This is Info file ../../info/xemacs.info, produced by Makeinfo version 1.68 from the input file xemacs.texi. INFO-DIR-SECTION XEmacs Editor START-INFO-DIR-ENTRY * XEmacs: (xemacs). XEmacs Editor. END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY This file documents the XEmacs editor. Copyright (C) 1985, 1986, 1988 Richard M. Stallman. Copyright (C) 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994 Lucid, Inc. Copyright (C) 1993, 1994 Sun Microsystems, Inc. Copyright (C) 1995 Amdahl Corporation. Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved on all copies. Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the sections entitled "The GNU Manifesto", "Distribution" and "GNU General Public License" are included exactly as in the original, and provided that the entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a permission notice identical to this one. Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions, except that the sections entitled "The GNU Manifesto", "Distribution" and "GNU General Public License" may be included in a translation approved by the author instead of in the original English.  File: xemacs.info, Node: Init File, Next: Audible Bell, Prev: Syntax, Up: Customization The Init File, .emacs ===================== When you start Emacs, it normally loads the file `.emacs' in your home directory. This file, if it exists, should contain Lisp code. It is called your initialization file or "init file". Use the command line switch `-q' to tell Emacs whether to load an init file (*note Entering Emacs::.). Use the command line switch `-user-init-file' (*note Command Switches::.) to tell Emacs to load a different file instead of `~/.emacs'. When the `.emacs' file is read, the variable `user-init-file' says which init file was loaded. At some sites there is a "default init file", which is the library named `default.el', found via the standard search path for libraries. The Emacs distribution contains no such library; your site may create one for local customizations. If this library exists, it is loaded whenever you start Emacs. But your init file, if any, is loaded first; if it sets `inhibit-default-init' non-`nil', then `default' is not loaded. If you have a large amount of code in your `.emacs' file, you should move it into another file named `SOMETHING.el', byte-compile it (*note Lisp Libraries::.), and load that file from your `.emacs' file using `load'. * Menu: * Init Syntax:: Syntax of constants in Emacs Lisp. * Init Examples:: How to do some things with an init file. * Terminal Init:: Each terminal type can have an init file.  File: xemacs.info, Node: Init Syntax, Next: Init Examples, Up: Init File Init File Syntax ---------------- The `.emacs' file contains one or more Lisp function call expressions. Each consists of a function name followed by arguments, all surrounded by parentheses. For example, `(setq fill-column 60)' represents a call to the function `setq' which is used to set the variable `fill-column' (*note Filling::.) to 60. The second argument to `setq' is an expression for the new value of the variable. This can be a constant, a variable, or a function call expression. In `.emacs', constants are used most of the time. They can be: Numbers Integers are written in decimal, with an optional initial minus sign. If a sequence of digits is followed by a period and another sequence of digits, it is interpreted as a floating point number. The number prefixes `#b', `#o', and `#x' are supported to represent numbers in binary, octal, and hexadecimal notation (or radix). Strings Lisp string syntax is the same as C string syntax with a few extra features. Use a double-quote character to begin and end a string constant. Newlines and special characters may be present literally in strings. They can also be represented as backslash sequences: `\n' for newline, `\b' for backspace, `\r' for return, `\t' for tab, `\f' for formfeed (control-l), `\e' for escape, `\\' for a backslash, `\"' for a double-quote, or `\OOO' for the character whose octal code is OOO. Backslash and double-quote are the only characters for which backslash sequences are mandatory. You can use `\C-' as a prefix for a control character, as in `\C-s' for ASCII Control-S, and `\M-' as a prefix for a Meta character, as in `\M-a' for Meta-A or `\M-\C-a' for Control-Meta-A. Characters Lisp character constant syntax consists of a `?' followed by either a character or an escape sequence starting with `\'. Examples: `?x', `?\n', `?\"', `?\)'. Note that strings and characters are not interchangeable in Lisp; some contexts require one and some contexts require the other. True `t' stands for `true'. False `nil' stands for `false'. Other Lisp objects Write a single-quote (') followed by the Lisp object you want.  