed 's/\\/\\\\/g'
5929 | sed 's/\"/\\\"/g' > ./file.face.quoted
5933 Then set up emacs to include the file as a mail header - there were a
5934 couple of suggestions here---either something like:
5937 (setq mail-default-headers
5938 "X-Face: @email{Ugly looking text string here}")
5941 Or, alternatively, as:
5944 (defun mail-insert-x-face ()
5946 (goto-char (point-min))
5947 (search-forward mail-header-separator)
5950 (insert-file-contents "~/.face")))
5952 (add-hook 'mail-setup-hook 'mail-insert-x-face)
5956 However, 2 things might be wrong:
5958 Some versions of pbmtoicon produces some header lines that is not
5959 expected by the version of compface that I grabbed. So I found I had to
5960 include a @code{tail +3} in the pipeline like this:
5963 cat file.xbm | xbm2ikon | tail +3 |compface > file.face
5966 Some people have also found that if one uses the @code{(insert-file)}
5967 method, one should NOT quote the face string using the sed script .
5969 It might also be helpful to use @email{stig@@hackvan.com, Stig's} script
5970 (included in the compface distribution at XEmacs.org) to do the
5972 @comment For convenience xbm2xface is available for anonymous FTP at
5973 @comment @uref{ftp://ftp.miranova.com/pub/xemacs/xbm2xface.pl}.
5975 Contributors for this item:
5986 @node Q5.3.11, Q5.3.12, Q5.3.10, Miscellaneous
5987 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.3.11: How do I add new Info directories?
5989 You use something like:
5992 (setq Info-directory-list (cons
5993 (expand-file-name "~/info")
5994 Info-default-directory-list))
5997 @email{davidm@@prism.kla.com, David Masterson} writes:
6000 Emacs Info and XEmacs Info do many things differently. If you're trying to
6001 support a number of versions of Emacs, here are some notes to remember:
6005 Emacs Info scans @code{Info-directory-list} from right-to-left while
6006 XEmacs Info reads it from left-to-right, so append to the @emph{correct}
6010 Use @code{Info-default-directory-list} to initialize
6011 @code{Info-directory-list} @emph{if} it is available at startup, but not
6012 all Emacsen define it.
6015 Emacs Info looks for a standard @file{dir} file in each of the
6016 directories scanned from #1 and magically concatenates them together.
6019 XEmacs Info looks for a @file{localdir} file (which consists of just the
6020 menu entries from a @file{dir} file) in each of the directories scanned
6021 from #1 (except the first), does a simple concatenation of them, and
6022 magically attaches the resulting list to the end of the menu in the
6023 @file{dir} file in the first directory.
6026 Another alternative is to convert the documentation to HTML with
6027 texi2html and read it from a web browser like Lynx or W3.
6030 @node Q5.3.12, , Q5.3.11, Miscellaneous
6031 @unnumberedsubsec Q5.3.12: What do I need to change to make printing work?
6033 For regular printing there are two variables that can be customized.
6037 This should be set to a command that takes standard input and sends
6038 it to a printer. Something like:
6041 (setq lpr-command "lp")
6045 This should be set to a list that contains whatever the print command
6046 requires to do its job. Something like:
6049 (setq lpr-switches '("-depson"))
6053 For postscript printing there are three analogous variables to
6057 @item ps-lpr-command
6058 This should be set to a command that takes postscript on standard input
6059 and directs it to a postscript printer.
6061 @item ps-lpr-switches
6062 This should be set to a list of switches required for
6063 @code{ps-lpr-command} to do its job.
6065 @item ps-print-color-p
6066 This boolean variable should be set @code{t} if printing will be done in
6067 color, otherwise it should be set to @code{nil}.
6070 NOTE: It is an undocumented limitation in XEmacs that postscript
6071 printing (the @code{Pretty Print Buffer} menu item) @strong{requires} a
6072 window system environment. It cannot be used outside of X11.
6074 @node MS Windows, Current Events, Miscellaneous, Top
6075 @unnumbered 6 XEmacs on MS Windows
6077 This is part 6 of the XEmacs Frequently Asked Questions list, written by
6078 Hrvoje Niksic and others. This section is devoted to the MS Windows
6084 * Q6.0.1:: What is the status of the XEmacs port to Windows?
6085 * Q6.0.2:: What flavors of MS Windows are supported?
6086 * Q6.0.3:: Where are the XEmacs on MS Windows binaries?
6087 * Q6.0.4:: Does XEmacs on MS Windows require an X server to run?
