@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 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
@c See file emacs.texi for copying conditions.
@node Entering Emacs, Exiting, Text Characters, Top
@chapter Entering and Exiting Emacs
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.
@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.)
-
- 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.
+failing to support job control properly, but that is a matter of
+taste.)
+
+ 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