XEMACS(1)XEMACS(1)NAMExemacs - Emacs: The Next Generation
SYNOPSISxemacs [ command-line switches ] [ files ... ]
DESCRIPTION
XEmacs is a version of Emacs, compatible with and contain
ing many improvements over GNU Emacs, written by Richard
Stallman of the Free Software Foundation. It was origi
nally based on an early release of GNU Emacs Version 19,
and has tracked subsequent releases of GNU Emacs as they
have become available.
The primary documentation of XEmacs is in the XEmacs Ref_
erence Manual, which you can read on-line using Info, a
subsystem of XEmacs. Please look there for complete and
up-to-date documentation. Complete documentation on using
Emacs Lisp is available on-line through the XEmacs Lisp
Programmer's Manual. Both manuals also can be printed out
nicely using the TeX formatting package.
The user functionality of XEmacs encompasses everything
other Emacs editors do, and it is easily extensible since
its editing commands are written in Lisp.
XEmacs has an extensive interactive help facility, but the
facility assumes that you know how to manipulate XEmacs
windows and buffers. CTRL-h enters the Help facility.
Help Tutorial (CTRL-h t) requests an interactive tutorial
which can teach beginners the fundamentals of XEmacs in a
few minutes. Help Apropos (CTRL-h a) helps you find a
command given its functionality, Help Key Binding (CTRL-h
k) describes a given key sequence's effect, and Help Func
tion (CTRL-h f) describes a given Lisp function specified
by name. You can also look up key sequences in the XEmacs
Reference Manual using Lookup Key Binding (CTRL-h CTRL-k),
and look up Lisp functions in the XEmacs Lisp Programmer's
Manual using Lookup Function (CTRL-h CTRL-f). All of
these help functions, and more, are available on the Help
menu if you are using a window system.
XEmacs has extensive GUI (graphical user interface) sup
port when running under a window system such as X, includ
ing multiple frames (top-level windows), a menubar, a
toolbar, horizontal and vertical scrollbars, dialog boxes,
and extensive mouse support.
XEmacs has full support for multiple fonts and colors,
variable-width fonts, and variable-height lines, and
allows for pixmaps to be inserted into a buffer. (This is
used in the W3 web-browsing package and in some of the
debugger and outlining interfaces, among other things.)
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XEmacs's Undo can undo several steps of modification to
your buffers, so it is easy to recover from editing mis
takes.
XEmacs's many special packages handle mail reading (VM,
MH-E and RMail) and sending (Mail), Usenet news reading
and posting (GNUS), World Wide Web browsing (W3), special
ized modes for editing source code in all common program
ming languages, syntax highlighting for many languages
(Font-Lock), compiling (Compile), running subshells within
XEmacs windows (Shell), outline editing (Outline), running
a Lisp read-eval-print loop (Lisp-Interaction-Mode), and
automated psychotherapy (Doctor).
There is an extensive reference manual, but users of other
Emacsen should have little trouble adapting even without a
copy. Users new to Emacs will be able to use basic fea
tures fairly rapidly by studying the tutorial and using
the self-documentation features.
XEmacs Options
XEmacs accepts all standard X Toolkit command line options
when run in an X Windows environment. In addition, the
following options are accepted (when options imply a
sequence of actions to perform, they are performed in the
order encountered):
-t file Use specified file as the terminal instead of
using stdin/stdout. This implies -nw.
-batch Edit in batch mode. The editor will send messages
to stdout. You must use the -l, -f, and -eval
options to specify files to execute and functions
to call.
-nw Inhibit the use of any window-system-specific dis
play code: use the current TTY.
-debug-init
Enter the debugger if an error occurs loading the
init file.
-unmapped
Do not map the initial frame.
-no-site-file
Do not load the site-specific init file (site-
start.el).
-q, -no-init-file
Do not load an init file.
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Do not process the early packages.
