\input texinfo.tex      @c -*- mode: texinfo; coding: iso-2022-8 -*-
@c %**start of header
@setfilename ../info/xemacs-faq.info
@settitle Frequently asked questions about XEmacs
@setchapternewpage off
@c %**end of header
@finalout
@titlepage
@title XEmacs FAQ
@subtitle Frequently asked questions about XEmacs @* Last Modified: $Date: 2006/05/16 15:36:16 $
@sp 1
@author Ben Wing <ben@@xemacs.org>
@author Tony Rossini <rossini@@u.washington.edu>
@author Chuck Thompson <cthomp@@xemacs.org>
@author Steve Baur <steve@@xemacs.org>
@author Andreas Kaempf <andreas@@sccon.com>
@author Christian Nyb@o{} <chr@@mediascience.no>
@author Sandra Wambold <wambold@@xemacs.org>
@page
@end titlepage

@ifinfo
@dircategory XEmacs Editor
@direntry
* FAQ: (xemacs-faq).            XEmacs FAQ.
@end direntry
@end ifinfo

@ignore
 *****************************************
 ***** To update the menus and nodes *****
 *****************************************

First, the first argument to @node (the name itself) needs to be correct.
Use a macro if necessary to update the @node names from the
@unnumberedsubsec commands.  Also note that the command we're about to
run will not correctly fix up the part of the menu to the right of a ::.
It will leave existing text in place but not change anything.  If you
make a lot of changes and want to update this semi-automatically, use
M-x occur to pick out all @unnumberedsubsec lines then do some editing
magic to coerce them into the right format and cut and paste as necessary:

1. M-x occur @unnumberedsubsec
2. <select a rectangle including all text before the Q#.#.#>
3. C-x r t *<space>
4. go to the top and use the following macro to get the indentation right.
 
(setq last-kbd-macro (read-kbd-macro
"C-s : RET : <right> M-x indent- to- column RET 14 RET <home> <down>"))

5. Cut and paste the menus into the detailmenu at the top and
   individual menus at the top of the appropriate chapters. (#### I
   wonder, does texinfo-master-menu generate the detailmenu from the
   individual menus or vice-versa or neither?)

Then,

6. C-u C-c C-u m (C-u M-x texinfo-master-menu) will update the menus
   and nodes.  However, it appears that even though it tries to
   preserve the existing menu structure as much as possible, it
   doesn't do a perfect job.  It messes up in at least two ways: The
   indentation in the part of the main menu above the detailmenu will
   be screwed up, and the #.0 titles will be removed from both the
   detailmenu and the individual chapter menus.  In addition,
   sometimes random things get screwed up in individual parts of the
   menus.  Therefore:

   1. Use the Lisp line below to get the spacing correct for the Q#.#.#
   menu entries.

(set (make-local-variable 'texinfo-column-for-description) 14)

   2. Copy the whole detailmenu beforehand.
   3. Run C-u C-c C-u m to fix up the nodes.
   4. Run `fix-main-menu' and `fix-omitted-menu-lines'.
   5. Check the new detailmenu carefully to see if anything is screwed up
      compared to the old detailmenu you copied.
   6. If so, paste back the appropriate sections and fix up the corresponding
      part of the chapter-specific menu.

(defun fix-main-menu ()
  (interactive)
  (save-restriction
    (let (p q)
      (goto-char (point-min))
      (re-search-forward "^@menu")
      (setq p (match-beginning 0))
      (re-search-forward "^$")
      (setq q (match-end 0))
      (narrow-to-region p q)
      (goto-char p)
      (while (search-forward "::  " nil t)
        (indent-to-column 26)))))

(defun fix-omitted-menu-lines ()
  (interactive)
  (save-excursion
    (loop for x from 1 to 10 do
      (goto-char (point-min))
      (re-search-forward (format "@unnumberedsec \\(%d.0: .*\\)" x))
      (let ((line (match-string 1)))
	(re-search-backward "^@menu")
	(forward-line 1)
	(unless (looking-at "[0-9]+.0:")
	  (insert line)
	  (insert "\n"))
	(goto-char (point-min))
	(re-search-forward "^@menu")
	(search-forward (format "Q%d.0.1:" x))
	(forward-line -1)
	(unless (looking-at "[0-9]+.0:")
	  (insert "\n")
	  (insert line))))))

 *****************************************
 *****            Other work         *****
 *****************************************

When you've rearranged and renumbered a bunch of nodes, you can get
the numbers agreeing again.  The macro below assumes that the
unnumberedsubsec number is correct, and fixes up the node to agree.
Only the first part of the node is fixed and the other parts may still
be wrong; but they will be fixed as part of
@code{texinfo-master-menu}.

(setq last-kbd-macro (read-kbd-macro
"<f1> unnumberedsubsec SPC RET C-s : RET <left> C-x C-x <f3> <home> <up> <C-right> <right> C-s , RET <left> C-x C-x <f4> <home> 2*<down>"))
@end ignore


@node Top, Introduction, (dir), (dir)
@top XEmacs FAQ

This is the guide to the XEmacs Frequently Asked Questions list---a
compendium of questions and answers pertaining to one of the finest
programs ever written.  XEmacs is much more than just a Text Editor.

This FAQ is freely redistributable.  This FAQ is distributed in the hope
that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the
implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

If you have a Web browser, the official hypertext version is at
@iftex
@*
@end iftex
@uref{http://www.xemacs.org/FAQ/xemacs-faq.html}

@ifset CANONICAL
@html
This document is available in several different formats:
@itemize @bullet
@item
@uref{xemacs-faq.txt, As a single ASCII file}, produced by
@code{makeinfo --no-headers}
@item
@uref{xemacs-faq.dvi, As a .dvi file}, as used with
@uref{http://www.tug.org, TeX.}
@item
As a PostScript file @uref{xemacs-faq-a4.ps, in A4 format},
as well as in @uref{xemacs-faq-letter.ps, letter format}
@item
In html format, @uref{xemacs-faq_1.html, split by chapter}, or in
@uref{xemacs-faq.html, one monolithic} document.
@item
The canonical version of the FAQ is the texinfo document
@uref{xemacs-faq.texi, man/xemacs-faq.texi}.
@item
If you do not have makeinfo installed, you may @uref{xemacs-faq.info,
download the faq} in info format, and install it in @file{<XEmacs
library directory>/info/}. For example in
@file{/usr/local/lib/xemacs-21.5/info/}.

@end itemize

@end html

@end ifset

@c end ifset points to CANONICAL

@menu
* Introduction::          Introduction, Policy, Credits.
* Installation::          Installation and Troubleshooting.
* Editing::               Editing Functions.
* Display::               Display Functions.
* External Subsystems::   Interfacing with the OS and External Devices.
* Internet::              Connecting to the Internet.
* Advanced::              Advanced Customization Using XEmacs Lisp.
* Other Packages::        Other External Packages.
* Current Events::        What the Future Holds.
* Legacy Versions::       New Information about Old XEmacsen.
* Bleeding Edge::         Working with XEmacs Source Code Repositories.

@detailmenu
 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---

1 Introduction, Policy, Credits

1.0: What is XEmacs?
* Q1.0.1::    What is XEmacs?
* Q1.0.2::    What is the current version of XEmacs?
* Q1.0.3::    How do you pronounce XEmacs?
* Q1.0.4::    What does XEmacs look like?
* Q1.0.5::    Who wrote XEmacs?
* Q1.0.6::    Who wrote the FAQ?

1.1: Getting XEmacs
* Q1.1.1::    Where can I find XEmacs?
* Q1.1.2::    Are binaries available?
* Q1.1.3::    How do I get the bleeding-edge sources?
* Q1.1.4::    Where can I obtain a printed copy of the XEmacs User's Manual?

1.2: Versions for Different Operating Systems
* Q1.2.1::    Do I need X11 to run XEmacs?
* Q1.2.2::    What versions of Unix does XEmacs run on?
* Q1.2.3::    Is there a port of XEmacs to Microsoft Windows?
* Q1.2.4::    Can I build XEmacs on MS Windows with X support?  Do I need to?
* Q1.2.5::    What are Cygwin and MinGW, and do I need them to run XEmacs?
* Q1.2.6::    What are the differences between the various MS Windows emacsen?
* Q1.2.7::    How does the port cope with differences in the Windows user interface?
* Q1.2.8::    Is there a port of XEmacs to the Macintosh?
* Q1.2.9::    Is there a port of XEmacs to MS-DOS?
* Q1.2.10::   Is there a port of XEmacs to OS/2?
* Q1.2.11::   Is there a port of XEmacs to NextStep?
* Q1.2.12::   Is there a port of XEmacs to VMS?

1.3: Getting Started
* Q1.3.1::    What is an @file{init.el} or @file{.emacs} and is there a sample one?
* Q1.3.2::    Where do I put my @file{init.el} file?
* Q1.3.3::    Can I use the same @file{init.el} with the other Emacs?
* Q1.3.4::    Any good XEmacs tutorials around?
* Q1.3.5::    May I see an example of a useful XEmacs Lisp function?
* Q1.3.6::    And how do I bind it to a key?
* Q1.3.7::    What's the difference between a macro and a function?
* Q1.3.8::    What is @code{Custom}?

1.4: Getting Help
* Q1.4.1::    Where can I get help?
* Q1.4.2::    Which mailing lists are there?
* Q1.4.3::    Where are the mailing lists archived?
* Q1.4.4::    How can I get two instances of info?
* Q1.4.5::    How do I add new Info directories?

1.5: Contributing to XEmacs
* Q1.5.1::    How do I submit changes to the FAQ?
* Q1.5.2::    How do I become a beta tester?
* Q1.5.3::    How do I contribute to XEmacs itself?
* Q1.5.4::    How do I get started developing XEmacs?
* Q1.5.5::    What's the basic layout of the code?

1.6: Politics (XEmacs vs. GNU Emacs)
* Q1.6.1::    What is GNU Emacs?
* Q1.6.2::    How does XEmacs differ from GNU Emacs?
* Q1.6.3::    How much does XEmacs differ?
* Q1.6.4::    Is XEmacs "GNU"?
* Q1.6.5::    What is the correct way to refer to XEmacs and GNU Emacs?
* Q1.6.6::    Why haven't XEmacs and GNU Emacs merged?

1.7: External Packages
* Q1.7.1::    What is the package system?
* Q1.7.2::    Which external packages are there?
* Q1.7.3::    Do I need to have the packages to run XEmacs? 
* Q1.7.4::    Is there a way to find which package has particular functionality?

1.8: Internationalization
* Q1.8.1::    What is the status of internationalization support aka MULE (including Asian language support)?
* Q1.8.2::    How can I help with internationalization?
* Q1.8.3::    How do I type non-ASCII characters?
* Q1.8.4::    Can XEmacs messages come out in a different language?
* Q1.8.5::    Please explain the various input methods in MULE/XEmacs
* Q1.8.6::    How do I portably code for MULE/XEmacs?
* Q1.8.7::    How about Cyrillic modes?
* Q1.8.8::    Does XEmacs support Unicode?
* Q1.8.9::    How does XEmacs display Unicode?

2 Installation and Troubleshooting

2.0: Installation (General)
* Q2.0.1::    How do I build and install XEmacs?
* Q2.0.2::    Where do I find external libraries?
* Q2.0.3::    How do I specify the paths that XEmacs uses for finding files?
* Q2.0.4::    Running XEmacs without installing
* Q2.0.5::    XEmacs is too big

2.1: Package Installation
* Q2.1.1::    How do I install the packages?
* Q2.1.2::    Can I install the packages individually?
* Q2.1.3::    Can I install the packages automatically?
* Q2.1.4::    Can I upgrade or remove packages?
* Q2.1.5::    Which packages to install?
* Q2.1.6::    Can you describe the package location process in more detail?
* Q2.1.7::    EFS fails with "500 AUTH not understood"

2.2: Unix/Mac OS X Installation (Also Relevant to Cygwin, MinGW)
* Q2.2.1::    Libraries in non-standard locations
* Q2.2.2::    Why can't I strip XEmacs?
* Q2.2.3::    X11/bitmaps/gray (or other X11-related file) not found.

2.3: Windows Installation (Windows, Cygwin, MinGW)
* Q2.3.1::    What exactly are all the different ways to build XEmacs under Windows?
* Q2.3.2::    What compiler/libraries do I need to compile XEmacs?
* Q2.3.3::    How do I compile the native port?
* Q2.3.4::    What do I need for Cygwin?
* Q2.3.5::    How do I compile under Cygwin?
* Q2.3.6::    How do I compile using MinGW (aka @samp{the -mno-cygwin flag to gcc})?
* Q2.3.7::    How do I compile with X support?
* Q2.3.8::    Cygwin XEmacs won't start -- cygXpm-noX4.dll was not found (NEW)

2.4: General Troubleshooting
* Q2.4.1::    How do I deal with bugs or with problems building, installing, or running?
* Q2.4.2::    Help!  XEmacs just crashed on me!
* Q2.4.3::    XEmacs crashes and I compiled it myself.
* Q2.4.4::    How to debug an XEmacs problem with a debugger
* Q2.4.5::    I get a cryptic error message when trying to do something.
* Q2.4.6::    XEmacs hangs when I try to do something.
* Q2.4.7::    I get an error message when XEmacs is running in batch mode.
* Q2.4.8::    The keyboard or mouse is not working properly, or I have some other event-related problem.
* Q2.4.9::    @kbd{C-g} doesn't work for me.  Is it broken?
* Q2.4.10::   How do I debug process-related problems?
* Q2.4.11::   XEmacs is outputting lots of X errors.
* Q2.4.12::   After upgrading, XEmacs won't do `foo' any more!

2.5: Startup-Related Problems
* Q2.5.1::    XEmacs cannot connect to my X Terminal!
* Q2.5.2::    Startup problems related to paths or package locations.
* Q2.5.3::    XEmacs won't start without network, or starts slowly.
* Q2.5.4::    Startup warnings about deducing proper fonts?
* Q2.5.5::    Warnings from incorrect key modifiers.
* Q2.5.6::    XEmacs 21.1 on Windows used to spawn an ugly console window on every startup.  Has that been fixed?
* Q2.5.7::    XEmacs issues messages about ``auto-autoloads already loaded.''

3 Editing Functions

3.0: The Keyboard
* Q3.0.1::    How can I customize the keyboard?
* Q3.0.2::    How can I bind complex functions (or macros) to keys?
* Q3.0.3::    How do I bind C-. and C-; to scroll one line up and down?
* Q3.0.4::    Globally binding @kbd{Delete}?
* Q3.0.5::    How to map @kbd{Help} key alone on Sun type4 keyboard?
* Q3.0.6::    How can you type in special characters in XEmacs?
* Q3.0.7::    Can I turn on @dfn{sticky} modifier keys?
* Q3.0.8::    How do I map the arrow keys?
* Q3.0.9::    HP Alt key as Meta.
* Q3.0.10::   Why does edt emulation not work?
* Q3.0.11::   How can I emulate VI and use it as my default mode?
* Q3.0.12::   Mac Alt/Option key as Meta.

3.1: The Mouse
* Q3.1.1::    How can I turn off Mouse pasting?
* Q3.1.2::    How do I set control/meta/etc modifiers on mouse buttons?
* Q3.1.3::    Clicking the left button does not do anything in buffer list.
* Q3.1.4::    How can I get a list of buffers when I hit mouse button 3?
* Q3.1.5::    How can I set XEmacs up so that it pastes where the text cursor is?

3.2: Buffers, Text Editing
* Q3.2.1::    Can I have the end of the buffer delimited in some way?
* Q3.2.2::    How do I insert today's date into a buffer?
* Q3.2.3::    How do I get a single minibuffer frame?
* Q3.2.4::    How can I enable auto-indent and/or Filladapt?
* Q3.2.5::    How can I get XEmacs to come up in text/auto-fill mode by default?

3.3: Text Selections
* Q3.3.1::    How do I select a rectangular region?
* Q3.3.2::    How can I turn off or change highlighted selections?
* Q3.3.3::    How do I cause typing on an active region to remove it?
* Q3.3.4::    Can I turn off the highlight during isearch?
* Q3.3.5::    Why is killing so slow?
* Q3.3.6::    Why does @kbd{M-w} take so long?

3.4: Editing Source Code
* Q3.4.1::    I do not like cc-mode.  How do I use the old c-mode?
* Q3.4.2::    How do you make XEmacs indent CL if-clauses correctly?

4 Display Functions

4.0: Textual Fonts and Colors
* Q4.0.1::    How do I specify a font?
* Q4.0.2::    How do I set the text, menu and modeline fonts?
* Q4.0.3::    How can I set color options from @file{init.el}?
* Q4.0.4::    How can I set the colors when highlighting a region?
* Q4.0.5::    How can I limit color map usage?
* Q4.0.6::    My tty supports color, but XEmacs doesn't use them.
* Q4.0.7::    Can I have pixmap backgrounds in XEmacs?
* Q4.0.8::    How do I display non-ASCII characters?
* Q4.0.9::    Font selections in don't get saved after @code{Save Options}.

4.1: Syntax Highlighting (Font Lock)
* Q4.1.1::    How can I do source code highlighting using font-lock?
* Q4.1.2::    How do I get @samp{More} Syntax Highlighting on by default?

4.2: The Modeline
* Q4.2.1::    How can I make the modeline go away?
* Q4.2.2::    How do you have XEmacs display the line number in the modeline?
* Q4.2.3::    How do I get XEmacs to put the time of day on the modeline?
* Q4.2.4::    How can I change the modeline color based on the mode used?

4.3: The Cursor
* Q4.3.1::    Is there a way to make the bar cursor thicker?
* Q4.3.2::    Is there a way to get back the block cursor?
* Q4.3.3::    Can I make the cursor blink?

4.4: The Menubar
* Q4.4.1::    How do I get rid of the menubar?
* Q4.4.2::    How can I customize the menubar?
* Q4.4.3::    How do I enable use of the keyboard (@kbd{Alt}) to access menu items?
* Q4.4.4::    How do I control how many buffers are listed in the menu @code{Buffers List}?
* Q4.4.5::    Resources like @code{Emacs*menubar*font} are not working?

4.5: The Toolbar
* Q4.5.1::    How do I get rid of the toolbar?
* Q4.5.2::    How can I customize the toolbar?
* Q4.5.3::    How can I bind a key to a function to toggle the toolbar?
* Q4.5.4::    @samp{Can't instantiate image error...} in toolbar

4.6: Scrollbars and Scrolling
* Q4.6.1::    How can I disable the scrollbar?
* Q4.6.2::    How can I change the scrollbar width?
* Q4.6.3::    How can I use resources to change scrollbar colors?
* Q4.6.4::    Moving the scrollbar can move the point; can I disable this?
* Q4.6.5::    Scrolling one line at a time.
* Q4.6.6::    How can I turn off automatic horizontal scrolling in specific modes?
* Q4.6.7::    I find auto-show-mode disconcerting.  How do I turn it off?

4.7: The Gutter Tabs, The Progress Bar, Widgets
* Q4.7.1::    How can I disable the gutter tabs?
* Q4.7.2::    How can I disable the progress bar?
* Q4.7.3::    There are bugs in the gutter or widgets.
* Q4.7.4::    How can I customize the gutter or gutter tabs?

5 Interfacing with the Operating System and External Devices

5.0: X Window System and Resources
* Q5.0.1::    Where is a list of X resources?
* Q5.0.2::    How can I detect a color display?
* Q5.0.3::    How can I get the icon to just say @samp{XEmacs}?
* Q5.0.4::    How can I have the window title area display the full path?
* Q5.0.5::    @samp{xemacs -name junk} doesn't work?
* Q5.0.6::    @samp{-iconic} doesn't work.
* Q5.0.7::    How can I use antialiased fonts under X11?

5.1: Microsoft Windows
* Q5.1.1::    Does XEmacs rename all the @samp{win32-*} symbols to @samp{w32-*}?
* Q5.1.2::    How do I get Windows Explorer to associate a file type with XEmacs?

5.2: Printing
* Q5.2.1::    What do I need to change to make printing work?
* Q5.2.2::    How can I print WYSIWYG a font-locked buffer?
* Q5.2.3::    Getting @kbd{M-x lpr} to work with postscript printer.
* Q5.2.4::    Can you print under MS Windows?

5.3: Sound
* Q5.3.1::    How do I turn off the sound?
* Q5.3.2::    How do I get funky sounds instead of a boring beep?
* Q5.3.3::    What are NAS and ESD (EsounD)?
* Q5.3.4::    Sunsite sounds don't play.

5.4: Running an Interior Shell, Invoking Subprocesses
* Q5.4.1::    What is an interior shell?
* Q5.4.2::    How do I start up a second shell buffer?
* Q5.4.3::    Telnet from shell filters too much
* Q5.4.4::    Strange things are happening in Shell Mode.
* Q5.4.5::    XEmacs complains "No such file or directory, diff"
* Q5.4.6::    Cygwin error "fork_copy: linked dll/bss pass 0 failed"

5.5: Multiple Device Support
* Q5.5.1::    How do I open a frame on another screen of my multi-headed display?
* Q5.5.2::    Can I really connect to a running XEmacs after calling up over a modem?  How?
* Q5.5.3::    How do I disable gnuserv from opening a new frame?
* Q5.5.4::    How do I start gnuserv so that each subsequent XEmacs is a client?
* Q5.5.5::    Is there a way to start a new XEmacs if there's no gnuserv running, and otherwise use gnuclient?

6 Connecting to the Internet

6.0: General Mail and News
* Q6.0.1::    What are the various packages for reading mail?
* Q6.0.2::    How can I send mail?
* Q6.0.3::    How do I get my outgoing mail archived?
* Q6.0.4::    How can I read and/or compose MIME messages?
* Q6.0.5::    How do I customize the From line?
* Q6.0.6::    How do I get my MUA to filter mail for me?
* Q6.0.7::    Remote mail reading with an MUA.
* Q6.0.8::    An MUA gets an error incorporating new mail.
* Q6.0.9::    Why isn't @file{movemail} working?
* Q6.0.10::   How do I make my MUA display graphical smilies?
* Q6.0.11::   How can I get those oh-so-neat X-Face lines?

6.1: Reading Mail with VM
* Q6.1.1::    How do I set up VM to retrieve mail from a remote site using POP?
* Q6.1.2::    How can I get VM to automatically check for new mail?
* Q6.1.3::    I have various addresses at which I receive mail.  How can I tell VM to ignore them when doing a "reply-all"?
* Q6.1.4::    Is there a mailing list or FAQ for VM?
* Q6.1.5::    How do I make VM stay in a single frame?
* Q6.1.6::    Customization of VM not covered in the manual, or here.

6.2: Reading Netnews and Mail with Gnus
* Q6.2.1::    GNUS, (ding) Gnus, Gnus 5, September Gnus, Red Gnus, Quassia Gnus, argh!
* Q6.2.2::    How do I make Gnus stay within a single frame?

6.3: FTP Access
* Q6.3.1::    Can I edit files on other hosts?
* Q6.3.2::    What is EFS?

6.4: Web Browsing with W3
* Q6.4.1::    What is W3?
* Q6.4.2::    How do I run W3 from behind a firewall?
* Q6.4.3::    Is it true that W3 supports style sheets and tables?

7 Advanced Customization Using XEmacs Lisp

7.0: Emacs Lisp and @file{init.el}
* Q7.0.1::    What version of Emacs am I running?
* Q7.0.2::    How can I evaluate Emacs-Lisp expressions?
* Q7.0.3::    @code{(setq tab-width 6)} behaves oddly.
* Q7.0.4::    How can I add directories to the @code{load-path}?
* Q7.0.5::    How to check if a lisp function is defined?
* Q7.0.6::    Can I force the output of @code{(face-list)} to a buffer?

7.1: Emacs Lisp Programming Techniques
* Q7.1.1::    What is the difference in key sequences between XEmacs and GNU Emacs?
* Q7.1.2::    Can I generate "fake" keyboard events?
* Q7.1.3::    Could you explain @code{read-kbd-macro} in more detail?
* Q7.1.4::    What is the performance hit of @code{let}?
* Q7.1.5::    What is the recommended use of @code{setq}?
* Q7.1.6::    What is the typical misuse of @code{setq}?
* Q7.1.7::    I like the @code{do} form of cl, does it slow things down?
* Q7.1.8::    I like recursion, does it slow things down?
* Q7.1.9::    How do I put a glyph as annotation in a buffer?
* Q7.1.10::   @code{map-extents} won't traverse all of my extents!
* Q7.1.11::   My elisp program is horribly slow.  Is there an easy way to find out where it spends time?

7.2: Mathematics
* Q7.2.1::    What are bignums, ratios, and bigfloats in Lisp?
* Q7.2.2::    XEmacs segfaults when I use very big numbers!
* Q7.2.3::    Bignums are really slow!
* Q7.2.4::    Equal bignums don't compare as equal!  What gives?

8 Other External Packages

8.0: TeX
* Q8.0.1::    Is there something better than LaTeX mode?
* Q8.0.2::    What is AUCTeX?  Where do you get it?
* Q8.0.3::    Problems installing AUCTeX.
* Q8.0.4::    How do I turn off current chapter from AUCTeX modeline?

8.1: Other Unbundled Packages
* Q8.1.1::    Is there a reason for an Emacs package not to be included in XEmacs?
* Q8.1.2::    Are there any Emacs Lisp Spreadsheets?
* Q8.1.3::    Is there a MatLab mode?

8.2: Environments Built Around XEmacs
* Q8.2.1::    What are SPARCworks, EOS, and WorkShop?
* Q8.2.2::    How do I start the Sun Workshop support in XEmacs 21?
* Q8.2.3::    What is/was Energize?
* Q8.2.4::    What is Infodock?

9 What the Future Holds

9.0: Changes
* Q9.0.1::    What new features will be in XEmacs soon?
* Q9.0.2::    What's new in XEmacs 21.4?
* Q9.0.3::    What's new in XEmacs 21.1?
* Q9.0.4::    What's new in XEmacs 20.4?
* Q9.0.5::    What's new in XEmacs 20.3?
* Q9.0.6::    What's new in XEmacs 20.2?

10 New information about old XEmacsen

10.0: XEmacs 21.1
* Q10.0.1::   Gnus 5.10 won't display smileys in XEmacs 21.1.
* Q10.0.2::   XEmacs won't start on Windows in XEmacs 21.1.

11 Working with XEmacs source code repositories

11.0: The XEmacs repositories
* Q11.0.1::   Where is the most recent XEmacs development code?
* Q11.0.2::   Where is the most recent XEmacs stable code?
* Q11.0.3::   Where is the most recent XEmacs package code?
* Q11.0.4::   Why isn't @var{package} available? and what to do about it.
* Q11.0.5::   How do I get commit access?

11.1: Working with CVS
* Q11.1.1::   How do I keep cool using CVS?

11.2: Working with Mercurial
* Q11.2.1::   What is Mercurial?
* Q11.2.2::   Where do I get Mercurial?
* Q11.2.3::   Do I really have to waste space on history?
* Q11.2.4::   @code{hg diff} gives bizarre output.
* Q11.2.5::   How do I recover from a bad commit?  (I already pushed.)
* Q11.2.6::   How do I recover from a bad commit?  (I haven't pushed yet.)
* Q11.2.7::   Testing patches with Mercurial Queues.

@end detailmenu
@end menu

@node Introduction, Installation, Top, Top
@unnumbered 1 Introduction, Policy, Credits

Learning XEmacs is a lifelong activity.  Even people who have used Emacs
for years keep discovering new features.  Therefore this document cannot
be complete.  Instead it is aimed at the person who is either
considering XEmacs for their own use, or has just obtained it and is
wondering what to do next.  It is also useful as a reference to
available resources.

The previous maintainer of the FAQ was
@email{rossini@@biostat.washington.edu, Anthony Rossini}, who started
it, after getting tired of hearing JWZ complain about repeatedly
having to answer questions.  @email{ben@@xemacs.org, Ben Wing} then
took over and did a massive update reorganizing the whole thing.  At
this point Anthony took back over, but then had to give it up again.
Some of the other contributors to this FAQ are listed later in this
document.

The previous version was converted to hypertext format, and edited by
@email{steve@@xemacs.org, Steven L. Baur}.  It was converted back to
texinfo by @email{hniksic@@xemacs.org, Hrvoje Niksic}.  The FAQ was then
maintained by @email{andreas@@sccon.com, Andreas Kaempf}, who passed it
on to ChristianNyb@o{}, and then to @email{wambold@@xemacs.org,Sandra Wambold}.

The current version of the FAQ has been heavily redone by
@email{ben@@xemacs.org, Ben Wing}.

If you notice any errors or items which should be added or amended to
this FAQ please send email to @email{xemacs-beta@@xemacs.org}.
Include @samp{XEmacs FAQ} on the Subject: line.

@menu
1.0: What is XEmacs?
* Q1.0.1::    What is XEmacs?
* Q1.0.2::    What is the current version of XEmacs?
* Q1.0.3::    How do you pronounce XEmacs?
* Q1.0.4::    What does XEmacs look like?
* Q1.0.5::    Who wrote XEmacs?
* Q1.0.6::    Who wrote the FAQ?

1.1: Getting XEmacs
* Q1.1.1::    Where can I find XEmacs?
* Q1.1.2::    Are binaries available?
* Q1.1.3::    How do I get the bleeding-edge sources?
* Q1.1.4::    Where can I obtain a printed copy of the XEmacs User's Manual?

1.2: Versions for Different Operating Systems
* Q1.2.1::    Do I need X11 to run XEmacs?
* Q1.2.2::    What versions of Unix does XEmacs run on?
* Q1.2.3::    Is there a port of XEmacs to Microsoft Windows?
* Q1.2.4::    Can I build XEmacs on MS Windows with X support?  Do I need to?
* Q1.2.5::    What are Cygwin and MinGW, and do I need them to run XEmacs?
* Q1.2.6::    What are the differences between the various MS Windows emacsen?
* Q1.2.7::    How does the port cope with differences in the Windows user interface?
* Q1.2.8::    Is there a port of XEmacs to the Macintosh?
* Q1.2.9::    Is there a port of XEmacs to MS-DOS?
* Q1.2.10::   Is there a port of XEmacs to OS/2?
* Q1.2.11::   Is there a port of XEmacs to NextStep?
* Q1.2.12::   Is there a port of XEmacs to VMS?

1.3: Getting Started
* Q1.3.1::    What is an @file{init.el} or @file{.emacs} and is there a sample one?
* Q1.3.2::    Where do I put my @file{init.el} file?
* Q1.3.3::    Can I use the same @file{init.el} with the other Emacs?
* Q1.3.4::    Any good XEmacs tutorials around?
* Q1.3.5::    May I see an example of a useful XEmacs Lisp function?
* Q1.3.6::    And how do I bind it to a key?
* Q1.3.7::    What's the difference between a macro and a function?
* Q1.3.8::    What is @code{Custom}?

1.4: Getting Help
* Q1.4.1::    Where can I get help?
* Q1.4.2::    Which mailing lists are there?
* Q1.4.3::    Where are the mailing lists archived?
* Q1.4.4::    How can I get two instances of info?
* Q1.4.5::    How do I add new Info directories?

1.5: Contributing to XEmacs
* Q1.5.1::    How do I submit changes to the FAQ?
* Q1.5.2::    How do I become a beta tester?
* Q1.5.3::    How do I contribute to XEmacs itself?
* Q1.5.4::    How do I get started developing XEmacs?
* Q1.5.5::    What's the basic layout of the code?

1.6: Politics (XEmacs vs. GNU Emacs)
* Q1.6.1::    What is GNU Emacs?
* Q1.6.2::    How does XEmacs differ from GNU Emacs?
* Q1.6.3::    How much does XEmacs differ?
* Q1.6.4::    Is XEmacs "GNU"?
* Q1.6.5::    What is the correct way to refer to XEmacs and GNU Emacs?
* Q1.6.6::    Why haven't XEmacs and GNU Emacs merged?

1.7: External Packages
* Q1.7.1::    What is the package system?
* Q1.7.2::    Which external packages are there?
* Q1.7.3::    Do I need to have the packages to run XEmacs? 
* Q1.7.4::    Is there a way to find which package has particular functionality?

1.8: Internationalization
* Q1.8.1::    What is the status of internationalization support aka MULE (including Asian language support)?
* Q1.8.2::    How can I help with internationalization?
* Q1.8.3::    How do I type non-ASCII characters?
* Q1.8.4::    Can XEmacs messages come out in a different language?
* Q1.8.5::    Please explain the various input methods in MULE/XEmacs
* Q1.8.6::    How do I portably code for MULE/XEmacs?
* Q1.8.7::    How about Cyrillic modes?
* Q1.8.8::    Does XEmacs support Unicode?
* Q1.8.9::    How does XEmacs display Unicode?
@end menu

@unnumberedsec 1.0: What is XEmacs?

@node Q1.0.1, Q1.0.2, Introduction, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.0.1: What is XEmacs?

XEmacs is a powerful, highly customizable open source text editor and
application development system, with full GUI support.  It is
protected under the GNU Public License and related to other versions
of Emacs, in particular GNU Emacs.  Its emphasis is on modern
graphical user interface support and an open software development
model, similar to Linux.  XEmacs has an active development community
numbering in the hundreds (and thousands of active beta testers on top
of this), and runs on all versions of MS Windows, on Mac OS X, on
Linux, and on nearly every other version of Unix in existence.
Support for XEmacs has been supplied by Sun Microsystems, University
of Illinois, Lucid, ETL/Electrotechnical Laboratory, Amdahl
Corporation, BeOpen, and others, as well as the unpaid time of a great
number of individual developers.

@node Q1.0.2, Q1.0.3, Q1.0.1, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.0.2: What is the current version of XEmacs?

XEmacs versions 21.4.* are releases made from the current stable
sources.  XEmacs versions 21.5.* (which will be released as 22.0) are
releases made from the development sources.  Check at
@uref{http://www.xemacs.org} for the current minor version.  XEmacs
versions 21.1.* were the previous stable releases, now retired.

XEmacs 20.4, released in February 1998, was the last release of v20.

XEmacs 19.16, released in November, 1997. was the last release of v19,
and was also the last version without international language support.

@node Q1.0.3, Q1.0.4, Q1.0.2, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.0.3: How do you pronounce XEmacs?

The most common pronunciation is @samp{Eks eemax}, @samp{Eks'im&ks} in
Kirshenbaum IPA. (See
@uref{http://www.kirshenbaum.net/IPA/ascii-ipa.pdf} if you know the IPA
already and want to know how to map from Kirshenbaum to it.)

@node Q1.0.4, Q1.0.5, Q1.0.3, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.0.4: What does XEmacs look like?

Screen snapshots are available at
@uref{http://www.xemacs.org/About/Screenshots/index.html}
as part of the XEmacs website.

@node Q1.0.5, Q1.0.6, Q1.0.4, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.0.5: Who wrote XEmacs?

XEmacs is the result of the time and effort of many people, and the
active developers have changed over time.  There are two major
components of the XEmacs effort -- writing the code itself and providing
all the support work (testing the code, releasing beta and final
versions, handling patches, reading bug reports, maintaining the web
site, managing the mailing lists, etc. etc.).  Neither component would
work without the other.

@subheading CODING

The primary code contributor over the years has been Ben Wing (active
since late 1992).  Between 1991 and 1995, large amounts of coding was
contributed by Jamie Zawinski and Chuck Thompson.  Many other people
have authored major subsystems or otherwise contributed large amounts of
code, including Andy Piper, Hrvoje Niksic, Jerry James, Jonathan Harris,
Kyle Jones, Martin Buchholz, Michael Sperber, Olivier Galibert, Richard
Mlynarik, Stig, William Perry and plenty of others.

Primary XEmacs-specific subsystems and their authors:

@table @asis
@item Objects
@itemize @minus
@item
Conversion from 26-bit to 28-bit pointers and integers, lrecords, lcrecords: Richard Mlynarik, 1994
@item
Conversion to 32-bit pointers and 31-bit integers: Kyle Jones, Martin Buchholz
@item
Portable dumper, object descriptions: Olivier Galibert
@item
KKCC (new garbage collector), ephemerons, weak boxes: Michael Sperber and students
@item
Random object work (object equal and hash methods, weak lists, lcrecord lists, bit vectors, dynarr, blocktype, opaque, string resizing): Ben Wing
@item
Profiling: Ben Wing
@item
Some byte-compilation and hash-table improvements: Martin Buchholz
@item
Bignum: Jerry James
@end itemize

@item Internationalization/Mule
@itemize @minus
@item
mostly Ben Wing; many ideas for future work, Stephen Turnbull
@end itemize

@item I/O
@itemize @minus
@item
Basic event/event-stream implementation: Jamie Zawinski
@item
Most event work since 1994: Ben Wing
@item
Asynchronous stuff (async timeouts, signals, quit-checking): Ben Wing
@item
Process method abstraction, Windows process work: Kirill Katsnelson
@item
Misc-user events, async timeouts, most quit-checking and signal code, most other work since 1994: Ben Wing
@item
Lstreams: Ben Wing
@end itemize

@item Display
@itemize @minus
@item
Redisplay mechanism: implementation, Chuck Thompson; additional work, lots of people
@item
Glyphs: mostly Ben Wing
@item
Specifiers: Ben Wing
@item
Extents: initial implementation, someone at Lucid; rewrite, 1994, Ben Wing
@item
Widgets: Andy Piper
@item
JPEG/PNG/TIFF image converters: Ben Wing, William Perry, Jareth Hein, others (see comment in @file{glyphs-eimage.c})
@item
Menus: Jamie Zawinski, someone at Lucid (Lucid menus)
@item
Scrollbars: Chuck Thompson, ??? (Lucid scrollbar)
@item
Multi-device/device-independence work (console/device/etc methods): Ben Wing, prototype by chuck thompson
@item
Faces: first implementation, Jamie Zawinski; second, chuck; third, Ben Wing
@item
Fonts/colors: first implementation, Jamie Zawinski; further work, Ben Wing
@item
Toolbars: implementation, chuck, much interface work, Ben Wing
@item
Gutters, tabs: andy piper
@end itemize

@item Device subsystems
@itemize @minus
@item
X Windows: Jamie Zawinski, Ben Wing, others
@item
GTK: William Perry, Malcolm Purvis
@item
MS Windows: initial implementation, Jonathan Harris; some more work, Andy Piper, Ben Wing
@item
TTY: Chuck Thompson, Ben Wing
@item
Cygwin: Andy Piper
@end itemize

@item Misc
@itemize @minus
@item
Configure: initial porting from fsf, Chuck Thompson; conversion to autoconf 2, much rewriting, Martin Buchholz
@item
Most initialization-related code: Ben Wing
@item
Internals manual, much of Lisp manual: Ben Wing
@item
FSF synching: initial sync with FSF 19, Richard Mlynarik, further work, Ben Wing
@end itemize
@end table

@subheading SUPPORT

Currently, support duties are handled by many different people.

Release managers have been

@itemize @minus
@item
Stephen Turnbull (April 2001 - January 2003, March 2004 - present, 21.2.47 - 21.4.12, 21.5.2 - 21.5.7, 21.5.17 - present)
@item
Vin Shelton (May 2003 - present, 21.4.13 - present)
@item
Steve Youngs (July 2002 - September 2003, 21.5.8 - 21.5.16)
@item
Martin Buchholz (December 1998, November 1999 - May 2001, 21.2.7 - 21.2.8, 21.2.21 - 21.2.46, 21.5.0 - 21.5.1)
@item
Steve Baur (early 1997 - December 1998, February 1999 - November 1999, 19.15 - 21.2.5, 21.2.9 - 21.2.20)
@item
Andy Piper (December 1998, 21.2.6)
@item
Chuck Thompson (June 1994 - September 1996, 19.11 - 19.14)
@item
Jamie Zawinski (April 1991 - June 1994, 19.0 - 19.10)
@end itemize

The recent overlapping dates are intentional, since two or three trees
are maintained simultaneously at any point.

