- GNU Emacs FAQ: Introduction
+ GNU Emacs FAQ: Introduction
-[To find what has changed, view the `Changes' posting or inspect the change
- bars in the text of the questions.]
+[To find what has changed, see the "Changes" posting.]
+
+[The FAQ post date slipped big-time this time. Now that school is over
+ with and I can get on with the rest of my life, posting should become a
+ lot more regular. - sbyrnes]
This is the introduction to a list of frequently asked questions (FAQ) about
GNU Emacs with answers. This article contains a listing of the questions;
subsequent articles contain the questions and answers.
-The FAQ is posted to reduce the noise level in the `gnu.emacs.help' newsgroup
-(which is also the `help-gnu-emacs' mailing list) which results from the
-repetition of frequently asked questions, wrong answers to these questions,
+The FAQ list is posted to reduce the noise level in the `gnu.emacs.help'
+newsgroup (which is also the `help-gnu-emacs' mailing list) which results from
+the repetition of frequently asked questions, wrong answers to these questions,
corrections to the wrong answers, corrections to the corrections, debate, name
calling, etc. Also, it serves as a repository of the canonical "best" answers
to these questions. However, if you know a better answer or even a slight
-change that improves an answer, please tell me!
+change that improves an answer, please tell us!
-If you know the answer of a question is in the FAQ, please reply to the
+If you know the answer of a question is in the FAQ list, please reply to the
question by e-mail instead of posting. Help reduce noise!
-The FAQ is crossposted to `comp.emacs' because some sites do not receive the
-`gnu.*' newsgroups. The FAQ is also crossposted to `news.answers'.
+The FAQ list is crossposted to `comp.emacs' because some sites do not receive
+the `gnu.*' newsgroups. The FAQ list is also crossposted to `news.answers'.
Please suggest new questions, answers, wording changes, deletions, etc. The
most helpful form for suggestions is a context diff (ie., the output of `diff
--c'). Include `FAQ' in the subject of messages sent to me about the FAQ.
+-c'). Include `FAQ' in the subject of messages sent to us about the FAQ list.
-Please do not send questions to me just because you do not want to disturb a
-lot of people and you think I would know the answer. I do not have time to
+Please do not send questions to us just because you do not want to disturb a
+lot of people and you think we would know the answer. We do not have time to
answer questions individually. :-(
-Full instructions for getting the latest FAQ are in question 29. Also see the
+Full instructions for getting the latest FAQ are in question 22. Also see the
`Introduction to news.answers' posting in the `news.answers' newsgroup, or send
-e-mail to `mail-server@pit-manager.mit.edu' with `help' on a body line, or use
-FTP, WAIS, or Prospero to pit-manager.mit.edu.
+e-mail to `mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu' with `help' on a body line, or use FTP,
+WAIS, or Prospero to rtfm.mit.edu.
-Future plans for this FAQ list include:
+These ideas have already been suggested, but we have not had time to
+implement them:
- * A new section devoted to GNUS questions.
- * Verification for files available via FTP and for mailing lists.
- * Up-to-date IP addresses for sites mentioned for FTP access.
* A Texinfo version.
- * Marking questions in the list below that have been changed recently.
+ * Marking questions in the table of contents that have been changed
+ recently.
--
-Joe Wells <jbw@cs.bu.edu>
+Steven Byrnes <sbyrnes@rice.edu> (and Joe Wells <jbw@cs.bu.edu>)
+
+E-mail lpf@uunet.uu.net for details about the League for Programming Freedom.
-Member of the League for Programming Freedom --- send e-mail for details
----------------------------------------------------------------------
-Notation Used in the Answers
-
-1: What do things like this mean: C-h, M-C-a, RET, etc.?
-2: What do you mean when you write things like this: type "ESC a"?
-3: What if I don't have a Meta key?
-4: What if I don't have an Escape key?
-5: What does "M-x command" mean?
-6: What do things like this mean: etc/SERVICE, src/config.h,
- lisp/default.el?
-7: What are FSF, LPF, OSF, GNU, RMS, FTP, and GPL?
-
-Sources of Information and Help
-
-8: I'm just starting GNU Emacs; how do I do basic editing?
-9: How do I find out how to do something in GNU Emacs?
-10: Where can I get GNU Emacs on the net (or by snail mail)?
-11: Where can I get help in installing GNU Emacs?
-12: How do I get a printed copy of the GNU Emacs manual?
-13: How do I install a piece of Texinfo documentation?
-14: How do I print a Texinfo file?
-15: Can I view Info files without using GNU Emacs?
+ GNU Emacs FAQ: Table of Contents
+
+Notation Used in FAQ
+
+1: What do these mean: C-h, M-C-a, RET, "ESC a", etc.?
+2: What does "M-x command" mean?
+3: How do I read topic XXX in the on-line manual?
+4: What do these mean: etc/SERVICE, src/config.h, lisp/default.el?
+5: What are FSF, LPF, OSF, GNU, RMS, FTP, and GPL?
+
+General Questions
+
+6: What is the LPF and why should I join it?
+7: What is the real legal meaning of the GNU copyleft?
+8: What are appropriate messages for gnu.emacs.help, gnu.emacs.bug,
+ comp.emacs, etc.?
+9: Where can I get old postings to gnu.emacs.help and other GNU groups?
+10: Where should I report bugs and other problems with GNU Emacs?
+11: How do I unsubscribe to this mailing list?
+12: What is the current address of the FSF?
+
+On-line Help, Printed Manuals, Other Sources of Help
+
+13: I'm just starting GNU Emacs; how do I do basic editing?
+14: How do I find out how to do something in GNU Emacs?
+15: How do I get a printed copy of the GNU Emacs manual?
16: Where can I get documentation on GNU Emacs Lisp?
-17: Has someone written an GNU Emacs Lisp package that does XXX?
-18: Where can I get GNU Emacs Lisp packages that don't come with Emacs?
-19: How do I submit code to the Emacs Lisp Archive?
+17: How do I install a piece of Texinfo documentation?
+18: How do I print a Texinfo file?
+19: Can I view Info files without using GNU Emacs?
20: What informational files are available for GNU Emacs?
-21: Where can I get the latest VM, Supercite, GNUS, Calc, Calendar,
- Ange-FTP, VIP, Dired, Ispell, Epoch, Demacs, Freemacs, or Patch?
-22: What is the real legal meaning of the GNU copyleft?
-23: What are appropriate messages for gnu.emacs.help, gnu.emacs.bug,
- comp.emacs, etc.?
-24: How do I unsubscribe to this mailing list?
-25: What is the LPF and why should I join it?
-26: What is the current address of the FSF?
-27: What is the current address of the LPF?
-28: Where can I get other up-to-date GNU stuff?
-29: Where can I get the latest version of this document (the FAQ list)?
-
-GNU Emacs and Various Computing Environments
-
-30: Where does the name "Emacs" come from?
-31: What is the latest version of GNU Emacs?
-32: When will GNU Emacs 19 be available?
-33: What will be different about GNU Emacs 19?
-34: Is there an Emacs that has better mouse and X window support?
-35: Where can I get the "unofficial HP GNU Emacs"?
-36: Where can I get Emacs for my PC?
-37: Where can I get Emacs for my Atari ST?
-38: Where can I get Emacs for my Amiga?
-39: Where can I get Emacs for my Apple computer?
-40: Where can I get Emacs with NeWS support?
-41: How do I get Emacs running on VMS under DECwindows?
-42: How do I use emacstool under SunView?
-43: How do I make Emacs display 8-bit characters?
-44: How do I input 8-bit characters?
-45: How do I use an already running Emacs from another window?
-46: Where can I get an Emacs that can handle kanji characters?
-47: Where can I get an Emacs that can handle Chinese?
-48: Where is an Emacs that can handle Semitic (right-to-left) alphabets?
-
-Binding Keys to Commands
-
-49: Why does Emacs say "Key sequence XXX uses invalid prefix characters"?
-50: Why doesn't this [terminal or window-system setup] code work in my
- .emacs file, but it works just fine after Emacs starts up?
-51: Other than that, why does my key binding fail?
-52: How do I use function keys under X Windows?
-53: How do I tell what characters my function or arrow keys emit?
-54: Why does Emacs spontaneously start displaying "I-search:" and beeping?
-55: How do I disable the use of C-s and C-q for flow control?
-56: What do I do if my terminal is sending C-s and C-q for flow control and
- I can't disable it?
-57: How do I make Emacs honor C-s and C-q for flow control instead of for
- commands?
-58: Why does Emacs never see C-s and C-q through my network connection?
-59: How do I use commands bound to C-s and C-q (or any key) if these keys
- are filtered out?
-60: How do I "swap" two keys?
-61: Why does the "BackSpace" key invoke help?
-62: How do I type DEL on PC terminal emulators?
-63: Can I make my "Compose" key behave like a "Meta" key?
-64: Why don't the arrow keys work?
-65: How do I bind a combination of modifier key and function key?
-66: Why doesn't my Meta key work in an xterm window?
-67: Why doesn't my ExtendChar key work as a Meta key under HP-UX 8.0?
-68: Where can I get key bindings to make Emacs emulate WordStar?
-
-Building/Installing/Porting Emacs and Machine/OS-Specific Bugs
-
-69: Why does Emacs crash with "Fatal error (6).Abort" under SunOS 4.1?
-70: Why do I get an "f68881_used undefined" error, when I build Emacs on my
- Sun 3?
-71: Why does Emacs ignore my X resources (my .Xdefaults file)?
-72: How do I get Emacs to compile with all features under OpenWindows?
-73: How do I build Emacs under HP-UX 8.0?
-74: What should I do if I have trouble building Emacs?
-
-Weird/Confusing Problems
-
-75: Does Emacs have problems with files larger than 8 megabytes?
-76: Why does Emacs start up using the wrong directory?
-77: How do I edit a file with a "$" in its name?
-78: Why does Shell mode lose track of the shell's current directory?
-79: Why doesn't Emacs expand my aliases when sending mail?
-80: Why doesn't my change to load-path work?
-81: Why does the cursor always go to the wrong column when I move up or
- down one line?
-82: Why does Emacs hang with message "Unknown XMenu error" with X11R4?
-83: Why doesn't display-time show the load average in the mode line
- anymore?
-84: Why doesn't GNUS work anymore via NNTP?
-85: Why does ispell sometimes ignore the local dictionary?
-86: How do I get rid of the ^M junk in my Shell buffer?
-87: Are there any security risks in GNU Emacs?
-88: How do I recover my mail files after RMAIL munges their format?
-89: Why do I get "Process shell exited abnormally with code 1"?
-
-Configuring Emacs for Yourself
-
-90: How do I set up a .emacs file properly?
-91: How do you debug a .emacs file?
-92: How do I turn on abbrevs by default just in mode XXX?
-93: How do I turn on Auto-Fill mode by default?
-94: How do I make Emacs use a certain major mode for certain files?
-95: What are the valid X resource settings (ie., stuff in .Xdefaults file)?
-96: How do I stop Emacs from beeping on a terminal?
-97: How do I turn down the bell volume in Emacs running under X Windows?
-98: How do I change load-path?
-99: How do I change the included text prefix in mail/news followups?
-
-Emacs Lisp Programming
-
-100: What dialect of Lisp is Emacs Lisp?
-101: How close is Emacs Lisp to Common Lisp?
-102: How do I execute a piece of Emacs Lisp code?
-103: How do I make a set of operations work only within a region?
-104: How can I highlight text in Emacs?
-105: How do I change Emacs's idea of the tab character's length?
-
-Carrying Out Common Tasks
-
-106: How do I insert ">"'s in the beginning of every line in a buffer?
-107: How do I insert "_^H" characters before each character in a paragraph
- to get an underlined paragraph?
-108: How do I repeat a command as many times as possible?
-109: How do I search for or delete unprintable (8-bit or control)
+21: Where can I get help in installing GNU Emacs?
+22: Where can I get the latest version of this document (the FAQ list)?
+
+Status of Emacs
+
+23: Where does the name "Emacs" come from?
+24: What is the latest version of GNU Emacs?
+25: When will GNU Emacs 19 be available?
+26: What is different about GNU Emacs 19?
+27: What variants of GNU Emacs exist?
+
+Common Things People Want To Do
+
+28: How do I set up a .emacs file properly?
+29: How do I debug a .emacs file?
+30: How do I make Emacs display the current line (or column) number?
+31: How do I turn on Abbrevs by default just in mode XXX?
+32: How do I turn on Auto-Fill mode by default?
+33: How do I make Emacs use a certain major mode for certain files?
+34: How do I search for, delete, or replace unprintable (8-bit or control)
characters?
-110: How do I control Emacs's case-sensitivity when searching/replacing?
-111: How do I tell Emacs to automatically indent a new line to the
+35: How can I highlight a region of text in Emacs?
+36: How do I control Emacs's case-sensitivity when searching/replacing?
+37: How do I make Emacs wrap words for me?
+38: Where can I get a better spelling checker for Emacs?
+39: How can I spell-check TeX or *roff documents?
+40: How do I change load-path?
+41: How do I use an already running Emacs from another window?
+42: How do I make Emacs recognize my compiler's funny error messages?
+43: How do I indent switch statements like this?
+44: How can I make Emacs automatically scroll horizontally?
+45: How do I make Emacs "typeover" or "overwrite" instead of inserting?
+46: How do I stop Emacs from beeping on a terminal?
+47: How do I turn down the bell volume in Emacs running under X Windows?
+48: How do I tell Emacs to automatically indent a new line to the
indentation of the previous line?
-112: How do I make Emacs "typeover" or "overwrite" instead of inserting?
-113: How do I show which parenthesis matches the one I'm looking at?
-114: How do I make Emacs behave like this: when I go up or down, the cursor
- should stay in the same column even if the line is too short?
-115: How do I read news under Emacs?
-116: In C mode, can I show just the lines that will be left after #ifdef
+49: How do I show which parenthesis matches the one I'm looking at?
+50: In C mode, can I show just the lines that will be left after #ifdef
commands are handled by the compiler?
-117: Is there an equivalent to the "." (dot) command of vi?
-118: How do I make Emacs display the current line (or column) number?
-119: How do I tell Emacs to iconify itself?
-120: How do I use regexps (regular expressions) in Emacs?
-121: How do I perform a replace operation across more than one file?
-122: How do I make Emacs wrap words for me?
-123: Where can I get a better spelling checker for Emacs?
-124: How can I spell-check TeX or *roff documents?
-125: How can I make Emacs automatically scroll horizontally?
-
-
-
-Notation Used in the Answers -
-
- You may skip this section if you are reasonably familiar with GNU Emacs.
- Some of these are not actually frequently asked questions, but knowing
- them is important for understanding the answers to the rest of the
- questions.
-
-1: What do things like this mean: C-h, M-C-a, RET, etc.?
-
- C-a means press the "a" key while holding down the "Control" key. The
- ASCII code this sends will generally be the value that would be sent by
- pressing just "a" minus 96 or 64. Either way it will be a number from 0
- to 31.
-
- M-a means press the "a" key while holding down the "Meta" key. The
- ASCII code this sends is the sum of the ASCII code that would be sent by
- pressing just "a" and 128.
-
- M-C-a means press the "a" key while holding down both the "Control" key
- and the "Meta" key. C-M-a is a synonym for M-C-a.
-
- * RET means press the "Return" key. RET is the same as C-m. This sends
- ASCII code 13.
- * LFD means press the "Linefeed" key. LFD is also the same as C-j. This
- sends ASCII code 10. Under Unix, ASCII code 10 is more often called
- "Newline".
- * DEL means press the "Delete" key. DEL is the same as C-?. This sends
- ASCII code 127. (WARNING: It is a misnomer to call C-? a "control" key,
- since 127 has both bits 6 and 7 turned ON, and the rule for control keys
- is that they have 6 and 7 turned OFF. Also, on very few keyboards does
- Control-? generate ASCII code 127. In fact, Control-? (which is
- actually Control-Shift-/) is more likely to generate C-_, ASCII code
- 31!)
- * ESC means press the "Escape" key. ESC is the same as C-[. This sends
- ASCII code 27.
- * SPC means press the "Space" key. This send ASCII code 32.
- * TAB means press the "Tab" key. TAB is the same as C-i. This send ASCII
- code 9.
-
- For C-@ and C-^, usually you don't have to hold down the shift key and you
- can type Control-2 or Control-6 instead. For C-_, you may have to hold
- down the shift key, typing Control-Shift-Hyphen. C-@ can often be
- generated by typing Control-Space. C-@ is often called the NUL character,
- and has ASCII value 0. C-_ can often be generated by typing Control-7 or
- Control-/. C-? (aka DEL) may be generated by typing Shift-BackSpace or +
- Control-BackSpace. Try Control with all of the digits on your keyboard to +
- see what gets generated.
-
- To read more about this online, type "C-h i m emacs RET m characters
- RET", and also "C-h i m emacs RET m keys RET".
-
-2: What do you mean when you write things like this: type "ESC a"?
-
- I will enclose key sequences that are longer than one key inside double
- quotes. These notations refer to single key strokes (some with
- modifiers):
-
- C-x, M-x, M-C-x
- RET, LFD, DEL, ESC, SPC, TAB
-
- I separate these from other keys within double quotes by spaces. Any
- real spaces that I write inside double quotes can be ignored, only SPC
- means press the space key. All other characters within double quotes
- represent single keys (some shifted).
-
-3: What if I don't have a Meta key?
+51: Is there an equivalent to the `.' (dot) command of vi?
+52: What are the valid X resource settings (ie., stuff in .Xdefaults)?
+53: How do I execute a piece of Emacs Lisp code?
+54: How do I change Emacs's idea of the tab character's length?
+55: How do I insert `>' at the beginning of every line?
+56: How do I insert `_^H' before each character in a paragraph to get an
+ underlined paragraph?
+57: How do I repeat a command as many times as possible?
+58: How do I make Emacs behave like this: when I go up or down, the cursor
+ should stay in the same column even if the line is too short?
+59: How do I tell Emacs to iconify itself?
+60: How do I use regexps (regular expressions) in Emacs?
+61: How do I perform a replace operation across more than one file?
+62: Where is the documentation for `etags'?
+
+Bugs/Problems
+
+63: Does Emacs have problems with files larger than 8 megabytes?
+64: Why can't Emacs find files in current directory on startup?
+65: How do I get rid of the ^M junk in my Shell buffer?
+66: Why do I get `Process shell exited abnormally with code 1'?
+67: Why can't I cut from Emacs and paste in other X programs?
+68: Where is the termcap/terminfo entry for terminal type `emacs'?
+69: Why does Emacs spontaneously start displaying `I-search:' and beeping?
+70: Why can't Emacs talk to certain hosts (or certain hostnames)?
+71: Why does Emacs say `Error in init file'?
+72: Why does Emacs ignore my X resources (my .Xdefaults file)?
+73: Why does Emacs take 20 seconds to visit a file?
+74: How do I edit a file with a `$' in its name?
+75: Why does Shell mode lose track of the shell's current directory?
+76: Why doesn't my change to load-path work?
+77: Why does the cursor always go to the wrong column when I move up or
+ down one line?
+78: Why does Emacs hang with message `Unknown XMenu error' with X11R4?
+79: Why doesn't display-time show the load average in the mode line
+ anymore?
+80: Why does ispell sometimes ignore the local dictionary?
+81: Why does Ispell treat each line as a single word?
+82: Are there any security risks in GNU Emacs?
+
+Difficulties Building/Installing/Porting Emacs
+
+83: What should I do if I have trouble building Emacs?
+84: How do I stop Emacs from failing when the executable is stripped?
+85: Why does linking Emacs with -lX11 fail?
+86: Why does Emacs 18.55 say `Fatal error (6).Abort' under SunOS 4.1?
+
+Finding/Getting Emacs and Related Packages
+
+87: Where can I get GNU Emacs on the net (or by snail mail)?
+88: How do I find a GNU Emacs Lisp package that does XXX?
+89: Where can I get GNU Emacs Lisp packages that don't come with Emacs?
+90: How do I submit code to the Emacs Lisp Archive?
+91: Where can I get other up-to-date GNU stuff?
+92: Where can I get an Emacs with better mouse and X window support?
+93: What is the difference between GNU Emacs and Epoch?
+94: What is the difference between GNU Emacs and Lucid GNU Emacs?
+95: Where can I get the "unofficial HP GNU Emacs"?
+96: Where can I get Emacs for my PC running MS-DOS?
+97: Where can I get Emacs for my PC running Windows?
+98: Where can I get Emacs for my PC running OS/2?
+99: Where can I get Emacs for my Atari ST?
+100: Where can I get Emacs for my Amiga?
+101: Where can I get Emacs for my Apple computer?
+102: Where can I get Emacs with NeWS support?
+103: Where do I get Emacs that runs on VMS under DECwindows?
+104: Where can I get modes for Lex, Yacc/Bison, Bourne Shell, Csh, C++,
+ Objective C, Pascal, Awk?
+105: What is the IP address of XXX.YYY.ZZZ?
+
+Major Emacs Lisp Packages, Emacs Extensions, and Related Programs
+
+106: VM (View Mail) -- another mail reader within Emacs
+107: Supercite -- mail and news citation package within Emacs
+108: GNUS -- news reader within Emacs
+109: Calc -- poor man's Mathematica within Emacs
+110: Calendar/Diary -- calendar manager within Emacs
+111: Ange-FTP -- transparent FTP access for Emacs's file access routines
+112: VIP -- vi emulation for Emacs
+113: Dired -- better directory editor for Emacs
+114: AUC TeX -- enhanced LaTeX mode with debugging facilities
+115: Hyperbole -- extensible hypertext management system within Emacs
+116: Byte Compiler -- enhanced version of Emacs's byte compiler
+117: comint -- hugely enhanced shell mode and other derived modes
+118: BBDB -- personal info rolodex integrated with mail/news readers
+119: Ispell -- spell checker in C with interface for Emacs
+120: Epoch -- enhanced GNU Emacs with better X interface
+121: Lucid GNU Emacs -- alternative Emacs 19 with better X interface
+122: Demacs -- GNU Emacs altered to run on MS-DOS on 386/486 machines
+123: Freemacs -- a small Emacs for MS-DOS
+124: Patch -- program to apply "diffs" for updating files
+
+Changing Key Bindings and Handling Key Binding Problems
+
+125: How do I bind keys (including function keys) to commands?
+126: Why does Emacs say `Key sequence XXX uses invalid prefix characters'?
+127: Why doesn't this [terminal or window-system setup] code work in my
+ .emacs file, but it works just fine after Emacs starts up?
+128: How do I use function keys under X Windows?
+129: How do I tell what characters my function or arrow keys emit?
+130: How do I set the X key "translations" for Emacs?
+131: How do I handle C-s and C-q being used for flow control?
+132: How do I use commands bound to C-s and C-q (or any key) if these keys
+ are filtered out?
+133: Why does the `BackSpace' key invoke help?
+134: Why doesn't Emacs look at the stty settings for Backspace vs. Delete?
+135: Why don't the arrow keys work?
+136: How do I "swap" two keys?
+137: How do I produce C-XXX with my keyboard?
+138: What if I don't have a Meta key?
+139: What if I don't have an Escape key?
+140: How do I type DEL on PC terminal emulators?
+141: Can I make my `Compose Character' key behave like a Meta key?
+142: How do I bind a combination of modifier key and function key?
+143: Why doesn't my Meta key work in an xterm window?
+144: Why doesn't my ExtendChar key work as a Meta key under HP-UX 8.0?
+145: Where can I get key bindings to make Emacs emulate WordStar?
+146: Where can I get an XEDIT emulator for Emacs?
+
+Using Emacs with Alternate Character Sets
+
+147: How do I make Emacs display 8-bit characters?
+148: How do I input 8-bit characters?
+149: Where can I get an Emacs that can handle kanji characters?
+150: Where can I get an Emacs that can handle Chinese?
+151: Where is an Emacs that can handle Semitic (right-to-left) alphabets?
+
+Mail and News
+
+152: How do I change the included text prefix in mail/news followups?
+153: How do I save a copy of outgoing mail?
+154: Why doesn't Emacs expand my aliases when sending mail?
+155: Why does RMAIL think all my saved messages are one big message?
+156: How can I sort the messages in my RMAIL folder?
+157: Why does RMAIL need to write to /usr/spool/mail?
+158: How do I recover my mail files after RMAIL munges their format?
+159: How do I make Emacs automatically start my mail/news reader?
+160: How do I read news under Emacs?
+161: Why does `rnews' say "No News is good news" when there is news?
+162: Why doesn't GNUS work anymore via NNTP?
+163: How do I view text with embedded underlining (eg., ClariNews)?
+164: When I try to post a long article in GNUS (about 10K or longer), I get
+ the error, "Writing to process: no more processes, nntpd"
+165: How do I save all the items of a multi-part posting in GNUS?
+166: Why does GNUS put the subjects in replies beyond the 80th column?
+167: Why is GNUS so slow to start up?
+168: How do I catch up all newsgroups in GNUS?
+169: Why can't I kill in GNUS on the Newsgroups/Keywords/Control line?
+170: How do I get rid of flashing messages in GNUS for slow connections?
+171: Why is catch up slow in Gnews/GNUS?
+172: Why does GNUS hang for a long time when posting?
+173: Why don't my news postings in GNUS get past the local machine?
+174: Why is the GNUS-generated `Date:' header invalid?
+175: Why doesn't GNUS generate the `Lines:' header?
+176: Why do I get "Cannot open load file" "nntp" when compiling GNUS?
+177: How do I kill all articles in GNUS but those matching a pattern?
+
+
+ GNU Emacs FAQ: Notation/General/Help/Status
+
+If you are viewing this text in a GNU Emacs Buffer, you can type "M-2 C-x $" to
+get an overview of just the questions. Then, when you want to look at the text
+of the answers, just type "C-x $".
+
+To search for a question numbered XXX, type "M-C-s ^XXX:", followed by a C-r if
+that doesn't work, then type ESC to end the search.
+
+A `+' in the 78th column means something was inserted on the line. A `-' means
+something was deleted and a `!' means some combination of insertions and
+deletions occurred.
+
+Full instructions for getting the latest FAQ are in question 22. Also see the
+`Introduction to news.answers' posting in the `news.answers' newsgroup, or send
+e-mail to `mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu' with `help' on a body line, or use FTP,
+WAIS, or Prospero to rtfm.mit.edu.
+
+
+
+Notation Used in FAQ
+
+ Skip this section and then come back if you don't understand some of the
+ later answers.
- Instead of typing M-a, you can type "ESC a" instead. In fact, Emacs
- converts M-a internally into "ESC a" anyway (depending on the value of
- meta-prefix-char).
+1: What do these mean: C-h, M-C-a, RET, "ESC a", etc.?
-4: What if I don't have an Escape key?
+ C-x means press the `x' key while holding down the Control key. M-x means
+ press the `x' key while holding down the Meta key. M-C-x means press the
+ `x' key while holding down both the Control key and the Meta key. C-M-a
+ is a synonym for M-C-a. RET, LFD, DEL, ESC, and TAB respectively refer to
+ pressing the Return, Linefeed (aka Newline), Delete, Escape, and Tab keys
+ and are equivalent to C-m, C-j, C-?, C-[, and C-i. SPC means press the
+ Space bar.
- Type C-[ instead. This should send ASCII code 27 just like an Escape
- key would.
+ I put any key sequence that is longer than one key (and some single-key
+ sequences) inside double quotes or on a line by itself. Any real spaces
+ in such a key sequence should be ignored; only SPC really means press the
+ space key.
-5: What does "M-x command" mean?
+ The ASCII code sent by C-x (except for C-?) is the value that would be
+ sent by pressing just `x' minus 96 (or 64 for uppercase `X') and will be
+ from 0 to 31. The ASCII code sent by M-x is the sum of 128 and the ASCII
+ code that would be sent by pressing just the `x' key. Essentially, the
+ Control key turns off bits 5 and 6 and the Meta key turns on bit 7.
+
+ For further information, see `Characters' and `Keys' in the online manual.
+
+ NOTE: C-? (aka DEL) is ASCII code 127. It is a misnomer to call C-? a
+ "control" key, since 127 has both bits 5 and 6 turned ON. Also, on very
+ few keyboards does Control-? generate ASCII code 127.
+
+2: What does "M-x command" mean?
"M-x command" means type M-x, then type the name of the command, then
type RET.
- M-x is simply the default key sequence that invokes the command
- "execute-extended-command". This command allows you to run any Emacs
- command if you can remember the command's name. If you can't remember
- the command's name, you can type TAB and SPC for completion, and ? for a
- list of possibilities. An Emacs "command" is any "interactive" Emacs
- function.
+ M-x (by default) invokes the command `execute-extended-command'. This
+ command allows you to run any Emacs command if you can remember the
+ command's name. If you can't remember the command's name, you can type
+ TAB and SPC for completion, and "?" for a list of possibilities. An Emacs
+ "command" is any "interactive" Emacs function.
NOTE: Your system administrator may have bound other key sequences to
- invoke execute-extended-command. A function key labeled "Do" is a good
+ invoke execute-extended-command. A function key labeled `Do' is a good
candidate for this.
- To run non-interactive Emacs functions, use M-ESC instead and type a
- Lisp form that invokes the function (see question 102).
+ To run non-interactive Emacs functions, see question 53.
+
+3: How do I read topic XXX in the on-line manual?
-6: What do things like this mean: etc/SERVICE, src/config.h,
- lisp/default.el?
+ When I refer you to topic XXX in the on-line manual, you can read this
+ manual node inside Emacs (assuming nothing is broken) by typing this:
- These are the names of files that are part of the GNU Emacs
- distribution. The GNU Emacs distribution is divided into several
- subdirectories; the important subdirectories are named "etc", "lisp",
- and "src".
+ C-h i m emacs RET m XXX RET
+
+ This invokes the Info facility. If you don't already know how to use
+ Info, type "?" from within Info.
+
+ If I refer you to topic XXX:YYY, you need to type this:
+
+ C-h i m emacs RET m XXX RET m YYY RET
+
+ WARNING: Your system administrator may not have installed the Info files,
+ or may have installed them properly. In this case you should complain.
+
+4: What do these mean: etc/SERVICE, src/config.h, lisp/default.el?
+
+ These are files that come with GNU Emacs. The GNU Emacs distribution is
+ divided into subdirectories; the important ones are `etc', `lisp', and
+ `src'.
If you use GNU Emacs, but don't know where it is kept on your system,
start Emacs, then type "C-h v exec-directory RET". The directory name
- that is displayed by this will be the full pathname of the "etc"
- directory of your installed GNU Emacs distribution.
+ displayed by this will be the full pathname of the installed `etc'
+ directory.
Some of these files are available individually via FTP or e-mail, see
- question 20.
+ question 20. All are available in the source distribution.
-7: What are FSF, LPF, OSF, GNU, RMS, FTP, and GPL?
+5: What are FSF, LPF, OSF, GNU, RMS, FTP, and GPL?
FSF == Free Software Foundation
LPF == League for Programming Freedom
-Sources of Information and Help
+General Questions
+
+6: What is the LPF and why should I join it?
+
+ The LPF opposes the expanding danger of software patents and look-and-feel
+ copyrights. To get more information, feel free to contact the LPF via
+ e-mail or otherwise. {You may also contact me, jbw@cs.bu.edu; I will be
+ happy to talk with you about the LPF.} Here is the contact information:
+
+ E-mail address: league@prep.ai.mit.edu
+ Phone number: (617) 243-4091
+ Postal address:
+ League for Programming Freedom
+ 1 Kendall Square, Number 143
+ Post Office Box 9171
+ Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
+
+ Papers describing the LPF's views are available on the internet and also
+ from the LPF:
+
+ Anonymous FTP:
+ /prep.ai.mit.edu:/pub/lpf/
+ /archive.cis.ohio-state.edu:pub/lpf/
+ Anonymous UUCP:
+ osu-cis!~/lpf/*
+
+7: What is the real legal meaning of the GNU copyleft?
+
+ The real legal meaning of the GNU General Public Licence (copyleft) is
+ however it is interpreted by a judge. There has never been a copyright
+ infringement case involving the GPL to set any precedents. Please take any
+ discussion regarding this issue to the newsgroup gnu.misc.discuss, which
+ was created to hold the extensive flame wars on the subject.
+
+ RMS writes:
+
+ The legal meaning of the GNU copyleft is less important than the spirit,
+ which is that Emacs is a free software project and that work pertaining
+ to Emacs should also be free software. "Free" means that all users have
+ the freedom to study, share, change and improve Emacs. To make sure
+ everyone has this freedom, pass along source code when you distribute
+ any version of Emacs or a related program, and give the recipients the
+ same freedom that you enjoyed.
+
+8: What are appropriate messages for gnu.emacs.help, gnu.emacs.bug,
+ comp.emacs, etc.?
+
+ The file etc/MAILINGLISTS discusses the purpose of each GNU mailing-list.
+ (See question 20 on how to get a copy.) For those which are gatewayed
+ with newsgroups, it lists both the newsgroup name and the mailing list
+ address.
+
+ comp.emacs is for discussion of Emacs programs in general. This
+ includes GNU Emacs along with various other implementations like JOVE,
+ MicroEmacs, Freemacs, MG, Unipress, CCA, Epsilon, etc.
+
+ Many people post GNU Emacs questions to comp.emacs because they don't
+ receive any of the gnu.* newsgroups. Arguments have been made both for
+ and against posting GNU-Emacs-specific material to comp.emacs. You have
+ to decide for yourself.
+
+ Messages advocating "non-free" software are considered unacceptable on any
+ of the gnu.* newsgroups except for gnu.misc.discuss, which was created to
+ hold the extensive flame-wars on the subject. "non-free" software
+ includes any software for which the end user can't freely modify the
+ source code and exchange enhancements. Be careful to remove the gnu.*
+ groups from the `Newsgroups:' line when posting a followup that recommends
+ such software.
+
+ gnu.emacs.bug is a place where bug reports appear, but avoid posting bug
+ reports to this newsgroup, instead see question 10.
+
+9: Where can I get old postings to gnu.emacs.help and other GNU groups?
+
+ The FSF has maintained archives of all of the GNU mailing lists for many
+ years, although there may be some unintentional gaps in coverage. The
+ archive is not particularly well organized or easy to retrieve individual
+ postings from, but pretty much everything is there.
+
+ Anonymous FTP:
+ /prep.ai.mit.edu:/pub/gnu/MailingListArchives/
+
+ There is a WAIS database named `comp.emacs' on wais.oit.unc.edu that
+ makes available the last few days of articles in comp.emacs.
+
+10: Where should I report bugs and other problems with GNU Emacs?
+
+ The correct way to report GNU Emacs bugs is by e-mail to
+ bug-gnu-emacs@prep.ai.mit.edu. Anything sent here also appears in the
+ newsgroup gnu.emacs.bug, but please use e-mail instead of news to submit
+ the bug report. This way a reliable return address is available so you
+ can be contacted for further details.
+
+ RMS explains:
+
+ Sending bug reports to help-gnu-emacs (which has the effect of posting
+ on gnu.emacs.help) is undesirable because it takes the time of an
+ unnecessarily large group of people, most of whom are just users and
+ have no idea how to fix these problem. bug-gnu-emacs reaches a much
+ smaller group of people who are more likely to know what to do and have
+ expressed a wish to receive more messages about Emacs than the others.
+
+ However, RMS says there are circumstances when it is okay to post to
+ gnu.emacs.help:
+
+ If you have reported a bug and you don't hear about a possible fix, then
+ after a suitable delay (such as a week) it is okay to post on
+ gnu.emacs.help asking if anyone can help you.
+
+ If you are unsure whether you have a bug, RMS describes how to tell:
+
+ ... if Emacs crashes, that is a bug. If Emacs gets compilation errors
+ while building, that is a bug. If Emacs crashes while building, that is
+ a bug. If Lisp code does not do what the documentation says it does,
+ that is a bug.
+
+11: How do I unsubscribe to this mailing list?
+
+ If you are receiving a GNU mailing list named `XXX', you might be able
+ to unsubscribe to it by sending a request to the address
+ `XXX-request@prep.ai.mit.edu'. However, this will not work if you are
+ not listed on the main mailing list, but instead receive the mail from a
+ distribution point. In that case, you will have to track down at which
+ distribution point you are listed. Inspecting the `Received:' headers
+ on the mail messages may help, along with liberal use of the `EXPN' or
+ `VRFY' sendmail commands through `telnet <site-address> smtp'. Ask your
+ postmaster for help.
+
+12: What is the current address of the FSF?
+
+ E-mail address: gnu@prep.ai.mit.edu
+ Phone number: (617) 876-3296
+ Postal address:
+ Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+ 675 Massachusetts Avenue
+ Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
+
+
+
+On-line Help, Printed Manuals, Other Sources of Help
-8: I'm just starting GNU Emacs; how do I do basic editing?
+13: I'm just starting GNU Emacs; how do I do basic editing?
Type "C-h t" to invoke the self-paced tutorial. Typing just C-h is
how to enter the help system.
- WARNING: Your system administrator may have changed C-h to act like DEL.
- You can use M-x help-for-help instead to invoke help. To discover what
- key (if any) invokes help on your system, type "M-x where-is RET
- help-for-help RET". This will print a comma-separated list of key
- sequences in the echo area. Ignore the last character in each key
- sequence listed. Each of the resulting key sequences invokes help.
+ WARNING: Your system administrator may have changed C-h to act like DEL to
+ deal local keyboards. You can use M-x help-for-help instead to invoke
+ help. To discover what key (if any) invokes help on your system, type
+ "M-x where-is RET help-for-help RET". This will print a comma-separated
+ list of key sequences in the echo area. Ignore the last character in each
+ key sequence listed. Each of the resulting key sequences invokes help.
- NOTE: Emacs's help facility works best if help is invoked by a single
- key. The variable help-char should hold the value of this character.
- Andrew Arensburger <arensb@kong.gsfc.nasa.gov> wrote a patch that allows +
- the help facility to work properly when invoked by multiple character +
- sequences. +
+ NOTE: Emacs's help facility works best if help is invoked by a single key
+ whose value should be stored in the variable help-char. Andrew
+ Arensburger <arensb@kong.gsfc.nasa.gov> wrote a patch that allows the help
+ facility to work properly when invoked by multiple character sequences.
-9: How do I find out how to do something in GNU Emacs?
+14: How do I find out how to do something in GNU Emacs?
There are several methods for finding out how to do things in Emacs.
- * You should become familiar with the online documentation for Emacs. The +
- complete text of the Emacs manual is available online in a hypertext
- format via the "Info" manual reader. Type "C-h i" to invoke Info.
+ * The complete text of the Emacs manual is available online via the Info
+ hypertext reader. Type "C-h i" to invoke Info.
- * You can order a hardcopy of the manual from the FSF. See question 12. +
+ * You can order a hardcopy of the manual from the FSF. See question 15.
