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       emacs - GNU project Emacs
 

SYNOPSIS

       emacs [ command-line switches ] [ files ...  ]
 

DESCRIPTION

       GNU  Emacs is a version of Emacs, written by the author of
       the original (PDP-10) Emacs, Richard Stallman.
       The primary documentation of GNU Emacs is in the GNU Emacs
       Manual, which you can read on line using Info, a subsystem
       of Emacs.  Please look there for complete  and  up-to-date
       documentation.  This man page is updated only when someone
       volunteers to do so; the Emacs maintainers' priority  goal
       is to minimize the amount of time this man page takes away
       from other more useful projects.
       The user functionality of GNU Emacs 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
       windows 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  funda­
       mentals  of  Emacs in a few minutes.  Help Apropos (CTRL-h
       a) helps you find a command given its functionality,  Help
       Character (CTRL-h c) describes a given character's effect,
       and Help Function (CTRL-h f) describes a given Lisp  func­
       tion specified by name.
 
       Emacs's  Undo  can  undo  several steps of modification to
       your buffers, so it is easy to recover from  editing  mis­
       takes.
 
       GNU  Emacs's  many  special  packages  handle mail reading
       (RMail) and sending  (Mail),  outline  editing  (Outline),
       compiling  (Compile),  running subshells within Emacs win­
       dows (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 fea­
       tures fairly rapidly by studying the  tutorial  and  using
       the self-documentation features.
 
       Emacs Options
 
       The following options are of general interest:
 
       file    Edit file.
 

       -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 argu­
               ment 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  Edit in batch mode.  The editor will send messages
               to  stderr.   This option must be the first in the
               argument list.  You must use -l and -f options  to
               specify files to execute and functions to call.
 
       -kill   Exit Emacs while in batch mode.
 
       Using Emacs with X
 
       Emacs  has  been  tailored  to work well with the X window
       system.  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.
 
       Emacs can be started with the following X switches:
 
       -name name
               Specifies the name which should be assigned to the
               initial Emacs window.  This controls looking up  X
               resources as well as the window title.
 
       -title name
               Specifies the title for the initial X window.
 
       -r      Display the Emacs window in reverse video.
 
       -i      Use the "kitchen sink" bitmap icon when iconifying
               the Emacs window.
 
       -font font, -fn font
               Set the Emacs window's font to that  specified  by
               will only accept fixed width fonts.  Under the X11
               Release 4 font-naming conventions, any  font  with
               the  value "m" or "c" in the eleventh field of the
               font name is a  fixed  width  font.   Furthermore,
               fonts  whose name are of the form widthxheight are
               generally fixed width, as is the font fixed.   See
               xlsfonts(1) for more information.
 
               When  you  specify  a font, be sure to put a space
               between the switch and the font name.
 
       -b pixels
               Set the Emacs window's border width to the  number
               of  pixels  specified  by pixels.  Defaults to one
               pixel on each side of the window.
 
       -ib pixels
               Set the window's internal border width to the num­
               ber  of  pixels  specified by pixels.  Defaults to
               one pixel of padding on each side of the window.
 
       -geometry geometry
               Set the Emacs window's width, height, and position
               as  specified.   The  geometry specification is in
               the standard X format; see X(1) for more  informa­
               tion.  The width and height are specified in char­
               acters; the default is 80 by 24.
 
       -fg color
               On color displays, sets the color of the text.
 
               See the file /usr/lib/X11/rgb.txt for  a  list  of
               valid color names.
 
       -bg color
               On  color displays, sets the color of the window's
               background.
 
       -bd color
               On color displays, sets the color of the  window's
               border.
 
       -cr color
               On  color displays, sets the color of the window's
               text cursor.
 
       -ms color
               On color displays, sets the color of the  window's
               mouse cursor.
 
               Create  the  Emacs window on the display specified
               by displayname.  Must be the first  option  speci­
               fied 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(1)  window,  display is done in that window.
               This must be the first  option  specified  in  the
               command line.
 