-vanilla
Load no extra files at startup. Equivalent to the
combination of -q , -no-site-file , and -no-early-
packages
-u user, -user user
Load user's init file.
file Edit file.
+number Go to the line specified by number (do not insert
a space between the "+" sign and the number).
-help Print a help message and exit.
-V, -version,
Print the version number and exit.
-f function, -funcall function
Execute the lisp function function.
-l file, -load file
Load the Lisp code in the file file.
-eval form
Evaluate the Lisp form form.
-i file, -insert file
Insert file into the current buffer.
-kill Exit XEmacs (useful with -batch).
Using XEmacs with X Windows
XEmacs has been tailored to work well with the X window
system. If you run XEmacs from under X windows, it will
create its own X window to display in.
XEmacs can be started with the following standard X
options:
-visual <visualname><bitdepth>
Select the visual that XEmacs will attempt to use.
<visualname> should be one of the strings "Static
Color", "TrueColor", "GrayScale", "PseudoColor" or
"DirectColor", and <bitdepth> should be the number
of bits per pixel (example, "-visual TrueColor24"
for a 24bit TrueColor visual) See X(1) for more
information.
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Require XEmacs to create and use a private colormap
for display. This will keep XEmacs from taking
colors from the default colormap and keeping them
from other clients, at the cost of causing annoying
flicker when the focus changes. Use this option
only if your X server does not support 24 bit visu
als.
-geometry ##x##+##+##
Specify the geometry of the initial window. The
##'s represent a number; the four numbers are width
(characters), height (characters), X offset (pix
els), and Y offset (pixels), respectively. Partial
specifications of the form ##x## or +##+## are also
allowed. (The geometry specification is in the
standard X format; see X(1) for more information.)
-iconic
Specifies that the initial window should initially
appear iconified.
-name name
Specifies the program name which should be used
when looking up defaults in the user's X
resources.
-title title, -T title, -wn title
Specifies the title which should be assigned to
the XEmacs window.
-d displayname, -display displayname
Create the XEmacs window on the display specified
by displayname. Must be the first option speci
fied in the command line.
-font font, -fn font
Set the XEmacs window's font to that specified by
font. You will find the various X fonts in the
/usr/lib/X11/fonts directory. XEmacs works with
either fixed- or variable-width fonts, but will
probably look better with a fixed-width font.
-scrollbar-width pixels
Specify the width of the vertical scrollbars.
-scrollbar-height pixels
Specify the height of the horizontal scrollbars.
-bw pixels, -borderwidth pixels
Set the XEmacs window's border width to the number
of pixels specified by pixels. Defaults to one
pixel on each side of the window.
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XEMACS(1)XEMACS(1)-ib pixels, -internal-border-width pixels
Specify the width between a frame's border and its
text, in pixels. Defaults to one pixel on each
side of the window.
-fg color, -foreground color
Sets the color of the text.
See the file /usr/lib/X11/rgb.txt for a list of
valid color names.
-bg color, -background color
Sets the color of the window's background.
-bd color, -bordercolor color
Sets the color of the window's border.
-mc color
Sets the color of the mouse pointer.
-cr color
Sets the color of the text cursor.
-rv, -reverse
Reverses the foreground and background colors
(reverse video). Consider explicitly setting the
foreground and background colors instead of using
this option.
-xrm argument
This allows you to set an arbitrary resource on
the command line. argument should be a resource
specification, as might be found in your .Xre_
sources or .Xdefaults file.
You can also set resources, i.e. X default values, for
your XEmacs windows in your .Xresources or .Xdefaults file
(see xrdb(1)). Use the following format:
Emacs.keyword:value
or
Emacs*EmacsFrame.keyword:value
where value specifies the default value of keyword. (Some
resources need the former format; some the latter.)
You can also set resources for a particular frame by using
the format
Emacs*framename.keyword:value
where framename is the resource name assigned to that
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particular frame. (Certain packages, such as VM, give
their frames unique resource names, in this case "VM".)
