This is ../info/xemacs-faq.info, produced by makeinfo version 4.8 from xemacs-faq.texi. INFO-DIR-SECTION XEmacs Editor START-INFO-DIR-ENTRY * FAQ: (xemacs-faq). XEmacs FAQ. END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY  File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q7.2.2, Next: Q7.2.3, Prev: Q7.2.1, Up: Advanced Q7.2.2: XEmacs segfaults when I use very big numbers! ----------------------------------------------------- GMP by default allocates temporaries on the stack. If you run out of stack space, you're dead; there is no way that we know of to reliably detect this condition, because `alloca' is typically implemented to be _fast_ rather than robust. If you just need a little more oomph, use a bigger stack (_e.g._, the `ulimit -s' command in bash(1)). If you want robustness at the cost of speed, configure GMP with `--disable-alloca' and rebuild the GMP library. We do not know whether BSD MP uses `alloca' or not. Please send any information you have as a bug report (`M-x report-xemacs-bug '), which will give us platform information. (We do know that BSD MP implementations vary across vendors, but how much, we do not know yet.)  File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q7.2.3, Next: Q7.2.4, Prev: Q7.2.2, Up: Advanced Q7.2.3: Bignums are really slow! -------------------------------- Many Linux distributions compile all their packages for the i386, and this is costly. An optimized version can give you two or three orders of magnitude better performance for a Pentium III or IV. (Yes, really. See `http://www.swox.com/gmp/gmp-speed.html'.)  File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q7.2.4, Prev: Q7.2.3, Up: Advanced Q7.2.4: Equal bignums don't compare as equal! What gives? ---------------------------------------------------------- Ah, Grasshopper, I see you are using `(eq x y)'. The Bodhisattva CLTL2 warned of the illusion that equal numbers would be `eq'! Meditate on the deeper truths of `eql', in which numbers of the same type which have equal values compare equal, and `=', which does any necessary type coercions before comparing for equality. Yeah, yeah, it has always worked for integer types, because fixnums and characters have an immediate representation. Sorry about that; arbitrary precision obviously requires consing new objects because the objects are "large" and of variable size, and the definition of `eq' does not permit different objects to compare as equal.  File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Other Packages, Next: Current Events, Prev: Advanced, Up: Top 8 Other External Packages ************************* This is part 8 of the XEmacs Frequently Asked Questions list. This section is devoted to miscellaneous external packages not covered elsewhere in XEmacs. * Menu: 8.0: TeX * Q8.0.1:: Is there something better than LaTeX mode? * Q8.0.2:: What is AUCTeX? Where do you get it? * Q8.0.3:: Problems installing AUCTeX. * Q8.0.4:: How do I turn off current chapter from AUCTeX modeline? 8.1: Other Unbundled Packages * Q8.1.1:: Is there a reason for an Emacs package not to be included in XEmacs? * Q8.1.2:: Are there any Emacs Lisp Spreadsheets? * Q8.1.3:: Is there a MatLab mode? 8.2: Environments Built Around XEmacs * Q8.2.1:: What are SPARCworks, EOS, and WorkShop? * Q8.2.2:: How do I start the Sun Workshop support in XEmacs 21? * Q8.2.3:: What is/was Energize? * Q8.2.4:: What is Infodock? 8.0: TeX ========  File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q8.0.1, Next: Q8.0.2, Prev: Other Packages, Up: Other Packages Q8.0.1: Is there something better than LaTeX mode? -------------------------------------------------- David Kastrup writes: The standard TeX modes leave much to be desired, and are somewhat leniently maintained. Serious TeX users use AUCTeX (*note What is AUCTeX? Where do you get it?: Q8.0.2.).  File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q8.0.2, Next: Q8.0.3, Prev: Q8.0.1, Up: Other Packages Q8.0.2: What is AUCTeX? Where do you get it? --------------------------------------------- AUCTeX is a complex and sophisticated editing package dedicated to TeX and related text formatting languages, including LaTeX and Texinfo. It provides support for running TeX on a file or part of a file, include files, and of course shortcuts for entering common TeX macros, LaTeX environments, etc, and for fontlock. AUCTeX is a standard package provided by XEmacs. You can get it as usual through the `M-x list-packages' interface. It is also included in the (non-Mule) SUMO package. The AUCTeX XEmacs package is maintained by Uwe Brauer . AUCTeX is extremely complicated, and its developers primarily use GNU Emacs. Not all features of the bleeding edge version of AUCTeX are immediately ported to XEmacs; if you need these, you may be better off getting the most recent versions from the GNU AUCTeX project on `http://savannah.gnu.org'.  