Other major support work:

@itemize @minus
@item
Adrian Aichner wrote and maintains the web site.
@item
Stephen Turnbull has produced many of the beta and semi-stable releases
and has attempted to be the "face" of XEmacs on the newsgroups and
mailing lists.
@item
Steve Youngs currently produces the beta releases (???).
@item
Steve Youngs, Ville Skyttä, and now Norbert Koch have taken turns
maintaining the packages.
@item
Vin Shelton maintains the stable releases.
@item
Testing - #### Norbert, Adrian, ???
@end itemize

Portraits and email of some of the major developers:

@itemize @bullet
@item @email{andy@@xemacs.org, Andy Piper}
@html
<br><img src="piper.png" alt="Portrait of Andy Piper"><br>
@end html

@item @email{ben@@xemacs.org, Ben Wing}
@html
<br><img src="ben.png" alt="Portrait of Ben Wing"><br>
@end html

@item @email{cthomp@@xemacs.org, Chuck Thompson}
@html
<br><img src="cthomp.png" alt="Portrait of Chuck Thompson"><br>
@end html

@item @email{hniksic@@xemacs.org, Hrvoje Niksic}

@html
<br><img src="hniksic.png" alt="Portrait of Hrvoje Niksic"><br>
@end html

@item @email{jwz@@jwz.org, Jamie Zawinski}
@html
<br><img src="jwz.png" alt="Portrait of Jamie Zawinski"><br>
@end html

@item @email{martin@@xemacs.org, Martin Buchholz}
@html
<br><img src="martin.png" alt="Portrait of Martin Buchholz"><br>
@end html

@item @email{mly@@adoc.xerox.com, Richard Mlynarik}
@html
<br><img src="mly.png" alt="Portrait of Richard Mlynarik"><br>
@end html

@item @email{stephen@@xemacs.org, Stephen Turnbull}

@item @email{steve@@xemacs.org, Steve Baur}
@html
<br><img src="slb.png" alt="Portrait of Steve Baur"><br>
@end html
@end itemize

Many other people have contributed to XEmacs; this is partially
enumerated in the @samp{About XEmacs} option in the Help menu.

@node Q1.0.6, Q1.1.1, Q1.0.5, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.0.6: Who wrote the FAQ?

The current version of this FAQ was created by @email{ben@@xemacs.org,
Ben Wing}.

Previous contributors to the FAQ include

@itemize @bullet
@item @email{steve@@xemacs.org, SL Baur}

@item @email{hniksic@@xemacs.org, Hrvoje Niksic}

@item @email{binge@@aloft.att.com, Curtis.N.Bingham}

@item @email{bruncott@@dormeur.inria.fr, Georges Brun-Cottan}

@item @email{rjc@@cogsci.ed.ac.uk, Richard Caley}

@item @email{cognot@@ensg.u-nancy.fr, Richard Cognot}

@item @email{daku@@nortel.ca, Mark Daku}

@item @email{wgd@@martigny.ai.mit.edu, William G. Dubuque}

@item @email{eeide@@cs.utah.edu, Eric Eide}

@item @email{af@@biomath.jussieu.fr, Alain Fauconnet}

@item @email{cflatter@@nrao.edu, Chris Flatters}

@item @email{ginsparg@@adra.com, Evelyn Ginsparg}

@item @email{hall@@aplcenmp.apl.jhu.edu, Marty Hall}

@item @email{dkindred@@cmu.edu, Darrell Kindred}

@item @email{dmoore@@ucsd.edu, David Moore}

@item @email{arup+@@cmu.edu, Arup Mukherjee}

@item @email{nickel@@prz.tu-berlin.de, Juergen Nickelsen}

@item @email{powell@@csl.ncsa.uiuc.edu, Kevin R. Powell}

@item @email{dworkin@@ccs.neu.edu, Justin Sheehy}

@item @email{stig@@hackvan.com, Stig}

@item @email{Aki.Vehtari@@hut.fi, Aki Vehtari}
@end itemize

@unnumberedsec 1.1: Getting XEmacs

@node Q1.1.1, Q1.1.2, Q1.0.6, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.1.1: Where can I find XEmacs?

To download XEmacs, visit the XEmacs WWW page at
@uref{http://www.xemacs.org/Download/}.  The most up-to-date list of
distribution sites can always be found there.  Try to pick a site that
is networkologically close to you.  If you know of other mirrors of
the XEmacs archives, please send e-mail to
@uref{mailto:webmaster@@xemacs.org} and we will list them here as well.

The canonical distribution point is ftp.xemacs.org, available either
through HTTP (@uref{http://ftp.xemacs.org/}) or anonymous FTP
(@uref{ftp://ftp.xemacs.org/pub/xemacs/}).

@node Q1.1.2, Q1.1.3, Q1.1.1, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.1.2: Are binaries available?

MS Windows binaries are available at
@uref{http://www.xemacs.org/Download/win32/} for the native versions
of 21.4 and 21.1.  Cygwin binaries are now available as part of the
standard Cygwin installation process.  XEmacs also comes pre-built as
part of many Linux distributions, such as Red Hat and SuSE.

Otherwise, you will need to build XEmacs yourself or get your system
administrator to do it.  Generally, this is not a difficult process
under Unix and Mac OS X, as XEmacs has been tested under all of the
common Unix versions and under Mac OS X and comes with an extensive
configure script that is able to automatically detect most aspects of
the configuration of your particular system.

@node Q1.1.3, Q1.1.4, Q1.1.2, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.1.3: How do I get the bleeding-edge sources?

If you are interested in developing XEmacs, or getting the absolutely most
recent, up-to-the-moment, bleeding-edge source code, you can directly
access the master CVS source tree (read-only, of course, until you ask for
and are granted permission to directly modify portions of the source tree)
at cvs.xemacs.org.  Directions on how to access the source tree are located
at @uref{http://www.xemacs.org/Develop/cvsaccess.html}.

Nightly CVS snapshots are available at
@uref{http://www.dk.xemacs.org/Download/CVS-snapshots/}.

@node Q1.1.4, Q1.2.1, Q1.1.3, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.1.4: Where can I obtain a printed copy of the XEmacs User's Manual?

Pre-printed manuals are not available.  If you are familiar with
TeX, you can generate your own manual from the XEmacs sources.

HTML and Postscript versions of XEmacs manuals are available from the
XEmacs web site at
@uref{http://www.xemacs.org/Documentation/index.html}.

@unnumberedsec 1.2: Versions for Different Operating Systems

@node Q1.2.1, Q1.2.2, Q1.1.4, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.2.1: Do I need X11 to run XEmacs?

No.  The name @dfn{XEmacs} is unfortunate in the sense that it is
@strong{not} an X Window System-only version of Emacs.  XEmacs has
full color support on a color-capable character terminal.

@node Q1.2.2, Q1.2.3, Q1.2.1, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.2.2: What versions of Unix does XEmacs run on?

XEmacs is regularly tested on Linux, Solaris and OpenSolaris, HP/UX,
FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Cygwin, Mac OS X, and probably others.  It should work
on all versions of Unix created in the last 10 years or so, perhaps with
a bit of work on more obscure platforms to correct bit-rot.  It uses a
sophisticated configuration system to auto-detect zillions of features
that are implemented differently in different versions of Unix, so it
will probably work on your vendor's version, possibly with a bit of
tweaking, even if we've never heard of it.

For problems with particular machines and versions of Unix, see the
@file{PROBLEMS} file.

Much effort has gone into making XEmacs work on as many different
machines, configurations, and compilers as possible.

Much effort has gone into making XEmacs 64-bit clean.

Much effort has gone into removing system-specific code, and replacing
such code with autodetection at configure time.

The XEmacs core should build "out of the box" on most Unix-like systems.

XEmacs 21.2 was tested and @samp{make check} succeeded on these Unix
configurations as of 2001-02-10:

@example
alphaev56-dec-osf4.0e (both Compaq C and gcc)
i386-unknown-freebsd4.2
i386-unknown-netbsdelf1.5
i586-sco-sysv5uw7.0.1 (both SCO's cc and gcc)
i686-pc-linux-gnu
hppa2.0-hp-hpux10.20 (both HP's ANSI cc and gcc)
mips-sgi-irix6.5 (both MIPSpro cc and gcc)
rs6000-ibm-aix4.3.0.0 (both IBM's xlc and gcc)
sparc-sun-solaris2.6 (both Sun's Forte C and gcc)
sparc-sun-solaris2.7 (both Sun's Forte C and gcc)
sparc-sun-sunos4.1.4 (gcc)
@end example

Some systems have a dual mode 32-bit/64-bit compiler.  On most of these,
XEmacs requires the @samp{--pdump} (in XEmacs 21.5,
@samp{--enable-pdump}) configure option to build correctly with the
64-bit version of the compiler.

@example
mips-sgi-irix6.5, CC="gcc -mabi=64"
mips-sgi-irix6.5, CC="cc -64"
rs6000-ibm-aix4.3.0.0, CC="cc -q64"
@end example

On most of these systems, XEmacs also builds with a C++ compiler,
but not "out of the box".  This feature is only for use by the
maintainers.

XEmacs 21.2 is known @emph{not} to work on any machines with m680x0
processors.  Sorry, all you sun3 and Unix PC nostalgia buffs out there.

VMS has never been supported by XEmacs.  In fact, all the old VMS code
inherited from Emacs has been removed.  Sorry, all you VMS fans out there.

@node Q1.2.3, Q1.2.4, Q1.2.2, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.2.3: Is there a port of XEmacs to Microsoft Windows?

Yes.  Beginning with release 21.0, XEmacs has worked under MS Windows
and is fully-featured and actively developed.  A group of dedicated
developers actively maintains and improves the Windows-specific
portions of the code.  Some of the core developers, in fact, use
Windows as their only development environment, and some features, such
as printing, actually work better on Windows than native Unix and Mac
OS X.  The mailing list at @email{xemacs-winnt@@xemacs.org} is dedicated
to that effort (please use the -request address to
subscribe). (Despite its name, XEmacs actually works on all versions
of Windows.)

The list name is misleading, as XEmacs supports and has been compiled on
Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows ME, Windows
XP, and all newer versions of Windows.  The MS Windows-specific code is
based on Microsoft Win32 API, and will not work on MS Windows 3.x or on
MS-DOS.

XEmacs also supports the Cygwin and MinGW development and runtime
environments, where it also uses native Windows code for graphical
features.  In addition, under Cygwin it is possible to compile XEmacs
to use an X server (and XFree86 is available as part of the standard
Cygwin installation).

@node Q1.2.4, Q1.2.5, Q1.2.3, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.2.4: Can I build XEmacs on MS Windows with X support?  Do I need to?

Yes, you can, but no you do not need to.  In fact, we recommend that you
use a native-GUI version unless you have a specific need for an X
version.

@node Q1.2.5, Q1.2.6, Q1.2.4, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.2.5: What are Cygwin and MinGW, and do I need them to run XEmacs?

To answer the second part of the question: No, you, you don't need
Cygwin or MinGW to build or to run XEmacs.  But if you have them and
want to use them, XEmacs supports these environments.

(One important reason to support Cygwin is that it lets the MS Windows
developers test out their code in a Unix environment without actually
having to have a Unix machine around.  For this reason alone, Cygwin
support is likely to remain supported for a long time in XEmacs.  Same
goes for the X support under Cygwin, for the same reasons.  MinGW
support, on the other hand, depends on volunteers to keep it up to date;
but this is generally not hard.)

Cygwin is a set of tools providing Unix-like API on top of Win32.
It makes it easy to port large Unix programs without significant
changes to their source code.  It is a development environment as well
as a runtime environment.

When built with Cygwin, XEmacs supports all display types -- TTY, X &
Win32 GUI, and can be built with support for all three simultaneously.
If you build with Win32 GUI support then the Cygwin version uses the
majority of the Windows-specific code, which is mostly related to
display.  If you want to build with X support you need X libraries (and
an X server to display XEmacs on); see @ref{Q2.3.7}.  TTY and Win32 GUI
require no additional libraries beyond what comes standard with Cygwin.

The advantages of the Cygwin version are that it integrates well with
the Cygwin environment for existing Cygwin users; uses configure so
building with different features is very easy; and actively supports X &
TTY.  Furthermore, the entire Cygwin environment and compiler are free,
whereas Visual C++ costs money.

The disadvantage is that it requires the whole Cygwin environment,
whereas the native port requires only a suitable MS Windows compiler.
Also, it follows the Unix filesystem and process model very closely
(some will undoubtedly view this as an advantage).

See @uref{http://www.cygwin.com/} for more information on
Cygwin.

MinGW is a collection of header files and import libraries that allow
one to use GCC under the Cygwin environment to compile and produce
exactly the same native Win32 programs that you can using Visual C++.
Programs compiled with MinGW make use of the standard Microsoft runtime
library @file{MSVCRT.DLL}, present on all Windows systems, and look,
feel, and act like a standard Visual-C-produced application. (The only
difference is the compiler.) This means that, unlike a
standardly-compiled Cygwin application, no extra runtime support
(e.g. Cygwin's @file{cygwin1.dll}) is required.  This, along with the
fact that GCC is free (and works in a nice Unix-y way in a nice Unix-y
environment, for those die-hard Unix hackers out there), is the main
advantage of MinGW.  It is also potentially faster than Cygwin because
it has less overhead when calling Windows, but you lose the POSIX
emulation layer, which makes Unix programs harder to port. (But this is
irrelevant for XEmacs since it's already ported to Win32.)

See @uref{http://www.mingw.org/} for more information on MinGW.

@node Q1.2.6, Q1.2.7, Q1.2.5, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.2.6: What are the differences between the various MS Windows emacsen?

XEmacs, Win-Emacs, DOS Emacs, NT Emacs, this is all very confusing.
Could you briefly explain the differences between them?

Here is a recount of various Emacs versions running on MS Windows:

@itemize @bullet

@item
XEmacs

@itemize @minus

@item
Beginning with XEmacs 19.12, XEmacs' architecture was redesigned
in such a way to allow clean support of multiple window systems.  At
this time the TTY support was added, making X and TTY the first two
"window systems" supported by XEmacs.  The 19.12 design is the basis for
the current native MS Windows code.

@item
Some time during 1997, David Hobley (soon joined by Marc Paquette)
imported some of the NT-specific portions of GNU Emacs, making XEmacs
with X support compile under Windows NT, and creating the "X" port.

@item
Several months later, Jonathan Harris sent out initial patches to use
the Win32 API, thus creating the native port.  Since then, various
people have contributed, including Kirill M. Katsnelson (contributed
support for menubars, subprocesses and network, as well as loads of
other code), Andy Piper (ported XEmacs to Cygwin environment,
contributed Windows unexec, Windows-specific glyphs and toolbars code,
and more), Ben Wing (loads of improvements; primary MS Windows developer
since 2000), Jeff Sparkes (contributed scrollbars support) and many
others.
@end itemize

@item
NT Emacs

@itemize @minus

@item
NT Emacs was an early version of GNU Emacs 19 modified to compile and
run under MS Windows 95 and NT using the native Win32 API.  It was
written by Geoff Voelker, and has long since been incorporated into
the mainline GNU Emacs distribution.
@end itemize

@item
Win-Emacs

@itemize @minus

@item
Win-Emacs was a port of Lucid Emacs 19.6 to MS Windows using X
compatibility libraries.  Win-Emacs was written by Ben Wing.  The MS
Windows code never made it back to Lucid Emacs, and its creator (Pearl
Software) has long since gone out of business.
@end itemize

@item
GNU Emacs for DOS

@itemize @minus

@item
GNU Emacs features support for MS-DOS and DJGPP (D.J. Delorie's DOS
port of GCC).  Such an Emacs is heavily underfeatured, because it does
not support long file names, lacks proper subprocesses support, and
is far too big compared with typical DOS editors.
@end itemize

@item
GNU Emacs compiled with Win32

@itemize @minus

@item
Starting with GNU Emacs 19.30, it has been possible to compile GNU Emacs
under MS Windows using the DJGPP compiler and X libraries.  The result
is very similar to GNU Emacs compiled under MS DOS, only it works
somewhat better because it runs in 32-bit mode, makes use of all the
system memory, supports long file names, etc.
@end itemize

@end itemize

@node Q1.2.7, Q1.2.8, Q1.2.6, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.2.7: How does the port cope with differences in the Windows user interface?

The XEmacs (and Emacs in general) user interface is pretty different
from what is expected of a typical MS Windows program.  How does the MS
Windows port cope with it?

As a general rule, we follow native MS Windows conventions as much as
possible.  21.4 is a fairly complete Windows application, supporting
native printing, system file dialog boxes, tool tips, etc.  In cases
where there's a clear UI conflict, we currently use normal Unix XEmacs
behavior by default, but make sure the MS Windows "look and feel" (mark
via shift-arrow, self-inserting deletes region, Alt selects menu items,
etc.) is easily configurable (respectively: using the variable
@code{shifted-motion-keys-select-region} in 21.4 and above [it's in fact
the default in these versions], or the @file{pc-select} package; using
the @file{pending-del} package; and setting the variable
@code{menu-accelerator-enabled} to @code{menu-force} in 21.4 and above).
In fact, if you use the sample @file{init.el} file as your init file,
you will get all these behaviors automatically turned on.

In future versions, some of these features might be turned on by
default in the MS Windows environment.

@node Q1.2.8, Q1.2.9, Q1.2.7, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.2.8: Is there a port of XEmacs to the Macintosh?

Yes.

XEmacs 21.5 (perhaps 21.4 also?) works on MacOS X, although it certainly
will not feel very much like a Mac application as it has no Mac-specific
code in it.

There is also a port of XEmacs 19.14 that works on all recent versions
of MacOS, from 8.1 through MacOS X, by @email{pjarvis@@ispchannel.com,
Pitts Jarvis} (recently deceased).  It runs in an equivalent of TTY
mode only (one single Macintosh window, 25 colors), but has a large
number of Mac-specific additions.  It's available at
@uref{http://homepage.mac.com/pjarvis/xemacs.html}.

@node Q1.2.9, Q1.2.10, Q1.2.8, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.2.9: Is there a port of XEmacs to MS-DOS?

No.  We have never supported running on MS-DOS or Windows 3.1, and in
fact have long since deleted all MS-DOS-related code.  We're not
particularly interested in patches for these platforms, as they would
introduce huge amounts of code clutter due to the woefully
underfeatured nature of these systems. (See GNU Emacs for a port to
MS-DOS.)

@node Q1.2.10, Q1.2.11, Q1.2.9, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.2.10: Is there a port of XEmacs to OS/2?

No, but Alexander Nikolaev <avn_1251@@mail.ru> was at one point
working on it.

@node Q1.2.11, Q1.2.12, Q1.2.10, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.2.11: Is there a port of XEmacs to NextStep?

Carl Edman, apparently no longer at @email{cedman@@princeton.edu}, did
the port of GNU Emacs to NeXTstep and expressed interest in doing the
XEmacs port, but never went any farther.

@node Q1.2.12, Q1.3.1, Q1.2.11, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.2.12: Is there a port of XEmacs to VMS?

VMS has never been supported by XEmacs.  In fact, all the old VMS code
inherited from GNU Emacs has been removed.  Sorry, all you VMS fans
out there.

@unnumberedsec 1.3: Getting Started

@node Q1.3.1, Q1.3.2, Q1.2.12, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.3.1: What is an @file{init.el} or @file{.emacs} and is there a sample one?

The @file{init.el} or @file{.emacs} file is used to customize XEmacs to
your tastes.  Starting in 21.4, the preferred location for the init file
is @file{~/.xemacs/init.el}; in previous versions, it was
@file{~/.emacs}.  21.4 still accepts the old location, but the first
time you run it, it will ask to migrate your file to the new location.
If you answer yes, the file will be moved, and a "compatibility"
@file{.emacs} file will be placed in the old location so that you can
still run older versions of XEmacs, and versions of GNU Emacs, which
expect the old location.  The @file{.emacs} file present is just a stub
that loads the real file in @file{~/.xemacs/init.el}.

No two init files are alike, nor are they expected to be alike, but
that's the point.  The XEmacs distribution contains an excellent starter
example in the @file{etc/} directory called @file{sample.init.el}
(starting in 21.4) or @file{sample.emacs} in older versions.  Copy this
file from there to @file{~/.xemacs/init.el} (starting in 21.4) or
@file{~/.emacs} in older versions, where @samp{~} means your home
directory, of course.  Then edit it to suit.

You may bring the @file{sample.init.el} or @file{sample.emacs} file into
an XEmacs buffer from the menubar. (The menu entry for it is always
under the @samp{Help} menu, but its location under that has changed in
various versions.  Recently, look under the @samp{Samples} submenu.)  To
determine the location of the @file{etc/} directory type the command
@kbd{C-h v data-directory @key{RET}}.

@node Q1.3.2, Q1.3.3, Q1.3.1, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.3.2: Where do I put my @file{init.el} file?

@file{init.el} is the name of the init file starting with 21.4, and is
located in the subdirectory @file{.xemacs/} of your home directory.  In
prior versions, the init file is called @file{.emacs} and is located in
your home directory.

Your home directory under Windows is determined by the @samp{HOME}
environment variable.  If this is not set, it defaults to @samp{C:\}.
To set this variable, modify @file{AUTOEXEC.BAT} under Windows 95/98, or
select @samp{Control Panel->System->Advanced->Environment Variables...}
under Windows NT/2000.

@node Q1.3.3, Q1.3.4, Q1.3.2, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.3.3: Can I use the same @file{init.el} with the other Emacs?

Yes.  The sample @file{init.el} included in the XEmacs
distribution will show you how to handle different versions and flavors
of Emacs.

@node Q1.3.4, Q1.3.5, Q1.3.3, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.3.4: Any good XEmacs tutorials around?

There's the XEmacs tutorial available from the Help Menu under
@samp{Help->Tutorials}, or by typing @kbd{C-h t}. To check whether
it's available in a non-english language, type @kbd{C-u C-h t TAB}, type
the first letters of your preferred language, then type @key{RET}.

@comment There's an Emacs Lisp tutorial at
@comment
@comment @example
@comment @uref{ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu/emacs-lisp-intro-1.04.tar.gz}.
@comment @end example
@comment
@comment @email{erik@@petaxp.rug.ac.be, Erik Sundermann} has made a tutorial web
@comment page at
@comment @iftex
@comment @*
@comment @end iftex
@comment @uref{http://petaxp.rug.ac.be/~erik/xemacs/}.

@node Q1.3.5, Q1.3.6, Q1.3.4, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.3.5: May I see an example of a useful XEmacs Lisp function?

The following function does a little bit of everything useful.  It does
something with the prefix argument, it examines the text around the
cursor, and it's interactive so it may be bound to a key.  It inserts
copies of the current word the cursor is sitting on at the cursor.  If
you give it a prefix argument: @kbd{C-u 3 M-x double-word} then it will
insert 3 copies.

@lisp
(defun double-word (count)
  "Insert a copy of the current word underneath the cursor"
  (interactive "*p")
  (let (here there string)
    (save-excursion
      (forward-word -1)
      (setq here (point))
      (forward-word 1)
      (setq there (point))
      (setq string (buffer-substring here there)))
    (while (>= count 1)
      (insert string)
      (decf count))))
@end lisp

The best way to see what is going on here is to let XEmacs tell you.
Put the code into an XEmacs buffer, and do a @kbd{C-h f} with the cursor
sitting just to the right of the function you want explained.  Eg.  move
the cursor to the SPACE between @code{interactive} and @samp{"*p"} and
hit @kbd{C-h f} to see what the function @code{interactive} does.  Doing
this will tell you that the @code{*} requires a writable buffer, and
@code{p} converts the prefix argument to a number, and
@code{interactive} allows you to execute the command with @kbd{M-x}.

@node Q1.3.6, Q1.3.7, Q1.3.5, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.3.6: And how do I bind it to a key?

To bind to a key do:

@lisp
(global-set-key "\C-cd" 'double-word)
@end lisp

Or interactively, @kbd{M-x global-set-key} and follow the prompts.

@node Q1.3.7, Q1.3.8, Q1.3.6, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.3.7: What's the difference between a macro and a function?

Quoting from the Lisp Reference (a.k.a @dfn{Lispref}) Manual:

@dfn{Macros} enable you to define new control constructs and other
language features.  A macro is defined much like a function, but instead
of telling how to compute a value, it tells how to compute another Lisp
expression which will in turn compute the value.  We call this
expression the @dfn{expansion} of the macro.

Macros can do this because they operate on the unevaluated expressions
for the arguments, not on the argument values as functions do.  They can
therefore construct an expansion containing these argument expressions
or parts of them.

Do not confuse the two terms with @dfn{keyboard macros}, which are
another matter, entirely.  A keyboard macro is a key bound to several
other keys.  Refer to manual for details.

@node Q1.3.8, Q1.4.1, Q1.3.7, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.3.8: What is @code{Custom}?

@code{Custom} is a system for customizing XEmacs options.

You can access @code{Advanced (Customize)} from the @code{Options} menu
or invoking one of customize commands by typing eg.
@kbd{M-x customize}, @kbd{M-x customize-face},
@kbd{M-x customize-variable} or @kbd{M-x customize-apropos}.

There is also new @samp{browser} mode for Customize.
Try it out with @kbd{M-x customize-browse}

@unnumberedsec 1.4: Getting Help

@node Q1.4.1, Q1.4.2, Q1.3.8, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.4.1: Where can I get help?

Probably the easiest way, if everything is installed, is to use Info, by
pressing @kbd{C-h i}, or looking for an Info item on the
Help Menu.  @kbd{M-x apropos} can be used to look for particular commands.

For items not found in the manual, try reading this FAQ
and reading the Usenet group comp.emacs.xemacs.

If you choose to post to a newsgroup, @strong{please use
comp.emacs.xemacs}.  Please do not post XEmacs related questions to
gnu.emacs.help.

If you cannot post or read Usenet news, there is a corresponding mailing
list @email{xemacs-news@@xemacs.org} which is available.  It can be
subscribed to via the Mailman Web interface or by sending mail to to
@email{xemacs-news-request@@xemacs.org} with @samp{subscribe} in the
body of the message.  See also
@uref{http://www.xemacs.org/Lists/#xemacs-news}.  To cancel a
subscription, you may use the @email{xemacs-news-request@@xemacs.org}
address or the Web interface.  Send a message with a subject of
@samp{unsubscribe} to be removed.

@node Q1.4.2, Q1.4.3, Q1.4.1, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.4.2: Which mailing lists are there?

For complete, up-to-date info on the lists and how to subscribe, see
@uref{http://www.xemacs.org/Lists/}.

@table @samp

@item comp.emacs.xemacs
is a Usenet newsgroup
for XEmacs users to discuss problems and issues that arise
for them.  It's not generally an appropriate place to ask
about apparent bugs (use @samp{xemacs-beta}), or future plans
(use @samp{xemacs-design}).

@item xemacs-announce
is a read-only, low
volume list for announcements concerning the XEmacs project
and new releases of the XEmacs software.

@item xemacs-beta
is an open list for bug reports about beta versions of XEmacs.  This
includes the bug reports themselves, by both users and developers, as
well as queries, follow-ups, and discussions further determining their
nature and status.  This is the primary channel for this kind of
discussion; related code changes will usually not be applied until
they have been discussed here.  When such discussions touch on
significant changes to the code (in particular, structural changes),
or on changes to API's or external functionality, they should be moved
to @samp{xemacs-design}.  Requests and proposals for non-bug-related
changes do not belong on @samp{xemacs-beta}, and should be sent to
@samp{xemacs-design} instead.

@item xemacs-beta-ja
is an open list for bug
reports and design discussion related to Mule features,
including Japanese handling, in beta versions of XEmacs.
Japanese is the preferred language of discussion.  For most
timely presentation to reviewers, please consider sending
appropriate discussion to @samp{xemacs-mule} or
@samp{xemacs-design} in English when convenient for
the participants in discussion.  When possible, bug reports
not related to Mule (including Japanese) should be reported on
@samp{xemacs-beta} in English.

@item xemacs-buildreports
is an open list for
submission of build-reports on beta versions of XEmacs. For
information on what the build-reports should contain, please
see the `etc/BETA' file which is included in each beta
distribution.

@item xemacs-cvs
is a read-only list for notices
and information on what has been committed to the XEmacs CVS
trees, by whom, and for what.

@item xemacs-design
is an open list for
discussing the design of XEmacs.  This includes discussion
about planned and ongoing changes to functionality and API
changes and additions as well as requests for them.  This is
the primary channel for this kind of discussion; related code
changes will usually not be applied until they have been
discussed here.  This does not include bug reports, which go
to @samp{xemacs-beta}.

@item xemacs-mule
is an open mailing list for
discussion of International extensions to XEmacs including
Mule, XIM, I18n issues, etc, and is not confined to
developmental issues. This list is not restricted to
English, postings in all languages are welcome.

@item xemacs-news
is an open list for discussion
and bug reporting for XEmacs.  This mailing list is
bi-directionally gatewayed with the USENET newsgroup
comp.emacs.xemacs.

@item xemacs-nt
is a developers-only mailing
list and is intended for people who wish to work actively on
the porting of XEmacs to Microsoft Windows NT and Microsoft
Windows '95.

@item xemacs-patches
is an open, moderated
list for submission of patches to the XEmacs distribution
and its packages. Anyone may subscribe or submit to
xemacs-patches, but all submissions are reviewed by the list
moderator before they are distributed to the
list. Discussion is not appropriate on xemacs-patches.

@item xemacs-users-ja
is an open list for
discussion and bug reporting for XEmacs.  Japanese is the
preferred language of discussion.  It is not gated to
comp.emacs.xemacs or the @samp{xemacs} list.  For
fastest response, bugs not specifically related to Japanese
or Mule features should be reported on
@samp{xemacs-beta} (in English).

@item xemacs-users-ru
is an open list for
discussion and bug reporting for XEmacs.  Russian is the
preferred language of discussion.  It is not gated to
comp.emacs.xemacs or the @samp{xemacs} list.  For
fastest response, bugs not specifically related to Russian
or Mule features should be reported on
@samp{xemacs-beta} (in English).
@end table

@node Q1.4.3, Q1.4.4, Q1.4.2, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.4.3: Where are the mailing lists archived?

The archives can be found at @uref{http://list-archive.xemacs.org}

@node Q1.4.4, Q1.4.5, Q1.4.3, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.4.4: How can I get two instances of info?

Before 21.4, you can't.  The @code{info} package does not provide for
multiple info buffers.  In 21.4, this should be fixed. #### how?

@node Q1.4.5, Q1.5.1, Q1.4.4, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.4.5: How do I add new Info directories?

You use something like:

@lisp
(setq Info-directory-list (cons
                           (expand-file-name "~/info")
                           Info-default-directory-list))
@end lisp

@email{davidm@@prism.kla.com, David Masterson} writes:

@quotation
Emacs Info and XEmacs Info do many things differently.  If you're trying to
support a number of versions of Emacs, here are some notes to remember:

@enumerate
@item
Emacs Info scans @code{Info-directory-list} from right-to-left while
XEmacs Info reads it from left-to-right, so append to the @emph{correct}
end of the list.

@item
Use @code{Info-default-directory-list} to initialize
@code{Info-directory-list} @emph{if} it is available at startup, but not
all Emacsen define it.

@item
Emacs Info looks for a standard @file{dir} file in each of the
directories scanned from #1 and magically concatenates them together.

@item
XEmacs Info looks for a @file{localdir} file (which consists of just the
menu entries from a @file{dir} file) in each of the directories scanned
from #1 (except the first), does a simple concatenation of them, and
magically attaches the resulting list to the end of the menu in the
@file{dir} file in the first directory.
@end enumerate

Another alternative is to convert the documentation to HTML with
texi2html and read it from a web browser like Lynx or W3.
@end quotation

@unnumberedsec 1.5: Contributing to XEmacs

@node Q1.5.1, Q1.5.2, Q1.4.5, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.5.1: How do I submit changes to the FAQ?

The FAQ is actively maintained and modified regularly.  All links should
be up to date.  Unfortunately, some of the information is out of date --
a situation which the FAQ maintainer is working on.  All submissions are
welcome, please e-mail submissions to @email{faq@@xemacs.org, XEmacs FAQ
maintainers}.

Please make sure that @samp{XEmacs FAQ} appears on the Subject: line.
If you think you have a better way of answering a question, or think a
question should be included, we'd like to hear about it.  Questions and
answers included into the FAQ will be edited for spelling and grammar
and will be attributed.  Answers appearing without attribution are
either from versions of the FAQ dated before May 1996 or are from
previous FAQ maintainers.  Answers quoted from Usenet news articles will
always be attributed, regardless of the author.

@node Q1.5.2, Q1.5.3, Q1.5.1, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.5.2: How do I become a beta tester?

Send an email message to @email{xemacs-beta-request@@xemacs.org} with
the line @samp{subscribe} in the body of the message.

Be prepared to get your hands dirty, as beta testers are expected to
identify problems as best they can.

@node Q1.5.3, Q1.5.4, Q1.5.2, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.5.3: How do I contribute to XEmacs itself?

It depends on the knowledge and time you possess.  If you are able, by
all means become a beta tester (@pxref{Q1.5.2}).  If you are a
programmer, try to build XEmacs and see if you can improve it.

Otherwise, you can still help by using XEmacs as your everyday editor
(for pre-built binary versions, @pxref{Q1.1.2}) and reporting bugs you
find to the mailing list.

Another area where we need help is the documentation: We need good
documentation for building XEmacs and for using it.  This FAQ is a
small step in that direction.

Ben Wing @email{ben@@xemacs.org} writes:

@quotation
BTW if you have a wish list of things that you want added, you have to
speak up about it!  More specifically, you can do the following if you
want a feature added (in increasing order of usefulness):

@itemize @bullet
@item
Make a posting about a feature you want added.

@item
Become a beta tester and make more postings about those same features.

@item
Convince us that you're going to use the features in some cool and
useful way.

@item
Come up with a clear and well-thought-out API concerning the features.

@item
Write the code to implement a feature and send us a patch.
@end itemize

(not that we're necessarily requiring you to write the code, but we can
always hope :)
@end quotation

@node Q1.5.4, Q1.5.5, Q1.5.3, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.5.4: How do I get started developing XEmacs?

First, get yourself set up under CVS so that you can access the CVS
repositories containing the XEmacs sources and the XEmacs packages.

Next, set up your layout.  This is important, as a good layout will
facilitate getting things done efficiently, while a bad layout will could
lead to disaster, as you can't figure out which code is the most recent,
which can be thrown away, etc.  We suggest the following layout: (feel free
to make changes)

@itemize @bullet
@item
Everything goes under @file{/src/xemacs} (use a different directory if
you want).  From now, instead of saying @file{/src/xemacs}, we use
@file{<xsrc-top>}, to make it easier in case someone picked a
different directory.

@item
Package source is in @file{<xsrc-top>/package-src}.

@item
Installed packages go under @file{<xsrc-top>/xemacs-packages}, and
@file{<xsrc-top>/mule-packages}.

@item
A "workspace" is a complete copy of the sources, in which you do work of
a particular kind.  Workspaces can be differentiated by which branch of
the source tree they extend off of -- usually either the stable or
experimental, unless other branches have been created (for example, Ben
created a branch for his Mule work because (1) the project was long-term
and involved an enormous number of changes, (2) people wanted to be able
to look at what his work in progress, and (3) he wanted to be able to
check things in and in general use source-code control, since it was a
long-term project).  Workspaces are also differentiated in what their
purpose is -- general working workspace, workspace for particular
projects, workspace keeping the latest copy of the code in one of the
branches without mods, etc.

@item
Various workspaces are subdirectories under @file{<xsrc-top>}, e.g.:

@itemize @bullet
@item
@file{<xsrc-top>/working} (the workspace you're actively working on,
periodically synched up with the latest trunk)

@item
@file{<xsrc-top>/stable} (for making changes to the stable version of
XEmacs, which sits on a branch)

@item
@file{<xsrc-top>/unsigned-removal} (a workspace for a specific, difficult
task that's going to affect lots of source and take a long time, and
so best done in its own workspace without the interference of other
work you're doing.  Also, you can commit just this one large change,
separate from all the other changes).

@item
@file{<xsrc-top>/latest} (a copy of the latest sources on the trunk,
i.e. the experimental version of XEmacs, with no patches in it;
either update it periodically, by hand, or set up a cron job to do it
automatically).  Set it up so it can be built, and build it so you
have a working XEmacs. (Building it might also go into the cron job.)

This workspace serves a number of purposes:
@enumerate
@item
You always have a recent version of XEmacs you can compare
against when something you're working on breaks.  It's true
that you can do this with cvs diff, but when you need to do
some serious investigation, this method just fails.
@item
You (almost) always have a working, up-to-date executable that
can be used when your executable is crashing and you need to
keep developing it, or when you need an `xemacs' to build
packages, etc.
@item
When creating new workspaces, you can just copy the `latest'
workspace using GNU @code{cp -a}.  You have all the .elc's built,
everything else probably configured, any spare files in place
(e.g. some annoying xpm.dll under Windows, etc.).
@end enumerate

@item
@file{<xsrc-top>/latest-stable/} (equivalent to @file{<xsrc-top>/latest/}, but
for the Stable branch of XEmacs, rather than the Experimental branch
of XEmacs).  This may or may not be necessary depending on how much
development you do of the stable branch.
@end itemize

@item
@file{<xsrc-top>/xemacsweb} is a workspace for working on the XEmacs
web site.

@item
@file{<xsrc-top>/in-patches} for patches received from email and saved
to files.

@item
@file{<xsrc-top>/out-patches} for locally-generated patches to be sent
to @email{xemacs-patches@@xemacs.org}.  Less useful now that the
patcher util has been developed.

@item
@file{<xsrc-top>/build}, for build trees when compiling and testing XEmacs with
various configuration options turned off and on.  The scripts in
xemacs-builds/ben (see below) can be used to automate building XEmacs
workspaces with many different configuration options and automatically
filtering out the normal output so that you see only the abnormal
output.

@item
@file{<xsrc-top>/xemacs-builds}, for the xemacs-builds module, which you need
to check out separately in CVS.  This contains scripts used for building
XEmacs, automating and simplifying using CVS, etc.  Under various
people's directories are their own build and other scripts.  The
currently most-maintained scripts are under ben/, where there are easily
configurable scripts that can be used to easily build any workspace
(esp. if you've more or less followed the layout presented above)
unattended, with one or more configuration states (there's a
pre-determined list of the most useful, but it's easy to change).  The
output is filtered and split up in various ways so that you can identify
which output came from where, and you can see the output either full or
with all "normal" output except occasional status messages filtered so
that you only see the abnormal ones.
@end itemize

@node Q1.5.5, Q1.6.1, Q1.5.4, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.5.5: What's the basic layout of the code?

The file @file{configure} is a shell script to acclimate XEmacs to the
oddities of your processor and operating system.  It will create a
file named @file{Makefile} (a script for the @file{make} program), which helps
automate the process of building and installing emacs.  See INSTALL
for more detailed information.

The file @file{configure.in} is the input used by the autoconf program to
construct the @file{configure} script.  Since XEmacs has configuration
requirements that autoconf can't meet, @file{configure.in} uses an unholy
marriage of custom-baked configuration code and autoconf macros; it
may be wise to avoid rebuilding @file{configure} from @file{configure.in} when
possible.

The file @file{Makefile.in} is a template used by @file{configure} to create
@file{Makefile}.