XEmacs lets you set default values for the following key
words:
default.attributeFont (class Face.AttributeFont)
Sets the window's text font.
default.attributeForeground (class Face.AttributeFore
ground)
Sets the window's text color.
default.attributeBackground (class Face.AttributeBack
ground)
Sets the window's background color.
face.attributeFont (class Face.AttributeFont)
Sets the font for face, which should be the name
of a face. Common face names are
FACE PURPOSE
default Normal text.
bold Bold text.
italic Italicized text.
bold-italic Bold and italicized text.
modeline Modeline text.
zmacs-region Text selected with the mouse.
highlight Text highlighted when the mouse
passes over.
left-margin Text in the left margin.
right-margin Text in the right margin.
isearch Text highlighted during incremen
tal search.
info-node Text of Info menu items.
info-xref Text of Info cross references.
face.attributeForeground (class Face.AttributeForeground)
Sets the foreground color for face.
face.attributeBackground (class Face.AttributeBackground)
Sets the background color for face.
face.attributeBackgroundPixmap (class Face.Attribute
BackgroundPixmap)
Sets the background pixmap (stipple) for face.
face.attributeUnderline (class Face.AttributeUnderline)
Whether face should be underlined.
reverseVideo (class ReverseVideo)
If set to on, the window will be displayed in
reverse video. Consider explicitly setting the
foreground and background colors instead of using
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this resource.
borderWidth (class BorderWidth)
Sets the window's border width in pixels.
internalBorderWidth (class InternalBorderWidth)
Sets the window's internal border width in pixels.
borderColor (class BorderColor)
Sets the color of the window's border.
cursorColor (class Foreground)
Sets the color of the window's text cursor.
pointerColor (class Foreground)
Sets the color of the window's mouse cursor.
emacsVisual (class EmacsVisual)
Sets the default visual XEmacs will try to use (as
described above).
privateColormap (class PrivateColormap)
If set, XEmacs will default to using a private
colormap.
geometry (class Geometry)
Sets the geometry of the XEmacs window (as
described above).
iconic (class Iconic)
If set to on, the XEmacs window will initially
appear as an icon.
menubar (class Menubar)
Whether the XEmacs window will have a menubar.
Defaults to true.
initiallyUnmapped (class InitiallyUnmapped)
Whether XEmacs will leave the initial frame
unmapped when it starts up.
barCursor (class BarCursor)
Whether the cursor should be a bar instead of the
traditional box.
title (class Title)
Sets the title of the XEmacs window.
iconName (class Title)
Sets the icon name for the XEmacs window icon.
scrollBarWidth (class ScrollBarWidth)
Sets the width of the vertical scrollbars, in pix
els. A width of 0 means no vertical scrollbars.
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scrollBarHeight (class ScrollBarHeight)
Sets the height of the horizontal scrollbars, in
pixels. A height of 0 means no horizontal scroll
bars.
scrollBarPlacement (class ScrollBarPlacement)
Sets the position of vertical and horizontal
scrollbars. Should be one of the strings "top-
left", "bottom-left", "top-right", or "bottom-
right". The default is "bottom-right" for the
Motif and Lucid scrollbars and "bottom-left" for
the Athena scrollbars.
topToolBarHeight (class TopToolBarHeight)
Sets the height of the top toolbar, in pixels. 0
means no top toolbar.
bottomToolBarHeight (class BottomToolBarHeight)
Sets the height of the bottom toolbar, in pixels.