File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q8.0.3, Next: Q8.0.4, Prev: Q8.0.2, Up: Other Packages Q8.0.3: Problems installing AUCTeX. ----------------------------------- Jan Vroonhof writes: AUCTeX works fine on both stock Emacs and XEmacs has been doing so for a very very long time. This is mostly due to the work of Per Abrahamsen (clap clap) in particular his `easymenu' package. Which leads to what is probably the problem... Most problems with AUCTeX are one of two things: * The TeX-lisp-directory in `tex-site.el' and the makefile don't match. Fix: make sure you configure AUCTeX properly *before* installing. * You have an old version of easymenu.el in your path. Fix: use `locate-library' and remove old versions to make sure it *only* finds the one that came with XEmacs.  File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q8.0.4, Next: Q8.1.1, Prev: Q8.0.3, Up: Other Packages Q8.0.4: How do I turn off current chapter from AUCTeX modeline? --------------------------------------------------------------- With AUCTeX, fast typing is hard because the current chapter, section etc. are given in the modeline. How can I turn this off? It's not AUCTeX, it comes from `func-menu' in `func-menu.el'. David Hughes writes: Try this; you'll still get the function name displayed in the modeline, but it won't attempt to keep track when you modify the file. To refresh when it gets out of synch, you simply need click on the `Rescan Buffer' option in the function-menu. (setq-default fume-auto-rescan-buffer-p nil) 8.1: Other Unbundled Packages =============================  File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q8.1.1, Next: Q8.1.2, Prev: Q8.0.4, Up: Other Packages Q8.1.1: Is there a reason for an Emacs package not to be included in XEmacs? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The reason for an Emacs package not to be included in XEmacs is usually one or more of the following: 1. The package has not been ported to XEmacs. This will typically happen when it uses GNU-Emacs-specific features, which make it fail under XEmacs. Porting a package to XEmacs can range from a trivial amount of change to a partial or full rewrite. Fortunately, the authors of modern packages usually choose to support both Emacsen themselves. 2. The package has been decided not to be appropriate for XEmacs. It may have an equivalent or better replacement within XEmacs, in which case the developers may choose not to burden themselves with supporting an additional package. Each package bundled with XEmacs means more work for the maintainers, whether they want it or not. If you are ready to take over the maintenance responsibilities for the package you port, be sure to say so--we will more likely include it. 3. The package simply hasn't been noted by the XEmacs development. If that's the case, the messages like yours are very useful for attracting our attention. 4. The package was noted by the developers, but they simply haven't yet gotten around to including/porting it. Wait for the next release or, even better, offer your help. It will be gladly accepted and appreciated.  File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q8.1.2, Next: Q8.1.3, Prev: Q8.1.1, Up: Other Packages Q8.1.2: Are there any Emacs Lisp Spreadsheets? ---------------------------------------------- Yes. Check out "dismal" (which stands for Dis' Mode Ain't Lotus) at `http://acs.ist.psu.edu/dismal/dismal.html'.  File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q8.1.3, Next: Q8.2.1, Prev: Q8.1.2, Up: Other Packages Q8.1.3: Is there a MatLab mode? ------------------------------- Yes, a matlab mode and other items are available at the `http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/files/104/matlab.el'. 