There are several subdirectories:

@enumerate
@item
@file{src} holds the C code for XEmacs (the XEmacs Lisp interpreter and its
primitives, the redisplay code, and some basic editing functions).
@item
@file{lisp} holds the XEmacs Lisp code for XEmacs (most everything else).
@item
@file{lib-src} holds the source code for some utility programs for use by
or with XEmacs, like movemail and etags.
@item
@file{etc} holds miscellaneous architecture-independent data files
XEmacs uses, like the tutorial text.  The contents of the @file{lisp},
@file{info} and @file{man} subdirectories are architecture-independent too.
@item
@file{lwlib} holds the C code for the X toolkit objects used by XEmacs.
@item
@file{info} holds the Info documentation tree for XEmacs.
@item
@file{man} holds the source code for the XEmacs online documentation.
@item
@file{nt} holds files used compiling XEmacs under Microsoft Windows.
@end enumerate

@unnumberedsec 1.6: Politics (XEmacs vs. GNU Emacs)

@node Q1.6.1, Q1.6.2, Q1.5.5, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.6.1: What is GNU Emacs?

GNU Emacs and XEmacs are related open-source text editors.  Both
derive from GNU Emacs version 18; the split between the two happened
in 1991 (for comparison, the oldest versions of GNU Emacs date from
1984).  For information on GNU Emacs, see
@uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/emacs.html}.

@node Q1.6.2, Q1.6.3, Q1.6.1, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.6.2: How does XEmacs differ from GNU Emacs?

For a detailed description of the differences between GNU Emacs and
XEmacs and a detailed history of XEmacs, check out the
@example
@uref{http://www.xemacs.org/About/XEmacsVsGNUemacs.html, NEWS file}
@end example

@table @strong
@item User-Visible Editing Features
XEmacs in general tries hard to conform to exist user-interface
standards, and to work "out-of-the-box" without the need for obscure
customization changes.  GNU Emacs, particularly version 21, has gotten
better about this (in many cases by copying the XEmacs behavior!), but
still has some weirdnesses.  For example, the standard method of
selecting text using the Shift key works out-of-the-box in XEmacs.

XEmacs has a built-in toolbar. Four toolbars can actually be configured
simultaneously: top, bottom, left, and right toolbars.

XEmacs has vertical and horizontal scrollbars. Unlike in GNU Emacs 19
(which provides a primitive form of vertical scrollbar), these are true
toolkit scrollbars. A look-alike Motif scrollbar is provided for those
who don't have Motif. (Even for those who do, the look-alike may be
preferable as it is faster.)

XEmacs has buffer tabs along the top of the frame (although the
position can be changed) that make it very easy to switch buffers.

The menubar under XEmacs is better-designed, with more thought put into
it.

XEmacs can ask questions using popup dialog boxes. Any command executed
from a menu will ask yes/no questions with dialog boxes, while commands
executed via the keyboard will use the minibuffer.

XEmacs under MS Windows provides uses the standard file-dialog box for
opening and saving files.  Standard menu-accelerator behavior can easily
be enabled using the Options menu, and integrates well into the existing
keymap.

XEmacs has (still experimental) support for widgets of various sorts --
buttons, text boxes, sliders, progress bars, etc.  A progress bar is
used in font lock to show the progress.

Experimental support for drag-and-drop protocols is provided from
XEmacs 21.

@item General Platform Support
If you're running on a machine with audio hardware, you can specify
sound files for XEmacs to play instead of the default X beep. See the
documentation of the function load-sound-file and the variable
sound-alist. XEmacs also supports the network sound protocols NAS and
EsounD.

XEmacs 21 supports database protocols with LISP bindings, currently
including Berkeley DB, LDAP, and PostgreSQL (21.2 only).

XEmacs 20 and 21 support the Canna, Wnn, and SJ3 Japanese input method
servers directly, as well as through the X Input Method (XIM)
protocol. GNU Emacs 20 supports only the XIM protocol. Both Emacsen
support the Quail family of input methods (implemented in LISP) for many
languages.

XEmacs provides support for ToolTalk on systems that have
it.

@item Packaged LISP Libraries
Many more packages are provided standard with XEmacs than with GNU Emacs
19 or 20.

XEmacs 21 supports an integrated package management system which uses
EFS to download, then automatically install prebuilt LISP
libraries. This allows XEmacs users much more straightforward access to
the "latest and greatest" version of any given library.

We are working on a standard method for enabling, disabling and
otherwise controlling packages, which should make them very easy to use.

@item LISP Programming
From XEmacs 20 on, characters are a separate type. Characters can be
converted to integers (and many integers can be converted to
characters), but characters are not integers. GNU Emacs 19, XEmacs 19,
Mule 2.3 (an extensive patch to GNU Emacs 18.55 and 19.x), and GNU Emacs
20 (incorporating Mule 3 and later Mule 4) represent them as integers.

From XEmacs 20 on, the buffer is treated as an array of characters, and
the representation of buffer text is not exposed to LISP. The GNU Emacs
20 functions like buffer-as-multibyte are not supported.

In XEmacs, events are first-class objects. GNU Emacs 19 represents them
as integers, which obscures the differences between a key gesture and
the ancient ASCII code used to represent a particular overlapping subset
of them.

In XEmacs, keymaps are first-class opaque objects. GNU Emacs 19
represents them as complicated combinations of association lists and
vectors. If you use the advertised functional interface to manipulation
of keymaps, the same code will work in XEmacs, GNU Emacs 18, and GNU
Emacs 19; if your code depends on the underlying implementation of
keymaps, it will not.

XEmacs uses "extents" to represent all non-textual aspects of buffers;
GNU Emacs 19 uses two distinct objects, "text properties" and
"overlays", which divide up the functionality between them. Extents are
a superset of the union of the functionality of the two GNU Emacs data
types. The full GNU Emacs 19 interface to text properties and overlays
is supported in XEmacs (with extents being the underlying
representation).

Extents can be made to be copied into strings, and then restored, by
kill and yank. Thus, one can specify this behavior on either "extents"
or "text properties", whereas in GNU Emacs 19 text properties always
have this behavior and overlays never do.

@item Window System Programming Interface
XEmacs uses the MIT "Xt" toolkit instead of raw Xlib calls, which makes
it be a more well-behaved X citizen (and also improves portability). A
result of this is that it is possible to include other Xt "Widgets" in
the XEmacs window. Also, XEmacs understands the standard Xt command-line
arguments.

XEmacs supports Motif applications, generic Xt (e.g. Athena)
applications, and raw Xlib applications. An XEmacs variant which
supports GTK+ is available (integration as an option in the XEmacs
mainline is planned for XEmacs 22), although code to take advantage of
the support is as yet scarce.

An XEmacs frame can be placed within an "external client widget" managed
by another application. This allows an application to use an XEmacs
frame as its text pane rather than the standard Text widget that is
provided with Motif or Athena.

@item Community Participation
Joining the XEmacs development team is simple. Mail to
@email{xemacs-beta@@xemacs.org, XEmacs Developers}, and you're in! (If
you want to be, of course. You're also welcome to just post
development-related questions and bug reports.) The GNU Emacs
development team and internal mailing lists are still by invitation
only.

The "bleeding edge" of mainline XEmacs development is available by
anonymous CVS as are some subsidiary branches (check out the xemacs-gtk
module for the latest in GUI features!)

Development and maintenance of Lisp libraries is separated from the core
editor development at a fairly low level. This provides better
modularization and a better division of responsibility between external
library maintainers and the XEmacs core development team. Even for
packages the size of Gnus, XEmacs users normally have access to a
pre-built version within a few weeks of a major release, and minor
updates often within days.

CVS commit authority is broadly dispersed. Recognized maintainers of
LISP libraries who are willing to maintain XEmacs packaged versions
automatically qualify for CVS accounts for their packages.
@end table

@node Q1.6.3, Q1.6.4, Q1.6.2, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.6.3: How much does XEmacs differ?

RMS has asserted at times that XEmacs is merely a "patch" on top of
GNU Emacs (@pxref{Q1.6.4}).  In fact, probably not more than 5% of the
code, if that, remains unchanged, and nearly 14 years of work has gone
into XEmacs at this point. (GNU Emacs itself is only than 20 years
old, and thus XEmacs has existed as a separate product for over 2/3 of
the lifespan of GNU Emacs.) As a point of comparison, XEmacs 21.5 has
perhaps 65,000 more lines of C code than GNU Emacs 21.2.

However, the XEmacs developers strive to keep their code compatible with
GNU Emacs, especially on the Lisp level.  Much effort goes into
"synching" the XEmacs Elisp code with recent GNU Emacs releases so as to
benefit from GNU Emacs development work. (In contrast, almost no code
from XEmacs has made it into GNU Emacs, and in fact the GNU Emacs
developers are instructed by RMS not to even look at XEmacs source code!
This stems from self-imposed licensing restrictions on the part of GNU
Emacs -- and almost certainly out of hostility, as well.)

@node Q1.6.4, Q1.6.5, Q1.6.3, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.6.4: Is XEmacs "GNU"?

RMS insists on the term "GNU XEmacs" and maintains that

@quotation
XEmacs is GNU software because it's a modified version of a
GNU program. And it is GNU software because the FSF is the copyright
holder for most of it, and therefore the legal responsibility for
protecting its free status falls on us whether we want it or not. This
is why the term "GNU XEmacs" is legitimate.
@end quotation

In fact, FSF is @emph{not} the copyright holder for most of the code,
as very little unmodified FSF code remains (@pxref{Q1.6.3}).

Furthermore, RMS's assertion that XEmacs is "GNU" seems rather bizarre
to the XEmacs developers given RMS's hostility and general lack of
interest in cooperation.  "GNU" software in general is part of the GNU
Project, is distributed by it on their FTP site, and receives support
(or at least cooperation), as well as implicit endorsement, from it.
The GNU Project, however, has never supported XEmacs and never
distributed XEmacs, and RMS's hostility is the farthest thing possible
from an endorsement.  In fact, the GNU Project distributes a number of
non-GNU software projects on the FSF web site, but again XEmacs is not
one of them.

@node Q1.6.5, Q1.6.6, Q1.6.4, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.6.5: What is the correct way to refer to XEmacs and GNU Emacs?

Unfortunately even the naming of these two applications has become
politicized.  Much of this stems from RMS, who has a history of
politicizing similar issues. (Compare the controversy over "Lignux"
and "GNU/Linux".) We would prefer that the terms "XEmacs" and "GNU
Emacs" be used, which are neutral and acceptable to most people.  RMS,
however, is not willing to accept these terms.  He insists that, if
his product is called "GNU Emacs", then ours must be called "GNU
XEmacs". (For our opinion of this term, @xref{Q1.6.4}.) On the other
hand, if our product is to be called "XEmacs", as we prefer, then his
product must simply be called "Emacs".  The intent of this seems
clear: RMS wants to make sure the names reflect his view that his
version is the "real" Emacs and ours is merely a derivative,
second-class product (@pxref{Q1.6.3}).

The XEmacs developers hope that you will use the neutral terms
"XEmacs" and "GNU Emacs" for these two specific products. "Emacs", on
the other hand, is a generic term for a class of programmable text
editors with a similar look-and-feel, and usually a Lisp-based
extension language.  These trace themselves back to early editors such
as EINE, ZWEI, ZMACS and Multics Emacs. @xref{A History of Emacs,,,
internals, XEmacs Internals Manual}.

We also call upon RMS, in the spirit of furthering cooperation, to
stop politicizing this issue and use the neutral terms "XEmacs" and
"GNU Emacs".  We have already acceded to RMS' wishes in this respect,
and we expect him to do the same. (In the past, the XEmacs developers
often used the terms "FSF Emacs" or "FSFmacs" or "RMSmacs" in
reference to GNU Emacs; these terms were apparently modeled after RMS'
own usage of "Gosmacs" and "Gosling Emacs" in reference to Unipress
Emacs, produced by James Gosling.  RMS, however, considers such terms
to be insulting, so we refrain from using them as much as possible in
preference to GNU Emacs.)

@node Q1.6.6, Q1.7.1, Q1.6.5, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.6.6: Why haven't XEmacs and GNU Emacs merged?

There are currently irreconcilable differences in the views about
technical, programming, design, organizational and legal matters
between Richard Stallman (RMS), the author and leader of the GNU Emacs
project, and the XEmacs development team which provide little hope for
a merge to take place in the short-term future.  There have been
repeated attempts at merging by all of the major XEmacs developers,
starting from the early days of Lucid Emacs (in 1991), but they have
all failed.  RMS has very strong views about how GNU Emacs should be
structured and how his project should be run, and during the repeated
merge efforts has never demonstrated any realistic interest in
sufficiently compromising or ceding control to allow a middle ground
to be found.  The basic problem seems to be the very different goals
of RMS and the XEmacs project.  The primary goals of the XEmacs
project are technical and organizational -- we want to create the best
editor possible, and to make it as easy as possible for people around
the world to contribute.  The primary goals of RMS, on the other hand,
are political, and GNU Emacs, and any potential merge efforts with
XEmacs, are strictly subservient to these goals.  In fact, in many
ways RMS sees GNU Emacs as the "poster child" of his aims, the one
program in the GNU project that above all others must set an example
to the world. (This has to do with the fact that GNU Emacs was the
first program in the GNU project, and the only one that he is still
personally involved with on a day-to-day basis.)  Given his goals, his
position is completely reasonable -- but unfortunately, makes any
merge impossible.

From the XEmacs perspective, the most intractable issues appear to be
legal and organizational, specifically:

@itemize @bullet
@item
RMS requires "legal papers" to be signed for all contributions of code
to GNU Emacs over 10 lines or so, transferring the copyright and all
legal rights to the code to the Free Software Foundation.  XEmacs does
not and has never required this, since it has the practical effect of
discouraging individual and in particular corporate contributions --
corporations will almost never sign away their legal rights to code
since it makes it impossible to reuse the code in any product that
whose license is not compatible with the GNU General Public License.
Since RMS has shown no inclination to compromise on this issue, a
merge would require that most of the existing XEmacs code would need
to be thrown away and rewritten -- something the XEmacs developers are
understandably reluctant to do.

@item 
A repeated stumbling block in the merge talks has been the issue of
organizational control over the resulting product.  RMS has made it
clear that he intends to have final say over design issues in a merged
Emacs.  Unfortunately, RMS and the XEmacs developers have repeatedly
clashed over design decisions, and RMS' insistence on getting his way
in such disagreements was the very reason for the split in the first
place.  This same issue has come up again and again in merge talks and
we have never been able to come to a satisfactory resolution.  To the
extent that RMS is willing to compromise at all, it appears to be of a
purely political rather than technical nature -- "If we support this
feature of yours, we also get to support this other feature of mine."
The XEmacs developers cannot see how such a process would lead to
anything but a mess of incompatible things hodgepodged together.

@item
Because of the years of separate development, distinct and
incompatible interfaces have developed and merging would be extremely
difficult even with the above non-technical issues resolved.  The
problem has been exacerbated by the issue of legal papers -- because
XEmacs code is not "kosher" from RMS' perspective, he discourages
developers from even looking at it out of legal concerns.  Although it
is still possible to read the XEmacs documentation and run the
program, the practical effect of this prohibition has been to strongly
discourage code-sharing and cooperative development -- although a
great deal of GNU Emacs code has been incorporated into XEmacs,
practically none has gone the other direction.
@end itemize

If you have a comment to add regarding the merge, it is a good idea to
avoid posting to the newsgroups, because of the very heated flamewars
that often result.  Mail your questions to
@email{xemacs-beta@@xemacs.org} and @email{emacs-devel@@gnu.org}.

@unnumberedsec 1.7: External Packages

@node Q1.7.1, Q1.7.2, Q1.6.6, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.7.1: What is the package system?

In order to reduce the size and increase the maintainability of
XEmacs, the majority of the Elisp packages that came with previous
releases have been unbundled.  They have been replaced by the package
system.  Each elisp add-on (or groups of them when they are small) now
comes in its own tarball that contains a small search hierarchy.

You select just the ones you need.  Install them by untarring them into
the right place.  On startup XEmacs will find them, set up the load
path correctly, install autoloads, etc, etc.

@xref{Q2.1.1}, for more info on how to download and install the packages.

@node Q1.7.2, Q1.7.3, Q1.7.1, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.7.2: Which external packages are there?

@subheading Normal Packages

A very broad collection of elisp packages.

@table @asis
@item Sun
Support for Sparcworks.

@item ada
Ada language support.

@item apel
A Portable Emacs Library.  Used by XEmacs MIME support.

@item auctex
Basic TeX/LaTeX support.

@item bbdb
The Big Brother Data Base: a rolodex-like database program.

@item build
Build XEmacs from within (UNIX, Windows).

@item c-support
Basic single-file add-ons for editing C code.

@item calc
Emacs calculator.

@item calendar
Calendar and diary support.

@item cc-mode
C, C++, Objective-C, Java, CORBA IDL, Pike and AWK language support.

@item clearcase
New Clearcase Version Control for XEmacs (UNIX, Windows).

@item clearcase
Support for the Clearcase version control system.

@item cookie
"Fortune cookie"-style messages. Includes Spook (suspicious phrases) 
and Yow (Zippy quotes).

@item crisp
Crisp/Brief emulation.

@item debug
GUD, gdb, dbx debugging support.

@item dictionary
Interface to RFC2229 dictionary servers.

@item dired
The DIRectory EDitor is for manipulating, and running commands on
files in a directory.

@item docbookide
DocBook editing support.

@item ecb
Emacs source code browser.

@item ecrypto
Crypto functionality in Emacs Lisp.

@item edebug
An Emacs Lisp debugger.

@item ediff
Interface over GNU patch.

@item edit-utils
Miscellaneous editor extensions, you probably need this.

@item edt
DEC EDIT/EDT emulation.

@item efs
Treat files on remote systems the same as local files.

@item eieio
Enhanced Implementation of Emacs Interpreted Objects.

@item elib
Portable Emacs Lisp utilities library.

@item emerge
Another interface over GNU patch.

@item erc
ERC is an Emacs InternetRelayChat client.

@item escreen
Multiple editing sessions within a single frame (like screen).

@item eshell
Command shell implemented entirely in Emacs Lisp.

@item ess
ESS: Emacs Speaks Statistics.

@item eterm
Terminal emulation.

@item eudc
Emacs Unified Directory Client (LDAP, PH).

@item footnote
Footnoting in mail message editing modes.

@item forms
Forms editing support (obsolete, use Widget instead).

@item fortran-modes
Fortran support.

@item fortran-modes
Fortran language support.

@item frame-icon
Set up mode-specific icons for each frame under XEmacs.

@item fsf-compat
GNU Emacs compatibility files.

@item games
Tetris, Sokoban, and Snake.

@item general-docs
General documentation.  Presently, empty.

@item gnats
XEmacs bug reports.

@item gnus
The Gnus Newsreader and Mailreader.

@item haskell-mode
Haskell editing support.

@item hm--html-menus
HTML editing.

@item hyperbole
Hyperbole: The Everyday Info Manager.

@item ibuffer
Advanced replacement for buffer-menu.

@item idlwave
Editing and Shell mode for the Interactive Data Language.

@item igrep
Enhanced front-end for Grep.

@item ilisp
Front-end for interacting with Inferior Lisp (external lisps).

@item ispell
Spell-checking with GNU ispell.

@item jde
Integrated Development Environment for Java.

@item liece
IRC (Internet Relay Chat) client for Emacs.  Note, this package is
deprecated and will be removed, use riece instead.

@item mail-lib
Fundamental lisp files for providing email support.

@item mailcrypt
Support for messaging encryption with PGP.

@item mew
Messaging in an Emacs World; a MIME-based email program.

@item mh-e
The XEmacs Interface to the MH Mail System.

@item mine
Elisp implementation of the game 'Minehunt'.

@item misc-games
Other amusements and diversions.

@item mmm-mode
Support for Multiple Major Modes within a single buffer.

@item net-utils
Miscellaneous Networking Utilities.

@item ocaml
Objective Caml editing support.

@item oo-browser
OO-Browser: The Multi-Language Object-Oriented Code Browser.

@item ocaml
Objective Caml editing support.

@item os-utils
Miscellaneous single-file O/S utilities, for printing, archiving,
compression, remote shells, etc.

@item pc
PC style interface emulation.

@item pcl-cvs
CVS frontend.

@item pcomplete
Provides programmatic completion.

@item perl-modes
Perl support.

@item pgg
Emacs interface to various PGP implementations.

@item prog-modes
Support for various programming languages.

@item ps-print
Printing functions and utilities.

@item psgml
Validated HTML/SGML editing.

@item psgml-dtds
A collection of DTDs for psgml.  Note that this package is deprecated
and will be removed in the future, most likely Q2/2003.  Instead of using
this, you should install needed DTDs yourself.

@item python-modes
Python language support.

@item reftex
Emacs support for LaTeX cross-references, citations.

@item riece
IRC (Internet Relay Chat) client for Emacs.

@item rmail
An obsolete Emacs mailer.  If you do not already use it don't start.

@item ruby-modes
Ruby support.

@item sasl
Simple Authentication and Security Layer (SASL) library.

@item scheme
Front-end support for Inferior Scheme.

@item semantic
Semantic bovinator (Yacc/Lex for XEmacs). Includes Senator.

@item sgml
SGML/Linuxdoc-SGML editing.

@item sh-script
Support for editing shell scripts.

@item sieve
Manage Sieve email filtering scripts.

@item slider
User interface tool.

@item sml-mode
SML editing support.

@item sounds-au
XEmacs Sun sound files.

@item sounds-wav
XEmacs Microsoft sound files.

@item speedbar
Provides a separate frame with convenient references.

@item strokes
Mouse enhancement utility.

@item supercite
An Emacs citation tool for News & Mail messages.

@item texinfo
XEmacs TeXinfo support.

@item text-modes
Miscellaneous support for editing text files.

@item textools
Miscellaneous TeX support.

@item time
Display time & date on the modeline.

@item tm
Emacs MIME support. Not needed for gnus >= 5.8.0.

@item tooltalk
Support for building with Tooltalk.

@item tpu
DEC EDIT/TPU support.

@item tramp
Remote shell-based file editing.  This is similar to EFS or Ange-FTP,
but works with rsh/ssh and rcp/scp.

@item vc
Version Control for Free systems.

@item vc-cc
Version Control for ClearCase (UnFree) systems.

@item vhdl
Support for VHDL.

@item view-process
A Unix process browsing tool.

@item viper
VI emulation support.

@item vm
An Emacs mailer.

@item w3
A Web browser.

@item x-symbol
Semi WYSIWYG for LaTeX, HTML, etc, using additional fonts.

@item xemacs-base
Fundamental XEmacs support, you almost certainly need this.

@item xemacs-devel
XEmacs Lisp developer support.  This package contains utilities for
supporting Lisp development.  It is a single-file package so it may be 
tailored.

@item xlib
Emacs interface to X server.

@item xslide
XSL editing support.

@item xslt-process
A minor mode for (X)Emacs which allows running an XSLT processor on a
buffer.

@item xwem
X Emacs Window Manager.

@item zenirc
ZENIRC IRC Client.
@end table

@subheading Mule Support (mule)

MULti-lingual Enhancement.  Support for world scripts such as
Latin, Arabic, Cyrillic, Chinese, Japanese, Greek, Hebrew etc.
To use these packages your XEmacs must be compiled with Mule
support.

@table @asis
@item edict
MULE: Lisp Interface to EDICT, Kanji Dictionary.

@item egg-its
MULE: Wnn (4.2 and 6) support.  SJ3 support.

@item latin-unity
MULE: find single ISO 8859 character set to encode a buffer.

@item latin-unity
Unify character sets in a buffer. When characters belong to disjoint
character sets, this attempts to translate the characters so
that they belong to one character set. If the buffer coding system is
not sufficient, this suggests different coding systems.

@item leim
MULE: Quail.  All non-English and non-Japanese language support.

@item locale
MULE: Localized menubars and localized splash screens.

@item lookup
Dictionary support. (This isn't an English dictionary program)

@item mule-base
MULE: Basic Mule support, required for building with Mule.

@item mule-ucs
MULE: Extended coding systems (including Unicode) for XEmacs.

@item mule-ucs
Extended coding systems (including Unicode) for XEmacs.

@item skk
Another Japanese Language Input Method.  Can be used without a
separate process running as a dictionary server.
@end table

@node Q1.7.3, Q1.7.4, Q1.7.2, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.7.3: Do I need to have the packages to run XEmacs?

Strictly speaking, no.  XEmacs will build and install just fine without
any packages installed.  However, only the most basic editing functions
will be available with no packages installed, so installing packages is
an essential part of making your installed XEmacs _useful_.

@node Q1.7.4, Q1.8.1, Q1.7.3, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.7.4: Is there a way to find which package has particular functionality?

If you want to find out which package contains the functionality you
are looking for, use @kbd{M-x package-get-package-provider}, and give it a
symbol that is likely to be in that package.  

For example, if some code you want to use has a @code{(require 'thingatpt)}
in it:

@example
	M-x package-get-package-provider RET thingatpt RET
@end example

which will return something like: @samp{(fsf-compat "1.08").}

@unnumberedsec 1.8: Internationalization

@node Q1.8.1, Q1.8.2, Q1.7.4, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.8.1: What is the status of internationalization support aka MULE (including Asian language support)?

Both the stable and development versions of XEmacs include
internationalization support (aka MULE).  MULE currently (21.4) works on
UNIX and Linux systems.  It is possible to build with MULE on Windows
systems, but if you really need MULE on Windows, it is recommended that
you build and use the development (21.5) version, and deal with the
instability of the development tree.  Binaries compiled without MULE
support run faster than MULE capable XEmacsen.

@node Q1.8.2, Q1.8.3, Q1.8.1, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.8.2: How can I help with internationalization?

If you would like to help, you may want to join the
@email{xemacs-mule@@xemacs.org} mailing list.  Especially needed are
people who speak/write languages other than English, who are willing to
use XEmacs/MULE regularly, and have some experience with Elisp.

Translations of the TUTORIAL and man page are welcome, and XEmacs does
support multilingual menus, but we have few current translations.

@xref{Q1.5.2, How do I become a Beta Tester?}.

@node Q1.8.3, Q1.8.4, Q1.8.2, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.8.3: How do I type non-ASCII characters?

@xref{Q3.0.6, How can you type in special characters in XEmacs?}, in
part 3 of this FAQ, for some simple methods that also work in non-MULE
builds of XEmacs (but only for one-octet coded character sets, and
mostly for ISO 8859/1).  Many of the methods available for Cyrillic
(@pxref{Q1.8.7, How about Cyrillic modes?}) work without MULE.  MULE
has more general capabilities.  @xref{Q1.8.5, Please explain the
various input methods in MULE/XEmacs}.

@xref{Q4.0.8, How do I display non-ASCII characters?}, which covers
display of non-ASCII characters.

@node Q1.8.4, Q1.8.5, Q1.8.3, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.8.4: Can XEmacs messages come out in a different language?

The message-catalog support was written but is badly bit-rotted.  XEmacs
20 and 21 did @emph{not} support it, and early releases of XEmacs 22
will not either.

However, menubar localization @emph{does} work.  To enable it, add to
your @file{Emacs} file entries like this:

@example
Emacs*XlwMenu.resourceLabels:                   True
Emacs*XlwMenu.file.labelString:                 Fichier
Emacs*XlwMenu.openInOtherWindow.labelString: 	In anderem Fenster oeffnen
@end example

The name of the resource is derived from the non-localized entry by
removing punctuation and capitalizing as above.

@node Q1.8.5, Q1.8.6, Q1.8.4, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.8.5: Please explain the various input methods in MULE/XEmacs

Mule supports a wide variety of input methods.  There are three basic
classes: Lisp implementations, generic platform support, and library
interfaces.

@emph{Lisp implementations} include Quail, which provides table-driven input
methods for almost all the character sets that Mule supports (including
all of the ISO 8859 family, the Indic languages, Thai, and so on), and
SKK, for Japanese.  (SKK also supports an interface to an external
"dictionary server" process.)  Quail supports both typical "dead-key"
methods (eg, in the "latin-1-prefix" method, @kbd{" a} produces ä, LATIN
SMALL LETTER A WITH DIAERESIS), and the complex dictionary-based phonetic
methods used for Asian ideographic languages like Chinese.

Lisp implementations can be less powerful (but they are not perceptibly
inefficient), and of course are not portable to non-Emacs applications.
The incompatibility can be very annoying.  On the other hand, they
require no special platform support or external libraries, so if you can
display the characters, Mule can input them for you and you can edit,
anywhere.

@emph{Generic platform support} is currently limited to the X Input
Method (XIM) framework, although support for MSIME (for MS Windows) is
planned, and IIIMF (Sun's Internet-Intranet Input Method Framework)
support is extremely desirable.  XIM is enabled at build time by use of
the @samp{--with-xim} flag to @code{configure}.  For use of XIM, see
your platform documentation.  However, normally the input method you use
is specified via the @samp{LANG} and @samp{XMODIFIERS} environment
variables.

Of course, input skills are portable across most applications.  However,
especially in modern GUI systems the habit of using bucky bits has
fallen into sad disuse, and many XIM systems are poorly configured for
use with Emacs.  For example, the kinput2 input manager (a separate
process providing an interface between Japanese dictionary servers such
as Canna and Wnn, and the application) tends to gobble up keystrokes
generating Meta characters.  This means that to edit while using an XIM
input method, you must toggle the input method off every time you want
to use @kbd{M-f}.  Your mileage may vary.

@emph{Library interfaces} are most common for Japanese, although Wnn
supports Chinese (traditional and simplified) and Korean.  There are
Chinese and Korean input servers available, but we do not know of any
patches for XEmacs to use them directly.  You can use them via
IM-enabled terminals, by manipulating the terminal coding systems.  We
describe only the Japanese-oriented systems here.  The advantage of
these systems is that they are very powerful, and on platforms where
they are available there is typically a wide range of applications that
support them.  Thus your input skills are portable across applications.

Mule provides built-in interfaces to the following input methods: Wnn4,
Wnn6, Canna, and SJ3.  These can be configured at build time.  There are
patches available (no URL, sorry) to support the SKK server, as well.
Wnn and SJ3 use the @code{egg} user interface.  The interface for Canna
is specialized to Canna.

Wnn supports Japanese, Chinese and Korean. It is made by OMRON and Kyôto
University. It is a powerful and complex system.  Wnn4 is free and Wnn6
is not.  Wnn uses grammatical hints and probability of word association,
so in principle Wnn can be cleverer than other methods.

Canna, made by NEC, supports only Japanese.  It is a simple and powerful
system. Canna uses only grammar, but its grammar and dictionary are
quite sophisticated.  So for standard modern Japanese, Canna seems
cleverer than Wnn4. In addition, the UNIX version of Canna is free (now
there is a Microsoft Windows version).

SJ3, by Sony, supports only Japanese.

Egg consists of following parts:

@enumerate
@item
Input character Translation System (ITS) layer.
It translates ASCII inputs to Kana/PinYin/Hangul characters.

@item
Kana/PinYin/Hangul to Kanji transfer layer.
The interface layer to network Kana-Kanji server (Wnn and Sj3).
@end enumerate

These input methods are modal.  They have a raw (alphabet) mode, a
phonetic input mode, and Kana-Kanji transfer mode.  However there are
mode-less input methods for Egg and Canna.  @samp{boiled-egg} is a
mode-less input method running on Egg.  For Canna, @samp{canna.el} has a
tiny boiled-egg-like command, @code{(canna-boil)}, and there are some
boiled-egg-like utilities.

Much of this information was provided by @email{morioka@@jaist.ac.jp,
MORIOKA Tomohiko}.

@node Q1.8.6, Q1.8.7, Q1.8.5, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.8.6: How do I portably code for MULE/XEmacs?

MULE has evolved rapidly over the last few years, and the original third
party patch (for GNU Emacs 19), GNU Emacs 20+, and XEmacs 20+ have quite
different implementations.  The APIs also vary although recent versions
of XEmacs have tended to converge to the GNU Emacs standard.

MULE implementations are going to continue to evolve.  Both GNU Emacs
and XEmacs are working hard on Unicode support, which will involve new
APIs and probably variations on old ones.  For XEmacs 22, the old ISO
2022-based system for recognizing encodings will be replaced by a much
more flexible system, which should improve accuracy of automatic coding
detections, but will also involve new APIs.

@email{morioka@@jaist.ac.jp, MORIOKA Tomohiko} writes:

@quotation
The application implementor must write separate code for these mule
variants.  [Please don't hesitate to report these variants to us; they
are not, strictly speaking, bugs, but they give third-party developers
the same kind of creepy-crawly feeling.  We'll do what we can. -- Ed.]

MULE and the next version of Emacs are similar but the symbols are very
different---requiring separate code as well.

Namely we must support 3 kinds of mule variants and 4 or 5 or 6 kinds of
emacs variants... (;_;) I'm shocked, so I wrote a wrapper package called
@code{emu} to provide a common interface.  [There is an XEmacs package
of APEL which provides much more comprehensive coverage.  Be careful,
however; APEL has problems of its own. -- Ed.]

I have the following suggestions about dealing with mule variants:

@itemize @bullet
@item
@code{(featurep 'mule)} @code{t} on all mule variants

@item
@code{(boundp 'MULE)} is @code{t} on only MULE.  Maybe the next version
of Emacs will not have this symbol.

@item
MULE has a variable @code{mule-version}.  Perhaps the next version of
Emacs will have this variable as well.
@end itemize

Following is a sample to distinguish mule variants:

@lisp
(if (featurep 'mule)
    (cond ((boundp 'MULE)
           ;; for original Mule
           )
          ((string-match "XEmacs" emacs-version)
           ;; for XEmacs with Mule
           )
          (t
           ;; for next version of Emacs
           ))
  ;; for old emacs variants
  )
@end lisp
@end quotation

@node Q1.8.7, Q1.8.8, Q1.8.6, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.8.7: How about Cyrillic modes?

@email{ilya@@math.ohio-state.edu, Ilya Zakharevich} writes:

@quotation
There is a cyrillic mode in the file @file{mysetup.zip} in
@iftex
@*
@end iftex
@uref{ftp://ftp.math.ohio-state.edu/pub/users/ilya/emacs/}.  This is a
modification to @email{ava@@math.jhu.ed, Valery Alexeev's} @file{russian.el}
which can be obtained from
@end quotation

@uref{http://www.math.uga.edu/~valery/russian.el}.

@email{d.barsky@@ee.surrey.ac.uk, Dima Barsky} writes:

@quotation
There is another cyrillic mode for both GNU Emacs and XEmacs by
@email{manin@@camelot.mssm.edu, Dmitrii
(Mitya) Manin} at
@iftex

@end iftex
@uref{http://kulichki-lat.rambler.ru/centrolit/manin/cyr.el}.
@c Link above, <URL:http://camelot.mssm.edu/~manin/cyr.el> was dead.
@c Changed to russian host instead
@end quotation

@email{rebecca.ore@@op.net, Rebecca Ore} writes:

@quotation
The fullest resource I found on Russian language use (in and out of
XEmacs) is @uref{http://www.ibiblio.org/sergei/Software/Software.html}
@end quotation

@node Q1.8.8, Q1.8.9, Q1.8.7, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.8.8: Does XEmacs support Unicode?

To get Unicode support, you need a Mule-enabled XEmacs.

21.5 has internal support for Unicode and supports it fully, although we
don't yet use it as the internal encoding.

21.4 supports Unicode partially -- as an external encoding for files,
processes, and terminals, but without font support.  @xref{Q1.8.9, How
does XEmacs display Unicode?}.  To get Unicode support in 21.4,
install Mule-UCS from packages in the usual way, and put

@example
(require 'un-define)
(set-coding-priority-list '(utf-8))
(set-coding-category-system 'utf-8 'utf-8)
@end example

in your init file to enable the UTF-8 coding system.  You may wish to
view the documentation of @code{set-coding-priority-list} if you find
that files that are not UTF-8 are being mis-recognized as UTF-8.

Install standard national fonts (not Unicode fonts) for all character
sets you use.  @xref{Q1.8.9, How does XEmacs display Unicode??}.

Mule-UCS also supports 16-bit forms of Unicode (UTF-16).  It does not
support 31-bit forms of Unicode (UTF-32 or UCS-4).

@node Q1.8.9,  , Q1.8.8, Introduction
@unnumberedsubsec Q1.8.9: How does XEmacs display Unicode?

Mule doesn't have a Unicode charset internally, so there's nothing to
bind a Unicode registry to.  It would not be straightforward to create,
either, because Unicode is not ISO 2022-compatible.  You'd have to
translate it to multiple 96x96 pages.

This means that Mule-UCS uses ordinary national fonts for display.  This
is not really a problem, except for those languages that use the Unified
Han characters.  The problem here is that Mule-UCS maps from Unicode
code points to national character sets in a deterministic way.  By
default, this means that Japanese fonts are tried first, then Chinese,
then Korean.  To change the priority ordering, use the command
`un-define-change-charset-order'.

It also means you can't use Unicode fonts directly, at least not without
extreme hackery.  You can run -nw with (set-terminal-coding-system
'utf-8) if you really want a Unicode font for some reason.

Real Unicode support will be introduced in XEmacs 22.0.

@node Installation, Editing, Introduction, Top
@unnumbered 2 Installation and Troubleshooting

This is part 2 of the XEmacs Frequently Asked Questions list.  This
section is devoted to Installation, Maintenance and Troubleshooting.

@menu
2.0: Installation (General)
* Q2.0.1::    How do I build and install XEmacs?
* Q2.0.2::    Where do I find external libraries?
* Q2.0.3::    How do I specify the paths that XEmacs uses for finding files?
* Q2.0.4::    Running XEmacs without installing
* Q2.0.5::    XEmacs is too big

2.1: Package Installation
* Q2.1.1::    How do I install the packages?
* Q2.1.2::    Can I install the packages individually?
* Q2.1.3::    Can I install the packages automatically?
* Q2.1.4::    Can I upgrade or remove packages?
* Q2.1.5::    Which packages to install?
* Q2.1.6::    Can you describe the package location process in more detail?
* Q2.1.7::    EFS fails with "500 AUTH not understood"

2.2: Unix/Mac OS X Installation (Also Relevant to Cygwin, MinGW)
* Q2.2.1::    Libraries in non-standard locations
* Q2.2.2::    Why can't I strip XEmacs?
* Q2.2.3::    X11/bitmaps/gray (or other X11-related file) not found.

2.3: Windows Installation (Windows, Cygwin, MinGW)
* Q2.3.1::    What exactly are all the different ways to build XEmacs under Windows?
* Q2.3.2::    What compiler/libraries do I need to compile XEmacs?
* Q2.3.3::    How do I compile the native port?
* Q2.3.4::    What do I need for Cygwin?
* Q2.3.5::    How do I compile under Cygwin?
* Q2.3.6::    How do I compile using MinGW (aka @samp{the -mno-cygwin flag to gcc})?
* Q2.3.7::    How do I compile with X support?
* Q2.3.8::    Cygwin XEmacs won't start -- cygXpm-noX4.dll was not found (NEW)

2.4: General Troubleshooting
* Q2.4.1::    How do I deal with bugs or with problems building, installing, or running?
* Q2.4.2::    Help!  XEmacs just crashed on me!
* Q2.4.3::    XEmacs crashes and I compiled it myself.
* Q2.4.4::    How to debug an XEmacs problem with a debugger
* Q2.4.5::    I get a cryptic error message when trying to do something.
* Q2.4.6::    XEmacs hangs when I try to do something.
* Q2.4.7::    I get an error message when XEmacs is running in batch mode.
* Q2.4.8::    The keyboard or mouse is not working properly, or I have some other event-related problem.
* Q2.4.9::    @kbd{C-g} doesn't work for me.  Is it broken?
* Q2.4.10::   How do I debug process-related problems?
* Q2.4.11::   XEmacs is outputting lots of X errors.
* Q2.4.12::   After upgrading, XEmacs won't do `foo' any more!

