EMACS(1-LOCAL) RISC/os Reference Manual EMACS(1-LOCAL)
NAME
emacs - GNU project Emacs
SYNOPSIS
emacs [file ...]
DESCRIPTION
GNU Emacs is a new version of Emacs, written by the author
of the original (PDP-10) Emacs, Richard Stallman. Its user
functionality encompasses everything other Emacs editors do,
and it is easily extensible since its editing commands are
written in Lisp.
Emacs has an extensive interactive help facility, but the
facility assumes that you know how to manipulate Emacs win-
dows and buffers. CTRL-h (backspace or CTRL-h) enters the
Help facility. Help Tutorial (CTRL-h t) requests an
interactive tutorial which can teach beginners the fundamen-
tals of Emacs in a few minutes. Help Apropos (CTRL-h a)
helps you find a command given its functionality, Help Char-
acter (CTRL-h c) describes a given character's effect, and
Help Function (CTRL-h f) describes a given Lisp function
specified by name.
Emacs's Undo can undo several steps of modification to your
buffers, so it is easy to recover from editing mistakes.
GNU Emacs's many special packages handle mail reading
(RMail) and sending (Mail), outline editing (Outline), com-
piling (Compile), running subshells within Emacs windows
(Shell), running a Lisp read-eval-print loop (Lisp-
Interaction-Mode), and automated psychotherapy (Doctor).
There is an extensive reference manual, but users of other
Emacses should have little trouble adapting even without a
copy. Users new to Emacs will be able to use basic features
fairly rapidly by studying the tutorial and using the self-
documentation features.
Emacs Options
The following options are of general interest:
file Edit file.
+number Go to the line specified by number (do not insert a
space between the "+" sign and the number).
-d displayname
Create the Emacs window on the display specified by
displayname. This must be the first argument listed
in the command line.
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-q Do not load an init file.
-u user Load user's init file.
-t file Use specified file as the terminal instead of using
stdin/stdout. This must be the first argument
specified in the command line.
The following options are lisp-oriented (these options are
processed in the order encountered):
-f function
Execute the lisp function function.
-l file Load the lisp code in the file file.
The following options are useful when running Emacs as a
batch editor:
-batch commandfile
Edit in batch mode using the commands found in com-
mandfile. The editor will send messages to stdout.
This option must be the first in the argument list.
-kill Exit Emacs while in batch mode.
Using Emacs with X
Emacs has been tailored to work well with the X window sys-
tem. To enable this feature, you must define the macro
HAVEXWINDOWS in the file src/config.h before compiling
Emacs. If you run Emacs from under X windows, it will create
its own X window to display in. You will probably want to
start the editor as a background process so that you can
continue using your original window. To use the optional X
Menu features, define also the macro HAVEXMENU. This macro
is separate from HAVEXWINDOWS because the Menu facility of
X does not work on all the systems that support X. Emacs
can be started with the following X switches:
-r Display the Emacs window in inverse video.
-i Use the "kitchen sink" bitmap icon when iconifying
the Emacs window.
-font font
Set the Emacs window's font to that specified by
font. You will find the various X fonts in the
/usr/new/lib/X/font directory. Note that Emacs will
only accept fixed width fonts. These include the
6x10.onx, 6x13.onx, 6x13p.onx, 8x13.onx, and
9x15.onx fonts. The other fixed width fonts are
specified by the fx character sequence that comes
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before the .onx extension.
When you specify a font, do not include the .onx
extension. Be sure to put a space between the -font
switch and the font specification argument.
-b pixels
Set the Emacs window's border width to the number of
pixels specified by pixels.
-ib pixels
Set the window's internal border width to the number
of pixels specified by pixels. Defaults to one pixel
of padding on each side of the window.
-w =[WIDTH][xHEIGHT][{+-}XOFF[{+-}YOFF]]
Set the Emacs window's width, height, and position
on the screen. The []'s denote optional arguments,
the {}'s surround alternatives. WIDTH and HEIGHT
are in number of characters, XOFF and YOFF are in
pixels. WIDTH defaults to 80, HEIGHT to 24, XOFF
and YOFF to 1. If you don't give XOFF and/or YOFF,
then you must use the mouse to create the window.
