@c This is part of the Emacs manual.
-@c Copyright (C) 1985, 1986, 1987, 1993, 1994, 1995 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+@c Copyright (C) 1985, 1986, 1987, 1993, 1994, 1995, 2002, 2003, 2004,
+@c 2005, 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
@c See file emacs.texi for copying conditions.
@node Entering Emacs, Exiting, Text Characters, Top
@chapter Entering and Exiting Emacs
@cindex entering 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
-copyright notice. Some operating systems discard all type-ahead when
-Emacs starts up; they give Emacs no way to prevent this. Therefore, it
-is advisable to wait until Emacs clears the screen before typing your
-first editing command.
+ The usual way to invoke Emacs is with the shell command
+@command{emacs}. Emacs clears the screen, then displays an initial
+help message and copyright notice. Some operating systems discard
+your type-ahead when Emacs starts up; they give Emacs no way to
+prevent this. On those systems, wait for Emacs to clear the screen
+before you start typing.
- If you run Emacs from a shell window under the X Window System, run it
-in the background with @command{emacs&}. This way, Emacs does not tie up
-the shell window, so you can use that to run other shell commands while
-Emacs operates its own X windows. You can begin typing Emacs commands
-as soon as you direct your keyboard input to the Emacs frame.
+ From a shell window under the X Window System, run Emacs in the
+background with @command{emacs&}. This way, Emacs won't tie up the
+shell window, so you can use it to run other shell commands while
+Emacs is running. You can type Emacs commands as soon as you direct
+your keyboard input to an Emacs frame.
@vindex initial-major-mode
When Emacs starts up, it creates a buffer named @samp{*scratch*}.
-That's the buffer you start out in. The @samp{*scratch*} buffer uses Lisp
-Interaction mode; you can use it to type Lisp expressions and evaluate
-them, or you can ignore that capability and simply doodle. (You can
-specify a different major mode for this buffer by setting the variable
-@code{initial-major-mode} in your init file. @xref{Init File}.)
+That's the buffer you start out in. The @samp{*scratch*} buffer uses
+Lisp Interaction mode; you can use it to type Lisp expressions and
+evaluate them. You can also ignore that capability and just write notes
+there. You can specify a different major mode for this buffer by
+setting the variable @code{initial-major-mode} in your init file.
+@xref{Init File}.
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
-doing this. The feature exists mainly for compatibility with other
-editors.
-
- Many other editors are designed to be started afresh each time you
-want to edit. You edit one file and then exit the editor. The next
-time you want to edit either another file or the same one, you must run
-the editor again. With these editors, it makes sense to use a
-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.
+loaded, and functions to be called through Emacs command-line
+arguments. @xref{Emacs Invocation}. The feature exists mainly for
+compatibility with other editors, and for scripts.
+
+ Many editors are designed to edit one file. When done with that
+file, you exit the editor. The next time you want to edit a file, you
+must start the editor again. Working this way, it is convenient to
+use a command-line argument to say which file to edit.
+
+ It's not smart to start Emacs afresh for every file you edit. Emacs
+can visit more than one file in a single editing session, and upon
+exit Emacs loses valuable accumulated context, such as the kill ring,
+registers, undo history, and mark ring. These features are useful for
+operating on multiple files, or even one. If you kill Emacs after
+each file, you don't take advantage of them.
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.
-Each time you want to edit a different file, you visit it with the
-existing Emacs, which eventually comes to have many files in it ready
-for editing. Usually you do not kill the Emacs until you are about to
-log out. @xref{Files}, for more information on visiting more than one
-file.
+Each time you edit a file, you visit it with the existing Emacs, which
+eventually has many files in it ready for editing. Usually you do not
+kill Emacs until you are about to 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.
+ To edit a file from another program while Emacs is running, you can
+use the @command{emacsclient} helper program to open a file in the
+already running Emacs. @xref{Emacs Server}.
@ifnottex
@raisesections
@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, and three kinds of
+exiting: @dfn{iconifying} Emacs, @dfn{suspending} Emacs, and
+@dfn{killing} Emacs.
+
+ @dfn{Iconifying} means replacing the Emacs frame with a small box or
+``icon'' on the screen. This is the usual way to exit Emacs when
+you're using a graphical display---if you bother to ``exit'' at all.
+(Just switching to another application is usually sufficient.)
@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.
+control to its parent process (usually a shell), allowing you to
+resume editing later in the same Emacs job. This is the usual way to
+exit Emacs when running it on a text 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
@end table
@kindex C-z
+@findex iconify-or-deiconify-frame
+ On graphical displays, @kbd{C-z} runs the command
+@code{iconify-or-deiconify-frame}, which temporarily iconifies (or
+``minimizes'') the selected Emacs frame (@pxref{Frames}). You can
+then use the window manager to select some other application. (You
+could select another application without iconifying Emacs first, but
+getting the Emacs frame out of the way can make it more convenient to
+find the other application.)
+
@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.
-(One might also describe Emacs's parent shell as ``inferior'' for
-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 a text terminal, @kbd{C-z} runs the command @code{suspend-emacs}.
+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, and 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.) On these
+systems, you can only get back to the shell from which Emacs was run
+(to log out, for example) when you kill Emacs.
+
+@vindex cannot-suspend
+ Suspending can fail if you run Emacs under a shell that doesn't
+support suspendion of its subjobs, 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.
@kindex C-x C-c
@findex save-buffers-kill-emacs
To exit and kill Emacs, type @kbd{C-x C-c}
-(@code{save-buffers-kill-emacs}). A two-character key is used for
-this to make it harder to type by accident. This command first offers
-to save any modified file-visiting buffers. If you do not save them
-all, it asks for reconfirmation with @kbd{yes} before killing Emacs,
-since any changes not saved will be lost forever. Also, if any
-subprocesses are still running, @kbd{C-x C-c} asks for confirmation
-about them, since killing Emacs will also kill the subprocesses.
+(@code{save-buffers-kill-emacs}). A two-character key is used to make
+it harder to type by accident. This command first offers to save any
+modified file-visiting buffers. If you do not save them all, it asks
+for confirmation with @kbd{yes} before killing Emacs, since any
+changes not saved now will be lost forever. Also, if any subprocesses are
+still running, @kbd{C-x C-c} asks for confirmation about them, since
+killing Emacs will also kill the subprocesses.
@vindex confirm-kill-emacs
If the value of the variable @code{confirm-kill-emacs} is
function @code{yes-or-no-p}. The default value of
@code{confirm-kill-emacs} is @code{nil}.
- There is no way to resume an Emacs session once you have killed it.
-You can, however, arrange for Emacs to record certain session
-information when you kill it, such as which files are visited, so that
-the next time you start Emacs it will try to visit the same files and
-so on. @xref{Saving Emacs Sessions}.
+ You can't resume an Emacs session after killing it. Emacs can,
+however, record certain session information when you kill it, such as
+which files you visited, so the next time you start Emacs it will try
+to visit the same files. @xref{Saving Emacs Sessions}.
The operating system usually listens for certain special characters
whose meaning is to kill or suspend the program you are running.