0 means no bottom toolbar.
leftToolBarWidth (class LeftToolBarWidth)
Sets the width of the left toolbar, in pixels. 0
means no left toolbar.
rightToolBarWidth (class RightToolBarWidth)
Sets the width of the right toolbar, in pixels. 0
means no right toolbar.
topToolBarShadowColor (class TopToolBarShadowColor)
Sets the color of the top shadows for the tool
bars. (For all toolbars, not just the toolbar at
the top of the frame.)
bottomToolBarShadowColor (class BottomToolBarShadowColor)
Sets the color of the bottom shadows for the tool
bars. (For all toolbars, not just the toolbar at
the bottom of the frame.)
topToolBarShadowPixmap (class TopToolBarShadowPixmap)
Sets the pixmap of the top shadows for the tool
bars. (For all toolbars, not just the toolbar at
the top of the frame.) If set, this resource over
rides the corresponding color resource.
bottomToolBarShadowPixmap (class BottomToolBarShadow
Pixmap)
Sets the pixmap of the bottom shadows for the
toolbars. (For all toolbars, not just the toolbar
at the bottom of the frame.) If set, this resource
overrides the corresponding color resource.
toolBarShadowThickness (class ToolBarShadowThickness)
Thickness of the shadows around the toolbars, in
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pixels.
visualBell (class VisualBell)
Whether XEmacs should flash the screen rather than
making an audible beep.
bellVolume (class BellVolume)
Volume of the audible beep. Range is 0 through
100.
useBackingStore (class UseBackingStore)
Whether XEmacs should set the backing-store
attribute of the X windows it creates. This
increases the memory usage of the X server but
decreases the amount of X traffic necessary to
update the screen, and is useful when the connec
tion to the X server goes over a low-bandwidth
line such as a modem connection.
textPointer (class Cursor)
The cursor to use when the mouse is over text.
selectionPointer (class Cursor)
The cursor to use when the mouse is over a mouse-
highlighted text region.
spacePointer (class Cursor)
The cursor to use when the mouse is over a blank
space in a buffer (that is, after the end of a
line or after the end-of-file).
modeLinePointer (class Cursor)
The cursor to use when the mouse is over a mode
line.
gcPointer (class Cursor)
The cursor to display when a garbage-collection is
in progress.
scrollbarPointer (class Cursor)
The cursor to use when the mouse is over the
scrollbar.
pointerColor (class Foreground)
The foreground color of the mouse cursor.
pointerBackground (class Background)
The background color of the mouse cursor.
Using the Mouse
The following lists the mouse button bindings for the
XEmacs window under X11.
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MOUSE BUTTON FUNCTION
left Set point or make a text selection.
middle Paste text.
right Pop up a menu of options.
SHIFT-left Extend a selection.
CTRL-left Make a selection and insert it at
point.
CTRL-middle Set point and move selected text
there.
CTRL-SHIFT-left Make a selection, delete it, and
insert it at point.
META-left Make a rectangular selection.
FILES
Lisp code is read at startup from the user's init file,
$HOME/.emacs.
/usr/local/info - files for the Info documentation browser
(a subsystem of XEmacs) to refer to. The complete text of
the XEmacs Reference Manual and the XEmacs Lisp Program_
mer's Manual is included in a convenient tree structured
form.
/usr/local/lib/xemacs-$VERSION/info - the Info files may
be here instead.
/usr/local/lib/xemacs-$VERSION/lisp/* - Lisp source files
and compiled files that define most editing commands. The
files are contained in subdirectories, categorized by
function or individual package. Some are preloaded; oth
ers are autoloaded from these directories when used.
/usr/local/lib/xemacs-$VERSION/etc - some files of infor
mation, pixmap files, other data files used by certain
packages, etc.
/usr/local/lib/xemacs-$VERSION/$CONFIGURATION - various
programs that are used with XEmacs.
/usr/local/lib/xemacs-$VERSION/$CONFIGURATION/DOC - con
tains the documentation strings for the Lisp primitives
and preloaded Lisp functions of XEmacs. They are stored
here to reduce the size of XEmacs proper.
/usr/local/lib/xemacs/site-lisp - locally-provided Lisp
files.
BUGS AND HELP
There is a newsgroup, comp.emacs.xemacs, for reporting
XEmacs bugs and fixes and requesting help. 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
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XEmacs 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 XEmacs you are
running and the system you are running it on in every bug
report that you send in. Finally, the more you can iso
late the cause of a bug and the conditions it happens
under, the more likely it is to be fixed, so please take
the time to do so.
