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1 .\" See section COPYING for copyright and redistribution information.
2 .TH EMACS 1 "2007 April 13" "GNU Emacs 24.0.91"
3 .
4 .
5 .SH NAME
6 emacs \- GNU project Emacs
7 .
8 .
9 .SH SYNOPSIS
10 .B emacs
11 [
12 .I command-line switches
13 ] [
14 .I files ...\&
15 ]
16 .
17 .
18 .SH DESCRIPTION
19 .I GNU Emacs
20 is a version of
21 .IR Emacs ,
22 written by the author of the original (PDP-10)
23 .IR Emacs ,
24 Richard Stallman.
25 The user functionality of GNU Emacs encompasses everything other
26 editors do, and it is easily extensible since its editing commands are
27 written in Lisp.
28 .PP
29 The primary documentation of GNU Emacs is in the GNU Emacs Manual,
30 which you can read using Info, either from Emacs or as a standalone
31 program.
32 Please look there for complete and up-to-date documentation.
33 This man page is updated only when someone volunteers to do so.
34 .PP
35 .I Emacs
36 has an extensive interactive help facility,
37 but the facility assumes that you know how to manipulate
38 .I Emacs
39 windows and buffers.
40 CTRL-h or F1 enters the Help facility.
41 Help Tutorial (CTRL-h t) starts an interactive tutorial to quickly
42 teach beginners the fundamentals of
43 .I Emacs.
44 Help Apropos (CTRL-h a) helps you find a command with a name matching
45 a given pattern, Help Key (CTRL-h k) describes a given key sequence,
46 and Help Function (CTRL-h f) describes a given Lisp function.
47 .PP
48 .IR "GNU Emacs" 's
49 many special packages handle mail reading (RMail) and sending (Mail),
50 outline editing (Outline), compiling (Compile), running subshells
51 within
52 .I Emacs
53 windows (Shell), running a Lisp read-eval-print loop
54 (Lisp-Interaction-Mode), automated psychotherapy (Doctor), and much more.
55 .
56 .SS Emacs Options
57 The following options are of general interest:
58 .RS
59 .TP 8
60 .I file
61 Edit
62 .IR file .
63 .TP
64 .BI \-\-file " file\fR,\fP " \-\-find-file " file\fR,\fP " \-\-visit " file"
65 The same as specifying
66 .I file
67 directly as an argument.
68 .TP
69 .BI + number
70 Go to the line specified by
71 .I number
72 (do not insert a space between the "+" sign and
73 the number).
74 This applies only to the next file specified.
75 .TP
76 .BI + line:column
77 Go to the specified
78 .I line
79 and
80 .IR column .
81 .TP
82 .BR \-q ", " \-\-no\-init\-file
83 Do not load an init file.
84 .TP
85 .B \-\-no\-site\-file
86 Do not load the site-wide startup file.
87 .TP
88 .B \-\-no\-desktop
89 Do not load a saved desktop.
90 .TP
91 .BR \-Q ", " \-\-quick
92 Similar to "\-q \-\-no\-site\-file \-\-no\-splash". Also, avoid
93 processing X resources.
94 .TP
95 .B \-\-no\-splash
96 Do not display a splash screen during start-up.
97 .TP
98 .B \-\-debug\-init
99 Enable
100 .I Emacs
101 Lisp debugger during the processing of the user init file
102 .BR ~/.emacs .
103 This is useful for debugging problems in the init file.
104 .TP
105 .BI \-u " user\fR,\fP " \-\-user " user"
106 Load
107 .IR user 's
108 init file.
109 .TP
110 .BI \-t " file\fR,\fP " \-\-terminal " file"
111 Use specified
112 .I file
113 as the terminal instead of using stdin/stdout.
114 This must be the first argument specified in the command line.
115 .TP
116 .B \-\-daemon
117 Start Emacs as a daemon, enabling the Emacs server and disconnecting
118 from the terminal. You can then use the emacsclient command to
119 connect to the server (see
120 .BR emacsclient (1)).
121 .TP
122 .B \-\-version
123 Display
124 .I Emacs
125 version information and exit.
126 .TP
127 .B \-\-help
128 Display this help and exit.
129 .RE
130 .PP
131 The following options are Lisp-oriented
132 (these options are processed in the order encountered):
133 .RS
134 .TP 8
135 .BI \-f " function\fR,\fP " \-\-funcall " function"
136 Execute the lisp function
137 .IR function .