2.5: Startup-Related Problems
* Q2.5.1::    XEmacs cannot connect to my X Terminal!
* Q2.5.2::    Startup problems related to paths or package locations.
* Q2.5.3::    XEmacs won't start without network, or starts slowly.
* Q2.5.4::    Startup warnings about deducing proper fonts?
* Q2.5.5::    Warnings from incorrect key modifiers.
* Q2.5.6::    XEmacs 21.1 on Windows used to spawn an ugly console window on every startup.  Has that been fixed?
* Q2.5.7::    XEmacs issues messages about ``auto-autoloads already loaded.''
@end menu

@unnumberedsec 2.0: Installation (General)

@node Q2.0.1, Q2.0.2, Installation, Installation
@unnumberedsubsec Q2.0.1: How do I build and install XEmacs?

See the file @file{etc/NEWS} for information on new features and other
user-visible changes since the last version of XEmacs.

The file @file{INSTALL} in the top-level directory says how to bring
up XEmacs on Unix and Cygwin, once you have loaded the entire subtree
of this directory.

See the file @file{nt/README} for instructions on building XEmacs for
Microsoft Windows.

@xref{Q2.1.1}, for the installation of (essential) add on packages.

@node Q2.0.2, Q2.0.3, Q2.0.1, Installation
@unnumberedsubsec Q2.0.2: Where do I find external libraries?

All external libraries used by XEmacs can be found on the XEmacs web
site
@iftex
@*
@end iftex
@uref{http://www.xemacs.org/Download/optLibs.html}.

The library versions available here are known to work with XEmacs.
(Newer versions will probably work as well but we can't guarantee it.)
We try to keep the libraries up-to-date but may not always succeed.
Check the above page for the canonical locations of the external libraries,
allowing you to download the latest, bleeding-edge versions.

@node Q2.0.3, Q2.0.4, Q2.0.2, Installation
@unnumberedsubsec Q2.0.3: How do I specify the paths that XEmacs uses for finding files?

You can specify what paths to use by using a number of different flags
when running configure.  See the section MAKE VARIABLES in the top-level
file INSTALL in the XEmacs distribution for a listing of those flags.

Most of the time, however, the simplest fix is: @strong{do not} specify
paths as you might for GNU Emacs.  XEmacs can generally determine the
necessary paths dynamically at run time.  The only path that generally
needs to be specified is the root directory to install into.  That can
be specified by passing the @code{--prefix} flag to configure.  For a
description of the XEmacs install tree, please consult the @file{NEWS}
file.

@node Q2.0.4, Q2.0.5, Q2.0.3, Installation
@unnumberedsubsec Q2.0.4: Running XEmacs without installing

How can I just try XEmacs without installing it?

XEmacs will run in place without requiring installation and copying of
the Lisp directories, and without having to specify a special build-time
flag.  It's the copying of the Lisp directories that requires so much
space.  XEmacs is largely written in Lisp.

A good method is to make a shell alias for xemacs:

@example
alias xemacs=/src/xemacs-21.5/src/xemacs
@end example

(You will obviously use whatever directory you downloaded the source
tree to instead of @file{/src/xemacs-21.5}).

This will let you run XEmacs without massive copying.

@node Q2.0.5, Q2.1.1, Q2.0.4, Installation
@unnumberedsubsec Q2.0.5: XEmacs is too big

The space required by the installation directories can be
reduced dramatically if desired.  Gzip all the .el files.  Remove all
the packages you'll never want to use.  Remove the TexInfo manuals.
Remove the Info (and use just hardcopy versions of the manual).  Remove
most of the stuff in etc.  Remove or gzip all the source code.  Gzip or
remove the C source code.  Configure it so that copies are not made of
the support lisp.

These are all Emacs Lisp source code and bytecompiled object code.  You
may safely gzip everything named *.el here.  You may remove any package
you don't use.  @emph{Nothing bad will happen if you delete a package
that you do not use}.  You must be sure you do not use it though, so be
conservative at first.

Any package with the possible exceptions of xemacs-base, and EFS are
candidates for removal.  Ask yourself, @emph{Do I ever want to use this
package?}  If the answer is no, then it is a candidate for removal.

First, gzip all the .el files.  Then go about package by package and
start gzipping the .elc files.  Then run XEmacs and do whatever it is
you normally do.  If nothing bad happens, then remove the package.  You
can remove a package via the PUI interface 
(@code{M-x pui-list-packages}, then press @kbd{d} to mark the packages
you wish to delete, and then @kbd{x} to delete them.

Another method is to do @code{M-x package-get-delete-package}.

@unnumberedsec 2.1: Package Installation

@node Q2.1.1, Q2.1.2, Q2.0.5, Installation
@unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.1: How do I install the packages?

There are three ways to install the packages.

@enumerate
@item
Manually, all at once, using the 'Sumo Tarball'.
@item
Manually, using individual package tarballs.
@item
Automatically, using the package tools from XEmacs.
@end enumerate

If you don't want to mess with the packages, it is easiest to just
grab them manually, all at once. (For the other two ways,
@xref{Q2.1.2}, and @xref{Q2.1.3}.) Download the file

@file{xemacs-sumo.tar.gz}

For an XEmacs compiled with Mule you also need

@file{xemacs-mule-sumo.tar.gz}

These are in the @file{packages} directory on your XEmacs mirror
archive: @uref{ftp://ftp.xemacs.org/pub/xemacs/packages} or its
mirrors.  N.B. They are called 'Sumo Tarballs' for good reason. They
are currently about 19MB and 4.5MB (gzipped) respectively.

Install them on Unix and Mac OS X using the shell/Terminal command

@code{cd $prefix/share/xemacs ; gunzip -c <tarballname> | tar xf -}

Where @samp{$prefix} is what you gave to the @samp{--prefix} flag to
@file{configure}, and defaults to @file{/usr/local}.

If you have GNU tar you can use:

@code{cd $prefix/share/xemacs ; tar zxvf <tarballname>}

If you have the packages somewhere nonstandard and don't want to bother
with @samp{$prefix} (for example, you're a developer and are compiling
the packages yourself, and want your own private copy of everything),
you can also directly specify this using @file{configure}.  To do this
with 21.5 and above use the @samp{--with-late-packages} parameter to
specify the directory under which you untarred the above tarballs.
Under 21.4 and previous you need to use @samp{--package-path}.  Using
these options looks something like this:

@example
   configure --package-path="~/.xemacs::/src/xemacs/site-packages:/src/xemacs/xemacs-packages:/src/xemacs/mule-packages" ...
@end example

Under Windows, you need to place the above @samp{tar.gz} files in the
directory specified using the @samp{PACKAGE_PREFIX} value in
@file{nt/config.inc} and by default is @file{\Program Files\XEmacs}.
(To untar a @samp{tar.gz} file you will need to use a utility such as
WinZip, unless you have Cygwin or a similar environment installed, in
which case the above Unix shell command should work fine.) If you want
the packages somewhere else, just change @samp{PACKAGE_PREFIX}.

Note that XEmacs finds the packages automatically anywhere underneath
the directory tree where it expects to find the packages.  All you
need to do is put stuff there; you don't need to run any program to
tell XEmacs to find the packages, or do anything of that sort.

However, XEmacs will only notice newly installed packages when it
starts up, so you will have to restart if you are already running
XEmacs.

For more details, @xref{Startup Paths,,,xemacs, the XEmacs User's
Manual}, and @xref{Packages,,,xemacs, the XEmacs User's Manual}.

As the Sumo tarballs are not regenerated as often as the individual
packages, it is recommended that you use the automatic package tools
afterwards to pick up any recent updates.

@emph{NOTE}: For detailed information about how the package
hierarchies work, @xref{Package Overview,,,lispref, the XEmacs Lisp
Reference Manual}.

@node Q2.1.2, Q2.1.3, Q2.1.1, Installation
@unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.2: Can I install the packages individually?

Yes, you can download individual packages from the FTP site (@pxref{Q2.1.1}).  Since packages are automatically noticed at startup, you just have to put them in the right place.

Note: If you are upgrading packages already installed, it's best to
remove the old package first (@pxref{Q2.1.4}).

For example if we are installing the @samp{xemacs-base}
package (version 1.48):

@example
   mkdir $prefix/share/xemacs/xemacs-packages RET # if it does not exist yet
   cd $prefix/share/xemacs/xemacs-packages RET
   gunzip -c /path/to/xemacs-base-1.48-pkg.tar.gz | tar xvf - RET
@end example

Or if you have GNU tar, the last step can be:

@example
   tar zxvf /path/to/xemacs-base-1.48-pkg.tar.gz RET
@end example

For MULE related packages, it is best to untar into the @samp{mule-packages}
hierarchy, i.e. for the @samp{mule-base} package, version 1.37:

@example
   mkdir $prefix/share/xemacs/mule-packages RET # if it does not exist yet
   cd $prefix/share/xemacs/mule-packages RET
   gunzip -c /path/to/mule-base-1.37-pkg.tar.gz | tar xvf - RET
@end example

Or if you have GNU tar, the last step can be:

@example
   tar zxvf /path/to/mule-base-1.37-pkg.tar.gz RET
@end example

@node Q2.1.3, Q2.1.4, Q2.1.2, Installation
@unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.3: Can I install the packages automatically?

XEmacs comes with some tools to make the periodic updating and
installing easier. It will notice if new packages or versions are
available and will fetch them from the FTP site.

Unfortunately this requires that a few packages are already in place.
You will have to install them by hand as above or use a SUMO tarball.
This requirement will hopefully go away in the future. The packages
you need are:

@example
   efs          - To fetch the files from the FTP site or mirrors.
   xemacs-base  - Needed by efs.
@end example

and optionally:

@example
   mailcrypt    - For PGP verification of the package-index file.
@end example

After installing these by hand, fire up XEmacs and follow these
steps.

@enumerate
@item
Choose a download site.
@itemize @bullet
@item
via menu: Tools -> Packages -> Set Download Site 
@item
via keyb: M-x customize-variable RET package-get-remote RET
(put in the details of remote host and directory)
@end itemize

If the package tarballs _AND_ the package-index file are in a
local directory, you can: M-x pui-set-local-package-get-directory RET

@item
Obtain a list of packages and display the list in a buffer named
"*Packages*".
@itemize @bullet
@item
menu: Tools -> Packages -> List & Install
@item
keyb: M-x pui-list-packages RET
@end itemize

XEmacs will now connect to the remote site and download the
latest package-index file.

The resulting buffer, "*Packages*" has brief instructions at the
end of the buffer.

@item
Choose the packages you wish to install.
@itemize @bullet
@item
mouse: Click button 2 on the package name.
@item
keyb: RET on the package name
@end itemize

@item
Make sure you have everything you need.
@itemize @bullet
@item
menu: Packages -> Add Required
@item
keyb: r
@end itemize

XEmacs will now search for packages that are required by the
ones that you have chosen to install and offer to select
those packages also.

For novices and gurus alike, this step can save your bacon.
It's easy to forget to install a critical package.

@item
Download and install the packages.
@itemize @bullet
@item
menu: Packages -> Install/Remove Selected
@item
keyb: x
@end itemize
@end enumerate

@node Q2.1.4, Q2.1.5, Q2.1.3, Installation
@unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.4: Can I upgrade or remove packages?

As the exact files and their locations contained in a package may
change it is recommended to remove a package first before installing a
new version. In order to facilitate removal each package contains a
pkginfo/MANIFEST.pkgname file which lists all the files belonging to
the package. M-x package-admin-delete-binary-package RET can be used
to remove a package using this file.

Note that the interactive package tools included with XEmacs already do
this for you.

@node Q2.1.5, Q2.1.6, Q2.1.4, Installation
@unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.5: Which packages to install?

Unless you are an advanced user, just install everything.

If you really want to install only what's absolutely needed, a good
minimal set of packages for XEmacs-latin1 would be

@example
xemacs-base, xemacs-devel, c-support, cc-mode, debug, dired, efs,
edit-utils, fsf-compat, mail-lib, net-utils, os-utils, prog-modes,
text-modes, time, mailcrypt
@end example

If you are using the XEmacs package tools, don't forget to do:

@example
	Packages -> Add Required
@end example

To make sure you have everything that the packages you have chosen to
install need.

@xref{Q1.7.2}, for a description of the various packages.

@node Q2.1.6, Q2.1.7, Q2.1.5, Installation
@unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.6: Can you describe the package location process in more detail?

On startup XEmacs looks for packages in so-called package hierarchies.
Normally, there are three system wide hierarchies, like this:

@example
$prefix/sahre/xemacs/xemacs-packages/
     Normal packages go here.

$prefix/share/xemacs/mule-packages/
     Mule packages go here and are only searched by MULE-enabled XEmacsen.

$prefix/share/xemacs/site-packages/
     Local and 3rd party packages go here.
@end example

This is what you get when you untar the SUMO tarballs under
@file{$prefix/share/xemacs}.

@file{$prefix} is specified using the @samp{--prefix} parameter to
@file{configure}, and defaults to @file{usr/local}.

If the package path is not explicitly specified, XEmacs looks for the
package directory @file{xemacs-packages} (and @file{mule-packages} and
@file{site-packages}) first under @samp{~/.xemacs}, then for a sister
directory @file{lib/xemacs-VERSION} of the directory in which the
XEmacs executable is located, then for a sister directory
@file{lib/xemacs}.  The XEmacs executable (under Unix at least) is
installed by default in @file{/usr/local/bin}; this explains why
XEmacs in its default installation will find packages that you put
under @file{/usr/local/share/xemacs}.

You can specify where exactly XEmacs looks for packages by using the
@samp{--with-user-packages} (an alias for @samp{--with-early-packages})
or @samp{--with-system-packages} (an alias for
@samp{--with-late-packages}) or @samp{--with-legacy-packages}
(an alias for @samp{--with-last-packages})
parameters to @file{configure} (or the equivalent settings in
@file{config.inc}, under Windows), or setting the
@samp{EMACSEARLYPACKAGES}, @samp{EMACSLATEPACKAGES}, and
@samp{EMACSLASTPACKAGES} environment variables (which have the same
format as the configure options).  @xref{Q2.1.1}.

See @file{configure.usage} for more info about the format of these
@file{configure} parameters.

In addition to the system wide packages, each user can have his own
packages installed under @file{~/.xemacs/}. If you want to install
packages there using the interactive tools, you need to set
@code{package-get-install-to-user-init-directory} to @code{t}.

The site-packages hierarchy replaces the old @file{site-lisp}
directory.  XEmacs no longer looks into a @file{site-lisp} directly by
default.  A good place to put @file{site-start.el} would be in
@file{$prefix/share/xemacs/site-packages/lisp/}.

@node Q2.1.7, Q2.2.1, Q2.1.6, Installation
@unnumberedsubsec Q2.1.7: EFS fails with "500 AUTH not understood" (NEW)

A typical error: FTP Error: USER request failed; 500 AUTH not understood.

Thanks to Giacomo Boffi @email{giacomo.boffi@@polimi.it} who recommends
on comp.emacs.xemacs:

   tell your ftp client to not attempt AUTH authentication (or do not
   use FTP servers that don't understand AUTH)

and notes that you need to add an element (often "-u") to
`efs-ftp-program-args'.  Use M-x customize-variable, and verify the
needed flag with `man ftp' or other local documentation.

@unnumberedsec 2.2: Unix/Mac OS X Installation (Also Relevant to Cygwin, MinGW)

@node Q2.2.1, Q2.2.2, Q2.1.7, Installation
@unnumberedsubsec Q2.2.1: Libraries in non-standard locations

If your libraries are in a non-standard location, you can specify the location
using the following flags to @file{configure}.  Under 21.4 or earlier:

@example
--site-libraries=WHATEVER
--site-includes=WHATEVER
@end example

Under 21.5 or later:

@example
--with-site-libraries=WHATEVER
--with-site-includes=WHATEVER
@end example

If you have multiple paths to specify, use the following syntax:

@example
--site-libraries='/path/one /path/two /path/etc'
@end example

If the libraries and headers reside in the directories @samp{lib} and
@samp{include} of a common root (say @samp{/sw}) then both can be
specified with a single option:

@example
--site-prefixes=WHATEVER
@end example

or for 21.5:

@example
--with-site-prefixes=WHATEVER
@end example

@node Q2.2.2, Q2.2.3, Q2.2.1, Installation
@unnumberedsubsec Q2.2.2: Why can't I strip XEmacs?

@email{cognot@@fronsac.ensg.u-nancy.fr, Richard Cognot} writes:

@quotation
Because of the way XEmacs (and every other Emacsen, AFAIK) is built. The
link gives you a bare-boned emacs (called temacs). temacs is then run,
preloading some of the lisp files. The result is then dumped into a new
executable, named xemacs, which will contain all of the preloaded lisp
functions and data.

Now, during the dump itself, the executable (code+data+symbols) is
written on disk using a special unexec() function. This function is
obviously heavily system dependent. And on some systems, it leads to an
executable which, although valid, cannot be stripped without damage. If
memory serves, this is especially the case for AIX binaries. On other
architectures it might work OK.

The Right Way to strip the emacs binary is to strip temacs prior to
dumping xemacs. This will always work, although you can do that only if
you install from sources (as temacs is @file{not} part of the binary
kits).
@end quotation

@email{nat@@nataa.fr.eu.org, Nat Makarevitch} writes:

@quotation
Here is the trick:

@enumerate
@item
[ ./configure; make ]

@item
rm src/xemacs

@item
strip src/temacs

@item
make

@item
cp src/xemacs /usr/local/bin/xemacs

@item
cp lib-src/DOC-19.16-XEmacs
@iftex
\ @*
@end iftex
/usr/local/lib/xemacs-19.16/i586-unknown-linuxaout
@end enumerate
@end quotation

@node Q2.2.3, Q2.3.1, Q2.2.2, Installation
@unnumberedsubsec Q2.2.3: X11/bitmaps/gray (or other X11-related file) not found.

The X11R6 distribution was monolithic, but the X11R7 distribution is
much more modular.  Many OS distributions omit these bitmaps (assuming
nobody uses them, evidently).  Your OS distribution should have a
developer's package containing these files, probably with a name
containing the string "bitmap".  Known package names (you may need to
add an extension such as .deb or .rpm) include x11/xbitmaps (Ubuntu)
and xorg-x11-xbitmaps (Fedora Core 5).

@unnumberedsec 2.3: Windows Installation (Windows, Cygwin, MinGW)

@node Q2.3.1, Q2.3.2, Q2.2.3, Installation
@unnumberedsubsec Q2.3.1: What exactly are all the different ways to build XEmacs under Windows?

XEmacs can be built in several ways in the MS Windows environment.

The standard way is what we call the "native" port.  It uses the Win32
API and has no connection with X whatsoever -- it does not require X
libraries to build, nor does it require an X server to run.  The native
port is the most reliable version and provides the best graphical
support.  Almost all development is geared towards this version, and
there is little reason not to use it.

The second way to build is the Cygwin port.  It takes advantage of
Cygnus emulation library under Win32.  @xref{Q1.2.5, What are Cygwin
and MinGW, and do I need them to run XEmacs?}, for more information.

A third way is the MinGW port.  It uses the Cygwin environment to
build but does not require it at runtime.  @xref{Q1.2.5, What are
Cygwin and MinGW, and do I need them to run XEmacs?}, for more
information.

Finally, you might also be able to build the non-Cygwin, non-MinGW "X"
port.  This was actually the first version of XEmacs that ran under MS
Windows, and although the code is still in XEmacs, it's essentially
orphaned and it's unlikely it will compile without a lot of work.  If
you want an MS Windows versin of XEmacs that supports X, use the Cygwin
version. (The X support there is actively maintained, so that Windows
developers can test the X support in XEmacs.)

@node Q2.3.2, Q2.3.3, Q2.3.1, Installation
@unnumberedsubsec Q2.3.2: What compiler/libraries do I need to compile XEmacs?

You need Visual C++ 4.2, 5.0, or 6.0 for the native version. (We have
some beta testers currently trying to compile with VC.NET, aka version
7.0, but we can't yet report complete success.) For the Cygwin and
MinGW versions, you need the Cygwin environment, which comes with GCC,
the compiler used for those versions.  @xref{Q1.2.5, What are Cygwin
and MinGW, and do I need them to run XEmacs?}, for more information on
Cygwin and MinGW.

@node Q2.3.3, Q2.3.4, Q2.3.2, Installation
@unnumberedsubsec Q2.3.3: How do I compile the native port?

Please read the file @file{nt/README} in the XEmacs distribution, which
contains the full description.

@node Q2.3.4, Q2.3.5, Q2.3.3, Installation
@unnumberedsubsec Q2.3.4: What do I need for Cygwin?

You can find the Cygwin tools and compiler at:

@uref{http://www.cygwin.com/}

Click on the @samp{Install or update now!} link, which will download a
file @file{setup.exe}, which you can use to download everything
else. (You will need to pick a mirror site; @samp{mirrors.rcn.net} is
probably the best.) You should go ahead and install everything --
you'll get various ancillary libraries that XEmacs needs or likes,
e.g. XPM, PNG, JPEG, TIFF, etc.  You can also get X Windows here, if you
want to compile under X.

If you want to compile without X, you will need the @file{xpm-nox}
library, which must be specifically selected in the Cygwin netinstaller;
it is not selected by default.  The package has had various names.
Currently it is called @file{cygXpm-noX4.dll}.

@node Q2.3.5, Q2.3.6, Q2.3.4, Installation
@unnumberedsubsec Q2.3.5: How do I compile under Cygwin?

Similar as on Unix; use the usual `configure' and `make' process.
Some problems to watch out for:

@itemize @bullet
@item
make sure HOME is set. This controls where you
@file{init.el} file comes from;

@item
@samp{CYGWIN} needs to be set to @samp{tty} for process support to work;

@item
picking up some other grep or other UNIX-like tools can kill configure;

@item
static heap too small, adjust @file{src/sheap-adjust.h} to a more positive
number;

@item
(Unconfirmed) The Cygwin version doesn't understand
@file{//machine/path} type paths so you will need to manually mount a
directory of this form under a unix style directory for a build to work
on the directory;

@item
If you're building @strong{WITHOUT} X11, don't forget to change symlinks
@file{/usr/lib/libXpm.a} and @file{/usr/lib/libXpm.dll.a} to point to
the non-X versions of these libraries.  By default they point to the X
versions.  So:

@example
/usr/lib/libXpm.a     -> /usr/lib/libXpm-noX.a
/usr/lib/libXpm.dll.a -> /usr/lib/libXpm-noX.dll.a
@end example

(This advice may now be obsolete because of the availability of the
cygXpm-noX4.dll package from Cygwin.  Send confirmation to
@email{faq@@xemacs.org}.)

@item
Other problems are listed in the @file{PROBLEMS} file, in the top-level
directory of the XEmacs sources.

@end itemize


@node Q2.3.6, Q2.3.7, Q2.3.5, Installation
@unnumberedsubsec Q2.3.6: How do I compile using MinGW (aka @samp{the -mno-cygwin flag to gcc})?

Similar to the method for Unix.  Things to remember:

@itemize @bullet
@item
Specify the target host on the command line for @file{./configure}, e.g.
@samp{./configure i586-pc-mingw32}.

@item
Be sure that your build directory is mounted such that it has the
same path either as a cygwin path (@file{/build/xemacs}) or as a Windows
path (@file{c:\build\xemacs}).

@item
Build @samp{gcc -mno-cygwin} versions of the extra libs, i.e. @file{libpng},
@file{compface}, etc.

@item
Specify the target location of the extra libs on the command line
to @file{configure}, e.g.for 21.4 or earlier
@samp{./configure --site-prefixes=/build/libs i586-pc-mingw32} and for
21.5 or later 
@samp{./configure --with-site-prefixes=/build/libs i586-pc-mingw32}.
@end itemize

@node Q2.3.7, Q2.3.8, Q2.3.6, Installation
@unnumberedsubsec Q2.3.7: How do I compile with X support?

To compile under Cygwin, all you need to do is install XFree86, which
is available as part of the standard Cygwin installation.
@uref{http://www.cygwin.com/}.  Once installed, @file{configure}
should automatically find the X libraries and compile with X support.

As noted above, the non-Cygwin X support is basically orphaned, and
probably won't work.  But if it want to try, it's described in
@file{nt/README} in some detail.  Basically, you need to get X11
libraries from @uref{http://ftp.x.org}, and compile them.  If the
precompiled versions are available somewhere, we don't know of it.

@node Q2.3.8, Q2.4.1, Q2.3.7, Installation
@unnumberedsubsec Q2.3.8: Cygwin XEmacs won't start -- cygXpm-noX4.dll was not found (NEW)

The Cygwin binary distributed with the netinstaller uses an external DLL
to handle XPM images (such as toolbar buttons).  You may get an error like

@example
This application has failed to start because cygXpm-noX4.dll was not found.
Re-installing the application may fix this problem.
@end example

Andy Piper <andy@@xemacs.org> sez:

@example
cygXpm-noX4 is part of the cygwin distribution under libraries or
graphics, but is not installed by default. You need to run the
cygwin setup again and select this package.
@end example

Ie, reinstalling XEmacs won't help because it is not part of the XEmacs
distribution.

@unnumberedsec 2.4: General Troubleshooting

@node Q2.4.1, Q2.4.2, Q2.3.8, Installation
@unnumberedsubsec Q2.4.1: How do I deal with bugs or with problems building, installing, or running?

The file @file{PROBLEMS} contains information on many common problems that
occur in building, installing and running XEmacs.

Reports of bugs in XEmacs should be sent to
@email{xemacs-beta@@xemacs.org}.  You can also post to the newsgroup
comp.emacs.xemacs (or equivalentlt, send to the mailing list
@email{xemacs@@xemacs.org}), but it is less likely that the developers
will see it in a timely fashion.  @xref{Bugs,,, xemacs, the XEmacs
User's Manual}, for more information on how to report bugs.
@xref{Q1.4.2}, for more information on mailing lists relating to
XEmacs.

There are three ways to read the Bugs section.

@enumerate
@item
In a printed copy of the XEmacs manual.

@item
With Info.  First, start XEmacs.  From the menu, select
@samp{Help->Info (Online Docs)->Info Contents} to enter Info, then
click on @samp{XEmacs}, then on @samp{Bugs}.  Or, use the keyboard: do
@kbd{C-h i} to enter Info, then @kbd{m XEmacs RET} to get to the Emacs
manual, then @kbd{m Bugs RET} to get to the section on bugs.  Or use
standalone Info in a like manner.  (Standalone Info is part of the
Texinfo distribution, not part of the XEmacs distribution.)

@item
By hand.  Do
@example
cat info/xemacs* | more "+/^File: xemacs.info,  Node: Bugs,"
@end example
@end enumerate

@node Q2.4.2, Q2.4.3, Q2.4.1, Installation
@unnumberedsubsec Q2.4.2: Help!  XEmacs just crashed on me!

First of all, don't panic.  Whenever XEmacs crashes, it tries extremely
hard to auto-save all of your files before dying.  (The main time that
this will not happen is if the machine physically lost power or if you
killed the XEmacs process using @code{kill -9}).  The next time you try
to edit those files, you will be informed that a more recent auto-save
file exists.  You can use @kbd{M-x recover-file} to retrieve the
auto-saved version of the file.

You can use the command @kbd{M-x recover-session} after a crash to pick
up where you left off.

Now, XEmacs is not perfect, and there may occasionally be times, or
particular sequences of actions, that cause it to crash.  If you can
come up with a reproducible way of doing this (or even if you have a
pretty good memory of exactly what you were doing at the time), the
maintainers would be very interested in knowing about it.  The best
way to report a bug is using @kbd{M-x report-emacs-bug} (or by
selecting @samp{Send Bug Report...} from the Help menu).  If that
won't work (e.g. you can't get XEmacs working at all), send ordinary
mail to @email{xemacs-beta@@xemacs.org}. @emph{MAKE SURE} to include
the output from the crash, especially including the Lisp backtrace, as
well as the XEmacs configuration from @kbd{M-x describe-installation}
(or equivalently, the file @file{Installation} in the top of the build
tree).  Note that the developers do @emph{not} usually follow
@samp{comp.emacs.xemacs} on a regular basis; thus, this is better for
general questions about XEmacs than bug reports.

If at all possible, include a C stack backtrace of the core dump that
was produced.  This shows where exactly things went wrong, and makes
it much easier to diagnose problems.  To do this under Unix and Mac OS
X, you need to locate the core file (it's called @file{core}, and is
usually sitting in the directory that you started XEmacs from, or your
home directory if that other directory was not writable).  Then, go to
that directory and execute a command like:

@example
gdb `which xemacs` core
@end example

and then issue the command @samp{where} to get the stack backtrace.  You
might have to use @code{dbx} or some similar debugger in place of
@code{gdb}.  If you don't have any such debugger available, complain to
your system administrator.

It's possible that a core file didn't get produced or the stack trace
from gdb is garbage, in which case you're out of luck unless you can
reproduce the bug.  A nonexistent core file can happen in some
circumstances on some operating systems, depending on what exactly
triggered the crash.  It's also possible, however, that your limits
are set to turn them off.  You may be able to reenable them using a
command like @samp{unlimit coredumpsize} or @samp{ulimit -c}. (To find
out how your limits are set, use the command @samp{limit}.) However, if
you didn't explicitly set your limits this way, go complain to your
system administrator and tell him not to disable core files by
default.

A garbaged stack trace can happen for various reasons.  Some versions
of gdb are broken on certain operating systems and aren't able to read
the core file.  It's also possible that the stack got overwritten
during the crash.  A very simple reason, however, is that your version
of XEmacs was compiled without debugging information or had the
debugging information stripped.  A compilation with optimization can
also result in partly or completely garbaged stack trace.  In such
cases, you will need to recompile XEmacs with debugging information
and without optimization; @xref{Q2.4.4, How to debug an XEmacs problem
with a debugger}.  Note also that core files currently don't work at
all under Cygwin, and the only way to get a backtrace is to run XEmacs
from gdb.

If you cannot get a backtrace from the core dump, but can reproduce
the problem, try running XEmacs under gdb.  The goal is to get clean C
and Lisp backtraces and submit a bug report including full
configuration information as described above, as this will greatly
assist in the process of tracking down the bug.  However, even partial
information is better than none.  The process of getting backtraces
from gdb is described in detail in @ref{Q2.4.4, How to debug an XEmacs
problem with a debugger}.

If you're under Microsoft Windows, you're out of luck unless you happen
to have a debugging aid installed on your system, for example Visual
C++.  In this case, the crash will result in a message giving you the
option to enter a debugger (for example, by pressing @samp{Cancel}).  Do
this and locate the stack-trace window. (If your XEmacs was built
without debugging information, the stack trace may not be very useful.)

When making a problem report make sure that:

@enumerate
@item
Report @strong{all} of the information output by XEmacs during the
crash.

@item
You mention what O/S and Hardware you are running XEmacs on.

@item
What version of XEmacs you are running.

@item
What build options you are using.

@item
If the problem is related to graphics and you are running Unix or Mac
OS X, we will also need to know what version of the X Window System
you are running, and what window manager you are using.

@item
If the problem happened on a TTY, please include the terminal type.

@item
Try very hard to get both C and Lisp backtraces, as described above.
@end enumerate

Much of the information above is automatically generated by @kbd{M-x
report-emacs-bug}.  Even more, and often useful, information can be
generated by redirecting the output of @code{make} and @code{make check}
to a file (@file{beta.err} is the default used by @code{build-report}),
and executing @kbd{M-x build-report}.


@node Q2.4.3, Q2.4.4, Q2.4.2, Installation
@unnumberedsubsec Q2.4.3: XEmacs crashes and I compiled it myself.

There have been a variety of reports of crashes due to compilers with
buggy optimizers.  If you are compiling with optimization, consider
turning it off (@pxref{Q2.4.4, How to debug an XEmacs problem with a
debugger}) and recompiling.

Please see the @file{PROBLEMS} file that comes with XEmacs (it's in
the top-level source directory) to read what it says about your
platform.

If you compiled XEmacs 21.4 or earlier using @samp{--use-union-type}, or
21.5 or later using @samp{--enable-union-type} (or in either case used
the option @samp{USE_UNION_TYPE} in @file{config.inc} under Windows),
try recompiling again without it.  The union type has been known to
trigger compiler errors in a number of cases.

@node Q2.4.4, Q2.4.5, Q2.4.3, Installation
@unnumberedsubsec Q2.4.4: How to debug an XEmacs problem with a debugger

If XEmacs does crash on you, one of the most productive things you can
do to help get the bug fixed is to poke around a bit with the debugger.
Here are some hints:

@itemize @bullet
@item
First of all, if the crash is at all reproducible, consider very
strongly recompiling your XEmacs with debugging symbols and with no
optimization (e.g. with GCC use the compiler flags @samp{-g -O0} --
that's an "oh" followed by a zero), and with the configure options
@samp{--debug=yes} and @samp{--error-checking=all}
(@samp{--enable-debug=yes} and @samp{--enable-error-checking=all} on
XEmacs 21.5 or later).  This will make your XEmacs run somewhat slower,
but you are a lot more likely to catch the problem earlier (closer to
its source).  It makes it a lot easier to determine what's going on with
a debugger.  The way to control the compiler flags is with the
configuration option @samp{--cflags} (@samp{--with-cflags} in 21.5).  If
you have a recent version of 21.5, you should use
@samp{--without-optimization} in preference to directly setting
@samp{--cflags}.

@item
If it's not a true crash (@emph{i.e.}, XEmacs is hung, or a zombie
process), or it's inconvenient to run XEmacs again because XEmacs is
already running or is running in batch mode as part of a bunch of
scripts, you may be able to attach to the existing process with your
debugger.  Under Unix and Mac OS X, the typical way to do this is to
first use some variant of the @samp{ps} command to figure out the
process ID of XEmacs, for example @samp{ps -auxww | grep xemacs} under
a BSD variant, @samp{ps -elf | grep xemacs} under Linux or System V,
or @samp{ps -aW | grep xemacs} under Cygwin.  Then run

@example
gdb /path/to/xemacs/xemacs ####
@end example

Where @code{####} is the process id of your XEmacs. (If you're not
sure, try using @samp{which xemacs}.) When gdb attaches, the xemacs
will stop and you can type @samp{where} in gdb to get a stack trace as
usual.  To get things moving again, you can just type @samp{quit} in
gdb.  It'll tell you the program is running and ask if you want to
quit anyways.  Say @samp{y} and it'll quit and have your emacs
continue from where it was at.

If you're running another debugger, a similar method may work, or you
may have to run the debugger first and then use the @code{attach}
command or something similar.

Under Microsoft Windows, use the menu item @samp{Build->Start
Debug->Attach to Process...} and select the XEmacs process from the list
given.

@item
If you're able to run XEmacs under a debugger and reproduce the crash,
here are some things you can do:

@item
If XEmacs is hitting an assertion failure, put a breakpoint on
@code{assert_failed()}.

@item
If XEmacs is hitting some weird Lisp error that's causing it to crash
(e.g. during startup), put a breakpoint on @code{signal_1()}---this is
declared static in @file{eval.c}.

@item
If XEmacs is outputting lots of X errors, put a breakpoint on
@code{x_error_handler()}; that will tell you which call is causing
them.  Note that the result may not be very useful by default because
X Windows normally operates asynchronously: A bunch of commands are
buffered up and then sent to the server all at once.  This greatly
improves performance over a network but means that an error may not be
reported until the server receives the commands, which can be long
after XEmacs made the erroneous calls.  For best results, you need to
make the X server synchronous before getting the backtrace.  This can
be done by starting XEmacs with the @samp{-sync} option or executing
the Lisp code @code{(x-debug-mode t)}.

@item
Internally, you will probably see lots of variables that hold objects of
type @code{Lisp_Object}.  These are references to Lisp objects.
Printing them out with the debugger probably won't be too
useful---you'll likely just see a number.  To decode them, do this:

@example
call debug_print (OBJECT)
@end example

where @var{OBJECT} is whatever you want to decode (it can be a variable,
a function call, etc.).  This uses the Lisp printing routines to out a
readable representation on the TTY from which the xemacs process was
invoked.

Under 21.5 and later, @code{dp} is defined as an easier-to-type equivalent
of @code{debug_print}.  You can also try @code{dpa} if you can't see
the output from @code{debug_print} (this will return a string containing
the output), or use @code{debug_p3} if @code{debug_print} itself triggers
a crash (this is a less comprehensive but super-safe way to print out
a Lisp object).

@item
If you want to get a Lisp backtrace showing the Lisp call
stack, do this:

@example
call debug_backtrace ()
@end example

Under 21.5 and later, @code{db} is defined as an easier-to-type equivalent
of @code{debug_backtrace}.

@item
Using @code{debug_print} and @code{debug_backtrace} has two
disadvantages - they can only be used with a running (including hung
or zombie) xemacs process, and they do not display the internal C
structure of a Lisp Object.  Even if all you've got is a core dump,
all is not lost.

If you're using GDB, there are some macros in the file
@file{src/.gdbinit} in the XEmacs source distribution that should make
it easier for you to decode Lisp objects.  This file is automatically
read by gdb if gdb is run in the directory where xemacs was built, and
contains these useful macros to inspect the state of xemacs:

@table @code
@item pobj
Usage: pobj lisp_object @*
Print the internal C representation of a lisp object.

@item xtype
Usage: xtype lisp_object @*
Print the Lisp type of a lisp object.

@item lbt
Usage: lbt @*
Print the current Lisp stack trace.
Requires a running xemacs process.  (It works by calling the db
routine described above.)

@item ldp
Usage: ldp lisp_object @*
Print a Lisp Object value using the Lisp printer.
Requires a running xemacs process.  (It works by calling the dp
routine described above.)

@item run-temacs
Usage: run-temacs @*
Run temacs interactively, like xemacs.
Use this with debugging tools (like purify) that cannot deal with dumping,
or when temacs builds successfully, but xemacs does not.

@item dump-temacs
Usage: dump-temacs @*
Run the dumping part of the build procedure.
Use when debugging temacs, not xemacs!
Use this when temacs builds successfully, but xemacs does not.

@item check-xemacs
Usage: check-xemacs @*
Run the test suite.  Equivalent to 'make check'.

@item check-temacs
Usage: check-temacs @*
Run the test suite on temacs.  Equivalent to 'make check-temacs'.
Use this with debugging tools (like purify) that cannot deal with dumping,
or when temacs builds successfully, but xemacs does not.
@end table

If you are using Sun's @file{dbx} debugger, there is an equivalent file
@file{src/.dbxrc}, which defines the same commands for dbx.

@item
If you're using a debugger to get a C stack backtrace and you're seeing
stack traces with some of the innermost frames mangled, it may be due to
dynamic linking. (This happens especially under Linux.) Consider
reconfiguring with @samp{--dynamic=no} (@samp{--with-dynamic=no} in 21.5
or later).  Also, sometimes (again under Linux), stack backtraces of
core dumps will have the frame where the fatal signal occurred mangled;
if you can obtain a stack trace while running the XEmacs process under a
debugger, the stack trace should be clean.

@email{1CMC3466@@ibm.mtsac.edu, Curtiss} suggests upgrading to ld.so
version 1.8 if dynamic linking and debugging is a problem on Linux.

@item
If you're using a debugger to get a C stack backtrace and you're
getting a completely mangled and bogus stack trace, it's probably due to
one of the following:

@enumerate a
@item
Your executable has been stripped.  Bad news.  Tell your sysadmin not to
do this---it doesn't accomplish anything except to save a bit of disk
space, and makes debugging much much harder.

