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* FAQ: (xemacs-faq).            XEmacs FAQ.
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File: xemacs-faq.info,  Node: Top,  Next: Introduction,  Prev: (dir),  Up: (dir)

XEmacs FAQ
**********

This is the guide to the XEmacs Frequently Asked Questions list--a
compendium of questions and answers pertaining to one of the finest
programs ever written.  XEmacs is much more than just a Text Editor.

   This FAQ is freely redistributable.  This FAQ is distributed in the
hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the
implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

   If you have a Web browser, the official hypertext version is at
`http://www.xemacs.org/FAQ/xemacs-faq.html'

* Menu:

* Introduction::          Introduction, Policy, Credits.
* Installation::          Installation and Troubleshooting.
* Editing::               Editing Functions.
* Display::               Display Functions.
* External Subsystems::   Interfacing with the OS and External Devices.
* Internet::              Connecting to the Internet.
* Advanced::              Advanced Customization Using XEmacs Lisp.
* Other Packages::        Other External Packages.
* Current Events::        What the Future Holds.
* Legacy Versions::       New information about old XEmacsen.

 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---

1 Introduction, Policy, Credits

1.0: What is XEmacs?
* Q1.0.1::    What is XEmacs?
* Q1.0.2::    What is the current version of XEmacs?
* Q1.0.3::    How do you pronounce XEmacs?
* Q1.0.4::    What does XEmacs look like?
* Q1.0.5::    Who wrote XEmacs?
* Q1.0.6::    Who wrote the FAQ?

1.1: Getting XEmacs
* Q1.1.1::    Where can I find XEmacs?
* Q1.1.2::    Are binaries available?
* Q1.1.3::    How do I get the bleeding-edge sources?
* Q1.1.4::    Where can I obtain a printed copy of the XEmacs User's Manual?

1.2: Versions for Different Operating Systems
* Q1.2.1::    Do I need X11 to run XEmacs?
* Q1.2.2::    What versions of Unix does XEmacs run on?
* Q1.2.3::    Is there a port of XEmacs to Microsoft Windows?
* Q1.2.4::    Can I build XEmacs on MS Windows with X support?  Do I need to?
* Q1.2.5::    What are Cygwin and MinGW, and do I need them to run XEmacs?
* Q1.2.6::    What are the differences between the various MS Windows emacsen?
* Q1.2.7::    How does the port cope with differences in the Windows user interface?
* Q1.2.8::    Is there a port of XEmacs to the Macintosh?
* Q1.2.9::    Is there a port of XEmacs to MS-DOS?
* Q1.2.10::   Is there a port of XEmacs to OS/2?
* Q1.2.11::   Is there a port of XEmacs to NextStep?
* Q1.2.12::   Is there a port of XEmacs to VMS?

1.3: Getting Started
* Q1.3.1::    What is an `init.el' or `.emacs' and is there a sample one?
* Q1.3.2::    Where do I put my `init.el' file?
* Q1.3.3::    Can I use the same `init.el' with the other Emacs?
* Q1.3.4::    Any good XEmacs tutorials around?
* Q1.3.5::    May I see an example of a useful XEmacs Lisp function?
* Q1.3.6::    And how do I bind it to a key?
* Q1.3.7::    What's the difference between a macro and a function?
* Q1.3.8::    What is `Custom'?

1.4: Getting Help
* Q1.4.1::    Where can I get help?
* Q1.4.2::    Which mailing lists are there?
* Q1.4.3::    Where are the mailing lists archived?
* Q1.4.4::    How can I get two instances of info?
* Q1.4.5::    How do I add new Info directories?

1.5: Contributing to XEmacs
* Q1.5.1::    How do I submit changes to the FAQ?
* Q1.5.2::    How do I become a beta tester?
* Q1.5.3::    How do I contribute to XEmacs itself?
* Q1.5.4::    How do I get started developing XEmacs?
* Q1.5.5::    What's the basic layout of the code?

1.6: Politics (XEmacs vs. GNU Emacs)
* Q1.6.1::    What is GNU Emacs?
* Q1.6.2::    How does XEmacs differ from GNU Emacs?
* Q1.6.3::    How much does XEmacs differ?
* Q1.6.4::    Is XEmacs "GNU"?
* Q1.6.5::    What is the correct way to refer to XEmacs and GNU Emacs?
* Q1.6.6::    Why haven't XEmacs and GNU Emacs merged?

1.7: External Packages
* Q1.7.1::    What is the package system?
* Q1.7.2::    Which external packages are there?
* Q1.7.3::    Do I need to have the packages to run XEmacs?
* Q1.7.4::    Is there a way to find which package has particular functionality?

1.8: Internationalization
* Q1.8.1::    What is the status of internationalization support aka MULE (including Asian language support)?
* Q1.8.2::    How can I help with internationalization?
* Q1.8.3::    How do I type non-ASCII characters?
* Q1.8.4::    Can XEmacs messages come out in a different language?
* Q1.8.5::    Please explain the various input methods in MULE/XEmacs
* Q1.8.6::    How do I portably code for MULE/XEmacs?
* Q1.8.7::    How about Cyrillic modes?
* Q1.8.8::    Does XEmacs support Unicode?
* Q1.8.9::    How does XEmacs display Unicode?

2 Installation and Troubleshooting

2.0: Installation (General)
* Q2.0.1::    How do I build and install XEmacs?
* Q2.0.2::    Where do I find external libraries?
* Q2.0.3::    How do I specify the paths that XEmacs uses for finding files?
* Q2.0.4::    Running XEmacs without installing
* Q2.0.5::    XEmacs is too big

2.1: Package Installation
* Q2.1.1::    How do I install the packages?
* Q2.1.2::    Can I install the packages individually?
* Q2.1.3::    Can I install the packages automatically?
* Q2.1.4::    Can I upgrade or remove packages?
* Q2.1.5::    Which packages to install?
* Q2.1.6::    Can you describe the package location process in more detail?
* Q2.1.7::    EFS fails with "500 AUTH not understood"

2.2: Unix/Mac OS X Installation (Also Relevant to Cygwin, MinGW)
* Q2.2.1::    Libraries in non-standard locations
* Q2.2.2::    Why can't I strip XEmacs?

2.3: Windows Installation (Windows, Cygwin, MinGW)
* Q2.3.1::    What exactly are all the different ways to build XEmacs under Windows?
* Q2.3.2::    What compiler/libraries do I need to compile XEmacs?
* Q2.3.3::    How do I compile the native port?
* Q2.3.4::    What do I need for Cygwin?
* Q2.3.5::    How do I compile under Cygwin?
* Q2.3.6::    How do I compile using MinGW (aka `the -mno-cygwin flag to gcc')?
* Q2.3.7::    How do I compile with X support?
* Q2.3.8::    Cygwin XEmacs won't start -- cygXpm-noX4.dll was not found (NEW)

2.4: General Troubleshooting
* Q2.4.1::    How do I deal with bugs or with problems building, installing, or running?
* Q2.4.2::    Help!  XEmacs just crashed on me!
* Q2.4.3::    XEmacs crashes and I compiled it myself.
* Q2.4.4::    How to debug an XEmacs problem with a debugger
* Q2.4.5::    I get a cryptic error message when trying to do something.
* Q2.4.6::    XEmacs hangs when I try to do something.
* Q2.4.7::    I get an error message when XEmacs is running in batch mode.
* Q2.4.8::    The keyboard or mouse is not working properly, or I have some other event-related problem.
* Q2.4.9::    C-g doesn't work for me.  Is it broken?
* Q2.4.10::   How do I debug process-related problems?
* Q2.4.11::   XEmacs is outputting lots of X errors.
* Q2.4.12::   After upgrading, XEmacs won't do `foo' any more!

2.5: Startup-Related Problems
* Q2.5.1::    XEmacs cannot connect to my X Terminal!
* Q2.5.2::    Startup problems related to paths or package locations.
* Q2.5.3::    XEmacs won't start without network.
* Q2.5.4::    Startup warnings about deducing proper fonts?
* Q2.5.5::    Warnings from incorrect key modifiers.
* Q2.5.6::    XEmacs 21.1 on Windows used to spawn an ugly console window on every startup.  Has that been fixed?

3 Editing Functions

3.0: The Keyboard
* Q3.0.1::    How can I customize the keyboard?
* Q3.0.2::    How can I bind complex functions (or macros) to keys?
* Q3.0.3::    How do I bind C-. and C-; to scroll one line up and down?
* Q3.0.4::    Globally binding Delete?
* Q3.0.5::    How to map Help key alone on Sun type4 keyboard?
* Q3.0.6::    How can you type in special characters in XEmacs?
* Q3.0.7::    Can I turn on "sticky" modifier keys?
* Q3.0.8::    How do I map the arrow keys?
* Q3.0.9::    HP Alt key as Meta.
* Q3.0.10::   Why does edt emulation not work?
* Q3.0.11::   How can I emulate VI and use it as my default mode?

3.1: The Mouse
* Q3.1.1::    How can I turn off Mouse pasting?
* Q3.1.2::    How do I set control/meta/etc modifiers on mouse buttons?
* Q3.1.3::    Clicking the left button does not do anything in buffer list.
* Q3.1.4::    How can I get a list of buffers when I hit mouse button 3?
* Q3.1.5::    How can I set XEmacs up so that it pastes where the text cursor is?

3.2: Buffers, Text Editing
* Q3.2.1::    Can I have the end of the buffer delimited in some way?
* Q3.2.2::    How do I insert today's date into a buffer?
* Q3.2.3::    How do I get a single minibuffer frame?
* Q3.2.4::    How can I enable auto-indent and/or Filladapt?
* Q3.2.5::    How can I get XEmacs to come up in text/auto-fill mode by default?

3.3: Text Selections
* Q3.3.1::    How do I select a rectangular region?
* Q3.3.2::    How can I turn off or change highlighted selections?
* Q3.3.3::    How do I cause typing on an active region to remove it?
* Q3.3.4::    Can I turn off the highlight during isearch?
* Q3.3.5::    Why is killing so slow?
* Q3.3.6::    Why does M-w take so long?

3.4: Editing Source Code
* Q3.4.1::    I do not like cc-mode.  How do I use the old c-mode?
* Q3.4.2::    How do you make XEmacs indent CL if-clauses correctly?

4 Display Functions

4.0: Textual Fonts and Colors
* Q4.0.1::    How do I specify a font?
* Q4.0.2::    How do I set the text, menu and modeline fonts?
* Q4.0.3::    How can I set color options from `init.el'?
* Q4.0.4::    How can I set the colors when highlighting a region?
* Q4.0.5::    How can I limit color map usage?
* Q4.0.6::    My tty supports color, but XEmacs doesn't use them.
* Q4.0.7::    Can I have pixmap backgrounds in XEmacs?
* Q4.0.8::    How do I display non-ASCII characters?
* Q4.0.9::    Font selections in don't get saved after `Save Options'.

4.1: Syntax Highlighting (Font Lock)
* Q4.1.1::    How can I do source code highlighting using font-lock?
* Q4.1.2::    How do I get `More' Syntax Highlighting on by default?

4.2: The Modeline
* Q4.2.1::    How can I make the modeline go away?
* Q4.2.2::    How do you have XEmacs display the line number in the modeline?
* Q4.2.3::    How do I get XEmacs to put the time of day on the modeline?
* Q4.2.4::    How can I change the modeline color based on the mode used?

4.3: The Cursor
* Q4.3.1::    Is there a way to make the bar cursor thicker?
* Q4.3.2::    Is there a way to get back the block cursor?
* Q4.3.3::    Can I make the cursor blink?

4.4: The Menubar
* Q4.4.1::    How do I get rid of the menubar?
* Q4.4.2::    How can I customize the menubar?
* Q4.4.3::    How do I enable use of the keyboard (Alt) to access menu items?
* Q4.4.4::    How do I control how many buffers are listed in the menu `Buffers List'?
* Q4.4.5::    Resources like `Emacs*menubar*font' are not working?

4.5: The Toolbar
* Q4.5.1::    How do I get rid of the toolbar?
* Q4.5.2::    How can I customize the toolbar?
* Q4.5.3::    How can I bind a key to a function to toggle the toolbar?
* Q4.5.4::    `Can't instantiate image error...' in toolbar

4.6: Scrollbars and Scrolling
* Q4.6.1::    How can I disable the scrollbar?
* Q4.6.2::    How can I change the scrollbar width?
* Q4.6.3::    How can I use resources to change scrollbar colors?
* Q4.6.4::    Moving the scrollbar can move the point; can I disable this?
* Q4.6.5::    Scrolling one line at a time.
* Q4.6.6::    How can I turn off automatic horizontal scrolling in specific modes?
* Q4.6.7::    I find auto-show-mode disconcerting.  How do I turn it off?

4.7: The Gutter Tabs, The Progress Bar, Widgets
* Q4.7.1::    How can I disable the gutter tabs?
* Q4.7.2::    How can I disable the progress bar?
* Q4.7.3::    There are bugs in the gutter or widgets.
* Q4.7.4::    How can I customize the gutter or gutter tabs?

5 Interfacing with the Operating System and External Devices

5.0: X Window System and Resources
* Q5.0.1::    Where is a list of X resources?
* Q5.0.2::    How can I detect a color display?
* Q5.0.3::    How can I get the icon to just say `XEmacs'?
* Q5.0.4::    How can I have the window title area display the full path?
* Q5.0.5::    `xemacs -name junk' doesn't work?
* Q5.0.6::    `-iconic' doesn't work.

5.1: Microsoft Windows
* Q5.1.1::    Does XEmacs rename all the `win32-*' symbols to `w32-*'?
* Q5.1.2::    How do I get Windows Explorer to associate a file type with XEmacs?

5.2: Printing
* Q5.2.1::    What do I need to change to make printing work?
* Q5.2.2::    How can I print WYSIWYG a font-locked buffer?
* Q5.2.3::    Getting M-x lpr to work with postscript printer.
* Q5.2.4::    Can you print under MS Windows?

5.3: Sound
* Q5.3.1::    How do I turn off the sound?
* Q5.3.2::    How do I get funky sounds instead of a boring beep?
* Q5.3.3::    What are NAS and ESD (EsounD)?
* Q5.3.4::    Sunsite sounds don't play.

5.4: Running an Interior Shell, Invoking Subprocesses
* Q5.4.1::    What is an interior shell?
* Q5.4.2::    How do I start up a second shell buffer?
* Q5.4.3::    Telnet from shell filters too much
* Q5.4.4::    Strange things are happening in Shell Mode.
* Q5.4.5::    XEmacs complains "No such file or directory, diff"
* Q5.4.6::    Cygwin error "fork_copy: linked dll/bss pass 0 failed"

5.5: Multiple Device Support
* Q5.5.1::    How do I open a frame on another screen of my multi-headed display?
* Q5.5.2::    Can I really connect to a running XEmacs after calling up over a modem?  How?
* Q5.5.3::    How do I disable gnuserv from opening a new frame?
* Q5.5.4::    How do I start gnuserv so that each subsequent XEmacs is a client?
* Q5.5.5::    Is there a way to start a new XEmacs if there's no gnuserv running, and otherwise use gnuclient?

6 Connecting to the Internet

6.0: General Mail and News
* Q6.0.1::    What are the various packages for reading mail?
* Q6.0.2::    How can I send mail?
* Q6.0.3::    How do I get my outgoing mail archived?
* Q6.0.4::    How can I read and/or compose MIME messages?
* Q6.0.5::    How do I customize the From line?
* Q6.0.6::    How do I get my MUA to filter mail for me?
* Q6.0.7::    Remote mail reading with an MUA.
* Q6.0.8::    An MUA gets an error incorporating new mail.
* Q6.0.9::    Why isn't `movemail' working?
* Q6.0.10::   How do I make my MUA display graphical smilies?
* Q6.0.11::   How can I get those oh-so-neat X-Face lines?

6.1: Reading Mail with VM
* Q6.1.1::    How do I set up VM to retrieve mail from a remote site using POP?
* Q6.1.2::    How can I get VM to automatically check for new mail?
* Q6.1.3::    I have various addresses at which I receive mail.  How can I tell VM to ignore them when doing a "reply-all"?
* Q6.1.4::    Is there a mailing list or FAQ for VM?
* Q6.1.5::    How do I make VM stay in a single frame?
* Q6.1.6::    Customization of VM not covered in the manual, or here.

6.2: Reading Netnews and Mail with Gnus
* Q6.2.1::    GNUS, (ding) Gnus, Gnus 5, September Gnus, Red Gnus, Quassia Gnus, argh!
* Q6.2.2::    How do I make Gnus stay within a single frame?

6.3: FTP Access
* Q6.3.1::    Can I edit files on other hosts?
* Q6.3.2::    What is EFS?

6.4: Web Browsing with W3
* Q6.4.1::    What is W3?
* Q6.4.2::    How do I run W3 from behind a firewall?
* Q6.4.3::    Is it true that W3 supports style sheets and tables?

7 Advanced Customization Using XEmacs Lisp

7.0: Emacs Lisp and `init.el'
* Q7.0.1::    What version of Emacs am I running?
* Q7.0.2::    How can I evaluate Emacs-Lisp expressions?
* Q7.0.3::    `(setq tab-width 6)' behaves oddly.
* Q7.0.4::    How can I add directories to the `load-path'?
* Q7.0.5::    How to check if a lisp function is defined?
* Q7.0.6::    Can I force the output of `(face-list)' to a buffer?

7.1: Emacs Lisp Programming Techniques
* Q7.1.1::    What is the difference in key sequences between XEmacs and GNU Emacs?
* Q7.1.2::    Can I generate "fake" keyboard events?
* Q7.1.3::    Could you explain `read-kbd-macro' in more detail?
* Q7.1.4::    What is the performance hit of `let'?
* Q7.1.5::    What is the recommended use of `setq'?
* Q7.1.6::    What is the typical misuse of `setq'?
* Q7.1.7::    I like the `do' form of cl, does it slow things down?
* Q7.1.8::    I like recursion, does it slow things down?
* Q7.1.9::    How do I put a glyph as annotation in a buffer?
* Q7.1.10::   `map-extents' won't traverse all of my extents!
* Q7.1.11::   My elisp program is horribly slow.  Is there an easy way to find out where it spends time?

7.2: Mathematics
* Q7.2.1::    What are bignums, ratios, and bigfloats in Lisp?
* Q7.2.2::    XEmacs segfaults when I use very big numbers!
* Q7.2.3::    Bignums are really slow!
* Q7.2.4::    Equal bignums don't compare as equal!  What gives?

8 Other External Packages

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?

9 What the Future Holds

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?

10 New information about old XEmacsen

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.

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File: xemacs-faq.info,  Node: Introduction,  Next: Installation,  Prev: Top,  Up: Top

1 Introduction, Policy, Credits
*******************************

Learning XEmacs is a lifelong activity.  Even people who have used Emacs
for years keep discovering new features.  Therefore this document cannot
be complete.  Instead it is aimed at the person who is either
considering XEmacs for their own use, or has just obtained it and is
wondering what to do next.  It is also useful as a reference to
available resources.

   The previous maintainer of the FAQ was Anthony Rossini
<rossini@biostat.washington.edu>, who started it, after getting tired
of hearing JWZ complain about repeatedly having to answer questions.
Ben Wing <ben@xemacs.org> then took over and did a massive update
reorganizing the whole thing.  At this point Anthony took back over,
but then had to give it up again.  Some of the other contributors to
this FAQ are listed later in this document.

   The previous version was converted to hypertext format, and edited by
Steven L. Baur <steve@xemacs.org>.  It was converted back to texinfo by
Hrvoje Niksic <hniksic@xemacs.org>.  The FAQ was then maintained by
Andreas Kaempf <andreas@sccon.com>, who passed it on to ChristianNyb/o,
and then to Sandra Wambold <wambold@xemacs.org>.

   The current version of the FAQ has been heavily redone by Ben Wing
<ben@xemacs.org>.

   If you notice any errors or items which should be added or amended to
this FAQ please send email to <xemacs-beta@xemacs.org>.  Include
`XEmacs FAQ' on the Subject: line.

* Menu:

1.0: What is XEmacs?
* Q1.0.1::    What is XEmacs?
* Q1.0.2::    What is the current version of XEmacs?
* Q1.0.3::    How do you pronounce XEmacs?
* Q1.0.4::    What does XEmacs look like?
* Q1.0.5::    Who wrote XEmacs?
* Q1.0.6::    Who wrote the FAQ?

1.1: Getting XEmacs
* Q1.1.1::    Where can I find XEmacs?
* Q1.1.2::    Are binaries available?
* Q1.1.3::    How do I get the bleeding-edge sources?
* Q1.1.4::    Where can I obtain a printed copy of the XEmacs User's Manual?

1.2: Versions for Different Operating Systems
* Q1.2.1::    Do I need X11 to run XEmacs?
* Q1.2.2::    What versions of Unix does XEmacs run on?
* Q1.2.3::    Is there a port of XEmacs to Microsoft Windows?
* Q1.2.4::    Can I build XEmacs on MS Windows with X support?  Do I need to?
* Q1.2.5::    What are Cygwin and MinGW, and do I need them to run XEmacs?
* Q1.2.6::    What are the differences between the various MS Windows emacsen?
* Q1.2.7::    How does the port cope with differences in the Windows user interface?
* Q1.2.8::    Is there a port of XEmacs to the Macintosh?
* Q1.2.9::    Is there a port of XEmacs to MS-DOS?
* Q1.2.10::   Is there a port of XEmacs to OS/2?
* Q1.2.11::   Is there a port of XEmacs to NextStep?
* Q1.2.12::   Is there a port of XEmacs to VMS?

1.3: Getting Started
* Q1.3.1::    What is an `init.el' or `.emacs' and is there a sample one?
* Q1.3.2::    Where do I put my `init.el' file?
* Q1.3.3::    Can I use the same `init.el' with the other Emacs?
* Q1.3.4::    Any good XEmacs tutorials around?
* Q1.3.5::    May I see an example of a useful XEmacs Lisp function?
* Q1.3.6::    And how do I bind it to a key?
* Q1.3.7::    What's the difference between a macro and a function?
* Q1.3.8::    What is `Custom'?

1.4: Getting Help
* Q1.4.1::    Where can I get help?
* Q1.4.2::    Which mailing lists are there?
* Q1.4.3::    Where are the mailing lists archived?
* Q1.4.4::    How can I get two instances of info?
* Q1.4.5::    How do I add new Info directories?

1.5: Contributing to XEmacs
* Q1.5.1::    How do I submit changes to the FAQ?
* Q1.5.2::    How do I become a beta tester?
* Q1.5.3::    How do I contribute to XEmacs itself?
* Q1.5.4::    How do I get started developing XEmacs?
* Q1.5.5::    What's the basic layout of the code?

1.6: Politics (XEmacs vs. GNU Emacs)
* Q1.6.1::    What is GNU Emacs?
* Q1.6.2::    How does XEmacs differ from GNU Emacs?
* Q1.6.3::    How much does XEmacs differ?
* Q1.6.4::    Is XEmacs "GNU"?
* Q1.6.5::    What is the correct way to refer to XEmacs and GNU Emacs?
* Q1.6.6::    Why haven't XEmacs and GNU Emacs merged?

1.7: External Packages
* Q1.7.1::    What is the package system?
* Q1.7.2::    Which external packages are there?
* Q1.7.3::    Do I need to have the packages to run XEmacs?
* Q1.7.4::    Is there a way to find which package has particular functionality?

1.8: Internationalization
* Q1.8.1::    What is the status of internationalization support aka MULE (including Asian language support)?
* Q1.8.2::    How can I help with internationalization?
* Q1.8.3::    How do I type non-ASCII characters?
* Q1.8.4::    Can XEmacs messages come out in a different language?
* Q1.8.5::    Please explain the various input methods in MULE/XEmacs
* Q1.8.6::    How do I portably code for MULE/XEmacs?
* Q1.8.7::    How about Cyrillic modes?
* Q1.8.8::    Does XEmacs support Unicode?
* Q1.8.9::    How does XEmacs display Unicode?

1.0: What is XEmacs?
====================

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Q1.0.1: What is XEmacs?
-----------------------

XEmacs is a powerful, highly customizable open source text editor and
application development system, with full GUI support.  It is protected
under the GNU Public License and related to other versions of Emacs, in
particular GNU Emacs.  Its emphasis is on modern graphical user
interface support and an open software development model, similar to
Linux.  XEmacs has an active development community numbering in the
hundreds (and thousands of active beta testers on top of this), and
runs on all versions of MS Windows, on Mac OS X, on Linux, and on
nearly every other version of Unix in existence.  Support for XEmacs
has been supplied by Sun Microsystems, University of Illinois, Lucid,
ETL/Electrotechnical Laboratory, Amdahl Corporation, BeOpen, and
others, as well as the unpaid time of a great number of individual
developers.

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Q1.0.2: What is the current version of XEmacs?
----------------------------------------------

XEmacs versions 21.4.* are releases made from the current stable
sources.  XEmacs versions 21.5.* (which will be released as 22.0) are
releases made from the development sources.  Check at
`http://www.xemacs.org' for the current minor version.  XEmacs versions
21.1.* were the previous stable releases, now retired.

   XEmacs 20.4, released in February 1998, was the last release of v20.

   XEmacs 19.16, released in November, 1997. was the last release of
v19, and was also the last version without international language
support.

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Q1.0.3: How do you pronounce XEmacs?
------------------------------------

The most common pronounciation is `Eks eemax'.

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Q1.0.4: What does XEmacs look like?
-----------------------------------

Screen snapshots are available at
`http://www.xemacs.org/About/Screenshots/index.html' as part of the
XEmacs website.

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Q1.0.5: Who wrote XEmacs?
-------------------------

XEmacs is the result of the time and effort of many people, and the
active developers have changed over time.  There are two major
components of the XEmacs effort - writing the code itself and providing
all the support work (testing the code, releasing beta and final
versions, handling patches, reading bug reports, maintaining the web
site, managing the mailing lists, etc. etc.).  Neither component would
work without the other.

CODING
------

The primary code contributor over the years has been Ben Wing (active
since late 1992).  Between 1991 and 1995, large amounts of coding was
contributed by Jamie Zawinski and Chuck Thompson.  Many other people
have authored major subsystems or otherwise contributed large amounts of
code, including Andy Piper, Hrvoje Niksic, Jerry James, Jonathan Harris,
Kyle Jones, Martin Buchholz, Michael Sperber, Olivier Galibert, Richard
Mlynarik, Stig, William Perry and plenty of others.

   Primary XEmacs-specific subsystems and their authors:

Objects
        - Conversion from 26-bit to 28-bit pointers and integers,
          lrecords, lcrecords: Richard Mlynarik, 1994

        - Conversion to 32-bit pointers and 31-bit integers: Kyle
          Jones, Martin Buchholz

        - Portable dumper, object descriptions: Olivier Galibert

        - KKCC (new garbage collector), ephemerons, weak boxes: Michael
          Sperber and students

        - Random object work (object equal and hash methods, weak
          lists, lcrecord lists, bit vectors, dynarr, blocktype,
          opaque, string resizing): Ben Wing

        - Profiling: Ben Wing

        - Some byte-compilation and hash-table improvements: Martin
          Buchholz

        - Bignum: Jerry James

Internationalization/Mule
        - mostly Ben Wing; many ideas for future work, Stephen Turnbull

I/O
        - Basic event/event-stream implementation: Jamie Zawinski

        - Most event work since 1994: Ben Wing

        - Asynchronous stuff (async timeouts, signals, quit-checking):
          Ben Wing

        - Process method abstraction, Windows process work: Kirill
          Katsnelson

        - Misc-user events, async timeouts, most quit-checking and
          signal code, most other work since 1994: Ben Wing

        - Lstreams: Ben Wing

Display
        - Redisplay mechanism: implementation, Chuck Thompson;
          additional work, lots of people

        - Glyphs: mostly Ben Wing

        - Specifiers: Ben Wing

        - Extents: initial implementation, someone at Lucid; rewrite,
          1994, Ben Wing

        - Widgets: Andy Piper

        - JPEG/PNG/TIFF image converters: Ben Wing, William Perry,
          Jareth Hein, others (see comment in `glyphs-eimage.c')

        - Menus: Jamie Zawinski, someone at Lucid (Lucid menus)

        - Scrollbars: Chuck Thompson, ??? (Lucid scrollbar)

        - Multi-device/device-independence work (console/device/etc
          methods): Ben Wing, prototype by chuck thompson

        - Faces: first implementation, Jamie Zawinski; second, chuck;
          third, Ben Wing

        - Fonts/colors: first implementation, Jamie Zawinski; further
          work, Ben Wing

        - Toolbars: implementation, chuck, much interface work, Ben Wing

        - Gutters, tabs: andy piper

Device subsystems
        - X Windows: Jamie Zawinksi, Ben Wing, others

        - GTK: William Perry, Malcolm Purvis

        - MS Windows: initial implementation, Jonathan Harris; some
          more work, Andy Piper, Ben Wing

        - TTY: Chuck Thompson, Ben Wing

        - Cygwin: Andy Piper

Misc
        - Configure: initial porting from fsf, Chuck Thompson;
          conversion to autoconf 2, much rewriting, Martin Buchholz

        - Most initialization-related code: Ben Wing

        - Internals manual, much of Lisp manual: Ben Wing

        - FSF synching: initial sync with FSF 19, Richard Mlynarik,
          further work, Ben Wing

SUPPORT
-------

Currently, support duties are handled by many different people.

   Release managers have been

   - Stephen Turnbull (April 2001 - January 2003, March 2004 - present,
     21.2.47 - 21.4.12, 21.5.2 - 21.5.7, 21.5.17 - present)

   - Vin Shelton (Mar 1997 - Jan 2001, May 2003 - present, 19.16,
     21.1.3 - 21.1.14, 21.4.13 - present)

   - Steve Youngs (July 2002 - September 2003, 21.5.8 - 21.5.16)

   - Martin Buchholz (December 1998, November 1999 - May 2001, 21.2.7 -
     21.2.8, 21.2.21 - 21.2.46, 21.5.0 - 21.5.1)

   - Steve Baur (early 1997 - December 1998, February 1999 - November
     1999, 19.15 - 21.2.5, 21.2.9 - 21.2.20)

   - Andy Piper (December 1998, 21.2.6)

   - Chuck Thompson (June 1994 - September 1996, 19.11 - 19.14)

   - Jamie Zawinski (April 1991 - June 1994, 19.0 - 19.10)

   The recent overlapping dates are intentional, since two or three
trees are maintained simultaneously at any point.

   Other major support work:

   - Adrian Aichner wrote and maintains the web site.

   - Stephen Turnbull has produced many of the beta and semi-stable
     releases and has attempted to be the "face" of XEmacs on the
     newsgroups and mailing lists.

   - Steve Youngs currently produces the beta releases (???).

   - Steve Youngs, Ville Skytta, and now Norbert Koch have taken turns
     maintaining the packages.

   - Vin Shelton maintains the stable releases.

   - Testing - #### Norbert, Adrian, ???

   Portraits and email of some of the major developers:

   * Andy Piper <andy@xemacs.org>

   * Ben Wing <ben@xemacs.org>

   * Chuck Thompson <cthomp@xemacs.org>

   * Hrvoje Niksic <hniksic@xemacs.org>

   * Jamie Zawinski <jwz@jwz.org>

   * Martin Buchholz <martin@xemacs.org>

   * Richard Mlynarik <mly@adoc.xerox.com>

   * Stephen Turnbull <stephen@xemacs.org>

   * Steve Baur <steve@xemacs.org>

   Many other people have contributed to XEmacs; this is partially
enumerated in the `About XEmacs' option in the Help menu.

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Q1.0.6: Who wrote the FAQ?
--------------------------

The current version of this FAQ was created by Ben Wing
<ben@xemacs.org>.