- * You can get a printed reference card listing commands and keys to invoke +
+ * You can get a printed reference card listing commands and keys to invoke
them. You can order one from the FSF for $1 (or 10 for $5), or you can
print your own from the etc/refcard.tex file in the Emacs distribution.
+ {Are PostScript versions of this available for FTP?}
- * You can list all of the commands whose names contain a certain word +
- (actually which match a regular expression) using the "command-apropos"
- command. Type "C-h a" to invoke this command.
+ * You can list all of the commands whose names contain a certain word
+ (actually which match a regular expression) using "C-h a"
+ (M-x command-apropos).
- * You can list all of the functions and variables whose names contain a +
- certain word using the "apropos" command. M-x apropos invokes this
- command.
+ * You can list all of the functions and variables whose names contain a
+ certain word using M-x apropos.
- * There are many other commands in Emacs for getting help and information. +
+ * There are many other commands in Emacs for getting help and information.
To get a list of these commands, type "C-h C-h C-h".
NOTE: You may find that command-apropos and apropos are extremely slow
on your system. This will be fixed in Emacs 19. If you can't wait that
- long, there is a "fast-apropos.el" file available in the Emacs Lisp
- Archive (see question 18) that contains the fix. This file
- also contains a "super-apropos" command that will list all the functions
- and variables whose documentation strings contain a certain word.
+ long, there is a fast-apropos.el file available in the Emacs Lisp
+ Archive (see question 89) that contains the fix.
-10: Where can I get GNU Emacs on the net (or by snail mail)?
+15: How do I get a printed copy of the GNU Emacs manual?
- Look in the files etc/DISTRIB and etc/FTP for information on nearby
- archive sites. If you don't already have GNU Emacs, see question 20 !
- for how to get these two files.
+ You can order a printed copy of the GNU Emacs manual from the FSF for
+ $20. For 6 or more manuals the price is $13 each. The price may be
+ tax-deductible as a business expense.
- The latest version is always available via anonymous FTP at MIT
- (prep.ai.mit.edu:pub/gnu/emacs-18.58.tar.Z). !
+ The full TeX source for the manual also comes in the `man' directory of
+ the Emacs distribution, if you're daring enough to try to print out this
+ 300 page manual yourself (see question 18).
-11: Where can I get help in installing GNU Emacs?
+ If you absolutely have to print your own copy, and you don't have TeX, you
+ can get a PostScript version via anonymous FTP:
- Look in the file etc/SERVICE for names of companies and individuals who
- will sell you this type of service. An up-to-date version of the
- SERVICE file is available on prep.ai.mit.edu. See question 20
- for how to retrieve this file.
+ /cs.ubc.ca:pub/archive/gnu/manuals_ps/emacs-18.57.ps.Z !
-12: How do I get a printed copy of the GNU Emacs manual?
+ which site requests that you please CONFINE ANY MAJOR FTPING TO LATE
+ EVENINGS OR EARLY MORNINGS OUR TIME (pacific time zone, GMT-8)). A DVI
+ version is also available via FTP:
- You can order a printed copy of the GNU Emacs manual from the FSF for
- $20. For 6 or more manuals the price is $13 each. {The price may be !
- tax-deductible as a business expense. Can someone tell me for certain? I !
- know that pure donations to the FSF are tax-deductible, but I don't know !
- about payments for manuals or tapes.} !
+ /prep.ai.mit.edu:pub/gnu/emacs-manual-6.0.dvi.Z
- The full TeX source for the manual also comes in the "man" directory of
- the Emacs distribution, if you're daring enough to try to print out this
- 300 page manual yourself (see question 14).
+ If you don't have TeX you can convert the Texinfo sources into
+ {t,n,ps}roff format with the `texi2roff' program, which is available via
+ anonymous FTP:
- If you absolutely have to print your own copy, and you don't have TeX, you
- can get a PostScript version via anonymous FTP (cs.ubc.ca: -
- src/gnu/manuals_ps/emacs-18.57.ps.Z, which site requests that you please
- CONFINE ANY MAJOR FTPING TO LATE EVENINGS OR EARLY MORNINGS OUR TIME
- (pacific time zone, GMT-8)).
+ /archive.cis.ohio-state.edu:pub/gnu/texi2roff/texi2roff.shar.Z
- If you don't have TeX you can convert the Texinfo sources into
- {t,n,ps}roff format with the "texi2roff" program, which is available via
- anonymous FTP (archive.cis.ohio-state.edu:
- /pub/gnu/texi2roff/texi2roff.shar.Z)
+ See also question 14 for how to view the manual online.
+
+16: Where can I get documentation on GNU Emacs Lisp?
+
+ Within Emacs, you can type "C-h f" to get the documentation for a
+ function, "C-h v" for a variable.
+
+ For more information, obtain the GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual for Emacs
+ 18 under Unix. It is available from the FSF for $50 (or 5 for $200). The
+ latest revision available for FTP is edition 1.03 dated 28 January 1991.
+
+ For online use, a set of pregenerated Info files is available with the
+ Texinfo source for the Emacs Lisp manual via anonymous FTP:
+
+ /archive.cis.ohio-state.edu:pub/gnu/emacs/
+ /prep.ai.mit.edu:pub/gnu/elisp-manual-1.03.tar.Z
+
+ (You can also create the Info files from the Texinfo source.) See
+ question 17 for details on how to install these files online.
- Carl Witty <cwitty@cs.stanford.edu> writes:
+ If you are daring enough to try to print this 550 page manual out
+ yourself, for instructions see question 18.
+
+ Also, as a popular USENET saying goes, "Use the Force, Read the Source".
- The Emacs manual is also available online in the Info system, which is
- available by typing "C-h i". In this form, it has hypertext links and
- is very easy to browse or search; many people prefer it to the printed
- manual.
+17: How do I install a piece of Texinfo documentation?
-13: How do I install a piece of Texinfo documentation?
+ First create Info files from the Texinfo files with the `makeinfo'
+ program. makeinfo is available as part of the latest Texinfo package:
- First create Info files from the Texinfo files with the "makeinfo"
- program. makeinfo is available as part of the latest Texinfo package
- (prep.ai.mit.edu:/pub/gnu/texinfo-2.12.tar.Z). -
+ /prep.ai.mit.edu:pub/gnu/texinfo-2.14.tar.Z
For information about the Texinfo format, read the Texinfo manual which
comes with Emacs. This manual also comes installed in Info format, so you
Neither texinfo-format-buffer nor the makeinfo program install the
resulting Info files in Emacs's Info tree. To install Info files:
- 1. Move the files to the "info" directory in the installed Emacs
- distribution. See question 6 if you don't know where that
+ 1. Move the files to the `info' directory in the installed Emacs
+ distribution. See question 4 if you don't know where that
is.
2. Edit the file info/dir in the installed Emacs distribution, and add a
* Topic: (relative-pathname). Short description of topic.
If you want to install Info files and you don't have the necessary
- privileges, you have several options: !
- !
- * Info files don't actually need to be installed before being used. You !
+ privileges, you have several options:
+
+ * Info files don't actually need to be installed before being used. You
can feed a file name to the Info-goto-node command (invoked by pressing
"g" in Info mode) by typing the name of the file in parentheses. This
- goes to the node named "Top" in that file. For example, to view a Info
- file named "XXX" in your home directory, you can type this:
+ goes to the node named `Top' in that file. For example, to view a Info
+ file named `XXX' in your home directory, you can type this:
C-h i g (~/XXX) RET
- * You can create your own Info directory. You can tell Emacs where the !
+ * You can create your own Info directory. You can tell Emacs where the
Info directory is by setting the value of the variable Info-directory
to its pathname. For example, to use a private Info directory which
- is a subdirectory of your home directory named "Info", you could do
+ is a subdirectory of your home directory named `Info', you could do
this:
(setq Info-directory (expand-file-name "~/Info"))
- You will need a top-level Info file named "dir" in this directory.
+ You will need a top-level Info file named `dir' in this directory.
You can include the system-wide Info directory in your private Info
directory with symbolic links or by copying it.
- * You can use an enhanced version of lisp/info.el that handles multiple +
- Info directories. Then you can more easily use a mix of private and +
- shared Info files. Dave Gillespie <daveg@csvax.cs.caltech.edu> has +
- written one such enhancement and I am told there are others. +
+ * You can use an enhanced version of lisp/info.el that handles multiple
+ Info directories. Then you can more easily use a mix of private and
+ shared Info files. Dave Gillespie <daveg@synaptics.com,
+ daveg@csvax.cs.caltech.edu> has written one such enhancement and I
+ believe there are others. Dave's info.el also handles compressed Info
+ files.
+
+ Anonymous FTP:
+ /archive.cis.ohio-state.edu:modes/info.el.Z
+ /ftp.uu.net:languages/emacs-lisp/modes/info.el.Z !
+
+ According to Jay Bourland <jayb@math.stanford.edu>, a version of Dave's
+ info.el comes with `xinfo' (see question 19).
-14: How do I print a Texinfo file?
+18: How do I print a Texinfo file?
- NOTE: You can't get nice printed output from Info files; you must still +
- have the original Texinfo source file for the manual you want to print. +
+ NOTE: You can't get nice printed output from Info files; you must still
+ have the original Texinfo source file for the manual you want to print.
1. Make sure the first line of the Texinfo file looks like this:
\input texinfo
- You may need to alter "texinfo" to the full pathname of the
+ You may need to alter `texinfo' to the full pathname of the
texinfo.tex file, which comes with Emacs as man/texinfo.tex (or copy
or link it into the current directory).
3. texindex XXX.??
- The "texindex" program comes with Emacs as man/texindex.c.
+ The `texindex' program comes with Emacs as man/texindex.c.
4. tex XXX.texinfo
at your site.
To get more general instructions, retrieve the latest Texinfo package
- mentioned in question 13.
+ mentioned in question 17.
-15: Can I view Info files without using GNU Emacs?
+19: Can I view Info files without using GNU Emacs?
Yes, the `info', `xinfo', and `ivinfo' programs do this. info uses
- curses, xinfo uses standard X11R4 libraries, and ivinfo uses InterViews.
- You can get info as part of the latest Texinfo package (see question 13).
- xinfo is available separately (prep.ai.mit.edu:
- pub/gnu/xinfo-1.01.01.tar.Z). ivinfo is available in a comp.sources.misc
- archive or from Tom Horsley <tom@ssd.csd.harris.com>. For ivinfo, you
- need Stanford's InterViews C++ X library, available via anonymous FTP
- (interviews.stanford.edu).
-
-16: Where can I get documentation on GNU Emacs Lisp?
-
- Within Emacs, you can type "C-h f" to get the documentation for a
- function, "C-h v" for a variable.
-
- For more information, obtain the GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual for Emacs
- 18 under Unix. It is available from the FSF for $50 (or 5 for $200). The
- latest revision available for FTP is edition 1.03 dated 28 January 1991.
-
- For online use, a set of pregenerated Info files is available with the
- Texinfo source for the Emacs Lisp manual via anonymous FTP (Emacs Lisp
- Archive, prep.ai.mit.edu:pub/gnu/elisp-manual-1.03.tar.Z). (You can also !
- create the Info files from the Texinfo source.) See question 13 for
- details on how to install these files online.
-
- If you are daring enough to try to print this 550 page manual out
- yourself, for instructions see question 14.
-
- Also, as a popular USENET saying goes, "Use the Force, Read the Source".
-
-17: Has someone written an GNU Emacs Lisp package that does XXX?
-
- Probably. A listing of Emacs Lisp packages, called the Lisp Code
- Directory, is being maintained by Dave Brennan <brennan@hal.com> and !
- Dave Sill <de5@ornl.gov>. You can search through this list to find if
- someone has written something that fits your needs.
-
- This list is file "LCD-datafile.Z" in the Emacs Lisp Archive. (See
- question 18 for methods for getting this file.) The files "lispdir.el.Z"
- and "lispdir.doc.Z" in the archive contain information to help you use the
- list. Once you have installed lispdir.el and LCD-datafile, then you can
- use the "M-x lisp-dir-apropos" command to look things up in the database.
- For example, the command "M-x lisp-dir-apropos RET ange-ftp RET" produces
- this (outdated) output:
-
- GNU Emacs Lisp Code Apropos -- "ange-ftp"
-
- ange-ftp (3.112) 91-08-12
- Andy Norman, <ange@hplb.hpl.hp.com>
- archive.cis.ohio-state.edu:
- /pub/gnu/emacs/elisp-archive/as-is/ange-ftp.el.Z
- transparent FTP Support for GNU Emacs
-
-18: Where can I get GNU Emacs Lisp packages that don't come with Emacs?
-
- First, check the Lisp Code Directory to find the name of the package you
- are looking for. (See question 17). Then check local archives and
- the Emacs Lisp Archive to find a copy of the relevant files. Then, if
- you still haven't found it, you can send e-mail to the author asking for
- a copy.
-
- NOTE: The archive maintainers do not have time to answer individual
- requests for packages or the list of packages in the archive. If you
- cannot use FTP or UUCP to access the archive yourself, try to find a
- friend who can, but please don't ask the maintainers.
-
- You can access the Emacs Lisp Archive via anonymous FTP
- (archive.cis.ohio-state.edu:/pub/gnu/emacs/elisp-archive/). Fetch the
- file "README" first.
-
- NOTE: Any files with names ending in ".Z" are compressed, and you should
- use "binary" mode in FTP to retrieve them. You should also use binary
- mode whenever you retrieve any files with names ending in ".elc".
-
-19: How do I submit code to the Emacs Lisp Archive?
-
- Submissions should be mailed to elisp-archive@cis.ohio-state.edu. Mail
- messages (submissions) are automatically saved and periodically archived.
- Urgent mail may be sent directly to Dave Sill <de5@ornl.gov> or Dave
- Brennan <brennan@hal.com> or should contain the string "urgent" in the !
- subject. The incomoing ftp directory is no longer available at the
- request of Ohio State.
+ curses, xinfo uses standard X11 libraries, and ivinfo uses InterViews.
+ You can get info as part of the latest Texinfo package (see question
+ 17). xinfo is available separately:
- However, if someone has a submission with multiple files (which would be
- archived as a tar file) or binary files, then FTP transfer is preferred
- and can be arranged via an anonymous FTP site. This is faster than
- uudecoding, unsharing, etc., and re-packaging files.
-
- Before submitting anything, please read the file "guidelines.Z", which is
- available in the archive. Whenever possible submissions should contain
- a complete LCD entry since this helps reduce administrative overhead for
- the maintainers. You can include an entry in this format:
-
- ;; LCD Archive Entry:
- ;; package name|author's name|email address
- ;; |description
- ;; |date|version|archive path
-
- For example:
-
- ;; LCD Archive Entry:
- ;; tex-complete|Sebastian Kremer|sk@thp.Uni-Koeln.DE
- ;; |Minibuffer name completion for editing [La]TeX.
- ;; |91-03-26|$Revision: 1.12 $|~/packages/tex-complete.el.Z
+ /prep.ai.mit.edu:pub/gnu/xinfo-1.01.01.tar.Z
+ /export.lcs.mit.edu:
- Dave Brennan has software which automatically looks for data in this
- format. The format is fairly flexible. The entry ends when a line is
- reached with a different prefix or the seventh field terminator is
- seen.
+ ivinfo is available in a comp.sources.misc archive or from Tom Horsley
+ <tom@ssd.csd.harris.com>. For ivinfo, you need Stanford's InterViews C++
+ X library, available via anonymous FTP (interviews.stanford.edu).
-20: What informational files are available for GNU Emacs?
+20: What informational files are available for GNU Emacs?
This isn't a frequently asked question, but it should be! A variety of
informational files about GNU Emacs and relevant aspects of the GNU
project are available for you to read.
- The following files are available in the "etc" directory of the GNU
+ The following files are available in the `etc' directory of the GNU
Emacs distribution, and also the latest versions are available
- individually via anonymous FTP (prep.ai.mit.edu:/pub/gnu/etc/):
+ individually via anonymous FTP (prep.ai.mit.edu:/pub/gnu/GNUinfo/):
APPLE -- Why the FSF doen't support GNU Emacs on Apple computers
DISTRIB -- GNU Emacs Availability Information,
MACHINES -- Status of GNU Emacs on Various Machines and Systems
MAILINGLISTS -- GNU Project Electronic Mailing Lists
SERVICE -- GNU Service Directory
- SUN-SUPPORT -- including "Using Emacstool with GNU Emacs" !
+ SUN-SUPPORT -- including "Using Emacstool with GNU Emacs"
- These files are available in the "etc" directory of the GNU Emacs
+ These files are available in the `etc' directory of the GNU Emacs
distribution:
DIFF -- Differences between GNU Emacs and Twenex Emacs
* Legal issues about contributing code to GNU
* GNU Project Status Report
-21: Where can I get the latest VM, Supercite, GNUS, Calc, Calendar,
- Ange-FTP, VIP, Dired, Ispell, Epoch, Demacs, Freemacs, or Patch?
+ A collection of past GNU's Bulletins is available via anonymous FTP:
- {If you know of any other packages that are so substantial that they
- deserve to be mentioned here, please tell me. Having its own mailing list
- or newsgroup or more than half a megabyte of source code are good signs.}
+ /ftp.funet.fi:pub/gnu/Bulletins/
- * VM (View Mail) -- another mail reader within Emacs
+21: Where can I get help in installing GNU Emacs?
- Author: Kyle Jones <kyle@uunet.uu.net>
- Latest released version: 4.41
- Beta test version: 5.31
- Anonymous FTP:
- Emacs Lisp Archive: packages/vm-4.41.tar.Z, as-is/timer.shar.Z -
- ftp.uu.net:/pub/vm-{4.41,5.31beta}.tar.Z
- Newsgroups and mailing lists:
- Info-VM:
- gnu.emacs.vm.info
- info-vm-request@uunet.uu.net (for subscriptions)
- info-vm@uunet.uu.net (for submissions) +
- Bug-VM:
- gnu.emacs.vm.bug
- bug-vm-request@uunet.uu.net (for subscriptions)
- bug-vm@uunet.uu.net (for submissions) +
-
- * SuperCite -- mail and news citation package within Emacs
-
- Author: Barry Warsaw <bwarsaw@cen.com>
- Mailing list: supercite-request@anthem.nlm.nih.gov (for subscriptions)
- supercite@anthem.nlm.nih.gov (for submissions) +
- Latest version: 2.2
- Anonymous FTP:
- Emacs Lisp Archive: packages/sc-2.2.tar.Z
- Via e-mail:
- To: library@cme.nist.gov
- Subject: help
+ Look in etc/SERVICE for names of companies and individuals who will sell
+ you this type of service. An up-to-date version of the SERVICE file is
+ available on prep.ai.mit.edu (also see question 20).
- NOTE: Superyank is an old version of SuperCite.
+22: Where can I get the latest version of this document (the FAQ list)?
- * GNUS -- news reader within Emacs
+ The GNU Emacs FAQ is available in several ways:
- Author: Masanobu Umeda <umerin@mse.kyutech.ac.jp>
- Latest official version: 3.13
- Unofficial test version: 3.14.1
- Anonymous FTP:
- cs.umn.edu:pub/gnu/emacs/gnus-3.14.1.tar.Z.
- aun.uninett.no:pub/gnus-3.14.1.tar.Z
- wnoc-fuk.wide.ad.jp:pub/GNU/etc/gnus-3.14.1.tar.Z
- liasun3.epfl.ch:pub/gnu/emacs/gnus-3.14.1.tar.Z
- aix370.rrz.uni-koeln.de:/pub/gnu/emacs/gnus-3.14.1.tar.Z
- funet.fi:/networking/news/gnus-3.14.1.tar.Z
- src.doc.ic.ac.uk:/gnu/EmacsBits/gnus/gnus-3.14.1.tar.Z
- Emacs Lisp Archive: packages/gnus-3.13.tar.Z
- Newsgroups and mailing lists:
- English-only:
- gnu.emacs.gnus
- info-gnus-english-request@cis.ohio-state.edu (for subscriptions)
- info-gnus-english@cis.ohio-state.edu (for submissions) +
- Japanese (and some English):
- info-gnus-request@flab.fujitsu.co.jp (for subscriptions)
- info-gnus@flab.fujitsu.co.jp (for submissions) +
-
- * Calc -- poor man's Mathematica within Emacs
-
- Author: Dave Gillespie <daveg@csvax.cs.caltech.edu>
- Latest released version: 2.02 !
- Anonymous FTP:
- csvax.cs.caltech.edu:pub/calc-2.02.tar.Z !
- prep.ai.mit.edu:pub/gnu/calc-2.02.tar.Z !
- NOTE: Unlike Wolfram Research, Dave has never threatened to sue anyone
- for having a program with a similar command language to Calc. :-)
+ * Via USENET. If you can read news, the FAQ should be available in your
+ news spool, in both the gnu.emacs.help and comp.emacs newsgroups. Every
+ news reader of which I know will allow you to read any news article that
+ is still in the news spool, even if you have read the article before.
+ You may need to read the instructions for your news reader to discover
+ how to do this. In `rn', this command will do this for you at the
+ article selection level:
- * Calendar/Diary -- calendar manager within Emacs
+ ?GNU Emacs FAQ?rc:m
- Author: Ed Reingold <reingold@cs.uiuc.edu>
- Latest version: 4.01
- Anonymous FTP:
- emr.cs.uiuc.edu:/pub/emacs/calendar
- Via e-mail:
- To: reingold@cs.uiuc.edu
- Subject: send-emacs-cal
- Put your best internet e-mail address in the body.
+ In GNUS, you should type "C-u G" from the *Subject* buffer or "C-u SPC"
+ from the *Newsgroup* buffer to view all articles in a newsgroup.
- * Ange-FTP -- adds transparent FTP access to Emacs's file access routines
+ The FAQ articles' message IDs are:
- Author: Andy Norman <ange@hplb.hpl.hp.com>
- Latest version: 3.143
- Anonymous FTP:
- ftp.gnu.ai.mit.edu:ange-ftp/ange-ftp.el.Z
- Emacs Lisp Archive:
- as-is/ange-ftp.el.Z (current version)
- packages/ange-ftp.el.Z (old version)
- Mailing list: ange-ftp-lovers-request@anorman.hpl.hp.com (subscriptions) !
- ange-ftp-lovers@anorman.hpl.hp.com (for submissions) +
- NOTE: now with support for accessing VMS systems
-
- * VIP -- vi emulation for Emacs -
-
- Author: Aamod Sane <sane@cs.uiuc.edu>
- Latest released version: 4.3 +
- Anonymous FTP:
- cs.uiuc.edu:pub/vip4.3.tar.Z
- Emacs Lisp Archive: modes/vip-mode.tar.Z
- NOTE: This version much more closely emulates vi than the one
- distributed with Emacs.
+ <GNU-Emacs-FAQ-0.1993.05.04.025218@rice.edu> !
+ <GNU-Emacs-FAQ-1.1993.05.04.025218@rice.edu> !
+ <GNU-Emacs-FAQ-2.1993.05.04.025218@rice.edu> !
+ <GNU-Emacs-FAQ-3.1993.05.04.025218@rice.edu> !
+ <GNU-Emacs-FAQ-4.1993.05.04.025218@rice.edu> !
+ <GNU-Emacs-FAQ-5.1993.05.04.025218@rice.edu> !
- Version distributed with Emacs: 3.5
- Author: Masahiko Sato <ms@sail.stanford.edu,
- masahiko@sato.riec.tohoku.junet>
+ If you are viewing this in the GNUS *Article* buffer, you can move point
+ within one of the above message IDs and type "r" to fetch the referenced
+ article. Type "o" in the *Article* buffer to restore the previous
+ contents. If this text is not in the GNUS *Article* buffer, use M-r
+ from the *Subject* buffer instead.
- * Dired -- directory editor for Emacs
+ If the FAQ articles have expired and been deleted from your news spool,
+ it might (or might not) do some good to complain to your news
+ administrator, because the most recent FAQ should not expire before
+ July 3, 1993. !
- Author: Sebastian Kremer <sk@thp.uni-koeln.de>
- Latest released version: 5.239 +
- Anonymous FTP: ftp.cs.buffalo.edu:pub/Emacs/diredall.tar.Z -
- ftp.uni-koeln.de:pub/gnu/emacs/diredall.tar.Z -
- NOTE: This is a huge improvement over the Dired distributed with Emacs.
- This version will be in Emacs 19.
+ * Via anonymous FTP. You can fetch the FAQ articles via anonymous FTP
- * AUC TeX -- enhanced LaTeX mode +
- +
- Author: Kresten Krab Thorup <krab@iesd.auc.dk> +
- Latest released version: 5.4 +
- Anonymous FTP: iesd.auc.dk:pub/emacs-lisp/auc-tex-5.4.tar.Z +
- Mailing list: +
- auc-tex-request@iesd.auc.dk (for subscriptions) +
- auc-tex@iesd.auc.dk (for submissions) +
- auc-tex_mgr@iesd.auc.dk (auc-tex development team) +
- +
- * Hyperbole -- extensible hypertext management system within Emacs +
- +
- Author: Bob Weiner <rsw@cs.brown.edu> +
- Anonymous FTP: +
- wilma.cs.brown.edu:pub/hyperbole/h*.tar.Z +
- Mailing lists: +
- hyperbole-announce -- Hyperbole release announcements only. +
- Subscriptions: +
- To: hyperbole-request@cs.brown.edu +
- Subject: Add <mailbox@domain.name> to hyperbole-announce. +
- hyperbole -- Hyperbole discussion. +
- Subscriptions: +
- To: hyperbole-request@cs.brown.edu +
- Subject: Add <mailbox@domain.name> to hyperbole. +
- Submissions: +
- hyperbole@cs.brown.edu +
- NOTE: Any member of the hyperbole mailing list is automatically a +
- member of the hyperbole-announce mailing list. +
- NOTE: No .UUCP or ! addresses are allowed on these mailing lists. +
- +
- * Ispell -- spell checker in C with interface for Emacs +
+ /rtfm.mit.edu:pub/usenet/news.answers/GNU-Emacs-FAQ/ part*
- Author: Geoff Kuenning <geoff@itcorp.com> (latest of many)
- Latest released version: 2.0.02
- Beta test version: 3.0 (9 patches)
- Anonymous FTP:
- archive.cis.ohio-state.edu:/pub/gnu/ispell/* (version 2.0.02)
- ftp.cs.ucla.edu:/pub/ispell/* (version 3.0, patches, dictionaries)
- NOTE: Do not send mail to Geoff asking him to send you the latest
- version of Ispell. He does not have free e-mail.
+ * Via e-mail. You can send the following magical incantation in the body
+ of a message to mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu:
- * Epoch -- enhanced GNU Emacs with better X interface
+ send usenet/news.answers/GNU-Emacs-FAQ/part0
+ send usenet/news.answers/GNU-Emacs-FAQ/part1
+ send usenet/news.answers/GNU-Emacs-FAQ/part2
+ send usenet/news.answers/GNU-Emacs-FAQ/part3
+ send usenet/news.answers/GNU-Emacs-FAQ/part4
+ send usenet/news.answers/GNU-Emacs-FAQ/part5
- Latest released version: 3.2
- Beta test version: 4.0 beta patchlevel 0 !
- Anonymous FTP:
- cs.uiuc.edu:pub/epoch-files/epoch/epoch-4.0b0.tar.Z !
- cs.uiuc.edu:pub/epoch-files/epoch/epoch-3.2{.tar.Z,-patch-{1,2.tar.Z}}
- Newsgroup and mailing lists: !
- Epoch: !
- gnu.emacs.epoch
- epoch-request@cs.uiuc.edu (for subscriptions)
- epoch@cs.uiuc.edu (for submissions) +
- Epoch-Design: +
- epoch-design-request@cs.uiuc.edu (for subscriptions) +
- epoch-design@cs.uiuc.edu (for submissions) +
-
- * Demacs -- GNU Emacs altered to work under MS-DOS on 386 and 486 machines
-
- Authors: Manabu Higashida <manabu@sigmath.osaka-u.ac.jp>
- HIRANO Satoshi <hirano@tkl.iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp>
- Latest released version: 1.2.0
- Anonymous FTP:
- utsun.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp:GNU/demacs/* (nearest to U.S.A.)
- ftp.sigmath.osaka-u.ac.jp:pub/Msdos/Demacs/*
- wnoc-fuk.wide.ad.jp:pub/msdos/Demacs/*
- ftp.3com.com:pub/gnu/msdos/demacs/* +
- mindseye.berkeley.edu:pub/kanji/demacs/* +
- ftp.hawaii.edu:pub/editors/demacs.tar.Z +
- ftp.math.ksu.edu:pub/pc/demacs/* +
- wsmr-simtel20.army.mil:pd1:<msdos.demacs>* +
- ftp.uni-koeln.de: (PLEASE USE ONLY OUTSIDE WORKING HOURS!) +
- msdos/gnuprogs/dem120e.zip (executables, lisp-code, doc)
- msdos/gnuprogs/dem120s.zip (sources, diffs)
- ftp.lysator.liu.se:pub/msdos/gnu/emacs/?????????????
- mizar.docs.uu.se:pub/gnu/demacs/* +
- iamsun.unibe.ch:PC/demacs/* +
- flop.informatik.tu-muenchen.de:outgoing/demacs.tar +
- ftp.funet.fi:pub/gnu/emacs/demacs/* +
- garbo.uwasa.fi:pc/editor/dem120{e,s}.zip +
- ftp.win.tue.nl:pub/gnu/demacs/* +
- ugle.unit.no:pub/gnu/Demacs/* +
- {Does anyone know which sites have the Kanji version?} +
- Via e-mail: +
- From garbo.uwasa.fi: +
- To: mailserv@garbo.uwasa.fi +
- Subject: garbo-request +
- Body: send pc/editor/dem120e.zip +
- send pc/editor/dem120s.zip +
- quit +
- Downloading:
- EXEC-PC (Milwaukee, WI) 414-789-4210 (2400 bps)
- in the Mahoney MS-DOS file area in its Editors/wordprocessors
- library (F), named GNUEMACS.ZIP
- Channel 1 (Cambridge, MA) 617-345-8873 (9600 bps)
- in the New Uploads file area, named GNUEMACS.ZIP
- NOTE: Use the -d option of [pk]unzip for all .zip archives. Some sites
- have Demacs lharc'ed. {Can anyone tell me FTP sites for programs to
- extract lharc and zip format files? Or even better, give me a pointer
- to another FAQ that answers these questions.}
- Mailing list: +
- NOTE: There is no mailing list for Demacs. However, there is a list +
- for DJGPP, which is the environment that Demacs runs in. Many +
- Demacs problems are actually issues with DJGPP. +
- DJGPP: +
- Subscriptions: +
- To: listserv@sun.soe.clarkson.edu +
- body: add <your-address> djgpp +
- or put "help" in the body. +
- If this fails, mail to djgpp-request@sun.soe.clarkson.edu. +
- Submissions: +
- djgpp@sun.soe.clarkson.edu +
-
- * Freemacs -- a small Emacs for MS-DOS
-
- Author: Russ Nelson <nelson@sun.soe.clarkson.edu> +
- Latest released version: 1.6a
- Anonymous FTP:
- simtel20.army.mil:PD:<MSDOS.FREEMACS>*
- grape.ecs.clarkson.edu:pub/msdos/freemacs/*
- Via e-mail:
- To: archive-server@sun.soe.clarkson.edu
- body: help
- Via snail mail:
- address: Russell Nelson, 11 Grant St., Potsdam, NY 13676
- Send $15 copying fee, and specify preferred floppy disk format:
- 5.25", 360K, or 3.50", 720K
- Mailing lists:
- Subscriptions:
- To: listserv@sun.soe.clarkson.edu
- body: add <your-address> <name-of-list>
- or put "help" in the body.
- List distribution addresses:
- freemacs-announce@sun.soe.clarkson.edu
- freemacs-help@sun.soe.clarkson.edu
- freemacs-workers@sun.soe.clarkson.edu (send bug reports here)
-
- * Patch -- program to apply "diffs" for updating files
-
- Author: Larry Wall <lwall@netlabs.com>
- Latest version: 2.0 patchlevel 12u5
- (This is the version that supports the new "unified" diff format.)
- Anonymous FTP:
- prep.ai.mit.edu:pub/gnu/patch-2.0.12u4.tar.Z
+ * Via WAIS. The GNU Emacs FAQ is available via WAIS indexed on a
+ per-question basis from the `faq' database on bigbird.bu.edu on the
+ non-standard IP port number of 2210. This is probably the best way to
+ find out if there is something in the FAQ related to your question. I
+ use this myself to answer questions I see posted on gnu.emacs.help.
-22: What is the real legal meaning of the GNU copyleft?
+ The articles of the GNU Emacs FAQ are also available from the `usenet'
+ database on rtfm.mit.edu (on the standard IP port: 210), along with a
+ lot of other FAQ articles. However, these are all indexed at the whole
+ article level instead of at the question level. This is a better place
+ to look if you want to fetch the entire FAQ.
- RMS writes:
+ * In the GNU Emacs distribution. Since GNU Emacs 18.56, the latest
+ available version of the FAQ at the time of release has been part of the
+ GNU Emacs distribution as file etc/FAQ. 18.59 is the latest version,
+ and it was released in October 1992.
- The legal meaning of the GNU copyleft is less important than the spirit,
- which is that Emacs is a free software project and that work pertaining
- to Emacs should also be free software. "Free" means that all users have
- the freedom to study, share, change and improve Emacs. To make sure
- everyone has this freedom, pass along source code when you distribute
- any version of Emacs or a related program, and give the recipients the
- same freedom that you enjoyed.
-
- If you still want to find out about the legal meaning of the copyleft,
- please ask yourself if this means you are not paying attention to the
- spirit.
-
-23: What are appropriate messages for gnu.emacs.help, gnu.emacs.bug,
- comp.emacs, etc.?
-
- The file etc/MAILINGLISTS discusses the purpose of each GNU
- mailing-list. (See question 20 on how to get a copy.) For
- those which are gatewayed with newsgroups, it lists both the newsgroup
- name and the mailing list address.
-
- comp.emacs is for discussion of Emacs programs in general. This
- includes GNU Emacs along with various other implementations like JOVE,
- MicroEmacs, Freemacs, MG, Unipress, CCA, Epsilon, etc.
-
- Many people post GNU Emacs questions to comp.emacs because they don't
- receive any of the gnu.* newsgroups. Arguments have been made both for
- and against posting GNU-Emacs-specific material to comp.emacs. You have
- to decide for yourself.
-
- Messages advocating "non-free" software are considered unacceptable on any
- of the gnu.* newsgroups except for gnu.misc.discuss, which was created to
- hold the extensive flame-wars on the subject. "non-free" software
- includes any software for which the end user can't get source code. Be
- careful to remove the gnu.* groups from the "Newsgroups:" line when
- posting a followup that recommends such software.
+ * There is an old version of the FAQ list available for FTP in the GNU
+ archives at MIT:
- The correct place to report GNU Emacs bugs is by e-mail to
- bug-gnu-emacs@prep.ai.mit.edu. Anything sent here also appears in the
- newsgroup gnu.emacs.bug, but please use e-mail instead of news to submit
- the bug report. This way a reliable return address is available so you
- can be contacted for further details.
+ /prep.ai.mit.edu:pub/gnu/GNUinfo/FAQ.emacs
- RMS explains: !
+ * As the very last resort, you can e-mail a request to
+ gnu-emacs-faq-maintainers@bigbird.bu.edu. Don't do this unless you have
+ made a serious effort to obtain the FAQ list via one of the methods
+ listed above.
- Sending bug reports to help-gnu-emacs (which has the effect of posting
- on gnu.emacs.help) is undesirable because it takes the time of an
- unnecessarily large group of people, most of whom are just users and
- have no idea how to fix these problem. bug-gnu-emacs reaches a much
- smaller group of people who are more likely to know what to do and have
- expressed a wish to receive more messages about Emacs than the others.
+
+
+Status of Emacs
+
+23: Where does the name "Emacs" come from?
+
+ Emacs originally was an acronym for Editor MACroS. RMS says he "picked
+ the name `Emacs' because `E' was not in use as an abbreviation on ITS at
+ the time.". The first Emacs was a set of macros written in 1976 at MIT by
+ RMS for the editor TECO (Text Editor and COrrector (originally Tape Editor
+ and COrrector)) under ITS on a PDP-10. RMS had already extended TECO with
+ a "real-time" full screen mode with active keys. Emacs was started by Guy
+ Steele <gls@think.com> as a project to unify the many divergent TECO
+ command sets and keybindings at MIT.
+
+ Many people have told me that TECO code looks a lot like line noise. See
+ alt.lang.teco if you are interested. I think someone has written a TECO
+ implementation in Emacs Lisp. It would be an interesting project to run
+ the original TECO Emacs inside of GNU Emacs.
+
+24: What is the latest version of GNU Emacs?
+
+ GNU Emacs 18.59 is the current version. Fixes from 18.57 include better
+ mail address parsing, an X visual bell speedup, a call-process
+ enhancement, a regexp matching change, the ability to apply a numeric
+ argument to a self-inserting digit, getting X resource values from the
+ RESOURCE_MANAGER property, more reliable shell mode job control, and a
+ change to copy-keymap. Also, support has been added for many new system
+ types. Fixes from 18.55 include the removal of arbitrary limits on the
+ undo facility.
+
+ According to the January 1992 GNU's Bulletin, "Emacs 18 maintenance
+ continues for simple bug fixes.".
+
+ To visit a file with information about what has changed in recent
+ versions, type "C-h n".
+
+25: When will GNU Emacs 19 be available?
+
+ Richard Stallman recently (February 19, 1993) posted in gnu.emacs.help !
+ the following: !
+ !
+ People should keep in mind that the successor of Emacs 18 does not !
+ come from Lucid. Its is GNU Emacs 19. I still can't say exactly when !
+ public release is going to be, but we are about to start testing at a !
+ number of sites. !
+ !
+ GNU Emacs 19 will support a broad spectrum of machines, like Emacs !
+ 18. Ensuring this is the purpose of the testing we are about to do. !
+ !
+ (Please don't volunteer; we have enough pretesters, and if more people !
+ offer, dealing with those messages will slow things down.) !
+ !
+ Once we make sure it is indeed working reliably on various different !
+ systems, we will have a public beta test release. !
+ !
+ Emacs 19 does support adding properties to ranges of text, and using !
+ these to switch fonts. In the future, the Epoch people will help !
+ merge support for variable-width fonts. !
+ !
+ Meanwhile, I have almost finished updating the Emacs Lisp manual. Its !
+ next edition will describe Emacs 19. There will be an announcement !
+ when we know when this edition will be available. !
+
+ Lucid has released Lucid GNU Emacs 19.6, which is based on an early !
+ unreleased version of GNU Emacs 19. This will be similar to Emacs 19 when
+ it finally arrives, but they are not the same. See question 121.