@item
Your stack is getting trashed.  Debugging this is hard; you have to do a
binary-search type of narrowing down where the crash occurs, until you
figure out exactly which line is causing the problem.  Of course, this
only works if the bug is highly reproducible.  Also, in many cases if
you run XEmacs from the debugger, the debugger can protect the stack
somewhat.  However, if the stack is being smashed, it is typically the
case that there is a wild pointer somewhere in the program, often quite
far from where the crash occurs.

@item
If your stack trace has exactly one frame in it, with address 0x0, this
could simply mean that XEmacs attempted to execute code at that address,
e.g. through jumping to a null function pointer.  Unfortunately, under
those circumstances, GDB under Linux doesn't know how to get a stack
trace. (Yes, this is the fourth Linux-related problem I've mentioned.  I
have no idea why GDB under Linux is so bogus.  Complain to the GDB
authors, or to comp.os.linux.development.system.) Again, you'll have to
use the narrowing-down process described above.

@item
You will get a Lisp backtrace output when XEmacs crashes, so you'll have
something useful.

@end enumerate

@item
If you compile with the newer gcc variants gcc-2.8 or egcs, you will
also need gdb 4.17 or above.  Earlier releases of gdb can't handle the
debug information generated by the newer compilers.

@item
In versions of XEmacs before 21.2.27, @file{src/.gdbinit} was named
@file{src/gdbinit}.  This had the disadvantage of not being sourced
automatically by gdb, so you had to set that up yourself.

@item
If you are running Microsoft Windows, the the file @file{nt/README} for
further information about debugging XEmacs.

@end itemize

@node Q2.4.5, Q2.4.6, Q2.4.4, Installation
@unnumberedsubsec Q2.4.5: I get a cryptic error message when trying to do something.

When I try to use some particular option of some particular package, I
get a cryptic error message in the minibuffer.

If the message went by too quickly, use @samp{Help->Recent Messages}
from the menubar (or type @kbd{C-h l}) to see recent messages.

If you can't figure out what's going on, select
@samp{Options->Troubleshooting->Debug on Error} from the menubar (or
type @kbd{M-:} then @kbd{(setq debug-on-error t)}) then try and make
the error happen again.  This will put in the debugger (you can get
out of this and continue what you were doing before by typing @kbd{c})
and give you a backtrace that may be enlightening.  If not, try
reading through this FAQ; if that fails, you could try posting to
@samp{comp.emacs.xemacs} (making sure to include the backtrace) and
someone may be able to help.  If you can identify which XEmacs Lisp
source file the error is coming from you can get a more detailed stack
backtrace by doing the following:

@enumerate
@item
Visit the .el file in an XEmacs buffer.

@item
Issue the command @kbd{M-x eval-current-buffer}.

@item
Reproduce the error.
@end enumerate

For more information on debugging Lisp code, @xref{Debugging,,,
lispref, XEmacs Lisp Reference Manual}.

@node Q2.4.6, Q2.4.7, Q2.4.5, Installation
@unnumberedsubsec Q2.4.6: XEmacs hangs when I try to do something.

XEmacs might just be slow; some operations take a long time.  XEmacs
may also be waiting on a response from the network, for example when
you are trying to send mail.

You can usually interrupt XEmacs by typing @kbd{C-g}.  If not (for
example, Lisp code explicitly disabled this by setting
@code{inhibit-quit}), you can use the "critical quit" mechanism by
typing @kbd{Control-Shift-G}.  This should also pop you into the
debugger and give you a backtrace, which can tell you where the
problem is (@pxref{Q2.4.4, How to debug an XEmacs problem with a
debugger}). (Note that setting @code{debug-on-quit} or selecting
@samp{Options->Troubleshooting->Debug on Quit} will also cause regular
@kbd{C-g} to enter the debugger and give you a backtrace.)

If you can't interrupt XEmacs this way, or for some reason XEmacs is
not talking to the keyboard, you can try sending the @samp{SIGINT}
signal using the @samp{kill} command.

If the Lisp backtrace isn't enlightening, or if XEmacs is so hung that
you can't interrupt it at all, you could try attaching to the process
and getting a C stack backtrace.  @xref{Q2.4.4, How to debug an XEmacs
problem with a debugger}.

@node Q2.4.7, Q2.4.8, Q2.4.6, Installation
@unnumberedsubsec Q2.4.7: I get an error message when XEmacs is running in batch mode.

Typically this happens when you are trying to compile some Elisp code.
If you are doing this as part of XEmacs or the XEmacs packages, you
should automatically get a backtrace, which can help you determine the
source of the problem.  In other cases, you can get equivalent results
by setting the environment variable @samp{XEMACSDEBUG} to @samp{(setq
stack-trace-on-error t load-always-display-messages t
load-ignore-out-of-date-elc-files t load-show-full-path-in-messages
t)} (this needs to be all on one line; to set an environment variable,
use @samp{export XEMACSDEBUG='FOO'} under @samp{bash}, @samp{zsh},
etc. or @samp{setenv XEMACSDEBUG 'FOO'} under @samp{csh} and
@samp{tcsh}).  @samp{XEMACSDEBUG} specifies Lisp code that will be
executed at startup time.

If the backtrace is not sufficiently useful in helping you diagnose
the problem, you should consider using a debugger such as GDB.
@xref{Q2.4.4, How to debug an XEmacs problem with a debugger}.  You
probably want to set a breakpoint on @code{signal_1}.  Since such
errors often occur during compiling, which is often triggered by a
complex command run from a make suite, it may be easier to attach to
the process once it's running.

Under Microsoft Windows (and perhaps other operating systems), there is
another useful trick you can do if you have configured with debugging
support (configure option @samp{--debug} (@samp{--with-debug} in 21.5)
or setting @samp{DEBUG_XEMACS} in @file{nt/config.inc}).  Set the
environment variable @samp{XEMACSDEBUG} (as described above) to
@samp{(setq debug-on-error t)}.  Then, when an error occurs
noninteractively, instead of trying to invoke the Lisp debugger (which
obviously won't work), XEmacs will break out to a C debugger using
@code{(force-debugging-signal t)}.  @emph{NOTE}: This runs
@code{abort()}!!! (As well as and after executing INT 3 under MS
Windows, which should invoke a debugger if it's active.) This is
guaranteed to kill XEmacs! (But in this situation, XEmacs is about to
die anyway, and if no debugger is present, this will usefully dump
core.)

@node Q2.4.8, Q2.4.9, Q2.4.7, Installation
@unnumberedsubsec Q2.4.8: The keyboard or mouse is not working properly, or I have some other event-related problem.

XEmacs has various facilities for debugging event handling.

First, try setting the variable @code{debug-emacs-events} to non-zero.
This will output various information showing which events are being
received and how they are being translated.  This may show you, for
example, that a key command is getting intercepted using
@code{key-translation-map}; this problem can otherwise be very tricky
to debug.

Under X, you can see exactly which events are being received from the
window system by setting @code{x-debug-events} to non-zero. (The value
@samp{1} gives you regular output, and @samp{2} gives you verbose
output, including all parameters.)

A similar facility exists under MS Windows: Set
@code{debug-mswindows-events} to non-zero. (The value @samp{1} gives
you regular output.  The value @samp{2} gives you verbose output,
including all parameters.  The value @samp{3} gives you
super-gorily-detailed output.)

@node Q2.4.9, Q2.4.10, Q2.4.8, Installation
@unnumberedsubsec Q2.4.9: @kbd{C-g} doesn't work for me.  Is it broken?

@kbd{C-g} does work for most people in most circumstances.  If it
doesn't, there are two possible explanations:

@enumerate
@item
XEmacs is hung in a way that prevents @kbd{C-g} from working.  This
can happen when code is wrapped with a binding of @code{inhibit-quit}
to @code{t}; you should still be able interrupt XEmacs using "critical
quit".  On the other hand, XEmacs may be seriously wedged. (If you're
lucky, sending @samp{SIGINT} to the XEmacs process will interrupt it.) 
@xref{Q2.4.6, XEmacs hangs when I try to do something.}.

@item
@kbd{C-g} is indeed broken on your system.  To test, try executing
@code{(while t)} from the @samp{*scratch*} buffer.  If @kbd{C-g}
doesn't interrupt, then it's broken.  This used to happen with systems
where @samp{SIGIO} was broken, but @samp{BROKEN_SIGIO} wasn't defined.
However, there may not be very many such systems nowadays.
@end enumerate

@node Q2.4.10, Q2.4.11, Q2.4.9, Installation
@unnumberedsubsec Q2.4.10: How do I debug process-related problems?

Under MS Windows, you can set the variable
@code{debug-mswindows-process-command-lines} to non-@samp{nil} to get
information on exactly what is getting passed to a process.  This can
be useful in determining problems with quoting. (Under Unix, a process
receives each argument separately, but under MS Windows a single
command line is received, and arguments with spaces or other special
characters in them must be quoted.  Unfortunately this means that each
process, potentially at least, has its own quoting conventions, and
the code to process quoting conventions in @file{cmd.exe}, the Visual
C++ startup code and the like is baroque and poorly documented.
XEmacs uses the variable
@code{mswindows-construct-process-command-line-alist} to construct a
command line from a list of arguments based on the command to be run,
but it is (and cannot be) a perfect solution.)

@node Q2.4.11, Q2.4.12, Q2.4.10, Installation
@unnumberedsubsec Q2.4.11: XEmacs is outputting lots of X errors.

If this is happening, we would very much like to know what's causing
them.  To find this out, see @ref{Q2.4.4, How to debug an XEmacs
problem with a debugger}.  Try to get both a C and Lisp backtrace, and
send them along with the full error output to
@email{xemacs-beta@@xemacs.org}.

@node Q2.4.12, Q2.5.1, Q2.4.11, Installation
@unnumberedsubsec Q2.4.12: After upgrading, XEmacs won't do `foo' any more!

You have been used to doing `foo', but now when you invoke it (or
click the toolbar button or select the menu item), nothing (or an
error) happens.  The simplest explanation is that you are missing a
package that is essential to you.  You can either track it down and
install it (there is a list of packages and brief descriptions of
their contents in @file{etc/PACKAGES}), or install the `Sumo Tarball'
(@pxref{Q2.1.2, How do I figure out which packages to install?}).

@c #### should xref to XEmacs manual here

@unnumberedsec 2.5: Startup-Related Problems

@node Q2.5.1, Q2.5.2, Q2.4.12, Installation
@unnumberedsubsec Q2.5.1: XEmacs cannot connect to my X Terminal!

Help!  I can not get XEmacs to display on my Envizex X-terminal!

Try setting the @code{DISPLAY} variable using the numeric IP address of
the host you are running XEmacs from.

@node Q2.5.2, Q2.5.3, Q2.5.1, Installation
@unnumberedsubsec Q2.5.2 Startup problems related to paths or package locations.

First of all, if XEmacs can't find the packages, check to make sure
that you put the packages in the right place, or that you told XEmacs
where to look for the packages when you compiled it.  @xref{Q2.1.1}.

If something is still going wrong, or you get a startup warning about
not being able to deduce some paths, you can get detailed information
on the path-searching process at startup by setting the environment
variable @samp{EMACSDEBUGPATHS} to a non-null value.  One thing to
look for if you're having package problems is the value of
@samp{configure-package-path}.  This corresponds to what was compiled
into XEmacs using the @samp{--package-prefix} or @samp{--package-path}
parameter (@pxref{Q2.1.1}).  If this has the value of @samp{nil},
this means that no value was compiled into XEmacs using these parameters.

@node Q2.5.3, Q2.5.4, Q2.5.2, Installation
@unnumberedsubsec Q2.5.3: XEmacs won't start without network, or starts slowly.

If XEmacs starts when you're on the network, but fails when you're not
on the network, you may be missing a "localhost" entry in your
@file{/etc/hosts} file.  The file should contain an entry like:

@example
127.0.0.1        localhost
@end example

Add that line, and XEmacs will be happy.  If your network is unreliable,
such as a Wifi network, you may experience delays but eventually XEmacs
starts up.  This may be due to having the lookup order give precedence
to DNS over the hosts file (often lookup order is defined in one of the
files @file{/etc/host.conf}, @file{/etc/nsswitch.conf}, or
@file{/etc/resolv.conf}, depending on OS).  See your system
documentation for this configuration.  Note that changing the lookup
order is a workaround; there are good reasons to have DNS come earlier
by default.  Make sure those reasons are less important to you than a
quick XEmacs startup.

@node Q2.5.4, Q2.5.5, Q2.5.3, Installation
@unnumberedsubsec Q2.5.4: Startup warnings about deducing proper fonts?

How can I avoid the startup warnings about deducing proper fonts?

This is highly dependent on your installation, but try with the
following font as your base font for XEmacs and see what it does:

@format
-adobe-courier-medium-r-*-*-*-120-*-*-*-*-iso8859-1
@end format

More precisely, do the following in your resource file:

@format
Emacs.default.attributeFont: \
-adobe-courier-medium-r-*-*-*-120-*-*-*-*-iso8859-1
@end format

If you just don't want to see the @samp{*Warnings*} buffer at startup
time, you can set this:

@lisp
(setq display-warning-minimum-level 'error)
@end lisp

The buffer still exists; it just isn't in your face.

@node Q2.5.5, Q2.5.6, Q2.5.4, Installation
@unnumberedsubsec Q2.5.5: Warnings from incorrect key modifiers.

The following information comes from the @file{PROBLEMS} file that comes
with XEmacs.

If you're having troubles with HP/UX it is because HP/UX defines the
modifiers wrong in X.  Here is a shell script to fix the problem; be
sure that it is run after VUE configures the X server.

@example
#! /bin/sh
xmodmap 2> /dev/null - << EOF
keysym Alt_L = Meta_L
keysym Alt_R = Meta_R
EOF

xmodmap - << EOF
clear mod1
keysym Mode_switch = NoSymbol
add mod1 = Meta_L
keysym Meta_R = Mode_switch
add mod2 = Mode_switch
EOF
@end example

@node Q2.5.6, Q2.5.7, Q2.5.5, Installation
@unnumberedsubsec Q2.5.6: XEmacs 21.1 on Windows used to spawn an ugly console window on every startup.  Has that been fixed?

Yes.

The console was there because @file{temacs} (and in turn, @file{xemacs})
was a console application, and Windows typically creates a new
console for a console process unless the creating process requests that
one isn't created.  This used to be fixed with @file{runemacs}, a small
Windows application that existed merely to start @file{xemacs}, stating
that it didn't want a console.

XEmacs 21.4 fixes this cleanly by the virtue of being a true "GUI"
application.  The explanation of what that means is included for
educational value.

When building an application to be run in a Win32 environment, you must
state which sub-system it is to run in.  Valid subsystems include
"console" and "gui".  The subsystem you use affects the run time
libraries linked into your application, the start up function that is
run before control is handed over to your application, the entry point
to your program, and how Windows normally invokes your program. (Console
programs automatically get a console created for them at startup if
their stdin/stdout don't point anywhere useful, which is the case when
run from the GUI.  This is a stupid design, of course -- instead, the
console should get created only when the first I/O actually occurs!
GUI programs have an equally stupid design: When called from
@file{CMD.EXE}/@file{COMMAND.COM}, their stdin/stdout will be set to
point nowhere useful, even though the command shell has its own
stdin/stdout.  It's as if someone who had learned a bit about stdio but
had no actual knowledge of interprocess communication designed the
scheme; unfortunately, the whole process-communication aspect of the
Win32 API is equally badly designed.) For example, the entry point for a
console app is "main" (which is what you'd expect for a C/C++ program),
but the entry point for a "gui" app is "WinMain".  This confuses and
annoys a lot of programmers who've grown up on Unix systems, where the
kernel doesn't really care whether your application is a gui program or
not.

For reasons not altogether clear, and are lost in the mists of time and
tradition, XEmacs on Win32 started out as a console application, and
therefore a console was automatically created for it. (It may have been
made a console application partly because a console is needed in some
circumstances, especially under Win95, to interrupt, terminate, or send
signals to a child process, and because of the bogosity mentioned above
with GUI programs and the standard command shell.  Currently, XEmacs
just creates and immediately hides a console when necessary, and
works around the "no useful stdio" problem by creating its own console
window as necessary to display messages in.)

@node Q2.5.7,  , Q2.5.6, Installation
@unnumberedsubsec Q2.5.7: XEmacs issues messages about ``auto-autoloads already loaded.''

On Sat, 05 Mar 2011 11:54:47 -0500, in Message-ID:
<4D726AD7.7020303@@gmail.com> on xemacs-beta, Raymond Toy reported:

@quotation
[N]ow every time I start xemacs, I get 100+ error messages stating that
the auto-autoload for every package has already been loaded.
@end quotation
 
This occurs if you have duplicate packages installed on your load-path.
To detect exactly which paths are duplicated, use @kbd{M-x
list-load-path-shadows}.  If you have a small number of duplicated
libraries, it is probably one or more packages available both in the
XEmacs distribution and in third-party distributions.  If you prefer the
third-party version, use @kbd{M-x list-packages} to get the package
management UI, and uninstall the particular packages.  Removal of third
party packages must be done manually, if you wish to keep the version
distributed by XEmacs.

When you have many duplicate packages, a common cause is that XEmacs
finds @emph{package root directories} that are duplicates of each other.
This can occur in some automounter configurations, or when the roots
share some subtrees via symlinks.  In this case, you will get a warning
for @emph{all} of the packages you have installed.  Although this is
basically a site configuration problem, please report these cases.
XEmacs is already aware of many automounter artifacts, and automatically
adjusts for them.  Code is being added to try to detect symlinks.  We
may not be able to handle every case, but we'd like to know about them,
and where possible incorporate workarounds.

Package root directories are specified at configuration time via the
@code{--prefix}, @code{--exec-prefix}, and the @samp{--with-*-packages}
options; at runtime relative to the XEmacs binary (@file{../share} and
@file{..} (for run-in-place)); and at runtime via the
@samp{EMACS*PACKAGES} environment variables.  Unless you have special
needs, it is best to install XEmacs and the packages (configuring with
@code{--with-prefix=$prefix} for XEmacs and by untarring the SUMOs in
@file{@code{$prefix}/share/xemacs/}.

Note that older versions of XEmacs (21.1, 21.4, and early releases of
21.5) by default expect the packages to be installed under
@file{@code{$prefix}/lib} rather than @file{@code{$prefix}/share}.  See
the documentation for @file{configure} for how to point XEmacs at
@file{@code{$prefix}/share/xemacs/} if that is preferred, or older
XEmacsen need to share packages with recent versions.

@node Editing, Display, Installation, Top
@unnumbered 3 Editing Functions

This is part 3 of the XEmacs Frequently Asked Questions list.  This
section is devoted to the editing-related capabilities of XEmacs (the
keyboard, mouse, buffers, text selections, etc.) and how to customize
them.

@menu
3.0: The Keyboard
* Q3.0.1::    How can I customize the keyboard?
* Q3.0.2::    How can I bind complex functions (or macros) to keys?
* Q3.0.3::    How do I bind C-. and C-; to scroll one line up and down?
* Q3.0.4::    Globally binding @kbd{Delete}?
* Q3.0.5::    How to map @kbd{Help} key alone on Sun type4 keyboard?
* Q3.0.6::    How can you type in special characters in XEmacs?
* Q3.0.7::    Can I turn on @dfn{sticky} modifier keys?
* Q3.0.8::    How do I map the arrow keys?
* Q3.0.9::    HP Alt key as Meta.
* Q3.0.10::   Why does edt emulation not work?
* Q3.0.11::   How can I emulate VI and use it as my default mode?
* Q3.0.12::   Mac Alt/Option key as Meta.

3.1: The Mouse
* Q3.1.1::    How can I turn off Mouse pasting?
* Q3.1.2::    How do I set control/meta/etc modifiers on mouse buttons?
* Q3.1.3::    Clicking the left button does not do anything in buffer list.
* Q3.1.4::    How can I get a list of buffers when I hit mouse button 3?
* Q3.1.5::    How can I set XEmacs up so that it pastes where the text cursor is?

3.2: Buffers, Text Editing
* Q3.2.1::    Can I have the end of the buffer delimited in some way?
* Q3.2.2::    How do I insert today's date into a buffer?
* Q3.2.3::    How do I get a single minibuffer frame?
* Q3.2.4::    How can I enable auto-indent and/or Filladapt?
* Q3.2.5::    How can I get XEmacs to come up in text/auto-fill mode by default?

3.3: Text Selections
* Q3.3.1::    How do I select a rectangular region?
* Q3.3.2::    How can I turn off or change highlighted selections?
* Q3.3.3::    How do I cause typing on an active region to remove it?
* Q3.3.4::    Can I turn off the highlight during isearch?
* Q3.3.5::    Why is killing so slow?
* Q3.3.6::    Why does @kbd{M-w} take so long?

3.4: Editing Source Code
* Q3.4.1::    I do not like cc-mode.  How do I use the old c-mode?
* Q3.4.2::    How do you make XEmacs indent CL if-clauses correctly?
@end menu

@unnumberedsec 3.0: The Keyboard

@node Q3.0.1, Q3.0.2, Editing, Editing
@unnumberedsubsec Q3.0.1: How can I customize the keyboard?

#### Write me.

@node Q3.0.2, Q3.0.3, Q3.0.1, Editing
@unnumberedsubsec Q3.0.2: How can I bind complex functions (or macros) to keys?

As an example, say you want the @kbd{paste} key on a Sun keyboard to
insert the current Primary X selection at point. You can accomplish this
with:

@lisp
(define-key global-map [f18] 'x-insert-selection)
@end lisp

However, this only works if there is a current X selection (the
selection will be highlighted).  The functionality I like is for the
@kbd{paste} key to insert the current X selection if there is one,
otherwise insert the contents of the clipboard.  To do this you need to
pass arguments to @code{x-insert-selection}.  This is done by wrapping
the call in a 'lambda form:

@lisp
(global-set-key [f18]
  (lambda () (interactive) (x-insert-selection t nil)))
@end lisp

This binds the f18 key to a @dfn{generic} functional object.  The
interactive spec is required because only interactive functions can be
bound to keys.

For the FAQ example you could use:

@lisp
(global-set-key [(control ?.)]
  (lambda () (interactive) (scroll-up 1)))
(global-set-key [(control ?;)]
  (lambda () (interactive) (scroll-up -1)))
@end lisp

This is fine if you only need a few functions within the lambda body.
If you're doing more it's cleaner to define a separate function.
@xref{Q3.0.3, How do I bind C-. and C-; to scroll one line up and
down?}.

@node Q3.0.3, Q3.0.4, Q3.0.2, Editing
@unnumberedsubsec Q3.0.3: How do I bind C-. and C-; to scroll one line up and down?

Add the following (Thanks to @email{mly@@adoc.xerox.com, Richard Mlynarik} and
@email{wayne@@zen.cac.stratus.com, Wayne Newberry}) to @file{.emacs}:

@lisp
(defun scroll-up-one-line ()
  (interactive)
  (scroll-up 1))

(defun scroll-down-one-line ()
  (interactive)
  (scroll-down 1))

(global-set-key [(control ?.)] 'scroll-up-one-line) ; C-.
(global-set-key [(control ?;)] 'scroll-down-one-line) ; C-;
@end lisp

The key point is that you can only bind simple functions to keys; you
can not bind a key to a function that you're also passing arguments
to.  (@pxref{Q3.0.2, How can I bind complex functions (or macros) to
keys?} for a better answer).

@node Q3.0.4, Q3.0.5, Q3.0.3, Editing
@unnumberedsubsec Q3.0.4: Globally binding @kbd{Delete}?

I cannot manage to globally bind my @kbd{Delete} key to something other
than the default.  How does one do this?

Answer: The problem is that many modes explicitly bind @kbd{Delete}.  To
get around this, try the following:

@lisp
(defun foo ()
  (interactive)
  (message "You hit DELETE"))

(define-key key-translation-map 'delete 'redirected-delete)
(global-set-key 'redirected-delete 'foo)
@end lisp

@node Q3.0.5, Q3.0.6, Q3.0.4, Editing
@unnumberedsubsec Q3.0.5: How to map @kbd{Help} key alone on Sun type4 keyboard?

The following works in GNU Emacs 19:

@lisp
(global-set-key [help] 'help-command);; Help
@end lisp

The following works in XEmacs with the addition of shift:

@lisp
(global-set-key [(shift help)] 'help-command);; Help
@end lisp

But it doesn't work alone.  This is in the file @file{PROBLEMS} which
should have come with your XEmacs installation: @emph{Emacs ignores the
@kbd{help} key when running OLWM}.

OLWM grabs the @kbd{help} key, and retransmits it to the appropriate
client using
@iftex
@*
@end iftex
@code{XSendEvent}.  Allowing Emacs to react to synthetic
events is a security hole, so this is turned off by default.  You can
enable it by setting the variable @code{x-allow-sendevents} to t.  You
can also cause fix this by telling OLWM to not grab the help key, with
the null binding @code{OpenWindows.KeyboardCommand.Help:}.

@node Q3.0.6, Q3.0.7, Q3.0.5, Editing
@unnumberedsubsec Q3.0.6: How can you type in special characters in XEmacs?
One way is to use the package @code{x-compose}.  Then you can use
sequences like @kbd{Compose " a} to get ä, etc.

Another way is to use the @code{iso-insert} package. Then you can use
sequences like @kbd{C-x 8 " a} to get ä, etc.

@email{glynn@@sensei.co.uk, Glynn Clements} writes:

@quotation
It depends upon your X server.

Generally, the simplest way is to define a key as Multi_key with
xmodmap, e.g.
@c hey, show some respect, willya -- there's xkeycaps, isn't there? --
@c chr ;)
@example
        xmodmap -e 'keycode 0xff20 = Multi_key'
@end example

You will need to pick an appropriate keycode. Use xev to find out the
keycodes for each key.

[NB: On a `Windows' keyboard, recent versions of XFree86 automatically
define the right `Windows' key as Multi_key'.]

Once you have Multi_key defined, you can use e.g.
@example
        Multi a '       => á
        Multi e "       => ë
        Multi c ,       => ç
@end example

etc.

Also, recent versions of XFree86 define various AltGr-<key>
combinations as dead keys, i.e.
@example
        AltGr [         => dead_diaeresis
        AltGr ]         => dead_tilde
        AltGr ;         => dead_acute
@end example
etc.

Running @samp{xmodmap -pk} will list all of the defined keysyms.
@end quotation

For the related problem of @emph{displaying} non-ASCII characters in a
non-Mule XEmacs, @xref{Q4.0.8, How do I display non-ASCII characters?}.

@node Q3.0.7, Q3.0.8, Q3.0.6, Editing
@unnumberedsubsec Q3.0.7: Can I turn on @dfn{sticky} modifier keys?

Yes, with @code{(setq modifier-keys-are-sticky t)}.  This will give the
effect of being able to press and release Shift and have the next
character typed come out in upper case.  This will affect all the other
modifier keys like Control and Meta as well.

@email{ben@@xemacs.org, Ben Wing} writes:

@quotation
One thing about the sticky modifiers is that if you move the mouse out
of the frame and back in, it cancels all currently ``stuck'' modifiers.
@end quotation

@node Q3.0.8, Q3.0.9, Q3.0.7, Editing
@unnumberedsubsec Q3.0.8: How do I map the arrow keys?
@c New
Say you want to map @kbd{C-@key{right}} to forward-word:

@email{sds@@usa.net, Sam Steingold} writes:

@quotation
@lisp
; both XEmacs and Emacs
(define-key global-map [(control right)] 'forward-word)
@end lisp
or
@lisp
; Emacs only
(define-key global-map [C-right] 'forward-word)
@end lisp
or
@lisp
; ver > 20, both
(define-key global-map (kbd "C-<right>") 'forward-word)
@end lisp
@end quotation

@node Q3.0.9, Q3.0.10, Q3.0.8, Editing
@unnumberedsubsec Q3.0.9: HP Alt key as Meta.

How can I make XEmacs recognize the Alt key of my HP workstation as a
Meta key?

Put the following line into a file and load it with xmodmap(1) before
starting XEmacs:

@example
remove Mod1 = Mode_switch
@end example

@node Q3.0.10, Q3.0.11, Q3.0.9, Editing
@unnumberedsubsec Q3.0.10: Why does edt emulation not work?

We don't know, but you can use tpu-edt emulation instead, which works
fine and is a little fancier than the standard edt emulation.  To do
this, add the following line to your @file{init.el}:

@lisp
(tpu-edt)
@end lisp

If you don't want it to replace @kbd{C-h} with an edt-style help menu
add this as well:

@lisp
(global-set-key [(control h)] 'help-for-help)
@end lisp

@node Q3.0.11, Q3.0.12, Q3.0.10, Editing
@unnumberedsubsec Q3.0.11: How can I emulate VI and use it as my default mode?

Our recommended VI emulator is viper. To make viper-mode the default,
add this to your @file{init.el}:

@lisp
(viper-mode)
@end lisp

@email{kifer@@CS.SunySB.EDU, Michael Kifer} writes:

@quotation
This should be added as close to the top of @file{init.el} as you can get
it, otherwise some minor modes may not get viper-ized.
@end quotation

@node Q3.0.12, Q3.1.1, Q3.0.11, Editing
@unnumberedsubsec Q3.0.12: Mac Alt/Option key as Meta.

Due to the Apple Command key being Meta, I can't use XEmacs on OS X.

Didier Verna suggests:

I use an X version of XEmacs on a Mac every day.  You have to tweak the
keyboard configuration a bit but that's all.

Here's my Xmodmap file on Darwin:

@example
clear mod1
clear mod2
keycode 66 = Meta_L
keycode 63 = Mode_switch
add mod1 = Meta_L
@end example

This leaves the command key alone and uses alt/option for Meta.


@unnumberedsec 3.1: The Mouse

@node Q3.1.1, Q3.1.2, Q3.0.12, Editing
@unnumberedsubsec Q3.1.1: How can I turn off Mouse pasting?

I keep hitting the middle mouse button by accident and getting stuff
pasted into my buffer so how can I turn this off?

Here is an alternative binding, whereby the middle mouse button selects
(but does not cut) the expression under the mouse. Clicking middle on a
left or right paren will select to the matching one.  Note that you can
use @code{define-key} or @code{global-set-key}.

@lisp
(defun mouse-set-point-and-select (event)
  "Sets the point at the mouse location, then marks following form"
  (interactive "@@e")
  (mouse-set-point event)
  (mark-sexp 1))
(define-key global-map [button2] 'mouse-set-point-and-select)
@end lisp

@node Q3.1.2, Q3.1.3, Q3.1.1, Editing
@unnumberedsubsec Q3.1.2: How do I set control/meta/etc modifiers on mouse buttons?

Use, for instance, @code{[(meta button1)]}. For example, here is a common
setting for Common Lisp programmers who use the bundled @code{ilisp}
package, whereby meta-button1 on a function name will find the file where
the function name was defined, and put you at that location in the source
file.

[Inside a function that gets called by the lisp-mode-hook and
ilisp-mode-hook]

@lisp
(local-set-key [(meta button1)] 'edit-definitions-lisp)
@end lisp

@node Q3.1.3, Q3.1.4, Q3.1.2, Editing
@unnumberedsubsec Q3.1.3: Clicking the left button does not do anything in buffer list.

I do @kbd{C-x C-b} to get a list of buffers and the entries get
highlighted when I move the mouse over them but clicking the left mouse
does not do anything.

Use the middle mouse button.

@node Q3.1.4, Q3.1.5, Q3.1.3, Editing
@unnumberedsubsec Q3.1.4: How can I get a list of buffers when I hit mouse button 3?

The following code will replace the default popup on button3:

@lisp
(global-set-key [button3] 'popup-buffer-menu)
@end lisp

@node Q3.1.5, Q3.2.1, Q3.1.4, Editing
@unnumberedsubsec Q3.1.5: How can I set XEmacs up so that it pastes where the text cursor is?

By default XEmacs pastes X selections where the mouse pointer is.  How
do I disable this?

Examine the function @code{mouse-yank}, by typing @kbd{C-h f mouse-yank
@key{RET}}.

To get XEmacs to paste at the text cursor, add this your @file{init.el}:

@lisp
(setq mouse-yank-at-point t)
@end lisp

You can also change this with Customize.  Select from the
@code{Options} menu @code{Advanced
(Customize)->Emacs->Editing->Mouse->Yank At Point...} or type @kbd{M-x
customize @key{RET} mouse @key{RET}}.

@unnumberedsec 3.2: Buffers, Text Editing

@node Q3.2.1, Q3.2.2, Q3.1.5, Editing
@unnumberedsubsec Q3.2.1: Can I have the end of the buffer delimited in some way?

Say, with: @samp{[END]}?

Try this:

@lisp
(let ((ext (make-extent (point-min) (point-max))))
  (set-extent-property ext 'start-closed t)
  (set-extent-property ext 'end-closed t)
  (set-extent-property ext 'detachable nil)
  (set-extent-end-glyph ext (make-glyph [string :data "[END]"])))
@end lisp

Since this is XEmacs, you can specify an icon to be shown on
window-system devices.  To do so, change the @code{make-glyph} call to
something like this:

@lisp
(make-glyph '([xpm :file "~/something.xpm"]
              [string :data "[END]"]))
@end lisp

You can inline the @sc{xpm} definition yourself by specifying
@code{:data} instead of @code{:file}.  Here is such a full-featured
version that works on both X and TTY devices:

@lisp
(let ((ext (make-extent (point-min) (point-max))))
  (set-extent-property ext 'start-closed t)
  (set-extent-property ext 'end-closed t)
  (set-extent-property ext 'detachable nil)
  (set-extent-end-glyph ext (make-glyph '([xpm :data "\
/* XPM */
static char* eye = @{
\"20 11 7 2\",
\"__ c None\"
\"_` c #7f7f7f\",
\"_a c #fefefe\",
\"_b c #7f0000\",
\"_c c #fefe00\",
\"_d c #fe0000\",
\"_e c #bfbfbf\",
\"___________`_`_`___b_b_b_b_________`____\",
\"_________`_`_`___b_c_c_c_b_b____________\",
\"_____`_`_`_e___b_b_c_c_c___b___b_______`\",
\"___`_`_e_a___b_b_d___b___b___b___b______\",
\"_`_`_e_a_e___b_b_d_b___b___b___b___b____\",
\"_`_`_a_e_a___b_b_d___b___b___b___b___b__\",
\"_`_`_e_a_e___b_b_d_b___b___b___b___b_b__\",
\"___`_`_e_a___b_b_b_d_c___b___b___d_b____\",
\"_____`_`_e_e___b_b_b_d_c___b_b_d_b______\",
\"_`_____`_`_`_`___b_b_b_d_d_d_d_b________\",
\"___`_____`_`_`_`___b_b_b_b_b_b__________\",
@} ;"]
                                          [string :data "[END]"]))))
@end lisp

Note that you might want to make this a function, and put it to a hook.
We leave that as an exercise for the reader.

@node Q3.2.2, Q3.2.3, Q3.2.1, Editing
@unnumberedsubsec Q3.2.2: How do I insert today's date into a buffer?

Like this:

@lisp
(insert (current-time-string))
@end lisp

@node Q3.2.3, Q3.2.4, Q3.2.2, Editing
@unnumberedsubsec Q3.2.3: How do I get a single minibuffer frame?

@email{acs@@acm.org, Vin Shelton} writes:

@lisp
(setq initial-frame-plist '(minibuffer nil))
(setq default-frame-plist '(minibuffer nil))
(setq default-minibuffer-frame
      (make-frame
       '(minibuffer only
                    width 86
                    height 1
                    menubar-visible-p nil
                    default-toolbar-visible-p nil
                    name "minibuffer"
                    top -2
                    left -2
                    has-modeline-p nil)))
(frame-notice-user-settings)
@end lisp

@strong{Please note:} The single minibuffer frame may not be to everyone's
taste, and there any number of other XEmacs options settings that may
make it difficult or inconvenient to use.

@node Q3.2.4, Q3.2.5, Q3.2.3, Editing
@unnumberedsubsec Q3.2.4: How can I enable auto-indent and/or Filladapt?

Put the following line in your @file{init.el}:

@lisp
(setq indent-line-function 'indent-relative-maybe)
@end lisp

If you want to get fancy, try the @code{filladapt} package available
standard with XEmacs.  Put this into your @file{init.el}:

@lisp
(require 'filladapt)
(setq-default filladapt-mode t)
(add-hook 'c-mode-hook 'turn-off-filladapt-mode)
@end lisp

This will enable Filladapt for all modes except C mode, where it doesn't
work well.  To turn Filladapt on only in particular major modes, remove
the @code{(setq-default ...)} line and use
@code{turn-on-filladapt-mode}, like this:

@lisp
(add-hook 'text-mode-hook 'turn-on-filladapt-mode)
@end lisp

You can customize filling and adaptive filling with Customize.
Select from the @code{Options} menu
@code{Advanced (Customize)->Emacs->Editing->Fill->Fill...}
or type @kbd{M-x customize @key{RET} fill @key{RET}}.

Note that well-behaving text-lookalike modes will run
@code{text-mode-hook} by default (e.g. that's what Message does).  For
the nasty ones, you'll have to provide the @code{add-hook}s yourself.

Please note that the @code{fa-extras} package is no longer useful.

@node Q3.2.5, Q3.3.1, Q3.2.4, Editing
@unnumberedsubsec Q3.2.5: How can I get XEmacs to come up in text/auto-fill mode by default?

Try the following lisp in your @file{init.el}:

@lisp
(setq default-major-mode 'text-mode)
(add-hook 'text-mode-hook 'turn-on-auto-fill)
@end lisp

@strong{WARNING}: note that changing the value of
@code{default-major-mode} from @code{fundamental-mode} can break a large
amount of built-in code that expects newly created buffers to be in
@code{fundamental-mode}.  (Changing from @code{fundamental-mode} to
@code{text-mode} might not wreak too much havoc, but changing to
something more exotic like a lisp-mode would break many Emacs packages).

Note that Emacs by default starts up in buffer @code{*scratch*} in
@code{initial-major-mode}, which defaults to
@code{lisp-interaction-mode}. Thus adding the following form to your
Emacs init file will cause the initial @code{*scratch*} buffer to be put
into auto-fill'ed @code{text-mode}:

@lisp
(setq initial-major-mode
      (lambda ()
        (text-mode)
        (turn-on-auto-fill)))
@end lisp

Note that after your init file is loaded, if
@code{inhibit-startup-message} is @code{nil} (the default) and the
startup buffer is @code{*scratch*} then the startup message will be
inserted into @code{*scratch*}; it will be removed after a timeout by
erasing the entire @code{*scratch*} buffer.  Keep in mind this default
usage of @code{*scratch*} if you desire any prior manipulation of
@code{*scratch*} from within your Emacs init file. In particular,
anything you insert into @code{*scratch*} from your init file will be
later erased. Also, if you change the mode of the @code{*scratch*}
buffer, be sure that this will not interfere with possible later
insertion of the startup message (e.g. if you put @code{*scratch*} into
a nonstandard mode that has automatic font lock rules, then the startup
message might get fontified in a strange foreign manner, e.g. as code in
some programming language).

@unnumberedsec 3.3: Text Selections

@node Q3.3.1, Q3.3.2, Q3.2.5, Editing
@unnumberedsubsec Q3.3.1: How do I select a rectangular region?

Just select the region normally, then use the rectangle commands (e.g.
@code{kill-rectangle} on it.  The region does not highlight as a
rectangle, but the commands work just fine.

To actually sweep out rectangular regions with the mouse you can use
@code{mouse-track-do-rectangle} which is assigned to @kbd{M-button1}.
Then use rectangle commands.

You can also do the following to change default behavior to sweep out
rectangular regions:

@lisp
(setq mouse-track-rectangle-p t)
@end lisp

You can also change this with Customize.
Select from the @code{Options} menu
@code{Advanced (Customize)->Emacs->Editing->Mouse->Track Rectangle...} or type
@kbd{M-x customize @key{RET} mouse @key{RET}}.