   Previous contributors to the FAQ include

   * SL Baur <steve@xemacs.org>

   * Hrvoje Niksic <hniksic@xemacs.org>

   * Curtis.N.Bingham <binge@aloft.att.com>

   * Georges Brun-Cottan <bruncott@dormeur.inria.fr>

   * Richard Caley <rjc@cogsci.ed.ac.uk>

   * Richard Cognot <cognot@ensg.u-nancy.fr>

   * Mark Daku <daku@nortel.ca>

   * William G. Dubuque <wgd@martigny.ai.mit.edu>

   * Eric Eide <eeide@cs.utah.edu>

   * Alain Fauconnet <af@biomath.jussieu.fr>

   * Chris Flatters <cflatter@nrao.edu>

   * Evelyn Ginsparg <ginsparg@adra.com>

   * Marty Hall <hall@aplcenmp.apl.jhu.edu>

   * Darrell Kindred <dkindred@cmu.edu>

   * David Moore <dmoore@ucsd.edu>

   * Arup Mukherjee <arup+@cmu.edu>

   * Juergen Nickelsen <nickel@prz.tu-berlin.de>

   * Kevin R. Powell <powell@csl.ncsa.uiuc.edu>

   * Justin Sheehy <dworkin@ccs.neu.edu>

   * Stig <stig@hackvan.com>

   * Aki Vehtari <Aki.Vehtari@hut.fi>

1.1: Getting XEmacs
===================

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Q1.1.1: Where can I find XEmacs?
--------------------------------

To download XEmacs, visit the XEmacs WWW page at
`http://www.xemacs.org/Download/'.  The most up-to-date list of
distribution sites can always be found there.  Try to pick a site that
is networkologically close to you.  If you know of other mirrors of the
XEmacs archives, please send e-mail to `mailto:webmaster@xemacs.org'
and we will list them here as well.

   The canonical distribution point is ftp.xemacs.org, available either
through HTTP (`http://ftp.xemacs.org/') or anonymous FTP
(`ftp://ftp.xemacs.org/pub/xemacs/').

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Q1.1.2: Are binaries available?
-------------------------------

MS Windows binaries are available at
`http://www.xemacs.org/Download/win32/' for the native versions of 21.4
and 21.1.  Cygwin binaries are now available as part of the standard
Cygwin installation process.  XEmacs also comes pre-built as part of
many Linux distributions, such as Red Hat and SuSE.

   Otherwise, you will need to build XEmacs yourself or get your system
administrator to do it.  Generally, this is not a difficult process
under Unix and Mac OS X, as XEmacs has been tested under all of the
common Unix versions and under Mac OS X and comes with an extensive
configure script that is able to automatically detect most aspects of
the configuration of your particular system.

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Q1.1.3: How do I get the bleeding-edge sources?
-----------------------------------------------

If you are interested in developing XEmacs, or getting the absolutely
most recent, up-to-the-moment, bleeding-edge source code, you can
directly access the master CVS source tree (read-only, of course, until
you ask for and are granted permission to directly modify portions of
the source tree) at cvs.xemacs.org.  Directions on how to access the
source tree are located at
`http://www.xemacs.org/Develop/cvsaccess.html'.

   Nightly CVS snapshots are available at
`http://www.dk.xemacs.org/Download/CVS-snapshots/'.

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Q1.1.4: Where can I obtain a printed copy of the XEmacs User's Manual?
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Pre-printed manuals are not available.  If you are familiar with TeX,
you can generate your own manual from the XEmacs sources.

   HTML and Postscript versions of XEmacs manuals are available from the
XEmacs web site at `http://www.xemacs.org/Documentation/index.html'.

1.2: Versions for Different Operating Systems
=============================================

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Q1.2.1: Do I need X11 to run XEmacs?
------------------------------------

No.  The name "XEmacs" is unfortunate in the sense that it is *not* an
X Window System-only version of Emacs.  XEmacs has full color support
on a color-capable character terminal.

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Q1.2.2: What versions of Unix does XEmacs run on?
-------------------------------------------------

XEmacs is regularly tested on Linux, Solaris, SunOS, HP/UX, FreeBSD,
OpenBSD, BSD/OS aka BSDI, Tru64 aka DEC/OSF, SCO5, and probably others.
It should work on all versions of Unix created in the last 10 years or
so, perhaps with a bit of work on more obscure platforms to correct
bit-rot.  It uses a sophisticated configuration system to auto-detect
zillions of features that are implemented differently in different
versions of Unix, so it will probably work on your vendor's version,
possibly with a bit of tweaking, even if we've never heard of it.

   For problems with particular machines and versions of Unix, see the
`PROBLEMS' file.

   Much effort has gone into making XEmacs work on as many different
machines, configurations, and compilers as possible.

   Much effort has gone into making XEmacs 64-bit clean.

   Much effort has gone into removing system-specific code, and
replacing such code with autodetection at configure time.

   The XEmacs core should build "out of the box" on most Unix-like
systems.

   XEmacs 21.2 was tested and `make check' succeeded on these Unix
configurations as of 2001-02-10:

     alphaev56-dec-osf4.0e (both Compaq C and gcc)
     i386-unknown-freebsd4.2
     i386-unknown-netbsdelf1.5
     i586-sco-sysv5uw7.0.1 (both SCO's cc and gcc)
     i686-pc-linux-gnu
     hppa2.0-hp-hpux10.20 (both HP's ANSI cc and gcc)
     mips-sgi-irix6.5 (both MIPSpro cc and gcc)
     rs6000-ibm-aix4.3.0.0 (both IBM's xlc and gcc)
     sparc-sun-solaris2.6 (both Sun's Forte C and gcc)
     sparc-sun-solaris2.7 (both Sun's Forte C and gcc)
     sparc-sun-sunos4.1.4 (gcc)

   Some systems have a dual mode 32-bit/64-bit compiler.  On most of
these, XEmacs requires the `--pdump' (in XEmacs 21.5, `--enable-pdump')
configure option to build correctly with the 64-bit version of the
compiler.

     mips-sgi-irix6.5, CC="gcc -mabi=64"
     mips-sgi-irix6.5, CC="cc -64"
     rs6000-ibm-aix4.3.0.0, CC="cc -q64"

   On most of these systems, XEmacs also builds with a C++ compiler,
but not "out of the box".  This feature is only for use by the
maintainers.

   XEmacs 21.2 is known _not_ to work on any machines with m680x0
processors.  Sorry, all you sun3 and Unix PC nostalgia buffs out there.

   VMS has never been supported by XEmacs.  In fact, all the old VMS
code inherited from Emacs has been removed.  Sorry, all you VMS fans
out there.

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Q1.2.3: Is there a port of XEmacs to Microsoft Windows?
-------------------------------------------------------

Yes.  Beginning with release 21.0, XEmacs has worked under MS Windows
and is fully-featured and actively developed.  A group of dedicated
developers actively maintains and improves the Windows-specific
portions of the code.  Some of the core developers, in fact, use
Windows as their only development environment, and some features, such
as printing, actually work better on Windows than native Unix and Mac
OS X.  The mailing list at <xemacs-winnt@xemacs.org> is dedicated to
that effort (please use the -request address to subscribe). (Despite
its name, XEmacs actually works on all versions of Windows.)

   The list name is misleading, as XEmacs supports and has been
compiled on Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows
ME, Windows XP, and all newer versions of Windows.  The MS
Windows-specific code is based on Microsoft Win32 API, and will not
work on MS Windows 3.x or on MS-DOS.

   XEmacs also supports the Cygwin and MinGW development and runtime
environments, where it also uses native Windows code for graphical
features.  In addition, under Cygwin it is possible to compile XEmacs
to use an X server (and XFree86 is available as part of the standard
Cygwin installation).

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Q1.2.4: Can I build XEmacs on MS Windows with X support?  Do I need to?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Yes, you can, but no you do not need to.  In fact, we recommend that you
use a native-GUI version unless you have a specific need for an X
version.

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Q1.2.5: What are Cygwin and MinGW, and do I need them to run XEmacs?
--------------------------------------------------------------------

To answer the second part of the question: No, you, you don't need
Cygwin or MinGW to build or to run XEmacs.  But if you have them and
want to use them, XEmacs supports these environments.

   (One important reason to support Cygwin is that it lets the MS
Windows developers test out their code in a Unix environment without
actually having to have a Unix machine around.  For this reason alone,
Cygwin support is likely to remain supported for a long time in XEmacs.
Same goes for the X support under Cygwin, for the same reasons.  MinGW
support, on the other hand, depends on volunteers to keep it up to date;
but this is generally not hard.)

   Cygwin is a set of tools providing Unix-like API on top of Win32.
It makes it easy to port large Unix programs without significant
changes to their source code.  It is a development environment as well
as a runtime environment.

   When built with Cygwin, XEmacs supports all display types - TTY, X &
Win32 GUI, and can be built with support for all three simultaneously.
If you build with Win32 GUI support then the Cygwin version uses the
majority of the Windows-specific code, which is mostly related to
display.  If you want to build with X support you need X libraries (and
an X server to display XEmacs on); see *Note Q2.3.7::.  TTY and Win32
GUI require no additional libraries beyond what comes standard with
Cygwin.

   The advantages of the Cygwin version are that it integrates well with
the Cygwin environment for existing Cygwin users; uses configure so
building with different features is very easy; and actively supports X &
TTY.  Furthermore, the entire Cygwin environment and compiler are free,
whereas Visual C++ costs money.

   The disadvantage is that it requires the whole Cygwin environment,
whereas the native port requires only a suitable MS Windows compiler.
Also, it follows the Unix filesystem and process model very closely
(some will undoubtedly view this as an advantage).

   See `http://www.cygwin.com/' for more information on Cygwin.

   MinGW is a collection of header files and import libraries that allow
one to use GCC under the Cygwin environment to compile and produce
exactly the same native Win32 programs that you can using Visual C++.
Programs compiled with MinGW make use of the standard Microsoft runtime
library `MSVCRT.DLL', present on all Windows systems, and look, feel,
and act like a standard Visual-C-produced application. (The only
difference is the compiler.) This means that, unlike a
standardly-compiled Cygwin application, no extra runtime support (e.g.
Cygwin's `cygwin1.dll') is required.  This, along with the fact that
GCC is free (and works in a nice Unix-y way in a nice Unix-y
environment, for those die-hard Unix hackers out there), is the main
advantage of MinGW.  It is also potentially faster than Cygwin because
it has less overhead when calling Windows, but you lose the POSIX
emulation layer, which makes Unix programs harder to port. (But this is
irrelevant for XEmacs since it's already ported to Win32.)

   See `http://www.mingw.org/' for more information on MinGW.

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Q1.2.6: What are the differences between the various MS Windows emacsen?
------------------------------------------------------------------------

XEmacs, Win-Emacs, DOS Emacs, NT Emacs, this is all very confusing.
Could you briefly explain the differences between them?

   Here is a recount of various Emacs versions running on MS Windows:

   * XEmacs

        - Beginning with XEmacs 19.12, XEmacs' architecture was
          redesigned in such a way to allow clean support of multiple
          window systems.  At this time the TTY support was added,
          making X and TTY the first two "window systems" supported by
          XEmacs.  The 19.12 design is the basis for the current native
          MS Windows code.

        - Some time during 1997, David Hobley (soon joined by Marc
          Paquette) imported some of the NT-specific portions of GNU
          Emacs, making XEmacs with X support compile under Windows NT,
          and creating the "X" port.

        - Several months later, Jonathan Harris sent out initial
          patches to use the Win32 API, thus creating the native port.
          Since then, various people have contributed, including Kirill
          M. Katsnelson (contributed support for menubars, subprocesses
          and network, as well as loads of other code), Andy Piper
          (ported XEmacs to Cygwin environment, contributed Windows
          unexec, Windows-specific glyphs and toolbars code, and more),
          Ben Wing (loads of improvements; primary MS Windows developer
          since 2000), Jeff Sparkes (contributed scrollbars support)
          and many others.

   * NT Emacs

        - NT Emacs was an early version of GNU Emacs 19 modified to
          compile and run under MS Windows 95 and NT using the native
          Win32 API.  It was written by Geoff Voelker, and has long
          since been incorporated into the mainline GNU Emacs
          distribution.

   * Win-Emacs

        - Win-Emacs was a port of Lucid Emacs 19.6 to MS Windows using X
          compatibility libraries.  Win-Emacs was written by Ben Wing.
          The MS Windows code never made it back to Lucid Emacs, and
          its creator (Pearl Software) has long since gone out of
          business.

   * GNU Emacs for DOS

        - GNU Emacs features support for MS-DOS and DJGPP (D.J.
          Delorie's DOS port of GCC).  Such an Emacs is heavily
          underfeatured, because it does not support long file names,
          lacks proper subprocesses support, and is far too big
          compared with typical DOS editors.

   * GNU Emacs compiled with Win32

        - Starting with GNU Emacs 19.30, it has been possible to
          compile GNU Emacs under MS Windows using the DJGPP compiler
          and X libraries.  The result is very similar to GNU Emacs
          compiled under MS DOS, only it works somewhat better because
          it runs in 32-bit mode, makes use of all the system memory,
          supports long file names, etc.


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Q1.2.7: How does the port cope with differences in the Windows user interface?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The XEmacs (and Emacs in general) user interface is pretty different
from what is expected of a typical MS Windows program.  How does the MS
Windows port cope with it?

   As a general rule, we follow native MS Windows conventions as much as
possible.  21.4 is a fairly complete Windows application, supporting
native printing, system file dialog boxes, tool tips, etc.  In cases
where there's a clear UI conflict, we currently use normal Unix XEmacs
behavior by default, but make sure the MS Windows "look and feel" (mark
via shift-arrow, self-inserting deletes region, Alt selects menu items,
etc.) is easily configurable (respectively: using the variable
`shifted-motion-keys-select-region' in 21.4 and above [it's in fact the
default in these versions], or the `pc-select' package; using the
`pending-del' package; and setting the variable
`menu-accelerator-enabled' to `menu-force' in 21.4 and above).  In
fact, if you use the sample `init.el' file as your init file, you will
get all these behaviors automatically turned on.

   In future versions, some of these features might be turned on by
default in the MS Windows environment.

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Q1.2.8: Is there a port of XEmacs to the Macintosh?
---------------------------------------------------

Yes.

   XEmacs 21.5 (perhaps 21.4 also?) works on MacOS X, although it
certainly will not feel very much like a Mac application as it has no
Mac-specific code in it.

   There is also a port of XEmacs 19.14 that works on all recent
versions of MacOS, from 8.1 through MacOS X, by Pitts Jarvis
<pjarvis@ispchannel.com> (recently deceased).  It runs in an equivalent
of TTY mode only (one single Macintosh window, 25 colors), but has a
large number of Mac-specific additions.  It's available at
`http://homepage.mac.com/pjarvis/xemacs.html'.

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Q1.2.9: Is there a port of XEmacs to MS-DOS?
--------------------------------------------

No.  We have never supported running on MS-DOS or Windows 3.1, and in
fact have long since deleted all MS-DOS-related code.  We're not
particularly interested in patches for these platforms, as they would
introduce huge amounts of code clutter due to the woefully
underfeatured nature of these systems. (See GNU Emacs for a port to
MS-DOS.)

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Q1.2.10: Is there a port of XEmacs to OS/2?
-------------------------------------------

No, but Alexander Nikolaev <avn_1251@mail.ru> was at one point working
on it.

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Q1.2.11: Is there a port of XEmacs to NextStep?
-----------------------------------------------

Carl Edman, apparently no longer at <cedman@princeton.edu>, did the
port of GNU Emacs to NeXTstep and expressed interest in doing the
XEmacs port, but never went any farther.

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Q1.2.12: Is there a port of XEmacs to VMS?
------------------------------------------

VMS has never been supported by XEmacs.  In fact, all the old VMS code
inherited from GNU Emacs has been removed.  Sorry, all you VMS fans out
there.

1.3: Getting Started
====================

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Q1.3.1: What is an `init.el' or `.emacs' and is there a sample one?
-------------------------------------------------------------------

The `init.el' or `.emacs' file is used to customize XEmacs to your
tastes.  Starting in 21.4, the preferred location for the init file is
`~/.xemacs/init.el'; in previous versions, it was `~/.emacs'.  21.4
still accepts the old location, but the first time you run it, it will
ask to migrate your file to the new location.  If you answer yes, the
file will be moved, and a "compatibility" `.emacs' file will be placed
in the old location so that you can still run older versions of XEmacs,
and versions of GNU Emacs, which expect the old location.  The `.emacs'
file present is just a stub that loads the real file in
`~/.xemacs/init.el'.

   No two init files are alike, nor are they expected to be alike, but
that's the point.  The XEmacs distribution contains an excellent starter
example in the `etc/' directory called `sample.init.el' (starting in
21.4) or `sample.emacs' in older versions.  Copy this file from there
to `~/.xemacs/init.el' (starting in 21.4) or `~/.emacs' in older
versions, where `~' means your home directory, of course.  Then edit it
to suit.

   You may bring the `sample.init.el' or `sample.emacs' file into an
XEmacs buffer from the menubar. (The menu entry for it is always under
the `Help' menu, but its location under that has changed in various
versions.  Recently, look under the `Samples' submenu.)  To determine
the location of the `etc/' directory type the command `C-h v
data-directory <RET>'.

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Q1.3.2: Where do I put my `init.el' file?
-----------------------------------------

`init.el' is the name of the init file starting with 21.4, and is
located in the subdirectory `.xemacs/' of your home directory.  In
prior versions, the init file is called `.emacs' and is located in your
home directory.

   Your home directory under Windows is determined by the `HOME'
environment variable.  If this is not set, it defaults to `C:\'.  To
set this variable, modify `AUTOEXEC.BAT' under Windows 95/98, or select
`Control Panel->System->Advanced->Environment Variables...' under
Windows NT/2000.

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Q1.3.3: Can I use the same `init.el' with the other Emacs?
----------------------------------------------------------

Yes.  The sample `init.el' included in the XEmacs distribution will
show you how to handle different versions and flavors of Emacs.

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Q1.3.4: Any good XEmacs tutorials around?
-----------------------------------------

There's the XEmacs tutorial available from the Help Menu under
`Help->Tutorials', or by typing `C-h t'. To check whether it's
available in a non-english language, type `C-u C-h t TAB', type the
first letters of your preferred language, then type <RET>.

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Q1.3.5: May I see an example of a useful XEmacs Lisp function?
--------------------------------------------------------------

The following function does a little bit of everything useful.  It does
something with the prefix argument, it examines the text around the
cursor, and it's interactive so it may be bound to a key.  It inserts
copies of the current word the cursor is sitting on at the cursor.  If
you give it a prefix argument: `C-u 3 M-x double-word' then it will
insert 3 copies.

     (defun double-word (count)
       "Insert a copy of the current word underneath the cursor"
       (interactive "*p")
       (let (here there string)
         (save-excursion
           (forward-word -1)
           (setq here (point))
           (forward-word 1)
           (setq there (point))
           (setq string (buffer-substring here there)))
         (while (>= count 1)
           (insert string)
           (decf count))))

   The best way to see what is going on here is to let XEmacs tell you.
Put the code into an XEmacs buffer, and do a `C-h f' with the cursor
sitting just to the right of the function you want explained.  Eg.  move
the cursor to the SPACE between `interactive' and `"*p"' and hit `C-h
f' to see what the function `interactive' does.  Doing this will tell
you that the `*' requires a writable buffer, and `p' converts the
prefix argument to a number, and `interactive' allows you to execute
the command with `M-x'.

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Q1.3.6: And how do I bind it to a key?
--------------------------------------

To bind to a key do:

     (global-set-key "\C-cd" 'double-word)

   Or interactively, `M-x global-set-key' and follow the prompts.

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Q1.3.7: What's the difference between a macro and a function?
-------------------------------------------------------------

Quoting from the Lisp Reference (a.k.a "Lispref") Manual:

   "Macros" enable you to define new control constructs and other
language features.  A macro is defined much like a function, but instead
of telling how to compute a value, it tells how to compute another Lisp
expression which will in turn compute the value.  We call this
expression the "expansion" of the macro.

   Macros can do this because they operate on the unevaluated
expressions for the arguments, not on the argument values as functions
do.  They can therefore construct an expansion containing these
argument expressions or parts of them.

   Do not confuse the two terms with "keyboard macros", which are
another matter, entirely.  A keyboard macro is a key bound to several
other keys.  Refer to manual for details.

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Q1.3.8: What is `Custom'?
-------------------------

`Custom' is a system for customizing XEmacs options.

   You can access `Advanced (Customize)' from the `Options' menu or
invoking one of customize commands by typing eg.  `M-x customize', `M-x
customize-face', `M-x customize-variable' or `M-x customize-apropos'.

   There is also new `browser' mode for Customize.  Try it out with
`M-x customize-browse'

1.4: Getting Help
=================

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Q1.4.1: Where can I get help?
-----------------------------

Probably the easiest way, if everything is installed, is to use Info, by
pressing `C-h i', or looking for an Info item on the Help Menu.  `M-x
apropos' can be used to look for particular commands.

   For items not found in the manual, try reading this FAQ and reading
the Usenet group comp.emacs.xemacs.

   If you choose to post to a newsgroup, *please use
comp.emacs.xemacs*.  Please do not post XEmacs related questions to
gnu.emacs.help.

   If you cannot post or read Usenet news, there is a corresponding
mailing list <xemacs-news@xemacs.org> which is available.  It can be
subscribed to via the Mailman Web interface or by sending mail to to
<xemacs-news-request@xemacs.org> with `subscribe' in the body of the
message.  See also `http://www.xemacs.org/Lists/#xemacs-news'.  To
cancel a subscription, you may use the <xemacs-news-request@xemacs.org>
address or the Web interface.  Send a message with a subject of
`unsubscribe' to be removed.

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Q1.4.2: Which mailing lists are there?
--------------------------------------

For complete, up-to-date info on the lists and how to subscribe, see
`http://www.xemacs.org/Lists/'.

`comp.emacs.xemacs'
     is a Usenet newsgroup for XEmacs users to discuss problems and
     issues that arise for them.  It's not generally an appropriate
     place to ask about apparent bugs (use `xemacs-beta'), or future
     plans (use `xemacs-design').

`xemacs-announce'
     is a read-only, low volume list for announcements concerning the
     XEmacs project and new releases of the XEmacs software.

`xemacs-beta'
     is an open list for bug reports about beta versions of XEmacs.
     This includes the bug reports themselves, by both users and
     developers, as well as queries, follow-ups, and discussions
     further determining their nature and status.  This is the primary
     channel for this kind of discussion; related code changes will
     usually not be applied until they have been discussed here.  When
     such discussions touch on significant changes to the code (in
     particular, structural changes), or on changes to API's or
     external functionality, they should be moved to `xemacs-design'.
     Requests and proposals for non-bug-related changes do not belong
     on `xemacs-beta', and should be sent to `xemacs-design' instead.

`xemacs-beta-ja'
     is an open list for bug reports and design discussion related to
     Mule features, including Japanese handling, in beta versions of
     XEmacs.  Japanese is the preferred language of discussion.  For
     most timely presentation to reviewers, please consider sending
     appropriate discussion to `xemacs-mule' or `xemacs-design' in
     English when convenient for the participants in discussion.  When
     possible, bug reports not related to Mule (including Japanese)
     should be reported on `xemacs-beta' in English.

`xemacs-buildreports'
     is an open list for submission of build-reports on beta versions
     of XEmacs. For information on what the build-reports should
     contain, please see the `etc/BETA' file which is included in each
     beta distribution.

`xemacs-cvs'
     is a read-only list for notices and information on what has been
     committed to the XEmacs CVS trees, by whom, and for what.

`xemacs-design'
     is an open list for discussing the design of XEmacs.  This
     includes discussion about planned and ongoing changes to
     functionality and API changes and additions as well as requests
     for them.  This is the primary channel for this kind of
     discussion; related code changes will usually not be applied until
     they have been discussed here.  This does not include bug reports,
     which go to `xemacs-beta'.

`xemacs-mule'
     is an open mailing list for discussion of International extensions
     to XEmacs including Mule, XIM, I18n issues, etc, and is not
     confined to developmental issues. This list is not restricted to
     English, postings in all languages are welcome.

`xemacs-news'
     is an open list for discussion and bug reporting for XEmacs.  This
     mailing list is bi-directionally gatewayed with the USENET
     newsgroup comp.emacs.xemacs.

`xemacs-nt'
     is a developers-only mailing list and is intended for people who
     wish to work actively on the porting of XEmacs to Microsoft
     Windows NT and Microsoft Windows '95.

`xemacs-patches'
     is an open, moderated list for submission of patches to the XEmacs
     distribution and its packages. Anyone may subscribe or submit to
     xemacs-patches, but all submissions are reviewed by the list
     moderator before they are distributed to the list. Discussion is
     not appropriate on xemacs-patches.

`xemacs-users-ja'
     is an open list for discussion and bug reporting for XEmacs.
     Japanese is the preferred language of discussion.  It is not gated
     to comp.emacs.xemacs or the `xemacs' list.  For fastest response,
     bugs not specifically related to Japanese or Mule features should
     be reported on `xemacs-beta' (in English).

`xemacs-users-ru'
     is an open list for discussion and bug reporting for XEmacs.
     Russian is the preferred language of discussion.  It is not gated
     to comp.emacs.xemacs or the `xemacs' list.  For fastest response,
     bugs not specifically related to Russian or Mule features should
     be reported on `xemacs-beta' (in English).

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Q1.4.3: Where are the mailing lists archived?
---------------------------------------------

The archives can be found at `http://list-archive.xemacs.org'

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Q1.4.4: How can I get two instances of info?
--------------------------------------------

Before 21.4, you can't.  The `info' package does not provide for
multiple info buffers.  In 21.4, this should be fixed. #### how?

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Q1.4.5: How do I add new Info directories?
------------------------------------------

You use something like:

     (setq Info-directory-list (cons
                                (expand-file-name "~/info")
                                Info-default-directory-list))

   David Masterson <davidm@prism.kla.com> writes:

     Emacs Info and XEmacs Info do many things differently.  If you're
     trying to support a number of versions of Emacs, here are some
     notes to remember:

       1. Emacs Info scans `Info-directory-list' from right-to-left
          while XEmacs Info reads it from left-to-right, so append to
          the _correct_ end of the list.

       2. Use `Info-default-directory-list' to initialize
          `Info-directory-list' _if_ it is available at startup, but not
          all Emacsen define it.

       3. Emacs Info looks for a standard `dir' file in each of the
          directories scanned from #1 and magically concatenates them
          together.

       4. XEmacs Info looks for a `localdir' file (which consists of
          just the menu entries from a `dir' file) in each of the
          directories scanned from #1 (except the first), does a simple
          concatenation of them, and magically attaches the resulting
          list to the end of the menu in the `dir' file in the first
          directory.

     Another alternative is to convert the documentation to HTML with
     texi2html and read it from a web browser like Lynx or W3.

1.5: Contributing to XEmacs
===========================

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Q1.5.1: How do I submit changes to the FAQ?
-------------------------------------------

The FAQ is actively maintained and modified regularly.  All links should
be up to date.  Unfortunately, some of the information is out of date -
a situation which the FAQ maintainer is working on.  All submissions are
welcome, please e-mail submissions to XEmacs FAQ maintainers
<faq@xemacs.org>.

   Please make sure that `XEmacs FAQ' appears on the Subject: line.  If
you think you have a better way of answering a question, or think a
question should be included, we'd like to hear about it.  Questions and
answers included into the FAQ will be edited for spelling and grammar
and will be attributed.  Answers appearing without attribution are
either from versions of the FAQ dated before May 1996 or are from
previous FAQ maintainers.  Answers quoted from Usenet news articles will
always be attributed, regardless of the author.

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Q1.5.2: How do I become a beta tester?
--------------------------------------

Send an email message to <xemacs-beta-request@xemacs.org> with the line
`subscribe' in the body of the message.

   Be prepared to get your hands dirty, as beta testers are expected to
identify problems as best they can.

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Q1.5.3: How do I contribute to XEmacs itself?
---------------------------------------------

It depends on the knowledge and time you possess.  If you are able, by
all means become a beta tester (*note Q1.5.2::).  If you are a
programmer, try to build XEmacs and see if you can improve it.

   Otherwise, you can still help by using XEmacs as your everyday editor
(for pre-built binary versions, *note Q1.1.2::) and reporting bugs you
find to the mailing list.

   Another area where we need help is the documentation: We need good
documentation for building XEmacs and for using it.  This FAQ is a
small step in that direction.

   Ben Wing <ben@xemacs.org> writes:

     BTW if you have a wish list of things that you want added, you
     have to speak up about it!  More specifically, you can do the
     following if you want a feature added (in increasing order of
     usefulness):

        * Make a posting about a feature you want added.

        * Become a beta tester and make more postings about those same
          features.

        * Convince us that you're going to use the features in some
          cool and useful way.

        * Come up with a clear and well-thought-out API concerning the
          features.

        * Write the code to implement a feature and send us a patch.

     (not that we're necessarily requiring you to write the code, but
     we can always hope :)

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Q1.5.4: How do I get started developing XEmacs?
-----------------------------------------------

First, get yourself set up under CVS so that you can access the CVS
repositories containing the XEmacs sources and the XEmacs packages.

   Next, set up your layout.  This is important, as a good layout will
facilitate getting things done efficiently, while a bad layout will
could lead to disaster, as you can't figure out which code is the most
recent, which can be thrown away, etc.  We suggest the following
layout: (feel free to make changes)

   * Everything goes under `/src/xemacs' (use a different directory if
     you want).  From now, instead of saying `/src/xemacs', we use
     `<xsrc-top>', to make it easier in case someone picked a different
     directory.

   * Package source is in `<xsrc-top>/package-src'.

   * Installed packages go under `<xsrc-top>/xemacs-packages', and
     `<xsrc-top>/mule-packages'.

   * A "workspace" is a complete copy of the sources, in which you do
     work of a particular kind.  Workspaces can be differentiated by
     which branch of the source tree they extend off of - usually
     either the stable or experimental, unless other branches have been
     created (for example, Ben created a branch for his Mule work
     because (1) the project was long-term and involved an enormous
     number of changes, (2) people wanted to be able to look at what
     his work in progress, and (3) he wanted to be able to check things
     in and in general use source-code control, since it was a
     long-term project).  Workspaces are also differentiated in what
     their purpose is - general working workspace, workspace for
     particular projects, workspace keeping the latest copy of the code
     in one of the branches without mods, etc.

   * Various workspaces are subdirectories under `<xsrc-top>', e.g.:

        * `<xsrc-top>/working' (the workspace you're actively working
          on, periodically synched up with the latest trunk)

        * `<xsrc-top>/stable' (for making changes to the stable version
          of XEmacs, which sits on a branch)

        * `<xsrc-top>/unsigned-removal' (a workspace for a specific,
          difficult task that's going to affect lots of source and take
          a long time, and so best done in its own workspace without
          the interference of other work you're doing.  Also, you can
          commit just this one large change, separate from all the
          other changes).

        * `<xsrc-top>/latest' (a copy of the latest sources on the
          trunk, i.e. the experimental version of XEmacs, with no
          patches in it; either update it periodically, by hand, or set
          up a cron job to do it automatically).  Set it up so it can
          be built, and build it so you have a working XEmacs.
          (Building it might also go into the cron job.)

          This workspace serves a number of purposes:
            1. You always have a recent version of XEmacs you can
               compare against when something you're working on breaks.
               It's true that you can do this with cvs diff, but when
               you need to do some serious investigation, this method
               just fails.

            2. You (almost) always have a working, up-to-date
               executable that can be used when your executable is
               crashing and you need to keep developing it, or when you
               need an `xemacs' to build packages, etc.

            3. When creating new workspaces, you can just copy the
               `latest' workspace using GNU `cp -a'.  You have all the
               .elc's built, everything else probably configured, any
               spare files in place (e.g. some annoying xpm.dll under
               Windows, etc.).

        * `<xsrc-top>/latest-stable/' (equivalent to
          `<xsrc-top>/latest/', but for the Stable branch of XEmacs,
          rather than the Experimental branch of XEmacs).  This may or
          may not be necessary depending on how much development you do
          of the stable branch.

   * `<xsrc-top>/xemacsweb' is a workspace for working on the XEmacs
     web site.

   * `<xsrc-top>/in-patches' for patches received from email and saved
     to files.

   * `<xsrc-top>/out-patches' for locally-generated patches to be sent
     to <xemacs-patches@xemacs.org>.  Less useful now that the patcher
     util has been developed.