       You  can  set  X  default values for your Emacs windows in
       your .Xresources file (see xrdb(1)).   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:
 
       font (class Font)
               Sets the window's text font.
 
       reverseVideo (class ReverseVideo)
               If reverseVideo's value is set to on,  the  window
               will be displayed in reverse video.
 
       bitmapIcon (class BitmapIcon)
               If  bitmapIcon's  value  is  set to on, the window
               will iconify into the "kitchen sink."
 
       borderWidth (class BorderWidth)
               Sets the window's border width in pixels.
 
       internalBorder (class BorderWidth)
               Sets the window's internal border width in pixels.
 
       foreground (class Foreground)
               For  color displays, sets the window's text color.
 
       background (class Background)
               For color displays, sets the  window's  background
               color.
 
       borderColor (class BorderColor)
               For color displays, sets the color of the window's
               border.
 
       cursorColor (class Foreground)
               For color displays, sets the color of the window's
               text cursor.
 
       pointerColor (class Foreground)
 
       geometry (class Geometry)
               Sets  the  geometry  of  the  Emacs   window   (as
               described above).
 
       title (class Title)
               Sets the title of the Emacs window.
 
       iconName (class Title)
               Sets the icon name for the Emacs window icon.
 
       If  you  try  to  set color values while using a black and
       white display, the window's characteristics  will  default
       as follows: the foreground color will be set to black, the
       background 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  mouse  button  bindings  for  the
       Emacs window under X11.
 
       MOUSE BUTTON         FUNCTION
       left                 Set point.
       middle               Paste text.
       right                Cut text into X cut buffer.
       SHIFT-middle         Cut text into X cut buffer.
       SHIFT-right          Paste text.
       CTRL-middle          Cut  text  into X cut buffer and kill
                            it.
       CTRL-right           Select this  window,  then  split  it
                            into  two  windows.   Same  as typing
                            CTRL-x 2.
       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 can­
                            cel.
       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 from
       the Free Software Foundation, which develops GNU software.
       See the file ORDERS for ordering information.
       Your  local Emacs maintainer might also have copies avail­
       able.  As with all software  and  publications  from  FSF,
       included in the Emacs source distribution.
 

FILES

       /usr/local/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 reference manual is included in  a  convenient  tree
       structured form.
 
       /usr/local/share/emacs/$VERSION/src  -  C source files and
       object files
 
       /usr/local/share/emacs/$VERSION/lisp - Lisp  source  files
       and  compiled  files  that  define  most editing commands.
       Some are preloaded; others are autoloaded from this direc­
       tory when used.
 
       /usr/local/share/emacs/$VERSION/etc   -  various  programs
       that are used with GNU Emacs, and some files  of  informa­
       tion.
 
       /usr/local/share/emacs/$VERSION/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/local/share/emacs/$VERSION/etc/OTHER.EMACSES     dis­
       cusses GNU Emacs vs. other versions of Emacs.
       /usr/local/share/emacs/$VERSION/etc/SERVICE  lists  people
       offering various services to assist users  of  GNU  Emacs,
       including  education,  troubleshooting,  porting  and cus­
       tomization.
       These files also have information useful to anyone wishing
       to  write  programs  in the Emacs Lisp extension language,
       which has not yet been fully documented.
 
       /usr/local/com/emacs/lock - holds lock files that are made
       for all files being modified in Emacs, to prevent simulta­
       neous modification of one file by two users.
 
       /usr/lib/X11/rgb.txt - list of valid X color names.
 

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  sys­
       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 assis­
       tance, 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 mail­
       ing 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/local/emacs/etc/MAILINGLISTS.  Bugs tend actually  to
       be  fixed if they can be isolated, so it is in your inter­
       est to report them in such a way that they can  be  easily
       reproduced.
 
       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
       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 Emacs.
 
       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 free to use, copy, study and change the GNU system.
 

SEE ALSO

       X(1), xlsfonts(1), xterm(1), xrdb(1)
 

AUTHORS

       Emacs  was  written by Richard Stallman and the Free Soft­
       ware Foundation.   Joachim  Martillo  and  Robert  Krawitz
       added the X features.
 

   

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