@example
 mouse-track-do-rectangle: (event)
   -- an interactive compiled Lisp function.
 Like `mouse-track' but selects rectangles instead of regions.
@end example

@node Q3.3.2, Q3.3.3, Q3.3.1, Editing
@unnumberedsubsec Q3.3.2: How can I turn off or change highlighted selections?

The @code{zmacs} mode allows for what some might call gratuitous
highlighting for selected regions (either by setting mark or by using
the mouse).  This is the default behavior.  To turn off, add the
following line to your @file{init.el} file:

@lisp
(setq zmacs-regions nil)
@end lisp

You can also change this with Customize.  Select from the
@code{Options} menu
@code{Advanced (Customize)->Emacs->Editing->Basics->Zmacs Regions}
or type @kbd{M-x customize @key{RET} editing-basics @key{RET}}.

To change the face for selection, look at @code{Options->Advanced (Customize)}
on the menubar.

@node Q3.3.3, Q3.3.4, Q3.3.2, Editing
@unnumberedsubsec Q3.3.3: How do I cause typing on an active region to remove it?

I want to change things so that if I select some text and start typing,
the typed text replaces the selected text, similar to Motif.

You want to use something called @dfn{pending delete}.  Pending delete
is what happens when you select a region (with the mouse or keyboard)
and you press a key to replace the selected region by the key you typed.
Usually backspace kills the selected region.

To get this behavior, ensure that you have the @file{pc} package
installed, and add the following lines to your
@file{init.el}:

@lisp
(cond
 ((fboundp 'turn-on-pending-delete)
  (turn-on-pending-delete))
 ((fboundp 'pending-delete-on)
  (pending-delete-on t)))
@end lisp

Note that this will work with both Backspace and Delete.  This code is a
tad more complicated than it has to be for XEmacs in order to make it
more portable.

@node Q3.3.4, Q3.3.5, Q3.3.3, Editing
@unnumberedsubsec Q3.3.4: Can I turn off the highlight during isearch?

I do not like my text highlighted while I am doing isearch as I am not
able to see what's underneath.  How do I turn it off?

Put the following in your @file{init.el}:

@lisp
(setq isearch-highlight nil)
@end lisp

You can also change this with Customize. Type
@kbd{M-x customize-variable @key{RET} isearch-highlight @key{RET}}.

Note also that isearch-highlight affects query-replace and ispell.
Instead of disabling isearch-highlight you may find that a better
solution consists of customizing the @code{isearch} face.

@node Q3.3.5, Q3.3.6, Q3.3.4, Editing
@unnumberedsubsec Q3.3.5: Why is killing so slow?

This actually is an X Windows question, although you'll notice it with
keyboard operations as well as while using the GUI.  Basically, there
are four ways to communicate interprogram via the X server:

@table @strong
@item Primary selection
a transient selection that gets replaced every time a new selection is made

@item Secondary selection
for "exchanging" with the primary selection

@item Cut buffers
a clipboard internal to the X server (deprecated)

@item Clipboard selection
a selection with a notification protocol that allows a separate app to
manage the clipboard
@end table

The cut buffers are deprecated because managing them is even more
inefficient than the clipboard notification protocol.  The primary
selection works fine for many users and applications, but is not very
robust under intensive or sophisticated use.

In Motif and MS Windows, a clipboard has become the primary means for
managing cut and paste.  These means that "modern" applications tend to
be oriented toward a true clipboard, rather than the primary selection.
(On Windows, there is nothing equivalent to the primary selection.)
It's not that XEmacs doesn't support the simple primary selection
method, it's that more and more other applications don't.

So the slowdown occurs because XEmacs now engages in the clipboard
notification protocol on @emph{every} kill.  This is especially slow on
Motif.

With most people running most clients and server on the same host, and
many of the rest working over very fast communication, you may expect
that the situation is not going to improve.

There are a number of workarounds.  The most effective is to use a
special command to do selection ownership only when you intend to paste
to another application.  Useful commands are @code{kill-primary-selection}
and @code{copy-primary-selection}.  These work only on text selected
with the mouse (probably; experiment), and are bound by default to the
@kbd{Cut} and @kbd{Copy}, respectively, buttons on the toolbar.
@code{copy-primary-selection} is also bound to @kbd{C-Insert}.  You can
yank the clipboard contents with @code{yank-primary-selection}, bound to
the @kbd{Paste} toolbar button and @kbd{Sh-Insert}.

If you are communicating by cut and paste with applications that use the
primary selection, then you can customize
@code{interprogram-cut-function} to @code{nil}, restoring the XEmacs
version 20 behavior.  How can you tell if a program will support this?
Motifly-correct programs require the clipboard; you lose.  For others,
only by trying it.  You also need to customize the complementary
@code{interprogram-paste-function} to @code{nil}.  (Otherwise
XEmacs-to-XEmacs pastes will not work correctly.)

You may get some relief on Motif by setting
@code{x-selection-strict-motif-ownership} to nil, but this means you will
only intermittently be able to paste XEmacs kills to Motif applications.

Thanks to Jeff Mincy and Glynn Clements for corrections.

@node Q3.3.6, Q3.4.1, Q3.3.5, Editing
@unnumberedsubsec Q3.3.6: Why does @kbd{M-w} take so long?

It actually doesn't.  It leaves the region visible for a second so that
you can see what area is being yanked.  If you start working, though, it
will immediately complete its operation.  In other words, it will only
delay for a second if you let it.

@unnumberedsec 3.4: Editing Source Code

@node Q3.4.1, Q3.4.2, Q3.3.6, Editing
@unnumberedsubsec Q3.4.1: I do not like cc-mode.  How do I use the old c-mode?

Well, first off, consider if you really want to do this.  cc-mode is
much more powerful than the old c-mode.  If you're having trouble
getting your old offsets to work, try using @code{c-set-offset} instead.
You might also consider using the package @code{cc-compat}.

But, if you still insist, add the following lines to your @file{init.el}:

@lisp
(fmakunbound 'c-mode)
(makunbound 'c-mode-map)
(fmakunbound 'c++-mode)
(makunbound 'c++-mode-map)
(makunbound 'c-style-alist)
(load-library "old-c-mode")
(load-library "old-c++-mode")
@end lisp

This must be done before any other reference is made to either c-mode or
c++-mode.

@node Q3.4.2,  , Q3.4.1, Editing
@unnumberedsubsec Q3.4.2: How do you make XEmacs indent CL if-clauses correctly?

I'd like XEmacs to indent all the clauses of a Common Lisp @code{if} the
same amount instead of indenting the 3rd clause differently from the
first two.

The package @code{cl-indent} that comes with XEmacs sets up this kind
of indentation by default.  @code{cl-indent} also knows about many
other CL-specific forms.  To use @code{cl-indent}, one can do this:

@lisp
(setq lisp-indent-function 'common-lisp-indent-function)
@end lisp

One can also customize @file{cl-indent.el} so it mimics the default
@code{if} indentation @code{then} indented more than the @code{else}.
Here's how:

@lisp
(put 'if 'common-lisp-indent-function '(nil nil &body))
@end lisp

@node Display, External Subsystems, Editing, Top
@unnumbered 4 Display Functions

This is part 4 of the XEmacs Frequently Asked Questions list.  This
section is devoted to the display-related capabilities of XEmacs
(fonts, colors, modeline, menubar, toolbar, scrollbar, etc.) and how
to customize them.

@menu
4.0: Textual Fonts and Colors
* Q4.0.1::    How do I specify a font?
* Q4.0.2::    How do I set the text, menu and modeline fonts?
* Q4.0.3::    How can I set color options from @file{init.el}?
* Q4.0.4::    How can I set the colors when highlighting a region?
* Q4.0.5::    How can I limit color map usage?
* Q4.0.6::    My tty supports color, but XEmacs doesn't use them.
* Q4.0.7::    Can I have pixmap backgrounds in XEmacs?
* Q4.0.8::    How do I display non-ASCII characters?
* Q4.0.9::    Font selections in don't get saved after @code{Save Options}.

4.1: Syntax Highlighting (Font Lock)
* Q4.1.1::    How can I do source code highlighting using font-lock?
* Q4.1.2::    How do I get @samp{More} Syntax Highlighting on by default?

4.2: The Modeline
* Q4.2.1::    How can I make the modeline go away?
* Q4.2.2::    How do you have XEmacs display the line number in the modeline?
* Q4.2.3::    How do I get XEmacs to put the time of day on the modeline?
* Q4.2.4::    How can I change the modeline color based on the mode used?

4.3: The Cursor
* Q4.3.1::    Is there a way to make the bar cursor thicker?
* Q4.3.2::    Is there a way to get back the block cursor?
* Q4.3.3::    Can I make the cursor blink?

4.4: The Menubar
* Q4.4.1::    How do I get rid of the menubar?
* Q4.4.2::    How can I customize the menubar?
* Q4.4.3::    How do I enable use of the keyboard (@kbd{Alt}) to access menu items?
* Q4.4.4::    How do I control how many buffers are listed in the menu @code{Buffers List}?
* Q4.4.5::    Resources like @code{Emacs*menubar*font} are not working?

4.5: The Toolbar
* Q4.5.1::    How do I get rid of the toolbar?
* Q4.5.2::    How can I customize the toolbar?
* Q4.5.3::    How can I bind a key to a function to toggle the toolbar?
* Q4.5.4::    @samp{Can't instantiate image error...} in toolbar

4.6: Scrollbars and Scrolling
* Q4.6.1::    How can I disable the scrollbar?
* Q4.6.2::    How can I change the scrollbar width?
* Q4.6.3::    How can I use resources to change scrollbar colors?
* Q4.6.4::    Moving the scrollbar can move the point; can I disable this?
* Q4.6.5::    Scrolling one line at a time.
* Q4.6.6::    How can I turn off automatic horizontal scrolling in specific modes?
* Q4.6.7::    I find auto-show-mode disconcerting.  How do I turn it off?

4.7: The Gutter Tabs, The Progress Bar, Widgets
* Q4.7.1::    How can I disable the gutter tabs?
* Q4.7.2::    How can I disable the progress bar?
* Q4.7.3::    There are bugs in the gutter or widgets.
* Q4.7.4::    How can I customize the gutter or gutter tabs?
@end menu

@unnumberedsec 4.0: Textual Fonts and Colors

@node Q4.0.1, Q4.0.2, Display, Display
@unnumberedsubsec Q4.0.1: How do I specify a font?

#### Update me.

In 21.4 and above, you can use the @samp{Options} menu to change the font.
You can also do it in your init file, e.g. like this (for MS Windows):

@display
    (set-face-font 'default "Lucida Console:Regular:10")
    (set-face-font 'modeline "MS Sans Serif:Regular:10")
@end display

@node Q4.0.2, Q4.0.3, Q4.0.1, Display
@unnumberedsubsec Q4.0.2: How do I set the text, menu and modeline fonts?

#### Update me.

Note that you should use @samp{Emacs.} and not @samp{Emacs*} when
setting face values.

In @file{.Xresources}:

@example
Emacs.default.attributeFont:  -*-*-medium-r-*-*-*-120-*-*-m-*-*-*
Emacs*menubar*font:           fixed
Emacs.modeline.attributeFont: fixed
@end example

This is confusing because @samp{default} and @samp{modeline} are face
names, and can be found listed with all faces in the current mode by
using @kbd{M-x set-face-font (enter) ?}.  They use the face-specific
resource @samp{attributeFont}.

On the other hand, @samp{menubar} is a normal X thing that uses the
resource @samp{font}.  With Motif it @emph{may be} necessary to use
@samp{fontList} @emph{instead of} @samp{font}.  In @emph{non-Motif}
configurations with Mule it @emph{is} necessary to use @samp{fontSet}
instead of @samp{font}.  (Sorry, there just is no simple recipe here.)

@node Q4.0.3, Q4.0.4, Q4.0.2, Display
@unnumberedsubsec Q4.0.3: How can I set color options from @file{init.el}?

How can I set the most commonly used color options from my
@file{init.el} instead of from my @file{.Xresources}?

Like this:

@lisp
(set-face-background 'default      "bisque") ; frame background
(set-face-foreground 'default      "black") ; normal text
(set-face-background 'zmacs-region "red") ; When selecting w/
                                        ; mouse
(set-face-foreground 'zmacs-region "yellow")
(set-face-font       'default      "*courier-bold-r*120-100-100*")
(set-face-background 'highlight    "blue") ; Ie when selecting
                                        ; buffers
(set-face-foreground 'highlight    "yellow")
(set-face-background 'modeline     "blue") ; Line at bottom
                                        ; of buffer
(set-face-foreground 'modeline     "white")
(set-face-font       'modeline     "*bold-r-normal*140-100-100*")
(set-face-background 'isearch      "yellow") ; When highlighting
                                        ; while searching
(set-face-foreground 'isearch      "red")
(setq x-pointer-foreground-color   "black") ; Adds to bg color,
                                        ; so keep black
(setq x-pointer-background-color   "blue") ; This is color
                                        ; you really
                                        ; want ptr/crsr
@end lisp

@node Q4.0.4, Q4.0.5, Q4.0.3, Display
@unnumberedsubsec Q4.0.4: How can I set the colors when highlighting a region?

How can I set the background/foreground colors when highlighting a
region?

You can change the face @code{zmacs-region} either in your
@file{.Xresources}:

@example
Emacs.zmacs-region.attributeForeground: firebrick
Emacs.zmacs-region.attributeBackground: lightseagreen
@end example

or in your @file{init.el}:

@lisp
(set-face-background 'zmacs-region "red")
(set-face-foreground 'zmacs-region "yellow")
@end lisp

@node Q4.0.5, Q4.0.6, Q4.0.4, Display
@unnumberedsubsec Q4.0.5: How can I limit color map usage?

I'm using Netscape (or another color grabber like XEmacs);
is there any way to limit the number of available colors in the color map?

Answer: No, but you can start Netscape before XEmacs, and it will use
the closest available color if the colormap is full.  You can also limit
the number of colors Netscape uses, using the flags -mono, -ncols <#> or
-install (for mono, limiting to <#> colors, or for using a private color
map).

If you have the money, another solution would be to use a truecolor or
direct color video.

@node Q4.0.6, Q4.0.7, Q4.0.5, Display
@unnumberedsubsec Q4.0.6: My tty supports color, but XEmacs doesn't use them.

XEmacs tries to automatically determine whether your tty supports color,
but sometimes guesses wrong.  In that case, you can make XEmacs Do The
Right Thing using this Lisp code:

@lisp
(if (eq 'tty (device-type))
    (set-device-class nil 'color))
@end lisp

@node Q4.0.7, Q4.0.8, Q4.0.6, Display
@unnumberedsubsec Q4.0.7: Can I have pixmap backgrounds in XEmacs?
@c New
@email{jvillaci@@wahnsinnig.extreme.indiana.edu, Juan Villacis} writes:

@quotation
There are several ways to do it.  For example, you could specify a
default pixmap image to use in your @file{~/.Xresources}, e.g.,


@example
  Emacs*EmacsFrame.default.attributeBackgroundPixmap: /path/to/image.xpm
@end example


and then reload ~/.Xresources and restart XEmacs.  Alternatively,
since each face can have its own pixmap background, a better way
would be to set a face's pixmap within your XEmacs init file, e.g.,

@lisp
  (set-face-background-pixmap 'default "/path/to/image.xpm")
  (set-face-background-pixmap 'bold    "/path/to/another_image.xpm")
@end lisp

and so on.  You can also do this interactively via @kbd{M-x edit-faces}.

@end quotation

@node Q4.0.8, Q4.0.9, Q4.0.7, Display
@unnumberedsubsec Q4.0.8: How do I display non-ASCII characters?
@c New

If you're using a Mule-enabled XEmacs, then display is automatic.  If
you're not seeing the characters you expect, either (1) you don't have
appropriate fonts available or (2) XEmacs did not correctly detect the
coding system (@pxref{Recognize Coding, , , xemacs}).  In case (1),
install fonts as is customary for your platform.  In case (2), you
need to tell XEmacs explicitly what coding systems you're using.
@ref{Specify Coding, , , xemacs}.

If your XEmacs is not Mule-enabled, and for some reason getting a
Mule-enabled XEmacs seems like the wrong thing to do, all is not lost.
You can arrange it by brute force.  In @file{event-Xt.c} (suppress the
urge to look in this file---play Doom instead, because you'll survive
longer), it is written:

@quotation
In a non-Mule world, a user can still have a multi-lingual editor, by
doing @code{(set-face-font "-*-iso8859-2" (current-buffer))} for all
their Latin-2 buffers, etc.
@end quotation

For the related problem of @emph{inputting} non-ASCII characters in a
non-Mule XEmacs, @xref{Q3.0.6, How can you type in special characters
in XEmacs?}.

@node Q4.0.9, Q4.1.1, Q4.0.8, Display
@unnumberedsubsec Q4.0.9: Font selections in don't get saved after @code{Save Options}.

@email{mannj@@ll.mit.edu, John Mann} writes:

@quotation
You have to go to @samp{Options->Menubars} and unselect
@samp{Frame-Local Font Menu}.  If this option is selected, font changes
are only applied to the @emph{current} frame and do @emph{not} get saved
when you save options.
@end quotation

Also, set the following in your @file{init.el}:

@lisp
(setq options-save-faces t)
@end lisp

@unnumberedsec 4.1: Syntax Highlighting (Font Lock)

@node Q4.1.1, Q4.1.2, Q4.0.9, Display
@unnumberedsubsec Q4.1.1: How can I do source code highlighting using font-lock?

For most modes, font-lock is already set up and just needs to be turned
on.  This can be done by adding the line:

@lisp
(require 'font-lock)
@end lisp

to your @file{init.el}. (You can turn it on for the
current buffer and session only by @kbd{M-x font-lock-mode}.) See the
file @file{etc/sample.init.el} (@file{etc/sample.emacs} in XEmacs
versions prior to 21.4) for more information.

@c the old way:
@c     (add-hook 'emacs-lisp-mode-hook 'turn-on-font-lock)
@c     (add-hook 'dired-mode-hook      'turn-on-font-lock)

See also @code{Syntax Highlighting} from the @code{Options} menu.
Remember to save options.

@node Q4.1.2, Q4.2.1, Q4.1.1, Display
@unnumberedsubsec Q4.1.2: How do I get @samp{More} Syntax Highlighting on by default?

Use the following code in your @file{init.el}:

@lisp
(setq-default font-lock-maximum-decoration t)
@end lisp

See also @code{Syntax Highlighting} from the @code{Options} menu.
Remember to save options.

@unnumberedsec 4.2: The Modeline

@node Q4.2.1, Q4.2.2, Q4.1.2, Display
@unnumberedsubsec Q4.2.1: How can I make the modeline go away?

@lisp
(set-specifier has-modeline-p nil)
@end lisp

@node Q4.2.2, Q4.2.3, Q4.2.1, Display
@unnumberedsubsec Q4.2.2: How do you have XEmacs display the line number in the modeline?

Add the following line to your @file{init.el} file to
display the line number:

@lisp
(line-number-mode 1)
@end lisp

Use the following to display the column number:

@lisp
(column-number-mode 1)
@end lisp

Or select from the @code{Options} menu
@iftex
@*
@end iftex
@code{Advanced (Customize)->Emacs->Editing->Basics->Line Number Mode}
and/or
@iftex
@*
@end iftex
@code{Advanced (Customize)->Emacs->Editing->Basics->Column Number Mode}

Or type @kbd{M-x customize @key{RET} editing-basics @key{RET}}.

@node Q4.2.3, Q4.2.4, Q4.2.2, Display
@unnumberedsubsec Q4.2.3: How do I get XEmacs to put the time of day on the modeline?

Add the following line to your @file{init.el} file to
display the time:

@lisp
(display-time)
@end lisp

See @code{Customize} from the @code{Options} menu for customization.

@node Q4.2.4, Q4.3.1, Q4.2.3, Display
@unnumberedsubsec Q4.2.4: How can I change the modeline color based on the mode used?

You can use something like the following:

@lisp
(add-hook 'lisp-mode-hook
          (lambda ()
            (set-face-background 'modeline "red" (current-buffer))))
@end lisp

Then, when editing a Lisp file (i.e. when in Lisp mode), the modeline
colors change from the default set in your @file{init.el}.
The change will only be made in the buffer you just entered (which
contains the Lisp file you are editing) and will not affect the modeline
colors anywhere else.

Notes:

@itemize @bullet

@item The hook is the mode name plus @code{-hook}.  eg. c-mode-hook,
c++-mode-hook, emacs-lisp-mode-hook (used for your
@file{init.el} or a @file{xx.el} file),
lisp-interaction-mode-hook (the @samp{*scratch*} buffer),
text-mode-hook, etc.

@item
Be sure to use @code{add-hook}, not @code{(setq c-mode-hook xxxx)},
otherwise you will erase anything that anybody has already put on the
hook.

@item
You can also do @code{(set-face-font 'modeline @var{font})},
eg. @code{(set-face-font 'modeline "*bold-r-normal*140-100-100*"
(current-buffer))} if you wish the modeline font to vary based on the
current mode.
@end itemize

There are additional modeline faces, @code{modeline-buffer-id},
@code{modeline-mousable}, and @code{modeline-mousable-minor-mode}, which
you may want to customize.

@unnumberedsec 4.3: The Cursor

@node Q4.3.1, Q4.3.2, Q4.2.4, Display
@unnumberedsubsec Q4.3.1: Is there a way to make the bar cursor thicker?

I'd like to have the bar cursor a little thicker, as I tend to "lose" it
often.

For a 1 pixel bar cursor, use:

@lisp
(setq bar-cursor t)
@end lisp

For a 2 pixel bar cursor, use:

@lisp
(setq bar-cursor 'anything-else)
@end lisp

You can also change these with Customize.
Select from the @code{Options} menu
@code{Advanced (Customize)->Emacs->Environment->Display->Bar Cursor...} or type
@kbd{M-x customize @key{RET} display @key{RET}}.

You can use a color to make it stand out better:

@example
Emacs*cursorColor:      Red
@end example

@node Q4.3.2, Q4.3.3, Q4.3.1, Display
@unnumberedsubsec Q4.3.2: Is there a way to get back the block cursor?

@lisp
(setq bar-cursor nil)
@end lisp

You can also change this with Customize.
Select from the @code{Options} menu
@code{Advanced (Customize)->Emacs->Environment->Display->Bar Cursor...} or type
@kbd{M-x customize @key{RET} display @key{RET}}.

@node Q4.3.3, Q4.4.1, Q4.3.2, Display
@unnumberedsubsec Q4.3.3: Can I make the cursor blink?

Yes, like this:

@lisp
(blink-cursor-mode)
@end lisp

This function toggles between a steady cursor and a blinking cursor.
You may also set this mode from the menu bar by selecting
@samp{Options->Display->Blinking Cursor}.  Remember to save options.

@unnumberedsec 4.4: The Menubar

@node Q4.4.1, Q4.4.2, Q4.3.3, Display
@unnumberedsubsec Q4.4.1: How do I get rid of the menubar?

@lisp
(set-specifier menubar-visible-p nil)
@end lisp

@node Q4.4.2, Q4.4.3, Q4.4.1, Display
@unnumberedsubsec Q4.4.2: How can I customize the menubar?

For an extensive menubar, add this line to your @file{init.el}:

@lisp
(load "big-menubar")
@end lisp

If you'd like to write your own, this file provides as good a set of
examples as any to start from.  The file is located in edit-utils
package. 

@node Q4.4.3, Q4.4.4, Q4.4.2, Display
@unnumberedsubsec Q4.4.3: How do I enable use of the keyboard (@kbd{Alt}) to access menu items?

#### Write me.

@node Q4.4.4, Q4.4.5, Q4.4.3, Display
@unnumberedsubsec Q4.4.4: How do I control how many buffers are listed in the menu @code{Buffers List}?

Add the following to your @file{init.el} (suit to fit):

@lisp
(setq buffers-menu-max-size 20)
@end lisp

For no limit, use an argument of @samp{nil}.

You can also change this with Customize.  Select from the
@code{Options} menu
@code{Advanced (Customize)->Emacs->Environment->Menu->Buffers Menu->Max Size...}
or type @kbd{M-x customize @key{RET} buffers-menu @key{RET}}.

@node Q4.4.5, Q4.5.1, Q4.4.4, Display
@unnumberedsubsec Q4.4.5: Resources like @code{Emacs*menubar*font} are not working?

I am trying to use a resource like @code{Emacs*menubar*font} to set the
font of the menubar but it's not working.

In Motif, the use of @samp{font} resources is obsoleted in order to
support internationalization.  If you are using the real Motif menubar,
this resource is not recognized at all; you have to say:

@example
Emacs*menubar*fontList: FONT
@end example

If you are using the Lucid menubar, for backward compatibility with
existing user configurations, the @samp{font} resource is recognized.
Since this is not supported by Motif itself, the code is a kludge and
the @samp{font} resource will be recognized only if the @samp{fontList}
resource resource is unset.  This means that the resource

@example
*fontList: FONT
@end example

will override

@example
Emacs*menubar*font: FONT
@end example

even though the latter is more specific.

In non-Motif configurations using @samp{--with-mule} and
@samp{--with-xfs} it @emph{is} necessary to use the @code{fontSet}
resource @emph{instead of} the @code{font} resource.  The backward
compatibility kludge was never implemented for non-Motif builds.
Example:

@example
*fontSet: FONT
@end example

@unnumberedsec 4.5: The Toolbar

@node Q4.5.1, Q4.5.2, Q4.4.5, Display
@unnumberedsubsec Q4.5.1: How do I get rid of the toolbar?

#### Write me.

@node Q4.5.2, Q4.5.3, Q4.5.1, Display
@unnumberedsubsec Q4.5.2: How can I customize the toolbar?

#### Write me.

@node Q4.5.3, Q4.5.4, Q4.5.2, Display
@unnumberedsubsec Q4.5.3: How can I bind a key to a function to toggle the toolbar?

Try something like:

@lisp
(defun my-toggle-toolbar ()
  (interactive)
  (set-specifier default-toolbar-visible-p
                 (not (specifier-instance default-toolbar-visible-p))))
(global-set-key "\C-xT" 'my-toggle-toolbar)
@end lisp

@ignore
@c Probably not relevant any more
There are redisplay bugs in 19.14 that may make the preceding result in
a messed-up display, especially for frames with multiple windows.  You
may need to resize the frame before XEmacs completely realizes the
toolbar is really gone.
@end ignore

Thanks to @email{martin@@xemacs.org, Martin Buchholz} for the correct
code.

@node Q4.5.4, Q4.6.1, Q4.5.3, Display
@unnumberedsubsec Q4.5.4: @samp{Can't instantiate image error...} in toolbar

@email{expt@@alanine.ram.org, Dr. Ram Samudrala} writes:

I just installed the XEmacs (20.4-2) RPMS that I downloaded from
@uref{http://www.xemacs.org/}.  Everything works fine, except that when
I place my mouse over the toolbar, it beeps and gives me this message:

@example
 Can't instantiate image (probably cached):
 [xbm :mask-file "/usr/include/X11/bitmaps/leftptrmsk :mask-data
 (16 16 <strange control characters> ...
@end example

@email{kyle_jones@@wonderworks.com, Kyle Jones} writes:
@quotation
This is problem specific to some Chips and Technologies video
chips, when running XFree86.  Putting

@code{Option "sw_cursor"}

in @file{XF86Config} gets rid of the problem.
@end quotation

@unnumberedsec 4.6: Scrollbars and Scrolling

@node Q4.6.1, Q4.6.2, Q4.5.4, Display
@unnumberedsubsec Q4.6.1: How can I disable the scrollbar?

To disable them for all frames, add the following line to
your @file{.Xresources}:

@example
Emacs.scrollBarWidth:  0
@end example

Or select @samp{Options->Display->Scrollbars}.
Remember to save options.

To turn the scrollbar off on a per-frame basis, use the following
function:

@lisp
(set-specifier scrollbar-width 0 (selected-frame))
@end lisp

You can actually turn the scrollbars on at any level you want by
substituting for (selected-frame) in the above command.  For example, to
turn the scrollbars off only in a single buffer:

@lisp
(set-specifier scrollbar-width 0 (current-buffer))
@end lisp

@node Q4.6.2, Q4.6.3, Q4.6.1, Display
@unnumberedsubsec Q4.6.2: How can I change the scrollbar width?

#### Write me.

@node Q4.6.3, Q4.6.4, Q4.6.2, Display
@unnumberedsubsec Q4.6.3: How can I use resources to change scrollbar colors?

Here's a recap of how to use resources to change your scrollbar colors:

@example
! Motif scrollbars

Emacs*XmScrollBar.Background: skyblue
Emacs*XmScrollBar.troughColor: lightgray

! Athena scrollbars

Emacs*Scrollbar.Foreground: skyblue
Emacs*Scrollbar.Background: lightgray
@end example

Note the capitalization of @code{Scrollbar} for the Athena widget.

@node Q4.6.4, Q4.6.5, Q4.6.3, Display
@unnumberedsubsec Q4.6.4: Moving the scrollbar can move the point; can I disable this?

When I move the scrollbar in an XEmacs window, it moves the point as
well, which should not be the default behavior.  Is this a bug or a
feature?  Can I disable it?

The current behavior is a feature, not a bug.  Point remains at the same
buffer position as long as that position does not scroll off the screen.
In that event, point will end up in either the upper-left or lower-left
hand corner.

This cannot be changed.

@node Q4.6.5, Q4.6.6, Q4.6.4, Display
@unnumberedsubsec Q4.6.5: Scrolling one line at a time.

Can the cursor keys scroll the screen a line at a time, rather than the
default half page jump?  I tend it to find it disorienting.

Use the following:

@lisp
(setq scroll-step 1)
@end lisp

You can also change this with Customize.  Select from the
@code{Options} menu
@code{Advanced (Customize)->Emacs->Environment->Windows->Scroll Step...}
or type @kbd{M-x customize @key{RET} windows @key{RET}}.

@node Q4.6.6, Q4.6.7, Q4.6.5, Display
@unnumberedsubsec Q4.6.6: How can I turn off automatic horizontal scrolling in specific modes?

Do @code{(setq truncate-lines t)} in the mode-hooks for any modes
in which you want lines truncated.

More precisely: If @code{truncate-lines} is nil, horizontal scrollbars
will never appear.  Otherwise, they will appear only if the value of
@code{scrollbar-height} for that buffer/window/etc. is non-zero.  If you
do

@lisp
(set-specifier scrollbar-height 0)
@end lisp

then horizontal scrollbars will not appear in truncated buffers unless
the package specifically asked for them.

@node Q4.6.7, Q4.7.1, Q4.6.6, Display
@unnumberedsubsec Q4.6.7: I find auto-show-mode disconcerting.  How do I turn it off?

@code{auto-show-mode} controls whether or not a horizontal scrollbar
magically appears when a line is too long to be displayed.  This is
enabled by default.  To turn it off, put the following in your
@file{init.el}:

@lisp
(setq auto-show-mode nil)
(setq-default auto-show-mode nil)
@end lisp

@unnumberedsec 4.7: The Gutter Tabs, The Progress Bar, Widgets

@node Q4.7.1, Q4.7.2, Q4.6.7, Display
@unnumberedsubsec Q4.7.1: How can I disable the gutter tabs?

#### Write me.

@node Q4.7.2, Q4.7.3, Q4.7.1, Display
@unnumberedsubsec Q4.7.2: How can I disable the progress bar?

#### Write me.

@node Q4.7.3, Q4.7.4, Q4.7.2, Display
@unnumberedsubsec Q4.7.3: There are bugs in the gutter or widgets.

#### Write me.

@node Q4.7.4,  , Q4.7.3, Display
@unnumberedsubsec Q4.7.4: How can I customize the gutter or gutter tabs?

#### Write me.

@node External Subsystems, Internet, Display, Top
@unnumbered 5 Interfacing with the Operating System and External Devices

This is part 5 of the XEmacs Frequently Asked Questions list.  This
section is devoted to the various ways that XEmacs interfaces with the
operating system, with other processes and with external devices such
as speakers and the printer.

@menu
5.0: X Window System and Resources
* Q5.0.1::    Where is a list of X resources?
* Q5.0.2::    How can I detect a color display?
* Q5.0.3::    How can I get the icon to just say @samp{XEmacs}?
* Q5.0.4::    How can I have the window title area display the full path?
* Q5.0.5::    @samp{xemacs -name junk} doesn't work?
* Q5.0.6::    @samp{-iconic} doesn't work.
* Q5.0.7::    How can I use antialiased fonts under X11?

5.1: Microsoft Windows
* Q5.1.1::    Does XEmacs rename all the @samp{win32-*} symbols to @samp{w32-*}?
* Q5.1.2::    How do I get Windows Explorer to associate a file type with XEmacs?

5.2: Printing
* Q5.2.1::    What do I need to change to make printing work?
* Q5.2.2::    How can I print WYSIWYG a font-locked buffer?
* Q5.2.3::    Getting @kbd{M-x lpr} to work with postscript printer.
* Q5.2.4::    Can you print under MS Windows?

5.3: Sound
* Q5.3.1::    How do I turn off the sound?
* Q5.3.2::    How do I get funky sounds instead of a boring beep?
* Q5.3.3::    What are NAS and ESD (EsounD)?
* Q5.3.4::    Sunsite sounds don't play.

5.4: Running an Interior Shell, Invoking Subprocesses
* Q5.4.1::    What is an interior shell?
* Q5.4.2::    How do I start up a second shell buffer?
* Q5.4.3::    Telnet from shell filters too much
* Q5.4.4::    Strange things are happening in Shell Mode.
* Q5.4.5::    XEmacs complains "No such file or directory, diff"
* Q5.4.6::    Cygwin error "fork_copy: linked dll/bss pass 0 failed"

5.5: Multiple Device Support
* Q5.5.1::    How do I open a frame on another screen of my multi-headed display?
* Q5.5.2::    Can I really connect to a running XEmacs after calling up over a modem?  How?
* Q5.5.3::    How do I disable gnuserv from opening a new frame?
* Q5.5.4::    How do I start gnuserv so that each subsequent XEmacs is a client?
* Q5.5.5::    Is there a way to start a new XEmacs if there's no gnuserv running, and otherwise use gnuclient?
@end menu

@unnumberedsec 5.0: X Window System and Resources

@node Q5.0.1, Q5.0.2, External Subsystems, External Subsystems
@unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.1: Where is a list of X resources?

Search through the @file{NEWS} file for @samp{X Resources}.  A fairly
comprehensive list is given after it.

In addition, an @file{app-defaults} file @file{etc/Emacs.ad} is
supplied, listing the defaults.  The file @file{etc/sample.Xresources}
gives a different set of defaults that you might consider for
installation in your @file{~/.Xresources} file.  It is nearly the same
as @file{etc/Emacs.ad}, but a few entries are altered.  Be careful about
installing the contents of this file into your @file{.Xresources} (or
legacy @file{.Xdefaults}) file if you use GNU Emacs under X11 as well.

@node Q5.0.2, Q5.0.3, Q5.0.1, External Subsystems
@unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.2: How can I detect a color display?

You can test the return value of the function @code{(device-class)}, as
in:

@lisp
(when (eq (device-class) 'color)
  (set-face-foreground  'font-lock-comment-face "Grey")
  (set-face-foreground  'font-lock-string-face  "Red")
  ....
  )
@end lisp

@node Q5.0.3, Q5.0.4, Q5.0.2, External Subsystems
@unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.3: How can I get the icon to just say @samp{XEmacs}?

I'd like the icon to just say @samp{XEmacs}, and not include the name of
the current file in it.

Add the following line to your @file{init.el}:

@lisp
(setq frame-icon-title-format "XEmacs")
@end lisp

@node Q5.0.4, Q5.0.5, Q5.0.3, External Subsystems
@unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.4: How can I have the window title area display the full path?

I'd like to have the window title area display the full directory/name
of the current buffer file and not just the name.

Add the following line to your @file{init.el}:

@lisp
(setq frame-title-format "%S: %f")
@end lisp

A more sophisticated title might be:

@lisp
(setq frame-title-format
      '("%S: " (buffer-file-name "%f"
                                 (dired-directory dired-directory "%b"))))
@end lisp

That is, use the file name, or the dired-directory, or the buffer name.

@node Q5.0.5, Q5.0.6, Q5.0.4, External Subsystems
@unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.5: @samp{xemacs -name junk} doesn't work?

When I run @samp{xterm -name junk}, I get an xterm whose class name
according to xprop, is @samp{junk}.  This is the way it's supposed to
work, I think.  When I run @samp{xemacs -name junk} the class name is
not set to @samp{junk}.  It's still @samp{emacs}.  What does
@samp{xemacs -name} really do?  The reason I ask is that my window
manager (fvwm) will make a window sticky and I use XEmacs to read my
mail.  I want that XEmacs window to be sticky, without having to use the
window manager's function to set the window sticky.  What gives?

@samp{xemacs -name} sets the application name for the program (that is,
the thing which normally comes from @samp{argv[0]}).  Using @samp{-name}
is the same as making a copy of the executable with that new name.  The
@code{WM_CLASS} property on each frame is set to the frame-name, and the
application-class.  So, if you did @samp{xemacs -name FOO} and then
created a frame named @var{BAR}, you'd get an X window with WM_CLASS =
@code{( "BAR", "Emacs")}.  However, the resource hierarchy for this
widget would be:

@example
Name:    FOO   .shell             .container   .BAR
Class:   Emacs .TopLevelEmacsShell.EmacsManager.EmacsFrame
@end example

instead of the default

@example
Name:    xemacs.shell             .container   .emacs
Class:   Emacs .TopLevelEmacsShell.EmacsManager.EmacsFrame
@end example


It is arguable that the first element of WM_CLASS should be set to the
application-name instead of the frame-name, but I think that's less
flexible, since it does not give you the ability to have multiple frames
with different WM_CLASS properties.  Another possibility would be for
the default frame name to come from the application name instead of
simply being @samp{emacs}.  However, at this point, making that change
would be troublesome: it would mean that many users would have to make
yet another change to their resource files (since the default frame name
would suddenly change from @samp{emacs} to @samp{xemacs}, or whatever
the executable happened to be named), so we'd rather avoid it.

To make a frame with a particular name use:

@lisp
(make-frame '((name . "the-name")))
@end lisp

@node Q5.0.6, Q5.0.7, Q5.0.5, External Subsystems
@unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.6: @samp{-iconic} doesn't work.

When I start up XEmacs using @samp{-iconic} it doesn't work right.
Using @samp{-unmapped} on the command line, and setting the
@code{initiallyUnmapped} X Resource don't seem to help much either...

@email{ben@@xemacs.org, Ben Wing} writes:

@quotation
Ugh, this stuff is such an incredible mess that I've about given up
getting it to work.  The principal problem is numerous window-manager
bugs...
@end quotation

@node Q5.0.7, Q5.1.1, Q5.0.6, External Subsystems
@unnumberedsubsec Q5.0.7: How can I use antialiased fonts under X11?

The X11 version of XEmacs can use antialiased fonts via the Xft,
fontconfig, and freetype libraries.  To configure this you need a recent
beta version (at least 21.5.24); the more recent, the better.  This is
beta software, the usual caveats apply.  Rebuild xemacs using the
following configure options, plus any others you normally use:

@samp{--enable-mule --with-xft=emacs,menubars}

Xft @emph{may} work without Mule but the developers working on the Xft
code invariably build with Mule.  The tab control also supports Xft, and
at some date the progress gauge will as well.  If they are configured in
to XEmacs, you may add @samp{tabs} and @samp{gauges} to the value of the
@samp{--with-xft} option (with a comma separating each value from the
previous ones).  For further details on the XEmacs widgets that support
XFT, see the output of @code{./configure --help}.  If you use a package
manager from your OS distribution, you may need to install development
packages for @file{fontconfig} and @file{Xft}, and possibly for their
prequisites.