If you give XOFF and/or YOFF, then a WIDTHxHEIGHT
window will automatically be creating without inter-
vention. XOFF and YOFF specify deltas from a corner
of the screen to the corresponding corner of the
window, as follows:
+XOFF+YOFF upper left to upper left
-XOFF+YOFF upper right to upper right
+XOFF-YOFF lower left to lower left
-XOFF-YOFF lower right to lower right
-fg color
On color displays, sets the color of the text.
-bg color
On color displays, sets the color of the window's
background. See the file /usr/lib/rgb.txt for a
list of valid color names.
-bd color
On color displays, sets the color of the window's
border.See the file /usr/lib/rgb.txt for a list of
valid color names.
-cr color
On color displays, sets the color of the window's
text cursor. See the file /usr/lib/rgb.txt for a
list of valid color names.
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-ms color
On color displays, sets the color of the window's
mouse cursor. See the file /usr/lib/rgb.txt for a
list of valid color names.
-d displayname
Create the Emacs window on the display specified by
displayname. Must be the first option specified in
the command line. -nw Tells Emacs not to use its
special interface to X. If you use this switch when
invoking Emacs from an xterm window, display is done
in the xterm window. This must be the first option
specified in the command line.
You can set X default values for your Emacs windows in your
.Xdefaults file. Use the following format:
emacs.keyword:value
where value specifies the default value of keyword. Emacs
lets you set default values for the following keywords:
BodyFont
Sets the window's text font.
ReverseVideo
If ReverseVideo's value is set to on, the window
will be displayed in inverse video.
BitMapIcon
If BitMapIcon's value is set to on, the window will
iconify into the "kitchen sink."
BorderWidth
Sets the window's border width in pixels.
Foreground
For color displays, sets the window's text color.
See the file /usr/lib/rgb.txt for a list of valid
color names.
Background
For color displays, sets the window's background
color. See the file /usr/lib/rgb.txt for a list of
valid color names.
Border For color displays, sets the color of the window's
border. See the file /usr/lib/rgb.txt for a list of
valid color names.
Cursor For color displays, sets the color of the window's
text cursor. See the file /usr/lib/rgb.txt for a
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list of valid color names.
Mouse For color displays, sets the color of the window's
mouse cursor. See the file /usr/lib/rgb.txt for a
list of valid color names.
If you try to set color values while using a black and white
display, the window's characteristics will default as fol-
lows: the foreground color will be set to black, the back-
ground color will be set to white, the border color will be
set to grey, and the text and mouse cursors will be set to
black.
Using the Mouse
The following lists the key bindings for the mouse cursor
when used in an Emacs window.
MOUSE BUTTON FUNCTION
left set mark
middle set cursor
right select (Emacs) window
SHIFT-middle put text into X cut buffer (cut text)
SHIFT-right paste text
CTRL-middle cut text and kill it
CTRL-right select this window, then split it into
two windows
CTRL-SHIFT-left X buffer menu--hold the buttons and keys
down, wait for menu to appear, select
buffer, and release. Move mouse out of
menu and release to cancel.
CTRL-SHIFT-middle X help menu--pop up index card menu for
Emacs help.
CTRL-SHIFT-right Select window with mouse, and delete all
other windows. Same as typing
CTRL-x 1.
MANUALS
You can order printed copies of the GNU Emacs Manual for
$15.00/copy postpaid from the Free Software Foundation,
which develops GNU software (contact them for quantity
prices on the manual). Their address is:
Free Software Foundation
675 Mass Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02139
Your local Emacs maintainer might also have copies avail-
able. As with all software and publications from FSF,
everyone is permitted to make and distribute copies of the
Emacs manual. The TeX source to the manual is also included
in the Emacs source distribution.
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FILES
/usr/new/lib/emacs/src C source files and object files
/usr/new/lib/emacs/lisp Lisp source files and compiled
files that define most editing com-
mands. Some are preloaded; others
are autoloaded from this directory
when used.