138 .TP
139 .BI \-l " file\fR,\fP " \-\-load " file"
140 Load the lisp code in the file
141 .IR file .
142 .TP
143 .BI \-\-eval " expr\fR,\fP " \-\-execute " expr"
144 Evaluate the Lisp expression
145 .IR expr .
146 .RE
147 .PP
148 The following options are useful when running
149 .I Emacs
150 as a batch editor:
151 .RS
152 .TP 8
153 .B \-\-batch
154 Edit in batch mode.
155 The editor will send messages to stderr.
156 You must use \-l and \-f options to specify files to execute
157 and functions to call.
158 .TP
159 .BI \-\-script " file"
160 Run
161 .I file
162 as an Emacs Lisp script.
163 .TP
164 .BI \-\-insert " file"
165 Insert contents of
166 .I file
167 into the current buffer.
168 .TP
169 .B \-\-kill
170 Exit
171 .I Emacs
172 while in batch mode.
173 .TP
174 .BI \-L " dir\fR,\fP " \-\-directory " dir"
175 Add
176 .I dir
177 to the list of directories
178 .I Emacs
179 searches for Lisp files.
180 .RE
181 .
182 .\" START DELETING HERE IF YOU'RE NOT USING X
183 .SS Using Emacs with X
184 .I Emacs
185 has been tailored to work well with the X window system.
186 If you run
187 .I Emacs
188 from under X windows, it will create its own X window to
189 display in.
190 You will probably want to start the editor as a background
191 process so that you can continue using your original window.
192 .PP
193 .I Emacs
194 can be started with the following X switches:
195 .RS
196 .TP 8
197 .BI \-\-name " name"
198 Specify the name which should be assigned to the initial
199 .I Emacs
200 window.
201 This controls looking up X resources as well as the window title.
202 .TP
203 .BI \-T " name\fR,\fP " \-\-title " name"
204 Specify the title for the initial X window.
205 .TP
206 .BR \-r ", " \-rv ", " \-\-reverse\-video
207 Display the
208 .I Emacs
209 window in reverse video.
210 .TP
211 .BI \-fn " font\fR,\fP " \-\-font " font"
212 Set the
213 .I Emacs
214 window's font to that specified by
215 .IR font .
216 You will find the various
217 .I X
218 fonts in the
219 .I /usr/lib/X11/fonts
220 directory.
221 Note that
222 .I Emacs
223 will only accept fixed width fonts.
224 Under the X11 Release 4 font-naming conventions, any font with the
225 value "m" or "c" in the eleventh field of the font name is a fixed
226 width font.
227 Furthermore, fonts whose name are of the form
228 .IR width x height
229 are generally fixed width, as is the font
230 .IR fixed .
231 See
232 .BR xlsfonts (1)
233 for more information.
235 When you specify a font, be sure to put a space between the
236 switch and the font name.
237 .TP
238 .BI \-\-xrm " resources"
239 Set additional X resources.
240 .TP
241 .BI "\-\-color\fR,\fP \-\-color=" mode
242 Override color mode for character terminals;
243 .I mode
244 defaults to `auto', and can also be `never', `auto', `always',
245 or a mode name like `ansi8'.
246 .TP
247 .BI \-bw " pixels\fR,\fP " \-\-border\-width " pixels"
248 Set the
249 .I Emacs
250 window's border width to the number of pixels specified by
251 .IR pixels .
252 Defaults to one pixel on each side of the window.
253 .TP
254 .BI \-ib " pixels\fR,\fP " \-\-internal\-border " pixels"
255 Set the window's internal border width to the number of pixels specified
256 by
257 .IR pixels .
258 Defaults to one pixel of padding on each side of the window.
259 .TP
260 .BI \-g " geometry\fR,\fP " \-\-geometry " geometry"
261 Set the
262 .I Emacs
263 window's width, height, and position as specified.
264 The geometry specification is in the standard X format; see
265 .BR X (7)
266 for more information.
267 The width and height are specified in characters; the default is
268 80 by 24.
269 See the Emacs manual, section "Options for Window Size and Position",
270 for information on how window sizes interact
271 with selecting or deselecting the tool bar and menu bar.