- However, RMS says there are circumstances when it is okay to post to +
- gnu.emacs.help: +
- +
- If you have reported a bug and you don't hear about a possible fix, then +
- after a suitable delay (such as a week) it is okay to post on +
- gnu.emacs.help asking if anyone can help you. +
+ Work has begun on features for Emacs 20.
- If you are unsure whether you have a bug, RMS describes how to tell: !
+26: What is different about GNU Emacs 19?
- ... if Emacs crashes, that is a bug. If Emacs gets compilation errors
- while building, that is a bug. If Emacs crashes while building, that is
- a bug. If Lisp code does not do what the documentation says it does,
- that is a bug.
+ From the January 1992 GNU's Bulletin:
-24: How do I unsubscribe to this mailing list?
+ Version 19 will enter beta test late this year. Among its new features
+ are: before and after change hooks, source-level debugging of Emacs Lisp
+ programs, X selection processing (including clipboard selections),
+ scrollbars, support for European character sets, floating point numbers,
+ per-buffer mouse commands, X resource manager interfacing,
+ mouse-tracking, Lisp-level binding of function keys, multiple X windows
+ (`screens' to Emacs), a new input system, and buffer allocation, which
+ uses a new mechanism capable of returning storage to the system when a
+ buffer is killed.
- If you are receiving a GNU mailing list named "XXX", you might be able
- to unsubscribe to it by sending a request to the address
- "XXX-request@prep.ai.mit.edu". However, this will not work if you are
- not listed on the main mailing list, but instead recieve the mail from a
- distribution point. In that case, you will have to track down at which
- distribution point you are listed. Inspecting the "Received:" headers
- on the mail messages may help, along with liberal use of the "EXPN" or
- "VRFY" sendmail commands through "telnet <site-address> smtp". Ask your
- postmaster for help.
+ The input stream is now a sequence of Lisp objects, instead of a
+ sequence of characters. This allows a reasonable representation for
+ mouse clicks, function keys, menu selections, etc.
-25: What is the LPF and why should I join it?
+ Thanks go to Alan Carroll and the people who worked on Epoch for
+ generating initial feedback to a multi-windowed Emacs, and to Eric
+ Raymond for help in polishing the Emacs 19 Lisp libraries.
- The LPF opposes the expanding danger of software patents and
- look-and-feel copyrights. Write to league@prep.ai.mit.edu for more
- information. You can get papers describing the LPF's views via
- anonymous FTP (prep.ai.mit.edu:/pub/lpf/*) or via anonymous UUCP
- (osu-cis!~/lpf/*).
+ The June 1991 GNU's bulletin had this to say about future plans for Emacs:
-26: What is the current address of the FSF?
+ Features being considered for later releases of Emacs include:
+ associating property lists with regions of text in a buffer; multiple
+ fonts, color, and pixmaps defined by those properties; different
+ visibility conditions for the regions, and for various windows showing
+ one buffer; hooks to be run if point or mouse moves outside a certain
+ range; incrementally saving undo history in a file; static menu bars;
+ and better pop-up menus.
- Snail mail address:
- Free Software Foundation, Inc.
- 675 Massachusetts Avenue
- Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
+ Mention of this feature disappeared in the January 1992 GNU's bulletin:
- Phone number:
- (617) 876-3296
+ Emacs 19 supports two styles of multiple windows, one with a separate
+ screen for the minibuffer, and another with a minibuffer attached to
+ each screen.
- E-mail addresses:
- gnu@prep.ai.mit.edu
+ Mention of these two proposed features disappeared in the January 1991
+ GNU's bulletin:
-27: What is the current address of the LPF?
+ * Incremental syntax analysis for various programming languages (Leif).
+ * A more sophisticated emacsclient/server model, which would provide
+ network transparent Emacs widget functionality.
- Snail mail address:
- League for Programming Freedom
- 1 Kendall Square, Number 143
- Post Office Box 9171
- Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
+27: What variants of GNU Emacs exist?
- Phone number:
- (617) 243-4061 { or 243-4091, I'm not sure ... }
- {Will someone please tell me which of the above numbers is correct?}
+ * Nemacs (Nihongo Emacs), which can handle Japanese text, is derived from
+ GNU Emacs 18.55. See question 149.
- E-mail address:
- league@prep.ai.mit.edu
+ * Demacs, which can run under MS-DOS on 386 machines, is derived from
+ Nemacs. See question 122.
-28: Where can I get other up-to-date GNU stuff?
+ * Epoch, which has better X support, is derived from GNU Emacs 18.58.
+ See question 120 and 92.
- The most up-to-date official GNU stuff is normally kept on
- prep.ai.mit.edu and is available for anonymous FTP. See the files
- etc/DISTRIB and etc/FTP for more information. (To get copies of these
- files, see question 20.)
+ * Nepoch (Nihongo Epoch), which can handle Japanese text, is derived from
+ Epoch.
- For Europeans, the site nic.funet.fi duplicates the directory /pub/gnu
- from prep.ai.mit.edu.
+ * Mule (the MULtilingual Enhancement of GNU Emacs) can handle many
+ character sets simultaneously. It is derived from Emacs 18.58. It is
+ available for FTP:
-29: Where can I get the latest version of this document (the FAQ list)?
+ /sh.wide.ad.jp:/JAPAN/mule/
+ /etlport.etl.go.jp:/pub/mule/
- The GNU Emacs FAQ is available in several ways:
+ * Lucid GNU Emacs is derived from an early unreleased version of GNU Emacs
+ 19. See question 121 and 92.
- 1. Via USENET. If you can read news, the FAQ should be available in your +
- news spool, in both the "gnu.emacs.help" and "comp.emacs" newsgroups.
- Every news reader of which I know will allow you to read any news
- article that is still in the news spool, even if you have read the
- article before. You may need to read the instructions for your news
- reader to discover how to do this. In "rn", this command will do this
- for you at the "article selection level":
-
- ?GNU Emacs FAQ?rc:m
-
- In GNUS, you should type "C-u G" from the *Subject* buffer or "C-u SPC"
- from the *Newsgroup* buffer to view all articles in a newsgroup.
-
- The FAQ articles' message IDs are:
-
- <GNU-Emacs-FAQ-0.92Feb23210646@bigbird.bu.edu> !
- <GNU-Emacs-FAQ-1.92Feb23210646@bigbird.bu.edu> !
- <GNU-Emacs-FAQ-2.92Feb23210646@bigbird.bu.edu> !
- <GNU-Emacs-FAQ-3.92Feb23210646@bigbird.bu.edu> +
-
- If you are viewing this in the GNUS `*Article*' buffer, you can move
- point within one of the above message IDs and type "r" to fetch the
- referenced article into the `*Article*' buffer. Type "o" in the
- `*Article*' buffer to restore the previous contents of the `*Article*'
- buffer. If you are not viewing this in the GNUS `*Article*' buffer,
- use M-x gnus-Article-refer-article instead of "r". GNUS must be
- running and you must display the `*Article*' buffer to see the results.
-
- If the FAQ articles have expired and been deleted from your news spool,
- it might (or might not) do some good to complain to your news
- administrator, because the most recent FAQ should not expire before
- April 15, 1992. !
-
- 2. Via anonymous FTP. You can fetch the FAQ articles via anonymous FTP +
- (pit-manager.mit.edu:pub/usenet/news.answers/GNU-Emacs-FAQ/part?). !
-
- 3. Via e-mail. You can send the following magical incantation in the body +
- of a message to mail-server@pit-manager.mit.edu:
-
- send usenet/news.answers/GNU-Emacs-FAQ/part0 !
- send usenet/news.answers/GNU-Emacs-FAQ/part1 !
- send usenet/news.answers/GNU-Emacs-FAQ/part2 +
- send usenet/news.answers/GNU-Emacs-FAQ/part3 +
- +
- 4. Via WAIS. The GNU Emacs FAQ is available via WAIS indexed on a +
- per-question basis from the "faq" database on bigbird.bu.edu on the +
- non-standard IP port number of 2210. This is probably the best way to +
- find out if there is something in the FAQ related to your question. I +
- use this myself to answer questions I see posted on gnu.emacs.help. !
- !
- The articles of the GNU Emacs FAQ are also available from the "usenet" !
- database on pit-manager.mit.edu (on the standard IP port: 210), along !
- with a lot of other FAQ articles. However, these are all indexed at !
- the whole article level instead of at the question level. This is a !
- better place to look if you want to fetch the entire FAQ. !
- !
- 5. In the GNU Emacs distribution. Since GNU Emacs 18.56, the latest !
- available version of the FAQ at the time of release has been part of
- the GNU Emacs distribution as file etc/FAQ. 18.58 is the latest !
- version, and it was released in February 1992. !
+ GNU Emacs FAQ: Common Requests/Problems
-GNU Emacs and Various Computing Environments
+If you are viewing this text in a GNU Emacs Buffer, you can type "M-2 C-x $" to
+get an overview of just the questions. Then, when you want to look at the text
+of the answers, just type "C-x $".
-30: Where does the name "Emacs" come from?
-
- EMACS originally was an acronym for Editor MACroS. The first Emacs was
- a set of macros written by Richard Stallman and Guy Steele for the
- editor TECO (Text Editor and COrrector (originally Tape Editor and
- COrrector)) on a PDP-10. (Amusing fact: many people have told me that
- TECO code looks a lot like line noise. See alt.lang.teco if you are
- interested.)
-
-31: What is the latest version of GNU Emacs?
+To search for a question numbered XXX, type "M-C-s ^XXX:", followed by a C-r if
+that doesn't work, then type ESC to end the search.
+
+A `+' in the 78th column means something was inserted on the line. A `-' means
+something was deleted and a `!' means some combination of insertions and
+deletions occurred.
+
+Full instructions for getting the latest FAQ are in question 22. Also see the
+`Introduction to news.answers' posting in the `news.answers' newsgroup, or send
+e-mail to `mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu' with `help' on a body line, or use FTP,
+WAIS, or Prospero to rtfm.mit.edu.
+
+
+
+Common Things People Want To Do
+
+28: How do I set up a .emacs file properly?
- GNU Emacs 18.58 is the current version. Fixes from 18.57 include better !
- mail address parsing, an X visual bell speedup, a call-process !
- enhancement, a regexp matching change, the ability to apply a numeric !
- argument to a self-inserting digit, getting X resource values from the !
- RESOURCE_MANAGER property, more reliable shell mode job control, and a !
- change to copy-keymap. Also, support has been added for many new system !
- types. !
+ See `Init File' in the on-line manual.
- The June 1991 GNU's Bulletin says this about the status of Emacs: +
+ WARNING: In general, new Emacs users should not have .emacs files, because
+ it causes confusing non-standard behavior. Then they send questions to
+ help-gnu-emacs asking why Emacs isn't behaving as documented. :-)
- GNU Emacs 18.57 is the current version. The undo facility has been
- completely rewritten and now holds unlimited data temporarily, and a
- user-specified amount for the long term.
+29: How do I debug a .emacs file?
- Berkeley is distributing GNU Emacs with the 4.3 BSD distribution, and
- numerous companies distribute it also.
+ First start Emacs with the `-q' command line option. Then, in the
+ *scratch* buffer, type the following:
- Emacs 18 maintenance continues for simple bug fixes.
+ (setq debug-on-error t) LFD
+ (load-file "~/.emacs") LFD
- To visit a file with information about what has changed in recent !
- versions, type "C-h n". !
+ (Type LFD by pressing C-j.)
-32: When will GNU Emacs 19 be available?
+ If you have an error in your .emacs file, this will invoke the debugger
+ when the error occurs. If you don't know how to use the debugger do
+ (setq stack-trace-on-error t) instead.
- Good question, I don't know. For that matter, neither do the developers.
- It will undoubtedly be available sometime in the 1990s. :-) People are
- actually using alpha-test version of Emacs 19, which is a good sign. Work
- has begun on features for Emacs 20.
+ WARNING: this will not discover errors caused by trying to do something
+ that requires the terminal/window-system initialization code to have
+ been loaded. See question 127.
- RMS writes:
+30: How do I make Emacs display the current line (or column) number?
- Work is progressing steadily on 19 and it the to-do list is getting
- smaller. But I don't want to make the mistake of predicting when it
- will be ready.
+ To find out what line of the buffer you are on right now, do "M-x
+ what-line". Use "M-x goto-line" to go to a specific line. To find the
+ current column number, type "M-ESC (current-column)".
-33: What will be different about GNU Emacs 19?
+ Typing "C-x l" will also tell you what line you are on, provided the
+ buffer isn't separated into "pages" with C-l characters. In that case, it
+ will only tell you what line of the current "page" you are on. WARNING:
+ "C-x l" gives the wrong value when point is at the beginning of a line.
- From the June 1991 GNU's Bulletin:
+ There is no "correct" way to constantly display the current (or total)
+ line (or column) number on the mode line in Emacs 18, or to display the
+ line numbers next to the lines like vi can. Emacs is not a line-oriented
+ editor, and really has no idea what "lines" of the buffer are displayed in
+ the window. It would require a lot of work at the C code level to make
+ Emacs keep track of this. It would not be that hard to get the column
+ number, but it would still require changes at the C code level.
- Version 19 approaches release, counting among its new features: before
- and after change hooks, source-level debugging of Emacs Lisp programs, X
- selection processing (including clipboard selections), scrollbars,
- support for European character sets, floating point numbers, per-buffer
- mouse commands, X resource manager interfacing, mouse-tracking,
- Lisp-level binding of function keys, multiple X windows (`screens' to
- Emacs), a new input system---all input now arrives in the form of Lisp
- objects---and buffer allocation, which uses a new mechanism capable of
- returning storage to the system when a buffer is killed.
+ None of the vi emulation modes provide the `set number' capability of vi
+ (as far as I know).
- Thanks go to Alan Carroll and the people who worked on Epoch for
- generating initial feedback to a multi-windowed Emacs. Emacs 19
- supports two styles of multiple windows, one with a separate screen for
- the minibuffer, and another with a minibuffer attached to each screen.
+ Emacs 19 will probably be able to show the line number on the mode-line,
+ but probably very inefficiently.
- Features being considered for later releases of Emacs include:
- associating property lists with regions of text in a buffer; multiple
- fonts, color, and pixmaps defined by those properties; different
- visibility conditions for the regions, and for various windows showing
- one buffer; hooks to be run if point or mouse moves outside a certain
- range; incrementally saving undo history in a file; static menu bars;
- and better pop-up menus.
+ People have written various kludges to display line numbers. One is
+ `display-line-numbers' by Wayne Mesard <wmesard@tofu.oracle.com,
+ Mesard@bbn.com>. Look in the Lisp Code Directory. (See question
+ 88.)
- Mention of these two items disappeared in the January 1991 GNU's bulletin:
+31: How do I turn on Abbrevs by default just in mode XXX?
- * Incremental syntax analysis for various programming languages (Leif).
- * A more sophisticated emacsclient/server model, which would provide
- network transparent Emacs widget functionality.
+ Put this in your .emacs file:
-34: Is there an Emacs that has better mouse and X window support?
+ (condition-case ()
+ (read-abbrev-file nil t)
+ (file-error nil))
- Emacs 18 has some limited X Window System support, but there are
- problems. Emacs 19 will have amazing mouse and window support. Right
- now, there is a modified version of Emacs 18.55 called "Epoch" which has
- greatly improved mouse and window support. To obtain Epoch, see
- question 21.
+ (setq XXX-mode-hook
+ (function
+ (lambda ()
+ (setq abbrev-mode t))))
- There are numerous Emacs Lisp packages that have been written to extend
- Emacs 18's mouse handling capabilities. Some of these packages also have
- patches to the C code to provide enhanced capabilities. Look up "mouse"
- in the Lisp Code Directory (see question 17).
+32: How do I turn on Auto-Fill mode by default?
- NOTE: Epoch only works with the X Window System; it does not work on
- ordinary terminals.
+ To turn on Auto-Fill mode just once for one buffer, use "M-x
+ auto-fill-mode". To turn it on for every buffer in, for example, Text
+ mode, do this:
-35: Where can I get the "unofficial HP GNU Emacs"?
+ (setq text-mode-hook 'turn-on-auto-fill)
- The unofficial HP GNU Emacs is available via anonymous FTP
- (me10.lbl.gov:pub/interex/HUGE/HUGE.{README.HP,tar.Z.??},
- ee.utah.edu:HUGE/*, PLEASE FTP DURING NON-WORK HOURS!!!) and takes about
- 35 megabytes of disk space to build. It is useful for non-HP machines,
- but some of the added features will only work under HP-UX.
+ If you want Auto-Fill mode on in all major modes, do this:
- You will need to get patches to work with HP-UX 8.0 or on 700 series
- machines via e-mail from Darryl Okahata <darrylo@sr.hp.com>.
+ (setq-default auto-fill-hook 'do-auto-fill)
-36: Where can I get Emacs for my PC?
+33: How do I make Emacs use a certain major mode for certain files?
- ** Demacs
+ If you want to use XXX mode for all files which end with the extension
+ `.YYY', this will do it for you:
- For 386 or 486 PCs, there is a version of GNU Emacs called Demacs. To get
- Demacs see question 21.
+ (setq auto-mode-alist (cons '("\\.YYY\\'" . XXX-mode) auto-mode-alist))
- From the announcement message:
+ Otherwise put this somewhere in the first line of any file you want to
+ edit in XXX mode:
- Demacs is almost a full set of GNU Emacs but does not support some
- features: asynchronous process, locking a file, etc.
+ -*-XXX-*-
- Demacs provides following DOS specific features:
+34: How do I search for, delete, or replace unprintable (8-bit or control)
+ characters?
- * File type: text or binary file translation.
- * "8bit clean" display mode.
- * 8086 software interrupt call by int86 lisp function.
- * Machine specific features such as function key support.
- * File name completion with drive name.
- * Child process (suspend-emacs, call-process).
- * Enhanced dired mode which can work without 'ls.exe'.
+ To search for a single character that appears in the buffer as, for
+ example, `\237', you can type "C-s C-q 2 3 7". (This assumes the value of
+ search-quote-char is 17 (ie., C-q).) Searching for ALL unprintable
+ characters is best done with a "regexp" search. The easiest regexp to use
+ for the unprintable chars is the complement of the regexp for the
+ printable chars.
- To our regret `shell-mode' does not work, but `compile' command works
- properly.
+ Regexp for the printable chars: [\t\n\r\f -~]
- Demacs was developed using an MS-DOS version of gcc called djgpp by D. J.
- Delorie <dj@ctron.com> which can compile and run large programs under
- MS-DOS, but not under MS Windows. Demacs was derived from Nemacs rather
- than straight from GNU Emacs.
+ Regexp for the unprintable chars: [^\t\n\r\f -~]
- There are a variety of other Emacses for MS-DOS including among them the
- following.
+ To type some of these special characters in an interactive argument to
+ isearch-forward-regexp or re-search-forward, you need to use C-q. (`\t',
+ `\n', `\r', and `\f' stand respectively for TAB, LFD, RET, and C-l.) So,
+ to search for unprintable characters using re-search-forward:
- ** Freemacs
+ M-x re-search-forward RET [^ TAB C-q LFD C-q RET C-q C-l SPC -~] RET
- Russ Nelson <nelson@sun.soe.clarkson.edu>, the author, describes
- Freemacs:
+ Using isearch-forward-regexp:
- * Freemacs is free, and it was designed from the start to be
- programmable.
- * Freemacs is the only IBM-PC editor that tries to be like GNU Emacs.
- * Freemacs can only edit files less than 64K in length.
- * Freemacs doesn't have undo.
+ M-C-s [^ TAB RET C-q RET C-q C-l SPC -~]
- Carl Witty <cwitty@cs.stanford.edu> describes Freemacs:
+ To delete all unprintable characters, simply use a replace-regexp:
- Better is Freemacs, which follows the tradition of ITS and GNU Emacs by
- having an full, turing-complete extension language which is incompatible
- with everything else. In fact, it's even closer to ITS Emacs than GNU
- Emacs is, because Mint (Freemacs' extension language) is absolutely
- illegible without weeks of study, much like TECO.
+ M-x replace-regexp RET [^ TAB C-q LFD C-q RET C-q C-l SPC -~] RET RET
- To get Freemacs see question 21.
+ Replacing is similar to the above. {I need to write the text for this
+ part of the answer!}
- ** MicroEmacs
+ Notes:
- MicroEmacs is a descendant of Microemacs {originally by Dave Conroy?}. It +
- is programmable in a BASIC-like language. Many of the keybindings are +
- different from GNU Emacs. It is rumored that MicroEmacs can not correctly +
- edit files larger than memory. The author is Daniel Lawrence +
- <dan@mdbs.uucp, dan@midas.mgmt.purdue.edu, nwd@j.cc.purdue.edu>. The -
- latest version is 3.10 and it is available via anonymous FTP
- (midas.mgmt.purdue.edu (non-working hours only), durer.cme.nist.gov,
- wuarchive.wustl.edu:/mirrors/msdos/memacs/*). Version 3.11 is in beta
- test.
+ * With isearch, you can type RET to get a quoted LFD (not a quoted RET).
- ** JOVE
+ * You don't need to quote TAB with either isearch or typing something in
+ the minibuffer.
- Another Emacs for small machines is JOVE (Jonathan's Own Version of
- Emacs). The latest official version is 4.14. There appears to be a newer
- version. People rumored to be working on JOVE include Mark Moraes
- <moraes@cs.toronto.edu> and Bill Marsh <bmarsh@cod.nosc.mil>. It is
- available via anonymous FTP (cs.rochester.edu:/pub/jove.tar.4.14.Z,
- cs.toronto.edu:/pub/moraes/jove4.14.3.tar.Z, ftp.uu.net:????). +
+ Here are the Emacs Lisp forms of the above regexps:
- ** MG
+ ;; regexp matching all printable characters:
+ "[\t\n\r\f -~]"
- MG is another descendant of Microemacs. MG used to stand for
- MicroGNUEmacs, but now just stands for MG. The look-and-feel of MG is +
- intended to be close to that of GNU Emacs. It is rumored that MG can not +
- correctly edit files larger than memory. The current version is rumored +
- to be 2. There is a version 3 in beta which works on the Amiga. It is
- also available via anonymous FTP (ftp.white.toronto.edu:pub/mg/*,
- wuarchive.wustl.edu: /mirrors/unix-c/editors/mg*, procyon.cis.ksu.edu
- (source and executable)).
+ ;; regexp matching all unprintable characters:
+ "[^\t\n\r\f -~]"
-37: Where can I get Emacs for my Atari ST?
+35: How can I highlight a region of text in Emacs?
- Anonymous FTP:
- cs.uni-sb.de:/pub/atari/emacs/????????
+ There are ways to get highlighting (reverse video, inverse video) in GNU
+ Emacs 18.59, but either they require patching the C code of Emacs and
+ rebuilding, or they are slow and the highlighting disappears if you scroll
+ or redraw the screen and it can not follow the point. Howard Gayle's
+ patches for 8-bit output appear to allow highlighting (see question
+ ^8-bit-output). Another patch for highlighting is by Kenichi Handa
+ <handa@etl.go.jp>. There is a patch for use with X by Andy Norman
+ <ange@hplb.hpl.hp.com> (and modified for 18.57 by Matthieu Herrb
+ <matthieu@laas.fr>), which is available for FTP:
-38: Where can I get Emacs for my Amiga?
+ /laas.laas.fr:pub/emacs/patch-X11-18.55
+ /laas.laas.fr:pub/emacs/patch-X11-18.57
- All of the files are lharc-ed.
+ You can highlight regions in a variety of ways in Epoch and Lucid Emacs.
+ GNU Emacs 19 may not be able to just temporarily highlight a region.
- Anonymous FTP:
- oes.orst.edu:/pub/almanac/comp/amiga/software/gnuemacs-1.10/*
+ Similar comments apply to displaying text in different fonts, except that
+ it is even harder.
- Via e-mail:
- To: almanac@oes.orst.edu:
- body:
- mode uuencode
- send computer amiga software gnuemacs <file>
- <file> is replaced by one of the following:
- Required: d1.lzh d2.lzh
- Recommended: d3_info.lzh d3_infolisp.lzh
- Optional: d3_autoloaded.lzh d3_entertainmentetc.lzh
- d3_entertainmentlisp.lzh d4_src.lzh d5_languagelisp.lzh
- d5_viclone.lzh d6_gnulibsrc.lzh d6_mailpackage.lzh
- d6_mathpackage.lzh d6_misc.lzh d6_textformat.lzh
- The `d#' at the beginning of each file is its disk number, which is
- referred to by the documentation.
+36: How do I control Emacs's case-sensitivity when searching/replacing?
+
+ For searching, the value of the variable case-fold-search determines
+ whether they are case sensitive:
-39: Where can I get Emacs for my Apple computer?
+ (setq case-fold-search nil) ; make searches case sensitive
+ (setq case-fold-search t) ; make searches case insensitive
- The FSF is a participant in a boycott of Apple because of Apple's "look
- and feel" copyright suits. See the file etc/APPLE for more details.
- Because of this boycott, the FSF doesn't include support in GNU software
- for Apple computers such as the Macintosh.
+ Similarly, for replacing the variable case-replace determines whether
+ replacements preserve case.
- Please don't help people port or develop software for Apple computers.
+ To change the case sensitivity just for one major mode, use the major
+ mode's hook. For example:
-40: Where can I get Emacs with NeWS support?
+ (setq XXX-mode-hook
+ (function
+ (lambda ()
+ (setq case-fold-search nil))))
- Chris Maio's NeWS support package for GNU Emacs is available via
- anonymous FTP (columbia.edu:pub/ps-emacs.tar.Z, -
- archive.cis.ohio-state.edu:pub/gnu/emacs/ps-emacs.tar.Z) and via e-mail !
- (body: send NeWS emacs-support, To: archive-server@columbia.edu). +
+37: How do I make Emacs wrap words for me?
-41: How do I get Emacs running on VMS under DECwindows?
+ M-x auto-fill-mode. The default maximum line width is 74, determined by
+ the variable fill-column. To find how to turn this on automatically see
+ question 32.
- Hal R. Brand <BRAND@addvax.llnl.gov> is said to have a VMS save set with a
- ready-to-run VMS version of Emacs 18.55 for X Windows. It is available
- via anonymous FTP (addvax.llnl.gov). It is possible that the VMS versions +
- of Emacs at other sites have X support compiled in. See etc/FTP for +
- locations. +
+38: Where can I get a better spelling checker for Emacs?
- Johan Vromans <jv@mh.nl> writes:
+ Use Ispell. See question 119.
- Getting Emacs to run on VMS with DECwindows requires a number of changes
- to the sources. Fortunately this has been done already. Joshua Marantz
- <josh@viewlogic.com> did most of the work for Emacs 18.52, and the mods
- were ported to 18.55 by Johan Vromans <jv@mh.nl>. Also included is the
- handling of DEC's LK201 keyboard. You need to apply the changes to a
- fresh Emacs 18.55 distribution on a Unix system, and then you can copy
- the sources to VMS to perform the compile/link/build.
+39: How can I spell-check TeX or *roff documents?
- The set of changes have been posted a number of times three times the
- last 12 months, so they should be widely available.
+ If you want to spell-check TeX or *roff documents with Ispell, you need to
+ arrange for a filter program that understands how to strip TeX or *roff
+ formatting commands to be run. In the TeX distribution, there are several
+ different programs named `detex', all with incompatible options, and a
+ very old pair of programs named `detex' and `delatex', which should
+ probably be avoided. The most useful one for Ispell is `detex' by Daniel
+ Trinkle. A more recent version is available via FTP:
-42: How do I use emacstool under SunView?
+ /arthur.cs.purdue.edu:pub/trinkle/detex-2.4.tar
- First read the man page for emacstool (etc/emacstool.1). The file !
- etc/SUN-SUPPORT includes further information. +
+ Raphael Cerf <cerf@clipper.ens.fr> recently released a program for this
+ named `xetal':
-43: How do I make Emacs display 8-bit characters?
+ /spi.ens.fr:pub/unix/tex/
- There is a patch called the `8-bit ctl-arrow patch' that allows Emacs to
- display characters with codes from 128 to 255. {It appears to be by
- Kenneth Cline <cline@proof.ergo.cs.cmu.edu>.}
+ There is a program that comes with Unix named `deroff' for stripping
+ formatting commands from *roff files.
- Anonymous FTP:
- cs.purdue.edu:pub/ygz/cemacs.tar.Z:cemacs/8bit-patch-18.57
- sics.se:archive/emacs-18.55-8bit-diff (new version not available)
- laas.laas.fr:pub/emacs/patch-8bit-18.5{5,7}
+ Here is an example of code you can put in a .emacs file to use these
+ programs:
- Via e-mail: +
- To: mail-server@sics.se
- body: send emacs-18.55-8bit-diff
+ ;; Based on suggestions by David G. Grubbs <dgg@ksr.com> and Paul Palmer
+ ;; <palmerp@math.orst.edu>.
- Anders Edenbrandt <anderse@dna.lth.se> has produced a more comprehensive
- patch that allows for 8-bit input and output.
+ ;; Assuming the use of detex 2.3 by Daniel Trinkle:
+ ;; -w means one word per line.
+ ;; -n means don't expand \input or \include commands.
+ ;; -l means force LaTeX mode.
- Anonymous FTP:
- sics.se:archive/emacs-8bit-diff-lth
- gatekeeper.dec.com:pub/GNU/DS-emacs-18.57-8bit-diff-lth
+ (require 'ispell) ; for the make-variable-buffer-local statements
+ (setq plain-TeX-mode-hook
+ (function
+ (lambda ()
+ (setq ispell-filter-hook "detex")
+ (setq ispell-filter-hook-args '("-nw")))))
+ (setq LaTeX-mode-hook
+ (function
+ (lambda ()
+ (setq ispell-filter-hook "detex")
+ (setq ispell-filter-hook-args '("-lnw")))))
+ (setq nroff-mode-hook
+ (function
+ (lambda ()
+ (setq ispell-filter-hook "deroff")
+ (setq ispell-filter-hook-args '("-w")))))
- The most comprehensive patches for 8-bit output are by Howard Gayle for -
- Emacs 18.55. These patches allow displaying any arbitrary string for a
- given 8-bit character (except TAB and C-j). Also supported is defining +
- the sorting order and the uppercase and lowercase translations. It is +
- reported that the 8-bit character support in Emacs 19 is largely based on +
- these patches. Thomas Bellman <Bellman@lysator.liu.se> has updated these !
- patches for Emacs 18.57. !
+ You will have to adjust the arguments for programs other than Trinkle's
+ detex or for other versions of deroff. Experiment running the command
+ from the shell to find the correct options. If you don't have a filter
+ that knows how to output one word per line, you must pipe its output
+ through another filter to break up the output.
- Anonymous FTP:
- sics.se:archive/emacs-gayle.tar.Z (patches for 18.55) +
- ftp.lysator.liu.se:pub/emacs/gayle-18.57.diff.tar.Z (patches for 18.57) +
- ftp.lysator.liu.se:pub/emacs/emacs-18.57-gayle.tar.Z (patched 18.57) +
- +
- Nemacs displays 8-bit characters, and it may be useful for displaying the +
- 8-bit ISO-8859 alphabet, but I don't know for sure. See question 46. +
+40: How do I change load-path?
-44: How do I input 8-bit characters?
+ In general, you should only *add* to the load-path. You can add
+ directory /XXX/YYY to the load path like this:
- Minor modes for ISO Latin-1 that allow one to easily input this character
- set have been written by several people. Such modes have been written by !
- Matthieu Herrb <matthieu@laas.fr> (laas.laas.fr:pub/emacs/iso-latin-1.el), !
- Johan Vromans <jv@mh.nl> {FTP site??}, and Marc Shapiro +
- <shapiro@sor.inria.fr> {FTP site??}. +
+ (setq load-path (append load-path '("/XXX/YYY/")))
- These approaches differ from the one taken by Anders Edenbrandt in that
- his method uses direct 8-bit input, while these methods use a compose
- sequence for 8-bit characters. {I have heard conflicting reports on
- whether this results in losing the Meta key. Perhaps this depends on
- whether Emacs is running under X. Can someone resolve this?}
+ To do this relative to your home directory:
- Karl Heuer <karl@haddock.ima.isc.com> is said to have a patch to allow !
- 8-bit input.
+ (setq load-path (append load-path (list (expand-file-name "~/YYY/"))))
-45: How do I use an already running Emacs from another window?
+41: How do I use an already running Emacs from another window?
The `emacsclient' program is for editing a file using an already running
Emacs rather than starting up a new Emacs. It does this by sending a
- request to the already running Emacs, which must be expecting the request. +
- +
- * Setup +
- +
- Emacs must have executed the `server-start' function for emacsclient to !
+ request to the already running Emacs, which must be expecting the request.
+
+ * Setup
+
+ Emacs must have executed the `server-start' function for emacsclient to
work. This can be done either by a command line option:
emacs -f server-start
`server'. `server' creates a Unix domain socket in the user's home
directory named `.emacs_server'.
- To get your news reader, mail reader, etc., to invoke emacsclient, try +
- setting the environment variable EDITOR (or sometimes VISUAL) to the +
- value `emacsclient'. You may have to specify the full pathname of the +
- emacsclient program instead. Examples: +
- +
- # csh commands: +
- setenv EDITOR emacsclient +
- setenv EDITOR /usr/local/emacs/etc/emacsclient # using full pathname +
- +
- # sh command: +
- EDITOR=emacsclient export EDITOR +
- +
- * Normal use +
+ To get your news reader, mail reader, etc., to invoke emacsclient, try
+ setting the environment variable EDITOR (or sometimes VISUAL) to the
+ value `emacsclient'. You may have to specify the full pathname of the
+ emacsclient program instead. Examples:
+
+ # csh commands:
+ setenv EDITOR emacsclient
+ setenv EDITOR /usr/local/emacs/etc/emacsclient # using full pathname
- When emacsclient is run, it connects to the `.emacs_server' socket and !
- passes its command line options to `server'. When `server' receives -
+ # sh command:
+ EDITOR=emacsclient export EDITOR
+
+ * Normal use
+
+ When emacsclient is run, it connects to the `.emacs_server' socket and
+ passes its command line options to `server'. When `server' receives
these requests, it sends this information on the the Emacs process,
which at the next opportunity will visit the files specified. (Line
- numbers can be specified just like with Emacs.) When the user is done
- editing a file, the user can type "C-x #" to indicate this. This will
- switch to another buffer created at the request of emacsclient if there
- are any. When "C-x #" has been invoked on all of the files that the
- emacsclient requested to be edited, Emacs will send notification of this
- to `server' which will pass this on to the emacsclient, which will then
- exit.
-
- NOTE: `emacsclient' and `server' must be running on machines which share +
- the same filesystem for this to work. The pathnames that emacsclient +
- specifies should be correct for the filesystem that the Emacs process +
- sees, which is not necessarily the same as the one the emacsclient sees. +
- The Emacs process should not be suspended at the time emacsclient is +
- invoked. Thus, emacsclient should either be invoked from another X window +
- or from a shell window inside Emacs itself. +
-
- There is an enhanced version of emacsclient/server called `gnuserv' by !
+ numbers can be specified just like with Emacs.) The user will have to
+ switch to the Emacs window by hand. When the user is done editing a
+ file, the user can type "C-x #" to indicate this. This will switch to
+ another buffer created at the request of emacsclient if there are any.
+ When "C-x #" has been invoked on all of the files that the emacsclient
+ requested to be edited, Emacs will send notification of this to `server'
+ which will pass this on to the emacsclient, which will then exit.
+
+ NOTE: `emacsclient' and `server' must be running on machines which share
+ the same filesystem for this to work. The pathnames that emacsclient
+ specifies should be correct for the filesystem that the Emacs process
+ sees. The Emacs process should not be suspended at the time emacsclient
+ is invoked. emacsclient should either be invoked from another X window or
+ from a shell window inside Emacs itself.
+
+ There is an enhanced version of emacsclient/server called `gnuserv' by
Andy Norman <ange@hplb.hpl.hp.com> which is available in the Emacs Lisp
Archive. gnuserv uses Internet domain sockets, so it can work across most
network connections. It also supports the execution of arbitrary Emacs
- Lisp forms, not just the ability to visit files, and also does not require +
- the client program to wait for completion. It is available via anonymous +
- FTP (Emacs Lisp Archive: packages/gnuserv.shar).
+ Lisp forms and also does not require the client program to wait for
+ completion. It is available via anonymous FTP (Emacs Lisp Archive:
+ packages/gnuserv.shar).
-46: Where can I get an Emacs that can handle kanji characters? -
+42: How do I make Emacs recognize my compiler's funny error messages?
- Nemacs 3.3.2 (Nihongo GNU Emacs) is a modified version of GNU Emacs 18.55
- that handles kanji characters. It is available via anonymous FTP
- (crl.nmsu.edu:pub/misc/nemacs-3.3.2.tar.Z, uhccux.uhcc.hawaii.edu:
- editors/Nemacs-3.3.2/*, miki.cs.titech.ac.jp:
- JAPAN/nemacs/nemacs-3.3.2.tar.Z). You might also need files for "wnn", a
- kanji input method (wnn-4.0.3{-README,.tar.Z} {on which machine?}). You +
- need a terminal (or terminal emulator) that can display text encoded in +
- JIS, Shift-JIS, or EUC (Extended Unix Code), or the ability to run Nemacs +
- as a direct X Window client. +
+ Write a program which runs the compiler as a child and filters its output,
+ rearranging as necessary. Install with same name as compiler somewhere in
+ path.
-47: Where can I get an Emacs that can handle Chinese?
+ Keith Moore <moore@cs.utk.edu> wrote one such for a C compiler under AIX.
+ Available via FTP:
- `cemacs' by Stephen G. Simpson <simpson@math.psu.edu> is a patch to Emacs
- 18.57 (the ctl-arrow patch) and some Emacs Lisp code that combined with
- Cxterm allows using Chinese characters. It is available via anonymous FTP
- (crl.nmsu.edu:pub/chinese/cemacs.tar.Z, cs.purdue.edu:
- pub/ygz/cemacs.tar.Z). Cxterm is available from the same place
- (cs.purdue.edu: pub/ygz/cxterm-11.5.1.tar.Z).
+ /cs.utk.edu:readonly/aixcc.lex
-48: Where is an Emacs that can handle Semitic (right-to-left) alphabets?
+ Jim Frost <jimf@saber.com> wrote another for the IBM xlc compiler on the
+ RS/6000. (I don't know if these are both for the same compiler.)
+ Johnathan Vail <vail@tegra.COM> wrote something for a High C compiler
+ (`hc', which is one of the compilers on the RS/6000, although I think
+ Johnathan wrote his program for hc on a different computer).
- Joel M. Hoffman <joel@wam.umd.edu> writes:
+43: How do I indent switch statements like this?
- A couple of years ago a wrote a hebrew.el file that allows right-to-left
- editing of Hebrew. I relied on the hardware to display the Hebrew
- letters, given the right codes, but not for any right-to-left support;
- the hardware also doesn't have to send any specific char. codes. Emacs
- keeps track of when the user is typing Hebrew vs. English. (The VT-*
- terminals in Israel contain built-in support for Hebrew.)