File: xemacs.info, Node: Init Examples, Next: Terminal Init, Prev: Init Syntax, Up: Init File Init File Examples ------------------ Here are some examples of doing certain commonly desired things with Lisp expressions: * Make in C mode just insert a tab if point is in the middle of a line. (setq c-tab-always-indent nil) Here we have a variable whose value is normally `t' for `true' and the alternative is `nil' for `false'. * Make searches case sensitive by default (in all buffers that do not override this). (setq-default case-fold-search nil) This sets the default value, which is effective in all buffers that do not have local values for the variable. Setting `case-fold-search' with `setq' affects only the current buffer's local value, which is probably not what you want to do in an init file. * Make Text mode the default mode for new buffers. (setq default-major-mode 'text-mode) Note that `text-mode' is used because it is the command for entering the mode we want. A single-quote is written before it to make a symbol constant; otherwise, `text-mode' would be treated as a variable name. * Turn on Auto Fill mode automatically in Text mode and related modes. (setq text-mode-hook '(lambda () (auto-fill-mode 1))) Here we have a variable whose value should be a Lisp function. The function we supply is a list starting with `lambda', and a single quote is written in front of it to make it (for the purpose of this `setq') a list constant rather than an expression. Lisp functions are not explained here; for mode hooks it is enough to know that `(auto-fill-mode 1)' is an expression that will be executed when Text mode is entered. You could replace it with any other expression that you like, or with several expressions in a row. (setq text-mode-hook 'turn-on-auto-fill) This is another way to accomplish the same result. `turn-on-auto-fill' is a symbol whose function definition is `(lambda () (auto-fill-mode 1))'. * Load the installed Lisp library named `foo' (actually a file `foo.elc' or `foo.el' in a standard Emacs directory). (load "foo") When the argument to `load' is a relative pathname, not starting with `/' or `~', `load' searches the directories in `load-path' (*note Loading::.). * Load the compiled Lisp file `foo.elc' from your home directory. (load "~/foo.elc") Here an absolute file name is used, so no searching is done. * Rebind the key `C-x l' to run the function `make-symbolic-link'. (global-set-key "\C-xl" 'make-symbolic-link) or (define-key global-map "\C-xl" 'make-symbolic-link) Note once again the single-quote used to refer to the symbol `make-symbolic-link' instead of its value as a variable. * Do the same thing for C mode only. (define-key c-mode-map "\C-xl" 'make-symbolic-link) * Bind the function key to a command in C mode. Note that the names of function keys must be lower case. (define-key c-mode-map 'f1 'make-symbolic-link) * Bind the shifted version of to a command. (define-key c-mode-map '(shift f1) 'make-symbolic-link) * Redefine all keys which now run `next-line' in Fundamental mode to run `forward-line' instead. (substitute-key-definition 'next-line 'forward-line global-map) * Make `C-x C-v' undefined. (global-unset-key "\C-x\C-v") One reason to undefine a key is so that you can make it a prefix. Simply defining `C-x C-v ANYTHING' would make `C-x C-v' a prefix, but `C-x C-v' must be freed of any non-prefix definition first. * Make `$' have the syntax of punctuation in Text mode. Note the use of a character constant for `$'. (modify-syntax-entry ?\$ "." text-mode-syntax-table) * Enable the use of the command `eval-expression' without confirmation. (put 'eval-expression 'disabled nil)  File: xemacs.info, Node: Terminal Init, Prev: Init Examples, Up: Init File Terminal-Specific Initialization -------------------------------- Each terminal type can have a Lisp library to be loaded into Emacs when it is run on that type of terminal. For a terminal type named TERMTYPE, the library is called `term/TERMTYPE' and it is found by searching the directories `load-path' as usual and trying the suffixes `.elc' and `.el'. Normally it appears in the subdirectory `term' of the directory where most Emacs libraries are kept. The usual purpose of the terminal-specific library is to define the escape sequences used by the terminal's function keys using the library `keypad.el'. See the file `term/vt100.el' for an example of how this is done. When the terminal type contains a hyphen, only the part of the name before the first hyphen is significant in choosing the library name. Thus, terminal types `aaa-48' and `aaa-30-rv' both use the library `term/aaa'. The code in the library can use `(getenv "TERM")' to find the full terminal type name. The library's name is constructed by concatenating the value of the variable `term-file-prefix' and the terminal type. Your `.emacs' file can prevent the loading of the terminal-specific library by setting `term-file-prefix' to `nil'. The value of the variable `term-setup-hook', if not `nil', is called as a function of no arguments at the end of Emacs initialization, after both your `.emacs' file and any terminal-specific library have been read. You can set the value in the `.emacs' file to override part of any of the terminal-specific libraries and to define initializations for terminals that do not have a library.  