272 .TP
273 .BI \-lsp " pixels\fR,\fP " \-\-line\-spacing " pixels"
274 Additional space to put between lines.
275 .TP
276 .BR \-vb ", " \-\-vertical\-scroll\-bars
277 Enable vertical scrollbars.
278 .TP
279 .BR \-fh ", " \-\-fullheight
280 Make the first frame as high as the screen.
281 .TP
282 .BR \-fs ", " \-\-fullscreen
283 Make the first frame fullscreen.
284 .TP
285 .BR \-fw ", " \-\-fullwidth
286 Make the first frame as wide as the screen.
287 .TP
288 .BR \-mm ", " \-\-maximized
289 Maximize the first frame, like "\-fw \-fh".
290 .TP
291 .BI \-fg " color\fR,\fP " \-\-foreground\-color " color"
292 On color displays, set the color of the text.
294 Use the command
295 .I M\-x list\-colors\-display
296 for a list of valid color names.
297 .TP
298 .BI \-bg " color\fR,\fP " \-\-background\-color " color"
299 On color displays, set the color of the window's background.
300 .TP
301 .BI \-bd " color\fR,\fP " \-\-border\-color " color"
302 On color displays, set the color of the window's border.
303 .TP
304 .BI \-cr " color\fR,\fP " \-\-cursor\-color " color"
305 On color displays, set the color of the window's text cursor.
306 .TP
307 .BI \-ms " color\fR,\fP " \-\-mouse\-color " color"
308 On color displays, set the color of the window's mouse cursor.
309 .TP
310 .BI \-d " displayname\fR,\fP " \-\-display " displayname"
311 Create the
312 .I Emacs
313 window on the display specified by
314 .IR displayname .
315 Must be the first option specified in the command line.
316 .TP
317 .BR \-nbi ", " \-\-no\-bitmap\-icon
318 Do not use picture of gnu for Emacs icon.
319 .TP
320 .B \-\-iconic
321 Start
322 .I Emacs
323 in iconified state.
324 .TP
325 .BR \-nbc ", " \-\-no\-blinking\-cursor
326 Disable blinking cursor.
327 .TP
328 .BR \-nw ", " \-\-no\-window\-system
329 Tell
330 .I Emacs
331 not to create a graphical frame.
332 If you use this switch when invoking
333 .I Emacs
334 from an
335 .BR xterm (1)
336 window, display is done in that window.
337 .TP
338 .BR \-D ", " \-\-basic\-display
339 This option disables many display features; use it for
340 debugging Emacs.
341 .RE
342 .PP
343 You can set
344 .I X
345 default values for your
346 .I Emacs
347 windows in your
348 .I \.Xresources
349 file (see
350 .BR xrdb (1)).
351 Use the following format:
352 .IP
353 .RI emacs. keyword : value
354 .PP
355 where
356 .I value
357 specifies the default value of
358 .IR keyword .
359 .I Emacs
360 lets you set default values for the following keywords:
361 .RS
362 .TP 8
363 .BR background " (class " Background )
364 For color displays,
365 sets the window's background color.
366 .TP
367 .BR bitmapIcon " (class " BitmapIcon )
368 If
369 .BR bitmapIcon 's
370 value is set to
371 .IR on ,
372 the window will iconify into the "kitchen sink."
373 .TP
374 .BR borderColor " (class " BorderColor )
375 For color displays,
376 sets the color of the window's border.
377 .TP
378 .BR borderWidth " (class " BorderWidth )
379 Sets the window's border width in pixels.
380 .TP
381 .BR cursorColor " (class " Foreground )
382 For color displays,
383 sets the color of the window's text cursor.
384 .TP
385 .BR cursorBlink " (class " CursorBlink )
386 Specifies whether to make the cursor blink.
387 The default is
388 .IR on .
389 Use
390 .I off
391 or
392 .I false
393 to turn cursor blinking off.
394 .TP
395 .BR font " (class " Font )
396 Sets the window's text font.
397 .TP
398 .BR foreground " (class " Foreground )
399 For color displays,
400 sets the window's text color.
401 .TP
402 .BR fullscreen " (class " Fullscreen )
403 The desired fullscreen size.
404 The value can be one of
405 .IR fullboth ,
406 .IR maximized ,
407 .IR fullwidth ,
408 or
409 .IR fullheight ,
410 which correspond to the command-line options `\-fs', `\-mm', `\-fw',
411 and `\-fh', respectively.