+ Many people want to indent their switch statements like this:
- To get it to work I had to modify only a few lines of GNU Emacs's source
- code --- just enough to make it 8-bit clean.
+ f()
+ {
+ switch(x) {
+ case A:
+ x1;
+ break;
+ case B:
+ x2;
+ break;
+ default:
+ x3;
+ }
+ }
- [and in a separate message:]
+ I don't believe there is any way to do this exactly without modifying the
+ Lisp code in c-mode.el. You can set c-indent-level to 4 and
+ c-label-offset to -2, but this has bad effects elsewhere. {Anyone have a
+ solution?}
- It doesn't produce time-order ["sefer" format] (I wouldn't recommend
- trying that with emacs, because converting time-order to screen-order
- with arbitrarily long lines is a bit tricky), but I also concocted a
- quick filter to convert screen-order into time-order. I'll be happy to
- send you the requisite files if you want them. If you're using it for
- anything large, however, you'll want something that works better.
+44: How can I make Emacs automatically scroll horizontally?
- Joseph Friedman <yossi@Neon.Stanford.EDU> wrote something for Emacs that
- provides Hebrew support under X Windows.
+ There is no completely correct way of doing this that does not involve
+ rewriting all commands or writing your own top-level command loop (not a
+ completely bad idea). Wayne Mesard <wmesard@pescadero.stanford.edu> has
+ written a particularly advanced kludge called `hscroll.el' that checks
+ once a second to make sure point is visible.
- Warren Burstein <warren@itex.jct.ac.il> says he has mapped 7-bit keys by
- modifying self-insert-command "for Hebrew input on 7-bit keyboards".
+45: How do I make Emacs "typeover" or "overwrite" instead of inserting?
- A good suggestion is to query archie for files named with "hebrew".
+ M-x overwrite-mode (a minor mode).
-
-
-Binding Keys to Commands
-
-49: Why does Emacs say "Key sequence XXX uses invalid prefix characters"?
+46: How do I stop Emacs from beeping on a terminal?
- Most likely, it failed because the key sequence you were binding started
- with "ESC [" and this sequence was already bound to a command. Evaluate
- this form first:
+ Martin R. Frank <martin@cc.gatech.edu> writes:
- (define-key esc-map "[" nil)
+ Tell Emacs to use the 'visible bell' instead of the audible bell, and
+ set the visible bell to nothing.
- NOTE: By default, "ESC [" is bound to backward-paragraph, and if you do !
- this you will lose this key binding. For most people, this is not a
- problem.
+ Put this in your TERMCAP environment variable:
-50: Why doesn't this [terminal or window-system setup] code work in my
- .emacs file, but it works just fine after Emacs starts up?
+ ... :vb=: ...
- This is because you're trying to do something in your .emacs file that
- needs to be postponed until after the terminal/window-system setup code
- is loaded. This is a result of the order in which things are done
- during the startup of Emacs. For more details see question 64.
+ And evaluate this:
+
+ (setq visible-bell t)
+
+47: How do I turn down the bell volume in Emacs running under X Windows?
+
+ Under versions of Emacs before 18.58, the bell volume was annoying loud
+ and difficult to turn off. So upgrading to 18.58 or higher will reduce
+ the volume. If you want to turn it off completely, use `xset'. There is
+ no way to turn the bell off just for Emacs without affecting all other
+ programs.
+
+ Under Epoch you can do:
+
+ (setq epoch::bell-volume 20)
+
+ Stu Grossman <grossman@sunburn.stanford.edu> wrote a patch that allows the
+ bell volume to be adjusted from inside Emacs just for Emacs.
+
+48: How do I tell Emacs to automatically indent a new line to the
+ indentation of the previous line?
+
+ One solution is Indented Text Mode (M-x indented-text-mode).
+
+ If you have Auto-Fill mode on (a minor mode, see question 32), you can
+ tell Emacs to prefix every line with a certain character sequence, the
+ "fill prefix". Type the prefix at the beginning of a line, position point
+ after it, and then type "C-x ." (set-fill-prefix) to set the fill prefix.
+ Thereafter, auto-filling will automatically put the fill prefix at the
+ beginning of new lines, and M-q (fill-paragraph) will maintain any fill
+ prefix when refilling the paragraph.
+
+ NOTE: If you have paragraphs with different levels of indentation, you
+ will have to set the fill prefix to the correct value each time you move
+ to a new paragraph. To avoid this hassle, try one of the many packages
+ available from the Emacs Lisp Archive. Look up `fill' and `indent' in the
+ Lisp Code Directory for guidance.
+
+49: How do I show which parenthesis matches the one I'm looking at?
+
+ If you're looking at a right parenthesis (or brace or bracket) you can
+ delete it and reinsert it. Emacs will blink the cursor on the matching
+ parenthesis.
+
+ M-C-f (forward-sexp) and M-C-b (backward-sexp) will skip over balanced
+ parentheses, so you can see which parentheses match. (You can train it to
+ skip over balanced brackets and braces at the same time by modifying the
+ syntax table.)
+
+ Here is some Emacs Lisp that will make the % key show the matching
+ parenthesis, like in vi. In addition, if the cursor isn't over a
+ parenthesis, it simply inserts a % like normal.
+
+ ;; By an unknown contributor
+
+ (global-set-key "%" 'match-paren)
+
+ (defun match-paren (arg)
+ "Go to the matching parenthesis if on parenthesis otherwise insert %."
+ (interactive "p")
+ (cond ((looking-at "\\s\(") (forward-list 1) (backward-char 1))
+ ((looking-at "\\s\)") (forward-char 1) (backward-list 1))
+ (t (self-insert-command (or arg 1)))))
+
+50: In C mode, can I show just the lines that will be left after #ifdef
+ commands are handled by the compiler?
+
+ M-x hide-ifdef-mode. (This is a minor mode.)
+
+ You may have to (load "hideif") first. If you want to do this regularly,
+ put this in your .emacs file:
+
+ (autoload 'hide-ifdef-mode "hideif" nil t)
+
+ {Yes, I know, this should be in lisp/loaddefs.el already.}
+
+51: Is there an equivalent to the `.' (dot) command of vi?
+
+ (`.' is the redo command in vi. It redoes the last insertion/deletion.)
+
+ No, not really.
+
+ You can type "C-x ESC" (repeat-complex-command) to reinvoke commands that
+ used the minibuffer to get arguments. In repeat-complex-command you can
+ type M-p and M-n to scan through all the different complex commands you've
+ typed.
+
+ To repeat something on each line I recommend using keyboard macros.
+
+52: What are the valid X resource settings (ie., stuff in .Xdefaults)?
+
+ See the Emacs man page, or the etc/OPTIONS file. Ignore the information
+ in etc/XDOC which is way out of date.
+
+53: How do I execute a piece of Emacs Lisp code?
+
+ There are a number of ways to execute (called "evaluate") an Emacs Lisp
+ "form":
+
+ * If you want it evaluated every time you run Emacs, put it in a file
+ named `.emacs' in your home directory.
+
+ * You can type the form in the *scratch* buffer, and then type LFD (or
+ C-j) after it. The result of evaluating the form will be inserted in
+ the buffer.
+
+ * In Emacs-Lisp mode, typing M-C-x evaluates a top-level form before or
+ around point.
+
+ * Typing "C-x C-e" in any buffer evaluates the Lisp form immediately
+ before point and prints its value in the echo area.
+
+ * Typing M-ESC or M-x eval-expression allows you to type a Lisp form in
+ the minibuffer which will be evaluated.
+
+ * You can use M-x load-file to have Emacs evaluate all the Lisp forms in
+ a file. (To do this from Lisp use the function `load' instead.)
+
+ These functions are also used for evaluating Lisp forms:
+
+ load-library, eval-region, eval-current-buffer, require, autoload
+
+54: How do I change Emacs's idea of the tab character's length?
+
+ Example: (setq default-tab-width 10).
+
+55: How do I insert `>' at the beginning of every line?
+
+ Type "M-x replace-regexp RET ^ RET > RET".
+
+ To do this only in the region, type "C-x n M-x replace-regexp RET ^ RET
+ > RET C-x w".
+
+ WARNING: The command narrow-to-region (C-x n) is disabled by default
+ because it can be very confusing (ie., "Oh no! Where did my file go?").
+
+56: How do I insert `_^H' before each character in a paragraph to get an
+ underlined paragraph?
+
+ M-x underline-region.
+
+57: How do I repeat a command as many times as possible?
+
+ Use "C-x (" and "C-x )" to make a keyboard macro that invokes the command
+ and then type "M-0 C-x e".
+
+ WARNING: any messages your command prints in the echo area will be
+ suppressed.
+
+58: How do I make Emacs behave like this: when I go up or down, the cursor
+ should stay in the same column even if the line is too short?
+
+ M-x picture-mode. (This is a minor mode, in theory anyway ...)
+
+59: How do I tell Emacs to iconify itself?
+
+ You need to modify C source and recompile. Either that or get Epoch or
+ Lucid Emacs instead. Patches have been written by Robert Forsman
+ <thoth@reef.cis.ufl.edu> and Johan Vromans <jv@mh.nl> to allow Emacs to
+ iconify itself and by Matt Wette <mwette@mr-ed.jpl.nasa.gov> and
+ Manavendra K. Thakur <thakur@zerkalo.harvard.edu> (for 18.57, plus icon
+ geometry) to allow Emacs to start up iconified. I don't know which of
+ these patches work together.
+
+ Anonymous FTP:
+ /csi.jpl.nasa.gov:pub/emax.patch1 (Matt Wette)
+ /ftp.eu.net:gnu/emacs/FP-Xfun.Z (Johan Vromans)
+ /ftp.urc.tue.nl:/pub/tex/emacs/FP-Xfun (Johan Vromans)
+
+60: How do I use regexps (regular expressions) in Emacs?
+
+ See `Regexps' in the online manual.
+
+ WARNING: The "or" operator is `\|', not `|', and the grouping operators
+ are `\(' and `\)'. Also, the string syntax for a backslash is "\\".
+ Thus, the string syntax for a regular expression like xxx\(foo\|bar\) is
+ "xxx\\(foo\\|bar\\)". Notice the duplicated backslashes!
+
+ WARNING: Unlike in Unix grep, sed, etc., a complement character set
+ ([^...]) can match a newline character (LFD aka C-j aka \n), unless
+ newline is mentioned as one of the characters not to match.
+
+ WARNING: The character syntax regexps (eg. `\sw') are not meaningful
+ inside character set regexps (eg. `[aeiou]'). (This is actually typical
+ for regexp syntax.)
+
+61: How do I perform a replace operation across more than one file?
+
+ The "tags" feature of Emacs includes the command tags-query-replace which
+ performs a query-replace across all the files mentioned in the TAGS file.
+ See `Tags:Tags Search' in the online manual.
+
+ In addition, Martin Boyer has written a package named global-replace which
+ will perform a query-replace across all the files mentioned in the
+ *compilation* buffer (usually done after a `grep'), which is available via
+ anonymous FTP:
+
+ /ireq-robot.hydro.qc.ca:pub/emacs/lisp/compile.el.Z
+ /ireq-robot.hydro.qc.ca:pub/emacs/lisp/global-replace.el.Z
+ /ireq-robot.hydro.qc.ca:pub/emacs/lisp/query.el.Z
+
+62: Where is the documentation for `etags'?
+
+ `etags' takes options just like a prior version of ctags, so your ctags
+ manual (if any) may be useful. Eoin Woods, in comp.emacs, writes the !
+ following: !
+ !
+ From reading the source (!) the way I use it is: !
+ !
+ for f in `find <args>` !
+ do !
+ etags -at -f ETAGS $f !
+ done !
+ !
+ The "-t" option means to create tags for typedefs as well as functions. !
+ The "-a" option tells it to append to the output file. If you have a !
+ small number of files (up to a few hundred I think) you can use it !
+ direct as: !
+ !
+ etags -f ETAGS file1 file2 file3 ... filen !
+ !
+ The option list is: !
+ !
+ -f file - Specify the output file name (Default is "TAGS") !
+ -a - Append to the output file. (Default is to rewrite it) !
+ -t - Create tags for typedefs (default is just functions) !
+ -u - Update the output file. Do not re-create it. !
+ -w - Suppress warnings !
+ -v - Create vgrind style indexed output (What is vgrind??) !
+ -x - Create cxref style output (default is Emacs Tags) !
+ -e - Emacs tags style output (the default the way I !
+ compile it) !
+ !
+ Having got it working, it works fine! !
+
+
+
+Bugs/Problems
+
+63: Does Emacs have problems with files larger than 8 megabytes?
+
+ Most installed versions of GNU Emacs will use 24-bit signed integers (and
+ 24-bit pointers) internally. This limits the file size that Emacs can
+ handle to 8,388,607 bytes (2^23 - 1).
+
+ Leonard N. Zubkoff <lnz@lucid.com> suggests putting the following two
+ lines in src/config.h before compiling Emacs to allow for 26-bit integers
+ and pointers (and thus filesizes of up to 33,554,431 bytes):
+
+ #define VALBITS 26
+ #define GCTYPEBITS 5
+
+ WARNING: This method may result in `ILLEGAL DATATYPE' and other random
+ errors on some machines.
+
+ David Gillespie <daveg@csvax.cs.caltech.edu> gives an explanation of why
+ Emacs uses 24 bit integers and pointers:
+
+ Emacs is largely written in a dialect of Lisp; Lisp is a freely-typed
+ language in the sense that you can put any value of any type into any
+ variable, or return it from a function, and so on. So each value must
+ carry a "tag" along with it identifying what kind of thing it is, eg.,
+ integer, pointer to a list, pointer to an editing buffer, and so on.
+ Emacs uses standard 32-bit integers for data objects, taking the top 8
+ bits for the tag and the bottom 24 bits for the value. So integers (and
+ pointers) are somewhat restricted compared to true C integers and
+ pointers.
+
+ Emacs uses 8-bit tags because that's a little faster on byte-oriented
+ machines, but there are only really enough tags to require 6 bits.
+
+64: Why can't Emacs find files in current directory on startup?
+
+ The PWD bug has been fixed as of GNU Emacs 18.59. Read on if you are
+ running an older version of Emacs.
+
+ Most likely, you have an environment variable named PWD that is set to a
+ value other than the name of your current directory. This is most
+ likely caused by using two different shell programs. `ksh' and (some
+ versions of) `csh' set and maintain the value of the PWD environment
+ variable, but `sh' doesn't. If you start sh from ksh, change your
+ current directory inside sh, and then start Emacs from inside sh, PWD
+ will have the wrong value but Emacs will use this value. An invalid
+ setting for PWD can also be a problem if you use X Windows and csh on an
+ RS/6000. See the etc/OPTIONS file for more details.
+
+ Perhaps an easier solution is not to use two shells. The `chsh' program
+ can often be used to change one's default login shell.
+
+ You may have PWD set for other reasons. Another possibility is that you
+ are setting default-directory from your .emacs file.
+
+ Here is a fix by Jim Blandy <jimb@occs.cs.oberlin.edu>:
+
+ >--- emacs/jjj/emacs-18.58/lisp/startup.el Tue Jan 15 23:19:04 1991
+ >+++ startup.el Mon Apr 20 00:21:01 1992
+ >@@ -81,5 +81,7 @@
+ > ;; In presence of symlinks, switch to cleaner form of default directory.
+ > (if (and (not (eq system-type 'vax-vms))
+ >- (getenv "PWD"))
+ >+ (getenv "PWD")
+ >+ (equal (nthcdr 10 (file-attributes default-directory))
+ >+ (nthcdr 10 (file-attributes (getenv "PWD")))))
+ > (setq default-directory (file-name-as-directory (getenv "PWD"))))
+ > (unwind-protect
+
+65: How do I get rid of the ^M junk in my Shell buffer?
+
+ For tcsh, put this in your `.cshrc' (or `.tcshrc') file:
+
+ if ($?EMACS) then
+ if ("$EMACS" == t) then
+ if ($?tcsh) unset edit
+ stty nl
+ endif
+ endif
+
+ Or put this in your .emacs_tcsh file:
+
+ unset edit
+ stty nl
+
+ Alternatively, use csh in your Shell buffers instead of tcsh. One way
+ is:
+
+ (setq explicit-shell-file-name "/bin/csh")
+
+ and another is to do this in your .cshrc (or .tcshrc) file:
+
+ setenv ESHELL /bin/csh
+
+ (You must start Emacs over again with the environment variable properly
+ set for this to take effect.)
+
+66: Why do I get `Process shell exited abnormally with code 1'?
+
+ The most likely reason for this message is that the `env' program is not
+ properly installed. This program should be compiled (for the correct
+ architecture!) and installed with execute permission for everyone in
+ Emacs's program directory, which is normally /usr/local/emacs/etc. You
+ can find what this directory is at your site by inspecting the value of
+ the variable exec-directory by typing "C-h v exec-directory RET". `env'
+ should also be for the correct architecture (check using `file' command).
+
+ You should also check for other programs named `env' in your path (eg.,
+ SunOS has a program named /usr/bin/env). I don't understand why this can
+ cause a failure and I don't know a general solution for working around the
+ problem in this case.
+
+ The `make clean' command will remove `env' and other vital programs, so be
+ careful when using it.
+
+ It has been reported that this sometimes happened when Emacs was started
+ as an X client from an xterm window (ie. had a controlling tty) but the
+ xterm was later terminated.
+
+ See also etc/PROBLEMS for other possible causes of this message.
+
+67: Why can't I cut from Emacs and paste in other X programs?
+
+ Emacs stores things you "cut" in the X "cut buffers". It also pastes from
+ the cut buffer `CUT_BUFFER0'. This is obsolete. Most modern X programs
+ now expect to work with "selections" instead of cut buffers, although some
+ like `xterm' will try to use the cut buffers if the selection is null.
+
+ Emacs 18.58 contains a "fix" that makes xterm work by default. This
+ "fix" is that Emacs clears the `PRIMARY' selection when it stores
+ something in the cut buffer. By making the selection null, xterm will
+ then fetch from the cut buffer when you try to paste.
+
+ For versions of Emacs prior to 18.58, you can make pasting from Emacs into
+ xterm work with the following X resources:
+
+ ! Solution by Thomas Narten, should work under X11R3 and later GNU
+ ! Emacs only copies to CUT_BUFFER0. xterm by default wants to paste
+ ! from the PRIMARY selection.
+ XTerm*VT100.Translations: #override \
+ ~Meta <Btn2Up>: insert-selection(CUT_BUFFER0,PRIMARY)
+
+ You may have problems copying between Emacs and programs other than xterm
+ that won't store cut text in the cut buffers or look in the cut buffers
+ for text to paste (for backwards compatibility with obsolete applications
+ like Emacs :-). The best workaround is to use the `xcutsel' program as an
+ intermediary.
+
+ This problem does not exist for Epoch or Lucid Emacs.
+
+68: Where is the termcap/terminfo entry for terminal type `emacs'?
+
+ The termcap entry for terminal type `emacs' is ordinarily put in the
+ TERMCAP environment variable of subshells. It may help in certain
+ situations (eg., using rlogin from shell buffer) to add an entry for
+ `emacs' to the system-wide termcap file. Here is a correct termcap entry
+ for `emacs':
+
+ emacs:tc=unknown:
+
+ To make a terminfo entry for `emacs', use `tic' or `captoinfo'. You need
+ to generate /usr/lib/terminfo/e/emacs. It may work to simply copy
+ /usr/lib/terminfo/d/dumb to /usr/lib/terminfo/e/emacs.
+
+ Having a termcap/terminfo entry will not enable the use of full screen
+ programs in shell buffers. Use M-x terminal-emulator for that instead.
+
+ A workaround to the problem of missing termcap/terminfo entries is to
+ change terminal type `emacs' to type `dumb' or `unknown' in your shell
+ start up file. `csh' users could put this in their .cshrc files:
+
+ if ("$term" == emacs) set term=dumb
+
+69: Why does Emacs spontaneously start displaying `I-search:' and beeping?
+
+ Your terminal (or something between your terminal and the computer) is
+ sending C-s and C-q for flow control, and Emacs is receiving these
+ characters and interpreting them as commands. (The C-s character normally
+ invokes the isearch-forward command.) For possible solutions, see
+ question 131.
+
+70: Why can't Emacs talk to certain hosts (or certain hostnames)?
+
+ The problem may be that Emacs is linked with a wimpier version of
+ gethostbyname than the rest of the programs on the machine. This is often
+ manifested as a message on startup of `X server not responding. Check
+ your DISPLAY environment variable.' or a message of `Unknown host' from
+ open-network-stream.
+
+ On a Sun, this may be because Emacs had to be linked with the static C
+ library. The version of gethostbyname in the static C library may only
+ look in /etc/hosts and the NIS (YP) maps, while the version in the dynamic
+ C library may be smart enough to check DNS in addition to or instead of
+ NIS. On a Motorola Delta running System V R3.6, the version of
+ gethosbyname in the standard library works, but the one that works with
+ NIS doesn't (the one you get with -linet). Other operating systems have
+ similar problems.
+
+ Try these options:
+
+ * Explicitly add the host you want to communicate with to /etc/hosts.
+
+ * Relink Emacs with this line in src/config.h:
+
+ #define LIBS_SYSTEM -lresolv
+
+ * Replace gethostbyname and friends in libc.a with more useful versions
+ such as the ones in libresolv.a. Then relink Emacs.
+
+ * If you are actually running NIS, make sure that `ypbind' is properly
+ told to do DNS lookups with the correct command line switch.
+
+ * Use tcp.el and tcp.c from GNUS. This has the additional advantage that
+ you can use numeric IP addresses instead of names. open-network-stream
+ currently can't handle numeric addresses. Brian Thomson
+ <thomson@hub.toronto.edu> has a enhancement to open-network-stream to
+ allow it to handle numeric addresses.
+
+71: Why does Emacs say `Error in init file'?
+
+ An error occurred while loading either your .emacs file or the system-wide
+ lisp/default.el file. For information on how to debug your .emacs file,
+ see question 29.
+
+ It may be the case that you may need to load some package first, or use a
+ hook that will be evaluated after the package is loaded. A common case of
+ this is explained in question 127.
+
+72: Why does Emacs ignore my X resources (my .Xdefaults file)?
+
+ * Try compiling Emacs with the XBACKWARDS macro defined. There is a bug
+ in some implementations of XGetDefault, which do not correspond to the
+ documentation or the header files.
+
+ * Make sure you are either using the class name of `Emacs' (oops,
+ apparently this is buggy in Emacs 18.58!) or the correct instance name.
+ The instance name is normally the same as the name of the file Emacs is
+ in (ie., the last part of argv[0]), but this can be overridden by -rn
+ command line option or the WM_RES_NAME environment variable.
+
+ WARNING: Reports say using the class name fails in Emacs 18.58.
+
+ WARNING: The advice the man page gives to use `emacs' is often wrong.
+
+ WARNING: Older versions of Emacs got the class name wrong.
+
+ * Emacs currently ignores the -xrm command line argument.
+
+ * Emacs does not yet handle X11R5 screen-specific resources.
+
+ * Emacs has a bug where it ignores color specifications if running on a
+ 1-bit display (ie. a non-color display).
+
+ * I don't think Emacs will use either of the application-specific resource
+ files. Thus these environment variables don't affect it: XAPPLRESDIR,
+ XUSERFILESEARCHPATH, XFILESEARCHPATH. {Correct?}
+
+73: Why does Emacs take 20 seconds to visit a file?
+
+ The usual cause is that the master lock file, `!!!SuperLock!!!' has been
+ left in the lock directory somehow. Delete it.
+
+ Mark Meuer <meuer@geom.umn.edu> says that NeXT NFS has a bug where an
+ exclusive create succeeds but returns an error status. This can cause the
+ same problem. Since Emacs's file locking doesn't work over NFS anyway,
+ the best solution is to recompile Emacs with CLASH_DETECTION undefined.
+
+74: How do I edit a file with a `$' in its name?
+
+ When entering a filename in the minibuffer, Emacs will attempt to expand
+ a `$' followed by a word as an environment variable. To suppress this
+ behavior, type "$$" instead.
+
+75: Why does Shell mode lose track of the shell's current directory?
+
+ Emacs has no way of knowing when the shell actually changes its directory.
+ This is an intrinsic limitation of Unix. So it tries to guess by
+ recognizing `cd' commands. If you type `cd' followed by a directory name
+ with a variable reference (`cd $HOME/bin') or with a shell metacharacter
+ (`cd ../lib*'), Emacs will fail to correctly guess the shell's new current
+ directory. A huge variety of fixes and enhancements to Shell mode for
+ this problem have been written to handle this problem. Check the Lisp
+ Code Directory (see question 88).
+
+76: Why doesn't my change to load-path work?
+
+ If you added a directory name containing a tilde (~) to your load-path,
+ expecting the tilde to be interpreted as your home directory, then you
+ need to do something like this:
+
+ (setq load-path (mapcar 'expand-file-name load-path))
+
+77: Why does the cursor always go to the wrong column when I move up or
+ down one line?
+
+ You have inadvertently typed "C-x C-n" (set-goal-column) which sets the
+ "goal column" to the column where the cursor was. To undo this type
+ "C-u C-x C-n".
+
+ If you make this mistake frequently, you might want to unbind or disable
+ this command by doing one of these two:
+
+ (define-key ctl-x-map "\C-n" nil)
+ (put 'set-goal-column 'disabled t)
+
+78: Why does Emacs hang with message `Unknown XMenu error' with X11R4?
+
+ Many different X errors can produce this message. Here is the solution
+ to one problem:
+
+ X11 Release 4 (and later, including OpenWindows) enforces some conditions
+ in the X protocol that were previously allowed to pass unnoticed. You
+ need to put the X11R4 server into X11R3 bug compatibility mode for Emacs's
+ Xmenu code to work. You can do this with the command `xset bc'.
+
+79: Why doesn't display-time show the load average in the mode line
+ anymore?
+
+ In GNU Emacs 18.56, a change was made in the display-time code.
+ Formerly, in version 18.55, Emacs used a program named `loadst' to
+ notify Emacs of the change in time every minute. loadst also sent Emacs
+ the system load average if it was installed with sufficient privilege to
+ get that information (or was on a system where no such privilege was
+ needed). Emacs then displayed this information in the mode line.
+
+ In version 18.56, this code was changed to use a program named `wakeup'.
+ wakeup doesn't send Emacs any information, it's only purpose is to send
+ Emacs *something* every minute, thus invoking the filter function in
+ Emacs once a minute. The filter function in Emacs does all the work of
+ finding the time, date, and load average. However, getting the load
+ average requires the privilege to read kernel memory on most systems.
+ Since giving Emacs this privilege would destroy any security a system
+ might have, for almost everyone this is not an option. In addition,
+ Emacs does not have the code built into it to get this information on
+ the systems which have special system calls for this purpose, even
+ though loadst had code for this.
+
+ The solution I use is to get the files lisp/display-time.el and
+ etc/loadst.c from version 18.55 and use those with 18.58. (I have heard
+ a rumor that loadst disappeared because of the legal action Unipress
+ threatened against IBM.)
+
+ WARNING: Do not install Emacs setgid kmem unless you wish to destroy
+ any security your system might have!!!!!!!!!!
+
+ If you are using Emacs 18.55 or earlier, or already using the solution I
+ describe above, read further:
+
+ The most likely cause of the problem is that `loadst' can't read the
+ special file /dev/kmem. To properly install loadst, it should be either
+ setuid to the owner of /dev/kmem, or is should be setgid to the group to
+ which /dev/kmem belongs. In either case, /dev/kmem should be readable by
+ its owner or its group, respectively. Assuming the existence of a group
+ named `kmem', here is an example of how to do this:
+
+ chgrp kmem /dev/kmem
+ chmod g+r /dev/kmem
+ chgrp kmem /usr/local/emacs/etc/loadst
+ chmod g+s /usr/local/emacs/etc/loadst
+
+ Another possibility is that your version of Unix doesn't have the load
+ average data available in /dev/kmem. Your version of Unix might have a
+ special system call to retrieve this information (eg., inq_stats under
+ UMAX), and loadst might not have been enhanced to cope with this.
+
+80: Why does ispell sometimes ignore the local dictionary?
+
+ You need to update the version of Ispell to 2.0.02. (Or you can switch to
+ version 3.0 which is still in beta-testing.) A patch is available via
+ anonymous FTP:
+
+ /archive.cis.ohio-state.edu:pub/gnu/ispell/patch2.Z
+
+ You also need to change a line in ispell.el from:
+
+ (defconst ispell-version "2.0.01") ; Check against output of "ispell -v".
+
+ to:
+
+ (defconst ispell-version "2.0.02") ; Check against output of "ispell -v".
+
+81: Why does Ispell treat each line as a single word?
+
+ Ispell expects to get its input one word per line. The ispell filter,
+ which is specified by the variables ispell-filter-hook and
+ ispell-filter-hook-args, should output at most one word per line.
+
+82: Are there any security risks in GNU Emacs?
+
+ * the `movemail' incident (No, this is not a risk.)
+
+ Cliff Stoll in his book `The Cuckoo's Egg' describes this in chapter 4.
+ The site at LBL had installed the `etc/movemail' program setuid root.
+ Since `movemail' had not been designed for this situation, a security
+ hole was created and users could get root privileges.
+
+ `movemail' has since been changed so that even if it is installed setuid
+ root this security hole will not be a result.
+
+ I have heard unverified reports that the Internet worm took advantage of
+ this configuration problem.
+
+ * the file-local-variable feature (Yes, a risk, but easy to change.)
+
+ There is an Emacs feature that allows the setting of local values for
+ variables when editing a file by including specially formatted text near
+ the end of the file. This feature also includes the ability to have
+ arbitrary Emacs Lisp code evaluated when the file is visited.
+ Obviously, there is a potential for Trojan horses to exploit this
+ feature.
+
+ If you set the variable inhibit-local-variables to a non-nil value,
+ Emacs will display the special local variable settings of a file that
+ you visit and ask you if you really want them. This variable is not
+ mentioned in the manual.
+
+ It is wise to do this in lisp/site-init.el before building Emacs:
+
+ (setq inhibit-local-variables t)
+
+ If Emacs has already been built, the expression can be put in
+ lisp/default.el instead, or an individual can put it in their own .emacs
+ file.
+
+ The ability to exploit this feature by sending e-mail to an RMAIL user
+ was fixed sometime after Emacs 18.52. However, any new package that
+ uses find-file or find-file-noselect has to be careful about this.
+
+ For more information, see `File Variables' in the online manual (which,
+ incidentally, does not describe how to disable the feature).
+
+ There is a new variable in Emacs 18.58 named ignore-local-eval which
+ turns out to be useless as currently implemented. Ignore it.
+
+ * synthetic X events (Yes, a risk, use MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 or better.)
+
+ Emacs accepts synthetic X events generated by the SendEvent request as
+ though they were regular events. As a result, if you are using the
+ trivial host-based authentication, other users who can open X
+ connections to your X workstation can make your Emacs process do
+ anything, including run other processes with your privileges.
+
+ The only fix for this is to prevent other users from being able to open
+ X connections. The standard way to prevent this is to use a real
+ authentication mechanism, such as MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1. If using the
+ `xauth' program has any effect, then you are probably using
+ MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1. Your site may be using a superior authentication
+ method; ask your system administrator.
+
+ If real authentication is not a possibility, you may be satisfied by
+ just allowing hosts access for brief intervals while you start your X
+ programs, then removing the access. This reduces the risk somewhat by
+ narrowing the time window when hostile users would have access, but DOES
+ NOT ELIMINATE THE RISK.
+
+ Lucid GNU Emacs does not accept synthetic X events unless you set a
+ variable.
+
+ * autosave file permissions (Yes, a risk, hard to work around.)
+
+ The file permissions for autosave files are determined solely by the
+ Emacs process's `umask' value. The permissions of the file being
+ autosaved are not used. The easiest workaround is to keep sensitive
+ files in protected directories. Sebastian Kremer has written an
+ enhanced version of the autosave file name picking code that can avoid
+ this problem by keeping autosave files in a protected directory. {FTP
+ information please?} This problem will be fixed in Emacs 19.
+
+
+
+Difficulties Building/Installing/Porting Emacs
+
+83: What should I do if I have trouble building Emacs?
+
+ First look in the file etc/PROBLEMS to see if there is already a solution
+ for your problem. Next check the FAQ (you're reading it). If you don't
+ find a solution, then report your problem via e-mail to
+ bug-gnu-emacs@prep.ai.mit.edu. Please do not post it to gnu.emacs.help or
+ e-mail it to help-gnu-emacs@prep.ai.mit.edu. For further guidelines, see
+ question 8.
+
+84: How do I stop Emacs from failing when the executable is stripped?
+
+ Don't do that.
+
+ This problem has been reported on SGI Indigo machines running Irix 4.0.*
+ and RS/6000 machines. Scott Henry <scotth@hoshi.corp.SGi.COM> posted a
+ patch that fixes the problem for Irix.
+
+85: Why does linking Emacs with -lX11 fail?
+
+ Emacs needs to be linked with the static version of the X11 library,
+ libX11.a. This may be missing.
+
+ Under OpenWindows, you may need to use `add_services' to add the
+ `OpenWindows Programmers' optional software category from the CD-ROM.
+
+ Under HP-UX 8.0, you may need to run `update' again to load the
+ X11-PRG `fileset'. This may be missing even if you specified `all
+ filesets' the first time. If libcurses.a is missing, you may need to load
+ the `Berkeley Development Option' {???}.
+
+ If you are building the MIT X11 sources, you may need to modify your
+ `site.cf' file to get static versions of the libraries. (Info from David
+ Zuhn <zoo@cygnus.com>.)
+
+ Other systems may have similar problems. You can always define
+ CANNOT_DUMP and link with the shared libraries instead.
+
+ To get the Xmenu stuff to work, you need to find a copy of MIT's
+ liboldX.a.
+
+86: Why does Emacs 18.55 say `Fatal error (6).Abort' under SunOS 4.1?
+
+ I had hoped this question would go away after Emacs 18.57 was released,
+ but people continue to compile 18.55. Easiest solution: upgrade.
+
+ This is a result of the SunOS localtime/tzsetwall malloc bug, which was
+ (finally!) fixed in SunOS 4.1.2. If you actually need the full
+ explanation, send me e-mail. If you absolutely must compile Emacs 18.55
+ (eg., you are compiling Nemacs), the easiest workaround was to put
+ `#define SYSTEM_MALLOC' in src/config.h.
+
+
+
+ GNU Emacs FAQ: Getting Emacs/Packages
+
+If you are viewing this text in a GNU Emacs Buffer, you can type "M-2 C-x $" to
+get an overview of just the questions. Then, when you want to look at the text
+of the answers, just type "C-x $".
+
+To search for a question numbered XXX, type "M-C-s ^XXX:", followed by a C-r if
+that doesn't work, then type ESC to end the search.
+
+A `+' in the 78th column means something was inserted on the line. A `-' means
+something was deleted and a `!' means some combination of insertions and
+deletions occurred.
+
+Full instructions for getting the latest FAQ are in question 22. Also see the
+`Introduction to news.answers' posting in the `news.answers' newsgroup, or send
+e-mail to `mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu' with `help' on a body line, or use FTP,
+WAIS, or Prospero to rtfm.mit.edu.
+
+
+
+Finding/Getting Emacs and Related Packages
+
+87: Where can I get GNU Emacs on the net (or by snail mail)?
+
+ Look in the files etc/DISTRIB and etc/FTP for information on nearby
+ archive sites. If you don't already have GNU Emacs, see question 20
+ for how to get these two files.
+
+ The latest version is always available via anonymous FTP at MIT:
+
+ /prep.ai.mit.edu:pub/gnu/emacs-18.59.tar.Z
+
+ See question 91.
+
+88: How do I find a GNU Emacs Lisp package that does XXX?
+
+ A listing of Emacs Lisp packages, called the Lisp Code Directory, is being
+ maintained by Dave Brennan <brennan@hal.com> and Dave Sill <de5@ornl.gov>.
+ You can search through this list to find if someone has written something
+ that fits your needs.
+
+ This list is file LCD-datafile.Z in the Emacs Lisp Archive. (See
+ question 89 for methods for getting this file.) The files lispdir.el.Z
+ and lispdir.doc.Z in the archive contain information to help you use the
+ list. Once you have installed lispdir.el and LCD-datafile, then you can
+ use the "M-x lisp-dir-apropos" command to look things up in the database.
+ For example, the command "M-x lisp-dir-apropos RET ange-ftp RET" produces
+ this (outdated) output:
+
+ GNU Emacs Lisp Code Apropos -- "ange-ftp"
+
+ ange-ftp (3.112) 91-08-12
+ Andy Norman, <ange@hplb.hpl.hp.com>
+ archive.cis.ohio-state.edu:
+ /pub/gnu/emacs/elisp-archive/as-is/ange-ftp.el.Z
+ transparent FTP Support for GNU Emacs
+
+89: Where can I get GNU Emacs Lisp packages that don't come with Emacs?
+
+ First, check the Lisp Code Directory to find the name of the package you
+ are looking for. (See question 88). Then check local archives and
+ the Emacs Lisp Archive to find a copy of the relevant files. Then, if
+ you still haven't found it, you can send e-mail to the author asking for
+ a copy.
+
+ You can access the Emacs Lisp Archive via anonymous FTP:
+
+ /archive.cis.ohio-state.edu:/pub/gnu/emacs/elisp-archive/
+
+ Fetch the file README first.
+
+ NOTE: The archive maintainers do not have time to answer individual
+ requests for packages or the list of packages in the archive. If you
+ cannot use FTP or UUCP to access the archive yourself, try to find a
+ friend who can, but please don't ask the maintainers.
+
+ NOTE: Any files with names ending in `.Z' are compressed, and you should
+ use `binary' mode in FTP to retrieve them. You should also use binary
+ mode whenever you retrieve any files with names ending in `.elc'.
+
+90: How do I submit code to the Emacs Lisp Archive?
+
+ Submissions should be mailed to elisp-archive@cis.ohio-state.edu. The
+ lispdir.el package has a function named submit-lcd-entry which will help
+ you with this. Mail messages (submissions) are automatically saved and
+ periodically archived. Urgent mail may be sent directly to Dave Sill
+ <de5@ornl.gov> or Dave Brennan <brennan@hal.com> or should contain the
+ string `urgent' in the subject. The incoming ftp directory is no longer
+ available at the request of Ohio State. {Is this still true?}
+
+ However, if someone has a submission with multiple files (which would be
+ archived as a tar file) or binary files, then FTP transfer is preferred
+ and can be arranged via an anonymous FTP site. This is faster than
+ uudecoding, unsharing, etc., and re-packaging files.