   * `<xsrc-top>/build', for build trees when compiling and testing
     XEmacs with various configuration options turned off and on.  The
     scripts in xemacs-builds/ben (see below) can be used to automate
     building XEmacs workspaces with many different configuration
     options and automatically filtering out the normal output so that
     you see only the abnormal output.

   * `<xsrc-top>/xemacs-builds', for the xemacs-builds module, which
     you need to check out separately in CVS.  This contains scripts
     used for building XEmacs, automating and simplifying using CVS,
     etc.  Under various people's directories are their own build and
     other scripts.  The currently most-maintained scripts are under
     ben/, where there are easily configurable scripts that can be used
     to easily build any workspace (esp. if you've more or less
     followed the layout presented above) unattended, with one or more
     configuration states (there's a pre-determined list of the most
     useful, but it's easy to change).  The output is filtered and
     split up in various ways so that you can identify which output
     came from where, and you can see the output either full or with
     all "normal" output except occasional status messages filtered so
     that you only see the abnormal ones.

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Q1.5.5: What's the basic layout of the code?
--------------------------------------------

The file `configure' is a shell script to acclimate XEmacs to the
oddities of your processor and operating system.  It will create a file
named `Makefile' (a script for the `make' program), which helps
automate the process of building and installing emacs.  See INSTALL for
more detailed information.

   The file `configure.in' is the input used by the autoconf program to
construct the `configure' script.  Since XEmacs has configuration
requirements that autoconf can't meet, `configure.in' uses an unholy
marriage of custom-baked configuration code and autoconf macros; it may
be wise to avoid rebuilding `configure' from `configure.in' when
possible.

   The file `Makefile.in' is a template used by `configure' to create
`Makefile'.

   There are several subdirectories:

  1. `src' holds the C code for XEmacs (the XEmacs Lisp interpreter and
     its primitives, the redisplay code, and some basic editing
     functions).

  2. `lisp' holds the XEmacs Lisp code for XEmacs (most everything
     else).

  3. `lib-src' holds the source code for some utility programs for use
     by or with XEmacs, like movemail and etags.

  4. `etc' holds miscellaneous architecture-independent data files
     XEmacs uses, like the tutorial text.  The contents of the `lisp',
     `info' and `man' subdirectories are architecture-independent too.

  5. `lwlib' holds the C code for the X toolkit objects used by XEmacs.

  6. `info' holds the Info documentation tree for XEmacs.

  7. `man' holds the source code for the XEmacs online documentation.

  8. `nt' holds files used compiling XEmacs under Microsoft Windows.

1.6: Politics (XEmacs vs. GNU Emacs)
====================================

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Q1.6.1: What is GNU Emacs?
--------------------------

GNU Emacs and XEmacs are related open-source text editors.  Both derive
from GNU Emacs version 18; the split between the two happened in 1991
(for comparison, the oldest versions of GNU Emacs date from 1984).  For
information on GNU Emacs, see
`http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/emacs.html'.

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Q1.6.2: How does XEmacs differ from GNU Emacs?
----------------------------------------------

For a detailed description of the differences between GNU Emacs and
XEmacs and a detailed history of XEmacs, check out the
     NEWS file (http://www.xemacs.org/About/XEmacsVsGNUemacs.html)

*User-Visible Editing Features*
     XEmacs in general tries hard to conform to exist user-interface
     standards, and to work "out-of-the-box" without the need for
     obscure customization changes.  GNU Emacs, particularly version
     21, has gotten better about this (in many cases by copying the
     XEmacs behavior!), but still has some weirdnesses.  For example,
     the standard method of selecting text using the Shift key works
     out-of-the-box in XEmacs.

     XEmacs has a built-in toolbar. Four toolbars can actually be
     configured simultaneously: top, bottom, left, and right toolbars.

     XEmacs has vertical and horizontal scrollbars. Unlike in GNU Emacs
     19 (which provides a primitive form of vertical scrollbar), these
     are true toolkit scrollbars. A look-alike Motif scrollbar is
     provided for those who don't have Motif. (Even for those who do,
     the look-alike may be preferable as it is faster.)

     XEmacs has buffer tabs along the top of the frame (although the
     position can be changed) that make it very easy to switch buffers.

     The menubar under XEmacs is better-designed, with more thought put
     into it.

     XEmacs can ask questions using popup dialog boxes. Any command
     executed from a menu will ask yes/no questions with dialog boxes,
     while commands executed via the keyboard will use the minibuffer.

     XEmacs under MS Windows provides uses the standard file-dialog box
     for opening and saving files.  Standard menu-accelerator behavior
     can easily be enabled using the Options menu, and integrates well
     into the existing keymap.

     XEmacs has (still experimental) support for widgets of various
     sorts - buttons, text boxes, sliders, progress bars, etc.  A
     progress bar is used in font lock to show the progress.

     Experimental support for drag-and-drop protocols is provided from
     XEmacs 21.

*General Platform Support*
     If you're running on a machine with audio hardware, you can specify
     sound files for XEmacs to play instead of the default X beep. See
     the documentation of the function load-sound-file and the variable
     sound-alist. XEmacs also supports the network sound protocols NAS
     and EsounD.

     XEmacs 21 supports database protocols with LISP bindings, currently
     including Berkeley DB, LDAP, and PostgreSQL (21.2 only).

     XEmacs 20 and 21 support the Canna, Wnn, and SJ3 Japanese input
     method servers directly, as well as through the X Input Method
     (XIM) protocol. GNU Emacs 20 supports only the XIM protocol. Both
     Emacsen support the Quail family of input methods (implemented in
     LISP) for many languages.

     XEmacs provides support for ToolTalk on systems that have it.

*Packaged LISP Libraries*
     Many more packages are provided standard with XEmacs than with GNU
     Emacs 19 or 20.

     XEmacs 21 supports an integrated package management system which
     uses EFS to download, then automatically install prebuilt LISP
     libraries. This allows XEmacs users much more straightforward
     access to the "latest and greatest" version of any given library.

     We are working on a standard method for enabling, disabling and
     otherwise controlling packages, which should make them very easy
     to use.

*LISP Programming*
     From XEmacs 20 on, characters are a separate type. Characters can
     be converted to integers (and many integers can be converted to
     characters), but characters are not integers. GNU Emacs 19, XEmacs
     19, Mule 2.3 (an extensive patch to GNU Emacs 18.55 and 19.x), and
     GNU Emacs 20 (incorporating Mule 3 and later Mule 4) represent
     them as integers.

     From XEmacs 20 on, the buffer is treated as an array of
     characters, and the representation of buffer text is not exposed
     to LISP. The GNU Emacs 20 functions like buffer-as-multibyte are
     not supported.

     In XEmacs, events are first-class objects. GNU Emacs 19 represents
     them as integers, which obscures the differences between a key
     gesture and the ancient ASCII code used to represent a particular
     overlapping subset of them.

     In XEmacs, keymaps are first-class opaque objects. GNU Emacs 19
     represents them as complicated combinations of association lists
     and vectors. If you use the advertised functional interface to
     manipulation of keymaps, the same code will work in XEmacs, GNU
     Emacs 18, and GNU Emacs 19; if your code depends on the underlying
     implementation of keymaps, it will not.

     XEmacs uses "extents" to represent all non-textual aspects of
     buffers; GNU Emacs 19 uses two distinct objects, "text properties"
     and "overlays", which divide up the functionality between them.
     Extents are a superset of the union of the functionality of the
     two GNU Emacs data types. The full GNU Emacs 19 interface to text
     properties and overlays is supported in XEmacs (with extents being
     the underlying representation).

     Extents can be made to be copied into strings, and then restored,
     by kill and yank. Thus, one can specify this behavior on either
     "extents" or "text properties", whereas in GNU Emacs 19 text
     properties always have this behavior and overlays never do.

*Window System Programming Interface*
     XEmacs uses the MIT "Xt" toolkit instead of raw Xlib calls, which
     makes it be a more well-behaved X citizen (and also improves
     portability). A result of this is that it is possible to include
     other Xt "Widgets" in the XEmacs window. Also, XEmacs understands
     the standard Xt command-line arguments.

     XEmacs supports Motif applications, generic Xt (e.g. Athena)
     applications, and raw Xlib applications. An XEmacs variant which
     supports GTK+ is available (integration as an option in the XEmacs
     mainline is planned for XEmacs 22), although code to take
     advantage of the support is as yet scarce.

     An XEmacs frame can be placed within an "external client widget"
     managed by another application. This allows an application to use
     an XEmacs frame as its text pane rather than the standard Text
     widget that is provided with Motif or Athena.

*Community Participation*
     Joining the XEmacs development team is simple. Mail to XEmacs
     Developers <xemacs-beta@xemacs.org>, and you're in! (If you want
     to be, of course. You're also welcome to just post
     development-related questions and bug reports.) The GNU Emacs
     development team and internal mailing lists are still by invitation
     only.

     The "bleeding edge" of mainline XEmacs development is available by
     anonymous CVS as are some subsidiary branches (check out the
     xemacs-gtk module for the latest in GUI features!)

     Development and maintenance of Lisp libraries is separated from
     the core editor development at a fairly low level. This provides
     better modularization and a better division of responsibility
     between external library maintainers and the XEmacs core
     development team. Even for packages the size of Gnus, XEmacs users
     normally have access to a pre-built version within a few weeks of
     a major release, and minor updates often within days.

     CVS commit authority is broadly dispersed. Recognized maintainers
     of LISP libraries who are willing to maintain XEmacs packaged
     versions automatically qualify for CVS accounts for their packages.

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Q1.6.3: How much does XEmacs differ?
------------------------------------

RMS has asserted at times that XEmacs is merely a "patch" on top of GNU
Emacs (*note Q1.6.4::).  In fact, probably not more than 5% of the
code, if that, remains unchanged, and nearly 14 years of work has gone
into XEmacs at this point. (GNU Emacs itself is only than 20 years old,
and thus XEmacs has existed as a separate product for over 2/3 of the
lifespan of GNU Emacs.) As a point of comparison, XEmacs 21.5 has
perhaps 65,000 more lines of C code than GNU Emacs 21.2.

   However, the XEmacs developers strive to keep their code compatible
with GNU Emacs, especially on the Lisp level.  Much effort goes into
"synching" the XEmacs Elisp code with recent GNU Emacs releases so as to
benefit from GNU Emacs development work. (In contrast, almost no code
from XEmacs has made it into GNU Emacs, and in fact the GNU Emacs
developers are instructed by RMS not to even look at XEmacs source code!
This stems from self-imposed licensing restrictions on the part of GNU
Emacs - and almost certainly out of hostility, as well.)

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Q1.6.4: Is XEmacs "GNU"?
------------------------

RMS insists on the term "GNU XEmacs" and maintains that

     XEmacs is GNU software because it's a modified version of a GNU
     program. And it is GNU software because the FSF is the copyright
     holder for most of it, and therefore the legal responsibility for
     protecting its free status falls on us whether we want it or not.
     This is why the term "GNU XEmacs" is legitimate.

   In fact, FSF is _not_ the copyright holder for most of the code, as
very little unmodified FSF code remains (*note Q1.6.3::).

   Furthermore, RMS's assertion that XEmacs is "GNU" seems rather
bizarre to the XEmacs developers given RMS's hostility and general lack
of interest in cooperation.  "GNU" software in general is part of the
GNU Project, is distributed by it on their FTP site, and receives
support (or at least cooperation), as well as implicit endorsement,
from it.  The GNU Project, however, has never supported XEmacs and never
distributed XEmacs, and RMS's hostility is the farthest thing possible
from an endorsement.  In fact, the GNU Project distributes a number of
non-GNU software projects on the FSF web site, but again XEmacs is not
one of them.

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Q1.6.5: What is the correct way to refer to XEmacs and GNU Emacs?
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Unfortunately even the naming of these two applications has become
politicized.  Much of this stems from RMS, who has a history of
politicizing similar issues. (Compare the controversy over "Lignux" and
"GNU/Linux".) We would prefer that the terms "XEmacs" and "GNU Emacs"
be used, which are neutral and acceptable to most people.  RMS,
however, is not willing to accept these terms.  He insists that, if his
product is called "GNU Emacs", then ours must be called "GNU XEmacs".
(For our opinion of this term, *Note Q1.6.4::.) On the other hand, if
our product is to be called "XEmacs", as we prefer, then his product
must simply be called "Emacs".  The intent of this seems clear: RMS
wants to make sure the names reflect his view that his version is the
"real" Emacs and ours is merely a derivative, second-class product
(*note Q1.6.3::).

   The XEmacs developers hope that you will use the neutral terms
"XEmacs" and "GNU Emacs" for these two specific products. "Emacs", on
the other hand, is a generic term for a class of programmable text
editors with a similar look-and-feel, and usually a Lisp-based
extension language.  These trace themselves back to early editors such
as EINE, ZWEI, ZMACS and Multics Emacs. *Note A History of Emacs:
(internals)A History of Emacs.

   We also call upon RMS, in the spirit of furthering cooperation, to
stop politicizing this issue and use the neutral terms "XEmacs" and
"GNU Emacs".  We have already acceded to RMS' wishes in this respect,
and we expect him to do the same. (In the past, the XEmacs developers
often used the terms "FSF Emacs" or "FSFmacs" or "RMSmacs" in reference
to GNU Emacs; these terms were apparently modeled after RMS' own usage
of "Gosmacs" and "Gosling Emacs" in reference to Unipress Emacs,
produced by James Gosling.  RMS, however, considers such terms to be
insulting, so we refrain from using them as much as possible in
preference to GNU Emacs.)

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Q1.6.6: Why haven't XEmacs and GNU Emacs merged?
------------------------------------------------

There are currently irreconcilable differences in the views about
technical, programming, design, organizational and legal matters
between Richard Stallman (RMS), the author and leader of the GNU Emacs
project, and the XEmacs development team which provide little hope for
a merge to take place in the short-term future.  There have been
repeated attempts at merging by all of the major XEmacs developers,
starting from the early days of Lucid Emacs (in 1991), but they have
all failed.  RMS has very strong views about how GNU Emacs should be
structured and how his project should be run, and during the repeated
merge efforts has never demonstrated any realistic interest in
sufficiently compromising or ceding control to allow a middle ground to
be found.  The basic problem seems to be the very different goals of
RMS and the XEmacs project.  The primary goals of the XEmacs project
are technical and organizational - we want to create the best editor
possible, and to make it as easy as possible for people around the
world to contribute.  The primary goals of RMS, on the other hand, are
political, and GNU Emacs, and any potential merge efforts with XEmacs,
are strictly subservient to these goals.  In fact, in many ways RMS
sees GNU Emacs as the "poster child" of his aims, the one program in
the GNU project that above all others must set an example to the world.
(This has to do with the fact that GNU Emacs was the first program in
the GNU project, and the only one that he is still personally involved
with on a day-to-day basis.)  Given his goals, his position is
completely reasonable - but unfortunately, makes any merge impossible.

   From the XEmacs perspective, the most intractable issues appear to be
legal and organizational, specifically:

   * RMS requires "legal papers" to be signed for all contributions of
     code to GNU Emacs over 10 lines or so, transferring the copyright
     and all legal rights to the code to the Free Software Foundation.
     XEmacs does not and has never required this, since it has the
     practical effect of discouraging individual and in particular
     corporate contributions - corporations will almost never sign away
     their legal rights to code since it makes it impossible to reuse
     the code in any product that whose license is not compatible with
     the GNU General Public License.  Since RMS has shown no
     inclination to compromise on this issue, a merge would require
     that most of the existing XEmacs code would need to be thrown away
     and rewritten - something the XEmacs developers are understandably
     reluctant to do.

   * A repeated stumbling block in the merge talks has been the issue of
     organizational control over the resulting product.  RMS has made it
     clear that he intends to have final say over design issues in a
     merged Emacs.  Unfortunately, RMS and the XEmacs developers have
     repeatedly clashed over design decisions, and RMS' insistence on
     getting his way in such disagreements was the very reason for the
     split in the first place.  This same issue has come up again and
     again in merge talks and we have never been able to come to a
     satisfactory resolution.  To the extent that RMS is willing to
     compromise at all, it appears to be of a purely political rather
     than technical nature - "If we support this feature of yours, we
     also get to support this other feature of mine."  The XEmacs
     developers cannot see how such a process would lead to anything
     but a mess of incompatible things hodgepodged together.

   * Because of the years of separate development, distinct and
     incompatible interfaces have developed and merging would be
     extremely difficult even with the above non-technical issues
     resolved.  The problem has been exacerbated by the issue of legal
     papers - because XEmacs code is not "kosher" from RMS'
     perspective, he discourages developers from even looking at it out
     of legal concerns.  Although it is still possible to read the
     XEmacs documentation and run the program, the practical effect of
     this prohibition has been to strongly discourage code-sharing and
     cooperative development - although a great deal of GNU Emacs code
     has been incorporated into XEmacs, practically none has gone the
     other direction.

   If you have a comment to add regarding the merge, it is a good idea
to avoid posting to the newsgroups, because of the very heated flamewars
that often result.  Mail your questions to <xemacs-beta@xemacs.org> and
<emacs-devel@gnu.org>.

1.7: External Packages
======================

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Q1.7.1: What is the package system?
-----------------------------------

In order to reduce the size and increase the maintainability of XEmacs,
the majority of the Elisp packages that came with previous releases
have been unbundled.  They have been replaced by the package system.
Each elisp add-on (or groups of them when they are small) now comes in
its own tarball that contains a small search hierarchy.

   You select just the ones you need.  Install them by untarring them
into the right place.  On startup XEmacs will find them, set up the load
path correctly, install autoloads, etc, etc.

   *Note Q2.1.1::, for more info on how to download and install the
packages.

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Q1.7.2: Which external packages are there?
------------------------------------------

Normal Packages
---------------

A very broad collection of elisp packages.

Sun
     Support for Sparcworks.

ada
     Ada language support.

apel
     A Portable Emacs Library.  Used by XEmacs MIME support.

auctex
     Basic TeX/LaTeX support.

bbdb
     The Big Brother Data Base: a rolodex-like database program.

build
     Build XEmacs from within (UNIX, Windows).

c-support
     Basic single-file add-ons for editing C code.

calc
     Emacs calculator.

calendar
     Calendar and diary support.

cc-mode
     C, C++, Objective-C, Java, CORBA IDL, Pike and AWK language
     support.

clearcase
     New Clearcase Version Control for XEmacs (UNIX, Windows).

clearcase
     Support for the Clearcase version control system.

cookie
     "Fortune cookie"-style messages. Includes Spook (suspicious
     phrases) and Yow (Zippy quotes).

crisp
     Crisp/Brief emulation.

debug
     GUD, gdb, dbx debugging support.

dictionary
     Interface to RFC2229 dictionary servers.

dired
     The DIRectory EDitor is for manipulating, and running commands on
     files in a directory.

docbookide
     DocBook editing support.

ecb
     Emacs source code browser.

ecrypto
     Crypto functionality in Emacs Lisp.

edebug
     An Emacs Lisp debugger.

ediff
     Interface over GNU patch.

edit-utils
     Miscellaneous editor extensions, you probably need this.

edt
     DEC EDIT/EDT emulation.

efs
     Treat files on remote systems the same as local files.

eieio
     Enhanced Implementation of Emacs Interpreted Objects.

elib
     Portable Emacs Lisp utilities library.

emerge
     Another interface over GNU patch.

erc
     ERC is an Emacs InternetRelayChat client.

escreen
     Multiple editing sessions withing a single frame (like screen).

eshell
     Command shell implemented entirely in Emacs Lisp.

ess
     ESS: Emacs Speaks Statistics.

eterm
     Terminal emulation.

eudc
     Emacs Unified Directory Client (LDAP, PH).

footnote
     Footnoting in mail message editing modes.

forms
     Forms editing support (obsolete, use Widget instead).

fortran-modes
     Fortran support.

fortran-modes
     Fortran language support.

frame-icon
     Set up mode-specific icons for each frame under XEmacs.

fsf-compat
     GNU Emacs compatibility files.

games
     Tetris, Sokoban, and Snake.

general-docs
     General documentation.  Presently, empty.

gnats
     XEmacs bug reports.

gnus
     The Gnus Newsreader and Mailreader.

haskell-mode
     Haskell editing support.

hm-html-menus
     HTML editing.

hyperbole
     Hyperbole: The Everyday Info Manager.

ibuffer
     Advanced replacement for buffer-menu.

idlwave
     Editing and Shell mode for the Interactive Data Language.

igrep
     Enhanced front-end for Grep.

ilisp
     Front-end for interacting with Inferior Lisp (external lisps).

ispell
     Spell-checking with GNU ispell.

jde
     Integrated Development Environment for Java.

liece
     IRC (Internet Relay Chat) client for Emacs.  Note, this package is
     deprecated and will be removed, use riece instead.

mail-lib
     Fundamental lisp files for providing email support.

mailcrypt
     Support for messaging encryption with PGP.

mew
     Messaging in an Emacs World; a MIME-based email program.

mh-e
     The XEmacs Interface to the MH Mail System.

mine
     Elisp implementation of the game 'Minehunt'.

misc-games
     Other amusements and diversions.

mmm-mode
     Support for Multiple Major Modes within a single buffer.

net-utils
     Miscellaneous Networking Utilities.

ocaml
     Objective Caml editing support.

oo-browser
     OO-Browser: The Multi-Language Object-Oriented Code Browser.

ocaml
     Objective Caml editing support.

os-utils
     Miscellaneous single-file O/S utilities, for printing, archiving,
     compression, remote shells, etc.

pc
     PC style interface emulation.

pcl-cvs
     CVS frontend.

pcomplete
     Provides programmatic completion.

perl-modes
     Perl support.

pgg
     Emacs interface to various PGP implementations.

prog-modes
     Support for various programming languages.

ps-print
     Printing functions and utilities.

psgml
     Validated HTML/SGML editing.

psgml-dtds
     A collection of DTDs for psgml.  Note that this package is
     deprecated and will be removed in the future, most likely Q2/2003.
     Instead of using this, you should install needed DTDs yourself.

python-modes
     Python language support.

reftex
     Emacs support for LaTeX cross-references, citations.

riece
     IRC (Internet Relay Chat) client for Emacs.

rmail
     An obsolete Emacs mailer.  If you do not already use it don't
     start.

ruby-modes
     Ruby support.

sasl
     Simple Authentication and Security Layer (SASL) library.

scheme
     Front-end support for Inferior Scheme.

semantic
     Semantic bovinator (Yacc/Lex for XEmacs). Includes Senator.

sgml
     SGML/Linuxdoc-SGML editing.

sh-script
     Support for editing shell scripts.

sieve
     Manage Sieve email filtering scripts.

slider
     User interface tool.

sml-mode
     SML editing support.

sounds-au
     XEmacs Sun sound files.

sounds-wav
     XEmacs Microsoft sound files.

speedbar
     Provides a separate frame with convenient references.

strokes
     Mouse enhancement utility.

supercite
     An Emacs citation tool for News & Mail messages.

texinfo
     XEmacs TeXinfo support.

text-modes
     Miscellaneous support for editing text files.

textools
     Miscellaneous TeX support.

time
     Display time & date on the modeline.

tm
     Emacs MIME support. Not needed for gnus >= 5.8.0.

tooltalk
     Support for building with Tooltalk.

tpu
     DEC EDIT/TPU support.

tramp
     Remote shell-based file editing.  This is similar to EFS or
     Ange-FTP, but works with rsh/ssh and rcp/scp.

vc
     Version Control for Free systems.

vc-cc
     Version Control for ClearCase (UnFree) systems.

vhdl
     Support for VHDL.

view-process
     A Unix process browsing tool.

viper
     VI emulation support.

vm
     An Emacs mailer.

w3
     A Web browser.

x-symbol
     Semi WYSIWYG for LaTeX, HTML, etc, using additional fonts.

xemacs-base
     Fundamental XEmacs support, you almost certainly need this.

xemacs-devel
     XEmacs Lisp developer support.  This package contains utilities for
     supporting Lisp development.  It is a single-file package so it
     may be tailored.

xlib
     Emacs interface to X server.

xslide
     XSL editing support.

xslt-process
     A minor mode for (X)Emacs which allows running an XSLT processor
     on a buffer.

xwem
     X Emacs Window Manager.

zenirc
     ZENIRC IRC Client.

Mule Support (mule)
-------------------

MULti-lingual Enhancement.  Support for world scripts such as Latin,
Arabic, Cyrillic, Chinese, Japanese, Greek, Hebrew etc.  To use these
packages your XEmacs must be compiled with Mule support.

edict
     MULE: Lisp Interface to EDICT, Kanji Dictionary.

egg-its
     MULE: Wnn (4.2 and 6) support.  SJ3 support.

latin-unity
     MULE: find single ISO 8859 character set to encode a buffer.

latin-unity
     Unify character sets in a buffer. When characters belong to
     disjoint character sets, this attempts to translate the characters
     so that they belong to one character set. If the buffer coding
     system is not sufficient, this suggests different coding systems.

leim
     MULE: Quail.  All non-English and non-Japanese language support.

locale
     MULE: Localized menubars and localized splash screens.

lookup
     Dictionary support. (This isn't an English dictionary program)

mule-base
     MULE: Basic Mule support, required for building with Mule.

mule-ucs
     MULE: Extended coding systems (including Unicode) for XEmacs.

mule-ucs
     Extended coding systems (including Unicode) for XEmacs.

skk
     Another Japanese Language Input Method.  Can be used without a
     separate process running as a dictionary server.

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Q1.7.3: Do I need to have the packages to run XEmacs?
-----------------------------------------------------

Strictly speaking, no.  XEmacs will build and install just fine without
any packages installed.  However, only the most basic editing functions
will be available with no packages installed, so installing packages is
an essential part of making your installed XEmacs _useful_.

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Q1.7.4: Is there a way to find which package has particular functionality?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you want to find out which package contains the functionality you
are looking for, use `M-x package-get-package-provider', and give it a
symbol that is likely to be in that package.

   For example, if some code you want to use has a `(require
'thingatpt)' in it:

        M-x package-get-package-provider RET thingatpt RET

   which will return something like: `(fsf-compat "1.08").'

1.8: Internationalization
=========================

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Q1.8.1: What is the status of internationalization support aka MULE (including Asian language support)?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Both the stable and development versions of XEmacs include
internationalization support (aka MULE).  MULE currently (21.4) works on
UNIX and Linux systems.  It is possible to build with MULE on Windows
systems, but if you really need MULE on Windows, it is recommended that
you build and use the development (21.5) version, and deal with the
instability of the development tree.  Binaries compiled without MULE
support run faster than MULE capable XEmacsen.

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Q1.8.2: How can I help with internationalization?
-------------------------------------------------

If you would like to help, you may want to join the
<xemacs-mule@xemacs.org> mailing list.  Especially needed are people
who speak/write languages other than English, who are willing to use
XEmacs/MULE regularly, and have some experience with Elisp.

   Translations of the TUTORIAL and man page are welcome, and XEmacs
does support multilingual menus, but we have few current translations.

   *Note How do I become a Beta Tester?: Q1.5.2.

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Q1.8.3: How do I type non-ASCII characters?
-------------------------------------------

*Note How can you type in special characters in XEmacs?: Q3.0.6, in
part 3 of this FAQ, for some simple methods that also work in non-MULE
builds of XEmacs (but only for one-octet coded character sets, and
mostly for ISO 8859/1).  Many of the methods available for Cyrillic
(*note How about Cyrillic modes?: Q1.8.7.) work without MULE.  MULE has
more general capabilities.  *Note Please explain the various input
methods in MULE/XEmacs: Q1.8.5.

   *Note How do I display non-ASCII characters?: Q4.0.8, which covers
display of non-ASCII characters.

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Q1.8.4: Can XEmacs messages come out in a different language?
-------------------------------------------------------------

The message-catalog support was written but is badly bit-rotted.  XEmacs
20 and 21 did _not_ support it, and early releases of XEmacs 22 will
not either.

   However, menubar localization _does_ work.  To enable it, add to
your `Emacs' file entries like this:

     Emacs*XlwMenu.resourceLabels:                   True
     Emacs*XlwMenu.file.labelString:                 Fichier
     Emacs*XlwMenu.openInOtherWindow.labelString:       In anderem Fenster oeffnen

   The name of the resource is derived from the non-localized entry by
removing punctuation and capitalizing as above.

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Q1.8.5: Please explain the various input methods in MULE/XEmacs
---------------------------------------------------------------

Mule supports a wide variety of input methods.  There are three basic
classes: Lisp implementations, generic platform support, and library
interfaces.

   _Lisp implementations_ include Quail, which provides table-driven
input methods for almost all the character sets that Mule supports
(including all of the ISO 8859 family, the Indic languages, Thai, and
so on), and SKK, for Japanese.  (SKK also supports an interface to an
external "dictionary server" process.)  Quail supports both typical
"dead-key" methods (eg, in the "latin-1-prefix" method, `" a' produces
ä, LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH DIAERESIS), and the complex
dictionary-based phonetic methods used for Asian ideographic languages
like Chinese.

   Lisp implementations can be less powerful (but they are not
perceptibly inefficient), and of course are not portable to non-Emacs
applications.  The incompatibility can be very annoying.  On the other
hand, they require no special platform support or external libraries,
so if you can display the characters, Mule can input them for you and
you can edit, anywhere.

   _Generic platform support_ is currently limited to the X Input
Method (XIM) framework, although support for MSIME (for MS Windows) is
planned, and IIIMF (Sun's Internet-Intranet Input Method Framework)
support is extremely desirable.  XIM is enabled at build time by use of
the `--with-xim' flag to `configure'.  For use of XIM, see your
platform documentation.  However, normally the input method you use is
specified via the `LANG' and `XMODIFIERS' environment variables.

   Of course, input skills are portable across most applications.
However, especially in modern GUI systems the habit of using bucky bits
has fallen into sad disuse, and many XIM systems are poorly configured
for use with Emacs.  For example, the kinput2 input manager (a separate
process providing an interface between Japanese dictionary servers such
as Canna and Wnn, and the application) tends to gobble up keystrokes
generating Meta characters.  This means that to edit while using an XIM
input method, you must toggle the input method off every time you want
to use `M-f'.  Your mileage may vary.

   _Library interfaces_ are most common for Japanese, although Wnn
supports Chinese (traditional and simplified) and Korean.  There are
Chinese and Korean input servers available, but we do not know of any
patches for XEmacs to use them directly.  You can use them via
IM-enabled terminals, by manipulating the terminal coding systems.  We
describe only the Japanese-oriented systems here.  The advantage of
these systems is that they are very powerful, and on platforms where
they are available there is typically a wide range of applications that
support them.  Thus your input skills are portable across applications.

   Mule provides built-in interfaces to the following input methods:
Wnn4, Wnn6, Canna, and SJ3.  These can be configured at build time.
There are patches available (no URL, sorry) to support the SKK server,
as well.  Wnn and SJ3 use the `egg' user interface.  The interface for
Canna is specialized to Canna.

   Wnn supports Japanese, Chinese and Korean. It is made by OMRON and
Kyôto University. It is a powerful and complex system.  Wnn4 is free
and Wnn6 is not.  Wnn uses grammatical hints and probability of word
association, so in principle Wnn can be cleverer than other methods.

   Canna, made by NEC, supports only Japanese.  It is a simple and
powerful system. Canna uses only grammar, but its grammar and
dictionary are quite sophisticated.  So for standard modern Japanese,
Canna seems cleverer than Wnn4. In addition, the UNIX version of Canna
is free (now there is a Microsoft Windows version).

   SJ3, by Sony, supports only Japanese.

   Egg consists of following parts:

  1. Input character Translation System (ITS) layer.  It translates
     ASCII inputs to Kana/PinYin/Hangul characters.

  2. Kana/PinYin/Hangul to Kanji transfer layer.  The interface layer
     to network Kana-Kanji server (Wnn and Sj3).

   These input methods are modal.  They have a raw (alphabet) mode, a
phonetic input mode, and Kana-Kanji transfer mode.  However there are
mode-less input methods for Egg and Canna.  `boiled-egg' is a mode-less
input method running on Egg.  For Canna, `canna.el' has a tiny
boiled-egg-like command, `(canna-boil)', and there are some
boiled-egg-like utilities.