File: xemacs.info, Node: Audible Bell, Next: Faces, Prev: Init File, Up: Customization Changing the Bell Sound ======================= You can now change how the audible bell sounds using the variable `sound-alist'. `sound-alist''s value is an list associating symbols with, among other things, strings of audio-data. When `ding' is called with one of the symbols, the associated sound data is played instead of the standard beep. This only works if you are logged in on the console of a machine with audio hardware. To listen to a sound of the provided type, call the function `play-sound' with the argument SOUND. You can also set the volume of the sound with the optional argument VOLUME. Each element of `sound-alist' is a list describing a sound. The first element of the list is the name of the sound being defined. Subsequent elements of the list are alternating keyword/value pairs: `sound' A string of raw sound data, or the name of another sound to play. The symbol `t' here means use the default X beep. `volume' An integer from 0-100, defaulting to `bell-volume'. `pitch' If using the default X beep, the pitch (Hz) to generate. `duration' If using the default X beep, the duration (milliseconds). For compatibility, elements of `sound-alist' may also be of the form: ( SOUND-NAME . ) ( SOUND-NAME ) You should probably add things to this list by calling the function `load-sound-file'. Note that you can only play audio data if running on the console screen of a machine with audio hardware which emacs understands, which at this time means a Sun SparcStation, SGI, or HP9000s700. Also note that the pitch, duration, and volume options are available everywhere, but most X servers ignore the `pitch' option. The variable `bell-volume' should be an integer from 0 to 100, with 100 being loudest, which controls how loud the sounds emacs makes should be. Elements of the `sound-alist' may override this value. This variable applies to the standard X bell sound as well as sound files. If the symbol `t' is in place of a sound-string, Emacs uses the default X beep. This allows you to define beep-types of different volumes even when not running on the console. You can add things to this list by calling the function `load-sound-file', which reads in an audio-file and adds its data to the sound-alist. You can specify the sound with the SOUND-NAME argument and the file into which the sounds are loaded with the FILENAME argument. The optional VOLUME argument sets the volume. `load-sound-file (FILENAME SOUND-NAME &optional VOLUME)' To load and install some sound files as beep-types, use the function `load-default-sounds' (note that this only works if you are on display 0 of a machine with audio hardware). The following beep-types are used by Emacs itself. Other Lisp packages may use other beep types, but these are the ones that the C kernel of Emacs uses. `auto-save-error' An auto-save does not succeed `command-error' The Emacs command loop catches an error `undefined-key' You type a key that is undefined `undefined-click' You use an undefined mouse-click combination `no-completion' Completion was not possible `y-or-n-p' You type something other than the required `y' or `n' `yes-or-no-p' You type something other than `yes' or `no'  File: xemacs.info, Node: Faces, Next: X Resources, Prev: Audible Bell, Up: Customization Faces ===== XEmacs has objects called extents and faces. An "extent" is a region of text and a "face" is a collection of textual attributes, such as fonts and colors. Every extent is displayed in some face; therefore, changing the properties of a face immediately updates the display of all associated extents. Faces can be frame-local: you can have a region of text that displays with completely different attributes when its buffer is viewed from a different X window. The display attributes of faces may be specified either in Lisp or through the X resource manager. Customizing Faces ----------------- You can change the face of an extent with the functions in this section. All the functions prompt for a FACE as an argument; use completion for a list of possible values. `M-x invert-face' Swap the foreground and background colors of the given FACE. `M-x make-face-bold' Make the font of the given FACE bold. When called from a program, returns `nil' if this is not possible. `M-x make-face-bold-italic' Make the font of the given FACE bold italic. When called from a program, returns `nil' if not possible. `M-x make-face-italic' Make the font of the given FACE italic. When called from a program, returns `nil' if not possible. `M-x make-face-unbold' Make the font of the given FACE non-bold. When called from a program, returns `nil' if not possible. `M-x make-face-unitalic' Make the font of the given FACE non-italic. When called from a program, returns `nil' if not possible. `M-x make-face-larger' Make the font of the given FACE a little larger. When called from a program, returns `nil' if not possible. `M-x make-face-smaller' Make the font of the given FACE a little smaller. When called from a program, returns `nil' if not possible. `M-x set-face-background' Change the background color of the given FACE. `M-x set-face-background-pixmap' Change the background pixmap of the given FACE. `M-x set-face-font' Change the font of the given FACE. `M-x set-face-foreground' Change the foreground color of the given FACE. `M-x set-face-underline-p' Change whether the given FACE is underlined. You can exchange the foreground and background color of the selected FACE with the function `invert-face'. If the face does not specify both foreground and background, then its foreground and background are set to the background and foreground of the default face. When calling this from a program, you can supply the optional argument FRAME to specify which frame is affected; otherwise, all frames are