+
+ Before submitting anything, please read the file guidelines.Z, which is
+ available in the archive. Whenever possible, submissions should contain a
+ complete LCD entry since this helps reduce administrative overhead for the
+ maintainers. You can include an entry in this format:
+
+ ;; LCD Archive Entry:
+ ;; package name|author's name|email address
+ ;; |description
+ ;; |date|version|archive path
+
+ For example:
+
+ ;; LCD Archive Entry:
+ ;; tex-complete|Sebastian Kremer|sk@thp.Uni-Koeln.DE
+ ;; |Minibuffer name completion for editing [La]TeX.
+ ;; |91-03-26|$Revision: 1.4 $|~/packages/tex-complete.el.Z !
+
+ Dave Brennan has software which automatically looks for data in this
+ format. The format is fairly flexible. The entry ends when a line is
+ reached with a different prefix or the seventh field terminator is
+ seen.
+
+ If you are submitting a multi-file submission you should include a file
+ named "LCD-entry" which contains the archive entry, instead of placing
+ it in one or more of the individual files.
+
+91: Where can I get other up-to-date GNU stuff?
+
+ The most up-to-date official GNU stuff is normally kept on prep.ai.mit.edu
+ and is available for anonymous FTP in the pub/gnu directory. See the
+ files etc/DISTRIB and etc/FTP for more information. (To get copies of
+ these files, see question 20.)
+
+ The following sites are all mirror images of the GNU distribution area:
+
+ /prep.ai.mit.edu:pub/gnu/
+ /ftp.uu.net:packages/gnu/
+ /src.doc.ic.ac.uk:gnu/ (available via FTP, NIFTP, FTAM)
+ /ftp.win.tue.nl:pub/gnu/
+ /utsun.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp:ftpsync/prep/
+ /nic.funet.fi:pub/gnu/
+
+ The directory at ftp.uu.net is a mirror of prep.ai.mit.edu:pub/gnu,
+ except that files larger than 1 megabyte {right?} are automatically
+ split into multiple parts. If you have trouble transferring large
+ files, you should try here. A file normally named `XXX' is split into
+ files XXX-split/part[0-9][0-9], and there will be a file named
+ XXX-split/README which contains the list of parts (especially helpful
+ when FTP-ing by e-mail), their checksums, and reassembly instructions.
+ Some of the other mirror sites may have the same property. {Can someone
+ check this out? Thanks!}
+
+ Information was provided by Lee McLoughlin <lmjm@doc.ic.ac.uk>, Jonathan
+ R. Ferro <jf41+@ANDREW.CMU.EDU>, Arjan de Vet <devet@win.tue.nl>, and
+ Simon Marshall <S.Marshall@sequent.cc.hull.ac.uk>.
+
+92: Where can I get an Emacs with better mouse and X window support?
+
+ Emacs 18 has some limited X Window System support, but there are
+ problems. Emacs 19 will have amazing mouse and window support. Right
+ now, there are Epoch which is derived from GNU Emacs 18.58 and Lucid GNU
+ Emacs which is derived from an early unreleased version of GNU Emacs 19,
+ both of which have greatly improved mouse and window support. See
+ questions 120 and 121.
+
+ The HP unofficial GNU Emacs also has nice mouse support. See question
+ 95.
+
+ There are numerous Emacs Lisp packages that have been written to extend
+ Emacs 18's mouse handling capabilities. Some of these packages also have
+ patches to the C code to provide enhanced capabilities. Look up `mouse'
+ in the Lisp Code Directory (see question 88).
+
+ There is a package called BAM (Born Again Menus) which provides menus for
+ GNU Emacs via an external C program. It does not provide mouse support in
+ the Emacs window such as scrollbars, cut-and-paste, etc.
+
+ NOTE: Epoch only works with the X Window System; it works on ordinary
+ terminals by invoking regular GNU Emacs. Lucid Emacs does not currently
+ work on ordinary terminals, although there are plans to fix this.
+
+93: What is the difference between GNU Emacs and Epoch?
+
+ Marc Andreessen <marca@ncsa.uiuc.edu> writes:
+
+ Epoch is GNU Emacs on steroids: an adaptation of GNU Emacs with lots of
+ additional support for features made possible by the X11 windowing
+ system. These features include multiple editing windows, arbitrary
+ colors and fonts (fixed-width and proportional), selectable zones per
+ buffer with arbitrary display styles (font, color, underline, stipple,
+ pixmap), an optional separate minibuffer window, improved keyboard and
+ mouse handling, full 8-bit character set support, and more.
+
+94: What is the difference between GNU Emacs and Lucid GNU Emacs?
+
+ This information is condensed from the release notice:
+
+ Lucid GNU Emacs is based on an early version of GNU Emacs version 19
+ with many enhancements. It currently requires X Windows to run. For
+ information on where to get Lucid GNU Emacs see 121. X Windows support
+ is greatly enhanced over GNU Emacs version 18, including support for
+ multiple X Windows (a.k.a. screens in Emacs), Zmacs/Lispm style region
+ highlighting, a customizable, Motif-like menubar, more powerful keymap
+ support (allowing different actions to be associated with Backspace,
+ Control-h, etc.), flexible text attribute (e.g. font, color) support on
+ regional and screen-local basis through X resources and/or lisp, and
+ support for the X11 selection mechanism. Some other features include
+ run-time computation of the load-path, support for floating point
+ numbers, native timer support, and sound file support on Sun
+ SPARCstations. To build Lucid GNU Emacs, an ANSI C compiler (e.g. gcc)
+ is required.
+
+95: Where can I get the "unofficial HP GNU Emacs"?
+
+ The unofficial HP GNU Emacs is available via anonymous FTP:
+
+ /ee.utah.edu:HUGE/ (PLEASE FTP DURING NON-WORK HOURS!!!)
+
+ and takes about 35 megabytes of disk space to build. It is useful for
+ non-HP machines, but some of the added features will only work under
+ HP-UX.
+
+ You will need to get patches to work with HP-UX 8.0 or on 700 series
+ machines via e-mail from Darryl Okahata <darrylo@sr.hp.com>.
+
+96: Where can I get Emacs for my PC running MS-DOS?
+
+ * Demacs
+
+ For 386 or 486 PCs running MS-DOS, there is a version of GNU Emacs
+ called Demacs. To get Demacs see question 122.
+
+ From the announcement message:
+
+ Demacs is almost a full set of GNU Emacs but does not support some
+ features: asynchronous process, locking a file, etc.
+
+ Demacs provides following DOS specific features:
+
+ * File type: text or binary file translation.
+ * "8-bit clean" display mode.
+ * 8086 software interrupt call by int86 lisp function.
+ * Machine specific features such as function key support.
+ * File name completion with drive name.
+ * Child process (suspend-emacs, call-process).
+ * Enhanced dired mode which can work without 'ls.exe'.
+
+ To our regret `shell-mode' does not work, but `compile' command works
+ properly.
+
+ Demacs was developed using an MS-DOS version of gcc called djgpp by
+ D. J. Delorie <dj@ctron.com> which can compile and run large programs
+ under MS-DOS, but not under MS Windows. Demacs was derived from Nemacs
+ rather than straight from GNU Emacs.
+
+ There are a variety of other Emacses for MS-DOS including among them the
+ following.
+
+ * Freemacs
+
+ Russ Nelson <nelson@sun.soe.clarkson.edu>, the author, describes
+ Freemacs:
+
+ * Freemacs is free, and it was designed from the start to be
+ programmable.
+ * Freemacs is the only IBM-PC editor that tries to be like GNU Emacs.
+ * Freemacs can only edit files less than 64K in length.
+ * Freemacs doesn't have undo.
+
+ Carl Witty <cwitty@cs.stanford.edu> reviews Freemacs:
+
+ Better is Freemacs, which follows the tradition of ITS and GNU Emacs
+ by having an full, turing-complete extension language which is
+ incompatible with everything else. In fact, it's even closer to ITS
+ Emacs than GNU Emacs is, because Mint (Freemacs' extension language)
+ is absolutely illegible without weeks of study, much like TECO.
+
+ To get Freemacs see question 123.
+
+ * MicroEmacs
+
+ MicroEmacs is a descendant of Microemacs {originally by Dave Conroy?}.
+ It is programmable in a BASIC-like language. Many of the keybindings
+ are different from GNU Emacs. The author is Daniel Lawrence -
+ <dan@mdbs.uucp, mdbs!dan@ee.ecn.purdue.edu>. The latest version is 3.12 !
+ and it is available via anonymous FTP:
+
+ /midas.mgmt.purdue.edu:dist/uemacs312/ (outside business hours) !
+ !
+ Version 3.12 includes Windows and Windows NT versions and a DOS !
+ protected mode (DMPI) version. !
+
+ * JOVE
+
+ Another Emacs for small machines is JOVE (Jonathan's Own Version of
+ Emacs). The latest official version is 4.14. There appears to be a
+ newer version. People rumored to be working on JOVE include Mark Moraes
+ <moraes@cs.toronto.edu> and Bill Marsh <bmarsh@cod.nosc.mil>. It is
+ available via anonymous FTP:
+
+ /cs.toronto.edu:/pub/moraes/jove4.14.7.tar.Z
+
+ * MG
- In order to postpone the execution of Emacs Lisp code until after the
- terminal/window-system setup, set the value of the variable
- term-setup-hook or window-setup-hook to be a function which does what
- you want.
+ MG is another descendant of Microemacs. MG used to stand for
+ MicroGNUEmacs, but now just stands for MG. The look-and-feel of MG is
+ intended to be close to that of GNU Emacs. It is rumored that MG can
+ not correctly edit files larger than memory. The current version is
+ rumored to be 2. There is a version 3 in beta which works on the Amiga.
+ It is also available via anonymous FTP:
- See etc/OPTIONS for a complete explanation of what Emacs does every time
- it is started.
+ /ftp.white.toronto.edu:pub/mg/
+ /wuarchive.wustl.edu:/mirrors/unix-c/editors/
+ /procyon.cis.ksu.edu: (source and executable)
- Here is a simple example of how to set term-setup-hook:
+97: Where can I get Emacs for my PC running Windows?
- (setq term-setup-hook
- (function
- (lambda ()
- (cond ((string-match "\\`vt220" (or (getenv "TERM") ""))
- ;; Make vt220's "Do" key behave like M-x:
- (define-key CSI-map "29~" 'execute-extended-command))
- ))))
+ I believe that no version of GNU Emacs runs under Windows. Pierre Perret
+ <pap@myths.az05.bull.com> has ported MicroEMACS 3.11c to Windows.
-51: Other than that, why does my key binding fail?
+ Anonymous FTP:
+ /ftp.cica.indiana.edu:pub/pc/win3/util/mewin10.zip
+ /ftp.cica.indiana.edu:pub/pc/win3/util/mewin10s.zip
+ /ftp.cica.indiana.edu:pub/pc/win3/util/mewri.zip
- One possible reason that I've seen many times is improperly specifying
- the character ESC in the key binding string. In an Emacs Lisp string,
- ESC is specified as "\e". (ESC can also be specified as itself, the
- ASCII character with value 27, but this can cause serious problems when
- you try to print/view/mail the file.) Thus, for example, to bind the
- key sequence "ESC O D" to the command 'my-backward-char, the simplest
- incantation is this:
+98: Where can I get Emacs for my PC running OS/2?
- (global-set-key "\eOD" 'my-backward-char)
+ From the OS/2 Programmer's FAQ:
- These are also correct (and represent what the above command actually
- does):
+ GNU Emacs 18.58 is available. It requires you to have EMX installed
+ on your machine, but it comes with all the EMX files you will need.
+ Emacs is available on ftp-os2 in /pub/os2/2.0/gnu/emacs. (If you want
+ to recompile emacs, you will need the full EMX distribution see
+ question 1.2.)
- (define-key global-map "\eOD" 'my-backward-char)
- (define-key esc-map "OD" 'my-backward-char)
+ The above quote may be out of date. See the latest OS/2 Programmer's FAQ
+ {perhaps in comp.os.os2.misc?} for the latest news. Anonymous FTP info:
- The string forms for the keys RET, LFD, DEL, ESC, SPC, and TAB are
- respectively "\r", "\n", "\C-?", "\e", " ", and "\t".
+ /ftp-os2.nmsu.edu:pub/os2/2.0/gnu/emacs/
+ ("ftp-os2" was formerly named "hobbes")
-52: How do I use function keys under X Windows?
+ Thanks go to Stephen Simpson <simpson@symcom.math.uiuc.edu>, Jonathan
+ Miller <jem+@andrew.cmu.edu>, Terry Kane <terryk@cc.gatech.edu>, J. D.
+ Baldwin <baldwin@csservera.usna.navy.mil>, and Ken Bass
+ <kbass@gmuvax2.gmu.edu>.
- This depends on whether you are running Emacs inside a terminal emulator
- window, or whether you are allowing Emacs to create its own X window.
- You can tell which you are doing by noticing whether Emacs creates a new
- window when you start it.
+99: Where can I get Emacs for my Atari ST?
- If you are running Emacs inside a terminal emulator window, then it
- behaves exactly as it does on any other tty. In this case, for function
- keys to be useful, they must generate character sequences that are sent
- to the programs running inside the window as input. The "xterm" program
- has two different sets of character sequences that it generates when
- function keys are pressed, depending on the sunFunctionKeys X resource
- and the -sf and +sf command line options. (To find out what these key
- sequences are, see question 53.) In addition, with xterm,
- you can override what key sequence a specific function key (or any other
- key) will generate with the "translations" resource. This, for example:
+ Emacs 18.57 is the latest version for TOS. Stefan Mueller-Pfeiffer
+ <iff327@zam001.zam.kfa-juelich.de> says:
- XTerm.VT100.Translations: #override \
- <KeyPress>F1: string(0x1b) string("[xyzzy")
+ There is also a version for MiNT, the multitasking enhancement for
+ ATARI's TOS, which behaves almost like EMACS on a "real computer". This
+ port was done by Erling Henanger <erlingh@idt.unit.no>.
- makes the function key F1 generate the character sequence "ESC [xyzzy".
+ Anonymous FTP:
+ /atari.archive.umich.edu:atari/gnustuff/tos/ (TOS Emacs 18.57)
+ /atari.archive.umich.edu:atari/new/mntemacs.zoo (MiNT Emacs)
+ /cs.uni-sb.de:/pub/atari/emacs/
- On the other hand, if Emacs is managing its own X window, the following
- description applies. Emacs receives `KeyPress' events from the X server
- when a key is pressed while the keyboard focus is in its window. The
- KeyPress event contains an X `keysym' code, which is simply an arbitrary
- number corresponding to the name of the keysym, and information on which
- "modifiers" such as `control' and `shift' are active. For example, the
- `Tab' keysym is 0xff09. (Generally, a key on the keyboard will generate a
- keysym whose name is the same as the label on the key, ie. the `Tab' key
- will normally generate the `Tab' keysym. This can be changed with the
- xmodmap program.) Emacs recognizes all the keysyms that correspond to
- standard ASCII characters and internally uses the ASCII character instead.
+100: Where can I get Emacs for my Amiga?
- (WARNING: I am about to describe a gross, disgusting hack to you, have
- your barf bag ready.)
+ All of the files are lharc-ed.
- When Emacs receives the X keysym of one of the arrow keys, it behaves
- the same as if it had received a letter key with the control modifier
- down as follows (this is hard-coded):
+ Anonymous FTP:
+ /oes.orst.edu:/pub/almanac/comp/amiga/software/gnuemacs-1.10/
- Up becomes C-p
- Down becomes C-n
- Right becomes C-f
- Left becomes C-b
+ Via e-mail:
+ To: almanac@oes.orst.edu
+ body:
+ mode uuencode
+ send computer amiga software gnuemacs <file>
+ <file> is replaced by one of the following:
+ Required: d1.lzh d2.lzh
+ Recommended: d3_info.lzh d3_infolisp.lzh
+ Optional: d3_autoloaded.lzh d3_entertainmentetc.lzh
+ d3_entertainmentlisp.lzh d4_src.lzh d5_languagelisp.lzh
+ d5_viclone.lzh d6_gnulibsrc.lzh d6_mailpackage.lzh
+ d6_mathpackage.lzh d6_misc.lzh d6_textformat.lzh
+ The `d#' at the beginning of each file is its disk number, which is
+ referred to by the documentation.
- The way Emacs treats other keysyms depends on what kind of machine it was
- compiled on. The type of the display machine is irrelevant! Function +
- keys are mapped internally to escape sequences, while other keys are
- completely ignored.
+101: Where can I get Emacs for my Apple computer?
- 1. If compiled on a Sun, Emacs recognizes these X keysyms that
- are normally on a Sun keyboard:
+ The FSF is a participant in a boycott of Apple because of Apple's "look
+ and feel" copyright suits. See the file etc/APPLE for more details.
+ Because of this boycott, the FSF doesn't include support in GNU software
+ for Apple computers such as the Macintosh.
- F1 through F9
- L1 through L10 (same as F11 through F20)
- R1 through R15 (same as F21 through F35)
- (The keys labelled R8, R10, R12, and R14 usually are mapped to the !
- X keysyms Up, Left, Right, and Down.)
- Break (the "Alternate" key is given this keysym)
+ Please don't help people port or develop software for Apple computers.
- These keys work like Sun function keys. When Emacs recieves the
- keysym, it will internally use character sequences that look like "ESC
- [ ### z", where ### is replaced by a number. The character sequences
- are identical to those generated by Sun's keyboard under SunView. Any
- function key not listed above generates "ESC [ - 1 z".
+102: Where can I get Emacs with NeWS support?
- In order to use these key sequences, they should be bound to commands
- using the standard key binding methods, just as if Emacs were running
- on a regular terminal.
+ Chris Maio's NeWS support package for GNU Emacs is available via anonymous
+ FTP:
- WARNING: F11 and L1 are the same keysym in X, as are F12 and L2, etc.
- {Yes, this is stupid. Complain to the X consortium.}
+ /columbia.edu:pub/ps-emacs.tar.Z
+ /archive.cis.ohio-state.edu:pub/gnu/emacs/ps-emacs.tar.Z
- 2. If not compiled on a Sun, the function keys will appear to Emacs in a
- way remarkably similar to the keys of a DEC LK201 keyboard (used on
- some VT series terminals). These X keysyms will be recognized:
+ and via e-mail:
- F1 through F20
- Help (treated same as F15)
- Menu (treated same as F16, is the LK201 "Do" key)
- Find
- Insert (LK201 "Insert Here" key)
- Select
+ To: archive-server@columbia.edu
+ body: send NeWS emacs-support
- These keysyms are supposed to be recognized, but they are not due to a
- bug (which is fixed in Emacs 18.58): +
+103: Where do I get Emacs that runs on VMS under DECwindows?
- Prior (LK201 "Prev Screen" key)
- Next (LK201 "Next Screen" key)
+ Hal R. Brand <BRAND@addvax.llnl.gov> is said to have a VMS save set with a
+ ready-to-run VMS version of Emacs 18.55 for X Windows. It is available
+ via anonymous FTP (addvax.llnl.gov). It is possible that the VMS versions
+ of Emacs at other sites have X support compiled in. See etc/FTP for
+ locations.
- And finally, the LK201 key labelled `Remove' (or `Delete') is often !
- mapped to the Delete keysym which generates the DEL character (C-?) !
- instead of the key sequence given by the LK201 `Remove' key. It may +
- also be mapped to some other keysym, such as `_Remove', in which case +
- you can't use it from within Emacs at all. +
+ Johan Vromans <jv@mh.nl> writes:
- Each function key will be internally converted to a character sequence
- that looks like "ESC [ ## ~", where ## is replaced by a number. The
- character sequences are identical to those generated by a LK201
- keyboard. Any function key not listed above generates "ESC [ - 1 ~".
+ Getting Emacs to run on VMS with DECwindows requires a number of changes
+ to the sources. Fortunately this has been done already. Joshua Marantz
+ <josh@viewlogic.com> did most of the work for Emacs 18.52, and the mods
+ were ported to 18.55 by Johan Vromans <jv@mh.nl>. Also included is the
+ handling of DEC's LK201 keyboard. You need to apply the changes to a
+ fresh Emacs 18.55 distribution on a Unix system, and then you can copy
+ the sources to VMS to perform the compile/link/build.
- For the complete list of the numbers which are generated by the function
- keys, look in the file src/x11term.c at the definitions of the function
- "stringFuncVal".
+ The set of changes have been posted a number of times three times the
+ last 12 months, so they should be widely available.
- If you are running Emacs on a Sun machine, even if your X display is
- running on a non-Sun machine (eg., an X terminal), you get the setup
- described above for Suns. The determining factor is what type of
- machine Emacs is running (was compiled) on, not what type of machine
- your X display is on.
+ Richard Levitte <levitte@e.kth.se> tells us that there are patches for
+ Emacs 18.57, 18.58, and 18.59 available via e-mail: !
- If you have function keys not listed above on your keyboard, you can use +
- `xmodmap' to change their keysym assignments to get keys that Emacs will !
- recognize, but that may screw up other programs. !
+ To: EMACS-FILESERV@e.kth.se !
+ body: SEND EMACS-1857-PATCHES
+ or: SEND EMACS-1858-PATCHES
+ or: SEND EMACS-1859-PATCHES +
+ +
+ or via anonymous ftp at: +
+ +
+ /lucy.merrimack.edu:emacs-1859-patches.share +
+ +
+ The set of patches weighs in at around 2.7 MB. +
+
+104: Where can I get modes for Lex, Yacc/Bison, Bourne Shell, Csh, C++,
+ Objective C, Pascal, Awk?
- X resources are not used by Emacs to affect the key sequences generated.
- In particular, there are no X key "translations" for Emacs. +
+ As usual, look in the Lisp Code Directory (see question 88). For C++,
+ if you use lisp-dir-apropos, you must specify the pattern like this:
- If you have function keys not listed above and you don't want to use
- xmodmap to change their names, you might want to make a modification to
- your Emacs. Johan Vromans <jv@mh.nl> explains:
+ M-x lisp-dir-apropos RET c\+\+ RET
- There are a number of tricks that can be helpful. The most elegant
- solution, however, is to use the function "x-rebind-key". This function
- is commented out in the source for good reasons --- it's buggy.
+105: What is the IP address of XXX.YYY.ZZZ?
- It is rather easy to replace this function with the function
- epoch:rebind-key from the Epoch distribution.
+ If you are at a site with a deficient nameserver, you may need to know
+ the IP address of a host to FTP files from it. You can get this
+ information in two ways:
- After implementing this, all keyboard keys can be configured to send
- user definable sequences, e.g.
+ * By telnet:
- (x-rebind-key "KP_F1" 0 "\033OP")
+ telnet nic.ddn.mil hostnames (or `telnet 192.112.36.5 101')
+ hname XXX.YYY.ZZZ
- This will have the keypad key PF1 send the sequence "ESC O P", just like
- an ordinary VT series terminal.
+ * By e-mail:
- This is what I do in my Emacs. Note that you need to add an entry to
- syms_of_xfns at the bottom of src/x11fns.c. I can send a patch that has +
- the necessary changes, so you don't have to get the Epoch sources. +
+ To: service@nic.ddn.mil
+ Subject: host XXX.YYY.ZZZ
+ or: whois XXX.YYY.ZZZ
+ or: help
-53: How do I tell what characters my function or arrow keys emit? +
+ or:
- Use this function by Randal L. Schwartz <merlyn@iwarp.intel.com>:
+ To: resolve@cs.widener.edu
+ body: site XXX.YYY.ZZZ
- (defun see-chars ()
- "Displays characters typed, terminated by a 3-second timeout."
- (interactive)
- (let ((chars "")
- (inhibit-quit t))
- (message "Enter characters, terminated by 3-second timeout.")
- (while (not (sit-for 3))
- (setq chars (concat chars (list (read-char)))
- quit-flag nil)) ; quit-flag maybe set by C-g
- (message "Characters entered: %s" (key-description chars))))
+ Information from Brendan Kehoe <brendan@cs.widener.edu>.
- Alternatively, use the "C-h l" view-lossage command, which will display
- the last 100 characters Emacs has seen in its input stream. Kevin +
- Gallagher <kgallagh@digi.lonestar.org> suggests typing some unique string +
- like "wxyz", typing the key in question, then typing "C-h l". The +
- characters that appear between "wxyz" and "C-h l" were generated by the +
- key. +
+
+
+
+Major Emacs Lisp Packages, Emacs Extensions, and Related Programs
+
+ This section lists version numbers, FTP sites, mailing lists, newsgroups,
+ and other information for many important packages, extensions, and related
+ programs. There is some overlap with the Lisp Code Directory, but these
+ entries give more detailed information.
-54: Why does Emacs spontaneously start displaying "I-search:" and beeping?
+ If you know of any other packages that are so substantial that they
+ deserve to be mentioned here, please tell me. Having its own mailing list
+ or newsgroup or more than half a megabyte of source code are good signs.
- Your terminal (or something between your terminal and the computer) is
- sending C-s and C-q for flow control, and Emacs is receiving these
- characters and interpreting them as commands. (The C-s character normally
- invokes the isearch-forward command.) The best solution is to disable the
- use of C-s and C-q for flow control. If you can't do that, you can make
- Emacs treat C-s and C-q as flow control characters by evaluating this
- form:
-
- (set-input-mode nil t)
-
- If you are fixing this for yourself, simply put the form in your .emacs
- file. If you are fixing this for your entire site, the best place to put
- it is unclear. I don't know if this has any effect when used in
- lisp/site-init.el when building Emacs; I've never tried that. {Can
- someone tell me whether it works?} Putting things in users' .emacs files
- has a number of problems. Putting this form in lisp/default.el has the
- problem that if the user's .emacs file has an error, this will prevent
- lisp/default.el from being loaded and Emacs may be unusable for the user,
- even for correcting their .emacs file (unless they're smart enough to move
- it to another name).
-
- If some of your users are connecting through XON/XOFF flow-controlled
- connections, but some are not, then here is a possible solution. Disable
- C-s and C-q by setting keyboard-translate-table in lisp/site-init.el,
- either with swap-keys (see question 60) or with the following form:
-
- ;; by Roger Crew <crew@cs.stanford.edu>:
- (setq keyboard-translate-table
- "\C-@\C-a\C-b\C-c\C-d\C-e\C-f\C-g\C-h\C-i\C-j\C-k\C-l\C-m\C-n\C-o\C-p\C-^\C-r\C-\\\C-t\C-u\C-v\C-w\C-x\C-y\C-z\C-[\C-s\C-]\C-q\C-_")
-
- Then in lisp/default.el, if it is determined to be safe, they can be
- reenabled (being careful not to screw up any other key mappings users
- might have established using keyboard-translate-table, use swap-keys for
- this), or else set-input-mode can be called to further disable C-s and
- C-q.
-
- For further discussion of this issue, read the file etc/PROBLEMS in the +
- Emacs distribution.
+106: VM (View Mail) -- another mail reader within Emacs
-55: How do I disable the use of C-s and C-q for flow control?
+ Author: Kyle Jones <kyle@uunet.uu.net>
+ Latest released version: 4.41
+ Beta test version: 5.32
+ Anonymous FTP:
+ /archive.cis.ohio-state.edu:pub/gnu/emacs/elisp-archive/packages/vm-4.41.tar.Z
+ /archive.cis.ohio-state.edu:pub/gnu/emacs/elisp-archive/as-is/timer.shar.Z
+ /ftp.uu.net:mail/vm-4.41.tar.Z
+ /ftp.uu.net:mail/vm-5.32beta.tar.Z
+ Newsgroups and mailing lists:
+ Info-VM:
+ gnu.emacs.vm.info
+ info-vm-request@uunet.uu.net (for subscriptions)
+ info-vm@uunet.uu.net (for submissions)
+ Bug-VM:
+ gnu.emacs.vm.bug
+ bug-vm-request@uunet.uu.net (for subscriptions)
+ bug-vm@uunet.uu.net (for submissions)
+
+107: Supercite -- mail and news citation package within Emacs
+
+ Author: Barry Warsaw <bwarsaw@cen.com>
+ Mailing list: supercite-request@anthem.nlm.nih.gov (for subscriptions)
+ supercite@anthem.nlm.nih.gov (for submissions)
+ Latest version: 2.3 !
+ Anonymous FTP:
+ /archive.cis.ohio-state.edu:pub/gnu/emacs/elisp-archive/packages/sc-2.3.tar.Z !
+ /ftp.cme.nist.gov:pub/gnu/sc2.3.tar.Z !
+ Via e-mail:
+ To: library@cme.nist.gov
+ Subject: help
+ NOTE: Superyank is an old version of Supercite.
- Your terminal may be using C-s and C-q for XON/XOFF flow control. For +
- example, VT series terminals do this. On some terminals, it may be +
- possible to turn this off from a setup menu. This is also true for some +
- terminal emulation programs on PCs. +
- +
- If you are using a dialup connection, the modems may be using XON/XOFF +
- flow control. I don't know how to get around this. Also, some network +
- box between the terminal and your computer may be using XON/XOFF flow !
- control. You will probably have to ask your local network experts for
- help with this.
+108: GNUS -- news reader within Emacs
-56: What do I do if my terminal is sending C-s and C-q for flow control and
- I can't disable it?
+ Author: Masanobu Umeda <umerin@mse.kyutech.ac.jp>
+ Latest official version: 3.13
+ Unofficial test version: 3.14.1
+ Anonymous FTP:
+ /aun.uninett.no:pub/gnus-3.14.1.tar.Z -
+ /wnoc-fuk.wide.ad.jp:pub/GNU/etc/gnus-3.14.1.tar.Z
+ /liasun3.epfl.ch:pub/gnu/emacs/gnus-3.14.1.tar.Z
+ /aix370.rrz.uni-koeln.de:/pub/gnu/emacs/gnus-3.14.1.tar.Z
+ /funet.fi:/networking/news/gnus-3.14.1.tar.Z
+ /src.doc.ic.ac.uk:/gnu/EmacsBits/gnus/gnus-3.14.1.tar.Z
+ /archive.cis.ohio-state.edu:pub/gnu/emacs/elisp-archive/packages/gnus-3.13.tar.Z
+ Newsgroups and mailing lists:
+ English-only:
+ gnu.emacs.gnus
+ info-gnus-english-request@cis.ohio-state.edu (for subscriptions)
+ info-gnus-english@cis.ohio-state.edu (for submissions)
+ Japanese (and some English):
+ info-gnus-request@flab.fujitsu.co.jp (for subscriptions)
+ info-gnus@flab.fujitsu.co.jp (for submissions)
+
+109: Calc -- poor man's Mathematica within Emacs
+
+ Author: Dave Gillespie <daveg@csvax.cs.caltech.edu>
+ Latest released version: 2.02
+ Anonymous FTP:
+ /csvax.cs.caltech.edu:pub/calc-2.02.tar.Z
+ /prep.ai.mit.edu:pub/gnu/calc-2.02.tar.Z
+ NOTE: Unlike Wolfram Research, Dave has never threatened to sue anyone
+ for having a program with a similar command language to Calc. :-)
- See question 54.
+110: Calendar/Diary -- calendar manager within Emacs
-57: How do I make Emacs honor C-s and C-q for flow control instead of for
- commands?
+ Author: Edward M. Reingold <reingold@cs.uiuc.edu>
+ Latest version: 4.02
+ Anonymous FTP:
+ /emr.cs.uiuc.edu:pub/emacs/calendar {???}
+ Via e-mail:
+ To: reingold@cs.uiuc.edu
+ Subject: send-emacs-cal
+ Put your best internet e-mail address in the body.
- See question 54.
+111: Ange-FTP -- transparent FTP access for Emacs's file access routines
-58: Why does Emacs never see C-s and C-q through my network connection?
+ Author: Andy Norman <ange@hplb.hpl.hp.com>
+ Latest official version: 4.20
+ Anonymous FTP:
+ /alpha.gnu.ai.mit.edu:ange-ftp/ange-ftp.tar.Z
+ /archive.cis.ohio-state.edu:pub/gnu/emacs/elisp-archive/packages/ange-ftp.tar.Z
+ /ugle.unit.no:pub/gnu/emacs-lisp/ange-ftp.tar.Z
+ Mailing lists:
+ ange-ftp-lovers-request@anorman.hpl.hp.com (for subscriptions)
+ Ange-FTP Lovers:
+ ange-ftp-lovers@anorman.hpl.hp.com (for submissions)
+ /ftp.reed.edu:pub/mailing-lists/ange-ftp/ (archives)
+ Ange-FTP Announcements:
+ ange-ftp-lovers-announce@anorman.hpl.hp.com
+ NOTE: now with support for accessing VMS, CMS, and MTS systems
+
+112: VIP -- vi emulation for Emacs
+
+ Author: Aamod Sane <sane@cs.uiuc.edu>
+ Latest released version: 4.3
+ Anonymous FTP:
+ /cs.uiuc.edu:pub/vip4.3.tar.Z
+ /archive.cis.ohio-state.edu:pub/gnu/emacs/elisp-archive/modes/vip-mode.tar.Z
+ NOTE: This version much more closely emulates vi than the one
+ distributed with Emacs.
- Eirik Fuller <eirik@theory.tn.cornell.edu> writes:
+113: Dired -- better directory editor for Emacs
- Some versions of rlogin (and possibly telnet) do not pass flow control
- characters to the remote system to which they connect. On such systems,
- Emacs on the remote system cannot disable flow control on the local
- system. Sometimes "rlogin -8" will avoid this problem.
+ Author: Sebastian Kremer <sk@thp.uni-koeln.de>
+ Latest released version: 5.239
+ Anonymous FTP: /ftp.cs.buffalo.edu:pub/Emacs/diredall.tar.Z
+ /ftp.uni-koeln.de:pub/gnu/emacs/diredall.tar.Z
+ NOTE: This is a huge improvement over the Dired distributed with Emacs.
+ This version will be in Emacs 19.
- One way to cure this is to disable flow control on the local host (the
- one running rlogin, not the one running rlogind) using the stty command,
- before starting the rlogin process. On many systems, "stty start u stop
- u" will do this.
+114: AUC TeX -- enhanced LaTeX mode with debugging facilities
- Some versions of tcsh will prevent even this from working. One way
- around this is to start another shell before starting rlogin, and issue
- the stty command to disable flow control from that shell.
+ Author: Kresten Krab Thorup <krab@iesd.auc.dk>
+ Latest released version: 6.1 {???}
+ Anonymous FTP:
+ /iesd.auc.dk:pub/emacs-lisp/auctex_6_1d.tar.Z
+ /iesd.auc.dk:pub/emacs-lisp/auctex.tar.Z
+ Mailing list:
+ auc-tex-request@iesd.auc.dk (for subscriptions)
+ auc-tex@iesd.auc.dk (for submissions)
+ auc-tex_mgr@iesd.auc.dk (auc-tex development team)
-59: How do I use commands bound to C-s and C-q (or any key) if these keys
- are filtered out?
+115: Hyperbole -- extensible hypertext management system within Emacs
- I suggest swapping C-s with C-\ and C-q with C-^:
+ Author: Bob Weiner <rsw@cs.brown.edu>
+ Anonymous FTP:
+ /wilma.cs.brown.edu:pub/hyperbole/ h*.tar.Z
+ Mailing lists:
+ hyperbole-announce -- Hyperbole release announcements only.
+ Subscriptions:
+ To: hyperbole-request@cs.brown.edu
+ Subject: Add <mailbox@domain.name> to hyperbole-announce
+ hyperbole -- Hyperbole discussion.
+ Subscriptions:
+ To: hyperbole-request@cs.brown.edu
+ Subject: Add <mailbox@domain.name> to hyperbole
+ Submissions:
+ hyperbole@cs.brown.edu
+ NOTE: Any member of the hyperbole mailing list is automatically a
+ member of the hyperbole-announce mailing list.
+ NOTE: No .UUCP or ! addresses are allowed on these mailing lists.
+
+116: Byte Compiler -- enhanced version of Emacs's byte compiler
+
+ Author: Jamie Zawinski <jwz@lucid.com>,
+ Hallvard B. Furuseth <hallvard@ifi.uio.no>
+ Anonymous FTP:
+ /archive.cis.ohio-state.edu:pub/gnu/emacs/elisp-archive/packages/bytecomp.tar.Z
+ /ftp.uu.net:languages/elisp/packages/bytecomp.tar.Z
+ /src.doc.ic.ac.uk:gnu/EmacsBits/elisp-archive/packages/bytecomp.tar.Z
- (swap-keys ?\C-s ?\C-\\)
- (swap-keys ?\C-q ?\C-^)
+117: comint -- hugely enhanced shell mode and other derived modes
- See question 60 for the implementation of swap-keys. This method +
- has the advantage that it simultaneously swaps the characters everywhere +
- throughout Emacs, while just switching the keybindings will miss important +
- places where the character codes are stored (eg., the search-repeat-char +
- variable, major mode keymaps, etc.). +
- +
- WARNING: If you do this for an entire site, the users will be confused by +
- the disparity between what the documentation says and how Emacs actually +
- behaves. +
+ Author: Olin Shivers <Olin.Shivers@cs.cmu.edu>
+ Anonymous FTP:
+ /cs.cmu.edu:/afs/cs.cmu.edu/user/shivers/lib/emacs/
+ {comint,cmu{tex,shell,scheme,lisp},ml}.el
+ (anonymous password must contain `@',
+ cannot cd to intermediate directories)
-60: How do I "swap" two keys?
+118: BBDB -- personal info rolodex integrated with mail/news readers
- When Emacs receives a character, you can make Emacs behave as though it
- received another character by setting the value of
- keyboard-translate-table. The following Emacs Lisp will do this for you,
- allowing you to "swap" keys. After arranging for this Lisp to be
- evaluated by Emacs, you can evaluate `(swap-keys ?A ?B)' to swap A and B.
- The function `show-mapped-keys' will allow you to see what low-level key +
- mappings are in effect. +
+ Author: Jamie Zawinski <jwz@lucid.com>
+ Latest released version: 1.47
+ Anonymous FTP:
+ /archive.cis.ohio-state.edu:pub/gnu/emacs/elisp-archive/packages/bbdb.tar.Z
+ Mailing list:
+ info-bbdb-request@lucid.com (for subscriptions)
+ info-bbdb@lucid.com
+ bbdb-announce-request@lucid.com (to be informed of new releases)
+ Note: BBDB does not work with VM 4. It does work with VM 5, RMAIL, GNUS,
+ and MH-E.
+
+119: Ispell -- spell checker in C with interface for Emacs
+
+ Author: Geoff Kuenning <geoff@itcorp.com>
+ Latest released version: 2.0.02
+ Beta test version: 3.0 (9 patches)
+ Anonymous FTP:
+ /archive.cis.ohio-state.edu:/pub/gnu/ispell/ (version 2.0.02)
+ /ftp.cs.ucla.edu:/pub/ispell/ (version 3.0, patches, dictionaries)
+ /argus.math.orst.edu:pub/ispell/ (version 3.0, patches, dictionaries)
+ /ftp.th-darmstadt.de:pub/dicts/ispell/ (mirror of argus)
+ NOTE: Do not send mail to Geoff asking him to send you the latest
+ version of Ispell. He does not have free e-mail.