8.2: Environments Built Around XEmacs =====================================  File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q8.2.1, Next: Q8.2.2, Prev: Q8.1.3, Up: Other Packages Q8.2.1: What are SPARCworks, EOS, and WorkShop? ----------------------------------------------- SPARCworks was a development environment from Sun (circa 1993-1996) and consisted of compilers (C, C++, FORTRAN 77, Fortran 90, Ada, and Pascal), a debugger, and other tools such as TeamWare (for configuration management), MakeTool, etc. EOS is the integration of XEmacs with the SPARCworks debugger. It allows one to use an XEmacs frame to view code (complete with fontification, etc.), set breakpoints, print variables, etc., while using the SPARCworks debugger. EOS stands for "Era on SPARCworks"; Era stood for "Emacs Rewritten Again" and was the name used by Sun for its modified version of Lucid Emacs (later XEmacs) in the early-mid 90's. This is documented in more detail in the history section of the XEmacs About page. EOS was replaced around 1996 with a newer graphical development environment called Sun WorkShop. The current status of this is unknown.  File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q8.2.2, Next: Q8.2.3, Prev: Q8.2.1, Up: Other Packages Q8.2.2: How do I start the Sun Workshop support in XEmacs 21? ------------------------------------------------------------- Add the switch --with-workshop to the configure command when building XEmacs and put the following in one of your startup files (e.g. site-start.el or .emacs): (when (featurep 'tooltalk) (load "tooltalk-macros") (load "tooltalk-util") (load "tooltalk-init")) (when (featurep 'sparcworks) (load "sunpro-init") (load "ring") (load "comint") (load "annotations") (sunpro-startup)) If you are not using the latest Workshop (5.0) you have to apply the following patch: -- /opt/SUNWspro/lib/eserve.el.ORIG Fri May 14 15:23:26 1999 +++ /opt/SUNWspro/lib/eserve.el Fri May 14 15:24:54 1999 @@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ (defvar running-xemacs nil "t if we're running XEmacs") (defvar running-emacs nil "t if we're running GNU Emacs 19") -(if (string-match "^\\(19\\|20\\)\..*\\(XEmacs\\|Lucid\\)" emacs-version) +(if (string-match "\\(XEmacs\\|Lucid\\)" emacs-version) (setq running-xemacs t) (setq running-emacs t))  File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q8.2.3, Next: Q8.2.4, Prev: Q8.2.2, Up: Other Packages Q8.2.3: What is/was Energize? ----------------------------- The "Energize Programming System" was a C and C++ development environment sold by Lucid, Inc. It was the reason why Lucid Emacs, now XEmacs, was created in the first place. Unfortunately, Lucid went out of business in 1994. The rights to sell it in Japan were purchased by INS Engineering (which briefly employed Stig Hackvan aka Jonathan Stigelman to work on Japanese support for XEmacs, in late 1994 and early 1995) and Tartan bought the rights to sell it in the rest of the world. However, INS is not selling Energize at this point and may or may not have ever done so; Tartan certainly never did.  File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q8.2.4, Prev: Q8.2.3, Up: Other Packages Q8.2.4: What is Infodock? ------------------------- InfoDock (http://sourceforge.net/projects/infodock/) is an integrated productivity toolset, mainly aimed at technical people, hosted at SourceForge. InfoDock is built atop the XEmacs variant of GNU Emacs and so has all of the power of Emacs, but with an easier to use and more comprehensive menu-based user interface. The bottom portion of this text describes how it differs from XEmacs and GNU Emacs from the Free Software Foundation. InfoDock is aimed at people who want a free, turn-key productivity environment. Although InfoDock is customizable, it is not intended for people who like basic versions of Emacs which need to be customized extensively for local use; standard Emacs distributions are better for such uses. InfoDock is for those people who want a complete, pre-customized environment in one package, which they need not touch more than once or twice a year to update to new revisions. InfoDock is pre-built for SPARC SunOS/Solaris systems, PA-RISC HP-UX, and Intel Linux systems. It is intended for use on a color display, although most features will work on monochrome monitors. Simply unpack InfoDock according to the instructions in the ID-INSTALL file and you are ready to run. The InfoDock Manual is concise, yet sufficient as a user guide for users who have never used an Emacs-type editor before. For users who are already familiar with Emacs, it supplements the information in the GNU Emacs Manual. InfoDock menus are much more extensive and more mature than standard Emacs menus. Each menu offers a `Manual' item which displays documentation associated with the menu's functions. Four types of menubars are provided: 1. An extensive menubar providing access to global InfoDock commands. 