6089 Building XEmacs on MS Windows
6090 * Q6.1.1:: I decided to run with X. Where do I get an X server?
6091 * Q6.1.2:: What compiler do I need to compile XEmacs?
6092 * Q6.1.3:: How do I compile for the native port?
6093 * Q6.1.4:: How do I compile for the X port?
6094 * Q6.1.5:: How do I compile for Cygnus' Cygwin?
6095 * Q6.1.6:: What do I need for Cygwin?
6097 Customization and User Interface
6098 * Q6.2.1:: How will the port cope with differences in the Windows user interface?
6099 * Q6.2.2:: How do I change fonts in XEmacs on MS Windows?
6100 * Q6.2.3:: Where do I put my @file{.emacs} file?
6103 * Q6.3.1:: Will XEmacs rename all the win32-* symbols to w32-*?
6104 * Q6.3.2:: What are the differences between the various MS Windows emacsen?
6105 * Q6.3.3:: What is the porting team doing at the moment?
6108 * Q6.4.1:: XEmacs won't start on Windows. (NEW)
6112 @node Q6.0.1, Q6.0.2, MS Windows, MS Windows
6113 @unnumberedsec 6.0: General Info
6114 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.0.1: What is the status of the XEmacs port to Windows?
6116 Is XEmacs really getting ported to MS Windows? What is the status of the port?
6118 Yes, a group of volunteers actively works on making XEmacs code base
6119 cleanly compile and run on MS Windows operating systems. The mailing
6120 list at @email{xemacs-nt@@xemacs.org} is dedicated to that effort (please use
6121 the -request address to subscribe).
6123 At this time, XEmacs on MS Windows is usable, but lacks some of the
6124 features of XEmacs on UNIX and UNIX-like systems. Notably,
6125 internationalization does not work.
6127 @node Q6.0.2, Q6.0.3, Q6.0.1, MS Windows
6128 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.0.2: What flavors of MS Windows are supported? The list name implies NT only.
6130 The list name is misleading, as XEmacs will support both Windows 95,
6131 Windows 98 and Windows NT. The MS Windows-specific code is based on
6132 Microsoft Win32 API, and will not work on MS Windows 3.x or on MS-DOS.
6135 @node Q6.0.3, Q6.0.4, Q6.0.2, MS Windows
6136 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.0.3: Are binary kits available?
6138 Binary kits are available at
6139 @uref{ftp://ftp.xemacs.org/pub/xemacs/binary-kits/win32/} for the
6140 "plain" MS Windows version.
6142 @node Q6.0.4, Q6.1.1, Q6.0.3, MS Windows
6143 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.0.4: Does XEmacs on MS Windows require an X server to run?
6147 Long answer: XEmacs can be built in several ways in the MS Windows
6148 environment, some of them requiring an X server and some not.
6150 One is what we call the "X" port---it requires X libraries to build
6151 and an X server to run. Internally it uses the Xt event loop and
6152 makes use of X toolkits. Its look is quite un-Windowsy, but it works
6153 reliably and supports all of the graphical features of Unix XEmacs.
6155 The other is what we call the "native" port. It uses the Win32 API
6156 and does not require X libraries to build, nor does it require an X to
6157 run. In fact, it has no connection with X whatsoever. At this time,
6158 the native port obsoletes the X port, providing almost all of its
6159 features, including support for menus, scrollbars, toolbars, embedded
6160 images and background pixmaps, frame pointers, etc. Most of the
6161 future work will be based on the native port.
6163 There is also a third special case, the Cygwin port. It takes
6164 advantage of Cygnus emulation library under Win32, which enables it to
6165 reuse much of the Unix XEmacs code base, such as processes and network
6166 support, or internal select() mechanisms.
6168 Cygwin port supports all display types---TTY, X & MS gui, and can be
6169 built with support for all three. If you build with ms gui support
6170 then the Cygwin version uses the majority of the msw code, which is
6171 mostly related to display. If you want to build with X support you
6172 need X libraries. If you want to build with tty support you need
6173 ncurses. MS gui requires no additional libraries.
6175 Some of the advantages of the Cygwin version are that it:
6179 @item integrates well with Cygwin environment for existing Cygwin users;
6180 @item uses configure so building with different features is very easy;
6181 @item has process support in X & tty.