To specify a particular antialiased font, put something like the
following lines in your @file{~/.Xdefaults} or @file{~/.Xresources}:

@example
    XEmacs.default.attributeFont: monospace-12
       XEmacs.bold.attributeFont: monospace-12:style=Bold
     XEmacs.italic.attributeFont: monospace-12:style=Oblique
XEmacs.bold-italic.attributeFont: monospace-12:style=Bold Oblique
   XEmacs.modeline.attributeFont: sans-serif-11
          XEmacs.menubar.xftFont: sans-serif-11
                  XEmacs*XftFont: sans-serif-11
@end example

@strong{Warning}: These resource naming conventions are just hacks to
get the code running; you should expect them to change.  (Sorry about
that, but this @emph{is} beta software!)

Then run @code{xrdb -merge} before starting the new, XFT-enabled
xemacs.  You can choose the available fonts from the list given by
@code{fc-list}; try @code{xfd -fa FONTNAME-SIZE} to preview a given
font.  Note that ``monospace'' and ``sans-serif'' are generic aliases
defined by fontconfig which may correspond to any of many real fonts
based on local configuration and availability of the aliased fonts,
and so are likely to give good results in a well-set-up system.

Although Customize does not yet handle fontconfig fontspecs, you can
pass them as strings directly to @samp{set-face-font} to set fonts from
Lisp.

@unnumberedsec 5.1: Microsoft Windows

@node Q5.1.1, Q5.1.2, Q5.0.7, External Subsystems
@unnumberedsubsec Q5.1.1: Does XEmacs rename all the @samp{win32-*} symbols to @samp{w32-*}?

In his flavor of Emacs 20, Richard Stallman has renamed all the @samp{win32-*}
symbols to @samp{w32-*}.  Does XEmacs do the same?

We consider such a move counter-productive, thus we do not use the
@samp{w32} prefix. (His rather questionable justification was that he
did not consider Windows to be a "winning" platform.) However, the name
@samp{Win32} is not particularly descriptive outside the Windows world,
and using just @samp{windows-} would be too generic.  So we chose a
compromise, the prefix @samp{mswindows-} for Windows-related variables
and functions.

Thus all the XEmacs variables and functions directly related to either
the Windows GUI or OS are prefixed @samp{mswindows-} (except for a
couple of debugging variables, prefixed @samp{debug-mswindows-}).  From
an architectural perspective, however, we believe that this is mostly a
non-issue because there should be a very small number of
window-systems-specific variables anyway.  Whenever possible, we try to
provide generic interfaces that apply to all window systems.

@c not true:
@c The user variables
@c that share functionality with existing NT Emacs variables are be named
@c with our convention, but we provide the GNU Emacs names as
@c compatibility aliases.

@node Q5.1.2, Q5.2.1, Q5.1.1, External Subsystems
@unnumberedsubsec Q5.1.2: How do I get Windows Explorer to associate a file type with XEmacs?

@unnumberedsubsubsec Associating a new file type with XEmacs.

In Explorer select @samp{View->Options->File Types}, press @samp{[New
Type...]} and fill in the dialog box, e.g.:

@example
        Description of type:    Emacs Lisp source
        Associated extension:   el
        Content Type (MIME):    text/plain
@end example

then press @samp{[New...]} and fill in the @samp{Action} dialog box as
follows:

@example
        Action:
        Open

        Application used to perform action:
        D:\Full\path\for\xemacs.exe "%1"

        [x] Use DDE

        DDE Message:
        open("%1")

        Application:
        <leave blank>

        DDE Application Not Running:
        <leave blank>

        Topic:
        <leave blank>
@end example

@unnumberedsubsubsec Associating an existing file type with XEmacs.

In Explorer select @samp{View->Options->File Types}.  Click on the file
type in the list and press @samp{[Edit...]}.  If the file type already
has an @samp{Open} action, double click on it and fill in the
@samp{Action} dialog box as described above; otherwise create a new
action.

If the file type has more than one action listed, you probably want to
make the @samp{Open} action that you just edited the default by clicking on
it and pressing @samp{Set Default}.

Note for Windows 2000 users: Under Windows 2000, get to @samp{File Types}
using @samp{Control Panel->Folder Options->File Types}.

@unnumberedsec 5.2: Printing

@node Q5.2.1, Q5.2.2, Q5.1.2, External Subsystems
@unnumberedsubsec Q5.2.1: What do I need to change to make printing work?

For regular printing there are two variables that can be customized.

@table @code
@item lpr-command
This should be set to a command that takes standard input and sends
it to a printer.  Something like:

@lisp
(setq lpr-command "lp")
@end lisp

@item lpr-switches
This should be set to a list that contains whatever the print command
requires to do its job.  Something like:

@lisp
(setq lpr-switches '("-depson"))
@end lisp
@end table

For postscript printing there are three analogous variables to
customize.

@table @code
@item ps-lpr-command
This should be set to a command that takes postscript on standard input
and directs it to a postscript printer.

@item ps-lpr-switches
This should be set to a list of switches required for
@code{ps-lpr-command} to do its job.

@item ps-print-color-p
This boolean variable should be set @code{t} if printing will be done in
color, otherwise it should be set to @code{nil}.
@end table

NOTE: It is an undocumented limitation in XEmacs that postscript
printing (the @code{Pretty Print Buffer} menu item) @strong{requires} a
window system environment.  It cannot be used outside of X11.

@node Q5.2.2, Q5.2.3, Q5.2.1, External Subsystems
@unnumberedsubsec Q5.2.2: How can I print WYSIWYG a font-locked buffer?

Font-lock looks nice.  How can I print (WYSIWYG) the highlighted
document?

The package @code{ps-print}, which is now included with XEmacs, provides
the ability to do this.  The source code contains complete instructions
on its use, in
@file{$prefix/share/xemacs/xemacs-packages/lisp/ps-print/ps-print.el},
being the default location of an installed ps-print package.

@node Q5.2.3, Q5.2.4, Q5.2.2, External Subsystems
@unnumberedsubsec Q5.2.3: Getting @kbd{M-x lpr} to work with postscript printer.

My printer is a Postscript printer and @code{lpr} only works for
Postscript files, so how do I get @kbd{M-x lpr-region} and @kbd{M-x
lpr-buffer} to work?

Put something like this in your @file{init.el}:

@lisp
(setq lpr-command "a2ps")
(setq lpr-switches '("-p" "-1"))
@end lisp

If you don't use a2ps to convert ASCII to postscript (why not, it's
free?), replace with the command you do use.  Note also that some
versions of a2ps require a @samp{-Pprinter} to ensure spooling.

@node Q5.2.4, Q5.3.1, Q5.2.3, External Subsystems
@unnumberedsubsec Q5.2.4: Can you print under MS Windows?

As of 21.4, printing works on Windows, using simply
@samp{File->Print BUFFER...}, and can be configured with
@samp{File->Page Setup...}.

Prior to 21.4, there is no built-in support, but there are some clever
hacks out there.  If you know how, please let us know and we'll put it
here.

@unnumberedsec 5.3: Sound

@node Q5.3.1, Q5.3.2, Q5.2.4, External Subsystems
@unnumberedsubsec Q5.3.1: How do I turn off the sound?

Add the following line to your @file{init.el}:

@lisp
(setq bell-volume 0)
(setq sound-alist nil)
@end lisp

That will make your XEmacs totally silent---even the default ding sound
(TTY beep on TTY-s) will be gone.

You can also change these with Customize.  Select from the
@code{Options} menu @code{Advanced
(Customize)->Emacs->Environment->Sound->Sound...} or type @kbd{M-x
customize @key{RET} sound @key{RET}}.


@node Q5.3.2, Q5.3.3, Q5.3.1, External Subsystems
@unnumberedsubsec Q5.3.2: How do I get funky sounds instead of a boring beep?

Make sure your XEmacs was compiled with sound support, and then put this
in your @file{init.el}:

@lisp
(load-default-sounds)
@end lisp

@node Q5.3.3, Q5.3.4, Q5.3.2, External Subsystems
@unnumberedsubsec Q5.3.3: What are NAS and ESD (EsounD)?

@dfn{Network Audio System} (NAS) is a client-server sound library for X.

@uref{http://radscan.com/nas.html}.

To build XEmacs with it, use the @file{configure} flag
@samp{--with-sound=nas} (@samp{--enable-sound=nas} in 21.5 or later).

@dfn{Enlightened Sound Daemon} (ESD or EsounD) is yet another sound system.

@uref{http://www.tux.org/~ricdude/EsounD.html}.

To build XEmacs with it, use the @file{configure} flag
@samp{--with-sound=esd} (@samp{--enable-sound=esd} in 21.5 or later).

You can specify support for both with a flag like
@samp{--with-sound=nas,esd} (@samp{--enable-sound=nas,esd} in 21.5 or
later).

@node Q5.3.4, Q5.4.1, Q5.3.3, External Subsystems
@unnumberedsubsec Q5.3.4: Sunsite sounds don't play.

I'm having some trouble with sounds I've downloaded from sunsite.  They
play when I run them through @code{showaudio} or cat them directly to
@file{/dev/audio}, but XEmacs refuses to play them.

@email{gutschk@@uni-muenster.de, Markus Gutschke} writes:

@quotation
[Many of] These files have an (erroneous) 24byte header that tells about
the format that they have been recorded in. If you cat them to
@file{/dev/audio}, the header will be ignored and the default behavior
for /dev/audio will be used. This happens to be 8kHz uLaw. It is
probably possible to fix the header by piping through @code{sox} and
passing explicit parameters for specifying the sampling format; you then
need to perform a 'null' conversion from SunAudio to SunAudio.
@end quotation

@unnumberedsec 5.4: Running an Interior Shell, Invoking Subprocesses

@node Q5.4.1, Q5.4.2, Q5.3.4, External Subsystems
@unnumberedsubsec Q5.4.1: What is an interior shell?

#### Write me.

@node Q5.4.2, Q5.4.3, Q5.4.1, External Subsystems
@unnumberedsubsec Q5.4.2: How do I start up a second shell buffer?

In the @code{*shell*} buffer:

@lisp
M-x rename-buffer @key{RET} *shell-1* @key{RET}
M-x shell RET
@end lisp

This will then start a second shell.  The key is that no buffer named
@samp{*shell*} can exist.  It might be preferable to use @kbd{M-x
rename-uniquely} to rename the @code{*shell*} buffer instead of @kbd{M-x
rename-buffer}.

Alternately, you can set the variable @code{shell-multiple-shells}.
If the value of this variable is non-nil, each time shell mode is invoked,
a new shell is made

@node Q5.4.3, Q5.4.4, Q5.4.2, External Subsystems
@unnumberedsubsec Q5.4.3: Telnet from shell filters too much

I'm using the Emacs @kbd{M-x shell} function, and I would like to invoke
and use a telnet session within it.  Everything works fine except that
now all @samp{^M}'s are filtered out by Emacs.  Fixes?

Use @kbd{M-x rsh} or @kbd{M-x telnet} to open remote sessions rather
than doing rsh or telnet within the local shell buffer.  You can also
use @kbd{M-x ssh} to open secure remote session if you have @code{ssh}
installed.

@node Q5.4.4, Q5.4.5, Q5.4.3, External Subsystems
@unnumberedsubsec Q5.4.4: Strange things are happening in Shell Mode.

Sometimes (i.e. it's not repeatable, and I can't work out why it
happens) when I'm typing into shell mode, I hit return and only a
portion of the command is given to the shell, and a blank prompt is
returned.  If I hit return again, the rest of the previous command is
given to the shell.

@email{martin@@xemacs.org, Martin Buchholz} writes:

@quotation
There is a known problem with interaction between @code{csh} and the
@code{filec} option and XEmacs.  You should add the following to your
@file{.cshrc}:

@example
if ( "$TERM" == emacs || "$TERM" == unknown ) unset filec
@end example
@end quotation

@node Q5.4.5, Q5.4.6, Q5.4.4, External Subsystems
@unnumberedsubsec Q5.4.5: XEmacs complains "No such file or directory, diff"

or "ispell" or other commands that seem related to whatever you just
tried to do (M-x ediff or M-$, for example).

There are a large number of common (in the sense that "everyone has
these, they really do") Unix utilities that are not provided with
XEmacs.  The GNU Project's implementations are available for Windows in
the the Cygwin distribution (@uref{http://www.cygwin.com/}), which also
provides a complete Unix emulation environment (and thus makes ports of
Unix utilities nearly trivial).  Another implementation is that from
MinGW (@uref{http://www.mingw.org/msys.shtml}).  If you know of others,
please let us know!

@node Q5.4.6, Q5.5.1, Q5.4.5, External Subsystems
@unnumberedsubsec Q5.4.6: Cygwin error "fork_copy: linked dll/bss pass 0 failed"

If you are getting an error like

@example
17797832 [main] bash 3468 fork_copy: linked dll/bss pass 0 failed,
0x675000..0x6756A0, done 0, windows pid 2708, Win 32 error 487
bash: fork: resource temporarily unavailable
@end example

when trying to run bash using @kbd{M-x shell}, then you need to rebase
your Cygwin DLL's.  This is a known problem with Cygwin.  To fix:

@enumerate
@item
Download the @file{rebase} utility from Cygwin setup (it's under
@samp{System}).
@item
Kill @strong{all} of your Cygwin processes, including all of your
shells and all background processes.  Use @code{ps -a} to list all the
processes you need to kill.
@item
From a DOS prompt, run @file{ash} (@strong{not} @file{bash},
@file{tcsh} or @file{zsh}).  Do not try to be clever and @code{exec
/bin/ash} from your last shell; it won't work.
@item
Type @code{/bin/rebaseall -v}.
@end enumerate

The problem should now be fixed -- at least, until you install another
Cygwin package with DLL's, in which case you may have to repeat the
procedure.

@unnumberedsec 5.5: Multiple Device Support

@node Q5.5.1, Q5.5.2, Q5.4.6, External Subsystems
@unnumberedsubsec Q5.5.1: How do I open a frame on another screen of my multi-headed display?

Use the command @kbd{M-x make-frame-on-display}.  This command is also
on the File menu in the menubar.

The command @code{make-frame-on-tty} also exists, which will establish a
connection to any tty-like device.  Opening the TTY devices should be
left to @code{gnuclient}, though.

@node Q5.5.2, Q5.5.3, Q5.5.1, External Subsystems
@unnumberedsubsec Q5.5.2: Can I really connect to a running XEmacs after calling up over a modem?  How?

Yes.  Use @code{gnuclient -nw}.

Also see @ref{Q5.5.3, How do I disable gnuserv from opening a new frame?}.

@node Q5.5.3, Q5.5.4, Q5.5.2, External Subsystems
@unnumberedsubsec Q5.5.3: How do I disable gnuserv from opening a new frame?

If you set the @code{gnuserv-frame} variable to the frame that should be
used to display buffers that are pulled up, a new frame will not be
created. For example, you could put

@lisp
(setq gnuserv-frame (selected-frame))
@end lisp

early on in your @file{init.el}, to ensure that the first frame created
is the one used for your gnuserv buffers.

There is an option to set the gnuserv target to the current frame.  See
@code{Options->Display->"Other Window" Location->Make Current Frame Gnuserv Target}

You can also change this with Customize.  Select from the
@code{Options} menu @code{Advanced
(Customize)->Emacs->Environment->Gnuserv->Gnuserv Frame...}  or type
@kbd{M-x customize @key{RET} gnuserv @key{RET}}.


@node Q5.5.4, Q5.5.5, Q5.5.3, External Subsystems
@unnumberedsubsec Q5.5.4: How do I start gnuserv so that each subsequent XEmacs is a client?

Put the following in your @file{init.el} file to start the server:

@lisp
(gnuserv-start)
@end lisp

Start your first XEmacs as usual.  After that, you can do:

@example
gnuclient randomfilename
@end example

from the command line to get your existing XEmacs process to open a new
frame and visit randomfilename in that window. When you're done editing
randomfilename, hit @kbd{C-x #} to kill the buffer and get rid of the
frame.

See also man page of gnuclient.

@node Q5.5.5,  , Q5.5.4, External Subsystems
@unnumberedsubsec Q5.5.5: Is there a way to start a new XEmacs if there's no gnuserv running, and otherwise use gnuclient?

@email{vroonhof@@math.ethz.ch, Jan Vroonhof} writes:
@quotation
Here is one of the solutions, we have this in a script called
@file{etc/editclient.sh}.
@example
 #!/bin/sh
 if gnuclient -batch -eval t >/dev/null 2>&1
 then
   exec gnuclient $@{1+"$@@"@}
 else
   xemacs -unmapped -f gnuserv-start &
   until gnuclient -batch -eval t >/dev/null 2>&1
   do
      sleep 1
   done
   exec gnuclient $@{1+"$@@"@}
 fi
@end example

Note that there is a known problem when running XEmacs and 'gnuclient
-nw' on the same TTY.
@end quotation

@node Internet, Advanced, External Subsystems, Top
@unnumbered 6 Connecting to the Internet

This is part 6 of the XEmacs Frequently Asked Questions list.  This
section is devoted connecting to the Internet.

@menu
6.0: General Mail and News
* Q6.0.1::    What are the various packages for reading mail?
* Q6.0.2::    How can I send mail?
* Q6.0.3::    How do I get my outgoing mail archived?
* Q6.0.4::    How can I read and/or compose MIME messages?
* Q6.0.5::    How do I customize the From line?
* Q6.0.6::    How do I get my MUA to filter mail for me?
* Q6.0.7::    Remote mail reading with an MUA.
* Q6.0.8::    An MUA gets an error incorporating new mail.
* Q6.0.9::    Why isn't @file{movemail} working?
* Q6.0.10::   How do I make my MUA display graphical smilies?
* Q6.0.11::   How can I get those oh-so-neat X-Face lines?

6.1: Reading Mail with VM
* Q6.1.1::    How do I set up VM to retrieve mail from a remote site using POP?
* Q6.1.2::    How can I get VM to automatically check for new mail?
* Q6.1.3::    I have various addresses at which I receive mail.  How can I tell VM to ignore them when doing a "reply-all"?
* Q6.1.4::    Is there a mailing list or FAQ for VM?
* Q6.1.5::    How do I make VM stay in a single frame?
* Q6.1.6::    Customization of VM not covered in the manual, or here.

6.2: Reading Netnews and Mail with Gnus
* Q6.2.1::    GNUS, (ding) Gnus, Gnus 5, September Gnus, Red Gnus, Quassia Gnus, argh!
* Q6.2.2::    How do I make Gnus stay within a single frame?

6.3: FTP Access
* Q6.3.1::    Can I edit files on other hosts?
* Q6.3.2::    What is EFS?

6.4: Web Browsing with W3
* Q6.4.1::    What is W3?
* Q6.4.2::    How do I run W3 from behind a firewall?
* Q6.4.3::    Is it true that W3 supports style sheets and tables?
@end menu

@unnumberedsec 6.0: General Mail and News

@node Q6.0.1, Q6.0.2, Internet, Internet
@unnumberedsubsec Q6.0.1: What are the various packages for reading mail?

#### Write me.

@node Q6.0.2, Q6.0.3, Q6.0.1, Internet
@unnumberedsubsec Q6.0.2: How can I send mail?

Under Unix and Mac OS X, the @samp{sendmail} package is normally used
for this.
#### Write me.

Under Windows, you need to use @samp{smtpmail}, which communicates
directly with the mail server, as there is no @file{sendmail} program
running.  To get it working, use code like the following in your
@file{init.el} file:

@lisp
  ;; Get mail working under Windows.
  (setq message-send-mail-function 'smtpmail-send-it) ; for message/Gnus
  (setq send-mail-function 'smtpmail-send-it) ; for C-x m, etc.
  ;; the following ensures that mail problems can be debugged: it logs a trace
  ;; of the SMTP conversation to *trace of SMTP session to <somewhere>*.
  (setq smtpmail-debug-info t)
  ;; Substitute your info here.
  ;(setq user-mail-address "ben@@xemacs.org")
  ;(setq user-full-name "Ben Wing")
  ;(setq smtpmail-default-smtp-server "smtp.myserver.myisp.com")
  ;; The following two aren't completely necessary but may help.
  ;(setq smtpmail-local-domain "666.com")
  ;(setq smtpmail-sendto-domain "666.com")
  ;; If your SMTP server requires a username/password to authenticate, as
  ;; many do nowadays, set them like this:
  ;(setq smtpmail-auth-credentials  ; or use ~/.authinfo
  ;	'(("smtp.myserver.myisp.com" 25 "USER@@SOMEWHERE" "PASSWORD")))

  ;; Other possibilities for getting smtpmail to work:
  ;;
  ;;  If for some reason you need to authenticate using the STARTTLS protocol
  ;;   (don't look into this unless you know what it is), use
  ;;  (setq smtpmail-starttls-credentials
  ;;      '(("YOUR SMTP HOST" 25 "~/.my_smtp_tls.key" "~/.my_smtp_tls.cert")))
  ;;  Requires external program
  ;;    ftp://ftp.opaopa.org/pub/elisp/starttls-*.tar.gz.
  ;;  See http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2246.txt,
  ;;      http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2487.txt
@end lisp

The lines you need to care about are those that set
@code{user-mail-address}, @code{user-full-name},
@code{smtpmail-default-smtp-server}, and
@code{smtpmail-auth-credentials}.  You need to set these with,
respectively, your email address, your full name, the SMTP server you
use for outgoing mail, and the username and password you need to log
in to your SMTP server. (If for some reason your SMTP server doesn't
require logging in to send mail, don't uncomment this last line.)

The other settings may be useful in specific cases, but you should know what
you're doing before enabling them.

@node Q6.0.3, Q6.0.4, Q6.0.2, Internet
@unnumberedsubsec Q6.0.3: How do I get my outgoing mail archived?

@lisp
(setq mail-archive-file-name "~/outbox")
@end lisp

@node Q6.0.4, Q6.0.5, Q6.0.3, Internet
@unnumberedsubsec Q6.0.4: How can I read and/or compose MIME messages?

VM, MH-E and GNUS support MIME natively.  Other MUAs may or may not
have MIME support; refer to their documentation and other resources,
such as web pages and mailing lists.  Packages like SEMI/WEMI may be
useful in connection with MUAs like mew and Wanderlust.

@node Q6.0.5, Q6.0.6, Q6.0.4, Internet
@unnumberedsubsec Q6.0.5: How do I customize the From line?

How do I change the @samp{From:} line?  I have set gnus-user-from-line
to
@example
Gail Gurman <gail.gurman@@sybase.com>
@end example
@noindent , but XEmacs Gnus doesn't use
it. [This should apply to all MUA's. --ed] Instead it uses
@example
Gail Mara Gurman @email{gailg@@deall}
@end example
@noindent and then complains
that it's incorrect. Also, as you perhaps can see, my Message-ID is
screwy. How can I change that?

@email{larsi@@ifi.uio.no, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen} writes:

@quotation
Set @code{user-mail-address} to @samp{gail.gurman@@sybase.com} or
@code{mail-host-address} to @samp{sybase.com}.
@end quotation

@node Q6.0.6, Q6.0.7, Q6.0.5, Internet
@unnumberedsubsec Q6.0.6: How do I get my MUA to filter mail for me?

One possibility is to use procmail to split your mail before it gets to
the MUA.  I prefer this personally, since there are many strange and
wonderful things one can do with procmail.  Procmail may be found at
@uref{http://www.procmail.org/}.

Also see the Mail Filtering FAQ at:
@iftex
@*
@end iftex
@uref{http://www.faqs.org/faqs/mail/filtering-faq/}.

@node Q6.0.7, Q6.0.8, Q6.0.6, Internet
@unnumberedsubsec Q6.0.7: Remote mail reading with an MUA.

My mailbox lives at the office on a big honkin server.  My regular INBOX
lives on my honkin desktop machine.  I now can PPP to the office from
home which is far from honking...  I'd like to be able to read mail at
home without storing it here and I'd like to use xemacs and the MUA at
home...  Is there a recommended setup?

@email{nuspl@@nvwls.cc.purdue.edu, Joseph J. Nuspl Jr.} writes:

@quotation
There are several ways to do this.

@enumerate
@item
Set your display to your home machine and run dxpc or one of the other X
compressors.

@item
NFS mount your desktop machine on your home machine and modify your pop
command on your home machine to rsh to your desktop machine and actually
do the pop get's.

@item
Run a POP server on your desktop machine as well and do a sort of two
tiered POP get.
@end enumerate
@end quotation

@email{wmperry@@monolith.spry.com, William Perry} adds:

@quotation
Or you could run a pop script periodically on your desktop machine, and
just use ange-ftp or NFS to get to your mailbox.  I used to do this all
the time back at IU.
@end quotation

@node Q6.0.8, Q6.0.9, Q6.0.7, Internet
@unnumberedsubsec Q6.0.8: An MUA gets an error incorporating new mail.

rmail and VM, and probably other MUA's as well, get new mail from
your mailbox (called @file{/var/mail/$USER} or @file{/var/spool/mail/$USER}
or something similar) using a program called @code{movemail}.
This program interlocks with @code{/bin/mail} using the protocol
defined by @code{/bin/mail}.

There are various different protocols in general use, which you need to
specify using the @samp{--mail-locking} option
(@samp{--with-mail-locking} in 21.5 or later) to @file{configure}:

@table @samp
@item lockf
POSIX file locking with @code{lockf()}
@item flock
BSD file locking with @code{flock()}
@item dot
To manipulate mail file @file{foo}, first create file @file{foo.lock}
@item locking
Use @code{locking()}, Microsoft's renamed @code{flock()}
@item mmdf
Use @code{lk_open()} and @code{lk_close()} as defined by the Multi-channel
Memo Distribution Facility
@item pop
Retrieve mail using POP (the Post Office Protocol).  This is the
default for Cygwin/MinGW.
@end table

@strong{IF YOU DON'T USE THE FORM OF INTERLOCKING THAT IS NORMAL ON YOUR
SYSTEM, YOU CAN LOSE MAIL!}

Usually the value is correctly determined automatically:
@file{configure} tries to detect the method in use, and defaults exist
on systems for which this doesn't work.

However, if you run into problems incorporating new mail, it may be
because an incorrect method is being used.

If your system uses the lock file protocol, and permissions are set
so that ordinary users cannot write lock files in the mail spool
directory, you may need to make @file{movemail} setgid to a
suitable group such as @samp{mail}.  You can use these commands (as
root):

@example
chgrp mail movemail
chmod 2755 movemail
@end example

If you are using the @samp{pop} locking method, @file{movemail} must
be setuid root.

Installation normally copies movemail from the build directory to an
installation directory which is usually under @file{/usr/local/lib}.
The installed copy of @file{movemail} is usually in the directory
@file{/usr/local/lib/xemacs-VERSION/TARGET} (for example,
@file{/usr/local/lib/xemacs-21.4.15/i686-pc-cygwin}).  You must change
the group and mode of the installed copy; changing the group and mode
of the build directory copy is ineffective.

@node Q6.0.9, Q6.0.10, Q6.0.8, Internet
@unnumberedsubsec Q6.0.9: Why isn't @file{movemail} working?

@xref{Q6.0.8}.

Note also that older versions of Mozilla came with a @file{movemail}
program that is @strong{not} compatible with XEmacs.  Do not use it.
Always use the @file{movemail} installed with your XEmacs.  Failure to
do so can result in lost mail.

@node Q6.0.10, Q6.0.11, Q6.0.9, Internet
@unnumberedsubsec Q6.0.10: How do I make my MUA display graphical smilies?
For mh-e use the following:

@lisp
(add-hook 'mh-show-mode-hook '(lambda ()
                                (smiley-region (point-min)
                                               (point-max))))
@end lisp

@email{bill@@carpenter.ORG, WJCarpenter} writes:
For VM use the following:
@lisp
       (autoload 'smiley-region "smiley" nil t)
       (add-hook 'vm-select-message-hook
                 '(lambda ()
                    (smiley-region (point-min)
                                   (point-max))))
@end lisp

For tm use the following:
@lisp
(autoload 'smiley-buffer "smiley" nil t)
(add-hook 'mime-viewer/plain-text-preview-hook 'smiley-buffer)
@end lisp

@node Q6.0.11, Q6.1.1, Q6.0.10, Internet
@unnumberedsubsec Q6.0.11: How can I get those oh-so-neat X-Face lines?

Firstly there is an ftp site which describes X-faces and has the
associated tools mentioned below, at
@uref{http://ftp.cs.indiana.edu/pub/faces/}.

Then the steps are

@enumerate
@item
Create 48x48x1 bitmap with your favorite tool

@item
Convert to "icon" format using one of xbm2ikon, pbmtoicon, etc.,
and then compile the face.

@item
@example
cat file.xbm | xbm2ikon |compface > file.face
@end example

@item
Then be sure to quote things that are necessary for emacs strings:

@example
cat ./file.face | sed 's/\\/\\\\/g'
@iftex
\ @*
@end iftex
| sed 's/\"/\\\"/g' > ./file.face.quoted
@end example

@item
Then set up emacs to include the file as a mail header - there were a
couple of suggestions here---either something like:

@lisp
(setq  mail-default-headers
       "X-Face:  @email{Ugly looking text string here}")
@end lisp

Or, alternatively, as:

@lisp
(defun mail-insert-x-face ()
  (save-excursion
    (goto-char (point-min))
    (search-forward mail-header-separator)
    (beginning-of-line)
    (insert "X-Face:")
    (insert-file-contents "~/.face")))

(add-hook 'mail-setup-hook 'mail-insert-x-face)
@end lisp
@end enumerate

However, 2 things might be wrong:

Some versions of pbmtoicon produces some header lines that is not
expected by the version of compface that I grabbed. So I found I had to
include a @code{tail +3} in the pipeline like this:

@example
cat file.xbm | xbm2ikon | tail +3 |compface > file.face
@end example

Some people have also found that if one uses the @code{(insert-file)}
method, one should NOT quote the face string using the sed script .

It might also be helpful to use @email{stig@@hackvan.com, Stig's} script
xbm2face (included in the compface distribution at XEmacs.org) to do the
conversion.

Contributors for this item:

Paul Emsley,
Ricardo Marek,
Amir J. Katz,
Glen McCort,
Heinz Uphoff,
Peter Arius,
Paul Harrison, and
Vegard Vesterheim

@unnumberedsec 6.1: Reading Mail with VM

@node Q6.1.1, Q6.1.2, Q6.0.11, Internet
@unnumberedsubsec Q6.1.1: How do I set up VM to retrieve mail from a remote site using POP?

Use @code{vm-spool-files}, like this for example:

@lisp
(setq vm-spool-files '("/var/spool/mail/wing"
                       "netcom23.netcom.com:110:pass:wing:MYPASS"))
@end lisp

Of course substitute your actual password for MYPASS.

@node Q6.1.2, Q6.1.3, Q6.1.1, Internet
@unnumberedsubsec Q6.1.2: How can I get VM to automatically check for new mail?

@email{turner@@lanl.gov, John Turner} writes:

@quotation
Use the following:

@lisp
(setq vm-auto-get-new-mail 60)
@end lisp
@end quotation

@node Q6.1.3, Q6.1.4, Q6.1.2, Internet
@unnumberedsubsec Q6.1.3: I have various addresses at which I receive mail.  How can I tell VM to ignore them when doing a "reply-all"?

Set @code{vm-reply-ignored-addresses} to a list, like

@lisp
(setq vm-reply-ignored-addresses
      '("wing@@nuspl@@nvwls.cc.purdue.edu,netcom[0-9]*.netcom.com"
        "wing@@netcom.com" "wing@@xemacs.org"))
@end lisp

Note that each string is a regular expression.

@node Q6.1.4, Q6.1.5, Q6.1.3, Internet
@unnumberedsubsec Q6.1.4: Is there a mailing list or FAQ for VM?

A FAQ for VM exists at @uref{http://www.wonderworks.com/vm/FAQ.html}.

VM has its own newsgroups gnu.emacs.vm.info and gnu.emacs.vm.bug.

@node Q6.1.5, Q6.1.6, Q6.1.4, Internet
@unnumberedsubsec Q6.1.5: How do I make VM stay in a single frame?

John.@email{Cooper@@Eng.Sun.COM, John S Cooper} writes:

@quotation
@lisp
                                        ; Don't use multiple frames
(setq vm-frame-per-composition nil)
(setq vm-frame-per-folder nil)
(setq vm-frame-per-edit nil)
(setq vm-frame-per-summary nil)
@end lisp
@end quotation

@node Q6.1.6, Q6.2.1, Q6.1.5, Internet
@unnumberedsubsec Q6.1.6: Customization of VM not covered in the manual, or here.

@email{boffi@@hp735.stru.polimi.it, Giacomo Boffi} writes:

@quotation
The meta-answer is to look into the file @file{vm-vars.el}, in the vm
directory of the lisp library.

@file{vm-vars.el} contains, initializes and carefully describes, with
examples of usage, the plethora of user options that @emph{fully}
control VM's behavior.

Enter vm-vars, @code{forward-search} for toolbar, find the variables
that control the toolbar placement, appearance, existence, copy to your
@file{init.el} or @file{.vm} and modify according to the
detailed instructions.

The above also applies to all the various features of VM: search for
some keywords, maybe the first you conjure isn't appropriate, find the
appropriate variables, copy and experiment.
@end quotation

@unnumberedsec 6.2: Reading Netnews and Mail with Gnus

@node Q6.2.1, Q6.2.2, Q6.1.6, Internet
@unnumberedsubsec Q6.2.1: GNUS, (ding) Gnus, Gnus 5, September Gnus, Red Gnus, Quassia Gnus, argh!

The Gnus numbering issues are not meant for mere mortals to know them.
If you feel you @emph{must} enter the muddy waters of Gnus, visit the
excellent FAQ, maintained by Justin Sheehy, at:

@example
@uref{http://my.gnus.org/FAQ/}
@end example

See also Gnus home page
@example
@uref{http://www.gnus.org/}
@end example

@node Q6.2.2, Q6.3.1, Q6.2.1, Internet
@unnumberedsubsec Q6.2.2: How do I make Gnus stay within a single frame?

The toolbar code to start Gnus opens the new frame---and it's a feature
rather than a bug.  If you don't like it, but would still like to click
on the seemly icon, use the following code:

@lisp
(defun toolbar-news ()
  (gnus))
@end lisp

It will redefine the callback function of the icon to just call
@code{gnus}, without all the fancy frame stuff.

@unnumberedsec 6.3: FTP Access

@node Q6.3.1, Q6.3.2, Q6.2.2, Internet
@unnumberedsubsec Q6.3.1: Can I edit files on other hosts?

Yes.  Of course XEmacs can use any network file system (such as NFS or
Windows file sharing) you have available, and includes some
optimizations and safety features appropriate to those environments.

It is also possible to transparently edit files via FTP, ssh, or rsh.  That
is, XEmacs makes a local copy using the transport in the background, and
automatically refreshes the remote original from that copy when you save
it.  XEmacs also is capable of doing file system manipulations like
creating and removing directories and files.  The FTP interface is
provided by the standard @samp{efs} package @ref{Top, EFS, , efs}.  The
ssh/rsh interface is provided by the optional @samp{tramp} package
@ref{Top, TRAMP, , tramp}.

@node Q6.3.2, Q6.4.1, Q6.3.1, Internet
@unnumberedsubsec Q6.3.2: What is EFS?

#### Write me.

@unnumberedsec 6.4: Web Browsing with W3

@node Q6.4.1, Q6.4.2, Q6.3.2, Internet
@unnumberedsubsec Q6.4.1: What is W3?

W3 is an advanced graphical browser written in Emacs lisp that runs on
XEmacs.  It has full support for cascaded style sheets, and more...

It has a home web page at
@uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/elisp/w3/docs.html}.

@node Q6.4.2, Q6.4.3, Q6.4.1, Internet
@unnumberedsubsec Q6.4.2: How do I run W3 from behind a firewall?

There is a long, well-written, detailed section in the W3 manual that
describes how to do this.  Look in the section entitled "Firewalls".

@node Q6.4.3,  , Q6.4.2, Internet
@unnumberedsubsec Q6.4.3: Is it true that W3 supports style sheets and tables?

Yes, and much more.  W3, as distributed with the latest XEmacs is a
full-featured web browser.

@node Advanced, Other Packages, Internet, Top
@unnumbered 7 Advanced Customization Using XEmacs Lisp

This is part 7 of the XEmacs Frequently Asked Questions list.  This
section is devoted to advanced customization using XEmacs Lisp.

@menu
7.0: Emacs Lisp and @file{init.el}
* Q7.0.1::    What version of Emacs am I running?
* Q7.0.2::    How can I evaluate Emacs-Lisp expressions?
* Q7.0.3::    @code{(setq tab-width 6)} behaves oddly.
* Q7.0.4::    How can I add directories to the @code{load-path}?
* Q7.0.5::    How to check if a lisp function is defined?
* Q7.0.6::    Can I force the output of @code{(face-list)} to a buffer?

7.1: Emacs Lisp Programming Techniques
* Q7.1.1::    What is the difference in key sequences between XEmacs and GNU Emacs?
* Q7.1.2::    Can I generate "fake" keyboard events?
* Q7.1.3::    Could you explain @code{read-kbd-macro} in more detail?
* Q7.1.4::    What is the performance hit of @code{let}?
* Q7.1.5::    What is the recommended use of @code{setq}?
* Q7.1.6::    What is the typical misuse of @code{setq}?
* Q7.1.7::    I like the @code{do} form of cl, does it slow things down?
* Q7.1.8::    I like recursion, does it slow things down?
* Q7.1.9::    How do I put a glyph as annotation in a buffer?
* Q7.1.10::   @code{map-extents} won't traverse all of my extents!
* Q7.1.11::   My elisp program is horribly slow.  Is there an easy way to find out where it spends time?

7.2: Mathematics
* Q7.2.1::    What are bignums, ratios, and bigfloats in Lisp?
* Q7.2.2::    XEmacs segfaults when I use very big numbers!
* Q7.2.3::    Bignums are really slow!
* Q7.2.4::    Equal bignums don't compare as equal!  What gives?
@end menu

@unnumberedsec 7.0: Emacs Lisp and @file{init.el}

@node Q7.0.1, Q7.0.2, Advanced, Advanced
@unnumberedsubsec Q7.0.1: What version of Emacs am I running?

How can @file{init.el} determine which of the family of
Emacsen I am using?

To determine if you are currently running GNU Emacs 18, GNU Emacs 19,
XEmacs 19, XEmacs 20, or Epoch, and use appropriate code, check out the
example given in @file{etc/sample.init.el} (@file{etc/sample.emacs} in
XEmacs versions prior to 21.4).  There are other nifty things in there
as well!

For all new code, all you really need to do is:

@lisp
(defvar running-xemacs (string-match "XEmacs\\|Lucid" emacs-version))
@end lisp

@node Q7.0.2, Q7.0.3, Q7.0.1, Advanced
@unnumberedsubsec Q7.0.2: How can I evaluate Emacs-Lisp expressions?

I know I can evaluate Elisp expressions from @code{*scratch*} buffer
with @kbd{C-j} after the expression.  How do I do it from another
buffer?

Press @kbd{M-:} (the default binding of @code{eval-expression}), and
enter the expression to the minibuffer.

@node Q7.0.3, Q7.0.4, Q7.0.2, Advanced
@unnumberedsubsec Q7.0.3: @code{(setq tab-width 6)} behaves oddly.

If you put @code{(setq tab-width 6)} in your
@file{init.el} file it does not work!  Is there a reason
for this?  If you do it at the EVAL prompt it works fine!! How strange.

Use @code{setq-default} instead, since @code{tab-width} is
all-buffer-local.