412 Note that this applies to the initial frame only.
413 .TP
414 .BR geometry " (class " Geometry )
415 Sets the geometry of the
416 .I Emacs
417 window (as described above).
418 .TP
419 .BR iconName " (class " Title )
420 Sets the icon name for the
421 .I Emacs
422 window icon.
423 .TP
424 .BR internalBorder " (class " BorderWidth )
425 Sets the window's internal border width in pixels.
426 .TP
427 .BR lineSpacing " (class " LineSpacing )
428 Additional space ("leading") between lines, in pixels.
429 .TP
430 .BR menuBar " (class " MenuBar )
431 Gives frames menu bars if
432 .IR on ;
433 don't have menu bars if
434 .IR off .
435 See the Emacs manual, sections "Lucid Resources" and "LessTif
436 Resources", for how to control the appearance of the menu bar
437 if you have one.
438 .TP
439 .BR minibuffer " (class " Minibuffer )
440 If
441 .IR none ,
442 don't make a minibuffer in this frame.
443 It will use a separate minibuffer frame instead.
444 .TP
445 .BR paneFont " (class " Font )
446 Font name for menu pane titles, in non-toolkit versions of
447 .IR Emacs .
448 .TP
449 .BR pointerColor " (class " Foreground )
450 For color displays,
451 sets the color of the window's mouse cursor.
452 .TP
453 .BR privateColormap " (class " PrivateColormap )
454 If
455 .IR on ,
456 use a private color map, in the case where the "default
457 visual" of class
458 .B PseudoColor
459 and
460 .B Emacs
461 is using it.
462 .TP
463 .BR reverseVideo " (class " ReverseVideo )
464 If
465 .BR reverseVideo 's
466 value is set to
467 .IR on ,
468 the window will be displayed in reverse video.
469 .TP
470 .BR screenGamma " (class "ScreenGamma )
471 Gamma correction for colors, equivalent to the frame parameter
472 `screen\-gamma'.
473 .TP
474 .BR scrollBarWidth " (class "ScrollBarWidth )
475 The scroll bar width in pixels, equivalent to the frame parameter
476 `scroll\-bar\-width'.
477 .TP
478 .BR selectionFont " (class " SelectionFont )
479 Font name for pop-up menu items, in non-toolkit versions of
480 .IR Emacs .
481 (For toolkit versions, see the Emacs manual, sections
482 "Lucid Resources" and "LessTif Resources".)
483 .TP
484 .BR selectionTimeout " (class " SelectionTimeout )
485 Number of milliseconds to wait for a selection reply.
486 A value of 0 means wait as long as necessary.
487 .TP
488 .BR synchronous " (class " Synchronous )
489 Run Emacs in synchronous mode if
490 .IR on .
491 Synchronous mode is useful for debugging X problems.
492 .TP
493 .BR title " (class " Title )
494 Sets the title of the
495 .I Emacs
496 window.
497 .TP
498 .BR toolBar " (class " ToolBar )
499 Number of lines to reserve for the tool bar.
500 .TP
501 .BR useXIM " (class " UseXIM )
502 Turns off use of X input methods (XIM) if
503 .I false
504 or
505 .IR off .
506 .TP
507 .BR verticalScrollBars " (class " ScrollBars )
508 Gives frames scroll bars if
509 .IR on ;
510 suppresses scroll bars if
511 .IR off .
512 .TP
513 .BR visualClass " (class " VisualClass )
514 Specify the "visual" that X should use.
515 This tells X how to handle colors.
516 The value should start with one of
517 .IR TrueColor ,
518 .IR PseudoColor ,
519 .IR DirectColor ,
520 .IR StaticColor ,
521 .IR GrayScale ,
522 and
523 .IR StaticGray ,
524 followed by
525 .BI \- depth\fR,\fP
526 where
527 .I depth
528 is the number of color planes.
529 .RE
530 .
531 .SH MANUALS
532 You can order printed copies of the GNU Emacs Manual from the Free
533 Software Foundation, which develops GNU software.
534 See the online store at <http://shop.fsf.org/>.
535 .br
536 Your local administrator might also have copies available.
537 As with all software and publications from FSF, everyone is permitted
538 to make and distribute copies of the Emacs manual.