affected. You can set the background color of the specified FACE with the function `set-face-background'. The argument `color' should be a string, the name of a color. When called from a program, if the optional FRAME argument is provided, the face is changed only in that frame; otherwise, it is changed in all frames. You can set the background pixmap of the specified FACE with the function `set-face-background-pixmap'. The pixmap argument NAME should be a string, the name of a file of pixmap data. The directories listed in the `x-bitmap-file-path' variable are searched. The bitmap may also be a list of the form `(WIDTH HEIGHT DATA)', where WIDTH and HEIGHT are the size in pixels, and DATA is a string containing the raw bits of the bitmap. If the optional FRAME argument is provided, the face is changed only in that frame; otherwise, it is changed in all frames. The variable `x-bitmap-file-path' takes as a value a list of the directories in which X bitmap files may be found. If the value is `nil', the list is initialized from the `*bitmapFilePath' resource. If the environment variable XBMLANGPATH is set, then it is consulted before the `x-bitmap-file-path' variable. You can set the font of the specified FACE with the function `set-face-font'. The FONT argument should be a string, the name of a font. When called from a program, if the optional FRAME argument is provided, the face is changed only in that frame; otherwise, it is changed in all frames. You can set the foreground color of the specified FACE with the function `set-face-foreground'. The argument COLOR should be a string, the name of a color. If the optional FRAME argument is provided, the face is changed only in that frame; otherwise, it is changed in all frames. You can set underline the specified FACE with the function `set-face-underline-p'. The argument UNDERLINE-P can be used to make underlining an attribute of the face or not. If the optional FRAME argument is provided, the face is changed only in that frame; otherwise, it is changed in all frames.  File: xemacs.info, Node: X Resources, Prev: Faces, Up: Customization X Resources =========== Historically, XEmacs has used the X resource application class `Emacs' for its resources. Unfortunately, GNU Emacs uses the same application class, and resources are not compatible between the two Emacsen. This sharing of the application class often leads to trouble if you want to run both variants. Starting with XEmacs 21, XEmacs uses the class `XEmacs' if it finds any XEmacs resources in the resource database when the X connection is initialized. Otherwise, it will use the class `Emacs' for backwards compatability. The variable X-EMACS-APPLICATION-CLASS may be consulted to determine the application class being used. The examples in this section assume the application class is `Emacs'. The Emacs resources are generally set per-frame. Each Emacs frame can have its own name or the same name as another, depending on the name passed to the `make-frame' function. You can specify resources for all frames with the syntax: Emacs*parameter: value or Emacs*EmacsFrame.parameter:value You can specify resources for a particular frame with the syntax: Emacs*FRAME-NAME.parameter: value * Menu: * Geometry Resources:: Controlling the size and position of frames. * Iconic Resources:: Controlling whether frames come up iconic. * Resource List:: List of resources settable on a frame or device. * Face Resources:: Controlling faces using resources. * Widgets:: The widget hierarchy for XEmacs. * Menubar Resources:: Specifying resources for the menubar.  File: xemacs.info, Node: Geometry Resources, Next: Iconic Resources, Up: X Resources Geometry Resources ------------------ To make the default size of all Emacs frames be 80 columns by 55 lines, do this: Emacs*EmacsFrame.geometry: 80x55 To set the geometry of a particular frame named `fred', do this: Emacs*fred.geometry: 80x55 Important! Do not use the following syntax: Emacs*geometry: 80x55 You should never use `*geometry' with any X application. It does not say "make the geometry of Emacs be 80 columns by 55 lines." It really says, "make Emacs and all subwindows thereof be 80x55 in whatever units they care to measure in." In particular, that is both telling the Emacs text pane to be 80x55 in characters, and telling the menubar pane to be 80x55 pixels, which is surely not what you want. As a special case, this geometry specification also works (and sets the default size of all Emacs frames to 80 columns by 55 lines): Emacs.geometry: 80x55 since that is the syntax used with most other applications (since most other applications have only one top-level window, unlike Emacs). In general, however, the top-level shell (the unmapped ApplicationShell widget named `Emacs' that is the parent of the shell widgets that actually manage the individual frames) does not have any interesting resources on it, and you should set the resources on the frames instead. The `-geometry' command-line argument sets only the geometry of the initial frame created by Emacs. A more complete explanation of geometry-handling is * The `-geometry' command-line option sets the `Emacs.geometry' resource, that is, the geometry of the ApplicationShell. * For the first frame created, the size of the frame is taken from the ApplicationShell if it is specified, otherwise from the geometry of the frame. * For subsequent frames, the order is reversed: First the frame, and then the ApplicationShell. * For the first frame created, the position of the frame is taken from the ApplicationShell (`Emacs.geometry') if it is specified, otherwise from the geometry of the frame. * For subsequent frames, the position is taken only from the frame, and never from the ApplicationShell. This is rather complicated, but it does seem to provide the most intuitive behavior with respect to the default sizes and positions of frames created in various ways.  