   Much of this information was provided by MORIOKA Tomohiko
<morioka@jaist.ac.jp>.

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Q1.8.6: How do I portably code for MULE/XEmacs?
-----------------------------------------------

MULE has evolved rapidly over the last few years, and the original third
party patch (for GNU Emacs 19), GNU Emacs 20+, and XEmacs 20+ have quite
different implementations.  The APIs also vary although recent versions
of XEmacs have tended to converge to the GNU Emacs standard.

   MULE implementations are going to continue to evolve.  Both GNU Emacs
and XEmacs are working hard on Unicode support, which will involve new
APIs and probably variations on old ones.  For XEmacs 22, the old ISO
2022-based system for recognizing encodings will be replaced by a much
more flexible system, which should improve accuracy of automatic coding
detections, but will also involve new APIs.

   MORIOKA Tomohiko <morioka@jaist.ac.jp> writes:

     The application implementor must write separate code for these mule
     variants.  [Please don't hesitate to report these variants to us;
     they are not, strictly speaking, bugs, but they give third-party
     developers the same kind of creepy-crawly feeling.  We'll do what
     we can. - Ed.]

     MULE and the next version of Emacs are similar but the symbols are
     very different--requiring separate code as well.

     Namely we must support 3 kinds of mule variants and 4 or 5 or 6
     kinds of emacs variants... (;_;) I'm shocked, so I wrote a wrapper
     package called `emu' to provide a common interface.  [There is an
     XEmacs package of APEL which provides much more comprehensive
     coverage.  Be careful, however; APEL has problems of its own. -
     Ed.]

     I have the following suggestions about dealing with mule variants:

        * `(featurep 'mule)' `t' on all mule variants

        * `(boundp 'MULE)' is `t' on only MULE.  Maybe the next version
          of Emacs will not have this symbol.

        * MULE has a variable `mule-version'.  Perhaps the next version
          of Emacs will have this variable as well.

     Following is a sample to distinguish mule variants:

          (if (featurep 'mule)
              (cond ((boundp 'MULE)
                     ;; for original Mule
                     )
                    ((string-match "XEmacs" emacs-version)
                     ;; for XEmacs with Mule
                     )
                    (t
                     ;; for next version of Emacs
                     ))
            ;; for old emacs variants
            )

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Q1.8.7: How about Cyrillic modes?
---------------------------------

Ilya Zakharevich <ilya@math.ohio-state.edu> writes:

     There is a cyrillic mode in the file `mysetup.zip' in
     `ftp://ftp.math.ohio-state.edu/pub/users/ilya/emacs/'.  This is a
     modification to Valery Alexeev's <ava@math.jhu.ed> `russian.el'
     which can be obtained from

   `http://www.math.uga.edu/~valery/russian.el'.

   Dima Barsky <d.barsky@ee.surrey.ac.uk> writes:

     There is another cyrillic mode for both GNU Emacs and XEmacs by
     Dmitrii (Mitya) Manin <manin@camelot.mssm.edu> at
     `http://kulichki-lat.rambler.ru/centrolit/manin/cyr.el'.

   Rebecca Ore <rebecca.ore@op.net> writes:

     The fullest resource I found on Russian language use (in and out of
     XEmacs) is `http://www.ibiblio.org/sergei/Software/Software.html'

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Q1.8.8: Does XEmacs support Unicode?
------------------------------------

To get Unicode support, you need a Mule-enabled XEmacs.

   21.5 has internal support for Unicode and supports it fully,
although we don't yet use it as the internal encoding.

   21.4 supports Unicode partially - as an external encoding for files,
processes, and terminals, but without font support.  *Note How does
XEmacs display Unicode?: Q1.8.9.  To get Unicode support in 21.4,
install Mule-UCS from packages in the usual way, and put

     (require 'un-define)
     (set-coding-priority-list '(utf-8))
     (set-coding-category-system 'utf-8 'utf-8)

   in your init file to enable the UTF-8 coding system.  You may wish to
view the documentation of `set-coding-priority-list' if you find that
files that are not UTF-8 are being mis-recognized as UTF-8.

   Install standard national fonts (not Unicode fonts) for all character
sets you use.  *Note How does XEmacs display Unicode??: Q1.8.9.

   Mule-UCS also supports 16-bit forms of Unicode (UTF-16).  It does not
support 31-bit forms of Unicode (UTF-32 or UCS-4).

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Q1.8.9: How does XEmacs display Unicode?
----------------------------------------

Mule doesn't have a Unicode charset internally, so there's nothing to
bind a Unicode registry to.  It would not be straightforward to create,
either, because Unicode is not ISO 2022-compatible.  You'd have to
translate it to multiple 96x96 pages.

   This means that Mule-UCS uses ordinary national fonts for display.
This is not really a problem, except for those languages that use the
Unified Han characters.  The problem here is that Mule-UCS maps from
Unicode code points to national character sets in a deterministic way.
By default, this means that Japanese fonts are tried first, then
Chinese, then Korean.  To change the priority ordering, use the command
`un-define-change-charset-order'.

   It also means you can't use Unicode fonts directly, at least not
without extreme hackery.  You can run -nw with
(set-terminal-coding-system 'utf-8) if you really want a Unicode font
for some reason.

   Real Unicode support will be introduced in XEmacs 22.0.

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2 Installation and Troubleshooting
**********************************

This is part 2 of the XEmacs Frequently Asked Questions list.  This
section is devoted to Installation, Maintenance and Troubleshooting.

* Menu:

2.0: Installation (General)
* Q2.0.1::    How do I build and install XEmacs?
* Q2.0.2::    Where do I find external libraries?
* Q2.0.3::    How do I specify the paths that XEmacs uses for finding files?
* Q2.0.4::    Running XEmacs without installing
* Q2.0.5::    XEmacs is too big

2.1: Package Installation
* Q2.1.1::    How do I install the packages?
* Q2.1.2::    Can I install the packages individually?
* Q2.1.3::    Can I install the packages automatically?
* Q2.1.4::    Can I upgrade or remove packages?
* Q2.1.5::    Which packages to install?
* Q2.1.6::    Can you describe the package location process in more detail?
* Q2.1.7::    EFS fails with "500 AUTH not understood"

2.2: Unix/Mac OS X Installation (Also Relevant to Cygwin, MinGW)
* Q2.2.1::    Libraries in non-standard locations
* Q2.2.2::    Why can't I strip XEmacs?

2.3: Windows Installation (Windows, Cygwin, MinGW)
* Q2.3.1::    What exactly are all the different ways to build XEmacs under Windows?
* Q2.3.2::    What compiler/libraries do I need to compile XEmacs?
* Q2.3.3::    How do I compile the native port?
* Q2.3.4::    What do I need for Cygwin?
* Q2.3.5::    How do I compile under Cygwin?
* Q2.3.6::    How do I compile using MinGW (aka `the -mno-cygwin flag to gcc')?
* Q2.3.7::    How do I compile with X support?
* Q2.3.8::    Cygwin XEmacs won't start -- cygXpm-noX4.dll was not found (NEW)

2.4: General Troubleshooting
* Q2.4.1::    How do I deal with bugs or with problems building, installing, or running?
* Q2.4.2::    Help!  XEmacs just crashed on me!
* Q2.4.3::    XEmacs crashes and I compiled it myself.
* Q2.4.4::    How to debug an XEmacs problem with a debugger
* Q2.4.5::    I get a cryptic error message when trying to do something.
* Q2.4.6::    XEmacs hangs when I try to do something.
* Q2.4.7::    I get an error message when XEmacs is running in batch mode.
* Q2.4.8::    The keyboard or mouse is not working properly, or I have some other event-related problem.
* Q2.4.9::    C-g doesn't work for me.  Is it broken?
* Q2.4.10::   How do I debug process-related problems?
* Q2.4.11::   XEmacs is outputting lots of X errors.
* Q2.4.12::   After upgrading, XEmacs won't do `foo' any more!

2.5: Startup-Related Problems
* Q2.5.1::    XEmacs cannot connect to my X Terminal!
* Q2.5.2::    Startup problems related to paths or package locations.
* Q2.5.3::    XEmacs won't start without network.
* Q2.5.4::    Startup warnings about deducing proper fonts?
* Q2.5.5::    Warnings from incorrect key modifiers.
* Q2.5.6::    XEmacs 21.1 on Windows used to spawn an ugly console window on every startup.  Has that been fixed?

2.0: Installation (General)
===========================

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Q2.0.1: How do I build and install XEmacs?
------------------------------------------

See the file `etc/NEWS' for information on new features and other
user-visible changes since the last version of XEmacs.

   The file `INSTALL' in the top-level directory says how to bring up
XEmacs on Unix and Cygwin, once you have loaded the entire subtree of
this directory.

   See the file `nt/README' for instructions on building XEmacs for
Microsoft Windows.

   *Note Q2.1.1::, for the installation of (essential) add on packages.

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Q2.0.2: Where do I find external libraries?
-------------------------------------------

All external libraries used by XEmacs can be found on the XEmacs web
site `http://www.xemacs.org/Download/optLibs.html'.

   The library versions available here are known to work with XEmacs.
(Newer versions will probably work as well but we can't guarantee it.)
We try to keep the libraries up-to-date but may not always succeed.
Check the above page for the canonical locations of the external
libraries, allowing you to download the latest, bleeding-edge versions.

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Q2.0.3: How do I specify the paths that XEmacs uses for finding files?
----------------------------------------------------------------------

You can specify what paths to use by using a number of different flags
when running configure.  See the section MAKE VARIABLES in the top-level
file INSTALL in the XEmacs distribution for a listing of those flags.

   Most of the time, however, the simplest fix is: *do not* specify
paths as you might for GNU Emacs.  XEmacs can generally determine the
necessary paths dynamically at run time.  The only path that generally
needs to be specified is the root directory to install into.  That can
be specified by passing the `--prefix' flag to configure.  For a
description of the XEmacs install tree, please consult the `NEWS' file.

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Q2.0.4: Running XEmacs without installing
-----------------------------------------

How can I just try XEmacs without installing it?

   XEmacs will run in place without requiring installation and copying
of the Lisp directories, and without having to specify a special
build-time flag.  It's the copying of the Lisp directories that
requires so much space.  XEmacs is largely written in Lisp.

   A good method is to make a shell alias for xemacs:

     alias xemacs=/src/xemacs-21.5/src/xemacs

   (You will obviously use whatever directory you downloaded the source
tree to instead of `/src/xemacs-21.5').

   This will let you run XEmacs without massive copying.

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Q2.0.5: XEmacs is too big
-------------------------

The space required by the installation directories can be reduced
dramatically if desired.  Gzip all the .el files.  Remove all the
packages you'll never want to use.  Remove the TexInfo manuals.  Remove
the Info (and use just hardcopy versions of the manual).  Remove most
of the stuff in etc.  Remove or gzip all the source code.  Gzip or
remove the C source code.  Configure it so that copies are not made of
the support lisp.

   These are all Emacs Lisp source code and bytecompiled object code.
You may safely gzip everything named *.el here.  You may remove any
package you don't use.  _Nothing bad will happen if you delete a package
that you do not use_.  You must be sure you do not use it though, so be
conservative at first.

   Any package with the possible exceptions of xemacs-base, and EFS are
candidates for removal.  Ask yourself, _Do I ever want to use this
package?_  If the answer is no, then it is a candidate for removal.

   First, gzip all the .el files.  Then go about package by package and
start gzipping the .elc files.  Then run XEmacs and do whatever it is
you normally do.  If nothing bad happens, then remove the package.  You
can remove a package via the PUI interface (`M-x pui-list-packages',
then press `d' to mark the packages you wish to delete, and then `x' to
delete them.

   Another method is to do `M-x package-get-delete-package'.

2.1: Package Installation
=========================

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Q2.1.1: How do I install the packages?
--------------------------------------

There are three ways to install the packages.

  1. Manually, all at once, using the 'Sumo Tarball'.

  2. Manually, using individual package tarballs.

  3. Automatically, using the package tools from XEmacs.

   If you don't want to mess with the packages, it is easiest to just
grab them manually, all at once. (For the other two ways, *Note
Q2.1.2::, and *Note Q2.1.3::.) Download the file

   `xemacs-sumo.tar.gz'

   For an XEmacs compiled with Mule you also need

   `xemacs-mule-sumo.tar.gz'

   These are in the `packages' directory on your XEmacs mirror archive:
`ftp://ftp.xemacs.org/pub/xemacs/packages' or its mirrors.  N.B. They
are called 'Sumo Tarballs' for good reason. They are currently about
19MB and 4.5MB (gzipped) respectively.

   Install them on Unix and Mac OS X using the shell/Terminal command

   `cd $prefix/lib/xemacs ; gunzip -c <tarballname> | tar xf -'

   Where `$prefix' is what you gave to the `--prefix' flag to
`configure', and defaults to `/usr/local'.

   If you have GNU tar you can use:

   `cd $prefix/lib/xemacs ; tar zxvf <tarballname>'

   If you have the packages somewhere nonstandard and don't want to
bother with `$prefix' (for example, you're a developer and are compiling
the packages yourself, and want your own private copy of everything),
you can also directly specify this using `configure'.  To do this with
21.5 and above use the `--with-package-prefix' parameter to specify the
directory under which you untarred the above tarballs.  Under 21.4 and
previous you need to use `--package-path'.  Using these options looks
something like this:

        configure --package-path="~/.xemacs::/src/xemacs/site-packages:/src/xemacs/xemacs-packages:/src/xemacs/mule-packages" ...

   Under Windows, you need to place the above `tar.gz' files in the
directory specified using the `PACKAGE_PREFIX' value in `nt/config.inc'
and by default is `\Program Files\XEmacs'.  (To untar a `tar.gz' file
you will need to use a utility such as WinZip, unless you have Cygwin
or a similar environment installed, in which case the above Unix shell
command should work fine.) If you want the packages somewhere else,
just change `PACKAGE_PREFIX'.

   Note that XEmacs finds the packages automatically anywhere underneath
the directory tree where it expects to find the packages.  All you need
to do is put stuff there; you don't need to run any program to tell
XEmacs to find the packges, or do anything of that sort.

   However, XEmacs will only notice newly installed packages when it
starts up, so you will have to restart if you are already running
XEmacs.

   For more details, *Note Startup Paths: (xemacs)Startup Paths, and
*Note Packages: (xemacs)Packages.

   As the Sumo tarballs are not regenerated as often as the individual
packages, it is recommended that you use the automatic package tools
afterwards to pick up any recent updates.

   _NOTE_: For detailed information about how the package hierarchies
work, *Note Package Overview: (lispref)Package Overview.

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Q2.1.2: Can I install the packages individually?
------------------------------------------------

Yes, you can download individual packages from the FTP site (*note
Q2.1.1::).  Since packages are automatically noticed at startup, you
just have to put them in the right place.

   Note: If you are upgrading packages already installed, it's best to
remove the old package first (*note Q2.1.4::).

   For example if we are installing the `xemacs-base' package (version
1.48):

        mkdir $prefix/lib/xemacs/xemacs-packages RET # if it does not exist yet
        cd $prefix/lib/xemacs/xemacs-packages RET
        gunzip -c /path/to/xemacs-base-1.48-pkg.tar.gz | tar xvf - RET

   Or if you have GNU tar, the last step can be:

        tar zxvf /path/to/xemacs-base-1.48-pkg.tar.gz RET

   For MULE related packages, it is best to untar into the
`mule-packages' hierarchy, i.e. for the `mule-base' package, version
1.37:

        mkdir $prefix/lib/xemacs/mule-packages RET # if it does not exist yet
        cd $prefix/lib/xemacs/mule-packages RET
        gunzip -c /path/to/mule-base-1.37-pkg.tar.gz | tar xvf - RET

   Or if you have GNU tar, the last step can be:

        tar zxvf /path/to/mule-base-1.37-pkg.tar.gz RET

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Q2.1.3: Can I install the packages automatically?
-------------------------------------------------

XEmacs comes with some tools to make the periodic updating and
installing easier. It will notice if new packages or versions are
available and will fetch them from the FTP site.

   Unfortunately this requires that a few packages are already in place.
You will have to install them by hand as above or use a SUMO tarball.
This requirement will hopefully go away in the future. The packages you
need are:

        efs          - To fetch the files from the FTP site or mirrors.
        xemacs-base  - Needed by efs.

   and optionally:

        mailcrypt    - For PGP verification of the package-index file.

   After installing these by hand, fire up XEmacs and follow these
steps.

  1. Choose a download site.
        * via menu: Tools -> Packages -> Set Download Site

        * via keyb: M-x customize-variable RET package-get-remote RET
          (put in the details of remote host and directory)

     If the package tarballs _AND_ the package-index file are in a
     local directory, you can: M-x pui-set-local-package-get-directory
     RET

  2. Obtain a list of packages and display the list in a buffer named
     "*Packages*".
        * menu: Tools -> Packages -> List & Install

        * keyb: M-x pui-list-packages RET

     XEmacs will now connect to the remote site and download the latest
     package-index file.

     The resulting buffer, "*Packages*" has brief instructions at the
     end of the buffer.

  3. Choose the packages you wish to install.
        * mouse: Click button 2 on the package name.

        * keyb: RET on the package name

  4. Make sure you have everything you need.
        * menu: Packages -> Add Required

        * keyb: r

     XEmacs will now search for packages that are required by the ones
     that you have chosen to install and offer to select those packages
     also.

     For novices and gurus alike, this step can save your bacon.  It's
     easy to forget to install a critical package.

  5. Download and install the packages.
        * menu: Packages -> Install/Remove Selected

        * keyb: x

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File: xemacs-faq.info,  Node: Q2.1.4,  Next: Q2.1.5,  Prev: Q2.1.3,  Up: Installation

Q2.1.4: Can I upgrade or remove packages?
-----------------------------------------

As the exact files and their locations contained in a package may
change it is recommended to remove a package first before installing a
new version. In order to facilitate removal each package contains an
pgkinfo/MANIFEST.pkgname file which list all the files belong to the
package. M-x package-admin-delete-binary-package RET can be used to
remove a package using this file.

   Note that the interactive package tools included with XEmacs already
do this for you.

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File: xemacs-faq.info,  Node: Q2.1.5,  Next: Q2.1.6,  Prev: Q2.1.4,  Up: Installation

Q2.1.5: Which packages to install?
----------------------------------

Unless you are an advanced user, just install everything.

   If you really want to install only what's absolutely needed, a good
minimal set of packages for XEmacs-latin1 would be

     xemacs-base, xemacs-devel, c-support, cc-mode, debug, dired, efs,
     edit-utils, fsf-compat, mail-lib, net-utils, os-utils, prog-modes,
     text-modes, time, mailcrypt

   If you are using the XEmacs package tools, don't forget to do:

        Packages -> Add Required

   To make sure you have everything that the packages you have chosen to
install need.

   *Note Q1.7.2::, for a description of the various packages.

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Q2.1.6: Can you describe the package location process in more detail?
---------------------------------------------------------------------

On startup XEmacs looks for packages in so-called package hierarchies.
Normally, there are three system wide hierarchies, like this:

     $prefix/lib/xemacs/xemacs-packages/
          Normal packages go here.

     $prefix/lib/xemacs/mule-packages/
          Mule packages go here and are only searched by MULE-enabled XEmacsen.

     $prefix/lib/xemacs/site-packages/
          Local and 3rd party packages go here.

   This is what you get when you untar the SUMO tarballs under
`$prefix/lib/xemacs'.

   `$prefix' is specified using the `--prefix' parameter to
`configure', and defaults to `usr/local'.

   If the package path is not explicitly specified, XEmacs looks for the
package directory `xemacs-packages' (and `mule-packages' and
`site-packages') first under `~/.xemacs', then for a sister directory
`lib/xemacs-VERSION' of the directory in which the XEmacs executable is
located, then for a sister directory `lib/xemacs'.  The XEmacs
executable (under Unix at least) is installed by default in
`/usr/local/bin'; this explains why XEmacs in its default installation
will find packages that you put under `/usr/local/lib/xemacs'.

   You can specify where exactly XEmacs looks for packages by using the
`--with-package-prefix' or `--with-package-path' parameters to
`configure' (or the equivalent settings in `config.inc', under
Windows), or setting the `EMACSPACKAGEPATH' environment variable (which
has the same format as `--with-package-path').  *Note Q2.1.1::.

   See `configure.usage' for more info about the format of these
`configure' parameters.

   In addition to the system wide packages, each user can have his own
packages installed under `~/.xemacs/'. If you want to install packages
there using the interactive tools, you need to set
`package-get-install-to-user-init-directory' to `t'.

   The site-packages hierarchy replaces the old `site-lisp' directory.
XEmacs no longer looks into a `site-lisp' directly by default.  A good
place to put `site-start.el' would be in
`$prefix/lib/xemacs/site-packages/lisp/'.

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File: xemacs-faq.info,  Node: Q2.1.7,  Next: Q2.2.1,  Prev: Q2.1.6,  Up: Installation

Q2.1.7: EFS fails with "500 AUTH not understood" (NEW)
------------------------------------------------------

A typical error: FTP Error: USER request failed; 500 AUTH not
understood.

   Thanks to giacomo boffi <giacomo.boffi@polimi.it> who recommends on
comp.emacs.xemacs:

   tell your ftp client to not attempt AUTH authentication (or do not
use FTP servers that don't understand AUTH)

   and notes that you need to add an element (often "-u") to
`efs-ftp-program-args'.  Use M-x customize-variable, and verify the
needed flag with `man ftp' or other local documentation.

2.2: Unix/Mac OS X Installation (Also Relevant to Cygwin, MinGW)
================================================================

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Q2.2.1: Libraries in non-standard locations
-------------------------------------------

If your libraries are in a non-standard location, you can specify the
location using the following flags to `configure'.  Under 21.4 or
earlier:

     --site-libraries=WHATEVER
     --site-includes=WHATEVER

   Under 21.5 or later:

     --with-site-libraries=WHATEVER
     --with-site-includes=WHATEVER

   If you have multiple paths to specify, use the following syntax:

     --site-libraries='/path/one /path/two /path/etc'

   If the libraries and headers reside in the directories `lib' and
`include' of a common root (say `/sw') then both can be specified with
a single option:

     --site-prefixes=WHATEVER

   or for 21.5:

     --with-site-prefixes=WHATEVER

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File: xemacs-faq.info,  Node: Q2.2.2,  Next: Q2.3.1,  Prev: Q2.2.1,  Up: Installation

Q2.2.2: Why can't I strip XEmacs?
---------------------------------

Richard Cognot <cognot@fronsac.ensg.u-nancy.fr> writes:

     Because of the way XEmacs (and every other Emacsen, AFAIK) is
     built. The link gives you a bare-boned emacs (called temacs).
     temacs is then run, preloading some of the lisp files. The result
     is then dumped into a new executable, named xemacs, which will
     contain all of the preloaded lisp functions and data.

     Now, during the dump itself, the executable (code+data+symbols) is
     written on disk using a special unexec() function. This function is
     obviously heavily system dependent. And on some systems, it leads
     to an executable which, although valid, cannot be stripped without
     damage. If memory serves, this is especially the case for AIX
     binaries. On other architectures it might work OK.

     The Right Way to strip the emacs binary is to strip temacs prior to
     dumping xemacs. This will always work, although you can do that
     only if you install from sources (as temacs is `not' part of the
     binary kits).

   Nat Makarevitch <nat@nataa.fr.eu.org> writes:

     Here is the trick:

       1. [ ./configure; make ]

       2. rm src/xemacs

       3. strip src/temacs

       4. make

       5. cp src/xemacs /usr/local/bin/xemacs

       6. cp lib-src/DOC-19.16-XEmacs
          /usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.16/i586-unknown-linuxaout

2.3: Windows Installation (Windows, Cygwin, MinGW)
==================================================

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Q2.3.1: What exactly are all the different ways to build XEmacs under Windows?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

XEmacs can be built in several ways in the MS Windows environment.

   The standard way is what we call the "native" port.  It uses the
Win32 API and has no connection with X whatsoever - it does not require
X libraries to build, nor does it require an X server to run.  The
native port is the most reliable version and provides the best graphical
support.  Almost all development is geared towards this version, and
there is little reason not to use it.

   The second way to build is the Cygwin port.  It takes advantage of
Cygnus emulation library under Win32.  *Note What are Cygwin and MinGW:
Q1.2.5, for more information.

   A third way is the MinGW port.  It uses the Cygwin environment to
build but does not require it at runtime.  *Note What are Cygwin and
MinGW: Q1.2.5, for more information.

   Finally, you might also be able to build the non-Cygwin, non-MinGW
"X" port.  This was actually the first version of XEmacs that ran under
MS Windows, and although the code is still in XEmacs, it's essentially
orphaned and it's unlikely it will compile without a lot of work.  If
you want an MS Windows versin of XEmacs that supports X, use the Cygwin
version. (The X support there is actively maintained, so that Windows
developers can test the X support in XEmacs.)

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File: xemacs-faq.info,  Node: Q2.3.2,  Next: Q2.3.3,  Prev: Q2.3.1,  Up: Installation

Q2.3.2: What compiler/libraries do I need to compile XEmacs?
------------------------------------------------------------

You need Visual C++ 4.2, 5.0, or 6.0 for the native version. (We have
some beta testers currently trying to compile with VC.NET, aka version
7.0, but we can't yet report complete success.) For the Cygwin and
MinGW versions, you need the Cygwin environment, which comes with GCC,
the compiler used for those versions.  *Note What are Cygwin and MinGW:
Q1.2.5, for more information on Cygwin and MinGW.

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Q2.3.3: How do I compile the native port?
-----------------------------------------

Please read the file `nt/README' in the XEmacs distribution, which
contains the full description.

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Q2.3.4: What do I need for Cygwin?
----------------------------------

You can find the Cygwin tools and compiler at:

   `http://www.cygwin.com/'

   Click on the `Install or update now!' link, which will download a
file `setup.exe', which you can use to download everything else. (You
will need to pick a mirror site; `mirrors.rcn.net' is probably the
best.) You should go ahead and install everything - you'll get various
ancillary libraries that XEmacs needs or likes, e.g. XPM, PNG, JPEG,
TIFF, etc.  You can also get X Windows here, if you want to compile
under X.

   If you want to compile without X, you will need the `xpm-nox'
library, which must be specifically selected in the Cygwin netinstaller;
it is not selected by default.  The package has had various names.
Currently it is called `cygXpm-noX4.dll'.

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Q2.3.5: How do I compile under Cygwin?
--------------------------------------

Similar as on Unix; use the usual `configure' and `make' process.  Some
problems to watch out for:

   * make sure HOME is set. This controls where you `init.el' file
     comes from;

   * `CYGWIN' needs to be set to `tty' for process support to work;

   * picking up some other grep or other UNIX-like tools can kill
     configure;

   * static heap too small, adjust `src/sheap-adjust.h' to a more
     positive number;

   * (Unconfirmed) The Cygwin version doesn't understand
     `//machine/path' type paths so you will need to manually mount a
     directory of this form under a unix style directory for a build to
     work on the directory;

   * If you're building *WITHOUT* X11, don't forget to change symlinks
     `/usr/lib/libXpm.a' and `/usr/lib/libXpm.dll.a' to point to the
     non-X versions of these libraries.  By default they point to the X
     versions.  So:

          /usr/lib/libXpm.a     -> /usr/lib/libXpm-noX.a
          /usr/lib/libXpm.dll.a -> /usr/lib/libXpm-noX.dll.a

     (This advice may now be obsolete because of the availability of the
     cygXpm-noX4.dll package from Cygwin.  Send confirmation to
     <faq@xemacs.org>.)

   * Other problems are listed in the `PROBLEMS' file, in the top-level
     directory of the XEmacs sources.


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Q2.3.6: How do I compile using MinGW (aka `the -mno-cygwin flag to gcc')?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Similar to the method for Unix.  Things to remember:

   * Specify the target host on the command line for `./configure', e.g.
     `./configure i586-pc-mingw32'.

   * Be sure that your build directory is mounted such that it has the
     same path either as a cygwin path (`/build/xemacs') or as a Windows
     path (`c:\build\xemacs').

   * Build `gcc -mno-cygwin' versions of the extra libs, i.e. `libpng',
     `compface', etc.

   * Specify the target location of the extra libs on the command line
     to `configure', e.g.for 21.4 or earlier `./configure
     --site-prefixes=/build/libs i586-pc-mingw32' and for 21.5 or later
     `./configure --with-site-prefixes=/build/libs i586-pc-mingw32'.

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File: xemacs-faq.info,  Node: Q2.3.7,  Next: Q2.3.8,  Prev: Q2.3.6,  Up: Installation

Q2.3.7: How do I compile with X support?
----------------------------------------

To compile under Cygwin, all you need to do is install XFree86, which
is available as part of the standard Cygwin installation.
`http://www.cygwin.com/'.  Once installed, `configure' should
automatically find the X libraries and compile with X support.

   As noted above, the non-Cygwin X support is basically orphaned, and
probably won't work.  But if it want to try, it's described in
`nt/README' in some detail.  Basically, you need to get X11 libraries
from `http://ftp.x.org', and compile them.  If the precompiled versions
are available somewhere, we don't know of it.

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Q2.3.8: Cygwin XEmacs won't start - cygXpm-noX4.dll was not found (NEW)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

The Cygwin binary distributed with the netinstaller uses an external DLL
to handle XPM images (such as toolbar buttons).  You may get an error
like

     This application has failed to start because cygXpm-noX4.dll was not found.
     Re-installing the application may fix this problem.

   Andy Piper <andy@xemacs.org> sez:

     cygXpm-noX4 is part of the cygwin distribution under libraries or
     graphics, but is not installed by default. You need to run the
     cygwin setup again and select this package.

   Ie, reinstalling XEmacs won't help because it is not part of the
XEmacs distribution.

2.4: General Troubleshooting
============================

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File: xemacs-faq.info,  Node: Q2.4.1,  Next: Q2.4.2,  Prev: Q2.3.8,  Up: Installation

Q2.4.1: How do I deal with bugs or with problems building, installing, or running?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The file `PROBLEMS' contains information on many common problems that
occur in building, installing and running XEmacs.

   Reports of bugs in XEmacs should be sent to
<xemacs-beta@xemacs.org>.  You can also post to the newsgroup
comp.emacs.xemacs (or equivalentlt, send to the mailing list
<xemacs@xemacs.org>), but it is less likely that the developers will
see it in a timely fashion.  *Note Bugs: (xemacs)Bugs, for more
information on how to report bugs.  *Note Q1.4.2::, for more
information on mailing lists relating to XEmacs.

   There are three ways to read the Bugs section.

  1. In a printed copy of the XEmacs manual.

  2. With Info.  First, start XEmacs.  From the menu, select
     `Help->Info (Online Docs)->Info Contents' to enter Info, then
     click on `XEmacs', then on `Bugs'.  Or, use the keyboard: do `C-h
     i' to enter Info, then `m XEmacs RET' to get to the Emacs manual,
     then `m Bugs RET' to get to the section on bugs.  Or use
     standalone Info in a like manner.  (Standalone Info is part of the
     Texinfo distribution, not part of the XEmacs distribution.)

  3. By hand.  Do
          cat info/xemacs* | more "+/^File: xemacs.info,  Node: Bugs,"

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Q2.4.2: Help!  XEmacs just crashed on me!
-----------------------------------------

First of all, don't panic.  Whenever XEmacs crashes, it tries extremely
hard to auto-save all of your files before dying.  (The main time that
this will not happen is if the machine physically lost power or if you
killed the XEmacs process using `kill -9').  The next time you try to
edit those files, you will be informed that a more recent auto-save
file exists.  You can use `M-x recover-file' to retrieve the auto-saved
version of the file.

   You can use the command `M-x recover-session' after a crash to pick
up where you left off.

   Now, XEmacs is not perfect, and there may occasionally be times, or
particular sequences of actions, that cause it to crash.  If you can
come up with a reproducible way of doing this (or even if you have a
pretty good memory of exactly what you were doing at the time), the
maintainers would be very interested in knowing about it.  The best way
to report a bug is using `M-x report-emacs-bug' (or by selecting `Send
Bug Report...' from the Help menu).  If that won't work (e.g. you can't
get XEmacs working at all), send ordinary mail to
<xemacs-beta@xemacs.org>. _MAKE SURE_ to include the output from the
crash, especially including the Lisp backtrace, as well as the XEmacs
configuration from `M-x describe-installation' (or equivalently, the
file `Installation' in the top of the build tree).  Note that the
developers do _not_ usually follow `comp.emacs.xemacs' on a regular
basis; thus, this is better for general questions about XEmacs than bug
reports.