2. Mode-specific menubars tailored to the current major mode. 3. A simple menubar for basic editing to help novices get started with InfoDock. 4. The standard XEmacs menubar. Most modes also include mode-specific popup menus. Additionally, region and rectangle popup menus are included. `Hyperbole', the everyday information manager, is a core part of InfoDock. This provides context-sensitive mouse keys, a rolodex-type contact manager, programmable hypertext buttons, and an autonumbered outliner with embedded hyperlink anchors. The `OO-Browser', a multi-language object-oriented code browser, is a standard part of InfoDock. InfoDock saves a more extensive set of user options than other Emacs versions. InfoDock inserts a useful file header in many file types, showing the author, summary, and last modification time of each file. A summary program can then be used to summarize all of the files in a directory, for easy MANIFEST file creation. Your working set of buffers is automatically saved and restored (if you answer yes to a prompt) between InfoDock sessions. Refined color choices for code highlighting are provided for both dark and light background display frames. The `C-z' key prefix performs frame-based commands which parallel the `C-x' key prefix for window-based commands. The Smart Menu system is included for producing command menus on dumb terminals. Lisp libraries are better categorized according to function. Extensions and improvements to many areas of Emacs are included, such as: paragraph filling, mail reading with Rmail, shell handling, outlining, code highlighting and browsing, and man page browsing. InfoDock questions, answers and discussion should go to the mail list . Use to be added or removed from the list. Always include your InfoDock version number when sending help requests.  File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Current Events, Next: Legacy Versions, Prev: Other Packages, Up: Top 9 What the Future Holds *********************** This is part 9 of the XEmacs Frequently Asked Questions list. This section will change frequently, and (in theory) should contain any interesting items that have transpired recently. (But in practice it's not getting updated like this.) This section also contains descriptions of the new features in all the recent releases of XEmacs. For the most part, the information below is a synopsis of the more complete information that can be found in the file `NEWS' in the `etc' directory of the XEmacs distribution. You can view this file in XEmacs using `C-h n' or the `Help' menu. Information on older versions of XEmacs can be find in `ONEWS' in the same directory, or `OONEWS' for really old versions. * Menu: 9.0: Changes * Q9.0.1:: What new features will be in XEmacs soon? * Q9.0.2:: What's new in XEmacs 21.4? * Q9.0.3:: What's new in XEmacs 21.1? * Q9.0.4:: What's new in XEmacs 20.4? * Q9.0.5:: What's new in XEmacs 20.3? * Q9.0.6:: What's new in XEmacs 20.2? 9.0: Changes ============  File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q9.0.1, Next: Q9.0.2, Prev: Current Events, Up: Current Events Q9.0.1: What new features will be in XEmacs soon? ------------------------------------------------- #### Write me.  File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q9.0.2, Next: Q9.0.3, Prev: Q9.0.1, Up: Current Events Q9.0.2: What's new in XEmacs 21.4? ---------------------------------- 21.4 was the "stable" version of the 21.2 series, which was considered "experimental" throughout its life; thus there were no "official" releases at all. In essence, XEmacs is now following the "alternating" scheme of Linux, where at any point there are at least two different development branches, one "stable" and one "experimental". Periodic releases happen in both branches, but those in the experimental branch are not tested as well, and there's no guarantee they will work at all. The experiemental branch is open to any and all code that's acceptable to the developers; the stable branch, however, is in general limited only to bug fixes, and all contributions are carefully reviewed to make sure they will increase and not decrease stability. 