File: xemacs.info, Node: Iconic Resources, Next: Resource List, Prev: Geometry Resources, Up: X Resources Iconic Resources ---------------- Analogous to `-geometry', the `-iconic' command-line option sets the iconic flag of the ApplicationShell (`Emacs.iconic') and always applies to the first frame created regardless of its name. However, it is possible to set the iconic flag on particular frames (by name) by using the `Emacs*FRAME-NAME.iconic' resource.  File: xemacs.info, Node: Resource List, Next: Face Resources, Prev: Iconic Resources, Up: X Resources Resource List ------------- Emacs frames accept the following resources: `geometry' (class `Geometry'): string Initial geometry for the frame. *Note Geometry Resources::, for a complete discussion of how this works. `iconic' (class `Iconic'): boolean Whether this frame should appear in the iconified state. `internalBorderWidth' (class `InternalBorderWidth'): int How many blank pixels to leave between the text and the edge of the window. `interline' (class `Interline'): int How many pixels to leave between each line (may not be implemented). `menubar' (class `Menubar'): boolean Whether newly-created frames should initially have a menubar. Set to true by default. `initiallyUnmapped' (class `InitiallyUnmapped'): boolean Whether XEmacs should leave the initial frame unmapped when it starts up. This is useful if you are starting XEmacs as a server (e.g. in conjunction with gnuserv or the external client widget). You can also control this with the `-unmapped' command-line option. `barCursor' (class `BarColor'): boolean Whether the cursor should be displayed as a bar, or the traditional box. `cursorColor' (class `CursorColor'): color-name The color of the text cursor. `scrollBarWidth' (class `ScrollBarWidth'): integer How wide the vertical scrollbars should be, in pixels; 0 means no vertical scrollbars. You can also use a resource specification of the form `*scrollbar.width', or the usual toolkit scrollbar resources: `*XmScrollBar.width' (Motif), `*XlwScrollBar.width' (Lucid), or `*Scrollbar.thickness' (Athena). We don't recommend that you use the toolkit resources, though, because they're dependent on how exactly your particular build of XEmacs was configured. `scrollBarHeight' (class `ScrollBarHeight'): integer How high the horizontal scrollbars should be, in pixels; 0 means no horizontal scrollbars. You can also use a resource specification of the form `*scrollbar.height', or the usual toolkit scrollbar resources: `*XmScrollBar.height' (Motif), `*XlwScrollBar.height' (Lucid), or `*Scrollbar.thickness' (Athena). We don't recommend that you use the toolkit resources, though, because they're dependent on how exactly your particular build of XEmacs was configured. `scrollBarPlacement' (class `ScrollBarPlacement'): string Where the horizontal and vertical scrollbars should be positioned. This should be one of the four strings `BOTTOM_LEFT', `BOTTOM_RIGHT', `TOP_LEFT', and `TOP_RIGHT'. Default is `BOTTOM_RIGHT' for the Motif and Lucid scrollbars and `BOTTOM_LEFT' for the Athena scrollbars. `topToolBarHeight' (class `TopToolBarHeight'): integer `bottomToolBarHeight' (class `BottomToolBarHeight'): integer `leftToolBarWidth' (class `LeftToolBarWidth'): integer `rightToolBarWidth' (class `RightToolBarWidth'): integer Height and width of the four possible toolbars. `topToolBarShadowColor' (class `TopToolBarShadowColor'): color-name `bottomToolBarShadowColor' (class `BottomToolBarShadowColor'): color-name Color of the top and bottom shadows for the toolbars. NOTE: These resources do *not* have anything to do with the top and bottom toolbars (i.e. the toolbars at the top and bottom of the frame)! Rather, they affect the top and bottom shadows around the edges of all four kinds of toolbars. `topToolBarShadowPixmap' (class `TopToolBarShadowPixmap'): pixmap-name `bottomToolBarShadowPixmap' (class `BottomToolBarShadowPixmap'): pixmap-name Pixmap of the top and bottom shadows for the toolbars. If set, these resources override the corresponding color resources. NOTE: These resources do *not* have anything to do with the top and bottom toolbars (i.e. the toolbars at the top and bottom of the frame)! Rather, they affect the top and bottom shadows around the edges of all four kinds of toolbars. `toolBarShadowThickness' (class `ToolBarShadowThickness'): integer Thickness of the shadows around the toolbars, in pixels. `visualBell' (class `VisualBell'): boolean Whether XEmacs should flash the screen rather than making an audible beep. `bellVolume' (class `BellVolume'): integer Volume of the audible beep. `useBackingStore' (class `UseBackingStore'): boolean Whether XEmacs should set the backing-store attribute of the X