   If at all possible, include a C stack backtrace of the core dump that
was produced.  This shows where exactly things went wrong, and makes it
much easier to diagnose problems.  To do this under Unix and Mac OS X,
you need to locate the core file (it's called `core', and is usually
sitting in the directory that you started XEmacs from, or your home
directory if that other directory was not writable).  Then, go to that
directory and execute a command like:

     gdb `which xemacs` core

   and then issue the command `where' to get the stack backtrace.  You
might have to use `dbx' or some similar debugger in place of `gdb'.  If
you don't have any such debugger available, complain to your system
administrator.

   It's possible that a core file didn't get produced or the stack trace
from gdb is garbage, in which case you're out of luck unless you can
reproduce the bug.  A nonexistent core file can happen in some
circumstances on some operating systems, depending on what exactly
triggered the crash.  It's also possible, however, that your limits are
set to turn them off.  You may be able to reenable them using a command
like `unlimit coredumpsize' or `ulimit -c'. (To find out how your
limits are set, use the command `limit'.) However, if you didn't
explicitly set your limits this way, go complain to your system
administrator and tell him not to disable core files by default.

   A garbaged stack trace can happen for various reasons.  Some versions
of gdb are broken on certain operating systems and aren't able to read
the core file.  It's also possible that the stack got overwritten
during the crash.  A very simple reason, however, is that your version
of XEmacs was compiled without debugging information or had the
debugging information stripped.  A compilation with optimization can
also result in partly or completely garbaged stack trace.  In such
cases, you will need to recompile XEmacs with debugging information and
without optimization; *Note How to debug an XEmacs problem with a
debugger: Q2.4.4.  Note also that core files currently don't work at
all under Cygwin, and the only way to get a backtrace is to run XEmacs
from gdb.

   If you cannot get a backtrace from the core dump, but can reproduce
the problem, try running XEmacs under gdb.  The goal is to get clean C
and Lisp backtraces and submit a bug report including full
configuration information as described above, as this will greatly
assist in the process of tracking down the bug.  However, even partial
information is better than none.  The process of getting backtraces
from gdb is described in detail in *Note How to debug an XEmacs problem
with a debugger: Q2.4.4.

   If you're under Microsoft Windows, you're out of luck unless you
happen to have a debugging aid installed on your system, for example
Visual C++.  In this case, the crash will result in a message giving
you the option to enter a debugger (for example, by pressing `Cancel').
Do this and locate the stack-trace window. (If your XEmacs was built
without debugging information, the stack trace may not be very useful.)

   When making a problem report make sure that:

  1. Report *all* of the information output by XEmacs during the crash.

  2. You mention what O/S and Hardware you are running XEmacs on.

  3. What version of XEmacs you are running.

  4. What build options you are using.

  5. If the problem is related to graphics and you are running Unix or
     Mac OS X, we will also need to know what version of the X Window
     System you are running, and what window manager you are using.

  6. If the problem happened on a TTY, please include the terminal type.

  7. Try very hard to get both C and Lisp backtraces, as described
     above.

   Much of the information above is automatically generated by `M-x
report-emacs-bug'.  Even more, and often useful, information can be
generated by redirecting the output of `make' and `make check' to a
file (`beta.err' is the default used by `build-report'), and executing
`M-x build-report'.

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Q2.4.3: XEmacs crashes and I compiled it myself.
------------------------------------------------

There have been a variety of reports of crashes due to compilers with
buggy optimizers.  If you are compiling with optimization, consider
turning it off (*note How to debug an XEmacs problem with a debugger:
Q2.4.4.) and recompiling.

   Please see the `PROBLEMS' file that comes with XEmacs (it's in the
top-level source directory) to read what it says about your platform.

   If you compiled XEmacs 21.4 or ealier using `--use-union-type', or
21.5 or later using `--enable-union-type' (or in either case used the
option `USE_UNION_TYPE' in `config.inc' under Windows), try recompiling
again without it.  The union type has been known to trigger compiler
errors in a number of cases.

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Q2.4.4: How to debug an XEmacs problem with a debugger
------------------------------------------------------

If XEmacs does crash on you, one of the most productive things you can
do to help get the bug fixed is to poke around a bit with the debugger.
Here are some hints:

   * First of all, if the crash is at all reproducible, consider very
     strongly recompiling your XEmacs with debugging symbols and with no
     optimization (e.g. with GCC use the compiler flags `-g -O0' -
     that's an "oh" followed by a zero), and with the configure options
     `--debug=yes' and `--error-checking=all' (`--enable-debug=yes' and
     `--enable-error-checking=all' on XEmacs 21.5 or later).  This will
     make your XEmacs run somewhat slower, but you are a lot more
     likely to catch the problem earlier (closer to its source).  It
     makes it a lot easier to determine what's going on with a
     debugger.  The way to control the compiler flags is with the
     configuration option `--cflags' (`--with-cflags' in 21.5).  If you
     have a recent version of 21.5, you should use
     `--without-optimization' in preference to directly setting
     `--cflags'.

   * If it's not a true crash (_i.e._, XEmacs is hung, or a zombie
     process), or it's inconvenient to run XEmacs again because XEmacs
     is already running or is running in batch mode as part of a bunch
     of scripts, you may be able to attach to the existing process with
     your debugger.  Under Unix and Mac OS X, the typical way to do
     this is to first use some variant of the `ps' command to figure
     out the process ID of XEmacs, for example `ps -auxww | grep
     xemacs' under a BSD variant, `ps -elf | grep xemacs' under Linux
     or System V, or `ps -aW | grep xemacs' under Cygwin.  Then run

          gdb /path/to/xemacs/xemacs ####

     Where `####' is the process id of your XEmacs. (If you're not
     sure, try using `which xemacs'.) When gdb attaches, the xemacs
     will stop and you can type `where' in gdb to get a stack trace as
     usual.  To get things moving again, you can just type `quit' in
     gdb.  It'll tell you the program is running and ask if you want to
     quit anyways.  Say `y' and it'll quit and have your emacs continue
     from where it was at.

     If you're running another debugger, a similar method may work, or
     you may have to run the debugger first and then use the `attach'
     command or something similar.

     Under Microsoft Windows, use the menu item `Build->Start
     Debug->Attach to Process...' and select the XEmacs process from
     the list given.

   * If you're able to run XEmacs under a debugger and reproduce the
     crash, here are some things you can do:

   * If XEmacs is hitting an assertion failure, put a breakpoint on
     `assert_failed()'.

   * If XEmacs is hitting some weird Lisp error that's causing it to
     crash (e.g. during startup), put a breakpoint on
     `signal_1()'--this is declared static in `eval.c'.

   * If XEmacs is outputting lots of X errors, put a breakpoint on
     `x_error_handler()'; that will tell you which call is causing
     them.  Note that the result may not be very useful by default
     because X Windows normally operates asynchronously: A bunch of
     commands are buffered up and then sent to the server all at once.
     This greatly improves performance over a network but means that an
     error may not be reported until the server receives the commands,
     which can be long after XEmacs made the erroneous calls.  For best
     results, you need to make the X server synchronous before getting
     the backtrace.  This can be done by starting XEmacs with the
     `-sync' option or executing the Lisp code `(x-debug-mode t)'.

   * Internally, you will probably see lots of variables that hold
     objects of type `Lisp_Object'.  These are references to Lisp
     objects.  Printing them out with the debugger probably won't be too
     useful--you'll likely just see a number.  To decode them, do this:

          call debug_print (OBJECT)

     where OBJECT is whatever you want to decode (it can be a variable,
     a function call, etc.).  This uses the Lisp printing routines to
     out a readable representation on the TTY from which the xemacs
     process was invoked.

     Under 21.5 and later, `dp' is defined as an easier-to-type
     equivalent of `debug_print'.  You can also try `dpa' if you can't
     see the output from `debug_print' (this will return a string
     containing the output), or use `debug_p3' if `debug_print' itself
     triggers a crash (this is a less comprehensive but super-safe way
     to print out a Lisp object).

   * If you want to get a Lisp backtrace showing the Lisp call stack,
     do this:

          call debug_backtrace ()

     Under 21.5 and later, `db' is defined as an easier-to-type
     equivalent of `debug_backtrace'.

   * Using `debug_print' and `debug_backtrace' has two disadvantages -
     they can only be used with a running (including hung or zombie)
     xemacs process, and they do not display the internal C structure
     of a Lisp Object.  Even if all you've got is a core dump, all is
     not lost.

     If you're using GDB, there are some macros in the file
     `src/.gdbinit' in the XEmacs source distribution that should make
     it easier for you to decode Lisp objects.  This file is
     automatically read by gdb if gdb is run in the directory where
     xemacs was built, and contains these useful macros to inspect the
     state of xemacs:

    `pobj'
          Usage: pobj lisp_object
          Print the internal C representation of a lisp object.

    `xtype'
          Usage: xtype lisp_object
          Print the Lisp type of a lisp object.

    `lbt'
          Usage: lbt
          Print the current Lisp stack trace.  Requires a running
          xemacs process.  (It works by calling the db routine
          described above.)

    `ldp'
          Usage: ldp lisp_object
          Print a Lisp Object value using the Lisp printer.  Requires a
          running xemacs process.  (It works by calling the dp routine
          described above.)

    `run-temacs'
          Usage: run-temacs
          Run temacs interactively, like xemacs.  Use this with
          debugging tools (like purify) that cannot deal with dumping,
          or when temacs builds successfully, but xemacs does not.

    `dump-temacs'
          Usage: dump-temacs
          Run the dumping part of the build procedure.  Use when
          debugging temacs, not xemacs!  Use this when temacs builds
          successfully, but xemacs does not.

    `check-xemacs'
          Usage: check-xemacs
          Run the test suite.  Equivalent to 'make check'.

    `check-temacs'
          Usage: check-temacs
          Run the test suite on temacs.  Equivalent to 'make
          check-temacs'.  Use this with debugging tools (like purify)
          that cannot deal with dumping, or when temacs builds
          successfully, but xemacs does not.

     If you are using Sun's `dbx' debugger, there is an equivalent file
     `src/.dbxrc', which defines the same commands for dbx.

   * If you're using a debugger to get a C stack backtrace and you're
     seeing stack traces with some of the innermost frames mangled, it
     may be due to dynamic linking. (This happens especially under
     Linux.) Consider reconfiguring with `--dynamic=no'
     (`--with-dynamic=no' in 21.5 or later).  Also, sometimes (again
     under Linux), stack backtraces of core dumps will have the frame
     where the fatal signal occurred mangled; if you can obtain a stack
     trace while running the XEmacs process under a debugger, the stack
     trace should be clean.

     Curtiss <1CMC3466@ibm.mtsac.edu> suggests upgrading to ld.so
     version 1.8 if dynamic linking and debugging is a problem on Linux.

   * If you're using a debugger to get a C stack backtrace and you're
     getting a completely mangled and bogus stack trace, it's probably
     due to one of the following:

       a. Your executable has been stripped.  Bad news.  Tell your
          sysadmin not to do this--it doesn't accomplish anything
          except to save a bit of disk space, and makes debugging much
          much harder.

       b. Your stack is getting trashed.  Debugging this is hard; you
          have to do a binary-search type of narrowing down where the
          crash occurs, until you figure out exactly which line is
          causing the problem.  Of course, this only works if the bug
          is highly reproducible.  Also, in many cases if you run
          XEmacs from the debugger, the debugger can protect the stack
          somewhat.  However, if the stack is being smashed, it is
          typically the case that there is a wild pointer somewhere in
          the program, often quite far from where the crash occurs.

       c. If your stack trace has exactly one frame in it, with address
          0x0, this could simply mean that XEmacs attempted to execute
          code at that address, e.g. through jumping to a null function
          pointer.  Unfortunately, under those circumstances, GDB under
          Linux doesn't know how to get a stack trace. (Yes, this is
          the fourth Linux-related problem I've mentioned.  I have no
          idea why GDB under Linux is so bogus.  Complain to the GDB
          authors, or to comp.os.linux.development.system.) Again,
          you'll have to use the narrowing-down process described above.

       d. You will get a Lisp backtrace output when XEmacs crashes, so
          you'll have something useful.


   * If you compile with the newer gcc variants gcc-2.8 or egcs, you
     will also need gdb 4.17 or above.  Earlier releases of gdb can't
     handle the debug information generated by the newer compilers.

   * In versions of XEmacs before 21.2.27, `src/.gdbinit' was named
     `src/gdbinit'.  This had the disadvantage of not being sourced
     automatically by gdb, so you had to set that up yourself.

   * If you are running Microsoft Windows, the the file `nt/README' for
     further information about debugging XEmacs.


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Q2.4.5: I get a cryptic error message when trying to do something.
------------------------------------------------------------------

When I try to use some particular option of some particular package, I
get a cryptic error message in the minibuffer.

   If the message went by too quickly, use `Help->Recent Messages' from
the menubar (or type `C-h l') to see recent messages.

   If you can't figure out what's going on, select
`Options->Troubleshooting->Debug on Error' from the menubar (or type
`M-:' then `(setq debug-on-error t)') then try and make the error
happen again.  This will put in the debugger (you can get out of this
and continue what you were doing before by typing `c') and give you a
backtrace that may be enlightening.  If not, try reading through this
FAQ; if that fails, you could try posting to `comp.emacs.xemacs'
(making sure to include the backtrace) and someone may be able to help.
If you can identify which XEmacs Lisp source file the error is coming
from you can get a more detailed stack backtrace by doing the following:

  1. Visit the .el file in an XEmacs buffer.

  2. Issue the command `M-x eval-current-buffer'.

  3. Reproduce the error.

   For more information on debugging Lisp code, *Note Debugging:
(lispref)Debugging.

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Q2.4.6: XEmacs hangs when I try to do something.
------------------------------------------------

XEmacs might just be slow; some operations take a long time.  XEmacs
may also be waiting on a response from the network, for example when
you are trying to send mail.

   You can usually interrupt XEmacs by typing `C-g'.  If not (for
example, Lisp code explicitly disabled this by setting `inhibit-quit'),
you can use the "critical quit" mechanism by typing `Control-Shift-G'.
This should also pop you into the debugger and give you a backtrace,
which can tell you where the problem is (*note How to debug an XEmacs
problem with a debugger: Q2.4.4.). (Note that setting `debug-on-quit'
or selecting `Options->Troubleshooting->Debug on Quit' will also cause
regular `C-g' to enter the debugger and give you a backtrace.)

   If you can't interrupt XEmacs this way, or for some reason XEmacs is
not talking to the keyboard, you can try sending the `SIGINT' signal
using the `kill' command.

   If the Lisp backtrace isn't enlightening, or if XEmacs is so hung
that you can't interrupt it at all, you could try attaching to the
process and getting a C stack backtrace.  *Note How to debug an XEmacs
problem with a debugger: Q2.4.4.

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Q2.4.7: I get an error message when XEmacs is running in batch mode.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Typically this happens when you are trying to compile some Elisp code.
If you are doing this as part of XEmacs or the XEmacs packages, you
should automatically get a backtrace, which can help you determine the
source of the problem.  In other cases, you can get equivalent results
by setting the environment variable `XEMACSDEBUG' to `(setq
stack-trace-on-error t load-always-display-messages t
load-ignore-out-of-date-elc-files t load-show-full-path-in-messages t)'
(this needs to be all on one line; to set an environment variable, use
`export XEMACSDEBUG='FOO'' under `bash', `zsh', etc. or `setenv
XEMACSDEBUG 'FOO'' under `csh' and `tcsh').  `XEMACSDEBUG' specifies
Lisp code that will be executed at startup time.

   If the backtrace is not sufficiently useful in helping you diagnose
the problem, you should consider using a debugger such as GDB.  *Note
How to debug an XEmacs problem with a debugger: Q2.4.4.  You probably
want to set a breakpoint on `signal_1'.  Since such errors often occur
during compiling, which is often triggered by a complex command run
from a make suite, it may be easier to attach to the process once it's
running.

   Under Microsoft Windows (and perhaps other operating systems), there
is another useful trick you can do if you have configured with debugging
support (configure option `--debug' (`--with-debug' in 21.5) or setting
`DEBUG_XEMACS' in `nt/config.inc').  Set the environment variable
`XEMACSDEBUG' (as described above) to `(setq debug-on-error t)'.  Then,
when an error occurs noninteractively, instead of trying to invoke the
Lisp debugger (which obviously won't work), XEmacs will break out to a
C debugger using `(force-debugging-signal t)'.  _NOTE_: This runs
`abort()'!!! (As well as and after executing INT 3 under MS Windows,
which should invoke a debugger if it's active.) This is guaranteed to
kill XEmacs! (But in this situation, XEmacs is about to die anyway, and
if no debugger is present, this will usefully dump core.)

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Q2.4.8: The keyboard or mouse is not working properly, or I have some other event-related problem.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

XEmacs has various facilities for debugging event handling.

   First, try setting the variable `debug-emacs-events' to non-zero.
This will output various information showing which events are being
received and how they are being translated.  This may show you, for
example, that a key command is getting intercepted using
`key-translation-map'; this problem can otherwise be very tricky to
debug.

   Under X, you can see exactly which events are being received from the
window system by setting `x-debug-events' to non-zero. (The value `1'
gives you regular output, and `2' gives you verbose output, including
all parameters.)

   A similar facility exists under MS Windows: Set
`debug-mswindows-events' to non-zero. (The value `1' gives you regular
output.  The value `2' gives you verbose output, including all
parameters.  The value `3' gives you super-gorily-detailed output.)

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Q2.4.9: `C-g' doesn't work for me.  Is it broken?
-------------------------------------------------

`C-g' does work for most people in most circumstances.  If it doesn't,
there are two possible explanations:

  1. XEmacs is hung in a way that prevents `C-g' from working.  This
     can happen when code is wrapped with a binding of `inhibit-quit'
     to `t'; you should still be able interrupt XEmacs using "critical
     quit".  On the other hand, XEmacs may be seriously wedged. (If
     you're lucky, sending `SIGINT' to the XEmacs process will
     interrupt it.)  *Note XEmacs hangs when I try to do something.:
     Q2.4.6.

  2. `C-g' is indeed broken on your system.  To test, try executing
     `(while t)' from the `*scratch*' buffer.  If `C-g' doesn't
     interrupt, then it's broken.  This used to happen with systems
     where `SIGIO' was broken, but `BROKEN_SIGIO' wasn't defined.
     However, there may not be very many such systems nowadays.

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File: xemacs-faq.info,  Node: Q2.4.10,  Next: Q2.4.11,  Prev: Q2.4.9,  Up: Installation

Q2.4.10: How do I debug process-related problems?
-------------------------------------------------

Under MS Windows, you can set the variable
`debug-mswindows-process-command-lines' to non-`nil' to get information
on exactly what is getting passed to a process.  This can be useful in
determining problems with quoting. (Under Unix, a process receives each
argument separately, but under MS Windows a single command line is
received, and arguments with spaces or other special characters in them
must be quoted.  Unfortunately this means that each process,
potentially at least, has its own quoting conventions, and the code to
process quoting conventions in `cmd.exe', the Visual C++ startup code
and the like is baroque and poorly documented.  XEmacs uses the variable
`mswindows-construct-process-command-line-alist' to construct a command
line from a list of arguments based on the command to be run, but it is
(and cannot be) a perfect solution.)

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Q2.4.11: XEmacs is outputting lots of X errors.
-----------------------------------------------

If this is happening, we would very much like to know what's causing
them.  To find this out, see *Note How to debug an XEmacs problem with
a debugger: Q2.4.4.  Try to get both a C and Lisp backtrace, and send
them along with the full error output to <xemacs-beta@xemacs.org>.

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File: xemacs-faq.info,  Node: Q2.4.12,  Next: Q2.5.1,  Prev: Q2.4.11,  Up: Installation

Q2.4.12: After upgrading, XEmacs won't do `foo' any more!
---------------------------------------------------------

You have been used to doing `foo', but now when you invoke it (or click
the toolbar button or select the menu item), nothing (or an error)
happens.  The simplest explanation is that you are missing a package
that is essential to you.  You can either track it down and install it
(there is a list of packages and brief descriptions of their contents
in `etc/PACKAGES'), or install the `Sumo Tarball' (*note How do I
figure out which packages to install?: Q2.1.2.).

2.5: Startup-Related Problems
=============================

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File: xemacs-faq.info,  Node: Q2.5.1,  Next: Q2.5.2,  Prev: Q2.4.12,  Up: Installation

Q2.5.1: XEmacs cannot connect to my X Terminal!
-----------------------------------------------

Help!  I can not get XEmacs to display on my Envizex X-terminal!

   Try setting the `DISPLAY' variable using the numeric IP address of
the host you are running XEmacs from.

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File: xemacs-faq.info,  Node: Q2.5.2,  Next: Q2.5.3,  Prev: Q2.5.1,  Up: Installation

Q2.5.2 Startup problems related to paths or package locations.
--------------------------------------------------------------

First of all, if XEmacs can't find the packages, check to make sure
that you put the packages in the right place, or that you told XEmacs
where to look for the packages when you compiled it.  *Note Q2.1.1::.

   If something is still going wrong, or you get a startup warning about
not being able to deduce some paths, you can get detailed information
on the path-searching process at startup by setting the environment
variable `EMACSDEBUGPATHS' to a non-null value.  One thing to look for
if you're having package problems is the value of
`configure-package-path'.  This corresponds to what was compiled into
XEmacs using the `--package-prefix' or `--package-path' parameter
(*note Q2.1.1::).  If this has the value of `nil', this means that no
value was compiled into XEmacs using these parameters.

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Q2.5.3: XEmacs won't start without network.
-------------------------------------------

If XEmacs starts when you're on the network, but fails when you're not
on the network, you may be missing a "localhost" entry in your
`/etc/hosts' file.  The file should contain an entry like:

     127.0.0.1        localhost

   Add that line, and XEmacs will be happy.

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Q2.5.4: Startup warnings about deducing proper fonts?
-----------------------------------------------------

How can I avoid the startup warnings about deducing proper fonts?

   This is highly dependent on your installation, but try with the
following font as your base font for XEmacs and see what it does:

-adobe-courier-medium-r-*-*-*-120-*-*-*-*-iso8859-1

   More precisely, do the following in your resource file:

Emacs.default.attributeFont: \
-adobe-courier-medium-r-*-*-*-120-*-*-*-*-iso8859-1

   If you just don't want to see the `*Warnings*' buffer at startup
time, you can set this:

     (setq display-warning-minimum-level 'error)

   The buffer still exists; it just isn't in your face.

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Q2.5.5: Warnings from incorrect key modifiers.
----------------------------------------------

The following information comes from the `PROBLEMS' file that comes
with XEmacs.

   If you're having troubles with HP/UX it is because HP/UX defines the
modifiers wrong in X.  Here is a shell script to fix the problem; be
sure that it is run after VUE configures the X server.

     #! /bin/sh
     xmodmap 2> /dev/null - << EOF
     keysym Alt_L = Meta_L
     keysym Alt_R = Meta_R
     EOF

     xmodmap - << EOF
     clear mod1
     keysym Mode_switch = NoSymbol
     add mod1 = Meta_L
     keysym Meta_R = Mode_switch
     add mod2 = Mode_switch
     EOF

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Q2.5.6: XEmacs 21.1 on Windows used to spawn an ugly console window on every startup.  Has that been fixed?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yes.

   The console was there because `temacs' (and in turn, `xemacs') was a
console application, and Windows typically creates a new console for a
console process unless the creating process requests that one isn't
created.  This used to be fixed with `runemacs', a small Windows
application that existed merely to start `xemacs', stating that it
didn't want a console.

   XEmacs 21.4 fixes this cleanly by the virtue of being a true "GUI"
application.  The explanation of what that means is included for
educational value.

   When building an application to be run in a Win32 environment, you
must state which sub-system it is to run in.  Valid subsystems include
"console" and "gui".  The subsystem you use affects the run time
libraries linked into your application, the start up function that is
run before control is handed over to your application, the entry point
to your program, and how Windows normally invokes your program. (Console
programs automatically get a console created for them at startup if
their stdin/stdout don't point anywhere useful, which is the case when
run from the GUI.  This is a stupid design, of course - instead, the
console should get created only when the first I/O actually occurs!
GUI programs have an equally stupid design: When called from
`CMD.EXE'/`COMMAND.COM', their stdin/stdout will be set to point
nowhere useful, even though the command shell has its own stdin/stdout.
It's as if someone who had learned a bit about stdio but had no actual
knowledge of interprocess communication designed the scheme;
unfortunately, the whole process-communication aspect of the Win32 API
is equally badly designed.) For example, the entry point for a console
app is "main" (which is what you'd expect for a C/C++ program), but the
entry point for a "gui" app is "WinMain".  This confuses and annoys a
lot of programmers who've grown up on Unix systems, where the kernel
doesn't really care whether your application is a gui program or not.

   For reasons not altogether clear, and are lost in the mists of time
and tradition, XEmacs on Win32 started out as a console application, and
therefore a console was automatically created for it. (It may have been
made a console application partly because a console is needed in some
circumstances, especially under Win95, to interrupt, terminate, or send
signals to a child process, and because of the bogosity mentioned above
with GUI programs and the standard command shell.  Currently, XEmacs
just creates and immediately hides a console when necessary, and works
around the "no useful stdio" problem by creating its own console window
as necessary to display messages in.)

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File: xemacs-faq.info,  Node: Editing,  Next: Display,  Prev: Installation,  Up: Top

3 Editing Functions
*******************

This is part 3 of the XEmacs Frequently Asked Questions list.  This
section is devoted to the editing-related capabilities of XEmacs (the
keyboard, mouse, buffers, text selections, etc.) and how to customize
them.

* Menu:

3.0: The Keyboard
* Q3.0.1::    How can I customize the keyboard?
* Q3.0.2::    How can I bind complex functions (or macros) to keys?
* Q3.0.3::    How do I bind C-. and C-; to scroll one line up and down?
* Q3.0.4::    Globally binding Delete?
* Q3.0.5::    How to map Help key alone on Sun type4 keyboard?
* Q3.0.6::    How can you type in special characters in XEmacs?
* Q3.0.7::    Can I turn on "sticky" modifier keys?
* Q3.0.8::    How do I map the arrow keys?
* Q3.0.9::    HP Alt key as Meta.
* Q3.0.10::   Why does edt emulation not work?
* Q3.0.11::   How can I emulate VI and use it as my default mode?

3.1: The Mouse
* Q3.1.1::    How can I turn off Mouse pasting?
* Q3.1.2::    How do I set control/meta/etc modifiers on mouse buttons?
* Q3.1.3::    Clicking the left button does not do anything in buffer list.
* Q3.1.4::    How can I get a list of buffers when I hit mouse button 3?
* Q3.1.5::    How can I set XEmacs up so that it pastes where the text cursor is?

3.2: Buffers, Text Editing
* Q3.2.1::    Can I have the end of the buffer delimited in some way?
* Q3.2.2::    How do I insert today's date into a buffer?
* Q3.2.3::    How do I get a single minibuffer frame?
* Q3.2.4::    How can I enable auto-indent and/or Filladapt?
* Q3.2.5::    How can I get XEmacs to come up in text/auto-fill mode by default?

3.3: Text Selections
* Q3.3.1::    How do I select a rectangular region?
* Q3.3.2::    How can I turn off or change highlighted selections?
* Q3.3.3::    How do I cause typing on an active region to remove it?
* Q3.3.4::    Can I turn off the highlight during isearch?
* Q3.3.5::    Why is killing so slow?
* Q3.3.6::    Why does M-w take so long?

3.4: Editing Source Code
* Q3.4.1::    I do not like cc-mode.  How do I use the old c-mode?
* Q3.4.2::    How do you make XEmacs indent CL if-clauses correctly?

3.0: The Keyboard
=================

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File: xemacs-faq.info,  Node: Q3.0.1,  Next: Q3.0.2,  Prev: Editing,  Up: Editing

Q3.0.1: How can I customize the keyboard?
-----------------------------------------

#### Write me.

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File: xemacs-faq.info,  Node: Q3.0.2,  Next: Q3.0.3,  Prev: Q3.0.1,  Up: Editing

Q3.0.2: How can I bind complex functions (or macros) to keys?
-------------------------------------------------------------

As an example, say you want the `paste' key on a Sun keyboard to insert
the current Primary X selection at point. You can accomplish this with:

     (define-key global-map [f18] 'x-insert-selection)

   However, this only works if there is a current X selection (the
selection will be highlighted).  The functionality I like is for the
`paste' key to insert the current X selection if there is one,
otherwise insert the contents of the clipboard.  To do this you need to
pass arguments to `x-insert-selection'.  This is done by wrapping the
call in a 'lambda form:

     (global-set-key [f18]
       (lambda () (interactive) (x-insert-selection t nil)))

   This binds the f18 key to a "generic" functional object.  The
interactive spec is required because only interactive functions can be
bound to keys.

   For the FAQ example you could use:

     (global-set-key [(control ?.)]
       (lambda () (interactive) (scroll-up 1)))
     (global-set-key [(control ?;)]
       (lambda () (interactive) (scroll-up -1)))

   This is fine if you only need a few functions within the lambda body.
If you're doing more it's cleaner to define a separate function.  *Note
How do I bind C-. and C-; to scroll one line up and down?: Q3.0.3.

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File: xemacs-faq.info,  Node: Q3.0.3,  Next: Q3.0.4,  Prev: Q3.0.2,  Up: Editing

Q3.0.3: How do I bind C-. and C-; to scroll one line up and down?
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Add the following (Thanks to Richard Mlynarik <mly@adoc.xerox.com> and
Wayne Newberry <wayne@zen.cac.stratus.com>) to `.emacs':

     (defun scroll-up-one-line ()
       (interactive)
       (scroll-up 1))

     (defun scroll-down-one-line ()
       (interactive)
       (scroll-down 1))

     (global-set-key [(control ?.)] 'scroll-up-one-line) ; C-.
     (global-set-key [(control ?;)] 'scroll-down-one-line) ; C-;

   The key point is that you can only bind simple functions to keys; you
can not bind a key to a function that you're also passing arguments to.
(*note How can I bind complex functions (or macros) to keys?: Q3.0.2.
for a better answer).

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File: xemacs-faq.info,  Node: Q3.0.4,  Next: Q3.0.5,  Prev: Q3.0.3,  Up: Editing

Q3.0.4: Globally binding `Delete'?
----------------------------------

I cannot manage to globally bind my `Delete' key to something other
than the default.  How does one do this?

   Answer: The problem is that many modes explicitly bind `Delete'.  To
get around this, try the following:

     (defun foo ()
       (interactive)
       (message "You hit DELETE"))

     (define-key key-translation-map 'delete 'redirected-delete)
     (global-set-key 'redirected-delete 'foo)

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File: xemacs-faq.info,  Node: Q3.0.5,  Next: Q3.0.6,  Prev: Q3.0.4,  Up: Editing

Q3.0.5: How to map `Help' key alone on Sun type4 keyboard?
----------------------------------------------------------

The following works in GNU Emacs 19:

     (global-set-key [help] 'help-command);; Help

   The following works in XEmacs with the addition of shift:

     (global-set-key [(shift help)] 'help-command);; Help

   But it doesn't work alone.  This is in the file `PROBLEMS' which
should have come with your XEmacs installation: _Emacs ignores the
`help' key when running OLWM_.

   OLWM grabs the `help' key, and retransmits it to the appropriate
client using `XSendEvent'.  Allowing Emacs to react to synthetic events
is a security hole, so this is turned off by default.  You can enable
it by setting the variable `x-allow-sendevents' to t.  You can also
cause fix this by telling OLWM to not grab the help key, with the null
binding `OpenWindows.KeyboardCommand.Help:'.

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Q3.0.6: How can you type in special characters in XEmacs?
---------------------------------------------------------

One way is to use the package `x-compose'.  Then you can use sequences
like `Compose " a' to get ä, etc.