21.3 never existed at all; it was decided to follow the Linux scheme exactly, where odd-numbered series are experimental and even-numbered ones stable. The following lists summarizes the essential changes made in this version. For a fuller list, see the `NEWS' in the `etc' directory of the XEmacs distribution, or use `C-h n' or the `Help' menu to view this file inside of XEmacs. User-visible changes in XEmacs 21.4 ................................... * The delete key now deletes forward by default. * Shifted motion keys now select text by default. * You can now build XEmacs with support for GTK+ widget set. * ~/.xemacs/init.el is now the preferred location for the init file. (XEmacs now supports a `~/.xemacs/init.el' startup file. Custom file will move to ~/.xemacs/custom.el.) * Much-improved sample init.el, showing how to use many useful features. * XEmacs support for menu accelerators has been much improved. * Default menubar improvements. (Default menubar has many new commands and better organization. The font-menu is now available under MS Windows.) * Dialog box improvements, including a real file dialog box. (XEmacs now has a proper file dialog box under MS Windows (and GTK)! The old clunky file dialog box is improved. Keyboard traversal now works correctly in MS Windows dialog boxes. There is a Search dialog box available from `Edit->Find...') * New buffer tabs. * There is a new MS Windows installer, netinstall, ported from Cygwin. * The subprocess quote-handling mechanism under Windows is much improved. * Printing support now available under MS Windows. * Selection improvements. (Kill and yank now interact with the clipboard under Windows. MS Windows support for selection is now much more robust. Motif selection support is now more correct (but slower).) * Mail spool locking now works correctly. * International support changes. (The default coding-priority-list is now safer. International keysyms are now supported under X. MS Windows 1251 code page now supported. Czech, Thai, Cyrillic-KOI8, Vietnamese, Ethiopic now supported. Proper support for words in Latin 3 and Latin 4.) * Help buffers contain hyperlinks, and other changes. * The modeline's text is now scrollable. * The mouse wheel under MS Windows now functions correctly. * Interactive searching and matching case improvements. (Incremental search will now highlight all visible matches. Interactive searches always respect uppercase characters.) * Rectangle functions rewritten to avoid inserting extra spaces. * New command `kill-entire-line' that always kills the entire line. * Default values correctly stored in minibuffer histories. * You can now create "indirect buffers", like in GNU Emacs. * Pixel-based scrolling has been implemented. * Operation progress can be displayed using graphical widgets. * User names following a tilde can now be completed at file name prompts. * XEmacs can now play sound using Enlightenment Sound Daemon (ESD). * X-Face support is now available under MS Windows. * The PostgreSQL Relational Database Management System is now supported. * Indentation no longer indents comments that begin at column zero. * Face and variable settings can have comments in Customize. * New locations for early package hierarchies. * The `auto-save' library has been greatly improved. * New variable `mswindows-alt-by-itself-activates-menu'. * Other init-file-related changes. (Init file in your home directory may be called `.emacs.el'. New command-line switches -user-init-file and -user-init-directory.) * Etags changes. See `NEWS' for full details. Lisp and internal changes in XEmacs 21.4 ........................................ Not yet written.  File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q9.0.3, Next: Q9.0.4, Prev: Q9.0.2, Up: Current Events Q9.0.3: What's new in XEmacs 21.1? ---------------------------------- 21.1 was the "stable" version of "experimental" 21.0 series. *Note What's new in XEmacs 21.4?: Q9.0.2. The following lists summarizes the essential changes made in this version. For a fuller list, see the `NEWS' in the `etc' directory of the XEmacs distribution, or use `C-h n' or the `Help' menu to view this file inside of XEmacs. User-visible changes in XEmacs 21.1 ................................... * XEmacs is now supported under Microsoft Windows 95/98 and Windows NT/2000/XP operating systems. To discuss Windows-specific issues, subscribe to the mailing list at . * XEmacs has been unbundled into constituent installable packages. * *Other notable changes*: The `Options' menu has been ported to Custom; XEmacs now is able to choose X visuals and use private colormaps; You can drag the vertical divider of "horizontally" (side-by-side) split windows. * *Building changes*: XEmacs can be built with support for 31-bit Lisp integers and 32-bit pointers (previously, it was 28-bit integers and pointers); XEmacs can be built with LDAP support; `dir' files can be removed in the Info subsystem, and will be regenerated on-the-fly. * *New packages*: `imenu', `popper', `gdb-highlight' * *Package changes*: Many changes to `cc-mode', `gnus', `gnuclient'. See `NEWS' for full details. * *New commands, variables and functions*: `center-to-window-line' (like `recenter' but doesn't force a redisplay); variable `user-full-name' (customize what your full name looks like in mail); `M-x customize-changed-options' (customize options whose default values changes because you upgraded your XEmacs); `M-x add-log-convert' (converts an old-style ChangeLog buffer to new-style); `M-x zap-up-to-char' (like `zap-to-char' but doesn't delete the char searched for); commands to store, retrieve and increment numbers in registers, useful for macros. * *Changes to commands, variables, and functions*: `M-x query-replace' and friends operate only on the region when it's active; `echo-keystrokes' can now be a floating-point number; `M-.' searches exact tag matches before inexact ones; function `user-full-name' with no arguments returns the var `user-full-name'; a prefix arg to `M-:' and `C-h c' inserts the result in the current buffer. * *Other changes*: Under X, new application class `XEmacs'; byte-compilation of user-specs now works. * *XEmacs/Mule (internationalization) changes*: Mule support now works on TTY's; Egg/SJ3 input method now officially supported (Quail and Egg/Skk already available through LEIM since 20.3); localized Japanese menubars if XEmacs is built with the right support. Lisp and internal changes in XEmacs 21.1 ........................................ * *Specifier changes*: The window locale now has a higher precedence than the buffer locale when instantiating; new macro `let-specifier'; new specifiers `vertical-scrollbar-visible-p', horizontal-scrollbar-visible-p', `scrollbar-on-left-p', `scrollbar-on-top-p', `vertical-divider-always-visible-p', `vertical-divider-shadow-thickness', `vertical-divider-line-width', `vertical-divider-spacing'; specifiers and symbols whose value is a specifier allowed as modeline specifications. * *Frame focus changes*: `focus-follows-mouse' works like FSF, prevents any attempt to permanently change the selected frame; new function `focus-frame' sets the window system focus a frame; new special forms `save-selected-frame' and `with-selected-frame'. * *Window function changes*: `select-window' now has optional argument NORECORD to inhibit recording a buffer change; `vertical-motion' now correctly handles optional WINDOW argument and has new optional argument PIXELS, to have the returned values be in pixels; new function `vertical-motion-pixels'; new functions `window-text-area-pixel-{width,height,edges}'; new functions `shrink-window-pixels' and `enlarge-window-pixels'; new function `window-displayed-text-pixel-height'. * *Other function changes*: Arithmetic comparison functions `<', `>', `=', `/=' now accept a variable number of arguments; hashtables now have a consistent read/print syntax; keyword symbols cannot be set to a value other than themselves; `concat' no longer accepts integer arguments; new function `string', like `list', `vector', etc.; new function `temp-directory' (OS-independent way to get a temp directory); `load-average' has optional argument USE-FLOATS; `make-event' implemented completely; new function `function-interactive' (returns a function's interactive spec); new functions `lmessage', `lwarn' (printf-like versions of `display-wessage', `display-warning'); new keyword `:version' to `defcustom'. * *Performance*: when the new GNU Malloc aka Doug Lea Malloc is available, it will be used (better performance on libc6 Linux systems); tracking line-numbers in modeline is now efficient; profiling records a call-count of all called functions, retrievable through `profile-call-count-results'. * *Startup and path searching*: code to assemble paths at startup rewritten for new package system; new function `split-path' (splits by `path-separator'); `Info-default-directory-list' obsolete, use `Info-directory-list' instead; site-lisp is deprecated and no longer on the load-path by default.  File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q9.0.4, Next: Q9.0.5, Prev: Q9.0.3, Up: Current Events Q9.0.4: What's new in XEmacs 20.4? ---------------------------------- XEmacs 20.4 is a bugfix release with no user-visible changes.  