windows it creates. This increases the memory usage of the X server but decreases the amount of X traffic necessary to update the screen, and is useful when the connection to the X server goes over a low-bandwidth line such as a modem connection. Emacs devices accept the following resources: `textPointer' (class `Cursor'): cursor-name The cursor to use when the mouse is over text. This resource is used to initialize the variable `x-pointer-shape'. `selectionPointer' (class `Cursor'): cursor-name The cursor to use when the mouse is over a selectable text region (an extent with the `highlight' property; for example, an Info cross-reference). This resource is used to initialize the variable `x-selection-pointer-shape'. `spacePointer' (class `Cursor'): cursor-name The cursor to use when the mouse is over a blank space in a buffer (that is, after the end of a line or after the end-of-file). This resource is used to initialize the variable `x-nontext-pointer-shape'. `modeLinePointer' (class `Cursor'): cursor-name The cursor to use when the mouse is over a modeline. This resource is used to initialize the variable `x-mode-pointer-shape'. `gcPointer' (class `Cursor'): cursor-name The cursor to display when a garbage-collection is in progress. This resource is used to initialize the variable `x-gc-pointer-shape'. `scrollbarPointer' (class `Cursor'): cursor-name The cursor to use when the mouse is over the scrollbar. This resource is used to initialize the variable `x-scrollbar-pointer-shape'. `pointerColor' (class `Foreground'): color-name `pointerBackground' (class `Background'): color-name The foreground and background colors of the mouse cursor. These resources are used to initialize the variables `x-pointer-foreground-color' and `x-pointer-background-color'.  File: xemacs.info, Node: Face Resources, Next: Widgets, Prev: Resource List, Up: X Resources Face Resources -------------- The attributes of faces are also per-frame. They can be specified as: Emacs.FACE_NAME.parameter: value or Emacs*FRAME_NAME.FACE_NAME.parameter: value Faces accept the following resources: `attributeFont' (class `AttributeFont'): font-name The font of this face. `attributeForeground' (class `AttributeForeground'): color-name `attributeBackground' (class `AttributeBackground'): color-name The foreground and background colors of this face. `attributeBackgroundPixmap' (class `AttributeBackgroundPixmap'): file-name The name of an XBM file (or XPM file, if your version of Emacs supports XPM), to use as a background stipple. `attributeUnderline' (class `AttributeUnderline'): boolean Whether text in this face should be underlined. All text is displayed in some face, defaulting to the face named `default'. To set the font of normal text, use `Emacs*default.attributeFont'. To set it in the frame named `fred', use `Emacs*fred.default.attributeFont'. These are the names of the predefined faces: `default' Everything inherits from this. `bold' If this is not specified in the resource database, Emacs tries to find a bold version of the font of the default face. `italic' If this is not specified in the resource database, Emacs tries to find an italic version of the font of the default face. `bold-italic' If this is not specified in the resource database, Emacs tries to find a bold-italic version of the font of the default face. `modeline' This is the face that the modeline is displayed in. If not specified in the resource database, it is determined from the default face by reversing the foreground and background colors. `highlight' This is the face that highlighted extents (for example, Info cross-references and possible completions, when the mouse passes over them) are displayed in. `left-margin' `right-margin' These are the faces that the left and right annotation margins are displayed in. `zmacs-region' This is the face that mouse selections are displayed in. `isearch' This is the face that the matched text being searched for is displayed in. `info-node' This is the face of info menu items. If unspecified, it is copied from `bold-italic'. `info-xref' This is the face of info cross-references. If unspecified, it is copied from `bold'. (Note that, when the mouse passes over a cross-reference, the cross-reference's face is determined from a combination of the `info-xref' and `highlight' faces.) Other packages might define their own faces; to see a list of all faces, use any of the interactive face-manipulation commands such as `set-face-font' and type `?' when you are prompted for the name of a face. If the `bold', `italic', and `bold-italic' faces are not specified in the resource database, then XEmacs attempts to derive them from the font of the default face. It can only succeed at this if you have specified the default font using the XLFD (X Logical Font Description) format, which looks like *-courier-medium-r-*-*-*-120-*-*-*-*-*-* If you use any of the other, less strict font name formats, some of which look like lucidasanstypewriter-12 fixed 9x13 then XEmacs won't be able to guess the names of the bold and italic versions. All X fonts can be referred to via XLFD-style names, so you should use those forms. See the man pages for `X(1)', `xlsfonts(1)', and `xfontsel(1)'.  