   Another way is to use the `iso-insert' package. Then you can use
sequences like `C-x 8 " a' to get ä, etc.

   Glynn Clements <glynn@sensei.co.uk> writes:

     It depends upon your X server.

     Generally, the simplest way is to define a key as Multi_key with
     xmodmap, e.g.
                  xmodmap -e 'keycode 0xff20 = Multi_key'

     You will need to pick an appropriate keycode. Use xev to find out
     the keycodes for each key.

     [NB: On a `Windows' keyboard, recent versions of XFree86
     automatically define the right `Windows' key as Multi_key'.]

     Once you have Multi_key defined, you can use e.g.
                  Multi a '       => á
                  Multi e "       => ë
                  Multi c ,       => ç

     etc.

     Also, recent versions of XFree86 define various AltGr-<key>
     combinations as dead keys, i.e.
                  AltGr [         => dead_diaeresis
                  AltGr ]         => dead_tilde
                  AltGr ;         => dead_acute
     etc.

     Running `xmodmap -pk' will list all of the defined keysyms.

   For the related problem of _displaying_ non-ASCII characters in a
non-Mule XEmacs, *Note How do I display non-ASCII characters?: Q4.0.8.

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Q3.0.7: Can I turn on "sticky" modifier keys?
---------------------------------------------

Yes, with `(setq modifier-keys-are-sticky t)'.  This will give the
effect of being able to press and release Shift and have the next
character typed come out in upper case.  This will affect all the other
modifier keys like Control and Meta as well.

   Ben Wing <ben@xemacs.org> writes:

     One thing about the sticky modifiers is that if you move the mouse
     out of the frame and back in, it cancels all currently "stuck"
     modifiers.

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Q3.0.8: How do I map the arrow keys?
------------------------------------

Say you want to map `C-<right>' to forward-word:

   Sam Steingold <sds@usa.net> writes:

          ; both XEmacs and Emacs
          (define-key global-map [(control right)] 'forward-word)
     or
          ; Emacs only
          (define-key global-map [C-right] 'forward-word)
     or
          ; ver > 20, both
          (define-key global-map (kbd "C-<right>") 'forward-word)

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File: xemacs-faq.info,  Node: Q3.0.9,  Next: Q3.0.10,  Prev: Q3.0.8,  Up: Editing

Q3.0.9: HP Alt key as Meta.
---------------------------

How can I make XEmacs recognize the Alt key of my HP workstation as a
Meta key?

   Put the following line into a file and load it with xmodmap(1) before
starting XEmacs:

     remove Mod1 = Mode_switch

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File: xemacs-faq.info,  Node: Q3.0.10,  Next: Q3.0.11,  Prev: Q3.0.9,  Up: Editing

Q3.0.10: Why does edt emulation not work?
-----------------------------------------

We don't know, but you can use tpu-edt emulation instead, which works
fine and is a little fancier than the standard edt emulation.  To do
this, add the following line to your `init.el':

     (tpu-edt)

   If you don't want it to replace `C-h' with an edt-style help menu
add this as well:

     (global-set-key [(control h)] 'help-for-help)

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File: xemacs-faq.info,  Node: Q3.0.11,  Next: Q3.1.1,  Prev: Q3.0.10,  Up: Editing

Q3.0.11: How can I emulate VI and use it as my default mode?
------------------------------------------------------------

Our recommended VI emulator is viper. To make viper-mode the default,
add this to your `init.el':

     (viper-mode)

   Michael Kifer <kifer@CS.SunySB.EDU> writes:

     This should be added as close to the top of `init.el' as you can
     get it, otherwise some minor modes may not get viper-ized.

3.1: The Mouse
==============

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Q3.1.1: How can I turn off Mouse pasting?
-----------------------------------------

I keep hitting the middle mouse button by accident and getting stuff
pasted into my buffer so how can I turn this off?

   Here is an alternative binding, whereby the middle mouse button
selects (but does not cut) the expression under the mouse. Clicking
middle on a left or right paren will select to the matching one.  Note
that you can use `define-key' or `global-set-key'.

     (defun mouse-set-point-and-select (event)
       "Sets the point at the mouse location, then marks following form"
       (interactive "@e")
       (mouse-set-point event)
       (mark-sexp 1))
     (define-key global-map [button2] 'mouse-set-point-and-select)

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File: xemacs-faq.info,  Node: Q3.1.2,  Next: Q3.1.3,  Prev: Q3.1.1,  Up: Editing

Q3.1.2: How do I set control/meta/etc modifiers on mouse buttons?
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Use, for instance, `[(meta button1)]'. For example, here is a common
setting for Common Lisp programmers who use the bundled `ilisp'
package, whereby meta-button1 on a function name will find the file
where the function name was defined, and put you at that location in
the source file.

   [Inside a function that gets called by the lisp-mode-hook and
ilisp-mode-hook]

     (local-set-key [(meta button1)] 'edit-definitions-lisp)

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File: xemacs-faq.info,  Node: Q3.1.3,  Next: Q3.1.4,  Prev: Q3.1.2,  Up: Editing

Q3.1.3: Clicking the left button does not do anything in buffer list.
---------------------------------------------------------------------

I do `C-x C-b' to get a list of buffers and the entries get highlighted
when I move the mouse over them but clicking the left mouse does not do
anything.

   Use the middle mouse button.

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File: xemacs-faq.info,  Node: Q3.1.4,  Next: Q3.1.5,  Prev: Q3.1.3,  Up: Editing

Q3.1.4: How can I get a list of buffers when I hit mouse button 3?
------------------------------------------------------------------

The following code will replace the default popup on button3:

     (global-set-key [button3] 'popup-buffer-menu)

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File: xemacs-faq.info,  Node: Q3.1.5,  Next: Q3.2.1,  Prev: Q3.1.4,  Up: Editing

Q3.1.5: How can I set XEmacs up so that it pastes where the text cursor is?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

By default XEmacs pastes X selections where the mouse pointer is.  How
do I disable this?

   Examine the function `mouse-yank', by typing `C-h f mouse-yank
<RET>'.

   To get XEmacs to paste at the text cursor, add this your `init.el':

     (setq mouse-yank-at-point t)

   You can also change this with Customize.  Select from the `Options'
menu `Advanced (Customize)->Emacs->Editing->Mouse->Yank At Point...' or
type `M-x customize <RET> mouse <RET>'.

3.2: Buffers, Text Editing
==========================

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File: xemacs-faq.info,  Node: Q3.2.1,  Next: Q3.2.2,  Prev: Q3.1.5,  Up: Editing

Q3.2.1: Can I have the end of the buffer delimited in some way?
---------------------------------------------------------------

Say, with: `[END]'?

   Try this:

     (let ((ext (make-extent (point-min) (point-max))))
       (set-extent-property ext 'start-closed t)
       (set-extent-property ext 'end-closed t)
       (set-extent-property ext 'detachable nil)
       (set-extent-end-glyph ext (make-glyph [string :data "[END]"])))

   Since this is XEmacs, you can specify an icon to be shown on
window-system devices.  To do so, change the `make-glyph' call to
something like this:

     (make-glyph '([xpm :file "~/something.xpm"]
                   [string :data "[END]"]))

   You can inline the XPM definition yourself by specifying `:data'
instead of `:file'.  Here is such a full-featured version that works on
both X and TTY devices:

     (let ((ext (make-extent (point-min) (point-max))))
       (set-extent-property ext 'start-closed t)
       (set-extent-property ext 'end-closed t)
       (set-extent-property ext 'detachable nil)
       (set-extent-end-glyph ext (make-glyph '([xpm :data "\
     /* XPM */
     static char* eye = {
     \"20 11 7 2\",
     \"__ c None\"
     \"_` c #7f7f7f\",
     \"_a c #fefefe\",
     \"_b c #7f0000\",
     \"_c c #fefe00\",
     \"_d c #fe0000\",
     \"_e c #bfbfbf\",
     \"___________`_`_`___b_b_b_b_________`____\",
     \"_________`_`_`___b_c_c_c_b_b____________\",
     \"_____`_`_`_e___b_b_c_c_c___b___b_______`\",
     \"___`_`_e_a___b_b_d___b___b___b___b______\",
     \"_`_`_e_a_e___b_b_d_b___b___b___b___b____\",
     \"_`_`_a_e_a___b_b_d___b___b___b___b___b__\",
     \"_`_`_e_a_e___b_b_d_b___b___b___b___b_b__\",
     \"___`_`_e_a___b_b_b_d_c___b___b___d_b____\",
     \"_____`_`_e_e___b_b_b_d_c___b_b_d_b______\",
     \"_`_____`_`_`_`___b_b_b_d_d_d_d_b________\",
     \"___`_____`_`_`_`___b_b_b_b_b_b__________\",
     } ;"]
                                               [string :data "[END]"]))))

   Note that you might want to make this a function, and put it to a
hook.  We leave that as an exercise for the reader.

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Q3.2.2: How do I insert today's date into a buffer?
---------------------------------------------------

Like this:

     (insert (current-time-string))

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File: xemacs-faq.info,  Node: Q3.2.3,  Next: Q3.2.4,  Prev: Q3.2.2,  Up: Editing

Q3.2.3: How do I get a single minibuffer frame?
-----------------------------------------------

Vin Shelton <acs@acm.org> writes:

     (setq initial-frame-plist '(minibuffer nil))
     (setq default-frame-plist '(minibuffer nil))
     (setq default-minibuffer-frame
           (make-frame
            '(minibuffer only
                         width 86
                         height 1
                         menubar-visible-p nil
                         default-toolbar-visible-p nil
                         name "minibuffer"
                         top -2
                         left -2
                         has-modeline-p nil)))
     (frame-notice-user-settings)

   *Please note:* The single minibuffer frame may not be to everyone's
taste, and there any number of other XEmacs options settings that may
make it difficult or inconvenient to use.

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Q3.2.4: How can I enable auto-indent and/or Filladapt?
------------------------------------------------------

Put the following line in your `init.el':

     (setq indent-line-function 'indent-relative-maybe)

   If you want to get fancy, try the `filladapt' package available
standard with XEmacs.  Put this into your `init.el':

     (require 'filladapt)
     (setq-default filladapt-mode t)
     (add-hook 'c-mode-hook 'turn-off-filladapt-mode)

   This will enable Filladapt for all modes except C mode, where it
doesn't work well.  To turn Filladapt on only in particular major
modes, remove the `(setq-default ...)' line and use
`turn-on-filladapt-mode', like this:

     (add-hook 'text-mode-hook 'turn-on-filladapt-mode)

   You can customize filling and adaptive filling with Customize.
Select from the `Options' menu `Advanced
(Customize)->Emacs->Editing->Fill->Fill...' or type `M-x customize
<RET> fill <RET>'.

   Note that well-behaving text-lookalike modes will run
`text-mode-hook' by default (e.g. that's what Message does).  For the
nasty ones, you'll have to provide the `add-hook's yourself.

   Please note that the `fa-extras' package is no longer useful.

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Q3.2.5: How can I get XEmacs to come up in text/auto-fill mode by default?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Try the following lisp in your `init.el':

     (setq default-major-mode 'text-mode)
     (add-hook 'text-mode-hook 'turn-on-auto-fill)

   *WARNING*: note that changing the value of `default-major-mode' from
`fundamental-mode' can break a large amount of built-in code that
expects newly created buffers to be in `fundamental-mode'.  (Changing
from `fundamental-mode' to `text-mode' might not wreak too much havoc,
but changing to something more exotic like a lisp-mode would break many
Emacs packages).

   Note that Emacs by default starts up in buffer `*scratch*' in
`initial-major-mode', which defaults to `lisp-interaction-mode'. Thus
adding the following form to your Emacs init file will cause the
initial `*scratch*' buffer to be put into auto-fill'ed `text-mode':

     (setq initial-major-mode
           (lambda ()
             (text-mode)
             (turn-on-auto-fill)))

   Note that after your init file is loaded, if
`inhibit-startup-message' is `nil' (the default) and the startup buffer
is `*scratch*' then the startup message will be inserted into
`*scratch*'; it will be removed after a timeout by erasing the entire
`*scratch*' buffer.  Keep in mind this default usage of `*scratch*' if
you desire any prior manipulation of `*scratch*' from within your Emacs
init file. In particular, anything you insert into `*scratch*' from
your init file will be later erased. Also, if you change the mode of
the `*scratch*' buffer, be sure that this will not interfere with
possible later insertion of the startup message (e.g. if you put
`*scratch*' into a nonstandard mode that has automatic font lock rules,
then the startup message might get fontified in a strange foreign
manner, e.g. as code in some programming language).

3.3: Text Selections
====================

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File: xemacs-faq.info,  Node: Q3.3.1,  Next: Q3.3.2,  Prev: Q3.2.5,  Up: Editing

Q3.3.1: How do I select a rectangular region?
---------------------------------------------

Just select the region normally, then use the rectangle commands (e.g.
`kill-rectangle' on it.  The region does not highlight as a rectangle,
but the commands work just fine.

   To actually sweep out rectangular regions with the mouse you can use
`mouse-track-do-rectangle' which is assigned to `M-button1'.  Then use
rectangle commands.

   You can also do the following to change default behavior to sweep out
rectangular regions:

     (setq mouse-track-rectangle-p t)

   You can also change this with Customize.  Select from the `Options'
menu `Advanced (Customize)->Emacs->Editing->Mouse->Track Rectangle...'
or type `M-x customize <RET> mouse <RET>'.

      mouse-track-do-rectangle: (event)
        -- an interactive compiled Lisp function.
      Like `mouse-track' but selects rectangles instead of regions.

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File: xemacs-faq.info,  Node: Q3.3.2,  Next: Q3.3.3,  Prev: Q3.3.1,  Up: Editing

Q3.3.2: How can I turn off or change highlighted selections?
------------------------------------------------------------

The `zmacs' mode allows for what some might call gratuitous
highlighting for selected regions (either by setting mark or by using
the mouse).  This is the default behavior.  To turn off, add the
following line to your `init.el' file:

     (setq zmacs-regions nil)

   You can also change this with Customize.  Select from the `Options'
menu `Advanced (Customize)->Emacs->Editing->Basics->Zmacs Regions' or
type `M-x customize <RET> editing-basics <RET>'.

   To change the face for selection, look at `Options->Advanced
(Customize)' on the menubar.

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Q3.3.3: How do I cause typing on an active region to remove it?
---------------------------------------------------------------

I want to change things so that if I select some text and start typing,
the typed text replaces the selected text, similar to Motif.

   You want to use something called "pending delete".  Pending delete
is what happens when you select a region (with the mouse or keyboard)
and you press a key to replace the selected region by the key you typed.
Usually backspace kills the selected region.

   To get this behavior, ensure that you have the `pc' package
installed, and add the following lines to your `init.el':

     (cond
      ((fboundp 'turn-on-pending-delete)
       (turn-on-pending-delete))
      ((fboundp 'pending-delete-on)
       (pending-delete-on t)))

   Note that this will work with both Backspace and Delete.  This code
is a tad more complicated than it has to be for XEmacs in order to make
it more portable.

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File: xemacs-faq.info,  Node: Q3.3.4,  Next: Q3.3.5,  Prev: Q3.3.3,  Up: Editing

Q3.3.4: Can I turn off the highlight during isearch?
----------------------------------------------------

I do not like my text highlighted while I am doing isearch as I am not
able to see what's underneath.  How do I turn it off?

   Put the following in your `init.el':

     (setq isearch-highlight nil)

   You can also change this with Customize. Type `M-x
customize-variable <RET> isearch-highlight <RET>'.

   Note also that isearch-highlight affects query-replace and ispell.
Instead of disabling isearch-highlight you may find that a better
solution consists of customizing the `isearch' face.

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File: xemacs-faq.info,  Node: Q3.3.5,  Next: Q3.3.6,  Prev: Q3.3.4,  Up: Editing

Q3.3.5: Why is killing so slow?
-------------------------------

This actually is an X Windows question, although you'll notice it with
keyboard operations as well as while using the GUI.  Basically, there
are four ways to communicate interprogram via the X server:

*Primary selection*
     a transient selection that gets replaced every time a new
     selection is made

*Secondary selection*
     for "exchanging" with the primary selection

*Cut buffers*
     a clipboard internal to the X server (deprecated)

*Clipboard selection*
     a selection with a notification protocol that allows a separate
     app to manage the clipboard

   The cut buffers are deprecated because managing them is even more
inefficient than the clipboard notification protocol.  The primary
selection works fine for many users and applications, but is not very
robust under intensive or sophisticated use.

   In Motif and MS Windows, a clipboard has become the primary means for
managing cut and paste.  These means that "modern" applications tend to
be oriented toward a true clipboard, rather than the primary selection.
(On Windows, there is nothing equivalent to the primary selection.)
It's not that XEmacs doesn't support the simple primary selection
method, it's that more and more other applications don't.

   So the slowdown occurs because XEmacs now engages in the clipboard
notification protocol on _every_ kill.  This is especially slow on
Motif.

   With most people running most clients and server on the same host,
and many of the rest working over very fast communication, you may
expect that the situation is not going to improve.

   There are a number of workarounds.  The most effective is to use a
special command to do selection ownership only when you intend to paste
to another application.  Useful commands are `kill-primary-selection'
and `copy-primary-selection'.  These work only on text selected with
the mouse (probably; experiment), and are bound by default to the `Cut'
and `Copy', respectively, buttons on the toolbar.
`copy-primary-selection' is also bound to `C-Insert'.  You can yank the
clipboard contents with `yank-primary-selection', bound to the `Paste'
toolbar button and `Sh-Insert'.

   If you are communicating by cut and paste with applications that use
the primary selection, then you can customize
`interprogram-cut-function' to `nil', restoring the XEmacs version 20
behavior.  How can you tell if a program will support this?
Motifly-correct programs require the clipboard; you lose.  For others,
only by trying it.  You also need to customize the complementary
`interprogram-paste-function' to `nil'.  (Otherwise XEmacs-to-XEmacs
pastes will not work correctly.)

   You may get some relief on Motif by setting
`x-selection-strict-motif-ownership' to nil, but this means you will
only intermittently be able to paste XEmacs kills to Motif applications.

   Thanks to Jeff Mincy and Glynn Clements for corrections.

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Q3.3.6: Why does `M-w' take so long?
------------------------------------

It actually doesn't.  It leaves the region visible for a second so that
you can see what area is being yanked.  If you start working, though, it
will immediately complete its operation.  In other words, it will only
delay for a second if you let it.

3.4: Editing Source Code
========================

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Q3.4.1: I do not like cc-mode.  How do I use the old c-mode?
------------------------------------------------------------

Well, first off, consider if you really want to do this.  cc-mode is
much more powerful than the old c-mode.  If you're having trouble
getting your old offsets to work, try using `c-set-offset' instead.
You might also consider using the package `cc-compat'.

   But, if you still insist, add the following lines to your `init.el':

     (fmakunbound 'c-mode)
     (makunbound 'c-mode-map)
     (fmakunbound 'c++-mode)
     (makunbound 'c++-mode-map)
     (makunbound 'c-style-alist)
     (load-library "old-c-mode")
     (load-library "old-c++-mode")

   This must be done before any other reference is made to either
c-mode or c++-mode.

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Q3.4.2: How do you make XEmacs indent CL if-clauses correctly?
--------------------------------------------------------------

I'd like XEmacs to indent all the clauses of a Common Lisp `if' the
same amount instead of indenting the 3rd clause differently from the
first two.

   The package `cl-indent' that comes with XEmacs sets up this kind of
indentation by default.  `cl-indent' also knows about many other
CL-specific forms.  To use `cl-indent', one can do this:

     (setq lisp-indent-function 'common-lisp-indent-function)

   One can also customize `cl-indent.el' so it mimics the default `if'
indentation `then' indented more than the `else'.  Here's how:

     (put 'if 'common-lisp-indent-function '(nil nil &body))

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File: xemacs-faq.info,  Node: Display,  Next: External Subsystems,  Prev: Editing,  Up: Top

4 Display Functions
*******************

This is part 4 of the XEmacs Frequently Asked Questions list.  This
section is devoted to the display-related capabilities of XEmacs
(fonts, colors, modeline, menubar, toolbar, scrollbar, etc.) and how to
customize them.

* Menu:

4.0: Textual Fonts and Colors
* Q4.0.1::    How do I specify a font?
* Q4.0.2::    How do I set the text, menu and modeline fonts?
* Q4.0.3::    How can I set color options from `init.el'?
* Q4.0.4::    How can I set the colors when highlighting a region?
* Q4.0.5::    How can I limit color map usage?
* Q4.0.6::    My tty supports color, but XEmacs doesn't use them.
* Q4.0.7::    Can I have pixmap backgrounds in XEmacs?
* Q4.0.8::    How do I display non-ASCII characters?
* Q4.0.9::    Font selections in don't get saved after `Save Options'.

4.1: Syntax Highlighting (Font Lock)
* Q4.1.1::    How can I do source code highlighting using font-lock?
* Q4.1.2::    How do I get `More' Syntax Highlighting on by default?

4.2: The Modeline
* Q4.2.1::    How can I make the modeline go away?
* Q4.2.2::    How do you have XEmacs display the line number in the modeline?
* Q4.2.3::    How do I get XEmacs to put the time of day on the modeline?
* Q4.2.4::    How can I change the modeline color based on the mode used?

4.3: The Cursor
* Q4.3.1::    Is there a way to make the bar cursor thicker?
* Q4.3.2::    Is there a way to get back the block cursor?
* Q4.3.3::    Can I make the cursor blink?

4.4: The Menubar
* Q4.4.1::    How do I get rid of the menubar?
* Q4.4.2::    How can I customize the menubar?
* Q4.4.3::    How do I enable use of the keyboard (Alt) to access menu items?
* Q4.4.4::    How do I control how many buffers are listed in the menu `Buffers List'?
* Q4.4.5::    Resources like `Emacs*menubar*font' are not working?

4.5: The Toolbar
* Q4.5.1::    How do I get rid of the toolbar?
* Q4.5.2::    How can I customize the toolbar?
* Q4.5.3::    How can I bind a key to a function to toggle the toolbar?
* Q4.5.4::    `Can't instantiate image error...' in toolbar

4.6: Scrollbars and Scrolling
* Q4.6.1::    How can I disable the scrollbar?
* Q4.6.2::    How can I change the scrollbar width?
* Q4.6.3::    How can I use resources to change scrollbar colors?
* Q4.6.4::    Moving the scrollbar can move the point; can I disable this?
* Q4.6.5::    Scrolling one line at a time.
* Q4.6.6::    How can I turn off automatic horizontal scrolling in specific modes?
* Q4.6.7::    I find auto-show-mode disconcerting.  How do I turn it off?

4.7: The Gutter Tabs, The Progress Bar, Widgets
* Q4.7.1::    How can I disable the gutter tabs?
* Q4.7.2::    How can I disable the progress bar?
* Q4.7.3::    There are bugs in the gutter or widgets.
* Q4.7.4::    How can I customize the gutter or gutter tabs?

4.0: Textual Fonts and Colors
=============================

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Q4.0.1: How do I specify a font?
--------------------------------

#### Update me.

   In 21.4 and above, you can use the `Options' menu to change the font.
You can also do it in your init file, e.g. like this (for MS Windows):

         (set-face-font 'default "Lucida Console:Regular:10")
         (set-face-font 'modeline "MS Sans Serif:Regular:10")

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Q4.0.2: How do I set the text, menu and modeline fonts?
-------------------------------------------------------

#### Update me.

   Note that you should use `Emacs.' and not `Emacs*' when setting face
values.

   In `.Xresources':

     Emacs.default.attributeFont:  -*-*-medium-r-*-*-*-120-*-*-m-*-*-*
     Emacs*menubar*font:           fixed
     Emacs.modeline.attributeFont: fixed

   This is confusing because `default' and `modeline' are face names,
and can be found listed with all faces in the current mode by using
`M-x set-face-font (enter) ?'.  They use the face-specific resource
`attributeFont'.

   On the other hand, `menubar' is a normal X thing that uses the
resource `font'.  With Motif it _may be_ necessary to use `fontList'
_instead of_ `font'.  In _non-Motif_ configurations with Mule it _is_
necessary to use `fontSet' instead of `font'.  (Sorry, there just is no
simple recipe here.)

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Q4.0.3: How can I set color options from `init.el'?
---------------------------------------------------

How can I set the most commonly used color options from my `init.el'
instead of from my `.Xresources'?

   Like this:

     (set-face-background 'default      "bisque") ; frame background
     (set-face-foreground 'default      "black") ; normal text
     (set-face-background 'zmacs-region "red") ; When selecting w/
                                             ; mouse
     (set-face-foreground 'zmacs-region "yellow")
     (set-face-font       'default      "*courier-bold-r*120-100-100*")
     (set-face-background 'highlight    "blue") ; Ie when selecting
                                             ; buffers
     (set-face-foreground 'highlight    "yellow")
     (set-face-background 'modeline     "blue") ; Line at bottom
                                             ; of buffer
     (set-face-foreground 'modeline     "white")
     (set-face-font       'modeline     "*bold-r-normal*140-100-100*")
     (set-face-background 'isearch      "yellow") ; When highlighting
                                             ; while searching
     (set-face-foreground 'isearch      "red")
     (setq x-pointer-foreground-color   "black") ; Adds to bg color,
                                             ; so keep black
     (setq x-pointer-background-color   "blue") ; This is color
                                             ; you really
                                             ; want ptr/crsr

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Q4.0.4: How can I set the colors when highlighting a region?
------------------------------------------------------------

How can I set the background/foreground colors when highlighting a
region?

   You can change the face `zmacs-region' either in your `.Xresources':

     Emacs.zmacs-region.attributeForeground: firebrick
     Emacs.zmacs-region.attributeBackground: lightseagreen

   or in your `init.el':

     (set-face-background 'zmacs-region "red")
     (set-face-foreground 'zmacs-region "yellow")

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Q4.0.5: How can I limit color map usage?
----------------------------------------

I'm using Netscape (or another color grabber like XEmacs); is there any
way to limit the number of available colors in the color map?

   Answer: No, but you can start Netscape before XEmacs, and it will use
the closest available color if the colormap is full.  You can also limit
the number of colors Netscape uses, using the flags -mono, -ncols <#> or
-install (for mono, limiting to <#> colors, or for using a private color
map).

   If you have the money, another solution would be to use a truecolor
or direct color video.

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Q4.0.6: My tty supports color, but XEmacs doesn't use them.
-----------------------------------------------------------

XEmacs tries to automatically determine whether your tty supports color,
but sometimes guesses wrong.  In that case, you can make XEmacs Do The
Right Thing using this Lisp code:

     (if (eq 'tty (device-type))
         (set-device-class nil 'color))

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Q4.0.7: Can I have pixmap backgrounds in XEmacs?
------------------------------------------------

Juan Villacis <jvillaci@wahnsinnig.extreme.indiana.edu> writes:

     There are several ways to do it.  For example, you could specify a
     default pixmap image to use in your `~/.Xresources', e.g.,

            Emacs*EmacsFrame.default.attributeBackgroundPixmap: /path/to/image.xpm

     and then reload ~/.Xresources and restart XEmacs.  Alternatively,
     since each face can have its own pixmap background, a better way
     would be to set a face's pixmap within your XEmacs init file, e.g.,

            (set-face-background-pixmap 'default "/path/to/image.xpm")
            (set-face-background-pixmap 'bold    "/path/to/another_image.xpm")

     and so on.  You can also do this interactively via `M-x
     edit-faces'.


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Q4.0.8: How do I display non-ASCII characters?
----------------------------------------------

If you're using a Mule-enabled XEmacs, then display is automatic.  If
you're not seeing the characters you expect, either (1) you don't have
appropriate fonts available or (2) XEmacs did not correctly detect the
coding system (*note Recognize Coding: (xemacs)Recognize Coding.).  In
case (1), install fonts as is customary for your platform.  In case
(2), you need to tell XEmacs explicitly what coding systems you're
using.  *Note Specify Coding: (xemacs)Specify Coding.

   If your XEmacs is not Mule-enabled, and for some reason getting a
Mule-enabled XEmacs seems like the wrong thing to do, all is not lost.
You can arrange it by brute force.  In `event-Xt.c' (suppress the urge
to look in this file--play Doom instead, because you'll survive
longer), it is written:

     In a non-Mule world, a user can still have a multi-lingual editor,
     by doing `(set-face-font "-*-iso8859-2" (current-buffer))' for all
     their Latin-2 buffers, etc.

   For the related problem of _inputting_ non-ASCII characters in a
non-Mule XEmacs, *Note How can you type in special characters in
XEmacs?: Q3.0.6.

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Q4.0.9: Font selections in don't get saved after `Save Options'.
----------------------------------------------------------------

John Mann <mannj@ll.mit.edu> writes:

     You have to go to `Options->Menubars' and unselect `Frame-Local
     Font Menu'.  If this option is selected, font changes are only
     applied to the _current_ frame and do _not_ get saved when you
     save options.

   Also, set the following in your `init.el':

     (setq options-save-faces t)

4.1: Syntax Highlighting (Font Lock)
====================================

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Q4.1.1: How can I do source code highlighting using font-lock?
--------------------------------------------------------------

For most modes, font-lock is already set up and just needs to be turned
on.  This can be done by adding the line:

     (require 'font-lock)

   to your `init.el'. (You can turn it on for the current buffer and
session only by `M-x font-lock-mode'.) See the file
`etc/sample.init.el' (`etc/sample.emacs' in XEmacs versions prior to
21.4) for more information.

   See also `Syntax Highlighting' from the `Options' menu.  Remember to
save options.

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Q4.1.2: How do I get `More' Syntax Highlighting on by default?
--------------------------------------------------------------

Use the following code in your `init.el':

     (setq-default font-lock-maximum-decoration t)

   See also `Syntax Highlighting' from the `Options' menu.  Remember to
save options.

4.2: The Modeline
=================

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Q4.2.1: How can I make the modeline go away?
--------------------------------------------

     (set-specifier has-modeline-p nil)

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Q4.2.2: How do you have XEmacs display the line number in the modeline?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Add the following line to your `init.el' file to display the line
number:

     (line-number-mode 1)

   Use the following to display the column number:

     (column-number-mode 1)

   Or select from the `Options' menu `Advanced
(Customize)->Emacs->Editing->Basics->Line Number Mode' and/or `Advanced
(Customize)->Emacs->Editing->Basics->Column Number Mode'

   Or type `M-x customize <RET> editing-basics <RET>'.

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Q4.2.3: How do I get XEmacs to put the time of day on the modeline?
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Add the following line to your `init.el' file to display the time:

     (display-time)

   See `Customize' from the `Options' menu for customization.

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Q4.2.4: How can I change the modeline color based on the mode used?
-------------------------------------------------------------------

You can use something like the following:

     (add-hook 'lisp-mode-hook
               (lambda ()
                 (set-face-background 'modeline "red" (current-buffer))))

   Then, when editing a Lisp file (i.e. when in Lisp mode), the modeline
colors change from the default set in your `init.el'.  The change will
only be made in the buffer you just entered (which contains the Lisp
file you are editing) and will not affect the modeline colors anywhere
else.

   Notes:

   * The hook is the mode name plus `-hook'.  eg. c-mode-hook,
     c++-mode-hook, emacs-lisp-mode-hook (used for your `init.el' or a
     `xx.el' file), lisp-interaction-mode-hook (the `*scratch*' buffer),
     text-mode-hook, etc.

   * Be sure to use `add-hook', not `(setq c-mode-hook xxxx)',
     otherwise you will erase anything that anybody has already put on
     the hook.

   * You can also do `(set-face-font 'modeline FONT)', eg.
     `(set-face-font 'modeline "*bold-r-normal*140-100-100*"
     (current-buffer))' if you wish the modeline font to vary based on
     the current mode.

   There are additional modeline faces, `modeline-buffer-id',
`modeline-mousable', and `modeline-mousable-minor-mode', which you may
want to customize.

4.3: The Cursor
===============

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Q4.3.1: Is there a way to make the bar cursor thicker?
------------------------------------------------------

I'd like to have the bar cursor a little thicker, as I tend to "lose" it
often.