The newsgroup is bidirectionally gatewayed to and from the
mailing list xemacs@xemacs.org. You can read the list
instead of the newsgroup if you do not have convenient
Usenet news access. To request to be added to the mailing
list, send mail to xemacs-request@xemacs.org. (Do not send
mail to the list itself.)
The XEmacs maintainers read the newsgroup regularly and
will attempt to fix bugs reported in a timely fashion.
However, not every message will get a response from one of
the maintainers. Note that there are many people other
than the maintainers who read the newsgroup, and will usu
ally be of assistance in helping with any problems encoun
tered.
If you need more personal assistance than can be provided
by the newsgroup, look in the SERVICE file (see above) for
a list of people who offer it.
For more information about XEmacs mailing lists, see the
file /usr/local/lib/xemacs-$VERSION/etc/MAILINGLISTS.
UNRESTRICTIONS
XEmacs is free; anyone may redistribute copies of XEmacs
to anyone under the terms stated in the XEmacs General
Public License, a copy of which accompanies each copy of
XEmacs and which also appears in the reference manual.
Copies of XEmacs may sometimes be received packaged with
distributions 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 per
mitted. In fact, the primary purpose of the General Pub
lic License is to prohibit anyone from attaching any other
restrictions to redistribution of XEmacs.
SEE ALSOX(1), xlsfonts(1), xterm(1), xrdb(1), emacs(1), vi(1)AUTHORS
XEmacs was written by Steve Baur <steve@xemacs.org>, Mar
tin Buchholz <martin@xemacs.org>, Richard Mlynarik
<mly@adoc.xerox.com>, Hrvoje Niksic <hniksic@xemacs.org>,
Chuck Thompson <cthomp@xemacs.org>, Ben Wing
<ben@xemacs.org>, Jamie Zawinski <jwz@jwz.org>, and many
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others. It was based on an early version of GNU Emacs
Version 19, written by Richard Stallman <rms@gnu.org> of
the Free Software Foundation, and has tracked subsequent
releases of GNU Emacs as they have become available. It
was originally written by Lucid, Inc. (now defunct) and
was called Lucid Emacs.
Chuck Thompson wrote the XEmacs redisplay engine, main
tains the XEmacs FTP and WWW sites, and has put out all
releases of XEmacs since 19.11 (the first release called
XEmacs). Ben Wing wrote the Asian-language support, the
on-line documentation (including this man page and much of
the FAQ), the external widget code, and retooled or
rewrote most of the basic, low-level XEmacs subsystems.
Jamie Zawinski put out all releases of Lucid Emacs, from
the first (19.0) through the last (19.10), and was the
primary code contributor for all of these releases.
Richard Mlynarik rewrote the XEmacs Lisp-object allocation
system, improved the keymap and minibuffer code, and did
the initial synching of XEmacs with GNU Emacs Version 19.
Many others have also contributed significantly. For more
detailed information, including a long history of XEmacs
from multiple viewpoints and pretty pictures and bios of
the major XEmacs contributors, see the XEmacs About Page
(the About XEmacs option on the Help menu).
MORE INFORMATION
For more information about XEmacs, see the XEmacs About
Page (mentioned above), look in the file
/usr/local/lib/xemacs-$VERSION/etc/NEWS, or point your Web
browser at
http://www.xemacs.org/
for up-to-the-minute information about XEmacs.
The XEmacs FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) can be found
at the Web site just listed. A possibly out-of-date ver
sion is also accessible through the Info system inside of
XEmacs.
The latest version of XEmacs can be downloaded using
anonymous FTP from
ftp://ftp.xemacs.org/pub/xemacs/
or from a mirror site near you. Mirror sites are listed
in the file etc/FTP in the XEmacs distribution or see the
Web site for an up-to-date list of mirror sites.
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