/usr/new/lib/emacs/man sources for the Emacs reference
manual.
/usr/new/lib/emacs/etc various programs that are used with
GNU Emacs, and some files of infor-
mation.
/usr/new/lib/emacs/etc/DOC.*
contains the documentation strings
for the Lisp primitives and
preloaded Lisp functions of GNU
Emacs. They are stored here to
reduce the size of Emacs proper.
/usr/new/lib/emacs/etc/DIFF
discusses GNU Emacs vs. Twenex
Emacs;
/usr/new/lib/emacs/etc/CCADIFF
discusses GNU Emacs vs. CCA Emacs;
/usr/new/lib/emacs/etc/GOSDIFF
discusses GNU Emacs vs. Gosling
Emacs.
/usr/new/lib/emacs/etc/SERVICE
lists people offering various ser-
vices to assist users of GNU Emacs,
including education, troubleshoot-
ing, porting and customization.
These files also have information
useful to anyone wishing to write
programs in the Emacs Lisp exten-
sion language, which has not yet
been fully documented.
/usr/new/lib/emacs/info files for the Info documentation
browser (a subsystem of Emacs) to
refer to. Currently not much of
Unix is documented here, but the
complete text of the Emacs refer-
ence manual is included in a con-
venient tree structured form.
/usr/new/lib/emacs/lock holds lock files that are made for
all files being modified in Emacs,
to prevent simultaneous modifica-
tion of one file by two users.
/usr/new/lib/emacs/cpp the GNU cpp, needed for building
Emacs on certain versions of Unix
where the standard cpp cannot han-
dle long names for macros.
/usr/new/lib/emacs/shortnames
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facilities for translating long
names to short names in C code,
needed for building Emacs on cer-
tain versions of Unix where the C
compiler cannot handle long names
for functions or variables.
BUGS
There is a mailing list, bug-gnu-emacs@prep.ai.mit.edu on
the internet (ucbvax!prep.ai.mit.edu!bug-gnu-emacs on
UUCPnet), for reporting Emacs bugs and fixes. But before
reporting something as a bug, please try to be sure that it
really is a bug, not a misunderstanding or a deliberate
feature. We ask you to read the section ``Reporting Emacs
Bugs'' near the end of the reference manual (or Info system)
for hints on how and when to report bugs. Also, include the
version number of the Emacs you are running in every bug
report that you send in.
Do not expect a personal answer to a bug report. The pur-
pose of reporting bugs is to get them fixed for everyone in
the next release, if possible. For personal assistance,
look in the SERVICE file (see above) for a list of people
who offer it.
Please do not send anything but bug reports to this mailing
list. Send requests to be added to mailing lists to the
special list info-gnu-emacs-request@prep.ai.mit.edu (or the
corresponding UUCP address). For more information about
Emacs mailing lists, see the file
/usr/new/lib/emacs/etc/MAILINGLISTS. Bugs tend actually to
be fixed if they can be isolated, so it is in your interest
to report them in such a way that they can be easily repro-
duced.
Bugs that I know about are: shell will not work with pro-
grams running in Raw mode on some Unix versions.
UNRESTRICTIONS
Emacs is free; anyone may redistribute copies of Emacs to
anyone under the terms stated in the Emacs General Public
License, a copy of which accompanies each copy of Emacs and
which also appears in the reference manual.
Copies of Emacs may sometimes be received packaged with dis-
tributions of Unix systems, but it is never included in the
scope of any license covering those systems. Such inclusion
violates the terms on which distribution is permitted. In
fact, the primary purpose of the General Public License is
to prohibit anyone from attaching any other restrictions to
redistribution of Emacs.
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Richard Stallman encourages you to improve and extend Emacs,
and urges that you contribute your extensions to the GNU
library. Eventually GNU (Gnu's Not Unix) will be a complete
replacement for Berkeley Unix. Everyone will be able to use
the GNU system for free.
AUTHORS
Emacs was written by Richard Stallman and the Free Software
Foundation. Joachim Martillo and Robert Krawitz added the X
features.
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