   For a 1 pixel bar cursor, use:

     (setq bar-cursor t)

   For a 2 pixel bar cursor, use:

     (setq bar-cursor 'anything-else)

   You can also change these with Customize.  Select from the `Options'
menu `Advanced (Customize)->Emacs->Environment->Display->Bar Cursor...'
or type `M-x customize <RET> display <RET>'.

   You can use a color to make it stand out better:

     Emacs*cursorColor:      Red

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Q4.3.2: Is there a way to get back the block cursor?
----------------------------------------------------

     (setq bar-cursor nil)

   You can also change this with Customize.  Select from the `Options'
menu `Advanced (Customize)->Emacs->Environment->Display->Bar Cursor...'
or type `M-x customize <RET> display <RET>'.

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Q4.3.3: Can I make the cursor blink?
------------------------------------

Yes, like this:

     (blink-cursor-mode)

   This function toggles between a steady cursor and a blinking cursor.
You may also set this mode from the menu bar by selecting
`Options->Display->Blinking Cursor'.  Remember to save options.

4.4: The Menubar
================

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Q4.4.1: How do I get rid of the menubar?
----------------------------------------

     (set-specifier menubar-visible-p nil)

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Q4.4.2: How can I customize the menubar?
----------------------------------------

For an extensive menubar, add this line to your `init.el':

     (load "big-menubar")

   If you'd like to write your own, this file provides as good a set of
examples as any to start from.  The file is located in edit-utils
package.

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Q4.4.3: How do I enable use of the keyboard (`Alt') to access menu items?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

#### Write me.

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Q4.4.4: How do I control how many buffers are listed in the menu `Buffers List'?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Add the following to your `init.el' (suit to fit):

     (setq buffers-menu-max-size 20)

   For no limit, use an argument of `nil'.

   You can also change this with Customize.  Select from the `Options'
menu `Advanced (Customize)->Emacs->Environment->Menu->Buffers Menu->Max
Size...' or type `M-x customize <RET> buffers-menu <RET>'.

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Q4.4.5: Resources like `Emacs*menubar*font' are not working?
------------------------------------------------------------

I am trying to use a resource like `Emacs*menubar*font' to set the font
of the menubar but it's not working.

   In Motif, the use of `font' resources is obsoleted in order to
support internationalization.  If you are using the real Motif menubar,
this resource is not recognized at all; you have to say:

     Emacs*menubar*fontList: FONT

   If you are using the Lucid menubar, for backward compatibility with
existing user configurations, the `font' resource is recognized.  Since
this is not supported by Motif itself, the code is a kludge and the
`font' resource will be recognized only if the `fontList' resource
resource is unset.  This means that the resource

     *fontList: FONT

   will override

     Emacs*menubar*font: FONT

   even though the latter is more specific.

   In non-Motif configurations using `--with-mule' and `--with-xfs' it
_is_ necessary to use the `fontSet' resource _instead of_ the `font'
resource.  The backward compatibility kludge was never implemented for
non-Motif builds.  Example:

     *fontSet: FONT

4.5: The Toolbar
================

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Q4.5.1: How do I get rid of the toolbar?
----------------------------------------

#### Write me.

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Q4.5.2: How can I customize the toolbar?
----------------------------------------

#### Write me.

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File: xemacs-faq.info,  Node: Q4.5.3,  Next: Q4.5.4,  Prev: Q4.5.2,  Up: Display

Q4.5.3: How can I bind a key to a function to toggle the toolbar?
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Try something like:

     (defun my-toggle-toolbar ()
       (interactive)
       (set-specifier default-toolbar-visible-p
                      (not (specifier-instance default-toolbar-visible-p))))
     (global-set-key "\C-xT" 'my-toggle-toolbar)

   Thanks to Martin Buchholz <martin@xemacs.org> for the correct code.

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Q4.5.4: `Can't instantiate image error...' in toolbar
-----------------------------------------------------

Dr. Ram Samudrala <expt@alanine.ram.org> writes:

   I just installed the XEmacs (20.4-2) RPMS that I downloaded from
`http://www.xemacs.org/'.  Everything works fine, except that when I
place my mouse over the toolbar, it beeps and gives me this message:

      Can't instantiate image (probably cached):
      [xbm :mask-file "/usr/include/X11/bitmaps/leftptrmsk :mask-data
      (16 16 <strange control characters> ...

   Kyle Jones <kyle_jones@wonderworks.com> writes:

     This is problem specific to some Chips and Technologies video
     chips, when running XFree86.  Putting

     `Option "sw_cursor"'

     in `XF86Config' gets rid of the problem.

4.6: Scrollbars and Scrolling
=============================

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Q4.6.1: How can I disable the scrollbar?
----------------------------------------

To disable them for all frames, add the following line to your
`.Xresources':

     Emacs.scrollBarWidth:  0

   Or select `Options->Display->Scrollbars'.  Remember to save options.

   To turn the scrollbar off on a per-frame basis, use the following
function:

     (set-specifier scrollbar-width 0 (selected-frame))

   You can actually turn the scrollbars on at any level you want by
substituting for (selected-frame) in the above command.  For example, to
turn the scrollbars off only in a single buffer:

     (set-specifier scrollbar-width 0 (current-buffer))

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Q4.6.2: How can I change the scrollbar width?
---------------------------------------------

#### Write me.

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Q4.6.3: How can I use resources to change scrollbar colors?
-----------------------------------------------------------

Here's a recap of how to use resources to change your scrollbar colors:

     ! Motif scrollbars

     Emacs*XmScrollBar.Background: skyblue
     Emacs*XmScrollBar.troughColor: lightgray

     ! Athena scrollbars

     Emacs*Scrollbar.Foreground: skyblue
     Emacs*Scrollbar.Background: lightgray

   Note the capitalization of `Scrollbar' for the Athena widget.

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Q4.6.4: Moving the scrollbar can move the point; can I disable this?
--------------------------------------------------------------------

When I move the scrollbar in an XEmacs window, it moves the point as
well, which should not be the default behavior.  Is this a bug or a
feature?  Can I disable it?

   The current behavior is a feature, not a bug.  Point remains at the
same buffer position as long as that position does not scroll off the
screen.  In that event, point will end up in either the upper-left or
lower-left hand corner.

   This cannot be changed.

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Q4.6.5: Scrolling one line at a time.
-------------------------------------

Can the cursor keys scroll the screen a line at a time, rather than the
default half page jump?  I tend it to find it disorienting.

   Use the following:

     (setq scroll-step 1)

   You can also change this with Customize.  Select from the `Options'
menu `Advanced (Customize)->Emacs->Environment->Windows->Scroll Step...'
or type `M-x customize <RET> windows <RET>'.

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Q4.6.6: How can I turn off automatic horizontal scrolling in specific modes?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Do `(setq truncate-lines t)' in the mode-hooks for any modes in which
you want lines truncated.

   More precisely: If `truncate-lines' is nil, horizontal scrollbars
will never appear.  Otherwise, they will appear only if the value of
`scrollbar-height' for that buffer/window/etc. is non-zero.  If you do

     (set-specifier scrollbar-height 0)

   then horizontal scrollbars will not appear in truncated buffers
unless the package specifically asked for them.

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Q4.6.7: I find auto-show-mode disconcerting.  How do I turn it off?
-------------------------------------------------------------------

`auto-show-mode' controls whether or not a horizontal scrollbar
magically appears when a line is too long to be displayed.  This is
enabled by default.  To turn it off, put the following in your
`init.el':

     (setq auto-show-mode nil)
     (setq-default auto-show-mode nil)

4.7: The Gutter Tabs, The Progress Bar, Widgets
===============================================

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Q4.7.1: How can I disable the gutter tabs?
------------------------------------------

#### Write me.

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Q4.7.2: How can I disable the progress bar?
-------------------------------------------

#### Write me.

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Q4.7.3: There are bugs in the gutter or widgets.
------------------------------------------------

#### Write me.

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Q4.7.4: How can I customize the gutter or gutter tabs?
------------------------------------------------------

#### Write me.

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File: xemacs-faq.info,  Node: External Subsystems,  Next: Internet,  Prev: Display,  Up: Top

5 Interfacing with the Operating System and External Devices
************************************************************

This is part 5 of the XEmacs Frequently Asked Questions list.  This
section is devoted to the various ways that XEmacs interfaces with the
operating system, with other processes and with external devices such
as speakers and the printer.

* Menu:

5.0: X Window System and Resources
* Q5.0.1::    Where is a list of X resources?
* Q5.0.2::    How can I detect a color display?
* Q5.0.3::    How can I get the icon to just say `XEmacs'?
* Q5.0.4::    How can I have the window title area display the full path?
* Q5.0.5::    `xemacs -name junk' doesn't work?
* Q5.0.6::    `-iconic' doesn't work.

5.1: Microsoft Windows
* Q5.1.1::    Does XEmacs rename all the `win32-*' symbols to `w32-*'?
* Q5.1.2::    How do I get Windows Explorer to associate a file type with XEmacs?

5.2: Printing
* Q5.2.1::    What do I need to change to make printing work?
* Q5.2.2::    How can I print WYSIWYG a font-locked buffer?
* Q5.2.3::    Getting M-x lpr to work with postscript printer.
* Q5.2.4::    Can you print under MS Windows?

5.3: Sound
* Q5.3.1::    How do I turn off the sound?
* Q5.3.2::    How do I get funky sounds instead of a boring beep?
* Q5.3.3::    What are NAS and ESD (EsounD)?
* Q5.3.4::    Sunsite sounds don't play.

5.4: Running an Interior Shell, Invoking Subprocesses
* Q5.4.1::    What is an interior shell?
* Q5.4.2::    How do I start up a second shell buffer?
* Q5.4.3::    Telnet from shell filters too much
* Q5.4.4::    Strange things are happening in Shell Mode.
* Q5.4.5::    XEmacs complains "No such file or directory, diff"
* Q5.4.6::    Cygwin error "fork_copy: linked dll/bss pass 0 failed"

5.5: Multiple Device Support
* Q5.5.1::    How do I open a frame on another screen of my multi-headed display?
* Q5.5.2::    Can I really connect to a running XEmacs after calling up over a modem?  How?
* Q5.5.3::    How do I disable gnuserv from opening a new frame?
* Q5.5.4::    How do I start gnuserv so that each subsequent XEmacs is a client?
* Q5.5.5::    Is there a way to start a new XEmacs if there's no gnuserv running, and otherwise use gnuclient?

5.0: X Window System and Resources
==================================

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Q5.0.1: Where is a list of X resources?
---------------------------------------

Search through the `NEWS' file for `X Resources'.  A fairly
comprehensive list is given after it.

   In addition, an `app-defaults' file `etc/Emacs.ad' is supplied,
listing the defaults.  The file `etc/sample.Xresources' gives a
different set of defaults that you might consider for installation in
your `~/.Xresources' file.  It is nearly the same as `etc/Emacs.ad',
but a few entries are altered.  Be careful about installing the
contents of this file into your `.Xresources' (or legacy `.Xdefaults')
file if you use GNU Emacs under X11 as well.

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Q5.0.2: How can I detect a color display?
-----------------------------------------

You can test the return value of the function `(device-class)', as in:

     (when (eq (device-class) 'color)
       (set-face-foreground  'font-lock-comment-face "Grey")
       (set-face-foreground  'font-lock-string-face  "Red")
       ....
       )

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Q5.0.3: How can I get the icon to just say `XEmacs'?
----------------------------------------------------

I'd like the icon to just say `XEmacs', and not include the name of the
current file in it.

   Add the following line to your `init.el':

     (setq frame-icon-title-format "XEmacs")

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Q5.0.4: How can I have the window title area display the full path?
-------------------------------------------------------------------

I'd like to have the window title area display the full directory/name
of the current buffer file and not just the name.

   Add the following line to your `init.el':

     (setq frame-title-format "%S: %f")

   A more sophisticated title might be:

     (setq frame-title-format
           '("%S: " (buffer-file-name "%f"
                                      (dired-directory dired-directory "%b"))))

   That is, use the file name, or the dired-directory, or the buffer
name.

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Q5.0.5: `xemacs -name junk' doesn't work?
-----------------------------------------

When I run `xterm -name junk', I get an xterm whose class name
according to xprop, is `junk'.  This is the way it's supposed to work,
I think.  When I run `xemacs -name junk' the class name is not set to
`junk'.  It's still `emacs'.  What does `xemacs -name' really do?  The
reason I ask is that my window manager (fvwm) will make a window sticky
and I use XEmacs to read my mail.  I want that XEmacs window to be
sticky, without having to use the window manager's function to set the
window sticky.  What gives?

   `xemacs -name' sets the application name for the program (that is,
the thing which normally comes from `argv[0]').  Using `-name' is the
same as making a copy of the executable with that new name.  The
`WM_CLASS' property on each frame is set to the frame-name, and the
application-class.  So, if you did `xemacs -name FOO' and then created
a frame named BAR, you'd get an X window with WM_CLASS = `( "BAR",
"Emacs")'.  However, the resource hierarchy for this widget would be:

     Name:    FOO   .shell             .container   .BAR
     Class:   Emacs .TopLevelEmacsShell.EmacsManager.EmacsFrame

   instead of the default

     Name:    xemacs.shell             .container   .emacs
     Class:   Emacs .TopLevelEmacsShell.EmacsManager.EmacsFrame

   It is arguable that the first element of WM_CLASS should be set to
the application-name instead of the frame-name, but I think that's less
flexible, since it does not give you the ability to have multiple frames
with different WM_CLASS properties.  Another possibility would be for
the default frame name to come from the application name instead of
simply being `emacs'.  However, at this point, making that change would
be troublesome: it would mean that many users would have to make yet
another change to their resource files (since the default frame name
would suddenly change from `emacs' to `xemacs', or whatever the
executable happened to be named), so we'd rather avoid it.

   To make a frame with a particular name use:

     (make-frame '((name . "the-name")))

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Q5.0.6: `-iconic' doesn't work.
-------------------------------

When I start up XEmacs using `-iconic' it doesn't work right.  Using
`-unmapped' on the command line, and setting the `initiallyUnmapped' X
Resource don't seem to help much either...

   Ben Wing <ben@xemacs.org> writes:

     Ugh, this stuff is such an incredible mess that I've about given up
     getting it to work.  The principal problem is numerous
     window-manager bugs...

5.1: Microsoft Windows
======================

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Q5.1.1: Does XEmacs rename all the `win32-*' symbols to `w32-*'?
----------------------------------------------------------------

In his flavor of Emacs 20, Richard Stallman has renamed all the
`win32-*' symbols to `w32-*'.  Does XEmacs do the same?

   We consider such a move counter-productive, thus we do not use the
`w32' prefix. (His rather questionable justification was that he did
not consider Windows to be a "winning" platform.) However, the name
`Win32' is not particularly descriptive outside the Windows world, and
using just `windows-' would be too generic.  So we chose a compromise,
the prefix `mswindows-' for Windows-related variables and functions.

   Thus all the XEmacs variables and functions directly related to
either the Windows GUI or OS are prefixed `mswindows-' (except for a
couple of debugging variables, prefixed `debug-mswindows-').  From an
architectural perspective, however, we believe that this is mostly a
non-issue because there should be a very small number of
window-systems-specific variables anyway.  Whenever possible, we try to
provide generic interfaces that apply to all window systems.

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Q5.1.2: How do I get Windows Explorer to associate a file type with XEmacs?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Associating a new file type with XEmacs.
........................................

In Explorer select `View->Options->File Types', press `[New Type...]'
and fill in the dialog box, e.g.:

             Description of type:    Emacs Lisp source
             Associated extension:   el
             Content Type (MIME):    text/plain

   then press `[New...]' and fill in the `Action' dialog box as follows:

             Action:
             Open

             Application used to perform action:
             D:\Full\path\for\xemacs.exe "%1"

             [x] Use DDE

             DDE Message:
             open("%1")

             Application:
             <leave blank>

             DDE Application Not Running:
             <leave blank>

             Topic:
             <leave blank>

Associating an existing file type with XEmacs.
..............................................

In Explorer select `View->Options->File Types'.  Click on the file type
in the list and press `[Edit...]'.  If the file type already has an
`Open' action, double click on it and fill in the `Action' dialog box
as described above; otherwise create a new action.

   If the file type has more than one action listed, you probably want
to make the `Open' action that you just edited the default by clicking
on it and pressing `Set Default'.

   Note for Windows 2000 users: Under Windows 2000, get to `File Types'
using `Control Panel->Folder Options->File Types'.

5.2: Printing
=============

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Q5.2.1: What do I need to change to make printing work?
-------------------------------------------------------

For regular printing there are two variables that can be customized.

`lpr-command'
     This should be set to a command that takes standard input and sends
     it to a printer.  Something like:

          (setq lpr-command "lp")

`lpr-switches'
     This should be set to a list that contains whatever the print
     command requires to do its job.  Something like:

          (setq lpr-switches '("-depson"))

   For postscript printing there are three analogous variables to
customize.

`ps-lpr-command'
     This should be set to a command that takes postscript on standard
     input and directs it to a postscript printer.

`ps-lpr-switches'
     This should be set to a list of switches required for
     `ps-lpr-command' to do its job.

`ps-print-color-p'
     This boolean variable should be set `t' if printing will be done in
     color, otherwise it should be set to `nil'.

   NOTE: It is an undocumented limitation in XEmacs that postscript
printing (the `Pretty Print Buffer' menu item) *requires* a window
system environment.  It cannot be used outside of X11.

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Q5.2.2: How can I print WYSIWYG a font-locked buffer?
-----------------------------------------------------

Font-lock looks nice.  How can I print (WYSIWYG) the highlighted
document?

   The package `ps-print', which is now included with XEmacs, provides
the ability to do this.  The source code contains complete instructions
on its use, in
`$prefix/lib/xemacs/xemacs-packages/lisp/ps-print/ps-print.el', being
the default location of an installed ps-print package.

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Q5.2.3: Getting `M-x lpr' to work with postscript printer.
----------------------------------------------------------

My printer is a Postscript printer and `lpr' only works for Postscript
files, so how do I get `M-x lpr-region' and `M-x lpr-buffer' to work?

   Put something like this in your `init.el':

     (setq lpr-command "a2ps")
     (setq lpr-switches '("-p" "-1"))

   If you don't use a2ps to convert ASCII to postscript (why not, it's
free?), replace with the command you do use.  Note also that some
versions of a2ps require a `-Pprinter' to ensure spooling.

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Q5.2.4: Can you print under MS Windows?
---------------------------------------

As of 21.4, printing works on Windows, using simply `File->Print
BUFFER...', and can be configured with `File->Page Setup...'.

   Prior to 21.4, there is no built-in support, but there are some
clever hacks out there.  If you know how, please let us know and we'll
put it here.

5.3: Sound
==========

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Q5.3.1: How do I turn off the sound?
------------------------------------

Add the following line to your `init.el':

     (setq bell-volume 0)
     (setq sound-alist nil)

   That will make your XEmacs totally silent--even the default ding
sound (TTY beep on TTY-s) will be gone.

   You can also change these with Customize.  Select from the `Options'
menu `Advanced (Customize)->Emacs->Environment->Sound->Sound...' or
type `M-x customize <RET> sound <RET>'.

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Q5.3.2: How do I get funky sounds instead of a boring beep?
-----------------------------------------------------------

Make sure your XEmacs was compiled with sound support, and then put this
in your `init.el':

     (load-default-sounds)

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Q5.3.3: What are NAS and ESD (EsounD)?
--------------------------------------

"Network Audio System" (NAS) is a client-server sound library for X.

   `http://radscan.com/nas.html'.

   To build XEmacs with it, use the `configure' flag `--with-sound=nas'
(`--enable-sound=nas' in 21.5 or later).

   "Enlightened Sound Daemon" (ESD or EsounD) is yet another sound
system.

   `http://www.tux.org/~ricdude/EsounD.html'.

   To build XEmacs with it, use the `configure' flag `--with-sound=esd'
(`--enable-sound=esd' in 21.5 or later).

   You can specify support for both with a flag like
`--with-sound=nas,esd' (`--enable-sound=nas,esd' in 21.5 or later).

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Q5.3.4: Sunsite sounds don't play.
----------------------------------

I'm having some trouble with sounds I've downloaded from sunsite.  They
play when I run them through `showaudio' or cat them directly to
`/dev/audio', but XEmacs refuses to play them.

   Markus Gutschke <gutschk@uni-muenster.de> writes:

     [Many of] These files have an (erroneous) 24byte header that tells
     about the format that they have been recorded in. If you cat them
     to `/dev/audio', the header will be ignored and the default
     behavior for /dev/audio will be used. This happens to be 8kHz
     uLaw. It is probably possible to fix the header by piping through
     `sox' and passing explicit parameters for specifying the sampling
     format; you then need to perform a 'null' conversion from SunAudio
     to SunAudio.

5.4: Running an Interior Shell, Invoking Subprocesses
=====================================================

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Q5.4.1: What is an interior shell?
----------------------------------

#### Write me.

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Q5.4.2: How do I start up a second shell buffer?
------------------------------------------------

In the `*shell*' buffer:

     M-x rename-buffer <RET> *shell-1* <RET>
     M-x shell RET

   This will then start a second shell.  The key is that no buffer named
`*shell*' can exist.  It might be preferable to use `M-x
rename-uniquely' to rename the `*shell*' buffer instead of `M-x
rename-buffer'.

   Alternately, you can set the variable `shell-multiple-shells'.  If
the value of this variable is non-nil, each time shell mode is invoked,
a new shell is made

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Q5.4.3: Telnet from shell filters too much
------------------------------------------

I'm using the Emacs `M-x shell' function, and I would like to invoke
and use a telnet session within it.  Everything works fine except that
now all `^M''s are filtered out by Emacs.  Fixes?

   Use `M-x rsh' or `M-x telnet' to open remote sessions rather than
doing rsh or telnet within the local shell buffer.  You can also use
`M-x ssh' to open secure remote session if you have `ssh' installed.

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Q5.4.4: Strange things are happening in Shell Mode.
---------------------------------------------------

Sometimes (i.e. it's not repeatable, and I can't work out why it
happens) when I'm typing into shell mode, I hit return and only a
portion of the command is given to the shell, and a blank prompt is
returned.  If I hit return again, the rest of the previous command is
given to the shell.

   Martin Buchholz <martin@xemacs.org> writes:

     There is a known problem with interaction between `csh' and the
     `filec' option and XEmacs.  You should add the following to your
     `.cshrc':

          if ( "$TERM" == emacs || "$TERM" == unknown ) unset filec

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Q5.4.5: XEmacs complains "No such file or directory, diff"
----------------------------------------------------------

or "ispell" or other commands that seem related to whatever you just
tried to do (M-x ediff or M-$, for example).

   There are a large number of common (in the sense that "everyone has
these, they really do") Unix utilities that are not provided with
XEmacs.  The GNU Project's implementations are available for Windows in
the the Cygwin distribution (`http://www.cygwin.com/'), which also
provides a complete Unix emulation environment (and thus makes ports of
Unix utilities nearly trivial).  Another implementation is that from
MinGW (`http://www.mingw.org/msys.shtml').  If you know of others,
please let us know!

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Q5.4.6: Cygwin error "fork_copy: linked dll/bss pass 0 failed"
--------------------------------------------------------------

If you are getting an error like

     17797832 [main] bash 3468 fork_copy: linked dll/bss pass 0 failed,
     0x675000..0x6756A0, done 0, windows pid 2708, Win 32 error 487
     bash: fork: resource temporarily unavailable

   when trying to run bash using `M-x shell', then you need to rebase
your Cygwin DLL's.  This is a known problem with Cygwin.  To fix:

  1. Download the `rebase' utility from Cygwin setup (it's under
     `System').

  2. Kill *all* of your Cygwin processes, including all of your shells
     and all background processes.  Use `ps -a' to list all the
     processes you need to kill.

  3. From a DOS prompt, run `ash' (*not* `bash', `tcsh' or `zsh').  Do
     not try to be clever and `exec /bin/ash' from your last shell; it
     won't work.

  4. Type `/bin/rebaseall -v'.

   The problem should now be fixed - at least, until you install another
Cygwin package with DLL's, in which case you may have to repeat the
procedure.

5.5: Multiple Device Support
============================

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Q5.5.1: How do I open a frame on another screen of my multi-headed display?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Use the command `M-x make-frame-on-display'.  This command is also on
the File menu in the menubar.

   The command `make-frame-on-tty' also exists, which will establish a
connection to any tty-like device.  Opening the TTY devices should be
left to `gnuclient', though.

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Q5.5.2: Can I really connect to a running XEmacs after calling up over a modem?  How?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yes.  Use `gnuclient -nw'.

   Also see *Note How do I disable gnuserv from opening a new frame?:
Q5.5.3.

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Q5.5.3: How do I disable gnuserv from opening a new frame?
----------------------------------------------------------

If you set the `gnuserv-frame' variable to the frame that should be
used to display buffers that are pulled up, a new frame will not be
created. For example, you could put

     (setq gnuserv-frame (selected-frame))

   early on in your `init.el', to ensure that the first frame created
is the one used for your gnuserv buffers.

   There is an option to set the gnuserv target to the current frame.
See `Options->Display->"Other Window" Location->Make Current Frame
Gnuserv Target'

   You can also change this with Customize.  Select from the `Options'
menu `Advanced (Customize)->Emacs->Environment->Gnuserv->Gnuserv
Frame...'  or type `M-x customize <RET> gnuserv <RET>'.

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Q5.5.4: How do I start gnuserv so that each subsequent XEmacs is a client?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Put the following in your `init.el' file to start the server:

     (gnuserv-start)

   Start your first XEmacs as usual.  After that, you can do:

     gnuclient randomfilename

   from the command line to get your existing XEmacs process to open a
new frame and visit randomfilename in that window. When you're done
editing randomfilename, hit `C-x #' to kill the buffer and get rid of
the frame.

   See also man page of gnuclient.

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Q5.5.5: Is there a way to start a new XEmacs if there's no gnuserv running, and otherwise use gnuclient?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jan Vroonhof <vroonhof@math.ethz.ch> writes:

     Here is one of the solutions, we have this in a script called
     `etc/editclient.sh'.
           #!/bin/sh
           if gnuclient -batch -eval t >/dev/null 2>&1
           then
             exec gnuclient ${1+"$@"}
           else
             xemacs -unmapped -f gnuserv-start &
             until gnuclient -batch -eval t >/dev/null 2>&1
             do
                sleep 1
             done
             exec gnuclient ${1+"$@"}
           fi

     Note that there is a known problem when running XEmacs and
     'gnuclient -nw' on the same TTY.

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6 Connecting to the Internet
****************************

This is part 6 of the XEmacs Frequently Asked Questions list.  This
section is devoted connecting to the Internet.

* Menu:

6.0: General Mail and News
* Q6.0.1::    What are the various packages for reading mail?
* Q6.0.2::    How can I send mail?
* Q6.0.3::    How do I get my outgoing mail archived?
* Q6.0.4::    How can I read and/or compose MIME messages?
* Q6.0.5::    How do I customize the From line?
* Q6.0.6::    How do I get my MUA to filter mail for me?
* Q6.0.7::    Remote mail reading with an MUA.
* Q6.0.8::    An MUA gets an error incorporating new mail.
* Q6.0.9::    Why isn't `movemail' working?
* Q6.0.10::   How do I make my MUA display graphical smilies?
* Q6.0.11::   How can I get those oh-so-neat X-Face lines?

6.1: Reading Mail with VM
* Q6.1.1::    How do I set up VM to retrieve mail from a remote site using POP?
* Q6.1.2::    How can I get VM to automatically check for new mail?
* Q6.1.3::    I have various addresses at which I receive mail.  How can I tell VM to ignore them when doing a "reply-all"?
* Q6.1.4::    Is there a mailing list or FAQ for VM?
* Q6.1.5::    How do I make VM stay in a single frame?
* Q6.1.6::    Customization of VM not covered in the manual, or here.

6.2: Reading Netnews and Mail with Gnus
* Q6.2.1::    GNUS, (ding) Gnus, Gnus 5, September Gnus, Red Gnus, Quassia Gnus, argh!
* Q6.2.2::    How do I make Gnus stay within a single frame?

6.3: FTP Access
* Q6.3.1::    Can I edit files on other hosts?
* Q6.3.2::    What is EFS?

6.4: Web Browsing with W3
* Q6.4.1::    What is W3?
* Q6.4.2::    How do I run W3 from behind a firewall?
* Q6.4.3::    Is it true that W3 supports style sheets and tables?

6.0: General Mail and News
==========================

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Q6.0.1: What are the various packages for reading mail?
-------------------------------------------------------

#### Write me.

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Q6.0.2: How can I send mail?
----------------------------

Under Unix and Mac OS X, the `sendmail' package is normally used for
this.  #### Write me.

   Under Windows, you need to use `smtpmail', which communicates
directly with the mail server, as there is no `sendmail' program
running.  To get it working, use code like the following in your
`init.el' file:

       ;; Get mail working under Windows.
       (setq message-send-mail-function 'smtpmail-send-it) ; for message/Gnus
       (setq send-mail-function 'smtpmail-send-it) ; for C-x m, etc.
       ;; the following ensures that mail problems can be debugged: it logs a trace
       ;; of the SMTP conversation to *trace of SMTP session to <somewhere>*.
       (setq smtpmail-debug-info t)
       ;; Substitute your info here.
       ;(setq user-mail-address "ben@xemacs.org")
       ;(setq user-full-name "Ben Wing")
       ;(setq smtpmail-default-smtp-server "smtp.myserver.myisp.com")
       ;; The following two aren't completely necessary but may help.
       ;(setq smtpmail-local-domain "666.com")
       ;(setq smtpmail-sendto-domain "666.com")
       ;; If your SMTP server requires a username/password to authenticate, as
       ;; many do nowadays, set them like this:
       ;(setq smtpmail-auth-credentials  ; or use ~/.authinfo
       ;        '(("smtp.myserver.myisp.com" 25 "USER@SOMEWHERE" "PASSWORD")))

       ;; Other possibilities for getting smtpmail to work:
       ;;
       ;;  If for some reason you need to authenticate using the STARTTLS protocol
       ;;   (don't look into this unless you know what it is), use
       ;;  (setq smtpmail-starttls-credentials
       ;;      '(("YOUR SMTP HOST" 25 "~/.my_smtp_tls.key" "~/.my_smtp_tls.cert")))
       ;;  Requires external program
       ;;    ftp://ftp.opaopa.org/pub/elisp/starttls-*.tar.gz.
       ;;  See http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2246.txt,
       ;;      http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2487.txt

   The lines you need to care about are those that set
`user-mail-address', `user-full-name', `smtpmail-default-smtp-server',
and `smtpmail-auth-credentials'.  You need to set these with,
respectively, your email address, your full name, the SMTP server you
use for outgoing mail, and the username and password you need to log in
to your SMTP server. (If for some reason your SMTP server doesn't
require logging in to send mail, don't uncomment this last line.)

   The other settings may be useful in specific cases, but you should
know what you're doing before enabling them.

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Q6.0.3: How do I get my outgoing mail archived?
-----------------------------------------------

     (setq mail-archive-file-name "~/outbox")

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Q6.0.4: How can I read and/or compose MIME messages?
----------------------------------------------------

VM, MH-E and GNUS support MIME natively.  Other MUAs may or may not
have MIME support; refer to their documentation and other resources,
such as web pages and mailing lists.  Packages like SEMI/WEMI may be
useful in connection with MUAs like mew and Wanderlust.

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Q6.0.5: How do I customize the From line?
-----------------------------------------

How do I change the `From:' line?  I have set gnus-user-from-line to
     Gail Gurman <gail.gurman@sybase.com>
   , but XEmacs Gnus doesn't use it. [This should apply to all MUA's.
-ed] Instead it uses
     Gail Mara Gurman <gailg@deall>
   and then complains that it's incorrect. Also, as you perhaps can
see, my Message-ID is screwy. How can I change that?

   Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@ifi.uio.no> writes:

     Set `user-mail-address' to `gail.gurman@sybase.com' or
     `mail-host-address' to `sybase.com'.

