@c This is part of the Emacs manual.
-@c Copyright (C) 1985,86,87,93,94,95,97,2001,03,2004 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+@c Copyright (C) 1985, 86, 87, 93, 94, 95, 97,
+@c 2001, 03, 04, 2005 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
@c See file emacs.texi for copying conditions.
@node Emacs Invocation, X Resources, GNU Free Documentation License, Top
@appendix Command Line Arguments for Emacs Invocation
@cindex options (command line)
@cindex switches (command line)
@cindex startup (command line arguments)
+@cindex invocation (command line arguments)
GNU Emacs supports command line arguments to request various actions
when invoking Emacs. These are for compatibility with other editors and
ordinary editing.
Arguments starting with @samp{-} are @dfn{options}, and so is
-@samp{+@var{linenum}. All other arguments specify files to visit.
+@samp{+@var{linenum}}. All other arguments specify files to visit.
Emacs visits the specified files while it starts up. The last file
name on your command line becomes the current buffer; the other files
are also visited in other buffers. If there are two files, they are
Emacs library search path as specified with @env{EMACSLOADPATH}
(@pxref{General Variables}).
+@strong{Warning:} If previous command-line arguments have visited
+files, the current directory is the directory of the last file
+visited.
+
@item -L @var{dir}
@opindex -L
@itemx --directory=@var{dir}
@item -Q
@opindex -Q
-Start emacs with minimum customizations and window decorations.
-This is like using @samp{-q} and @samp{--no-site-file}, but in
-addition it also disables the menu-bar, the tool-bar, the scroll-bars,
-tool tips, the blinking cursor, and the fancy startup screen.
+@itemx --quick
+@opindex --quick
+Start emacs with minimum customizations. This is like using @samp{-q}
+and @samp{--no-site-file}, but also disables the startup screen.
@item --no-splash
@opindex --no-splash
@opindex --debug-init
@cindex errors in init file
Enable the Emacs Lisp debugger for errors in the init file.
+@xref{Error Debugging,, Entering the Debugger on an Error, elisp, The
+GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual}.
@item --unibyte
@opindex --unibyte
variable @code{doc-directory}.
@item EMACSLOADPATH
A colon-separated list of directories@footnote{
-Here and below, whenever we say ``colon-separated list of directories'',
+Here and below, whenever we say ``colon-separated list of directories,''
it pertains to Unix and GNU/Linux systems. On MS-DOS and MS-Windows,
the directories are separated by semi-colons instead, since DOS/Windows
file names might include a colon after a drive letter.}
@opindex -hb
@itemx --horizontal-scroll-bars
@opindex --horizontal-scroll-bars
-@cindex horizontal scroll bars, command-line argument
-Enable horizontal scroll bars.
+@c @cindex horizontal scroll bars, command-line argument
+Enable horizontal scroll bars. Since horizontal scroll bars
+are not yet implemented, this actually does nothing.
@item -vb
@opindex -vb
@opindex --line-spacing
@cindex line spacing, command-line argument
Specify @var{pixels} as additional space to put between lines, in pixels.
+
+@item -nbc
+@opindex -nbc
+@itemx --no-blinking-cursor
+@opindex --no-blinking-cursor
+@cindex blinking cursor disable, command-line argument
+Disable the blinking cursor on graphical terminals.
+
+@item -D
+@opindex -D
+@itemx --basic-display
+@opindex --basic-display
+Disable the menu-bar, the tool-bar, the scroll-bars, and tool tips,
+and turn off the blinking cursor. This can be useful for making a
+test case that simplifies debugging of display problems.
@end table
The @samp{--xrm} option (@pxref{Resources}) specifies additional