- WARNING: the value of C-g (7) is still hard coded in one place in the
- minibuffer code. Thus, swapping C-g with another key may cause a minor
- problem. (Fixed in Emacs 18.58.)
+120: Epoch -- enhanced GNU Emacs with better X interface
- (defun swap-keys (key1 key2)
- "Swap keys KEY1 and KEY2 using map-key."
- (map-key key1 key2)
- (map-key key2 key1))
+ Latest released version: 4.2
+ Anonymous FTP:
+ /cs.uiuc.edu:pub/epoch-files/epoch/epoch-4.2.tar.Z
+ /cs.uiuc.edu:pub/epoch-files/epoch/epoch-diff-4.1-4.2.tar.Z
+ /src.doc.ic.ac.uk:gnu/epoch/
+ /aix370.rrz.uni-koeln.de:gnu/emacs/epoch/
+ Newsgroup and mailing lists:
+ Epoch:
+ gnu.emacs.epoch
+ epoch-request@cs.uiuc.edu (for subscriptions)
+ epoch@cs.uiuc.edu (for submissions)
+ Epoch-Design:
+ epoch-design-request@cs.uiuc.edu (for subscriptions)
+ epoch-design@cs.uiuc.edu (for submissions)
+ FAQ list:
+ Maintainer: Marc Andreessen <marca@ncsa.uiuc.edu>
+ Anonymous FTP:
+ /rtfm.mit.edu:pub/usenet/news.answers/epoch-faq
+ /ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu:outgoing/marca/epoch/Epoch.FAQ
- (defun map-key (from to)
- "Make key FROM behave as though key TO was typed instead."
- (setq keyboard-translate-table
- (concat keyboard-translate-table
- (let* ((i (length keyboard-translate-table))
- (j from)
- (k i)
- (str (make-string (max 0 (- j (1- i))) ?X)))
- (while (<= k j)
- (aset str (- k i) k)
- (setq k (1+ k)))
- str)))
- (aset keyboard-translate-table from to)
- (let ((i (1- (length keyboard-translate-table))))
- (while (and (>= i 0) (eq (aref keyboard-translate-table i) i))
- (setq i (1- i)))
- (setq keyboard-translate-table
- (if (eq i -1)
- nil
- (substring keyboard-translate-table 0 (1+ i))))))
+121: Lucid GNU Emacs -- alternative Emacs 19 with better X interface
- (defun show-mapped-keys () +
- "Analyze keyboard-translate-table and display mapped keys." +
- (interactive) +
- (let (mapping-alist +
- (l (length keyboard-translate-table)) +
- (i 0) +
- e pair) +
- (while (< i l) +
- (setq e (aref keyboard-translate-table i)) +
- (or (eq i e) +
- (setq mapping-alist (cons (cons i e) mapping-alist))) +
- (setq i (1+ i))) +
- (cond (mapping-alist +
- (princ "Mapped Keys: ") +
- (setq mapping-alist (nreverse mapping-alist))) +
- (t +
- (princ "No keys mapped"))) +
- (while mapping-alist +
- (setq pair (car mapping-alist) +
- i (car pair) +
- e (cdr pair)) +
- (princ (single-key-description i)) +
- (cond ((eq i (cdr (setq pair (assq e mapping-alist)))) +
- (setq mapping-alist (delq pair mapping-alist)) +
- (princ " <=> ")) +
- (t +
- (princ " => "))) +
- (princ (single-key-description e)) +
- (setq mapping-alist (cdr mapping-alist)) +
- (if mapping-alist (princ ", "))))) +
-
- NOTE: You must evaluate the definition of swap-keys before calling it!
- The easiest way is to list it first in the file (eg., your .emacs file).
-
-61: Why does the "BackSpace" key invoke help?
-
- The BackSpace key (on every keyboard I've used) generates ASCII code 8. !
- C-h sends the same code. In Emacs by default C-h invokes `help-command'.
- This is intended to be easy to remember since the first letter of `help'
- is `h'. The easiest solution to this problem is to use C-h (and
- BackSpace) for help and DEL (the Delete key) for deleting the previous
- character.
+ Primary Maintainer: Jamie Zawinski <jwz@lucid.com>
+ Other Developers: Eric Benson <eb@lucid.com>
+ Matthieu Devin <devin@lucid.com>
+ Harlan Sexton <hbs@lucid.com>
+ Latest released version: 19.6 !
+ Anonymous FTP:
+ /labrea.stanford.edu:pub/gnu/lucid/lemacs-19.6.tar.Z (source) !
+ /labrea.stanford.edu:pub/gnu/lucid/lemacs-19.6-sun4.tar.Z (Sun4binaries) !
+ Newsgroup and mailing lists:
+ Bugs:
+ alt.lucid-emacs.bug +
+ bug-lucid-emacs-request@lucid.com (for subscriptions)
+ bug-lucid-emacs@lucid.com (for submissions)
+ Help:
+ alt.lucid-emacs.help +
+ help-lucid-emacs-request@lucid.com (for subscriptions)
+ help-lucid-emacs@lucid.com (for submissions)
+
+122: Demacs -- GNU Emacs altered to run on MS-DOS on 386/486 machines
+
+ Authors: Manabu Higashida <manabu@sigmath.osaka-u.ac.jp>
+ HIRANO Satoshi <hirano@tkl.iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp>
+ Latest released version: 1.2.0
+ Anonymous FTP:
+ /utsun.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp:GNU/demacs/ (nearest to U.S.A.)
+ /ftp.sigmath.osaka-u.ac.jp:pub/Msdos/Demacs/
+ /wnoc-fuk.wide.ad.jp:pub/msdos/Demacs/
+ /ftp.3com.com:pub/gnu/msdos/demacs/
+ /mindseye.berkeley.edu:pub/kanji/demacs/
+ /ftp.hawaii.edu:pub/editors/demacs.tar.Z
+ /ftp.math.ksu.edu:pub/pc/demacs/
+ /wsmr-simtel20.army.mil:pd1:<msdos.demacs> {ange-ftp syntax?}
+ /ftp.uni-koeln.de:msdos/gnuprogs/dem120e.zip (executables, lisp-code, doc)
+ (PLEASE USE ONLY OUTSIDE WORKING HOURS!)
+ /ftp.uni-koeln.de:msdos/gnuprogs/dem120s.zip (sources, diffs)
+ (PLEASE USE ONLY OUTSIDE WORKING HOURS!)
+ /ftp.lysator.liu.se:pub/msdos/gnu/emacs/
+ /mizar.docs.uu.se:pub/gnu/demacs/
+ /iamsun.unibe.ch:PC/demacs/
+ /flop.informatik.tu-muenchen.de:outgoing/demacs.tar
+ /ftp.funet.fi:pub/gnu/emacs/demacs/
+ /garbo.uwasa.fi:pc/editor/dem120e.zip
+ /garbo.uwasa.fi:pc/editor/dem120s.zip
+ /ftp.win.tue.nl:pub/gnu/demacs/
+ /ugle.unit.no:pub/gnu/Demacs/
+ {Does anyone know which sites have the Kanji version?}
+ Via e-mail:
+ From garbo.uwasa.fi:
+ To: mailserv@garbo.uwasa.fi
+ Subject: garbo-request
+ Body: send pc/editor/dem120e.zip
+ send pc/editor/dem120s.zip
+ quit
+ Downloading:
+ EXEC-PC (Milwaukee, WI) 414-789-4210 (2400 bps)
+ in the Mahoney MS-DOS file area in its Editors/wordprocessors
+ library (F), named GNUEMACS.ZIP
+ Channel 1 (Cambridge, MA) 617-345-8873 (9600 bps)
+ in the New Uploads file area, named GNUEMACS.ZIP
+ NOTE: Use the -d option of [pk]unzip for all .zip archives. Some sites
+ have Demacs lharc'ed. If you need to find programs to unpack lharc and
+ zip format archives, Chris Dean <ctdean@talaris.com> points out that you
+ should see the comp.compression FAQ, available for FTP:
+ /rtfm.mit.edu:pub/usenet/comp.compression/
+ Mailing list:
+ NOTE: There is no mailing list for Demacs. However, there is a list
+ for DJGPP, which is the environment that Demacs runs in. Many
+ Demacs problems are actually issues with DJGPP.
+ DJGPP:
+ Subscriptions:
+ To: listserv@sun.soe.clarkson.edu
+ body: add <your-address> djgpp
+ or put `help' in the body.
+ If this fails, mail to djgpp-request@sun.soe.clarkson.edu.
+ Submissions:
+ djgpp@sun.soe.clarkson.edu
+ FAQ list:
+ Maintainer: Dave Steibel <steibel@cs.umbc.edu>
+ Anonymous FTP: algol.cs.umbc.edu:pub/demacs/demacs.faq
+
+123: Freemacs -- a small Emacs for MS-DOS
+
+ Author: Russ Nelson <nelson@sun.soe.clarkson.edu>
+ Latest released version: 1.6a
+ Anonymous FTP:
+ /simtel20.army.mil:PD:<MSDOS.FREEMACS> {ange-ftp syntax?}
+ /grape.ecs.clarkson.edu:pub/msdos/freemacs/
+ Via e-mail:
+ To: archive-server@sun.soe.clarkson.edu
+ body: help
+ Via snail mail:
+ address: Russell Nelson, 11 Grant St., Potsdam, NY 13676
+ Send $15 copying fee, and specify preferred floppy disk format:
+ 5.25", 360K, or 3.50", 720K
+ Mailing lists:
+ Subscriptions:
+ To: listserv@sun.soe.clarkson.edu
+ body: add <your-address> <name-of-list>
+ or put `help' in the body.
+ List distribution addresses:
+ freemacs-announce@sun.soe.clarkson.edu
+ freemacs-help@sun.soe.clarkson.edu
+ freemacs-workers@sun.soe.clarkson.edu (send bug reports here)
+
+124: Patch -- program to apply "diffs" for updating files
+
+ Author: Larry Wall <lwall@netlabs.com>
+ Latest version: 2.0 patchlevel 12u8
+ (This is the version that supports the new unified diff format.)
+ Anonymous FTP:
+ /prep.ai.mit.edu:pub/gnu/patch-2.0.12u8.tar.Z
+ /prep.ai.mit.edu:pub/gnu/patch-2.0.12g8.tar.Z (GNU version)
- For many people this solution may be problematic:
+
+
+ GNU Emacs FAQ: Keybindings/Output
+
+If you are viewing this text in a GNU Emacs Buffer, you can type "M-2 C-x $" to
+get an overview of just the questions. Then, when you want to look at the text
+of the answers, just type "C-x $".
+
+To search for a question numbered XXX, type "M-C-s ^XXX:", followed by a C-r if
+that doesn't work, then type ESC to end the search.
+
+A `+' in the 78th column means something was inserted on the line. A `-' means
+something was deleted and a `!' means some combination of insertions and
+deletions occurred.
+
+Full instructions for getting the latest FAQ are in question 22. Also see the
+`Introduction to news.answers' posting in the `news.answers' newsgroup, or send
+e-mail to `mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu' with `help' on a body line, or use FTP,
+WAIS, or Prospero to rtfm.mit.edu.
+
+
+
+Changing Key Bindings and Handling Key Binding Problems
+
+125: How do I bind keys (including function keys) to commands?
- * They normally use BackSpace outside of Emacs for deleting the previous !
- character typed. This can be solved by making DEL be the command for
- deleting the previous character outside of Emacs. This command will do
- this on many Unix systems:
+ 1. Find out what character sequence is generated by the keystroke sequence
+ you wish to bind to a command. See question 129 for how to do this.
+ Keep in mind that the character sequences generated by a keystroke
+ sequence varies from one terminal to another. You may also get
+ different results depending on what type of machine you are running on
+ (see question 128). For example, these keystrokes may generate these
+ character sequences:
- stty erase '^?'
+ F1 ---> ESC [ 2 2 4 z
+ Shift-R10 ---> ESC O t
+ L7 ---> ESC [ 3 1 ~
+ Remove ---> C-@
- * The person may prefer using the BackSpace key for deleting the previous !
- character because it is more conveniently located on their keyboard or
- because they don't even have a separate Delete key. In this case, the
- BackSpace key should be made to behave like Delete. There are several !
- methods. !
- !
- * Under X Windows, the easiest solution is to change the BackSpace key !
- into a Delete key like this: !
- !
- xmodmap -e "keysym BackSpace = Delete" !
- !
- * Some terminals (eg., VT3## terminals) allow the character generated by !
- the BackSpace key to be changed from a setup menu. !
- !
- * You may be able to get a keyboard that is completely programmable. !
- !
- * Under X or on a dumb terminal, it is possible to swap the BackSpace and !
- Delete keys inside Emacs: +
+ 2. Figure out what the Emacs Lisp syntax is for this character sequence.
+ Inside an Emacs Lisp string, RET, LFD, DEL, ESC, SPC, and TAB are
+ specified with `\r', `\n', `\C-?', `\e', ` ', and `\t'. C-x is
+ specified by `\C-x'. M-x is specified the same was as "ESC x".
+ (Control characters may also be specified as themselves, but I don't
+ recommend it.) An Emacs Lisp string begins and ends with the double
+ quote character, `"'. Here are some examples:
+
+ ESC [ D ---> "\e[D"
+ ESC [ 2 2 7 z ---> "\e[227z"
+ ESC [ 1 8 ~ ---> "\e[18~"
+ C-M-r ---> "\e\C-r"
+
+ 3. If some prefix of the character sequence is already bound, you must
+ unbind it by binding it to `nil'. For example:
+
+ (global-set-key "\e[" nil)
+
+ 4. Pick a command to bind your key sequence to. A command can be a
+ "symbol" with a function definition, or a "lambda list", or a string
+ (which is treated as a macro). For example:
+
+ (global-set-key "\e[D" 'backward-char)
+ (global-set-key "\e[227~" "\exgoto-line\r") ; macro
+
+ See `Key Bindings' and `Rebinding' in the online manual.
+
+ In Emacs 19 (including Lucid Emacs), you can bind function key F24 like
+ this:
+
+ (global-set-key 'f24 'some-command)
+
+126: Why does Emacs say `Key sequence XXX uses invalid prefix characters'?
+
+ A prefix of the character sequence you were trying to bind was already
+ bound. Usually, the sequence is "ESC [", in which case you should
+ evaluate this form first:
+
+ (define-key esc-map "[" nil)
+
+ NOTE: By default, "ESC [" is bound to backward-paragraph, and if you do
+ this you will lose this key binding. For most people, this is not a
+ problem.
+
+ See question 125.
+
+127: Why doesn't this [terminal or window-system setup] code work in my
+ .emacs file, but it works just fine after Emacs starts up?
+
+ This is because you're trying to do something in your .emacs file that
+ needs to be postponed until after the terminal/window-system setup code
+ is loaded. This is a result of the order in which things are done
+ during the startup of Emacs. For more details see question 135.
- (swap-keys ?\C-h ?\C-?)
+ In order to postpone the execution of Emacs Lisp code until after the
+ terminal/window-system setup, set the value of the variable
+ term-setup-hook or window-setup-hook to be a function which does what
+ you want.
- See question 60 for the implementation of swap-keys.
+ See etc/OPTIONS for a complete explanation of what Emacs does every time
+ it is started.
- * Another approach is to switch keybindings and put help on "C-x h" !
- instead:
+ Here is a simple example of how to set term-setup-hook:
- (global-set-key "\C-h" 'delete-backward-char)
- (global-set-key "\C-xh" 'help-command) ; override mark-whole-buffer
+ (setq term-setup-hook
+ (function
+ (lambda ()
+ (cond ((string-match "\\`vt220" (or (getenv "TERM") ""))
+ ;; Make vt220's "Do" key behave like M-x:
+ (define-key CSI-map "29~" 'execute-extended-command))
+ ))))
- Other popular key bindings for help are M-? and "C-x ?". +
+128: How do I use function keys under X Windows?
- WARNING: This method fails to correctly bind BackSpace in the various !
- major and minor modes that define their own backward character !
- deletion or help commands, such as C mode and Lisp mode. To actually
- do that for every mode is a lot of work. There are probably other +
- places where the correspondence between help and C-h is hardcoded. +
+ This depends on whether you are running Emacs inside a terminal emulator
+ window, or whether you are allowing Emacs to create its own X window.
+ You can tell which you are doing by noticing whether Emacs creates a new
+ window when you start it.
-62: How do I type DEL on PC terminal emulators?
+ If you are running Emacs inside a terminal emulator window, then it
+ behaves exactly as it does on any other tty. In this case, for function
+ keys to be useful, they must generate character sequences that are sent
+ to the programs running inside the window as input. The `xterm' program
+ has two different sets of character sequences that it generates when
+ function keys are pressed, depending on the sunFunctionKeys X resource
+ and the -sf and +sf command line options. (To find out what these key
+ sequences are, see question 129.) In addition, with xterm,
+ you can override what key sequence a specific function key (or any other
+ key) will generate with the `translations' resource. This, for example:
- Someone whose name I forgot wrote:
+ XTerm.VT100.Translations: #override \
+ <KeyPress>F1: string(0x1b) string("[xyzzy")
- Most PCs have deficient keyboards that don't have both BackSpace and
- Delete keys. Whether C-h (BackSpace) or DEL is generated by the
- BackSpace key varies from one terminal emulator to another. If you're !
- lucky, you can reconfigure the keyboard so that it generates DEL. If
- not, you will have to hunt to figure out what keystroke will do it ---
- possibilities include various shifted and controlled versions of
- BackSpace, the `Del' key on the numeric keypad (which might depend on !
- Shift or NumLock), or perhaps C-? (Control-?). !
+ makes the function key F1 generate the character sequence "ESC [xyzzy".
- If this is too hard, you may want to swap the Delete key with some other
- key. See question 61.
+ On the other hand, if Emacs is managing its own X window, the following
+ description applies. Emacs receives `KeyPress' events from the X server
+ when a key is pressed while the keyboard focus is in its window. The
+ KeyPress event contains an X "keysym" code, which is simply an arbitrary
+ number corresponding to the name of the keysym, and information on which
+ "modifiers" such as `control' and `shift' are active. For example, the
+ `Tab' keysym is 0xff09. (Generally, a key on the keyboard will generate a
+ keysym whose name is the same as the label on the key, ie. the `Tab' key
+ will normally generate the `Tab' keysym. This can be changed with the
+ xmodmap program.) Emacs recognizes all the keysyms that correspond to
+ standard ASCII characters and internally uses the ASCII character instead.
-63: Can I make my "Compose" key behave like a "Meta" key?
+ (WARNING: I am about to describe a gross, disgusting hack to you, have
+ your barf bag ready.)
- On a dumb terminal such as a VT220, no. It is rumored that certain VT220
- clones could have their Compose key configured this way. If you're on an
- X workstation, you might have luck using the "xmodmap" program.
+ When Emacs receives the X keysym of one of the arrow keys, it behaves
+ the same as if it had received a letter key with the control modifier
+ down as follows (this is hard-coded):
-64: Why don't the arrow keys work?
+ Up becomes C-p
+ Down becomes C-n
+ Right becomes C-f
+ Left becomes C-b
- When Emacs starts up, it doesn't know anything about arrow keys at all
- (except when running under X, see question 52). During the
- process of starting up, Emacs will load a terminal-specific initialization
- file for your terminal type (as determined by the environment variable
- TERM), if one exists. This file has the responsibility for enabling the
- arrow keys.
+ The way Emacs treats other keysyms depends on what kind of machine it was
+ compiled on. The type of the display machine is irrelevant! Function
+ keys are mapped internally to escape sequences, while other keys are
+ completely ignored.
- There are several things that can go wrong:
+ 1. If compiled on a Sun, Emacs recognizes these X keysyms that
+ are normally on a Sun keyboard:
- 1. There is no initialization file for your terminal.
+ F1 through F9
+ L1 through L10 (same as F11 through F20)
+ R1 through R15 (same as F21 through F35)
+ (The keys labelled R8, R10, R12, and R14 usually are mapped to the
+ X keysyms Up, Left, Right, and Down.)
+ Break (the `Alternate' key is given this keysym)
- You can determine this by looking in the lisp/term directory. If your
- terminal type (as determined by the TERM environment variable) is
- xxx-yy-z, then the first of these files in the lisp/term directory will
- be loaded as the terminal-specific initialization file: xxx-yy-z.el,
- xxx-yy.el, or xxx.el.
+ These keys work like Sun function keys. When Emacs receives the
+ keysym, it will internally use character sequences that look like "ESC
+ [ ### z", where ### is replaced by a number. The character sequences
+ are identical to those generated by Sun's keyboard under SunView. Any
+ function key not listed above generates "ESC [ - 1 z".
- If there is none there, one can be made for your terminal, or you can
- just add code to your own .emacs to handle this problem for yourself.
- For example, if your terminal's arrow keys send these character
- sequences:
+ In order to use these key sequences, they should be bound to commands
+ using the standard key binding methods, just as if Emacs were running
+ on a regular terminal.
- Up: ESC [ A
- Down: ESC [ B
- Right: ESC [ C
- Left: ESC [ D
+ WARNING: F11 and L1 are the same keysym in X, as are F12 and L2, etc.
+ {Yes, this is stupid. Complain to the X consortium.}
- then you can bind these keys to the appropriate commands with code in
- your .emacs like this:
+ 2. If not compiled on a Sun, the function keys will appear to Emacs in a
+ way remarkably similar to the keys of a DEC LK201 keyboard (used on
+ some VT series terminals). These X keysyms will be recognized:
- (setq term-setup-hook
- (function
- (lambda ()
- (cond ((string-match "\\`xyzzy" (or (getenv "TERM") ""))
- ;; First, must unmap the binding for M-[
- (or (keymapp (lookup-key global-map "\e["))
- (define-key global-map "\e[" nil))
- ;; Enable terminal type xyzzy's arrow keys:
- (define-key global-map "\e[A" 'previous-line)
- (define-key global-map "\e[B" 'next-line)
- (define-key global-map "\e[C" 'forward-char)
- (define-key global-map "\e[D" 'backward-char))
- ((string-match "\\`abcde" (or (getenv "TERM") ""))
- ;; Do something different for terminal type abcde
- ;; .....
- ))))))
-
- This technique allows you to easily add more `cond' cases for different
- terminal types.
-
- NOTE: You will have to restart Emacs to get this change to take effect
- when using this technique.
-
- NOTE: Your arrow keys may send sequences beginning with "ESC O" when +
- Emacs is running, even if they send sequences beginning with "ESC [" at +
- all other times. This is because Emacs uses any command there may be +
- in your terminal's termcap entry for putting the terminal into +
- `Application Keypad Mode'. Just map these sequences the same way as +
- above. +
+ F1 through F20
+ Help (treated same as F15)
+ Menu (treated same as F16, is the LK201 `Do' key)
+ Find
+ Insert (LK201 `Insert Here' key)
+ Select
+ Prior (LK201 `Prev Screen' key *** ONLY IN 18.58 AND LATER ***)
+ Next (LK201 `Next Screen' key *** ONLY IN 18.58 AND LATER ***)
- The next two cases are problems even if there is a initialization file for
- your terminal type.
+ And finally, the LK201 key labelled `Remove' (or `Delete') is often
+ mapped to the Delete keysym which generates the DEL character (C-?)
+ instead of the key sequence given by the LK201 `Remove' key. It may
+ also be mapped to some other keysym, such as `_Remove', in which case
+ you can't use it from within Emacs at all.
- 2. Your terminal's arrow keys send individual control characters.
+ Each function key will be internally converted to a character sequence
+ that looks like "ESC [ ## ~", where ## is replaced by a number. The
+ character sequences are identical to those generated by a LK201
+ keyboard. Any function key not listed above generates "ESC [ - 1 ~".
- For example, the arrow keys on an ADM-3 send C-h, C-j, C-k, and C-l. +
+ For the complete list of the numbers which are generated by the function
+ keys, look in the file src/x11term.c at the definitions of the function
+ stringFuncVal.
- There is not much Emacs can do in this situation, since all the control
- characters except for C-^ and C-\ are already used as Emacs commands.
- It may be possible to convince the terminal to send something else when +
- you press the arrow keys; it is worth investigating. +
+ If you are running Emacs on a Sun machine, even if your X display is
+ running on a non-Sun machine (eg., an X terminal), you get the setup
+ described above for Suns. The determining factor is what type of
+ machine Emacs is running (was compiled) on, not what type of machine
+ your X display is on.
- You have to make the hard choices of how to rebind keys to commands to
- make things work the way you want. Another alternative is to start +
- learning the standard Emacs keybindings for moving point around: C-b, +
- C-f, C-p, and C-n. Personally, I no longer use the arrow keys when +
- editing. +
+ If you have function keys not listed above on your keyboard, you can use
+ `xmodmap' to change their keysym assignments to get keys that Emacs will
+ recognize, but that may screw up other programs.
- 3. Your terminal's arrow keys send sequences beginning with "ESC [".
+ X resources are not used by Emacs to affect the key sequences generated.
+ In particular, there are no X key "translations" for Emacs.
- Due to an extremely poor design decision (ie., these sequences are ANSI
- standard), none of the the terminal-specific initialization files that
- are distributed with Emacs will bind these character sequences to the
- appropriate commands by default. (This also applies to any other
- function keys which generate character sequences starting with "ESC
- [".) This is because it was deemed far more important to preserve the
- binding of M-[ to the backward-paragraph command. It appears that this
- will change in Emacs 19.
+ If you have function keys not listed above and you don't want to use
+ xmodmap to change their names, you might want to make a modification to
+ your Emacs. Johan Vromans <jv@mh.nl> has made available a patch for Emacs
+ that adds the x-rebind-key function of Epoch to Emacs 18.58. This allows
+ another layer of key rebinding before Emacs even sees the keys, and in
+ this layer you can rebind all of the keys and modifier combinations as
+ well.
- Some of the terminal-specific initialization files that come with Emacs
- provide a command `enable-arrow-keys' that will fix this problem. To
- get this automatically invoked, put this in your .emacs:
+ Anonymous FTP:
+ /ftp.eu.net:gnu/emacs/FP-Xfun.Z
+ /ftp.urc.tue.nl:pub/tex/emacs/FP-Xfun
- (setq term-setup-hook
- (function
- (lambda ()
- (if (fboundp 'enable-arrow-keys) (enable-arrow-keys)))))
+ Johan Vromans explains what this buys for you:
- We put this in our lisp/default.el file, so users don't have to worry
- about it:
+ After implementing this, all keyboard keys can be configured to send
+ user definable sequences, eg.,
- ;; don't override a user's term-setup-hook
- (or term-setup-hook
- (setq term-setup-hook
- (function
- (lambda ()
- (and (fboundp 'enable-arrow-keys)
- ;; don't override a user key mapping
- (eq 'backward-paragraph (lookup-key esc-map "["))
- (enable-arrow-keys))))))
+ (x-rebind-key "KP_F1" 0 "\033OP")
- If your terminal type is `sun', you should put this in your .emacs
- instead (or in addition to the above):
+ This will have the keypad key PF1 send the sequence "ESC O P", just like
+ an ordinary VT series terminal.
- (setq sun-esc-bracket t)
+129: How do I tell what characters my function or arrow keys emit?
- If your terminal type is `xterm', you will have to bind the arrow keys
- as in part 1 above, since the xterm.el file doesn't do anything useful.
+ Use this function by Randal L. Schwartz <merlyn@iwarp.intel.com>:
- It is possible that the terminal-specific initialization file for your
- terminal type was written locally and does not follow the rule
- mentioned above. In this case you may need to inspect it to find out
- how to enable the arrow keys. (Actually, if it was written locally, it
- probably enables the arrow keys by default.)
+ (defun see-chars ()
+ "Displays characters typed, terminated by a 3-second timeout."
+ (interactive)
+ (let ((chars "")
+ (inhibit-quit t))
+ (message "Enter characters, terminated by 3-second timeout.")
+ (while (not (sit-for 3))
+ (setq chars (concat chars (list (read-char)))
+ quit-flag nil)) ; quit-flag maybe set by C-g
+ (message "Characters entered: %s" (key-description chars))))
-65: How do I bind a combination of modifier key and function key?
+ Alternatively, use the "C-h l" view-lossage command, which will display
+ the last 100 characters Emacs has seen in its input stream. Kevin
+ Gallagher <kgallagh@digi.lonestar.org> suggests typing some unique string
+ like "wxyz", typing the key in question, then typing "C-h l". The
+ characters that appear between "wxyz" and "C-h l" were generated by the
+ key.
- Unless you're using Emacs under emacstool (or xvetool?) or you have a
- working version of x-rebind-key (see question 52), you can't do this
- with Emacs alone. When using emacstool, Emacs sees different character
- sequences for the combination of a modifier and a function key from what
- it sees for the function key alone. See etc/emacstool.1 for more
- information. Since Emacs sees different character sequences, you can bind
- these different sequences to different commands.
+130: How do I set the X key "translations" for Emacs?
- If you are running Emacs inside a terminal emulator window like xterm, you
- can modify its translation tables to make it generate different character
- sequences for the combination of a modifier and a function key. For
- example, this X resource setting:
+ Sorry, you can't; there are no "translations" to be set. Emacs is not
+ written using the Xt library. The only way to affect the behavior of keys
+ within Emacs is through `xmodmap' (outside Emacs) or `define-key' (inside
+ Emacs).
- XTerm.VT100.Translations: #override \
- Shift<KeyPress>F1: string(0x1b) string("[xyzzy")
+131: How do I handle C-s and C-q being used for flow control?
- makes Shift-F1 generate the character sequence "ESC [ xyzzy". You can
- bind these character sequences in Emacs as normal.
+ C-s and C-q are used in the XON/XOFF flow control protocol. This screws
+ up Emacs because it binds these characters to commands. Also, by default
+ Emacs will not honor them as flow control characters and may overwhelm
+ output buffers. Sometimes, intermediate software using XON/XOFF flow
+ control will prevent Emacs from ever seeing C-s and C-q.
-66: Why doesn't my Meta key work in an xterm window?
+ Possible solutions:
- Try all of these methods before asking for further help:
+ * Disable the use of C-s and C-q for flow control.
- * If you are using `olwm' as your window manager, switch to another window +
- manager. :-) {Seriously though, does anyone know a good generic +
- solution to allow the use of the Meta key with Emacs under olwm?} +
- +
- * For X11R4: Make sure it really is a Meta key. Use "xev" to find out +
- what keysym your Meta key generates. It should be either Meta_L or
- Meta_R. If it isn't, use xmodmap to fix the situation.
+ You need to determine what is the cause of the flow control.
- * Make sure the pty the xterm is using is passing 8 bit characters.
- "stty -a" (or "stty everything") should show "cs8" somewhere. If it
- shows "cs7" instead, use "stty cs8 -istrip" (or "stty pass8") to fix
- it.
+ * your terminal
- * If there is an rlogin connection between the xterm and the Emacs, the
- "-8" argument may need to be given to rlogin to make it pass all 8
- bits of every character.
+ Your terminal may use XON/XOFF flow control to have time to display
+ all the characters it receives. For example, VT series terminals do
+ this. It may be possible to turn this off from a setup menu. For
+ example, on a VT220 you may select `No XOFF' in the setup menu. This
+ is also true for some terminal emulation programs on PCs.
- * If the Emacs is running under Ultrix, it is reported that evaluating !
- (set-input-mode t nil) helps. +
+ When you turn off flow control at the terminal, you will also need to
+ turn it off at the other end, which might be at the computer you are
+ logged in to or at some terminal server in between.
- * If all else fails, you can make xterm generate "ESC W" when you type
- M-W, which is the same conversion Emacs would make if it got the M-W
- anyway. In X11R4, the following resource specification will do this:
+ If you turn off flow control, characters may be lost; using a printer
+ connected to the terminal may fail. You may be able to get around
+ this problem by modifying the `termcap' entry for your terminal to
+ include extra NUL padding characters.
- XTerm.VT100.EightBitInput: false
+ * a modem
- (This changes the behavior of the insert-eight-bit action.)
+ If you are using a dialup connection, the modems may be using XON/XOFF
+ flow control. I don't know how to get around this.
- With older xterms, you can specify this behavior with a translation:
+ * a router or terminal server
- XTerm.VT100.Translations: #override \
- Meta<KeyPress>: string(0x1b) insert()
+ Some network box between the terminal and your computer may be using
+ XON/XOFF flow control. It may be possible to make it use some other
+ kind of flow control. You will probably have to ask your local
+ network experts for help with this.
- You might have to replace "Meta" with "Alt".
+ * tty and/or pty devices
-67: Why doesn't my ExtendChar key work as a Meta key under HP-UX 8.0?
+ If your connection to Emacs goes through multiple tty and/or pty
+ devices, they may be using XON/XOFF flow control even when it is not
+ necessary.
- This is a result of an internationalization extension in X11R4 and the
- fact that HP is now using this extension. Emacs assumes that
- XLookupString returns the same result regardless of the Meta key state
- which is no longer necessarily true. Until Emacs is fixed, the temporary
- kludge is to run this command after each time the X server is started but
- preferably before any xterm clients are:
+ Eirik Fuller <eirik@theory.tn.cornell.edu> writes:
- xmodmap -e 'remove mod1 = Mode_switch'
+ Some versions of `rlogin' (and possibly telnet) do not pass flow
+ control characters to the remote system to which they connect. On
+ such systems, Emacs on the remote system cannot disable flow control
+ on the local system. Sometimes `rlogin -8' will avoid this problem.
- NOTE: This will disable the use of the extra keysyms systemwide, which
- may be undesirable if you actually intend to use them.
+ One way to cure this is to disable flow control on the local host
+ (the one running rlogin, not the one running rlogind) using the stty
+ command, before starting the rlogin process. On many systems, `stty
+ start u stop u' will do this.
-68: Where can I get key bindings to make Emacs emulate WordStar?
+ Some versions of `tcsh' will prevent even this from working. One
+ way around this is to start another shell before starting rlogin,
+ and issue the stty command to disable flow control from that shell.
- Look for the package `wordstar' in the Emacs Lisp Archive (see question
- 18).
-
-
-
-Building/Installing/Porting Emacs and Machine/OS-Specific Bugs -
-
-69: Why does Emacs crash with "Fatal error (6).Abort" under SunOS 4.1?
+ Use `stty -ixon' instead of `stty start u stop u' on some systems.
- I had hoped this question would go away after Emacs 18.57 was released,
- but people continue to compile 18.55.
-
- There is a bug in the "localtime" routine supplied with SunOS 4.1. A
- private function called by tzsetwall zeroes the byte just past an eight
- byte region it mallocs. This corrupts GNU malloc's memory pool. When GNU
- malloc detects this it aborts.
-
- In the 18.57 release "#define SYSTEM_MALLOC" was added to the !
- configuration file for SunOS 4.1, which allowed Emacs to work. However, !
- Sun's realloc behaves horribly when alternated with malloc, so your +
- process size can balloon rapidly in certain situations quickly using up +
- all available memory. Thus, you may prefer the approach taken by Emacs +
- 18.58, which has a different fix that makes GNU's malloc always allocate +
- at least 16 bytes. +
- +
- Eirik Fuller <eirik@theory.tn.cornell.edu> supplies most of the following +
- information: +
-
- In SunOS 4.1.1, it appears that Sun has still not fixed their bug, since
- the localtime.o file did not change. They must be aware of it since they
- suggest using "#define SYSTEM_MALLOC" to compile Emacs in their
- documentation. It is reported that this same bug causes mysterious
- behavior in Sun's /usr/etc/rpc.mountd.
-
- For people who want to fix this problem for real, there is a fixed version
- of the localtime.o file available via anonymous FTP (titan.rice.edu:
- incoming/localtime.tar.Z). {Someone has reported that this file is now
- missing.} The new localtime.o file should be installed in the
- /usr/lib/libc{.a,.so.*} files. Read the `ar' man page and the README file
- in /usr/lib/shlib.etc for instructions. -
-
- Now stop asking this question! :-) :-)
+ * Make Emacs speak the XON/XOFF flow control protocol.
-70: Why do I get an "f68881_used undefined" error, when I build Emacs on my
- Sun 3?
+ You can make Emacs treat C-s and C-q as flow control characters by
+ evaluating this form:
- Barry A. Warsaw <warsaw@cme.nist.gov> writes:
+ (set-input-mode nil t)
- Some of the code that is being linked on the "ld" line of emacs' build
- command has been compiled with the -f68881 option. Most common reason
- is that you're linking with X libraries which were built with -f68881
- option set. You need to either remove all dependencies to the 68881
- (may mean a recompile of the X libraries with -fswitch or -fsoft
- option), or you need to link emacs with the 68881 startup file
- /usr/lib/Mcrt1.o. Make this change to src/ymakefile:
+ If you are fixing this for yourself, simply put the form in your .emacs
+ file. If you are fixing this for your entire site, the best place to
+ put it is unclear. I don't know if this has any effect when used in
+ lisp/site-init.el when building Emacs; I've never tried that. {Can
+ someone tell me whether it works?} Putting things in users' .emacs files
+ has a number of problems.
- change: #define START_FILES crt0.o
- to: #define START_FILES crt0.o /usr/lib/Mcrt1.o
+ Putting this form in lisp/default.el has the problem that if the user's
+ .emacs file has an error, this will prevent lisp/default.el from being
+ loaded and Emacs may be unusable for the user, even for correcting their
+ .emacs file (unless they're smart enough to move it to another name). A
+ possible solution is to initially disable C-s and C-q by setting
+ keyboard-translate-table in lisp/site-init.el, either with swap-keys
+ (see question 136) or with the following form:
- The order of these start files is critical.
+ ;; by Roger Crew <crew@cs.stanford.edu>:
+ (setq keyboard-translate-table
+ "\C-@\C-a\C-b\C-c\C-d\C-e\C-f\C-g\C-h\C-i\C-j\C-k\C-l\C-m\C-n\C-o\C-p\C-^\C-r\C-\\\C-t\C-u\C-v\C-w\C-x\C-y\C-z\C-[\C-s\C-]\C-q\C-_")
-71: Why does Emacs ignore my X resources (my .Xdefaults file)?
+ This will at least prevent Emacs from being confused by the flow control
+ characters, even if lisp/default.el cannot be loaded. Then, in
+ lisp/default.el, enable XON/XOFF flow control with set-input-mode.
- * Try compiling Emacs with the XBACKWARDS macro defined. There is a bug
- in some implementations of XGetDefault, which do not correspond to the
- documentation or the header files.
+ For further discussion of this issue, read the file PROBLEMS in the
+ Emacs distribution.
- * Make sure you are either using the class name of `Emacs' or the correct
- instance name. The instance name is normally the same as the name of
- the file Emacs is in (ie., the last part of argv[0]), but this can be
- overridden by -rn command line option or the WM_RES_NAME environment
- variable.
