@node Entering Emacs, Exiting, Text Characters, Top
@chapter Entering and Exiting Emacs
@cindex entering Emacs
-@cindex starting Emacs
+@cindex starting Emacs
The usual way to invoke Emacs is with the shell command @command{emacs}.
Emacs clears the screen and then displays an initial help message and
It is possible to specify files to be visited, Lisp files to be
loaded, and functions to be called, by giving Emacs arguments in the
-shell command line. @xref{Command Arguments}. But we don't recommend
+shell command line. @xref{Emacs Invocation}. But we don't recommend
doing this. The feature exists mainly for compatibility with other
editors.
command-line argument to say which file to edit.
But starting a new Emacs each time you want to edit a different file
-does not make sense. For one thing, this would be annoyingly slow.
-For another, this would fail to take advantage of Emacs's ability to
-visit more than one file in a single editing session. And it would
-lose the other accumulated context, such as the kill ring, registers,
-undo history, and mark ring.
+does not make sense. This would fail to take advantage of Emacs's
+ability to visit more than one file in a single editing session, and
+it would lose the other accumulated context, such as the kill ring,
+registers, undo history, and mark ring, that are useful for operating
+on multiple files.
The recommended way to use GNU Emacs is to start it only once, just
after you log in, and do all your editing in the same Emacs session.
log out. @xref{Files}, for more information on visiting more than one
file.
+ If you want to edit a file from another program and already have
+Emacs running, you can use the @command{emacsclient} program to open a
+file in the already running Emacs. @xref{Emacs Server}, for more
+information on editing files with Emacs from other programs.
+
+@ifnottex
+@raisesections
+@end ifnottex
+
@node Exiting, Basic, Entering Emacs, Top
@section Exiting Emacs
@cindex exiting
@cindex leaving Emacs
@cindex quitting Emacs
- There are two commands for exiting Emacs because there are two kinds
-of exiting: @dfn{suspending} Emacs and @dfn{killing} Emacs.
+ There are two commands for exiting Emacs because there are three
+kinds of exiting: @dfn{suspending} Emacs, @dfn{Iconifying} Emacs, and
+@dfn{killing} Emacs.
@dfn{Suspending} means stopping Emacs temporarily and returning
control to its parent process (usually a shell), allowing you to resume
editing later in the same Emacs job, with the same buffers, same kill
-ring, same undo history, and so on. This is the usual way to exit.
+ring, same undo history, and so on. This is the usual way to exit Emacs
+when running on a text terminal.
+
+ @dfn{Iconifying} means replacing the Emacs frame with a small box
+somewhere on the screen. This is the usual way to exit Emacs when you're
+using a graphics terminal.
@dfn{Killing} Emacs means destroying the Emacs job. You can run Emacs
again later, but you will get a fresh Emacs; there is no way to resume
@kindex C-z
@findex suspend-emacs
- To suspend Emacs, type @kbd{C-z} (@code{suspend-emacs}). This takes
-you back to the shell from which you invoked Emacs. You can resume
-Emacs with the shell command @command{%emacs} in most common shells.
-
- On systems that do not support suspending programs, @kbd{C-z} starts
-an inferior shell that communicates directly with the terminal.
-Emacs waits until you exit the subshell. (The way to do that is
-probably with @kbd{C-d} or @command{exit}, but it depends on which shell
-you use.) The only way on these systems to get back to the shell from
-which Emacs was run (to log out, for example) is to kill Emacs.
-
- Suspending also fails if you run Emacs under a shell that doesn't
-support suspending programs, even if the system itself does support it.
-In such a case, you can set the variable @code{cannot-suspend} to a
-non-@code{nil} value to force @kbd{C-z} to start an inferior shell.
+ To suspend or iconify Emacs, type @kbd{C-z} (@code{suspend-emacs}).
+On text terminals, this suspends Emacs. On graphics terminals,
+it iconifies the Emacs frame.
+
+ Suspending Emacs takes you back to the shell from which you invoked
+Emacs. You can resume Emacs with the shell command @command{%emacs}
+in most common shells. On systems that don't support suspending
+programs, @kbd{C-z} starts an inferior shell that communicates
+directly with the terminal. Emacs waits until you exit the subshell.
+(The way to do that is probably with @kbd{C-d} or @command{exit}, but
+it depends on which shell you use.) The only way on these systems to
+get back to the shell from which Emacs was run (to log out, for
+example) is to kill Emacs.
+
+ Suspending can fail if you run Emacs under a shell that doesn't
+support suspending programs, even if the system itself does support
+it. In such a case, you can set the variable @code{cannot-suspend} to
+a non-@code{nil} value to force @kbd{C-z} to start an inferior shell.
(One might also describe Emacs's parent shell as ``inferior'' for
-failing to support job control properly, but that is a matter of taste.)
+failing to support job control properly, but that is a matter of
+taste.)
- When Emacs communicates directly with an X server and creates its own
-dedicated X windows, @kbd{C-z} has a different meaning. Suspending an
-application that uses its own X windows is not meaningful or useful.
-Instead, @kbd{C-z} runs the command @code{iconify-or-deiconify-frame},
-which temporarily iconifies (or ``minimizes'') the selected Emacs
-frame (@pxref{Frames}). Then you can use the window manager to get
-back to a shell window.
+ On graphics terminals, @kbd{C-z} has a different meaning: it runs
+the command @code{iconify-or-deiconify-frame}, which temporarily
+iconifies (or ``minimizes'') the selected Emacs frame
+(@pxref{Frames}). Then you can use the window manager to get back to
+a shell window.
@kindex C-x C-c
@findex save-buffers-kill-emacs
systems as the characters for stopping or killing a program, but that is
their only relationship with the operating system. You can customize
these keys to run any commands of your choice (@pxref{Keymaps}).
+
+@ifnottex
+@lowersections
+@end ifnottex
+
+@ignore
+ arch-tag: df798d8b-f253-4113-b585-f528f078a944
+@end ignore