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Q6.0.6: How do I get my MUA to filter mail for me?
--------------------------------------------------

One possibility is to use procmail to split your mail before it gets to
the MUA.  I prefer this personally, since there are many strange and
wonderful things one can do with procmail.  Procmail may be found at
`http://www.procmail.org/'.

   Also see the Mail Filtering FAQ at:
`http://www.faqs.org/faqs/mail/filtering-faq/'.

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Q6.0.7: Remote mail reading with an MUA.
----------------------------------------

My mailbox lives at the office on a big honkin server.  My regular INBOX
lives on my honkin desktop machine.  I now can PPP to the office from
home which is far from honking...  I'd like to be able to read mail at
home without storing it here and I'd like to use xemacs and the MUA at
home...  Is there a recommended setup?

   Joseph J. Nuspl Jr. <nuspl@nvwls.cc.purdue.edu> writes:

     There are several ways to do this.

       1. Set your display to your home machine and run dxpc or one of
          the other X compressors.

       2. NFS mount your desktop machine on your home machine and
          modify your pop command on your home machine to rsh to your
          desktop machine and actually do the pop get's.

       3. Run a POP server on your desktop machine as well and do a
          sort of two tiered POP get.

   William Perry <wmperry@monolith.spry.com> adds:

     Or you could run a pop script periodically on your desktop
     machine, and just use ange-ftp or NFS to get to your mailbox.  I
     used to do this all the time back at IU.

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Q6.0.8: An MUA gets an error incorporating new mail.
----------------------------------------------------

rmail and VM, and probably other MUA's as well, get new mail from your
mailbox (called `/var/mail/$USER' or `/var/spool/mail/$USER' or
something similar) using a program called `movemail'.  This program
interlocks with `/bin/mail' using the protocol defined by `/bin/mail'.

   There are various different protocols in general use, which you need
to specify using the `--mail-locking' option (`--with-mail-locking' in
21.5 or later) to `configure':

`lockf'
     POSIX file locking with `lockf()'

`flock'
     BSD file locking with `flock()'

`dot'
     To manipulate mail file `foo', first create file `foo.lock'

`locking'
     Use `locking()', Microsoft's renamed `flock()'

`mmdf'
     Use `lk_open()' and `lk_close()' as defined by the Multi-channel
     Memo Distribution Facility

`pop'
     Retrieve mail using POP (the Post Office Protocol).  This is the
     default for Cygwin/MinGW.

   *IF YOU DON'T USE THE FORM OF INTERLOCKING THAT IS NORMAL ON YOUR
SYSTEM, YOU CAN LOSE MAIL!*

   Usually the value is correctly determined automatically: `configure'
tries to detect the method in use, and defaults exist on systems for
which this doesn't work.

   However, if you run into problems incorporating new mail, it may be
because an incorrect method is being used.

   If your system uses the lock file protocol, and permissions are set
so that ordinary users cannot write lock files in the mail spool
directory, you may need to make `movemail' setgid to a suitable group
such as `mail'.  You can use these commands (as root):

     chgrp mail movemail
     chmod 2755 movemail

   If you are using the `pop' locking method, `movemail' must be setuid
root.

   Installation normally copies movemail from the build directory to an
installation directory which is usually under `/usr/local/lib'.  The
installed copy of `movemail' is usually in the directory
`/usr/local/lib/xemacs-VERSION/TARGET' (for example,
`/usr/local/lib/xemacs-21.4.15/i686-pc-cygwin').  You must change the
group and mode of the installed copy; changing the group and mode of
the build directory copy is ineffective.

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Q6.0.9: Why isn't `movemail' working?
-------------------------------------

*Note Q6.0.8::.

   Note also that older versions of Mozilla came with a `movemail'
program that is *not* compatible with XEmacs.  Do not use it.  Always
use the `movemail' installed with your XEmacs.  Failure to do so can
result in lost mail.

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Q6.0.10: How do I make my MUA display graphical smilies?
--------------------------------------------------------

For mh-e use the following:

     (add-hook 'mh-show-mode-hook '(lambda ()
                                     (smiley-region (point-min)
                                                    (point-max))))

   WJCarpenter <bill@carpenter.ORG> writes: For VM use the following:
            (autoload 'smiley-region "smiley" nil t)
            (add-hook 'vm-select-message-hook
                      '(lambda ()
                         (smiley-region (point-min)
                                        (point-max))))

   For tm use the following:
     (autoload 'smiley-buffer "smiley" nil t)
     (add-hook 'mime-viewer/plain-text-preview-hook 'smiley-buffer)

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Q6.0.11: How can I get those oh-so-neat X-Face lines?
-----------------------------------------------------

Firstly there is an ftp site which describes X-faces and has the
associated tools mentioned below, at
`http://ftp.cs.indiana.edu/pub/faces/'.

   Then the steps are

  1. Create 48x48x1 bitmap with your favorite tool

  2. Convert to "icon" format using one of xbm2ikon, pbmtoicon, etc.,
     and then compile the face.

  3.      cat file.xbm | xbm2ikon |compface > file.face

  4. Then be sure to quote things that are necessary for emacs strings:

          cat ./file.face | sed 's/\\/\\\\/g'
          | sed 's/\"/\\\"/g' > ./file.face.quoted

  5. Then set up emacs to include the file as a mail header - there
     were a couple of suggestions here--either something like:

          (setq  mail-default-headers
                 "X-Face:  <Ugly looking text string here>")

     Or, alternatively, as:

          (defun mail-insert-x-face ()
            (save-excursion
              (goto-char (point-min))
              (search-forward mail-header-separator)
              (beginning-of-line)
              (insert "X-Face:")
              (insert-file-contents "~/.face")))

          (add-hook 'mail-setup-hook 'mail-insert-x-face)

   However, 2 things might be wrong:

   Some versions of pbmtoicon produces some header lines that is not
expected by the version of compface that I grabbed. So I found I had to
include a `tail +3' in the pipeline like this:

     cat file.xbm | xbm2ikon | tail +3 |compface > file.face

   Some people have also found that if one uses the `(insert-file)'
method, one should NOT quote the face string using the sed script .

   It might also be helpful to use Stig's <stig@hackvan.com> script
xbm2face (included in the compface distribution at XEmacs.org) to do the
conversion.

   Contributors for this item:

   Paul Emsley, Ricardo Marek, Amir J. Katz, Glen McCort, Heinz Uphoff,
Peter Arius, Paul Harrison, and Vegard Vesterheim

6.1: Reading Mail with VM
=========================

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Q6.1.1: How do I set up VM to retrieve mail from a remote site using POP?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Use `vm-spool-files', like this for example:

     (setq vm-spool-files '("/var/spool/mail/wing"
                            "netcom23.netcom.com:110:pass:wing:MYPASS"))

   Of course substitute your actual password for MYPASS.

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Q6.1.2: How can I get VM to automatically check for new mail?
-------------------------------------------------------------

John Turner <turner@lanl.gov> writes:

     Use the following:

          (setq vm-auto-get-new-mail 60)

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Q6.1.3: I have various addresses at which I receive mail.  How can I tell VM to ignore them when doing a "reply-all"?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Set `vm-reply-ignored-addresses' to a list, like

     (setq vm-reply-ignored-addresses
           '("wing@nuspl@nvwls.cc.purdue.edu,netcom[0-9]*.netcom.com"
             "wing@netcom.com" "wing@xemacs.org"))

   Note that each string is a regular expression.

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Q6.1.4: Is there a mailing list or FAQ for VM?
----------------------------------------------

A FAQ for VM exists at `http://www.wonderworks.com/vm/FAQ.html'.

   VM has its own newsgroups gnu.emacs.vm.info and gnu.emacs.vm.bug.

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Q6.1.5: How do I make VM stay in a single frame?
------------------------------------------------

John.John S Cooper <Cooper@Eng.Sun.COM> writes:

                                                  ; Don't use multiple frames
          (setq vm-frame-per-composition nil)
          (setq vm-frame-per-folder nil)
          (setq vm-frame-per-edit nil)
          (setq vm-frame-per-summary nil)

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Q6.1.6: Customization of VM not covered in the manual, or here.
---------------------------------------------------------------

giacomo boffi <boffi@hp735.stru.polimi.it> writes:

     The meta-answer is to look into the file `vm-vars.el', in the vm
     directory of the lisp library.

     `vm-vars.el' contains, initializes and carefully describes, with
     examples of usage, the plethora of user options that _fully_
     control VM's behavior.

     Enter vm-vars, `forward-search' for toolbar, find the variables
     that control the toolbar placement, appearance, existence, copy to
     your `init.el' or `.vm' and modify according to the detailed
     instructions.

     The above also applies to all the various features of VM: search
     for some keywords, maybe the first you conjure isn't appropriate,
     find the appropriate variables, copy and experiment.

6.2: Reading Netnews and Mail with Gnus
=======================================

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Q6.2.1: GNUS, (ding) Gnus, Gnus 5, September Gnus, Red Gnus, Quassia Gnus, argh!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Gnus numbering issues are not meant for mere mortals to know them.
If you feel you _must_ enter the muddy waters of Gnus, visit the
excellent FAQ, maintained by Justin Sheehy, at:

     `http://my.gnus.org/FAQ/'

   See also Gnus home page
     `http://www.gnus.org/'

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Q6.2.2: How do I make Gnus stay within a single frame?
------------------------------------------------------

The toolbar code to start Gnus opens the new frame--and it's a feature
rather than a bug.  If you don't like it, but would still like to click
on the seemly icon, use the following code:

     (defun toolbar-news ()
       (gnus))

   It will redefine the callback function of the icon to just call
`gnus', without all the fancy frame stuff.

6.3: FTP Access
===============

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Q6.3.1: Can I edit files on other hosts?
----------------------------------------

Yes.  Of course XEmacs can use any network file system (such as NFS or
Windows file sharing) you have available, and includes some
optimizations and safety features appropriate to those environments.

   It is also possible to transparently edit files via FTP, ssh, or
rsh.  That is, XEmacs makes a local copy using the transport in the
background, and automatically refreshes the remote original from that
copy when you save it.  XEmacs also is capable of doing file system
manipulations like creating and removing directories and files.  The
FTP interface is provided by the standard `efs' package *Note EFS:
(efs)Top.  The ssh/rsh interface is provided by the optional `tramp'
package *Note TRAMP: (tramp)Top.

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Q6.3.2: What is EFS?
--------------------

#### Write me.

6.4: Web Browsing with W3
=========================

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Q6.4.1: What is W3?
-------------------

W3 is an advanced graphical browser written in Emacs lisp that runs on
XEmacs.  It has full support for cascaded style sheets, and more...

   It has a home web page at
`http://www.cs.indiana.edu/elisp/w3/docs.html'.

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Q6.4.2: How do I run W3 from behind a firewall?
-----------------------------------------------

There is a long, well-written, detailed section in the W3 manual that
describes how to do this.  Look in the section entitled "Firewalls".

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Q6.4.3: Is it true that W3 supports style sheets and tables?
------------------------------------------------------------

Yes, and much more.  W3, as distributed with the latest XEmacs is a
full-featured web browser.

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7 Advanced Customization Using XEmacs Lisp
******************************************

This is part 7 of the XEmacs Frequently Asked Questions list.  This
section is devoted to advanced customization using XEmacs Lisp.

* Menu:

7.0: Emacs Lisp and `init.el'
* Q7.0.1::    What version of Emacs am I running?
* Q7.0.2::    How can I evaluate Emacs-Lisp expressions?
* Q7.0.3::    `(setq tab-width 6)' behaves oddly.
* Q7.0.4::    How can I add directories to the `load-path'?
* Q7.0.5::    How to check if a lisp function is defined?
* Q7.0.6::    Can I force the output of `(face-list)' to a buffer?

7.1: Emacs Lisp Programming Techniques
* Q7.1.1::    What is the difference in key sequences between XEmacs and GNU Emacs?
* Q7.1.2::    Can I generate "fake" keyboard events?
* Q7.1.3::    Could you explain `read-kbd-macro' in more detail?
* Q7.1.4::    What is the performance hit of `let'?
* Q7.1.5::    What is the recommended use of `setq'?
* Q7.1.6::    What is the typical misuse of `setq'?
* Q7.1.7::    I like the `do' form of cl, does it slow things down?
* Q7.1.8::    I like recursion, does it slow things down?
* Q7.1.9::    How do I put a glyph as annotation in a buffer?
* Q7.1.10::   `map-extents' won't traverse all of my extents!
* Q7.1.11::   My elisp program is horribly slow.  Is there an easy way to find out where it spends time?

7.2: Mathematics
* Q7.2.1::    What are bignums, ratios, and bigfloats in Lisp?
* Q7.2.2::    XEmacs segfaults when I use very big numbers!
* Q7.2.3::    Bignums are really slow!
* Q7.2.4::    Equal bignums don't compare as equal!  What gives?

7.0: Emacs Lisp and `init.el'
=============================

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Q7.0.1: What version of Emacs am I running?
-------------------------------------------

How can `init.el' determine which of the family of Emacsen I am using?

   To determine if you are currently running GNU Emacs 18, GNU Emacs 19,
XEmacs 19, XEmacs 20, or Epoch, and use appropriate code, check out the
example given in `etc/sample.init.el' (`etc/sample.emacs' in XEmacs
versions prior to 21.4).  There are other nifty things in there as well!

   For all new code, all you really need to do is:

     (defvar running-xemacs (string-match "XEmacs\\|Lucid" emacs-version))

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Q7.0.2: How can I evaluate Emacs-Lisp expressions?
--------------------------------------------------

I know I can evaluate Elisp expressions from `*scratch*' buffer with
`C-j' after the expression.  How do I do it from another buffer?

   Press `M-:' (the default binding of `eval-expression'), and enter
the expression to the minibuffer.

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Q7.0.3: `(setq tab-width 6)' behaves oddly.
-------------------------------------------

If you put `(setq tab-width 6)' in your `init.el' file it does not
work!  Is there a reason for this?  If you do it at the EVAL prompt it
works fine!! How strange.

   Use `setq-default' instead, since `tab-width' is all-buffer-local.

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Q7.0.4: How can I add directories to the `load-path'?
-----------------------------------------------------

Here are two ways to do that, one that puts your directories at the
front of the load-path, the other at the end:

     ;;; Add things at the beginning of the load-path, do not add
     ;;; duplicate directories:
     (pushnew "bar" load-path :test 'equal)

     (pushnew "foo" load-path :test 'equal)

     ;;; Add things at the end, unconditionally
     (setq load-path (nconc load-path '("foo" "bar")))

   keith (k.p.) hanlan <keithh@nortel.ca> writes:

     To add directories using Unix shell metacharacters use
     `expand-file-name' like this:

          (push (expand-file-name "~keithh/.emacsdir") load-path)

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Q7.0.5: How to check if a lisp function is defined?
---------------------------------------------------

Use the following elisp:

     (fboundp 'foo)

   It's almost always a mistake to test `emacs-version' or any similar
variables.

   Instead, use feature-tests, such as `featurep', `boundp', `fboundp',
or even simple behavioral tests, eg.:

     (defvar foo-old-losing-code-p
       (condition-case nil (progn (losing-code t) nil)
         (wrong-number-of-arguments t)))

   There is an incredible amount of broken code out there which could
work much better more often in more places if it did the above instead
of trying to divine its environment from the value of one variable.

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File: xemacs-faq.info,  Node: Q7.0.6,  Next: Q7.1.1,  Prev: Q7.0.5,  Up: Advanced

Q7.0.6: Can I force the output of `(face-list)' to a buffer?
------------------------------------------------------------

It would be good having it in a buffer, as the output of `(face-list)'
is too wide to fit to a minibuffer.

   Evaluate the expression in the `*scratch*' buffer with point after
the rightmost paren and typing `C-j'.

   If the minibuffer smallness is the only problem you encounter, you
can simply press `C-h l' to get the former minibuffer contents in a
buffer.

7.1: Emacs Lisp Programming Techniques
======================================

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File: xemacs-faq.info,  Node: Q7.1.1,  Next: Q7.1.2,  Prev: Q7.0.6,  Up: Advanced

Q7.1.1: What is the difference in key sequences between XEmacs and GNU Emacs?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Erik Naggum <clerik@naggum.no> writes;

     Emacs has a legacy of keyboards that produced characters with
     modifier bits, and therefore map a variety of input systems into
     this scheme even today.  XEmacs is instead optimized for X events.
     This causes an incompatibility in the way key sequences are
     specified, but both Emacs and XEmacs will accept a key sequence as
     a vector of lists of modifiers that ends with a key, e.g., to bind
     `M-C-a', you would say `[(meta control a)]' in both Emacsen.
     XEmacs has an abbreviated form for a single key, just (meta
     control a).  Emacs has an abbreviated form for the Control and the
     Meta modifiers to string-characters (the ASCII characters), as in
     `\M-\C-a'.  XEmacs users need to be aware that the abbreviated
     form works only for one-character key sequences, while Emacs users
     need to be aware that the string-character is rather limited.
     Specifically, the string-character can accommodate only 256
     different values, 128 of which have the Meta modifier and 128 of
     which have not.  In each of these blocks, only 32 characters have
     the Control modifier.  Whereas `[(meta control A)]' differs from
     `[(meta control a)]' because the case differs, `\M-\C-a' and
     `\M-\C-A' do not.  Programmers are advised to use the full common
     form, both because it is more readable and less error-prone, and
     because it is supported by both Emacsen.

   Another (even safer) way to be sure of the key-sequences is to use
the `read-kbd-macro' function, which takes a string like `C-c <up>',
and converts it to the internal key representation of the Emacs you
use.  The function is available both on XEmacs and GNU Emacs.

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File: xemacs-faq.info,  Node: Q7.1.2,  Next: Q7.1.3,  Prev: Q7.1.1,  Up: Advanced

Q7.1.2: Can I generate "fake" keyboard events?
----------------------------------------------

I wonder if there is an interactive function that can generate "fake"
keyboard events.  This way, I could simply map them inside XEmacs.

   This seems to work:

     (defun cg--generate-char-event (ch)
       "Generate an event, as if ch has been typed"
       (dispatch-event (character-to-event ch)))

     ;;  Backspace and Delete stuff
     (global-set-key [backspace]
       (lambda () (interactive) (cg--generate-char-event 127)))
     (global-set-key [unknown_keysym_0x4]
       (lambda () (interactive) (cg--generate-char-event 4)))

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File: xemacs-faq.info,  Node: Q7.1.3,  Next: Q7.1.4,  Prev: Q7.1.2,  Up: Advanced

Q7.1.3: Could you explain `read-kbd-macro' in more detail?
----------------------------------------------------------

The `read-kbd-macro' function returns the internal Emacs representation
of a human-readable string (which is its argument).  Thus:

     (read-kbd-macro "C-c C-a")
     => [(control ?c) (control ?a)]

     (read-kbd-macro "C-c C-. <up>")
     => [(control ?c) (control ?.) up]

   In GNU Emacs the same forms will be evaluated to what GNU Emacs
understands internally--the sequences `"\C-x\C-c"' and `[3 67108910
up]', respectively.

   The exact "human-readable" syntax is defined in the docstring of
`edmacro-mode'.  I'll repeat it here, for completeness.

     Format of keyboard macros during editing:

     Text is divided into "words" separated by whitespace.  Except for
     the words described below, the characters of each word go directly
     as characters of the macro.  The whitespace that separates words is
     ignored.  Whitespace in the macro must be written explicitly, as in
     `foo <SPC> bar <RET>'.

        * The special words `RET', `SPC', `TAB', `DEL', `LFD', `ESC',
          and `NUL' represent special control characters.  The words
          must be written in uppercase.

        * A word in angle brackets, e.g., `<return>', `<down>', or
          `<f1>', represents a function key.  (Note that in the standard
          configuration, the function key `<return>' and the control key
          <RET> are synonymous.)  You can use angle brackets on the
          words <RET>, <SPC>, etc., but they are not required there.

        * Keys can be written by their ASCII code, using a backslash
          followed by up to six octal digits.  This is the only way to
          represent keys with codes above \377.

        * One or more prefixes `M-' (meta), `C-' (control), `S-'
          (shift), `A-' (alt), `H-' (hyper), and `s-' (super) may
          precede a character or key notation.  For function keys, the
          prefixes may go inside or outside of the brackets: `C-<down>'
          == `<C-down>'.  The prefixes may be written in any order:
          `M-C-x' == `C-M-x'.

          Prefixes are not allowed on multi-key words, e.g., `C-abc',
          except that the Meta prefix is allowed on a sequence of
          digits and optional minus sign: `M--123' == `M-- M-1 M-2 M-3'.

        * The `^' notation for control characters also works: `^M' ==
          `C-m'.

        * Double angle brackets enclose command names: `<<next-line>>'
          is shorthand for `M-x next-line <RET>'.

        * Finally, `REM' or `;;' causes the rest of the line to be
          ignored as a comment.

     Any word may be prefixed by a multiplier in the form of a decimal
     number and `*': `3*<right>' == `<right> <right> <right>', and
     `10*foo' == `foofoofoofoofoofoofoofoofoofoo'.

     Multiple text keys can normally be strung together to form a word,
     but you may need to add whitespace if the word would look like one
     of the above notations: `; ; ;' is a keyboard macro with three
     semicolons, but `;;;' is a comment.  Likewise, `\ 1 2 3' is four
     keys but `\123' is a single key written in octal, and `< right >'
     is seven keys but `<right>' is a single function key.  When in
     doubt, use whitespace.

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File: xemacs-faq.info,  Node: Q7.1.4,  Next: Q7.1.5,  Prev: Q7.1.3,  Up: Advanced

Q7.1.4: What is the performance hit of `let'?
---------------------------------------------

In most cases, not noticeable.  Besides, there's no avoiding `let'--you
have to bind your local variables, after all.  Some pose a question
whether to nest `let's, or use one `let' per function.  I think because
of clarity and maintenance (and possible future implementation),
`let'-s should be used (nested) in a way to provide the clearest code.

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File: xemacs-faq.info,  Node: Q7.1.5,  Next: Q7.1.6,  Prev: Q7.1.4,  Up: Advanced

Q7.1.5: What is the recommended use of `setq'?
----------------------------------------------

   * Global variables

     You will typically `defvar' your global variable to a default
     value, and use `setq' to set it later.

     It is never a good practice to `setq' user variables (like
     `case-fold-search', etc.), as it ignores the user's choice
     unconditionally.  Note that `defvar' doesn't change the value of a
     variable if it was bound previously.  If you wish to change a
     user-variable temporarily, use `let':

          (let ((case-fold-search nil))
            ...                                   ; code with searches that must be case-sensitive
            ...)

     You will notice the user-variables by their docstrings beginning
     with an asterisk (a convention).

   * Local variables

     Bind them with `let', which will unbind them (or restore their
     previous value, if they were bound) after exiting from the `let'
     form.  Change the value of local variables with `setq' or whatever
     you like (e.g. `incf', `setf' and such).  The `let' form can even
     return one of its local variables.

     Typical usage:

          ;; iterate through the elements of the list returned by
          ;; `hairy-function-that-returns-list'
          (let ((l (hairy-function-that-returns-list)))
            (while l
              ... do something with (car l) ...
              (setq l (cdr l))))

     Another typical usage includes building a value simply to work
     with it.

          ;; Build the mode keymap out of the key-translation-alist
          (let ((inbox (file-truename (expand-file-name box)))
                (i 0))
            ... code dealing with inbox ...
            inbox)

     This piece of code uses the local variable `inbox', which becomes
     unbound (or regains old value) after exiting the form.  The form
     also returns the value of `inbox', which can be reused, for
     instance:

          (setq foo-processed-inbox
                (let .....))

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File: xemacs-faq.info,  Node: Q7.1.6,  Next: Q7.1.7,  Prev: Q7.1.5,  Up: Advanced

Q7.1.6: What is the typical misuse of `setq'?
---------------------------------------------

A typical misuse is probably `setq'ing a variable that was meant to be
local.  Such a variable will remain bound forever, never to be
garbage-collected.  For example, the code doing:

     (defun my-function (whatever)
       (setq a nil)
       ... build a large list ...
       ... and exit ...)

   does a bad thing, as `a' will keep consuming memory, never to be
unbound.  The correct thing is to do it like this:

     (defun my-function (whatever)
       (let (a)                              ; default initialization is to nil
         ... build a large list ...
         ... and exit, unbinding `a' in the process  ...)

   Not only is this prettier syntactically, but it makes it possible for
Emacs to garbage-collect the objects which `a' used to reference.

   Note that even global variables should not be `setq'ed without
`defvar'ing them first, because the byte-compiler issues warnings.  The
reason for the warning is the following:

     (defun flurgoze nil)                    ; ok, global internal variable
     ...

     (setq flurghoze t)                      ; ops!  a typo, but semantically correct.
                                             ; however, the byte-compiler warns.

     While compiling toplevel forms:
     ** assignment to free variable flurghoze

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File: xemacs-faq.info,  Node: Q7.1.7,  Next: Q7.1.8,  Prev: Q7.1.6,  Up: Advanced

Q7.1.7: I like the `do' form of cl, does it slow things down?
-------------------------------------------------------------

It shouldn't.  Here is what Dave Gillespie has to say about cl.el
performance:

     Many of the advanced features of this package, such as `defun*',
     `loop', and `setf', are implemented as Lisp macros.  In
     byte-compiled code, these complex notations will be expanded into
     equivalent Lisp code which is simple and efficient.  For example,
     the forms

          (incf i n)
          (push x (car p))

     are expanded at compile-time to the Lisp forms

          (setq i (+ i n))
          (setcar p (cons x (car p)))

     which are the most efficient ways of doing these respective
     operations in Lisp.  Thus, there is no performance penalty for
     using the more readable `incf' and `push' forms in your compiled
     code.

     _Interpreted_ code, on the other hand, must expand these macros
     every time they are executed.  For this reason it is strongly
     recommended that code making heavy use of macros be compiled.  (The
     features labelled "Special Form" instead of "Function" in this
     manual are macros.)  A loop using `incf' a hundred times will
     execute considerably faster if compiled, and will also
     garbage-collect less because the macro expansion will not have to
     be generated, used, and thrown away a hundred times.

     You can find out how a macro expands by using the `cl-prettyexpand'
     function.

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File: xemacs-faq.info,  Node: Q7.1.8,  Next: Q7.1.9,  Prev: Q7.1.7,  Up: Advanced

Q7.1.8: I like recursion, does it slow things down?
---------------------------------------------------

Yes.  The Emacs byte-compiler cannot do much to optimize recursion.  But
think well whether this is a real concern in Emacs.  Much of the Emacs
slowness comes from internal mechanisms such as redisplay, or from the
fact that it is an interpreter.

   Please try not to make your code much uglier to gain a very small
speed gain.  It's not usually worth it.

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File: xemacs-faq.info,  Node: Q7.1.9,  Next: Q7.1.10,  Prev: Q7.1.8,  Up: Advanced

Q7.1.9: How do I put a glyph as annotation in a buffer?
-------------------------------------------------------

Here is a solution that will insert the glyph annotation at the
beginning of buffer:

     (make-annotation (make-glyph '([FORMAT :file FILE]
                                    [string :data "fallback-text"]))
                      (point-min)
                      'text
                      (current-buffer))

   Replace `FORMAT' with an unquoted symbol representing the format of
the image (e.g. `xpm', `xbm', `gif', `jpeg', etc.)  Instead of `FILE',
use the image file name (e.g.
`/usr/local/lib/xemacs-21.4/etc/recycle.xpm').

   You can turn this to a function (that optionally prompts you for a
file name), and inserts the glyph at `(point)' instead of `(point-min)'.

\1f
File: xemacs-faq.info,  Node: Q7.1.10,  Next: Q7.1.11,  Prev: Q7.1.9,  Up: Advanced

Q7.1.10: `map-extents' won't traverse all of my extents!
--------------------------------------------------------

I tried to use `map-extents' to do an operation on all the extents in a
region.  However, it seems to quit after processing a random number of
extents.  Is it buggy?

   No.  The documentation of `map-extents' states that it will iterate
across the extents as long as FUNCTION returns `nil'.  Unexperienced
programmers often forget to return `nil' explicitly, which results in
buggy code.  For instance, the following code is supposed to delete all
the extents in a buffer, and issue as many `fubar!' messages.

     (map-extents (lambda (ext ignore)
                    (delete-extent ext)
                    (message "fubar!")))

   Instead, it will delete only the first extent, and stop right there -
because `message' will return a non-nil value.  The correct code is:

     (map-extents (lambda (ext ignore)
                    (delete-extent ext)
                    (message "fubar!")
                    nil))

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File: xemacs-faq.info,  Node: Q7.1.11,  Next: Q7.2.1,  Prev: Q7.1.10,  Up: Advanced

Q7.1.11: My elisp program is horribly slow.  Is there an easy way to find out where it spends time?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hrvoje Niksic <hniksic@xemacs.org> writes:

     Under XEmacs 20.4 and later you can use `M-x profile-key-sequence',
     press a key (say <RET> in the Gnus Group buffer), and get the
     results using `M-x profile-results'.  It should give you an idea of
     where the time is being spent.

7.2: Mathematics
================

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File: xemacs-faq.info,  Node: Q7.2.1,  Next: Q7.2.2,  Prev: Q7.1.11,  Up: Advanced

Q7.2.1: What are bignums, ratios, and bigfloats in Lisp?
--------------------------------------------------------

Thanks to Jerry James <james@xemacs.org>, XEmacs 21.5.18 and later can
use the capabilities of multiple-precision libraries that may be
available for your platform.  The GNU Multiple Precision (GMP) and BSD
Multiple Precision (MP) libraries are partially supported.  GMP gives
you "bignums" (arbitrary precision integers), "ratios" (arbitrary
precision fractions), and "bigfloats" (arbitrary precision floating
point numbers).  GNU MP is better-supported by XEmacs at the time of
writing (2004-04-06).  BSD MP support does not include ratios or
bigfloats, and it throws errors that aren't understood.

   In most cases, bignum support should be transparent to users and Lisp
programmers.  A bignum-enabled XEmacs will automatically convert from
fixnums to bignums and back in pure integer arithmetic, and for GNU MP,
from floats to bigfloats.  (Bigfloats must be explicitly coerced to
other types, even if they are exactly representable by less precise
types.)  The Lisp reader and printer have been enhanced to handle
bignums, as have the mathematical functions.  Rationals (fixnums,
bignums, and ratios) are printed using the `%d', `%o', `%x', and `%u'
format conversions.  The read syntax for ratios is `3/5'.

   User-visible changes in behavior include (in probable order of
annoyance)

   * Arithmetic can cause a segfault, depending on your MP library
     *Note XEmacs segfaults when I use very big numbers!: Q7.2.2.

   * Terminology is not Common-Lisp-conforming.  For example, "integer"
     for Emacs Lisp means what Common Lisp calls "fixnum".  This issue
     is being investigated, but the use of "integer" for fixnum is
     pervasive and may cause backward-compatibility and
     GNU-Emacs-compatibility problems.

   * Many operations that used to cause a range error now succeed, with
     intermediate results and return values coerced to bignums as
     needed.

   * An atom with ratio read syntax now returns a number, not a symbol.

   * The `%u' format conversion will now give an error if its argument
     is negative.  (Without MP, it prints a number which Lisp can't
     read.)

   _Surgeon General's Warning_: The automatic conversions cannot be
disabled at runtime.  New functions have been added which produce
ratios, so there should be few surprises with type conflicts, but they
can't be ruled out.  "Arbitrary" precision means precisely what it
says.  If you work with extremely large numbers, your machine may
arbitrarily decide to hand you an unpleasant surprise rather than a
bignum *Note XEmacs segfaults when I use very big numbers!: Q7.2.2.

   To configure with GNU MP, add `--use-number-lib=gmp'
(`--enable-bignum=gmp' in 21.5 or later) to your invocation of
`configure'.  For BSD MP, use `--use-number-lib=mp'
(`--enable-bignum=mp' for 21.5).

   If you would like to help with bignum support, especially on BSD MP,
please subscribe to the XEmacs Beta mailing list
(http://www.xemacs.org/Lists/#xemacs-beta), and book up on
`number-gmp.h' and `number-mp.h'.  Jerry has promised to write
internals documentation eventually, but if your skills run more to
analysis and documentation than to writing new code, feel free to fill
in the gap!