File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q9.0.5, Next: Q9.0.6, Prev: Q9.0.4, Up: Current Events Q9.0.5: What's new in XEmacs 20.3? ---------------------------------- XEmacs 20.3 was released in November 1997. It contains many bugfixes, and a number of new features, including Autoconf 2 based configuration, additional support for Mule (Multi-language extensions to Emacs), many more customizations, multiple frames on TTY-s, support for multiple info directories, an enhanced gnuclient, improvements to regexp matching, increased MIME support, and many, many synches with GNU Emacs 20. The XEmacs/Mule support has been only seriously tested in a Japanese locale, and no doubt many problems still remain. The support for ISO-Latin-1 and Japanese is fairly strong. MULE support comes at a price--about a 30% slowdown from 19.16. We're making progress on improving performance and XEmacs 20.3 compiled without Mule (which is the default) is definitely faster than XEmacs 19.16. XEmacs 20.3 is the first non-beta v20 release, and will be the basis for all further development.  File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q9.0.6, Prev: Q9.0.5, Up: Current Events Q9.0.6: What's new in XEmacs 20.2? ---------------------------------- The biggest changes in 20.2 include integration of EFS (the next generation of ange-ftp) and AUC Tex (the Emacs subsystem that includes a major mode for editing Tex and LaTeX, and a lot of other stuff). Many bugs from 20.0 have been fixed for this release. 20.2 also contains a new system for customizing XEmacs options, invoked via `M-x customize'. XEmacs 20.2 is the development release (20.0 was beta), and is no longer considered unstable. For older news, see the file `ONEWS' in the `etc' directory of the XEmacs distribution.  File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Legacy Versions, Prev: Current Events, Up: Top 10 New information about old XEmacsen ************************************* This is part 10 of the XEmacs Frequently Asked Questions list. It will occasionally be updated to reflect new information about versions which are no longer being revised by the XEmacs Project. The primary purpose is advice on compatibility of older XEmacsen with new packages and updated versions of packages, but bug fixes (which will not be applied to released XEmacsen, but users can apply themselves) are also accepted. * Menu: 10.0: XEmacs 21.1 * Q10.0.1:: Gnus 5.10 won't display smileys in XEmacs 21.1. * Q10.0.2:: XEmacs won't start on Windows in XEmacs 21.1. 10.0: XEmacs 21.1 =================  File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q10.0.1, Next: Q10.0.2, Prev: Legacy Versions, Up: Legacy Versions Q10.0.1: Gnus 5.10 won't display smileys in XEmacs 21.1. -------------------------------------------------------- Eric Eide wrote: Previously I wrote: Eric> Summary: with Gnus 5.10.1 in XEmacs 21.1.14, I don't see Eric> any smileys :-(. After a bit of sleuthing, I discovered the essence of the problem. For me, the form: (with-temp-buffer (insert-file-contents "foo.xpm") (buffer-string)) returns the empty string. This is because something somewhere replaces the XPM data with a glyph -- I haven't figured out where this occurs. Kyle Jones replies: Do this: (setq format-alist nil) The image-mode stuff is gone from format-alist in the 21.4 branch, praise be.  File: xemacs-faq.info, Node: Q10.0.2, Prev: Q10.0.1, Up: Legacy Versions Q10.0.2: XEmacs won't start on Windows in XEmacs 21.1. ------------------------------------------------------ XEmacs relies on a process called "dumping" to generate a working executable. Under MS-Windows this process effectively fixes the memory addresses of information in the executable. When XEmacs starts up it tries to reserve these memory addresses so that the dumping process can be reversed - putting the information back at the correct addresses. Unfortunately some .DLLs (for instance the soundblaster driver) occupy memory addresses that can conflict with those needed by the dumped XEmacs executable. In this instance XEmacs will fail to start without any explanation. Note that this is extremely machine specific. 21.1.10 includes a fix for this that makes more intelligent guesses about which memory addresses will be free, and this should cure the problem for most people. 21.4 implements "portable dumping", which eliminates the problem altogether. We recommend you use the 21.4 binaries, but you can use the 21.1 binaries if you are very paranoid about stability. *Note Are binaries available?: Q1.1.2.