539 The Texinfo source to the manual is also included in the Emacs source
540 distribution.
541 .
542 .
543 .SH FILES
544 /usr/local/share/info \(em files for the Info documentation browser.
545 The complete text of the Emacs reference manual is included in a
546 convenient tree structured form.
547 Also includes the Emacs Lisp Reference Manual, useful to anyone
548 wishing to write programs in the Emacs Lisp extension language,
549 and the Introduction to Programming in Emacs Lisp.
551 /usr/local/share/emacs/$VERSION/lisp \(em Lisp source files and
552 compiled files that define most editing commands.
553 Some are preloaded; others are autoloaded from this directory when
554 used.
556 /usr/local/libexec/emacs/$VERSION/$ARCH \(em various programs that are
557 used with GNU Emacs.
559 /usr/local/share/emacs/$VERSION/etc \(em various files of information.
561 /usr/local/share/emacs/$VERSION/etc/DOC.* \(em contains the documentation
562 strings for the Lisp primitives and preloaded Lisp functions
563 of GNU Emacs.
564 They are stored here to reduce the size of Emacs proper.
566 /usr/local/share/emacs/$VERSION/etc/SERVICE lists people offering
567 various services to assist users of GNU Emacs, including education,
568 troubleshooting, porting and customization.
569 .
570 .
571 .SH BUGS
572 There is a mailing list, bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org, for reporting Emacs
573 bugs and fixes.
574 But before reporting something as a bug, please try to be sure that
575 it really is a bug, not a misunderstanding or a deliberate feature.
576 We ask you to read the section ``Reporting Bugs'' in the Emacs manual
577 for hints on how and when to report bugs.
578 Also, include the version number of the Emacs you are running in
579 \fIevery\fR bug report that you send in.
580 Bugs tend actually to be fixed if they can be isolated, so it is
581 in your interest to report them in such a way that they can be
582 easily reproduced.
584 Do not expect a personal answer to a bug report.
585 The purpose of reporting bugs is to get them fixed for everyone
586 in the next release, if possible.
587 For personal assistance, look in the SERVICE file (see above) for
588 a list of people who offer it.
590 Please do not send anything but bug reports to this mailing list.
591 For more information about Emacs mailing lists, see the
592 file /usr/local/share/emacs/$VERSION/etc/MAILINGLISTS.
593 .
594 .
595 .SH UNRESTRICTIONS
596 .I Emacs
597 is free; anyone may redistribute copies of
598 .I Emacs
599 to anyone under the terms stated in the GNU General Public License,
600 a copy of which accompanies each copy of
601 .I Emacs
602 and which also
603 appears in the reference manual.
604 .PP
605 Copies of
606 .I Emacs
607 may sometimes be received packaged with distributions of Unix systems,
608 but it is never included in the scope of any license covering those
609 systems.
610 Such inclusion violates the terms on which distribution is permitted.
611 In fact, the primary purpose of the GNU General Public License is to
612 prohibit anyone from attaching any other restrictions to
613 redistribution of
614 .IR Emacs .
615 .PP
616 Richard Stallman encourages you to improve and extend
617 .IR Emacs ,
618 and urges that
619 you contribute your extensions to the GNU library.
620 Eventually GNU (Gnu's Not Unix) will be a complete replacement
621 for Unix.
622 Everyone will be free to use, copy, study and change the GNU system.
623 .
624 .
625 .SH SEE ALSO
626 .BR emacsclient (1),
627 .BR etags (1),
628 .BR X (7),
629 .BR xlsfonts (1),
630 .BR xterm (1),
631 .BR xrdb (1)
632 .
633 .
634 .SH AUTHORS
635 .I Emacs
636 was written by Richard Stallman and the Free Software Foundation.
637 For detailed credits and acknowledgements, see the GNU Emacs manual.
638 .
639 .
640 .
641 .SH COPYING
642 Copyright
643 .if t \(co
644 .if n (C)
645 1995, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008,
646 2009, 2010, 2011
647 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
648 .PP
649 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this
650 document provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are
651 preserved on all copies.
652 .PP
653 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of
654 this document under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that
655 the entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of
656 a permission notice identical to this one.
657 .PP
658 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this
659 document into another language, under the above conditions for
660 modified versions, except that this permission notice may be stated
661 in a translation approved by the Free Software Foundation.
662 .