File: xemacs.info, Node: Widgets, Next: Menubar Resources, Prev: Face Resources, Up: X Resources Widgets ------- There are several structural widgets between the terminal EmacsFrame widget and the top level ApplicationShell; the exact names and types of these widgets change from release to release (for example, they changed between 19.8 and 19.9, 19.9 and 19.10, and 19.10 and 19.12) and are subject to further change in the future, so you should avoid mentioning them in your resource database. The above-mentioned syntaxes should be forward- compatible. As of 19.13, the exact widget hierarchy is as follows: INVOCATION-NAME "shell" "container" FRAME-NAME x-emacs-application-class "EmacsShell" "EmacsManager" "EmacsFrame" where INVOCATION-NAME is the terminal component of the name of the XEmacs executable (usually `xemacs'), and `x-emacs-application-class' is generally `Emacs'.  File: xemacs.info, Node: Menubar Resources, Prev: Widgets, Up: X Resources Menubar Resources ----------------- As the menubar is implemented as a widget which is not a part of XEmacs proper, it does not use the fac" mechanism for specifying fonts and colors: It uses whatever resources are appropriate to the type of widget which is used to implement it. If Emacs was compiled to use only the Motif-lookalike menu widgets, then one way to specify the font of the menubar would be Emacs*menubar*font: *-courier-medium-r-*-*-*-120-*-*-*-*-*-* If the Motif library is being used, then one would have to use Emacs*menubar*fontList: *-courier-medium-r-*-*-*-120-*-*-*-*-*-* because the Motif library uses the `fontList' resource name instead of `font', which has subtly different semantics. The same is true of the scrollbars: They accept whichever resources are appropriate for the toolkit in use.  File: xemacs.info, Node: Quitting, Next: Lossage, Prev: Customization, Up: Top Quitting and Aborting ===================== `C-g' Quit. Cancel running or partially typed command. `C-]' Abort innermost recursive editing level and cancel the command which invoked it (`abort-recursive-edit'). `M-x top-level' Abort all recursive editing levels that are currently executing. `C-x u' Cancel an already-executed command, usually (`undo'). There are two ways of cancelling commands which are not finished executing: "quitting" with `C-g', and "aborting" with `C-]' or `M-x top-level'. Quitting is cancelling a partially typed command or one which is already running. Aborting is getting out of a recursive editing level and cancelling the command that invoked the recursive edit. Quitting with `C-g' is used for getting rid of a partially typed command or a numeric argument that you don't want. It also stops a running command in the middle in a relatively safe way, so you can use it if you accidentally start executing a command that takes a long time. In particular, it is safe to quit out of killing; either your text will ALL still be there, or it will ALL be in the kill ring (or maybe both). Quitting an incremental search does special things documented under searching; in general, it may take two successive `C-g' characters to get out of a search. `C-g' works by setting the variable `quit-flag' to `t' the instant `C-g' is typed; Emacs Lisp checks this variable frequently and quits if it is non-`nil'. `C-g' is only actually executed as a command if it is typed while Emacs is waiting for input. If you quit twice in a row before the first `C-g' is recognized, you activate the "emergency escape" feature and return to the shell. *Note Emergency Escape::. You can use `C-]' (`abort-recursive-edit') to get out of a recursive editing level and cancel the command which invoked it. Quitting with `C-g' does not do this, and could not do this because it is used to cancel a partially typed command within the recursive editing level. Both operations are useful. For example, if you are in the Emacs debugger (*note Lisp Debug::.) and have typed `C-u 8' to enter a numeric argument, you can cancel that argument with `C-g' and remain in the debugger. The command `M-x top-level' is equivalent to "enough" `C-]' commands to get you out of all the levels of recursive edits that you are in. `C-]' only gets you out one level at a time, but `M-x top-level' goes out all levels at once. Both `C-]' and `M-x top-level' are like all other commands and unlike `C-g' in that they are effective only when Emacs is ready for a command. `C-]' is an ordinary key and has its meaning only because of its binding in the keymap. *Note Recursive Edit::. `C-x u' (`undo') is not strictly speaking a way of cancelling a command, but you can think of it as cancelling a command already finished executing. *Note Undo::.  File: xemacs.info, Node: Lossage, Next: Bugs, Prev: Quitting, Up: Top Dealing With Emacs Trouble ========================== This section describes various conditions in which Emacs fails to work, and how to recognize them and correct them. * Menu: * Stuck Recursive:: `[...]' in mode line around the parentheses. * Screen Garbled:: Garbage on the screen. * Text Garbled:: Garbage in the text. * Unasked-for Search:: Spontaneous entry to incremental search. * Emergency Escape:: Emergency escape-- What to do if Emacs stops responding. * Total Frustration:: When you are at your wits' end.  