6185 The disadvantage is that it requires several Unix utilities and the
6186 whole Cygwin environment, whereas the native port requires only a
6187 suitable MS Windows compiler. Also, it follows the Unix filesystem and
6188 process model very closely (some will undoubtedly view this as an
6191 @node Q6.1.1, Q6.1.2, Q6.0.4, MS Windows
6192 @unnumberedsec 6.1: Building XEmacs on MS Windows
6193 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.1.1: I decided to run with X. Where do I get an X server?
6195 Pointers to X servers can be found at
6199 @uref{http://dao.gsfc.nasa.gov/software/grads/win32/X11R6.3/};
6201 look for "Where to get an X server". Also note that, although the above
6202 page talks about Cygnus gnu-win32 (Cygwin), the information on X servers
6203 is Cygwin-independent. You don't have to be running/using Cygwin to use
6204 these X servers, and you don't have to compile XEmacs under Cygwin to
6205 use XEmacs with these X servers. An "X port" XEmacs compiled under
6206 Visual C++ will work with these X servers (as will XEmacs running on a
6207 Unix box, redirected to the server running on your PC).
6210 @node Q6.1.2, Q6.1.3, Q6.1.1, MS Windows
6211 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.1.2: What compiler do I need to compile XEmacs?
6213 You need Visual C++ 4.2 or 5.0, with the exception of the Cygwin port,
6217 @node Q6.1.3, Q6.1.4, Q6.1.2, MS Windows
6218 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.1.3: How do I compile for the native port?
6220 Please read the file @file{nt/README} in the XEmacs distribution, which
6221 contains the full description.
6224 @node Q6.1.4, Q6.1.5, Q6.1.3, MS Windows
6225 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.1.4: How do I compile for the X port?
6227 Again, it is described in @file{nt/README} in some detail. Basically, you
6228 need to get X11 libraries from ftp.x.org, and compile them. If the
6229 precompiled versions are available somewhere, I don't know of it.
6232 @node Q6.1.5, Q6.1.6, Q6.1.4, MS Windows
6233 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.1.5: How do I compile for Cygnus' Cygwin?
6235 Similar as on Unix; use the usual `configure' and `make' process.
6236 Some problems to watch out for:
6240 make sure HOME is set. This controls where you @file{.emacs} file comes
6244 CYGWIN32 needs to be set to tty for process support
6245 work. e.g. CYGWIN32=tty;
6248 picking up some other grep or other unix like tools can kill configure;
6251 static heap too small, adjust src/sheap-adjust.h to a more positive
6255 The Cygwin version doesn't understand @file{//machine/path} type paths so you
6256 will need to manually mount a directory of this form under a unix style
6257 directory for a build to work on the directory.
6261 @node Q6.1.6, Q6.2.1, Q6.1.5, MS Windows
6262 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.1.6: What do I need for Cygwin?
6264 You can find the Cygwin tools and compiler at:
6266 @uref{http://sourceware.cygnus.com/cygwin/}
6268 You will need version b19 or later.
6270 You will also need the X libraries. There are libraries at
6274 @uref{http://dao.gsfc.nasa.gov/software/grads/win32/X11R6.3/}, but
6275 these are not b19 compatible. You can get b19 X11R6.3 binaries, as
6276 well as pre-built ncurses and graphic libraries, from:
6278 @uref{ftp://ftp.parallax.co.uk/pub/andyp/}.
6281 @node Q6.2.1, Q6.2.2, Q6.1.6, MS Windows
6282 @unnumberedsec 6.2: Customization and User Interface
6283 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.2.1: How will the port cope with differences in the Windows user interface?
6285 XEmacs (and Emacs in general) UI is pretty
6286 different from what is expected of a typical MS Windows program. How will
6287 the MS Windows port cope with it?
6289 Fortunately, Emacs is also one of the most configurable editor beasts
6290 in the world. The MS Windows "look and feel" (mark via shift-arrow,
6291 self-inserting deletes region, etc.) can be easily configured via
6292 various packages distributed with XEmacs. The `pending-delete'
6293 package is an example of such a utility.
6295 In future versions, some of these packages might be turned on by
6296 default in the MS Windows environment.
6299 @node Q6.2.2, Q6.2.3, Q6.2.1, MS Windows
6300 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.2.2: How do I change fonts in XEmacs on MS Windows?
6302 In 21.2.*, use the font menu. In 21.1.*, you can change font
6303 manually. For example:
6306 (set-face-font 'default "Lucida Console:Regular:10")
6307 (set-face-font 'modeline "MS Sans Serif:Regular:10")
6311 @node Q6.2.3, Q6.3.1, Q6.2.2, MS Windows
6312 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.2.3: Where do I put my @file{.emacs} file?