+132: How do I use commands bound to C-s and C-q (or any key) if these keys
+ are filtered out?
- WARNING: The advice the man page gives to use `emacs' is often wrong.
+ I suggest swapping C-s with C-\ and C-q with C-^:
- WARNING: Older versions of Emacs got the class name wrong.
+ (swap-keys ?\C-s ?\C-\\)
+ (swap-keys ?\C-q ?\C-^)
- * Emacs currently ignores the -xrm command line argument. !
+ See question 136 for the implementation of swap-keys. This method
+ has the advantage that it simultaneously swaps the characters everywhere
+ throughout Emacs, while just switching the keybindings will miss important
+ places where the character codes are stored (eg., the search-repeat-char
+ variable, major mode keymaps, etc.).
+
+ To do this for an entire site, you may want to swap the keys in
+ lisp/default.el. If only some of your users are connecting through
+ XON/XOFF flow-controlled connections, you will want to do this
+ conditionally. I suggest pre-swapping them in lisp/site-init.el when
+ Emacs is built, and then in lisp/default.el, if it is determined to be
+ safe, they can be reenabled (being careful not to screw up any other key
+ mappings users might have established using keyboard-translate-table).
+ See question 131 for an easy way to pre-swap these keys.
+
+ WARNING: If you do this for an entire site, the users will be confused by
+ the disparity between what the documentation says and how Emacs actually
+ behaves.
+
+133: Why does the `BackSpace' key invoke help?
+
+ The BackSpace key (on every keyboard I've used) generates ASCII code 8.
+ C-h sends the same code. In Emacs by default C-h invokes help-command.
+ This is intended to be easy to remember since the first letter of "help"
+ is "h". The easiest solution to this problem is to use C-h (and
+ BackSpace) for help and DEL (the Delete key) for deleting the previous
+ character.
- * Emacs does not yet handle X11R5 screen-specific resources.
+ For many people this solution may be problematic:
- * Emacs has a bug where it ignores color specifications if running on a
- 1-bit display (ie. a non-color display).
+ * They normally use BackSpace outside of Emacs for deleting the previous
+ character typed. This can be solved by making DEL be the command for
+ deleting the previous character outside of Emacs. This command will do
+ this on many Unix systems:
-72: How do I get Emacs to compile with all features under OpenWindows?
+ stty erase '^?'
- Problems fixed in 18.58: the reference to include file <X11/X10.h>, !
- linking with the OpenWindows libX11.a. !
+ * The person may prefer using the BackSpace key for deleting the previous
+ character because it is more conveniently located on their keyboard or
+ because they don't even have a separate Delete key. In this case, the
+ BackSpace key should be made to behave like Delete. There are several
+ methods.
- If libX11.a is missing, you may need to use `add_services' to add the +
- `OpenWindows Programmers' optional software category from the CD-ROM. To +
- get the Xmenu stuff to work, you need to find a copy of MIT's liboldX.a.
+ * Under X Windows, the easiest solution is to change the BackSpace key
+ into a Delete key like this:
- Questions for the net {please send me answers!}:
+ xmodmap -e "keysym BackSpace = Delete"
- * Are compiled versions of liboldX.A for Sun 4s running SunOS 4.*
- available for FTP anywhere?
- * What is the solution to the "not a sun window" problem with xvetool? -
+ * Some terminals (eg., VT3## terminals) allow the character generated by
+ the BackSpace key to be changed from a setup menu.
-73: How do I build Emacs under HP-UX 8.0?
+ * You may be able to get a keyboard that is completely programmable.
- Problems fixed in 18.58: missing errnet.h, "Cannot do arithmetic with !
- pointers to objects of unknown size" (void *), not finding -lX11, unexec !
- making a bad dumped emacs due to shared libraries ("Fatal Error(11)- !
- Segmentation Fault", I think). !
- !
- If libX11.a is missing, you may need to run `update' again to load the !
- X11-PRG "fileset". This may be missing even if you specified "all !
- filesets" the first time. !
+ * Under X or on a dumb terminal, it is possible to swap the BackSpace
+ and Delete keys inside Emacs:
-74: What should I do if I have trouble building Emacs?
+ (swap-keys ?\C-h ?\C-?)
- First look in the file etc/PROBLEMS to see if there is already a solution
- for your problem. Next check the FAQ (you're reading it). If you don't
- find a solution, then report your problem via e-mail to
- bug-gnu-emacs@prep.ai.mit.edu. Please do not post it to gnu.emacs.help or
- e-mail it to help-gnu-emacs@prep.ai.mit.edu. For further guidelines, see +
- question 23. +
+ See question 136 for the implementation of swap-keys.
-
-
-Weird/Confusing Problems -
-
-75: Does Emacs have problems with files larger than 8 megabytes?
+ * Another approach is to switch keybindings and put help on "C-x h"
+ instead:
- Most installed versions of GNU Emacs will use 24-bit signed integers (and +
- 24-bit pointers) internally. This limits the file size that Emacs can !
- handle to 8,388,607 bytes (2^23 - 1). !
+ (global-set-key "\C-h" 'delete-backward-char)
+ (global-set-key "\C-xh" 'help-command) ; override mark-whole-buffer
- Leonard N. Zubkoff <lnz@lucid.com> suggests putting the following two !
- lines in src/config.h before compiling Emacs to allow for 26-bit integers !
- and pointers (and thus filesizes of up to 33,554,431 bytes): +
+ Other popular key bindings for help are M-? and "C-x ?".
- #define VALBITS 26
- #define GCTYPEBITS 5
+ WARNING: Don't try to bind DEL to help-command, because there are many
+ modes that have local bindings of DEL that will interfere.
- WARNING: This method may result in `ILLEGAL DATATYPE' errors on some +
- machines. +
+134: Why doesn't Emacs look at the stty settings for Backspace vs. Delete?
- David Gillespie <daveg@csvax.cs.caltech.edu> gives an explanation of why
- Emacs uses 24 bit integers and pointers:
+ Good question!
- Emacs is largely written in a dialect of Lisp; Lisp is a freely-typed
- language in the sense that you can put any value of any type into any
- variable, or return it from a function, and so on. So each value must
- carry a "tag" along with it identifying what kind of thing it is, e.g.,
- integer, pointer to a list, pointer to an editing buffer, and so on.
- Emacs uses standard 32-bit integers for data objects, taking the top 8
- bits for the tag and the bottom 24 bits for the value. So integers (and
- pointers) are somewhat restricted compared to true C integers and
- pointers.
+135: Why don't the arrow keys work?
- Emacs uses 8-bit tags because that's a little faster on byte-oriented
- machines, but there are only really enough tags to require 6 bits. -
+ When Emacs starts up, it doesn't know anything about arrow keys at all
+ (except when running under X, see question 128). During the process of
+ starting up, Emacs will load a terminal-specific initialization file for
+ your terminal type (as determined by the environment variable TERM), if
+ one exists. This file has the responsibility for enabling the arrow keys.
-76: Why does Emacs start up using the wrong directory?
+ There are several things that can go wrong:
- Most likely, you have an environment variable named PWD that is set to a
- value other than the name of your current directory. This is most
- likely caused by using two different shell programs. "ksh" and (some
- versions of) "csh" set and maintain the value of the PWD environment
- variable, but "sh" doesn't. If you start sh from ksh, change your
- current directory inside sh, and then start Emacs from inside sh, PWD
- will have the wrong value but Emacs will use this value. See the
- etc/OPTIONS file for more details.
+ 1. There is no initialization file for your terminal.
- Perhaps an easier solution is not to use two shells. The "chsh" program
- can often be used to change one's default login shell.
+ You can determine this by looking in the lisp/term directory. If your
+ terminal type (as determined by the TERM environment variable) is
+ xxx-yy-z, then the first of these files in the lisp/term directory will
+ be loaded as the terminal-specific initialization file: xxx-yy-z.el,
+ xxx-yy.el, or xxx.el.
-77: How do I edit a file with a "$" in its name?
+ There are two major cases of this problem:
- When entering a filename in the minibuffer, Emacs will attempt to expand
- a "$" followed by a word as an environment variable. To suppress this
- behavior, type "$$" instead.
+ * Your terminal type is very similar to one that has an init file.
-78: Why does Shell mode lose track of the shell's current directory?
+ In this case, there are several techniques suggested by Colin Jensen
+ <cjensen@ampex.com>, Ben Liblit <Liblit@cs.psu.edu>, and Marc
+ Auslander <marc@watson.ibm.com>:
- Emacs has no way of knowing when the shell actually changes its directory.
- This is an intrinsic limitation of Unix. So it tries to guess by
- recognizing "cd" commands. If you type "cd" followed by a directory name
- with a variable reference ("cd $HOME/bin") or with a shell metacharacter
- ("cd ../lib*"), Emacs will fail to correctly guess the shell's new current
- directory. A huge variety of fixes and enhancements to Shell mode for !
- this problem have been written to handle this problem. Check the Lisp
- Code Directory (see question 17).
+ A. Add a symbolic link in lisp/term for your terminal type that
+ points to the similar type. For example, you could make VT102
+ terminals work with this command:
-79: Why doesn't Emacs expand my aliases when sending mail?
+ ln -s vt100.el vt102.el
- * You must separate multiple addresses in the headers of the mail buffer +
- with commas. This is because Emacs supports RFC822 standard addresses
- like this one:
+ This fixes things for everyone on the system who uses the terminal
+ type.
- To: Willy Smith <wks@xpnsv.lwyrs.com> +
+ B. If you can't do the solution in part A, you can add code to your
+ term-setup-hook that loads the correct file like this:
- However, you do not need to separate addresses with commas in your +
- .mailrc file. +
- +
- WARNING: Emacs breaks up aliases in the .mailrc file into multiple +
- addresses both on commas and on whitespace, regardless of any use of +
- quotes. This is probably a bug. You can get around this by directly +
- setting the value of mail-aliases. +
+ (setq term-setup-hook
+ (function
+ (lambda ()
+ (cond ((equal "vt102" (or (getenv "TERM") ""))
+ (load (concat term-file-prefix "vt100")))
+ (;; Code for other terminal types goes here ...
+ )))))
- * Emacs normally only reads the ".mailrc" file once per session, when you
- start to compose your first mail message. If you edit .mailrc, you can
- type "M-ESC (build-mail-aliases) RET" to make Emacs reread .mailrc.
- (You have to include the parentheses where they are shown!)
+ C. If you use `tset' to set your TERM environment variable when you
+ login, you can use the `-m' switch to tell tset to use a terminal
+ type known by Emacs instead of another similar one. For example,
+ specifying this:
- * Emacs does not interpret vendor-specific additions to the format of the
- .mailrc file such as the `source' command. It also ignores any `set' +
- commands. The only commands it looks at are `alias' and `group' +
- commands. +
+ tset ... -m 'dec-vt220:vt220' ...
-80: Why doesn't my change to load-path work?
+ will make tset say you are on a `vt220' instead of a `dec-vt220'.
- If you added a directory name containing a tilde (~) to your load-path,
- expecting the tilde to be interpreted as your home directory, then you
- need to do something like this:
+ D. Interactively, you can type "M-x load-library RET term/vt100" to
+ load the terminal-specific initialization files for VT100
+ terminals.
- (setq load-path (mapcar 'expand-file-name load-path))
+ * Your terminal type is not similar to one that has an init file.
-81: Why does the cursor always go to the wrong column when I move up or
- down one line?
+ One can be made for your terminal, or you can just add code to your
+ own .emacs to handle this problem for yourself. For example, if your
+ terminal's arrow keys send these character sequences:
- You have inadvertently typed "C-x C-n" (set-goal-column) which sets the
- "goal-column" to the column where the cursor was. To undo this type
- "C-u C-x C-n".
+ Up: ESC [ A
+ Down: ESC [ B
+ Right: ESC [ C
+ Left: ESC [ D
- If you make this mistake frequently, you might want to unbind or disable
- this command by doing one of these two:
+ then you can bind these keys to the appropriate commands with code in
+ your .emacs like this:
- (define-key ctl-x-map "\C-n" nil)
- (put 'set-goal-column 'disabled t)
+ (setq term-setup-hook
+ (function
+ (lambda ()
+ (cond ((string-match "\\`xyzzy" (or (getenv "TERM") ""))
+ ;; First, must unmap the binding for left bracket
+ (or (keymapp (lookup-key global-map "\e\["))
+ (define-key global-map "\e\[" nil))
+ ;; Enable terminal type xyzzy's arrow keys:
+ (define-key global-map "\e\[A" 'previous-line)
+ (define-key global-map "\e\[B" 'next-line)
+ (define-key global-map "\e\[C" 'forward-char)
+ (define-key global-map "\e\[D" 'backward-char))
+ ((string-match "\\`abcde" (or (getenv "TERM") ""))
+ ;; Do something different for terminal type abcde
+ ;; .....
+ )))))
-82: Why does Emacs hang with message "Unknown XMenu error" with X11R4? +
+ NOTE: You may have to restart Emacs to get changes to take effect.
- Many different X errors can produce this message. Here is the solution
- to one problem:
+ NOTE: Your arrow keys may send sequences beginning with "ESC O" when
+ Emacs is running, even if they send sequences beginning with "ESC [" at
+ all other times. This is because Emacs uses any command there may be
+ in your terminal's termcap entry for putting the terminal into
+ "Application Keypad Mode". Just map these sequences the same way as
+ above.
- X11 Release 4 (and later, including OpenWindows) enforces some conditions !
- in the X protocol that were previously allowed to pass unnoticed. You
- need to put the X11R4 server into X11R3 bug compatibility mode for Emacs's
- Xmenu code to work. You can do this with the command "xset bc".
+ The next two cases are problems even if there is a initialization file for
+ your terminal type.
-83: Why doesn't display-time show the load average in the mode line
- anymore?
+ 2. The initialization file for your terminal doesn't bind arrow keys.
- In GNU Emacs 18.56, a change was made in the display-time code.
- Formerly, in version 18.55, Emacs used a program named "loadst" to
- notify Emacs of the change in time every minute. loadst also sent Emacs
- the system load average if it was installed with sufficient privilege to
- get that information (or was on a system where no such privilege was
- needed). Emacs then displayed this information in the mode line.
+ If your terminal type is `xterm', you will have to bind the arrow keys
+ as in part 1 above, since the xterm.el file doesn't do anything useful.
+ There may be other terminal types with the same problem.
- In version 18.56, this code was changed to use a program named "wakeup".
- wakeup doesn't send Emacs any information, it's only purpose is to send
- Emacs *something* every minute, thus invoking the filter function in
- Emacs once a minute. The filter function in Emacs does all the work of
- finding the time, date, and load average. However, getting the load
- average requires the privilege to read kernel memory on most systems.
- Since giving Emacs this privilege would destroy any security a system
- might have, for almost everyone this is not an option. In addition,
- Emacs does not have the code built into it to get this information on
- the systems which have special system calls for this purpose, even
- though loadst had code for this.
+ 3. Your terminal's arrow keys send individual control characters.
- The solution I use is to get the files lisp/display-time.el and
- etc/loadst.c from version 18.55 and use those with 18.58. (I have heard !
- a rumor that loadst disappeared because of the legal action Unipress
- threatened against IBM.)
+ For example, the arrow keys on an ADM-3 send C-h, C-j, C-k, and C-l.
- WARNING: Do not install Emacs setgid kmem unless you wish to destroy
- any security your system might have!!!!!!!!!!
+ There is not much Emacs can do in this situation, since all the control
+ characters except for C-^ and C-\ are already used as Emacs commands.
+ It may be possible to convince the terminal to send something else when
+ you press the arrow keys; it is worth investigating.
- If you are using Emacs 18.55 or earlier, or already using the solution I
- describe above, read further:
+ You have to make the hard choices of how to rebind keys to commands to
+ make things work the way you want. Another alternative is to start
+ learning the standard Emacs keybindings for moving point around: C-b,
+ C-f, C-p, and C-n. Personally, I no longer use the arrow keys when
+ editing because I have switched keyboards so many times.
- The most likely cause of the problem is that "loadst" can't read the
- special file /dev/kmem. To properly install loadst, it should be either
- setuid to the owner of /dev/kmem, or is should be setgid to the group to
- which /dev/kmem belongs. In either case, /dev/kmem should be readable by
- its owner or its group, respectively.
+ 4. Your terminal's arrow keys send sequences beginning with "ESC [".
- Another possibility is that your version of Unix doesn't have the load
- average data available in /dev/kmem. Your version of Unix might have a
- special system call to retrieve this information (eg., inq_stats under
- UMAX), and loadst might not have been enhanced to cope with this.
+ Due to an extremely poor design decision (ie., these sequences are ANSI
+ standard), none of the the terminal-specific initialization files that
+ are distributed with Emacs will bind these character sequences to the
+ appropriate commands by default. (This also applies to any other
+ function keys which generate character sequences starting with "ESC
+ [".) This is because it was deemed far more important to preserve the
+ binding of M-[ to the backward-paragraph command. It appears that this
+ will change in Emacs 19.
-84: Why doesn't GNUS work anymore via NNTP?
+ Some of the terminal-specific initialization files that come with Emacs
+ provide a command enable-arrow-keys that will fix this problem. To get
+ this automatically invoked, put this in your .emacs:
- There is a bug in NNTP version 1.5.10, such that when multiple requests
- are sent to the NNTP server, the server only handles the first one before
- blocking waiting for more input which never comes. NNTP version 1.5.11
- claims to fix this.
+ (setq term-setup-hook
+ (function
+ (lambda ()
+ (if (fboundp 'enable-arrow-keys) (enable-arrow-keys)))))
- You can work around the bug inside Emacs like this:
+ We put this in our lisp/default.el file, so users don't have to worry
+ about it:
- (setq nntp-maximum-request 1)
+ ;; don't override a user's term-setup-hook
+ (or term-setup-hook
+ (setq term-setup-hook
+ (function
+ (lambda ()
+ (and (fboundp 'enable-arrow-keys)
+ ;; don't override a user key mapping
+ (eq 'backward-paragraph (lookup-key esc-map "["))
+ (enable-arrow-keys))))))
- I also have a patch for NNTP 1.5.10 by Mike Pelletier
- <stealth@engin.umich.edu> that is based on the timeout code that was in
- 1.5.9. However, please try to upgrade to 1.5.11 first.
+ If your terminal type is `sun', you should put this in your .emacs
+ instead (or in addition to the above):
- You can find out what version of NNTP your news server is running by
- telnetting to the NNTP port (usually 119) on the news server machine (ie.,
- `telnet server-machine 119'). The server should give its version number
- in the welcome message. Type `quit' to get out.
+ (setq sun-esc-bracket t)
-85: Why does ispell sometimes ignore the local dictionary?
+ It is possible that the terminal-specific initialization file for your
+ terminal type was written locally and does not follow the rule
+ mentioned above. In this case you may need to inspect it to find out
+ how to enable the arrow keys. (Actually, if it was written locally, it
+ probably enables the arrow keys by default.)
- You need to update the version of ispell to 2.0.02. (Or you can switch to
- version 3.0 which is still in beta-testing.) A patch is available via
- anonymous FTP (archive.cis.ohio-state.edu: /pub/gnu/ispell/patch2.Z).
+136: How do I "swap" two keys?
- You also need to change a line in ispell.el from:
+ When Emacs receives a character, you can make Emacs behave as though it
+ received another character by setting the value of
+ keyboard-translate-table. The following Emacs Lisp will do this for you,
+ allowing you to "swap" keys. After arranging for this Lisp to be
+ evaluated by Emacs, you can evaluate `(swap-keys ?A ?B)' to swap A and B.
- (defconst ispell-version "2.0.01") ; Check against output of "ispell -v".
+ (defun swap-keys (key1 key2)
+ "Swap keys KEY1 and KEY2 using map-key."
+ (map-key key1 key2)
+ (map-key key2 key1))
- to:
+ (defun map-key (from to)
+ "Make key FROM behave as though key TO was typed instead."
+ (setq keyboard-translate-table
+ (concat keyboard-translate-table
+ (let* ((i (length keyboard-translate-table))
+ (j from)
+ (k i)
+ (str (make-string (max 0 (- j (1- i))) ?X)))
+ (while (<= k j)
+ (aset str (- k i) k)
+ (setq k (1+ k)))
+ str)))
+ (aset keyboard-translate-table from to)
+ (let ((i (1- (length keyboard-translate-table))))
+ (while (and (>= i 0) (eq (aref keyboard-translate-table i) i))
+ (setq i (1- i)))
+ (setq keyboard-translate-table
+ (if (eq i -1)
+ nil
+ (substring keyboard-translate-table 0 (1+ i))))))
- (defconst ispell-version "2.0.02") ; Check against output of "ispell -v".
+ NOTE: You must evaluate the definition of these functions before calling
+ them! For example, list the function definitions before their use in your
+ .emacs file.
-86: How do I get rid of the ^M junk in my Shell buffer?
+ NOTE: These functions take two numbers as arguments. The example above,
+ `(swap-keys ?A ?B)' is actually `(swap-keys 65 66)', because `?A' is
+ merely notation for 65, the ASCII value of `A'.
- For tcsh, put this in your ".cshrc" (or ".tcshrc") file:
+ NOTE: These functions only work for single characters. You cannot swap
+ two multi-character sequences.
- if ($?EMACS) then
- if ("$EMACS" == t) then
- if ($?tcsh) unset edit
- stty nl
- endif
- endif
+137: How do I produce C-XXX with my keyboard?
- Or put this in your .emacs_tcsh file:
+ For C-@ and C-^, often you can just type Control-2 and Control-6. For
+ C-_, you may have to hold down the shift key, typing Control-Shift-Hyphen.
+ C-@ can often be generated by typing Control-Space. C-@ is often called
+ the NUL character, and has ASCII value 0. C-_ can often be generated by
+ typing Control-7 or Control-/. C-? (aka DEL) may be generated by typing
+ Shift-BackSpace or Control-BackSpace or a key labelled Delete or Del.
- unset edit
- stty nl
+ Try Control with all of the digits on your keyboard to see what gets
+ generated.
- Alternatively, use csh in your Shell buffers instead of tcsh. One way
- is:
+138: What if I don't have a Meta key?
- (setq explicit-shell-file-name "/bin/csh")
+ Instead of typing M-a, you can type "ESC a" instead. In fact, Emacs
+ converts M-a internally into "ESC a" anyway (depending on the value of
+ meta-prefix-char).
- and another is to do this in your .cshrc (or .tcshrc) file:
+139: What if I don't have an Escape key?
- setenv ESHELL /bin/csh
+ Type C-[ instead. This should send ASCII code 27 just like an Escape
+ key would. Try also C-;.
- (You must start Emacs over again with the environment variable properly
- set for this to take effect.)
+140: How do I type DEL on PC terminal emulators?
-87: Are there any security risks in GNU Emacs?
+ Some IBM PC compatibles do not have a key labeled `Del' or `Delete' {is
+ this true?}. Those that do generally have it in an inconvenient location.
+ (Also, in some terminal emulators, the `Del' key does not transmit DEL.)
+ The result is the standard "BackSpace invoking help" problem (see question
+ 133).
- 1. the `movemail' incident (No, this is not a risk.)
+ The usual solution, suggested by Michael Covington
+ <mcovingt@aisun1.ai.uga.edu>, is to somehow tell the terminal emulator
+ program that BackSpace should transmit DEL. Read the program's manual.
+ Shift-BackSpace or Control-BackSpace may send DEL. The `Del' key may only
+ send DEL if the NumLock key hasn't been pressed.
- Cliff Stoll in his book "The Cuckoo's Egg" describes this in chapter 4.
- The site at LBL had installed the `etc/movemail' program setuid root.
- Since `movemail' had not been designed for this situation, a security
- hole was created and users could get root priveleges.
+141: Can I make my `Compose Character' key behave like a Meta key?
- `movemail' has since been changed so that even if it is installed
- setuid root this security hole will not be a result.
+ On a dumb terminal such as a VT220, no. It is rumored that certain VT220
+ clones could have their Compose key configured this way. If you're using
+ X, you might be able to do this with the `xmodmap' program (this is
+ what I do).
- I have heard reports that the Internet worm took advantage of this
- configuration problem.
+142: How do I bind a combination of modifier key and function key?
- 2. the file-local-variable feature (Yes, a risk, but easy to change.)
+ Unless you're using Emacs under emacstool (or xvetool?), have a working
+ version of x-rebind-key (see question 128), or are using Emacs 19 (Lucid
+ Emacs), you can't do this with Emacs alone.
- There is an Emacs feature that allows the setting of local values for
- variables when editing a file by including specially formatted text
- near the end of the file. This feature also includes the ability to
- have arbitrary Emacs Lisp code evaluated when the file is visited.
- Obviously, there is a potential for Trojan horses to exploit this
- feature.
+ If you are using emacstool, Emacs sees different character sequences for
+ the combination of a modifier and a function key from what it sees for the
+ function key alone. See etc/emacstool.1 for more information. Since
+ Emacs sees different character sequences, you can bind these different
+ sequences to different commands.
- However, if you set the variable inhibit-local-variables to a non-nil
- value, Emacs will display the special local variable settings of a file
- that you visit and ask you if you really want them. It is reasonable
- to do this in lisp/site-init.el before building Emacs:
+ If you are running Emacs inside a terminal emulator window like xterm, you
+ can modify its translation tables to make it generate different character
+ sequences for the combination of a modifier and a function key. For
+ example, this X resource setting:
- (setq inhibit-local-variables t)
+ XTerm.VT100.Translations: #override \
+ Shift<KeyPress>F1: string(0x1b) string("[xyzzy")
- If Emacs has already been built, the expression can be put in
- lisp/default.el instead, or an individual can put it in their own
- .emacs file.
+ makes Shift-F1 generate the character sequence "ESC [ xyzzy". You can
+ bind these character sequences in Emacs as normal. Nick Ruprecht
+ <ruprecht@informatik.uni-freiburg.de> has written an extensive X
+ translation mapping for xterm that does this. {Does this have an FTP
+ site?}
- The ability to exploit this feature by sending e-mail to an RMAIL user
- was fixed sometime after Emacs 18.52. However, any new package that
- uses find-file or find-file-noselect has to be careful about this.
+ If you have x-rebind-key, you can have any arbitrary combination of
+ modifiers with a key replaced by any sequence of "normal" characters. For
+ example, this makes Shift-Return behave as though you had typed "C-x C-e"
+ (example from Jerry Graves):
-88: How do I recover my mail files after RMAIL munges their format?
+ (x-rebind-key "Return" 'shift "\C-x\C-e")
- Users who just want to try RMAIL out to see how it works end up trapped
- using it because saved mail in their `mbox' file has been converted into !
- an incompatible format (BABYL) that only RMAIL understands. RMAIL
- provides no obvious way to reverse this transformation. To convert a mail
- file back to standard Unix format, there are several methods:
+ In Emacs 19 (Lucid Emacs), you can bind Meta-Left-Arrow like this (example
+ from Jamie Zawinski):
- * Use the rmail-output ("C-o") command within RMAIL on each message in the
- file. First use M-x rmail or M-x rmail-input to visit the RMAIL file in
- Rmail mode. Type "1 j" to go to the first message. Use the C-o command
- to output the message to a Unix format file. Type "n" to go to the next
- message. Repeat.
+ (global-set-key '(meta left) 'backward-word)
- * If the file contains hundreds of messages, you may not want to repeat
- this for all of them. Instead of the above, after getting to the first
- message type this (where "mbox" is the file you want to put the messages
- in):
+ With the last two methods, use `xmodmap' and `xev' to discover the keysym
+ and modifier names.
- C-x ( C-o mbox RET M-s ^From: RET M-0 C-x )
+143: Why doesn't my Meta key work in an xterm window?
- (The rmail-search command ("M-s") is used instead of just "n" because it
- is the only command which will cause an error when it reaches the last
- message in the file, which is necessary to terminate the keyboard macro.
- This will fail if there are messages in the file that don't have a
- `From:' header. This assumes rmail-delete-after-output is nil.)
+ Try all of these methods before asking for further help:
- It is wise to save a copy of the RMAIL file first, in case you make a
- mistake.
+ * You may have big problems using `mwm' as your window manager. {Does
+ anyone know a good generic solution to allow the use of the Meta key in
+ Emacs with mwm?}
- * There are software packages available for converting files or even
- entire directories of BABYL files to standard Unix format. These are
- helpful in this situation, but are intended mainly for people who have
- used RMAIL for a long time and are converting to some other mail reader.
- Lookup `rmail', `vm', and `babyl' in the Emacs Lisp Archive (see
- question 18).
+ * For X11R4: Make sure it really is a Meta key. Use `xev' to find out
+ what keysym your Meta key generates. It should be either Meta_L or
+ Meta_R. If it isn't, use xmodmap to fix the situation.
- You may wish to disable RMAIL to avoid accidentally destroying your mbox
- file (I have this in my .emacs):
+ * Make sure the pty the xterm is using is passing 8 bit characters.
+ `stty -a' (or `stty everything') should show `cs8' somewhere. If it
+ shows `cs7' instead, use `stty cs8 -istrip' (or `stty pass8') to fix
+ it.
- (put 'rmail 'disabled t) ; avoid mbox destruction
+ * If there is an rlogin connection between the xterm and the Emacs, the
+ `-8' argument may need to be given to rlogin to make it pass all 8
+ bits of every character.
-89: Why do I get "Process shell exited abnormally with code 1"?
+ * If the Emacs is running under Ultrix, it is reported that evaluating
+ (set-input-mode t nil) helps.
- The most likely reason for this message is that the "env" program is not
- properly installed. This program should be compiled and installed with
- execute permission for everyone in Emacs's program directory, which is
- normally /usr/local/emacs/etc. You can find what this directory is at
- your site by inspecting the value of the variable exec-directory by typing
- "C-h v exec-directory RET".
+ * If all else fails, you can make xterm generate "ESC W" when you type
+ M-W, which is the same conversion Emacs would make if it got the M-W
+ anyway. In X11R4, the following resource specification will do this:
- See also etc/PROBLEMS for other possible causes of this message. +
+ XTerm.VT100.EightBitInput: false
-
-
-Configuring Emacs for Yourself -
-
-90: How do I set up a .emacs file properly?
+ (This changes the behavior of the insert-eight-bit action.)
- See the section of the manual on the .emacs file, inside the section on
- customization. To reach this section of the online Info manual, type
- this:
+ With older xterms, you can specify this behavior with a translation:
- C-h i m emacs RET g init SPC file RET
+ XTerm.VT100.Translations: #override \
+ Meta<KeyPress>: string(0x1b) insert()
- WARNING: In general, new Emacs users should not have .emacs files,
- because it causes confusing non-standard behavior. Then they send
- questions to help-gnu-emacs asking why Emacs isn't behaving as
- documented. :-)
+ You might have to replace `Meta' with `Alt'.
-91: How do you debug a .emacs file?
+144: Why doesn't my ExtendChar key work as a Meta key under HP-UX 8.0?
- First start Emacs with the "-q" command line option. Then, in the
- *scratch* buffer, type the following:
+ This is a result of an internationalization extension in X11R4 and the
+ fact that HP is now using this extension. Emacs assumes that
+ XLookupString returns the same result regardless of the Meta key state
+ which is no longer necessarily true. Until Emacs is fixed, the temporary
+ kludge is to run this command after each time the X server is started but
+ preferably before any xterm clients are:
- (setq debug-on-error t) LFD
- (load-file "~/.emacs") LFD
+ xmodmap -e 'remove mod1 = Mode_switch'
- (Type LFD by pressing C-j.)
+ NOTE: This will disable the use of the extra keysyms systemwide, which
+ may be undesirable if you actually intend to use them.
- If you have an error in your .emacs file, this will invoke the debugger
- when the error occurs. If you don't know how to use the debugger do
- (setq stack-trace-on-error t) instead.
+145: Where can I get key bindings to make Emacs emulate WordStar?
- WARNING: this will not discover errors caused by trying to do something
- that requires the terminal/window-system initialization code to have
- been loaded. See question 50.
+ There is a package `wordstar' by Jim Frost <jimf@saber.com> and
+ `ws-mode.el' by Juergen Nickelsen <nickel@cs.tu-berlin.de>. Check in the
+ Emacs Lisp Archive (see question 89).
-92: How do I turn on abbrevs by default just in mode XXX?
+146: Where can I get an XEDIT emulator for Emacs?
- Put this in your .emacs file:
+ This question comes up once every couple of months. I have never seen a
+ positive reply, so I presume no one has ever written one.
- (condition-case ()
- (read-abbrev-file nil t)
- (file-error nil))
+
+
+Using Emacs with Alternate Character Sets
+
+147: How do I make Emacs display 8-bit characters?
- (setq XXX-mode-hook
- (function
- (lambda ()
- (setq abbrev-mode t))))
+ There is a patch called the `8-bit ctl-arrow patch' that allows Emacs to
+ display characters with codes from 128 to 255. {The original appears to
+ have been by Kenneth Cline <cline@proof.ergo.cs.cmu.edu>.} Partially based
+ on Johan Widen's earlier work, Johan Vromans <jv@mh.nl> has updated this
+ patch for Emacs 18.58 along with some other 8-bit improvements.
-93: How do I turn on Auto-Fill mode by default?
+ Anonymous FTP:
+ /ftp.eu.net:gnu/emacs/FP-EightBit.Z
+ /ftp.urc.tue.nl:/pub/tex/emacs/FP-EightBit
+ /cs.purdue.edu:pub/ygz/cemacs.tar.Z:cemacs/8bit-patch-18.57
+ /sics.se:archive/emacs-18.55-8bit-diff
+ /laas.laas.fr:pub/emacs/patch-8bit-18.55
+ /laas.laas.fr:pub/emacs/patch-8bit-18.57
- To turn on Auto-Fill mode just once for one buffer, you type "M-x
- auto-fill-mode". To turn it on for every buffer in, for example, Text
- mode, do this:
+ Via e-mail:
+ To: mail-server@sics.se
+ body: send emacs-18.55-8bit-diff
- (setq text-mode-hook 'turn-on-auto-fill)
+ Anders Edenbrandt <anderse@dna.lth.se> has produced a more comprehensive
+ patch for Emacs 18.59 that allows for 8-bit input and output.
- If you want Auto-Fill mode on in all major modes, do this:
+ Anonymous FTP:
+ /ftp.efd.lth.se:pub/gnu/emacs_8-bit.patch
+
+ In the words of the author:
+
+ With these patches, Emacs becomes fully 8-bit operational. There is
+ support for displaying 8-bit characters, as well as for entering such
+ characters from the keyboard. In addition, upcase/lowcase translation
+ is supported, accented characters are recognized as "letters" (important
+ when doing 'forward-word', for example), and text with 8-bit characters
+ can be sorted correctly.
+
+ A Meta-shift key can still be used, provided that you run in an
+ environment where it is possible to distinguish between a character
+ entered using the Meta-shift key and one entered directly. The diffs
+ include patches to make this work under SunView (with emacstool) as
+ well as under X. If you can't use a Meta-shift key, you have to enter
+ Meta-commands with the ESC-prefix.
+
+ The most comprehensive patches for 8-bit output are by Howard Gayle
+ (originally for Emacs 18.55. These patches allow displaying any arbitrary
+ string for a given 8-bit character (except TAB and C-j). Also supported
+ is defining the sorting order and the uppercase and lowercase
+ translations. It is reported that the 8-bit character support in Emacs 19
+ is largely based on these patches. Thomas Bellman
+ <Bellman@lysator.liu.se> has updated these patches for Emacs 18.59.
- (setq-default auto-fill-hook 'do-auto-fill)
+ Anonymous FTP:
+ /sics.se:archive/emacs-gayle.tar.Z (patches for 18.55)
+ /ftp.lysator.liu.se:pub/emacs/gayle-18.58.diff.tar.Z (patches)
+ /ftp.lysator.liu.se:pub/emacs/emacs-18.59-gayle.tar.Z (patched Emacs)
-94: How do I make Emacs use a certain major mode for certain files?
+ Epoch's 8-bit character support is based on Anders Edenbrandt's patches.
+ Lucid Emacs has the ctl-arrow patch installed. Nemacs displays 8-bit
+ characters, and it may be useful for displaying the 8-bit ISO-8859
+ alphabet, but I don't know for sure (see question 149).
- If you want to use XXX mode for all files which end with the extension
- ".YYY", this will do it for you:
+148: How do I input 8-bit characters?
- (setq auto-mode-alist (cons '("\\.YYY\\'" . XXX-mode) auto-mode-alist))
+ Minor modes for ISO Latin-1 that allow one to easily input this character
+ set have been written by several people. Such modes have been written by
+ Matthieu Herrb <matthieu@laas.fr> (laas.laas.fr:pub/emacs/iso-latin-1.el),
+ Johan Vromans <jv@mh.nl> {FTP site??}, and Marc Shapiro
+ <shapiro@sor.inria.fr> {FTP site??}.
- Otherwise put this somewhere in the first line of any file you want to
- edit in XXX mode:
+ These approaches differ from the one taken by Anders Edenbrandt in that
+ his method uses direct 8-bit input, while these methods use a compose
+ sequence for 8-bit characters. {I have heard conflicting reports on
+ whether this results in losing the Meta key. Perhaps this depends on
+ whether Emacs is running under X. Can someone resolve this?}
- -*-XXX-*-
+ Karl Heuer <karl@haddock.ima.isc.com> is said to have a patch to allow
+ 8-bit input. Georg-Wilhelm Koltermann <gwk@crmunich0.cray.com> also has a
+ patch for either 18.57 or 18.58 that allows 8-bit input.
-95: What are the valid X resource settings (ie., stuff in .Xdefaults file)?
+ Epoch comes with a patch that allows it to input 8-bit characters, but it
+ is not enabled by default. {Is this right?}
- See the Emacs man page, or the etc/OPTIONS file. Ignore the information
- in etc/XDOC which is way out of date.
+ Jamie Zawinski says:
-96: How do I stop Emacs from beeping on a terminal?
+ Lucid GNU Emacs allows the input of any ISO-8859/1 keysyms that your
+ keyboard generates (see xmodmap), and contains a package that implements
+ a DEC/OpenWindows-like "Compose" key for systems which don't have one.
- Martin R. Frank <martin@cc.gatech.edu> writes:
+149: Where can I get an Emacs that can handle kanji characters?
- Tell Emacs to use the 'visible bell' instead of the audible bell, and
- set the visible bell to nothing.
+ Nemacs 3.3.2 (Nihongo GNU Emacs) is a modified version of GNU Emacs 18.55
+ that handles kanji characters. It is available via anonymous FTP:
- Put this in your TERMCAP environment variable:
+ /crl.nmsu.edu:pub/misc/nemacs-3.3.2.tar.Z
+ /miki.cs.titech.ac.jp:JAPAN/nemacs/nemacs-3.3.2.tar.Z
- ... :vb=: ...