File: xemacs.info, Node: Stuck Recursive, Next: Screen Garbled, Prev: Lossage, Up: Lossage Recursive Editing Levels ------------------------ Recursive editing levels are important and useful features of Emacs, but they can seem like malfunctions to the user who does not understand them. If the mode line has square brackets `[...]' around the parentheses that contain the names of the major and minor modes, you have entered a recursive editing level. If you did not do this on purpose, or if you don't understand what that means, you should just get out of the recursive editing level. To do so, type `M-x top-level'. This is called getting back to top level. *Note Recursive Edit::.  File: xemacs.info, Node: Screen Garbled, Next: Text Garbled, Prev: Stuck Recursive, Up: Lossage Garbage on the Screen --------------------- If the data on the screen looks wrong, the first thing to do is see whether the text is actually wrong. Type `C-l', to redisplay the entire screen. If the text appears correct after this, the problem was entirely in the previous screen update. Display updating problems often result from an incorrect termcap entry for the terminal you are using. The file `etc/TERMS' in the Emacs distribution gives the fixes for known problems of this sort. `INSTALL' contains general advice for these problems in one of its sections. Very likely there is simply insufficient padding for certain display operations. To investigate the possibility that you have this sort of problem, try Emacs on another terminal made by a different manufacturer. If problems happen frequently on one kind of terminal but not another kind, the real problem is likely to be a bad termcap entry, though it could also be due to a bug in Emacs that appears for terminals that have or lack specific features.  File: xemacs.info, Node: Text Garbled, Next: Unasked-for Search, Prev: Screen Garbled, Up: Lossage Garbage in the Text ------------------- If `C-l' shows that the text is wrong, try undoing the changes to it using `C-x u' until it gets back to a state you consider correct. Also try `C-h l' to find out what command you typed to produce the observed results. If a large portion of text appears to be missing at the beginning or end of the buffer, check for the word `Narrow' in the mode line. If it appears, the text is still present, but marked off-limits. To make it visible again, type `C-x n w'. *Note Narrowing::.  File: xemacs.info, Node: Unasked-for Search, Next: Emergency Escape, Prev: Text Garbled, Up: Lossage Spontaneous Entry to Incremental Search --------------------------------------- If Emacs spontaneously displays `I-search:' at the bottom of the screen, it means that the terminal is sending `C-s' and `C-q' according to the poorly designed xon/xoff "flow control" protocol. You should try to prevent this by putting the terminal in a mode where it will not use flow control, or by giving it enough padding that it will never send a `C-s'. If that cannot be done, you must tell Emacs to expect flow control to be used, until you can get a properly designed terminal. Information on how to do these things can be found in the file `INSTALL' in the Emacs distribution.  File: xemacs.info, Node: Emergency Escape, Next: Total Frustration, Prev: Unasked-for Search, Up: Lossage Emergency Escape ---------------- Because at times there have been bugs causing Emacs to loop without checking `quit-flag', a special feature causes Emacs to be suspended immediately if you type a second `C-g' while the flag is already set, so you can always get out of XEmacs. Normally Emacs recognizes and clears `quit-flag' (and quits!) quickly enough to prevent this from happening. When you resume Emacs after a suspension caused by multiple `C-g', it asks two questions before going back to what it had been doing: Auto-save? (y or n) Abort (and dump core)? (y or n) Answer each one with `y' or `n' followed by . Saying `y' to `Auto-save?' causes immediate auto-saving of all modified buffers in which auto-saving is enabled. Saying `y' to `Abort (and dump core)?' causes an illegal instruction to be executed, dumping core. This is to enable a wizard to figure out why Emacs was failing to quit in the first place. Execution does not continue after a core dump. If you answer `n', execution does continue. With luck, Emacs will ultimately check `quit-flag' and quit normally. If not, and you type another `C-g', it is suspended again. If Emacs is not really hung, but is just being slow, you may invoke the double `C-g' feature without really meaning to. In that case, simply resume and answer `n' to both questions, and you will arrive at your former state. Presumably the quit you requested will happen soon. The double-`C-g' feature may be turned off when Emacs is running under a window system, since the window system always enables you to kill Emacs or to create another window and run another program.  File: xemacs.info, Node: Total Frustration, Prev: Emergency Escape, Up: Lossage Help for Total Frustration -------------------------- If using Emacs (or something else) becomes terribly frustrating and none of the techniques described above solve the problem, Emacs can still help you. First, if the Emacs you are using is not responding to commands, type `C-g C-g' to get out of it and then start a new one. Second, type `M-x doctor '. The doctor will make you feel better. Each time you say something to the doctor, you must end it by typing . This lets the doctor know you are finished.