6314 If the HOME environment variable is set, @file{.emacs} will be looked for
6315 there. Else the directory defaults to `c:\'.
6317 @node Q6.3.1, Q6.3.2, Q6.2.3, MS Windows
6318 @unnumberedsec 6.3: Miscellaneous
6319 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.3.1: Will XEmacs rename all the win32-* symbols to w32-*?
6321 In his flavor of Emacs 20, Richard Stallman has renamed all the win32-*
6322 symbols to w32-*. Will XEmacs do the same?
6324 We consider such a move counter-productive, thus we will not use the
6325 `w32' prefix. However, we do recognize that Win32 name is little more
6326 than a marketing buzzword (will it be Win64 in the next release?), so
6327 we decided not to use it. Using `windows-' would be wrong because the
6328 term is too generic, which is why we settled on a compromise
6331 Thus all the XEmacs variables and functions directly related to Win32
6332 are prefixed `mswindows-'. The user-variables shared with NT Emacs
6333 will be provided as compatibility aliases.
6335 Architectural note: We believe that there should be a very small
6336 number of window-systems-specific variables, and will try to provide
6337 generic interfaces whenever possible.
6340 @node Q6.3.2, Q6.3.3, Q6.3.1, MS Windows
6341 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.3.2: What are the differences between the various MS Windows emacsen?
6343 XEmacs, Win-Emacs, DOS Emacs, NT Emacs, this is all very confusing.
6344 Could you briefly explain the differences between them?
6346 Here is a recount of various Emacs versions running on MS Windows:
6356 Win-Emacs is a port of Lucid Emacs 19.6 to MS Windows using X
6357 compatibility libraries. Win-Emacs has been written by Ben Wing. The
6358 MS Windows code has not made it back to Lucid Emacs, which left Win-Emacs
6359 pretty much dead for our purposes. Win-Emacs used to be available at
6360 Pearlsoft, but not anymore, since Pearlsoft went out of business.
6369 GNU Emacs features support for MS-DOS and DJGPP (D.J. Delorie's DOS
6370 port of Gcc). Such an Emacs is heavily underfeatured, because it does
6371 not supports long file names, lacks proper subprocesses support, and
6372 is far too big compared to typical DOS editors.
6376 GNU Emacs compiled with Win32
6381 Starting with version 19.30, it has been possible to compile GNU Emacs
6382 under MS Windows using the DJGPP compiler and X libraries. The result
6383 is is very similar to GNU Emacs compiled under MS DOS, only it
6384 supports longer file names, etc. This "port" is similar to the "X"
6385 flavor of XEmacs on MS Windows.
6394 NT Emacs is a version of GNU Emacs modified to compile and run under
6395 MS MS Windows 95 and NT using the native Win32 API. As such, it is close
6396 in spirit to the XEmacs "native" port.
6399 NT Emacs has been written by Geoff Voelker, and more information can be
6404 @uref{http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/voelker/ntemacs.html}.
6414 Beginning with XEmacs 19.12, XEmacs' architecture has been redesigned
6415 in such a way to allow clean support of multiple window systems. At
6416 this time the TTY support was added, making X and TTY the first two
6417 "window systems" XEmacs supported. The 19.12 design is the basis for
6418 the current native MS Windows code.
6421 Some time during 1997, David Hobley (soon joined by Marc Paquette)
6422 imported some of the NT-specific portions of GNU Emacs, making XEmacs
6423 with X support compile under Windows NT, and creating the "X" port.
6426 Several months later, Jonathan Harris sent out initial patches to use
6427 the Win32 API, thus creating the native port. Since then, various
6428 people have contributed, including Kirill M. Katsnelson (contributed
6429 support for menubars, subprocesses and network, as well as loads of
6430 other code), Andy Piper (ported XEmacs to Cygwin environment,
6431 contributed Windows unexec, Windows-specific glyphs and toolbars code,
6432 and more), Jeff Sparkes (contributed scrollbars support) and many
6440 @node Q6.3.3, Q6.4.1, Q6.3.2, MS Windows
6441 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.3.3: What is the porting team doing at the moment?
6443 The porting team is continuing work on the MS Windows-specific code.
6445 @node Q6.4.1, ,Q6.3.3, MS Windows
6446 @unnumberedsec 6.3: Troubleshooting
6447 @unnumberedsubsec Q6.4.1 XEmacs won't start on Windows. (NEW)
6449 XEmacs relies on a process called "dumping" to generate a working
6450 executable. Under MS-Windows this process effectively fixes the memory
6451 addresses of information in the executable. When XEmacs starts up it tries
6452 to reserve these memory addresses so that the dumping process can be
6453 reversed - putting the information back at the correct addresses.