+ You might also need files for "wnn", a kanji input method
+ (wnn-4.0.3{-README,.tar.Z} {on which machine?}). You need a terminal (or
+ terminal emulator) that can display text encoded in JIS, Shift-JIS, or EUC
+ (Extended Unix Code), or the ability to run Nemacs as a direct X Window
+ client.
- And evaluate this:
+150: Where can I get an Emacs that can handle Chinese?
- (setq visible-bell t)
+ `cemacs' by Stephen G. Simpson <simpson@math.psu.edu> is a patch to Emacs
+ 18.57 (the ctl-arrow patch) and some Emacs Lisp code that combined with
+ Cxterm allows using Chinese characters. It is available via anonymous
+ FTP:
-97: How do I turn down the bell volume in Emacs running under X Windows?
+ /crl.nmsu.edu:pub/chinese/cemacs.tar.Z
+ /cs.purdue.edu:pub/ygz/cemacs.tar.Z
- Under Epoch you can do:
+ Cxterm is available from the same place:
- (setq epoch::bell-volume 20)
+ /cs.purdue.edu:pub/ygz/cxterm-11.5.1.tar.Z
- Under normal GNU Emacs you must modify the XTfeep function in
- src/x11term.c. This simplest fix is to change the number 50 to -50 in the !
- call the XBell. Then "xset b 0" will turn off Emacs's beeping. !
+151: Where is an Emacs that can handle Semitic (right-to-left) alphabets?
- Explanation: After "xset b BASE": +
+ Joel M. Hoffman <joel@wam.umd.edu> writes:
- XBell (disp, VAL) beeps with volume BASE - (BASE*VAL)/100 + VAL,
- XBell (disp, -VAL) beeps with volume BASE - (BASE*VAL)/100.
+ A couple of years ago a wrote a hebrew.el file that allows right-to-left
+ editing of Hebrew. I relied on the hardware to display the Hebrew
+ letters, given the right codes, but not for any right-to-left support;
+ the hardware also doesn't have to send any specific char. codes. Emacs
+ keeps track of when the user is typing Hebrew vs. English. (The VT-*
+ terminals in Israel contain built-in support for Hebrew.)
- Stu Grossman <grossman@sunburn.stanford.edu> wrote a patch that allows the +
- bell volume to be adjusted from inside Emacs. +
+ To get it to work I had to modify only a few lines of GNU Emacs's source
+ code --- just enough to make it 8-bit clean.
-98: How do I change load-path?
+ [and in a separate message:]
- In general, you should only *add* to the load-path. You can add
- directory /XXX/YYY to the load path like this:
+ It doesn't produce time-order ["sefer" format] (I wouldn't recommend
+ trying that with emacs, because converting time-order to screen-order
+ with arbitrarily long lines is a bit tricky), but I also concocted a
+ quick filter to convert screen-order into time-order. I'll be happy to
+ send you the requisite files if you want them. If you're using it for
+ anything large, however, you'll want something that works better.
- (setq load-path (append load-path '("/XXX/YYY/")))
+ Joel Hoffman has also written a "bi-directional bi-lingual Emacs-like"
+ editor for MS-DOS named Ibelbe (Itty Bitty Emacs-Like Bidirectional
+ Editor). Ibelbe is written in Turbo Pascal and comes with source code.
+ Here is the description:
- To do this relative to your home directory:
+ Ibelbe looks like emacs (it even has a minibuffer and filename
+ completion), and fully supports both right-to-left and left-to-right
+ editing. Other than an EGA monitor or better, no special hardware is
+ required. You will need an EGA Hebrew font to use Ibelbe with Hebrew.
- (setq load-path (append load-path (list (expand-file-name "~/YYY/"))))
+ Anonymous FTP:
+ /israel.nysernet.org:israel/msdos/ibelbe.zip
+ /israel.nysernet.org:israel/msdos/hebfont.zip
-99: How do I change the included text prefix in mail/news followups?
+ Joseph Friedman <yossi@deshaw.com, yossi@Neon.Stanford.EDU> has written
+ patches for Emacs 18.55 and 18.58 that provide Semitic language support
+ under X Windows.
- Many people want Emacs to prefix included text with something like " > " !
- instead of with three spaces. One way is to change the code of the !
- function `mail-yank-original' in lisp/sendmail.el that prefixes with !
- spaces. A more flexible solution is to use SuperCite, which provides wide !
- configurability in how you format included text in replies. See question
- 21. Both of these solutions work for Rmail and GNUS. !
- !
- A related problem is how to prevent Emacs from including various headers !
- of the replied-to message. For this, you should set the value of !
- mail-yank-ignored-headers, which takes a regexp value. !
+ Warren Burstein <warren@itex.jct.ac.il> says he has mapped 7-bit keys by
+ modifying self-insert-command "for Hebrew input on 7-bit keyboards".
+
+ A good suggestion is to query archie for files named with `hebrew'.
+ GNU Emacs FAQ: Mail and News
+
+This portion of the GNU Emacs FAQ list is cross-posted to `gnu.emacs.gnus'
+because many of the questions herein deal with GNUS. See `gnu.emacs.help' for
+the rest of the FAQ list.
+
+If you are viewing this text in a GNU Emacs Buffer, you can type "M-2 C-x $" to
+get an overview of just the questions. Then, when you want to look at the text
+of the answers, just type "C-x $".
+To search for a question numbered XXX, type "M-C-s ^XXX:", followed by a C-r if
+that doesn't work, then type ESC to end the search.
-Emacs Lisp Programming -
+A `+' in the 78th column means something was inserted on the line. A `-' means
+something was deleted and a `!' means some combination of insertions and
+deletions occurred.
-100: What dialect of Lisp is Emacs Lisp?
+Full instructions for getting the latest FAQ are in question 22. Also see the
+`Introduction to news.answers' posting in the `news.answers' newsgroup, or send
+e-mail to `mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu' with `help' on a body line, or use FTP,
+WAIS, or Prospero to rtfm.mit.edu.
+
+
+
+Mail and News
+
+152: How do I change the included text prefix in mail/news followups?
- Quite simply, it is the dialect of Lisp called GNU Emacs Lisp. People !
- also call it elisp or e-lisp. (NOTE: The term "Elisp" is trademarked by
- someone else. {I believe it is by Uniworks Inc., the sellers of CCA !
- Emacs.}) !
+ Many people want Emacs to prefix included text with something like ` > '
+ instead of with three spaces. One way is to change the code of the
+ function `mail-yank-original' in lisp/sendmail.el that prefixes with
+ spaces. A more flexible solution is to use Supercite, which provides wide
+ configurability in how you format included text in replies. See question
+ 107. Both of these solutions work for RMAIL and GNUS.
-101: How close is Emacs Lisp to Common Lisp?
+ A related problem is how to prevent Emacs from including various headers
+ of the replied-to message. For this, you should set the value of
+ mail-yank-ignored-headers, which takes a regexp value.
- They are not close. GNU Emacs Lisp is case-sensitive, uses dynamic
- scoping, doesn't have packages, doesn't have multiple return values,
- doesn't have reader macros, doesn't have rational, floating point, or
- arbitrary size numbers, etc. For people used to Common Lisp, some of the
- functions in Common Lisp that are not in Emacs Lisp by default are
- provided in the file lisp/cl.el. There is a Texinfo manual describing
- these functions in man/cl.texinfo.
+153: How do I save a copy of outgoing mail?
-102: How do I execute a piece of Emacs Lisp code?
+ Two methods:
- There are a number of ways to execute (called "evaluate") an Emacs Lisp
- "form":
+ 1. (setq mail-self-blind t) will result in a `BCC:' header line with your
+ address being added to mail composition buffers. This will cause the
+ mail system to send a copy of the mail back to you.
- * If you want it evaluated every time you run Emacs, put it in a file
- named ".emacs" in your home directory.
+ 2. (setq mail-archive-file-name (expand-file-name "~/outgoing")) will
+ result in an `FCC:' header line with the pathname of ~/outgoing being
+ added to mail composition buffers. When you send the mail, Emacs will
+ save a copy of the mail in the file ~/outgoing and then strip off the
+ `FCC:' line before actually sending.
- * You can type the form in the "*scratch*" buffer, and then type LFD (or
- C-j) after it. The result of evaluating the form will be inserted in
- the buffer.
+ WARNING: There is a bug in Emacs 18.58 that prevents mail readers such
+ as RMAIL from reading the saved mail messages individually. See
+ question 155.
- * In in Emacs-Lisp mode, typing M-C-x evaluates a top-level form before
- or around point.
+ WARNING: If you are visiting the file ~/outgoing at the time you send
+ the mail, this can cause a variety of horrible problems. Jamie
+ Zawinski has written a solution for this.
- * Typing "C-x C-e" in any buffer evaluates the Lisp form immediately
- before point and prints its value in the echo area.
+ It does not work to put `set record filename' in the .mailrc file.
- * Typing M-ESC or M-x eval-expression allows you to type a Lisp form in
- the minibuffer which will be evaluated.
+154: Why doesn't Emacs expand my aliases when sending mail?
- * You can use M-x load-file to have Emacs evaluate all the Lisp forms in
- a file. (To do this from Lisp use the function "load" instead.)
+ * You must separate multiple addresses in the headers of the mail buffer
+ with commas. This is because Emacs supports RFC822 standard addresses
+ like this one:
- These functions are also used for evaluating Lisp forms:
+ To: Willy Smith <wks@xpnsv.lwyrs.com>
- load-library, eval-region, eval-current-buffer, require, autoload
+ However, you do not need to separate addresses with commas in your
+ .mailrc file.
-103: How do I make a set of operations work only within a region? !
+ WARNING: Emacs breaks up aliases in the .mailrc file into multiple
+ addresses both on commas and on whitespace, regardless of any use of
+ quotes. This is probably a bug. You can get around this by directly
+ setting the value of mail-aliases.
- Use narrow-to-region inside of save-restriction.
+ * Emacs normally only reads the `.mailrc' file once per session, when you
+ start to compose your first mail message. If you edit .mailrc, you can
+ type "M-ESC (build-mail-aliases) RET" to make Emacs reread .mailrc.
+ (You have to include the parentheses where they are shown!)
-104: How can I highlight text in Emacs?
+ * Emacs does not interpret vendor-specific additions to the format of the
+ .mailrc file such as the `source' command. It also ignores any `set'
+ commands. The only commands it looks at are `alias' and `group'
+ commands.
+
+155: Why does RMAIL think all my saved messages are one big message?
+
+ There is a bug for FCC-ed messages in Emacs 18.58 where it adds a timezone
+ on the "From " line after the year instead of before the year. (Before it
+ didn't add the timezone at all.) This is incompatible with the standard
+ format for the "From " line, and RMAIL in particular can no longer
+ distinguish between the messages. Karl Berry <karl@cs.umb.edu>, Felix Lee
+ <flee@cs.psu.edu>, Nick Gianniotis <nico@japan.sbi.com> and many
+ others have all posted patches for this. Karl's is the simplest and just
+ stops Emacs from adding the timezone:
+
+ >*** ./ORIG/sendmail.el Tue Jan 28 16:22:56 1992
+ >--- ./sendmail.el Thu May 14 18:23:48 1992
+ >***************
+ >*** 285,287 ****
+ > (insert "\nFrom " (user-login-name) " "
+ >! (current-time-string) " " timezone "\n")
+ > (insert-buffer-substring rmailbuf)
+ >--- 285,287 ----
+ > (insert "\nFrom " (user-login-name) " "
+ >! (current-time-string) "\n")
+ > (insert-buffer-substring rmailbuf)
+
+156: How can I sort the messages in my RMAIL folder?
+
+ Use rmailsort.el by Masanobu Umeda.
+
+157: Why does RMAIL need to write to /usr/spool/mail?
+
+ This is the behavior of the `movemail' program which RMAIL uses. This
+ indicates that movemail is configured to use lock files.
- There are ways to get highlighting (reverse video) in GNU Emacs 18.58, but !
- either they require patching the C code of Emacs and rebuilding, or they
- are slow and the highlighting disappears if you scroll or redraw the
- screen and it can not follow the point. Howard Gayle's patches for 8-bit !
- output appear to allow highlighting (see question 43). Another !
- patch for highlighting is by Kenichi Handa <handa@etl.go.jp>. There is a !
- patch for use with X by Andy Norman <ange@hplb.hpl.hp.com> (and modified +
- for 18.57 by Matthieu Herrb <matthieu@laas.fr>), which is available for +
- FTP (laas.laas.fr:pub/emacs/patch-X11-18.5{5,7}). +
+ RMS writes:
- You can highlight regions in a variety of ways in Epoch. GNU Emacs 19
- will have everything you need, but won't be out soon.
+ Certain systems require lock files to interlock access to mail files.
+ On these systems, movemail must write lock files, or you risk losing
+ mail. You simply must arrange to let movemail write them.
- Similar comments apply to displaying text in different fonts, except that +
- it is even harder. +
+ Other systems use the flock system call to interlock access. On these
+ systems, you should configure movemail to use flock.
-105: How do I change Emacs's idea of the tab character's length?
+158: How do I recover my mail files after RMAIL munges their format?
- Example: (setq default-tab-width 10).
+ Users who just want to try RMAIL out to see how it works end up trapped
+ using it because saved mail in their `mbox' file has been converted into
+ an incompatible format (BABYL) that only RMAIL understands. RMAIL
+ provides no obvious way to reverse this transformation. Kyle Jones has
+ aptly named this "the great Emacs Mail Eating Monster". To convert a mail
+ file back to standard Unix format, there are several methods:
-
-
-Carrying Out Common Tasks -
-
-106: How do I insert ">"'s in the beginning of every line in a buffer?
+ * Use the rmail-output ("C-o") command within RMAIL on each message in the
+ file. First use M-x rmail or M-x rmail-input to visit the RMAIL file in
+ Rmail mode. Type "1 j" to go to the first message. Use the C-o command
+ to output the message to a Unix format file. Type "n" to go to the next
+ message. Repeat.
- Type "M-x replace-regexp RET ^ RET > RET". ("replace-regexp" can be
- shortened to "repl TAB r".)
+ * If the file contains hundreds of messages, you may not want to repeat
+ this for all of them. Instead of the above, after getting to the first
+ message type this (where "mbox" is the file you want to put the messages
+ in):
- To do this only in the region, type "C-x n M-x replace-regexp RET ^ RET
- > RET C-x w". -
+ C-x ( C-o mbox RET M-s ^From: RET M-0 C-x )
- WARNING: The command narrow-to-region (C-x n) is disabled by default
- because it can be very confusing (ie., "Oh no! Where did my file go?").
+ (The rmail-search command ("M-s") is used instead of just "n" because it
+ is the only command which will cause an error when it reaches the last
+ message in the file, which is necessary to terminate the keyboard macro.
+ This will fail if there are messages in the file that don't have a
+ `From:' header. This assumes rmail-delete-after-output is nil.)
-107: How do I insert "_^H" characters before each character in a paragraph
- to get an underlined paragraph?
+ It is wise to save a copy of the RMAIL file first, in case you make a
+ mistake.
- M-x underline-region.
+ * There are software packages available for converting files or even
+ entire directories of BABYL files to standard Unix format. These are
+ helpful in this situation, but are intended mainly for people who have
+ used RMAIL for a long time and are converting to some other mail reader.
+ Lookup `rmail', `vm', and `babyl' in the Emacs Lisp Archive (see
+ question 89).
-108: How do I repeat a command as many times as possible?
+ You may wish to disable RMAIL to avoid accidentally destroying your mbox
+ file (I have this in my .emacs):
- Use "C-x (" and "C-x )" to make a keyboard macro that invokes the command
- and then type "M-0 C-x e".
+ (put 'rmail 'disabled t) ; avoid mbox destruction
- WARNING: any messages your command prints in the echo area will be
- suppressed.
+159: How do I make Emacs automatically start my mail/news reader?
-109: How do I search for or delete unprintable (8-bit or control)
- characters?
+ Example:
- To search for a single character that appears in the buffer as, for
- example, \237, you can type "C-s C-q 2 3 7". (This assumes the value of
- search-quote-char is 17 (C-q).)
+ emacs -f gnus
- Searching for ALL unprintable characters is best done with a "regexp"
- search. The easiest regexp to use for the unprintable chars is the
- complement of the regexp for the printable chars.
+ Also:
- Regexp for the printable chars: [\t\n\r\f -~]
+ alias gnus 'emacs -f gnus'
- Regexp for the unprintable chars: [^\t\n\r\f -~]
+ It is probably unwise to automatically start your mail or news reader from
+ your .emacs file. This would cause problems if you needed to run two
+ copies of Emacs at one time. Also, this would make it difficult for you
+ to start Emacs quickly when you needed to.
- To type some of these special characters (\t, \n, \r, \f) as an
- interactive argument to isearch-forward-regexp or re-search-forward, you
- need to use C-q.
+160: How do I read news under Emacs?
- So, to search for unprintable characters using re-search-forward:
+ There are at least three news reading packages that operate inside Emacs.
+ `rnews' comes with Emacs. GNUS and Gnews come separately. rnews will
+ be replaced by GNUS in Emacs 19.
- M-x re-search-forward RET [^ TAB C-q LFD C-q RET C-q C-l SPC -~] RET
+ rnews works only with a local news spool directory. Both GNUS and Gnews
+ handle reading news remotely via NNTP in addition to reading from a local
+ news spool. GNUS supports reading mail stored in MH folders or articles
+ saved by GNUS.
- Using isearch-forward-regexp:
+ Gnews is styled after `rn' and seems to work like RMAIL. GNUS feels more
+ like VM. People have complained that GNUS uses a lot of CPU time (it
+ does). Some people have complained that Gnews is slower than GNUS.
- M-C-s [^ TAB RET C-q RET C-q C-l SPC -~]
+ For more information about GNUS, see question 108.
- To delete all unprintable characters, simply use a replace-regexp:
+ Gnews was written by Matthew P. Wiener <weemba@libra.wistar.upenn.edu>.
+ The latest version seems to be 2.0, posted October 3, 1988. Matthew
+ posted some fixes on October 26, 1988. Gnews does not appear to have been
+ supported after this date. In particular, it has been reported that Gnews
+ does not work with Emacs 18.57. There is a newsgroup for Gnews called
+ gnu.emacs.gnews.
- M-x replace-regexp RET [^ TAB C-q LFD C-q RET C-q C-l SPC -~] RET RET
+161: Why does `rnews' say "No News is good news" when there is news?
- Notes:
+ rnews doesn't speak NNTP. You may need to use GNUS or Gnews.
- * With isearch, you can type RET to get a quoted LFD (not a quoted RET).
+162: Why doesn't GNUS work anymore via NNTP?
- * You don't need to quote TAB with either isearch or typing something in
- the minibuffer.
+ There is a bug in NNTP version 1.5.10, such that when multiple requests
+ are sent to the NNTP server, the server only handles the first one before
+ blocking waiting for more input which never comes. NNTP version 1.5.11
+ claims to fix this.
- Here are the Emacs Lisp forms of the above regexps:
+ You can work around the bug inside Emacs like this:
- ;; regexp matching all printable characters:
- "[\t\n\r\f -~]"
+ (setq nntp-maximum-request 1)
- ;; regexp matching all unprintable characters:
- "[^\t\n\r\f -~]"
+ I also have a patch for NNTP 1.5.10 by Mike Pelletier
+ <stealth@engin.umich.edu> that is based on the timeout code that was in
+ 1.5.9. However, please try to upgrade to 1.5.11 first.
- ;; alternative regexps for all unprintable characters:
- "[\C-@-\C-h\C-k\C-n-\C-_\C-?-\377]"
- "[\000-\010\013\016-\037\177-\377]"
+ You can find out what version of NNTP your news server is running by
+ telnetting to the NNTP port (usually 119) on the news server machine (ie.,
+ `telnet server-machine 119'). The server should give its version number
+ in the welcome message. Type `quit' to get out.
- (To use "[\000-\010\013\016-\037\177-\377]" interactively, type:
+163: How do I view text with embedded underlining (eg., ClariNews)?
- [ C-q 000 - C-q 010 C-q 013 C-q 016 - C-q 037 C-q 177 - C-q 377 ]
+ Underlining appears like this:
- )
+ _^Hu_^Hn_^Hd_^He_^Hr_^Hl_^Hi_^Hn_^Hi_^Hn_^Hg
-110: How do I control Emacs's case-sensitivity when searching/replacing? +
-
- For searching, the value of the variable case-fold-search determines
- whether they are case sensitive:
+ You can destructively remove underlining with M-x ununderline-region.
- (setq case-fold-search nil) ; make searches case sensitive
- (setq case-fold-search t) ; make searches case insensitive
+ For ClariNews articles, clari-clean.el by David N. Blank-Edelman
+ <dnb@meshugge.media.mit.edu> will remove both underlining and overstriking
+ automatically.
- Similarly, for replacing the variable case-replace determines whether
- replacements preserve case.
+164: When I try to post a long article in GNUS (about 10K or longer), I get
+ the error, "Writing to process: no more processes, nntpd"
- To change the case sensitivity just for one major mode, use the major +
- mode's hook. For example: +
- +
- (setq XXX-mode-hook +
- (function +
- (lambda () +
- (setq case-fold-search nil)))) +
+ Upgrade to Emacs 18.58 or higher.
-111: How do I tell Emacs to automatically indent a new line to the
- indentation of the previous line?
+165: How do I save all the items of a multi-part posting in GNUS?
- One solution is the major mode Indented Text Mode (M-x indented-tex-mode).
+ Use gnus-mark.el by Jamie Zawinski <jwz@lucid.com>.
- If you have Auto-Fill mode on (a minor mode, see question 93),
- you can tell Emacs to prefix every line with a certain character
- sequence, the "fill prefix". Type the prefix at the beginning of a
- line, position point after it, and then type "C-x ." (set-fill-prefix)
- to set the fill prefix. Thereafter, auto-filling will automatically put
- the fill prefix at the beginning of new lines, and M-q (fill-paragraph)
- will maintain any fill prefix when refilling the paragraph.
+166: Why does GNUS put the subjects in replies beyond the 80th column?
- NOTE: If you have paragraphs with different levels of indentation, you
- will have to set the fill prefix to the correct value each time you move
- to a new paragraph. To avoid this hassle, try one of the many packages
- available from the Emacs Lisp Archive. Look up "fill" and "indent" in the
- Lisp Code Directory for guidance.
+ This is a feature. If you set gnus-thread-hide-subject to non-nil, GNUS
+ will only display the subject of the first posting in a thread, even if
+ some of the replies use different subjects. It hides the subjects by
+ putting them past the edge of the window and setting truncate lines to t.
-112: How do I make Emacs "typeover" or "overwrite" instead of inserting? -
+ If your screen looks messed up, then for some reason truncate-lines in
+ your `*Subject*' buffer has been set to nil. It should be set to t.
- M-x overwrite-mode (a minor mode).
+ (I have an enhancement to GNUS 3.13 that will make it only hide the subject
+ of a posting when it is unchanged from the followed-up-to posting. Thus,
+ you can use the subject hiding feature and still know when someone changes
+ the subject. (I have forgotten who originally gave me the idea for this.))
-113: How do I show which parenthesis matches the one I'm looking at?
+167: Why is GNUS so slow to start up?
- If you're looking at a right parenthesis (or brace or bracket) you can
- delete it and reinsert it. Emacs will blink the cursor on the matching
- parenthesis.
+ GNUS does several things that take quadratic time of the number of
+ newsgroups that are listed in .newsrc. The quick fix for this is to
+ remove all the newsgroups in which you have no interest from your .newrc
+ file by using GNUS's C-k command in the `*Newsgroup*' buffer after
+ displaying all newsgroups with the L command. If you were to directly
+ edit your .newsrc to remove the newsgroups, GNUS would add them back.
- M-C-f (forward-sexp) and M-C-b (backward-sexp) will skip over balanced
- parentheses, so you can see which parentheses match. (You can train it
- to skip over balanced brackets and braces at the same time by modifying
- the syntax table.)
+ GNUS uses a quadratic algorithm to check for duplicates when the .newsrc
+ file is newer than the .newsrc.el file (ie., you edited your .newsrc).
+ GNUS uses a quadratic algorithm to check for new newsgroups every time it
+ connects to the news server. {There may be other quadratic algorithms
+ that I am not aware of.}
- Here is some Emacs Lisp that will make the % key show the matching
- parenthese, like in vi. In addition, if the cursor isn't over a
- parenthese, it simply inserts a % like normal.
+ You can speed up GNUS by using the C-k command in the *Newsgroup* buffer
+ to remove newsgroups from your .newsrc file.
- ;; By an unknown contributor !
+ Of course, GNUS will run faster if you make sure it is byte-compiled.
- (global-set-key "%" 'match-paren)
+ Felix Lee wrote some enhancements called `gnus-speedups.el' that fix some
+ of the problems. See the Emacs Lisp Archive.
- (defun match-paren (arg)
- "Go to the matching parenthesis if on parenthesis otherwise insert %."
- (interactive "p")
- (cond ((looking-at "\\s\(") (forward-list 1) (backward-char 1))
- ((looking-at "\\s\)") (forward-char 1) (backward-list 1))
- (t (self-insert-command (or arg 1)))))
+168: How do I catch up all newsgroups in GNUS?
-114: How do I make Emacs behave like this: when I go up or down, the cursor
- should stay in the same column even if the line is too short?
+ In the `*Newsgroup*' buffer, type the following magical incantation:
- M-x picture-mode. (This is a minor mode, in theory anyway ...)
+ M-< C-x ( C-@ c y C-u C-@ C-e C-f C-f M-0 C-x )
-115: How do I read news under Emacs?
+ Leave off the "M-<" if you only want to catch up from point to the end of
+ the `*Newsgroup' buffer.
- There are at least three news reading packages that operate inside Emacs.
- "rnews" comes with Emacs. "GNUS" and "Gnews" come separately. rnews will
- be replaced by GNUS in Emacs 19.
+169: Why can't I kill in GNUS on the Newsgroups/Keywords/Control line?
- rnews works only with a local news spool directory. Both GNUS and Gnews
- handle reading news remotely via NNTP in addition to reading from a local
- news spool. GNUS supports reading mail stored in MH folders or articles
- saved by GNUS.
+ GNUS 3.14.1 will complain that the `Newsgroups:', `Keywords:', and
+ `Control:' headers are `Unknown header field's.
- Gnews is styled after `rn' and seems to work like Rmail. GNUS feels more
- like VM. People have complained that GNUS uses a lot of CPU time (it
- does). Some people have complained that Gnews is slower than GNUS.
+ For the `Newsgroups:' header, there is an easy workaround: kill on the
+ `Xref' header instead, which will be present on any cross-posted article.
- For more information about GNUS, see question 21.
+ If you really want to kill on one of these headers, you can do it like
+ this:
- Gnews was written by Matthew P. Wiener <weemba@libra.wistar.upenn.edu>.
- The latest version seems to be 2.0, posted October 3, 1988. Matthew
- posted some fixes on October 26, 1988. Gnews does not appear to have been
- supported after this date. In particular, it has been reported that Gnews
- does not work with Emacs 18.57. There is a newsgroup for Gnews called
- gnu.emacs.gnews.
+ (gnus-kill nil "^Newsgroups: .*\\(bad\\.group\\|worse\\.group\\)")
-116: In C mode, can I show just the lines that will be left after #ifdef
- commands are handled by the compiler?
+ Various people (eg., Greg Holley <holley@acuson.com>) have posted
+ solutions to allow more efficient killing on these headers than the
+ preceding solution. Masanobu Umeda plans to fix this problem.
- M-x hide-ifdef-mode. (This is a minor mode.)
+170: How do I get rid of flashing messages in GNUS for slow connections?
- You may have to (load "hideif") first. If you want to do this
- regularly, put this in your .emacs file:
+ GNUS outputs "NNTP: Reading..." message and then clears them, over and
+ over. In version 3.14.1 there is a variable named nntp-debug-read that
+ can help. Johan Vromans <jv@mh.nl> wrote a fix. Others have also written
+ fixes.
- (autoload 'hide-ifdef-mode "hideif" nil t)
+171: Why is catch up slow in Gnews/GNUS?
- {Yes, I know, this should be in lisp/loaddefs.el already.}
+ Because GNUS is marking crosspostings read. {I think it should do this at
+ the time the article is read to spread out the load. Maybe someone will
+ write the code to do this.}
-117: Is there an equivalent to the "." (dot) command of vi?
+172: Why does GNUS hang for a long time when posting?
- ("." is the redo command in vi. It redoes the last insertion/deletion.)
+ David Lawrence <tale@uunet.uu.net> explains:
- No, not really.
+ The problem is almost always interaction between NNTP and C News. NNTP
+ POST asks C News's inews to not background itself but rather hang around
+ and give its exit status so it knows whether the post was successful.
+ (That wait will on some systems not return the exit status of the
+ waited for job is a different sort of problem.) It ends up taking a
+ long time because inews is calling relaynews, which often waits for
+ another relaynews to free the lock on the news system so it can file the
+ article.
- You can type "C-x ESC" (repeat-complex-command) to reinvoke commands
- that used the minibuffer to get arguments. In repeat-complex-command
- you can type M-p and M-n to scan through all the different complex
- commands you've typed.
+ My preferred solution is to change inews to not call relaynews, but
+ rather use newsspool. This loses some error-catching functionality, but
+ is for the most part safe as inews will detect a lot of the errors on
+ its own. The C News folks have sped up inews, too, so speed should look
+ better to most folks as that update propagates around.
- To repeat something on each line I recommend using keyboard macros.
+173: Why don't my news postings in GNUS get past the local machine?
-118: How do I make Emacs display the current line (or column) number? !
+ Three possible reasons: local distribution, C News date problem (see
+ question 174, and the path problem. This piece of code may fix the path
+ problem for you:
- To find out what line of the buffer you are on right now, do "M-x
- what-line". Use "M-x goto-line" to go to a specific line. To find the +
- current column number, type "M-ESC (current-column)". +
+ (setq gnus-use-generic-path t)
- Typing "C-x l" will also tell you what line you are on, provided the
- buffer isn't separated into "pages" with C-l characters. In that case, it
- will only tell you what line of the current "page" you are on. WARNING:
- "C-x l" gives the wrong value when point is at the beginning of a line.
+174: Why is the GNUS-generated `Date:' header invalid?
- There is no "correct" way to constantly display the current line (or !
- column) number on the mode line in Emacs 18, or to display the line +
- numbers next to the lines. Emacs is not a line-oriented editor, and +
- really has no idea what "lines" of the buffer are displayed in the window. +
- It would require a lot of work at the C code level to make Emacs keep +
- track of this. It would not be that hard to get the column number, but it +
- would still require changes at the C code level. +
- +
- vi emulation mode does not emulate this capability of vi (as far as I +
- know). +
- +
- Emacs 19 will probably be able to show the line number on the mode-line, +
- but probably very inefficiently. +
- +
- People have written various kludges to display line numbers. Look in the +
- Lisp Code Directory. (See question 17.)
+ GNUS generates `Date:' headers without time zones. C-News's `inews'
+ doesn't replace it with a valid header, but will generate it if not
+ already there. If it is invalid, the article will not be forwarded
+ properly. Quick fix:
-119: How do I tell Emacs to iconify itself?
+ (defun gnus-inews-date () nil)
- You need to modify C source and recompile. Either that or get Epoch
- instead. For the interested I have a patch by Robert Forsman
- <thoth@reef.cis.ufl.edu> to allow Emacs to iconify itself and a patch by
- Matt Wette <mwette@mr-ed.jpl.nasa.gov> to allow Emacs to start up
- iconified. I don't know whether these two patches work together.
+ This is not fixed as of GNUS 3.14.1.
- {Are either of these two patches available via anonymous FTP anywhere?}
+175: Why doesn't GNUS generate the `Lines:' header?
-120: How do I use regexps (regular expressions) in Emacs?
+ GNUS was written for B news, which would generate the `Lines:' header. C
+ news doesn't. There is a comment in C news's `inews' that you can
+ uncomment to enable this functionality. Or you can have GNUS generate the
+ header, for example:
- This is documented in the Emacs manual. To read the manual section
- online, type "C-h i m emacs RET m regexps RET".
+ ;; idea by jbryans@beach.csulb.edu (Jack Bryans)
+ (defun add-lines-header ()
+ ;; Count the number of lines in the current posting and insert the
+ ;; header line Lines into the message.
+ (save-excursion
+ (goto-char (point-min))
+ (if (search-forward "\n\n") ;; ***** I suspect this is wrong *****
+ (let ((lines (count-lines (point) (point-max))))
+ (forward-line -1)
+ (insert-string "Lines: " lines "\n")))))
- WARNING: The `or' operator is `\|', not `|', and the grouping operators
- are `\(' and `\)'. Also, the string syntax for a backslash is "\\".
- Thus, the string syntax for a regular expression like xxx\(foo\|bar\) is
- "xxx\\(foo\\|bar\\)". Notice the duplicated backslashes!
+ Mike Williams <mike-w@cs.aukuni.ac.nz> has written something similar.
- WARNING: Unlike in Unix grep, sed, etc., a complement character set
- ([^...]) can match a newline character (LFD aka C-j aka \n), unless
- newline is mentioned as one of the characters not to match.
+ Ronald Florence <ron@mlfarm.com> has a patch for GNUS that makes it
+ calculate the `Lines:' header for incoming articles when necessary that
+ works for sites with local news spools.
- WARNING: The character syntax regexps (eg. `\sw') are not meaningful +
- inside character set regexps (eg. `[aeiou]'). (This is typical for regexp +
- syntax.) +
+ David Lawrence <tale@uunet.uu.net> says that GNUS 3.14.1 generates Lines
+ if gnus-news-system is Cnews.
-121: How do I perform a replace operation across more than one file?
+176: Why do I get "Cannot open load file" "nntp" when compiling GNUS?
- The "tags" feature of Emacs includes the command tags-query-replace
- which performs a query-replace across all the files mentioned in the
- TAGS file. To read the relevant online manual section, type "C-h i m
- emacs RET m tags RET m tags search RET".
+ Specifically, the error message is this:
- In addition, Martin Boyer has written a package named global-replace
- which will perform a query-replace across all the files mentioned in the
- *compilation* buffer (usually done after a "grep"), which is available
- via anonymous FTP (ireq-robot.hydro.qc.ca:
- /pub/emacs/lisp/{compile,global-replace,query}.el.Z).
+ Error occurred processing gnus.el: File error (("Cannot open load file" "nntp"))
-122: How do I make Emacs wrap words for me?
+ This means that nntp.el is not in Emacs's load-path, which is easy to
+ happen when compiling using the Makefile.
- M-x auto-fill-mode. The default maximum line width is 74, determined by
- the variable fill-column. To find how to turn this on automatically see
- question 93.
+ Easiest solution: set EMACSLOADPATH in Makefile (idea from Glenn Gribble
+ <glenn@netcom.com>):
-123: Where can I get a better spelling checker for Emacs?
+ EMACSLOADPATH=/usr/local/emacs/lisp:.
+ ELC= env EMACSLOADPATH=$(EMACSLOADPATH) emacs -batch -f batch-byte-compile
- Use Ispell. See question 21.
+ Another solution, in hack.el put this:
-124: How can I spell-check TeX or *roff documents?
+ (defun gross-hack () (setq load-path (cons "/directory" load-path)))
- If you want to spell-check TeX or *roff documents with Ispell, you need to !
- arrange for a filter program that understands how to strip TeX or *roff !
- formatting commands to be run. In the TeX distribution, there are several !
- different programs named `detex', all with incompatible options, and a !
- very old pair of programs named `detex' and `delatex', which should !
- probably be avoided. The most useful one for Ispell is `detex' by Daniel !
- Trinkle. A more recent version is available via FTP +
- (arthur.cs.purdue.edu: pub/trinkle/detex-2.3.tar.Z). Raphael Cerf !
- <cerf@clipper.ens.fr> recently released a program named `xetal' !
- (spi.ens.fr:pub/unix/tex/???). There is a program that comes with Unix !
- named `deroff' for stripping formatting commands from *roff files. !
- !
- Here is an example of code you can put in a .emacs file to use these !
- programs: !
- !
- ;; Based on suggestions by David G. Grubbs <dgg@ksr.com> and Paul Palmer !
- ;; <palmerp@math.orst.edu>. !
- !
- ;; Assuming the use of detex 2.3 by Daniel Trinkle: !
- ;; -w means one word per line. !
- ;; -n means don't expand \input or \include commands. !
- ;; -l means force LaTeX mode. !
- !
- (require 'ispell) ; for the make-variable-buffer-local statements !
- (setq plain-TeX-mode-hook !
- (function !
- (lambda () !
- (setq ispell-filter-hook "detex") +
- (setq ispell-filter-hook-args '("-nw"))))) !
- (setq LaTeX-mode-hook !
- (function
- (lambda ()
- (setq ispell-filter-hook "detex") !
- (setq ispell-filter-hook-args '("-lnw"))))) !
- (setq nroff-mode-hook
- (function
- (lambda ()
- (setq ispell-filter-hook "deroff")
- (setq ispell-filter-hook-args '("-w"))))) +
- +
- You will have to adjust the arguments for programs other than Trinkle's +
- detex or for other versions of deroff. Experiment running the command +
- from the shell to find the correct options. If you don't have a filter +
- that knows how to output one word per line, you must pipe its output +
- through another filter to break up the output. +
+ Then in Makefile:
+
+ ELC= emacs -batch -l hack.el -f gross-hack -f batch-byte-compile
+
+177: How do I kill all articles in GNUS but those matching a pattern?
-125: How can I make Emacs automatically scroll horizontally?
+ Example:
- Sorry, you can't. The best you can do is rewrite a large number of
- commands and make them check if the point is still on the screen after
- they are done. {Has someone done this already?}
+ ;; kill everything
+ (gnus-kill "subject" "" nil nil)
+ ;; then restore stuff by our favorite poster
+ (gnus-kill "from" "good-guy"
+ (function
+ (lambda ()
+ (if (eq ?X (char-after (save-excursion
+ (beginning-of-line 1)
+ (point))))
+ (gnus-Subject-clear-mark-forward 1))))
+ t)
+
+
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+Copyright (C) 1990, 1991, 1992 Joseph Brian Wells
+Copyright (C) 1992, 1993 Steven Byrnes
+This list of frequently asked questions about GNU Emacs with answers
+("FAQ") may be translated into other languages, transformed into other
+formats (e.g. Texinfo, Info, WWW, WAIS, etc.), and updated with new
+information. The same conditions apply to any derivative of the FAQ as
+apply to the FAQ itself. Every copy of the FAQ must include this notice
+or an approved translation, information on who is currently maintaining
+the FAQ and how to contact them (including their e-mail address), and
+information on where the latest version of the FAQ is archived (including
+FTP information). The FAQ may be copied and redistributed under these
+conditions, except that the FAQ may not be embedded in a larger literary
+work unless that work itself allows free copying and redistribution.