6454 Unfortunately some .dlls (For instance the soundblaster driver) occupy
6455 memory addresses that can conflict with those needed by the dumped XEmacs
6456 executable. In this instance XEmacs will fail to start without any
6457 explanation. Note that this is extremely machine specific.
6459 Work is being done on fixes for 21.1.* that will make more intelligent
6460 guesses about which memory addresses will be free and so this should
6461 cure the problem for most people.
6463 21.2 implements "portable dumping" which will eliminate the problem
6466 @node Current Events, , MS Windows, Top
6467 @unnumbered 7 What the Future Holds
6469 This is part 7 of the XEmacs Frequently Asked Questions list. This
6470 section will change monthly, and contains any interesting items that have
6471 transpired over the previous month. If you are reading this from the
6472 XEmacs distribution, please see the version on the Web or archived at the
6473 various FAQ FTP sites, as this file is surely out of date.
6476 * Q7.0.1:: What is new in 20.2?
6477 * Q7.0.2:: What is new in 20.3?
6478 * Q7.0.3:: What is new in 20.4?
6479 * Q7.0.4:: Procedural changes in XEmacs development.
6482 @node Q7.0.1, Q7.0.2, Current Events, Current Events
6483 @unnumberedsec 7.0: Changes
6484 @unnumberedsubsec Q7.0.1: What is new in 20.2?
6486 The biggest changes in 20.2 include integration of EFS (the next
6487 generation of ange-ftp) and AUC Tex (the Emacs subsystem that includes a
6488 major mode for editing Tex and LaTeX, and a lot of other stuff). Many
6489 bugs from 20.0 have been fixed for this release. 20.2 also contains a
6490 new system for customizing XEmacs options, invoked via @kbd{M-x
6493 XEmacs 20.2 is the development release (20.0 was beta), and is no longer
6494 considered unstable.
6496 @node Q7.0.2, Q7.0.3, Q7.0.1, Current Events
6497 @unnumberedsubsec Q7.0.2: What is new in 20.3?
6499 XEmacs 20.3 was released in November 1997. It contains many bugfixes,
6500 and a number of new features, including Autoconf 2 based configuration,
6501 additional support for Mule (Multi-language extensions to Emacs), many
6502 more customizations, multiple frames on TTY-s, support for multiple info
6503 directories, an enhanced gnuclient, improvements to regexp matching,
6504 increased MIME support, and many, many synches with GNU Emacs 20.
6506 The XEmacs/Mule support has been only seriously tested in a Japanese
6507 locale, and no doubt many problems still remain. The support for
6508 ISO-Latin-1 and Japanese is fairly strong. MULE support comes at a
6509 price---about a 30% slowdown from 19.16. We're making progress on
6510 improving performance and XEmacs 20.3 compiled without Mule (which is
6511 the default) is definitely faster than XEmacs 19.16.
6513 XEmacs 20.3 is the first non-beta v20 release, and will be the
6514 basis for all further development.
6516 @node Q7.0.3, Q7.0.4, Q7.0.2, Current Events
6517 @unnumberedsubsec Q7.0.3: What's new in XEmacs 20.4?
6519 XEmacs 20.4 is a bugfix release with no user-visible changes.
6520 @c Filled in from NEWS file of 20.5-b33
6523 @node Q7.0.4, , Q7.0.3, Current Events
6524 @unnumberedsubsec Q7.0.4: Procedural changes in XEmacs development.
6528 Discussion about the development of XEmacs occurs on the xemacs-beta
6529 mailing list. Subscriptions to this list will now be fully automated
6530 instead of being handled by hand. Send a mail message to
6531 @email{xemacs-beta-request@@xemacs.org} with @samp{subscribe} as the
6532 BODY of the message to join the list. Please note this is a developers
6533 mailing list for people who have an active interest in the development
6536 The discussion of NT XEmacs development is taking place on a separate
6537 mailing list. Send mail to
6541 @email{xemacs-nt-request@@xemacs.org} to
6545 Due to the long development cycle in between releases, it has been
6546 decided that intermediate versions will be made available in source only
6547 form for the truly interested.
6549 XEmacs 19.16 was the last 19 release, basically consisting of 19.15 plus
6550 the collected bugfixes.
6553 As of December 1996, @email{steve@@xemacs.org, Steve Baur} has become
6554 the lead maintainer of XEmacs.