@node Q7.0.4, Q7.0.5, Q7.0.3, Advanced
@unnumberedsubsec Q7.0.4: How can I add directories to the @code{load-path}?

Here are two ways to do that, one that puts your directories at the
front of the load-path, the other at the end:

@lisp
;;; Add things at the beginning of the load-path, do not add
;;; duplicate directories:
(pushnew "bar" load-path :test 'equal)

(pushnew "foo" load-path :test 'equal)

;;; Add things at the end, unconditionally
(setq load-path (nconc load-path '("foo" "bar")))
@end lisp

@email{keithh@@nortel.ca, Keith (k.p.) Hanlan} writes:

@quotation
To add directories using Unix shell metacharacters use
@file{expand-file-name} like this:

@lisp
(push (expand-file-name "~keithh/.emacsdir") load-path)
@end lisp
@end quotation

@node Q7.0.5, Q7.0.6, Q7.0.4, Advanced
@unnumberedsubsec Q7.0.5: How to check if a lisp function is defined?

Use the following elisp:

@lisp
(fboundp 'foo)
@end lisp

It's almost always a mistake to test @code{emacs-version} or any similar
variables.

Instead, use feature-tests, such as @code{featurep}, @code{boundp},
@code{fboundp}, or even simple behavioral tests, eg.:

@lisp
(defvar foo-old-losing-code-p
  (condition-case nil (progn (losing-code t) nil)
    (wrong-number-of-arguments t)))
@end lisp

There is an incredible amount of broken code out there which could work
much better more often in more places if it did the above instead of
trying to divine its environment from the value of one variable.

@node Q7.0.6, Q7.1.1, Q7.0.5, Advanced
@unnumberedsubsec Q7.0.6: Can I force the output of @code{(face-list)} to a buffer?

It would be good having it in a buffer, as the output of
@code{(face-list)} is too wide to fit to a minibuffer.

Evaluate the expression in the @samp{*scratch*} buffer with point after
the rightmost paren and typing @kbd{C-j}.

If the minibuffer smallness is the only problem you encounter, you can
simply press @kbd{C-h l} to get the former minibuffer contents in a
buffer.

@unnumberedsec 7.1: Emacs Lisp Programming Techniques

@node Q7.1.1, Q7.1.2, Q7.0.6, Advanced
@unnumberedsubsec Q7.1.1: What is the difference in key sequences between XEmacs and GNU Emacs?

@email{clerik@@naggum.no, Erik Naggum} writes;

@quotation
Emacs has a legacy of keyboards that produced characters with modifier
bits, and therefore map a variety of input systems into this scheme even
today.  XEmacs is instead optimized for X events.  This causes an
incompatibility in the way key sequences are specified, but both Emacs
and XEmacs will accept a key sequence as a vector of lists of modifiers
that ends with a key, e.g., to bind @kbd{M-C-a}, you would say
@code{[(meta control a)]} in both Emacsen.  XEmacs has an abbreviated
form for a single key, just (meta control a).  Emacs has an abbreviated
form for the Control and the Meta modifiers to string-characters (the
ASCII characters), as in @samp{\M-\C-a}.  XEmacs users need to be aware
that the abbreviated form works only for one-character key sequences,
while Emacs users need to be aware that the string-character is rather
limited.  Specifically, the string-character can accommodate only 256
different values, 128 of which have the Meta modifier and 128 of which
have not.  In each of these blocks, only 32 characters have the Control
modifier.  Whereas @code{[(meta control A)]} differs from @code{[(meta
control a)]} because the case differs, @samp{\M-\C-a} and @samp{\M-\C-A}
do not.  Programmers are advised to use the full common form, both
because it is more readable and less error-prone, and because it is
supported by both Emacsen.
@end quotation

Another (even safer) way to be sure of the key-sequences is to use the
@code{read-kbd-macro} function, which takes a string like @samp{C-c
<up>}, and converts it to the internal key representation of the Emacs
you use.  The function is available both on XEmacs and GNU Emacs.

@node Q7.1.2, Q7.1.3, Q7.1.1, Advanced
@unnumberedsubsec Q7.1.2: Can I generate "fake" keyboard events?

I wonder if there is an interactive function that can generate
@dfn{fake} keyboard events.  This way, I could simply map them inside
XEmacs.

This seems to work:

@lisp
(defun cg--generate-char-event (ch)
  "Generate an event, as if ch has been typed"
  (dispatch-event (character-to-event ch)))

;;  Backspace and Delete stuff
(global-set-key [backspace]
  (lambda () (interactive) (cg--generate-char-event 127)))
(global-set-key [unknown_keysym_0x4]
  (lambda () (interactive) (cg--generate-char-event 4)))
@end lisp

@node Q7.1.3, Q7.1.4, Q7.1.2, Advanced
@unnumberedsubsec Q7.1.3: Could you explain @code{read-kbd-macro} in more detail?

The @code{read-kbd-macro} function returns the internal Emacs
representation of a human-readable string (which is its argument).
Thus:

@lisp
(read-kbd-macro "C-c C-a")
@result{} [(control ?c) (control ?a)]

(read-kbd-macro "C-c C-. <up>")
@result{} [(control ?c) (control ?.) up]
@end lisp

In GNU Emacs the same forms will be evaluated to what GNU Emacs
understands internally---the sequences @code{"\C-x\C-c"} and @code{[3
67108910 up]}, respectively.

The exact @dfn{human-readable} syntax is defined in the docstring of
@code{edmacro-mode}.  I'll repeat it here, for completeness.

@quotation
Format of keyboard macros during editing:

Text is divided into @dfn{words} separated by whitespace.  Except for
the words described below, the characters of each word go directly as
characters of the macro.  The whitespace that separates words is
ignored.  Whitespace in the macro must be written explicitly, as in
@kbd{foo @key{SPC} bar @key{RET}}.

@itemize @bullet
@item
The special words @kbd{RET}, @kbd{SPC}, @kbd{TAB}, @kbd{DEL}, @kbd{LFD},
@kbd{ESC}, and @kbd{NUL} represent special control characters.  The
words must be written in uppercase.

@item
A word in angle brackets, e.g., @code{<return>}, @code{<down>}, or
@code{<f1>}, represents a function key.  (Note that in the standard
configuration, the function key @code{<return>} and the control key
@key{RET} are synonymous.)  You can use angle brackets on the words
@key{RET}, @key{SPC}, etc., but they are not required there.

@item
Keys can be written by their @sc{ascii} code, using a backslash followed
by up to six octal digits.  This is the only way to represent keys with
codes above \377.

@item
One or more prefixes @kbd{M-} (meta), @kbd{C-} (control), @kbd{S-}
(shift), @kbd{A-} (alt), @kbd{H-} (hyper), and @kbd{s-} (super) may
precede a character or key notation.  For function keys, the prefixes
may go inside or outside of the brackets: @code{C-<down>} @equiv{}
@code{<C-down>}.  The prefixes may be written in any order: @kbd{M-C-x}
@equiv{} @kbd{C-M-x}.

Prefixes are not allowed on multi-key words, e.g., @kbd{C-abc}, except
that the Meta prefix is allowed on a sequence of digits and optional
minus sign: @kbd{M--123} @equiv{} @kbd{M-- M-1 M-2 M-3}.

@item
The @code{^} notation for control characters also works: @kbd{^M}
@equiv{} @kbd{C-m}.

@item
Double angle brackets enclose command names: @code{<<next-line>>} is
shorthand for @kbd{M-x next-line @key{RET}}.

@item
Finally, @code{REM} or @code{;;} causes the rest of the line to be
ignored as a comment.
@end itemize

Any word may be prefixed by a multiplier in the form of a decimal number
and @code{*}: @code{3*<right>} @equiv{} @code{<right> <right> <right>},
and @code{10*foo} @equiv{}
@iftex
@*
@end iftex
@code{foofoofoofoofoofoofoofoofoofoo}.

Multiple text keys can normally be strung together to form a word, but
you may need to add whitespace if the word would look like one of the
above notations: @code{; ; ;} is a keyboard macro with three semicolons,
but @code{;;;} is a comment.  Likewise, @code{\ 1 2 3} is four keys but
@code{\123} is a single key written in octal, and @code{< right >} is
seven keys but @code{<right>} is a single function key.  When in doubt,
use whitespace.
@end quotation

@node Q7.1.4, Q7.1.5, Q7.1.3, Advanced
@unnumberedsubsec Q7.1.4: What is the performance hit of @code{let}?

In most cases, not noticeable.  Besides, there's no avoiding
@code{let}---you have to bind your local variables, after all.  Some
pose a question whether to nest @code{let}s, or use one @code{let} per
function.  I think because of clarity and maintenance (and possible
future implementation), @code{let}-s should be used (nested) in a way to
provide the clearest code.

@node Q7.1.5, Q7.1.6, Q7.1.4, Advanced
@unnumberedsubsec Q7.1.5: What is the recommended use of @code{setq}?

@itemize @bullet
@item Global variables

You will typically @code{defvar} your global variable to a default
value, and use @code{setq} to set it later.

It is never a good practice to @code{setq} user variables (like
@code{case-fold-search}, etc.), as it ignores the user's choice
unconditionally.  Note that @code{defvar} doesn't change the value of a
variable if it was bound previously.  If you wish to change a
user-variable temporarily, use @code{let}:

@lisp
(let ((case-fold-search nil))
  ...                                   ; code with searches that must be case-sensitive
  ...)
@end lisp

You will notice the user-variables by their docstrings beginning with an
asterisk (a convention).

@item Local variables

Bind them with @code{let}, which will unbind them (or restore their
previous value, if they were bound) after exiting from the @code{let}
form.  Change the value of local variables with @code{setq} or whatever
you like (e.g. @code{incf}, @code{setf} and such).  The @code{let} form
can even return one of its local variables.

Typical usage:

@lisp
;; iterate through the elements of the list returned by
;; `hairy-function-that-returns-list'
(let ((l (hairy-function-that-returns-list)))
  (while l
    ... do something with (car l) ...
    (setq l (cdr l))))
@end lisp

Another typical usage includes building a value simply to work with it.

@lisp
;; Build the mode keymap out of the key-translation-alist
(let ((inbox (file-truename (expand-file-name box)))
      (i 0))
  ... code dealing with inbox ...
  inbox)
@end lisp

This piece of code uses the local variable @code{inbox}, which becomes
unbound (or regains old value) after exiting the form.  The form also
returns the value of @code{inbox}, which can be reused, for instance:

@lisp
(setq foo-processed-inbox
      (let .....))
@end lisp
@end itemize

@node Q7.1.6, Q7.1.7, Q7.1.5, Advanced
@unnumberedsubsec Q7.1.6: What is the typical misuse of @code{setq}?

A typical misuse is probably @code{setq}ing a variable that was meant to
be local.  Such a variable will remain bound forever, never to be
garbage-collected.  For example, the code doing:

@lisp
(defun my-function (whatever)
  (setq a nil)
  ... build a large list ...
  ... and exit ...)
@end lisp

does a bad thing, as @code{a} will keep consuming memory, never to be
unbound.  The correct thing is to do it like this:

@lisp
(defun my-function (whatever)
  (let (a)                              ; default initialization is to nil
    ... build a large list ...
    ... and exit, unbinding `a' in the process  ...)
@end lisp

Not only is this prettier syntactically, but it makes it possible for
Emacs to garbage-collect the objects which @code{a} used to reference.

Note that even global variables should not be @code{setq}ed without
@code{defvar}ing them first, because the byte-compiler issues warnings.
The reason for the warning is the following:

@lisp
(defun flurgoze nil)                    ; ok, global internal variable
...

(setq flurghoze t)                      ; ops!  a typo, but semantically correct.
                                        ; however, the byte-compiler warns.

While compiling toplevel forms:
** assignment to free variable flurghoze
@end lisp

@node Q7.1.7, Q7.1.8, Q7.1.6, Advanced
@unnumberedsubsec Q7.1.7: I like the @code{do} form of cl, does it slow things down?

It shouldn't.  Here is what Dave Gillespie has to say about cl.el
performance:

@quotation
Many of the advanced features of this package, such as @code{defun*},
@code{loop}, and @code{setf}, are implemented as Lisp macros.  In
byte-compiled code, these complex notations will be expanded into
equivalent Lisp code which is simple and efficient.  For example, the
forms

@lisp
(incf i n)
(push x (car p))
@end lisp

are expanded at compile-time to the Lisp forms

@lisp
(setq i (+ i n))
(setcar p (cons x (car p)))
@end lisp

which are the most efficient ways of doing these respective operations
in Lisp.  Thus, there is no performance penalty for using the more
readable @code{incf} and @code{push} forms in your compiled code.

@emph{Interpreted} code, on the other hand, must expand these macros
every time they are executed.  For this reason it is strongly
recommended that code making heavy use of macros be compiled. A loop
using @code{incf} a hundred times will execute considerably faster if
compiled, and will also garbage-collect less because the macro expansion
will not have to be generated, used, and thrown away a hundred times.

You can find out how a macro expands by using the @code{cl-prettyexpand}
function.
@end quotation

@node Q7.1.8, Q7.1.9, Q7.1.7, Advanced
@unnumberedsubsec Q7.1.8: I like recursion, does it slow things down?

Yes.  The Emacs byte-compiler cannot do much to optimize recursion.  But
think well whether this is a real concern in Emacs.  Much of the Emacs
slowness comes from internal mechanisms such as redisplay, or from the
fact that it is an interpreter.

Please try not to make your code much uglier to gain a very small speed
gain.  It's not usually worth it.

@node Q7.1.9, Q7.1.10, Q7.1.8, Advanced
@unnumberedsubsec Q7.1.9: How do I put a glyph as annotation in a buffer?

Here is a solution that will insert the glyph annotation at the
beginning of buffer:

@lisp
(make-annotation (make-glyph '([FORMAT :file FILE]
                               [string :data "fallback-text"]))
                 (point-min)
                 'text
                 (current-buffer))
@end lisp

Replace @samp{FORMAT} with an unquoted symbol representing the format of
the image (e.g. @code{xpm}, @code{xbm}, @code{gif}, @code{jpeg}, etc.)
Instead of @samp{FILE}, use the image file name
(e.g.
@iftex
@*
@end iftex
@file{/usr/local/lib/xemacs-21.4/etc/recycle.xpm}).

You can turn this to a function (that optionally prompts you for a file
name), and inserts the glyph at @code{(point)} instead of
@code{(point-min)}.

@node Q7.1.10, Q7.1.11, Q7.1.9, Advanced
@unnumberedsubsec Q7.1.10: @code{map-extents} won't traverse all of my extents!

I tried to use @code{map-extents} to do an operation on all the extents
in a region.  However, it seems to quit after processing a random number
of extents.  Is it buggy?

No.  The documentation of @code{map-extents} states that it will iterate
across the extents as long as @var{function} returns @code{nil}.
Unexperienced programmers often forget to return @code{nil} explicitly,
which results in buggy code.  For instance, the following code is
supposed to delete all the extents in a buffer, and issue as many
@samp{fubar!} messages.

@lisp
(map-extents (lambda (ext ignore)
               (delete-extent ext)
               (message "fubar!")))
@end lisp

Instead, it will delete only the first extent, and stop right there --
because @code{message} will return a non-nil value.  The correct code
is:

@lisp
(map-extents (lambda (ext ignore)
               (delete-extent ext)
               (message "fubar!")
               nil))
@end lisp

@node Q7.1.11, Q7.2.1, Q7.1.10, Advanced
@unnumberedsubsec Q7.1.11: My elisp program is horribly slow.  Is there an easy way to find out where it spends time?
@c New

@email{hniksic@@xemacs.org, Hrvoje Niksic} writes:
@quotation
Under XEmacs 20.4 and later you can use @kbd{M-x profile-key-sequence},
press a key (say @key{RET} in the Gnus Group buffer), and get the
results using @kbd{M-x profile-results}.  It should give you an idea of
where the time is being spent.
@end quotation

@unnumberedsec 7.2: Mathematics

@node Q7.2.1, Q7.2.2, Q7.1.11, Advanced
@unnumberedsubsec Q7.2.1: What are bignums, ratios, and bigfloats in Lisp?

Thanks to @email{james@@xemacs.org, Jerry James}, XEmacs 21.5.18 and
later can use the capabilities of multiple-precision libraries that may
be available for your platform.  The GNU Multiple Precision (GMP),
Multiple Precision Integers and Rationals (MPIR), and BSD Multiple
Precision (MP) libraries are supported.  GMP and MPIR give you
@dfn{bignums} (arbitrary precision integers), @dfn{ratios} (arbitrary
precision fractions), and @dfn{bigfloats} (arbitrary precision floating
point numbers).  GMP and MPIR are better-supported by XEmacs.  BSD MP
support does not include ratios or bigfloats.

In most cases, bignum support should be transparent to users and Lisp
programmers.  A bignum-enabled XEmacs will automatically convert from
fixnums to bignums and back in pure integer arithmetic, and for GMP and
MPIR, from floats to bigfloats.  (Bigfloats must be explicitly coerced
to other types, even if they are exactly representable by less precise
types.)  The Lisp reader and printer have been enhanced to handle
bignums, as have the mathematical functions.  Rationals (fixnums,
bignums, and ratios) are printed using the @samp{%d}, @samp{%o},
@samp{%x}, and @samp{%u} format conversions.  The read syntax for ratios
is @samp{3/5}.

User-visible changes in behavior include (in probable order of annoyance)

@itemize
@item
Arithmetic can cause a segfault, depending on your MP library
@ref{Q7.2.2, XEmacs segfaults when I use very big numbers!}.

@item
Terminology is not Common-Lisp-conforming.  For example, ``integer'' for
Emacs Lisp means what Common Lisp calls ``fixnum''.  This issue is being
investigated, but the use of ``integer'' for fixnum is pervasive and may
cause backward-compatibility and GNU-Emacs-compatibility problems.

@item
Many operations that used to cause a range error now succeed, with
intermediate results and return values coerced to bignums as needed.

@item
An atom with ratio read syntax now returns a number, not a symbol.

@item
The @samp{%u} format conversion will now give an error if its argument
is negative.  (Without MP, it prints a number which Lisp can't read.)
@end itemize

@emph{Surgeon General's Warning}: The automatic conversions cannot be
disabled at runtime.  New functions have been added which produce
ratios, so there should be few surprises with type conflicts, but they
can't be ruled out.  ``Arbitrary'' precision means precisely what it
says.  If you work with extremely large numbers, your machine may
arbitrarily decide to hand you an unpleasant surprise rather than a
bignum @ref{Q7.2.2, XEmacs segfaults when I use very big numbers!}.

To configure with GMP, add @samp{--enable-bignum=gmp} to your invocation
of @file{configure}.  For MPIR, use @samp{--enable-bignum=mpir}.  For
BSD MP, use @samp{--enable-bignum=mp}.


@node Q7.2.2, Q7.2.3, Q7.2.1, Advanced
@unnumberedsubsec Q7.2.2: XEmacs segfaults when I use very big numbers!

GMP by default allocates temporaries on the stack.  If you run out of
stack space, you're dead; there is no way that we know of to reliably
detect this condition, because @samp{alloca} is typically implemented to
be @emph{fast} rather than robust.  If you just need a little more
oomph, use a bigger stack (@emph{e.g.}, the @file{ulimit -s} command in
bash(1)).  If you want robustness at the cost of speed, configure GMP
with @samp{--disable-alloca} and rebuild the GMP library.

We do not know whether BSD MP uses @samp{alloca} or not.  Please send
any information you have as a bug report (@kbd{M-x report-xemacs-bug
@key{RET}}), which will give us platform information.  (We do know that
BSD MP implementations vary across vendors, but how much, we do not know
yet.)


@node Q7.2.3, Q7.2.4, Q7.2.2, Advanced
@unnumberedsubsec Q7.2.3: Bignums are really slow!

Many Unix and Linux distributions compile all packages for a generic
version of the supported CPU, and this is costly.  An optimized version
can improve responiveness dramatically; see
@uref{http://gmplib.org/gmpbench.html}.)


@node Q7.2.4,  , Q7.2.3, Advanced
@unnumberedsubsec Q7.2.4: Equal bignums don't compare as equal!  What gives?

Ah, Grasshopper, I see you are using @code{(eq x y)}.  The Bodhisattva
CLTL2 warned of the illusion that equal numbers would be @samp{eq}!
Meditate on the deeper truths of @samp{eql}, in which numbers of the same
type which have equal values compare equal, and @samp{=}, which does any
necessary type coercions before comparing for equality.

Yeah, yeah, it has always worked for integer types, because fixnums and
characters have an immediate representation.  Sorry about that;
arbitrary precision obviously requires consing new objects because the
objects are ``large'' and of variable size, and the definition of
@samp{eq} does not permit different objects to compare as equal.

@node Other Packages, Current Events, Advanced, Top
@unnumbered 8 Other External Packages

This is part 8 of the XEmacs Frequently Asked Questions list.  This
section is devoted to miscellaneous external packages not covered
elsewhere in XEmacs.

@menu
8.0: TeX
* Q8.0.1::    Is there something better than LaTeX mode?
* Q8.0.2::    What is AUCTeX?  Where do you get it?
* Q8.0.3::    Problems installing AUCTeX.
* Q8.0.4::    How do I turn off current chapter from AUCTeX modeline?

8.1: Other Unbundled Packages
* Q8.1.1::    Is there a reason for an Emacs package not to be included in XEmacs?
* Q8.1.2::    Are there any Emacs Lisp Spreadsheets?
* Q8.1.3::    Is there a MatLab mode?

8.2: Environments Built Around XEmacs
* Q8.2.1::    What are SPARCworks, EOS, and WorkShop?
* Q8.2.2::    How do I start the Sun Workshop support in XEmacs 21?
* Q8.2.3::    What is/was Energize?
* Q8.2.4::    What is Infodock?
@end menu

@unnumberedsec 8.0: TeX

@node Q8.0.1, Q8.0.2, Other Packages, Other Packages
@unnumberedsubsec Q8.0.1: Is there something better than LaTeX mode?

@email{dak@@fsnif.neuroinformatik.ruhr-uni-bochum.de, David Kastrup} writes:

@quotation
The standard TeX modes leave much to be desired, and are somewhat
leniently maintained.  Serious TeX users use AUCTeX (@pxref{Q8.0.2,
What is AUCTeX?  Where do you get it?}).
@end quotation

@node Q8.0.2, Q8.0.3, Q8.0.1, Other Packages
@unnumberedsubsec Q8.0.2: What is AUCTeX?  Where do you get it?

AUCTeX is a complex and sophisticated editing package dedicated to TeX
and related text formatting languages, including LaTeX and Texinfo.
It provides support for running TeX on a file or part of a file,
include files, and of course shortcuts for entering common TeX macros,
LaTeX environments, etc, and for fontlock.

AUCTeX is a standard package provided by XEmacs.  You can get it as
usual through the @kbd{M-x list-packages} interface.  It is also
included in the (non-Mule) SUMO package.  The AUCTeX XEmacs package is
maintained by Uwe Brauer <GET MAIL ADDRESS>.

AUCTeX is extremely complicated, and its developers primarily 
use GNU Emacs.  Not all features of the bleeding edge version 
of AUCTeX are immediately ported to XEmacs; if you need 
these, you may be better off getting the most recent versions 
from the GNU AUCTeX project on @uref{http://savannah.gnu.org}.
 
@node Q8.0.3, Q8.0.4, Q8.0.2, Other Packages
@unnumberedsubsec Q8.0.3: Problems installing AUCTeX.

@email{vroonhof@@math.ethz.ch, Jan Vroonhof} writes:

@quotation
AUCTeX works fine on both stock Emacs and XEmacs has been doing so for
a very very long time. This is mostly due to the work of
@email{abraham@@dina.kvl.dk, Per Abrahamsen} (clap clap) in particular his @file{easymenu}
package.  Which leads to what is probably the problem...
@end quotation

Most problems with AUCTeX are one of two things:

@itemize @bullet
@item
The TeX-lisp-directory in @file{tex-site.el} and the makefile don't
match.

Fix: make sure you configure AUCTeX properly @strong{before} installing.

@item
You have an old version of easymenu.el in your path.

Fix: use @code{locate-library} and remove old versions to make sure it
@strong{only} finds the one that came with XEmacs.
@end itemize

@node Q8.0.4, Q8.1.1, Q8.0.3, Other Packages
@unnumberedsubsec Q8.0.4: How do I turn off current chapter from AUCTeX modeline?

With AUCTeX, fast typing is hard because the current chapter, section
etc. are given in the modeline.  How can I turn this off?

It's not AUCTeX, it comes from @code{func-menu} in @file{func-menu.el}.

@c Add this code to your @file{init.el} to turn it off:
@c
@c @lisp
@c (setq fume-display-in-modeline-p nil)
@c @end lisp
@c
@c Or just add a hook to @code{TeX-mode-hook} to turn it off only for TeX
@c mode:
@c
@c @lisp
@c (add-hook 'TeX-mode-hook
@c           '(lambda () (setq fume-display-in-modeline-p nil)))
@c @end lisp
@c
@email{dhughes@@origin-at.co.uk, David Hughes} writes:

@quotation
Try this; you'll still get the function name displayed in the modeline,
but it won't attempt to keep track when you modify the file. To refresh
when it gets out of synch, you simply need click on the @samp{Rescan
Buffer} option in the function-menu.

@lisp
(setq-default fume-auto-rescan-buffer-p nil)
@end lisp
@end quotation

@unnumberedsec 8.1: Other Unbundled Packages

@node Q8.1.1, Q8.1.2, Q8.0.4, Other Packages
@unnumberedsubsec Q8.1.1: Is there a reason for an Emacs package not to be included in XEmacs?

The reason for an Emacs package not to be included in XEmacs is
usually one or more of the following:

@enumerate
@item
The package has not been ported to XEmacs.  This will typically happen
when it uses GNU-Emacs-specific features, which make it fail under
XEmacs.

Porting a package to XEmacs can range from a trivial amount of change to
a partial or full rewrite.  Fortunately, the authors of modern packages
usually choose to support both Emacsen themselves.

@item
The package has been decided not to be appropriate for XEmacs.  It may
have an equivalent or better replacement within XEmacs, in which case
the developers may choose not to burden themselves with supporting an
additional package.

Each package bundled with XEmacs means more work for the maintainers,
whether they want it or not.  If you are ready to take over the
maintenance responsibilities for the package you port, be sure to say
so---we will more likely include it.

@item
The package simply hasn't been noted by the XEmacs development.  If
that's the case, the messages like yours are very useful for attracting
our attention.

@item
The package was noted by the developers, but they simply haven't yet
gotten around to including/porting it.  Wait for the next release or,
even better, offer your help.  It will be gladly accepted and
appreciated.
@end enumerate

@node Q8.1.2, Q8.1.3, Q8.1.1, Other Packages
@unnumberedsubsec Q8.1.2: Are there any Emacs Lisp Spreadsheets?

Yes.  Check out @dfn{dismal} (which stands for Dis' Mode Ain't Lotus) at
@iftex
@*
@end iftex
@uref{http://acs.ist.psu.edu/dismal/dismal.html}.

@node Q8.1.3, Q8.2.1, Q8.1.2, Other Packages
@unnumberedsubsec Q8.1.3: Is there a MatLab mode?

Yes, a matlab mode and other items are available at the
@uref{http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/files/104/matlab.el}.

@unnumberedsec 8.2: Environments Built Around XEmacs

@node Q8.2.1, Q8.2.2, Q8.1.3, Other Packages
@unnumberedsubsec Q8.2.1: What are SPARCworks, EOS, and WorkShop?

SPARCworks was a development environment from Sun (circa 1993-1996)
and consisted of compilers (C, C++, FORTRAN 77, Fortran 90, Ada, and
Pascal), a debugger, and other tools such as TeamWare (for
configuration management), MakeTool, etc.

EOS is the integration of XEmacs with the SPARCworks debugger.  It
allows one to use an XEmacs frame to view code (complete with
fontification, etc.), set breakpoints, print variables, etc., while
using the SPARCworks debugger.

EOS stands for "Era on SPARCworks"; Era stood for "Emacs Rewritten
Again" and was the name used by Sun for its modified version of Lucid
Emacs (later XEmacs) in the early-mid 90's.  This is documented in
more detail in the history section of the XEmacs About page.

EOS was replaced around 1996 with a newer graphical development
environment called Sun WorkShop.  The current status of this is
unknown.

@node Q8.2.2, Q8.2.3, Q8.2.1, Other Packages
@unnumberedsubsec Q8.2.2: How do I start the Sun Workshop support in XEmacs 21?

Add the switch ---with-workshop to the configure command when building
XEmacs and put the following in one of your startup files
(e.g. site-start.el or .emacs):

@lisp
(when (featurep 'tooltalk)
  (load "tooltalk-macros")
  (load "tooltalk-util")
  (load "tooltalk-init"))
(when (featurep 'sparcworks)
  (load "sunpro-init")
  (load "ring")
  (load "comint")
  (load "annotations")
  (sunpro-startup))
@end lisp

If you are not using the latest Workshop (5.0) you have to apply the
following patch:

@format
--- /opt/SUNWspro/lib/eserve.el.ORIG    Fri May 14 15:23:26 1999
+++ /opt/SUNWspro/lib/eserve.el Fri May 14 15:24:54 1999
@@@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@@@
 (defvar running-xemacs nil "t if we're running XEmacs")
 (defvar running-emacs  nil "t if we're running GNU Emacs 19")

-(if (string-match "^\\(19\\|20\\)\..*\\(XEmacs\\|Lucid\\)" emacs-version)
+(if (string-match "\\(XEmacs\\|Lucid\\)" emacs-version)
     (setq running-xemacs t)
     (setq running-emacs  t))
@end format

@node Q8.2.3, Q8.2.4, Q8.2.2, Other Packages
@unnumberedsubsec Q8.2.3: What is/was Energize?

The "Energize Programming System" was a C and C++ development environment
sold by Lucid, Inc.  It was the reason why Lucid Emacs, now XEmacs, was
created in the first place.  Unfortunately, Lucid went out of business in
1994.  The rights to sell it in Japan were purchased by INS
Engineering (which briefly employed Stig Hackvan aka Jonathan
Stigelman to work on Japanese support for XEmacs, in late 1994 and
early 1995) and Tartan bought the rights to sell it in the rest of the
world.  However, INS is not selling Energize at this point and may or
may not have ever done so; Tartan certainly never did.

@node Q8.2.4,  , Q8.2.3, Other Packages
@unnumberedsubsec Q8.2.4: What is Infodock?

@uref{http://sourceforge.net/projects/infodock/, InfoDock} is an
integrated productivity toolset, mainly aimed at technical people,
hosted at SourceForge.

InfoDock is built atop the XEmacs variant of GNU Emacs and so has all of
the power of Emacs, but with an easier to use and more comprehensive
menu-based user interface.  The bottom portion of this text describes
how it differs from XEmacs and GNU Emacs from the Free Software
Foundation.

InfoDock is aimed at people who want a free, turn-key productivity
environment.  Although InfoDock is customizable, it is not intended for
people who like basic versions of Emacs which need to be customized
extensively for local use; standard Emacs distributions are better for
such uses.  InfoDock is for those people who want a complete,
pre-customized environment in one package, which they need not touch
more than once or twice a year to update to new revisions.

InfoDock is pre-built for SPARC SunOS/Solaris systems, PA-RISC HP-UX,
and Intel Linux systems.  It is intended for use on a color display,
although most features will work on monochrome monitors.  Simply unpack
InfoDock according to the instructions in the ID-INSTALL file and you
are ready to run.

The InfoDock Manual is concise, yet sufficient as a user guide for users
who have never used an Emacs-type editor before.  For users who are
already familiar with Emacs, it supplements the information in the GNU
Emacs Manual.

InfoDock menus are much more extensive and more mature than standard
Emacs menus.  Each menu offers a @samp{Manual} item which displays
documentation associated with the menu's functions.

@noindent
Four types of menubars are provided:
@enumerate
@item
An extensive menubar providing access to global InfoDock commands.
@item
Mode-specific menubars tailored to the current major mode.
@item
A simple menubar for basic editing to help novices get started with InfoDock.
@item
The standard XEmacs menubar.
@end enumerate

Most modes also include mode-specific popup menus.  Additionally, region and
rectangle popup menus are included.

@samp{Hyperbole}, the everyday information manager, is a core part of
InfoDock.  This provides context-sensitive mouse keys, a rolodex-type
contact manager, programmable hypertext buttons, and an autonumbered
outliner with embedded hyperlink anchors.

The @samp{OO-Browser}, a multi-language object-oriented code browser, is a
standard part of InfoDock.

InfoDock saves a more extensive set of user options than other Emacs
versions.

InfoDock inserts a useful file header in many file types, showing the
author, summary, and last modification time of each file.  A summary
program can then be used to summarize all of the files in a directory,
for easy MANIFEST file creation.

Your working set of buffers is automatically saved and restored (if you
answer yes to a prompt) between InfoDock sessions.

Refined color choices for code highlighting are provided for both dark and
light background display frames.

The @kbd{C-z} key prefix performs frame-based commands which parallel the
@kbd{C-x} key prefix for window-based commands.

The Smart Menu system is included for producing command menus on dumb
terminals.

Lisp libraries are better categorized according to function.

Extensions and improvements to many areas of Emacs are included, such as:
paragraph filling, mail reading with Rmail, shell handling, outlining, code
highlighting and browsing, and man page browsing.

InfoDock questions, answers and discussion should go to the mail list
@iftex
@*
@end iftex
@email{infodock@@infodock.com}.  Use
@email{infodock-request@@infodock.com} to be added or removed from the
list.  Always include your InfoDock version number when sending help
requests.

@node Current Events, Legacy Versions, Other Packages, Top
@unnumbered 9 What the Future Holds

This is part 9 of the XEmacs Frequently Asked Questions list.  This
section will change frequently, and (in theory) should contain any
interesting items that have transpired recently. (But in practice it's
not getting updated like this.)

This section also contains descriptions of the new features in all the
recent releases of XEmacs.  For the most part, the information below is
a synopsis of the more complete information that can be found in the
file @file{NEWS} in the @file{etc} directory of the XEmacs distribution.
You can view this file in XEmacs using @kbd{C-h n} or the @samp{Help}
menu.

Information on older versions of XEmacs can be find in @file{ONEWS} in
the same directory, or @file{OONEWS} for really old versions.

@menu
9.0: Changes
* Q9.0.1::    What new features will be in XEmacs soon?
* Q9.0.2::    What's new in XEmacs 21.4?
* Q9.0.3::    What's new in XEmacs 21.1?
* Q9.0.4::    What's new in XEmacs 20.4?
* Q9.0.5::    What's new in XEmacs 20.3?
* Q9.0.6::    What's new in XEmacs 20.2?
@end menu

@unnumberedsec 9.0: Changes

@node Q9.0.1, Q9.0.2, Current Events, Current Events
@unnumberedsubsec Q9.0.1: What new features will be in XEmacs soon?

#### Write me.

@node Q9.0.2, Q9.0.3, Q9.0.1, Current Events
@unnumberedsubsec Q9.0.2: What's new in XEmacs 21.4?

21.4 was the "stable" version of the 21.2 series, which was considered
"experimental" throughout its life; thus there were no "official"
releases at all.  In essence, XEmacs is now following the "alternating"
scheme of Linux, where at any point there are at least two different
development branches, one "stable" and one "experimental".  Periodic
releases happen in both branches, but those in the experimental branch
are not tested as well, and there's no guarantee they will work at all.
The experimental branch is open to any and all code that's acceptable
to the developers; the stable branch, however, is in general limited
only to bug fixes, and all contributions are carefully reviewed to make
sure they will increase and not decrease stability.

21.3 never existed at all; it was decided to follow the Linux scheme
exactly, where odd-numbered series are experimental and even-numbered
ones stable.

The following lists summarizes the essential changes made in this
version.  For a fuller list, see the @file{NEWS} in the @file{etc}
directory of the XEmacs distribution, or use @kbd{C-h n} or the
@samp{Help} menu to view this file inside of XEmacs.

@unnumberedsubsubsec User-visible changes in XEmacs 21.4

@itemize @bullet

@item
The delete key now deletes forward by default.
@item
Shifted motion keys now select text by default.
@item
You can now build XEmacs with support for GTK+ widget set.
@item
~/.xemacs/init.el is now the preferred location for the init
file. (XEmacs now supports a `~/.xemacs/init.el' startup file. Custom
file will move to ~/.xemacs/custom.el.)
@item
Much-improved sample init.el, showing how to use many useful features.
@item
XEmacs support for menu accelerators has been much improved.
@item
Default menubar improvements. (Default menubar has many new commands and
better organization.  The font-menu is now available under MS Windows.)
@item
Dialog box improvements, including a real file dialog box. (XEmacs now
has a proper file dialog box under MS Windows (and GTK)!  The old
clunky file dialog box is improved.  Keyboard traversal now works
correctly in MS Windows dialog boxes.  There is a Search dialog box
available from @samp{Edit->Find...})
@item
New buffer tabs.
@item
There is a new MS Windows installer, netinstall, ported from Cygwin.
@item
The subprocess quote-handling mechanism under Windows is much improved.
@item
Printing support now available under MS Windows.
@item
Selection improvements. (Kill and yank now interact with the clipboard under Windows.  MS Windows support for selection is now much more robust.  Motif selection support is now more correct (but slower).)
@item
Mail spool locking now works correctly.
@item
International support changes. (The default coding-priority-list is now
safer.  International keysyms are now supported under X.  MS Windows
1251 code page now supported.  Czech, Thai, Cyrillic-KOI8, Vietnamese,
Ethiopic now supported.  Proper support for words in Latin 3 and Latin
4.)
@item
Help buffers contain hyperlinks, and other changes.
@item
The modeline's text is now scrollable.
@item
The mouse wheel under MS Windows now functions correctly.
@item
Interactive searching and matching case improvements. (Incremental search will now highlight all visible matches.  Interactive searches always respect uppercase characters.)
@item
Rectangle functions rewritten to avoid inserting extra spaces.
@item
New command `kill-entire-line' that always kills the entire line.
@item
Default values correctly stored in minibuffer histories.
@item
You can now create "indirect buffers", like in GNU Emacs.
@item
Pixel-based scrolling has been implemented.
@item
Operation progress can be displayed using graphical widgets.
@item
User names following a tilde can now be completed at file name prompts.
@item
XEmacs can now play sound using Enlightenment Sound Daemon (ESD).
@item
X-Face support is now available under MS Windows.
@item
The PostgreSQL Relational Database Management System is now supported.
@item
Indentation no longer indents comments that begin at column zero.
@item
Face and variable settings can have comments in Customize.
@item
New locations for early package hierarchies.
@item
The `auto-save' library has been greatly improved.
@item
New variable `mswindows-alt-by-itself-activates-menu'.
@item
Other init-file-related changes. (Init file in your home directory may be called `.emacs.el'.  New command-line switches -user-init-file and -user-init-directory.)
@item
Etags changes.  See @file{NEWS} for full details.
@end itemize

@unnumberedsubsubsec Lisp and internal changes in XEmacs 21.4

Not yet written.

@c APA: Texi2html produces invalid HTML from an empty list of bullets!
@c Please uncomment following list when it does contain bullets.
@c @itemize @bullet
@c @end itemize

@node Q9.0.3, Q9.0.4, Q9.0.2, Current Events
@unnumberedsubsec Q9.0.3: What's new in XEmacs 21.1?

21.1 was the "stable" version of "experimental" 21.0 series.
@xref{Q9.0.2, What's new in XEmacs 21.4?}.

The following lists summarizes the essential changes made in this
version.  For a fuller list, see the @file{NEWS} in the @file{etc}
directory of the XEmacs distribution, or use @kbd{C-h n} or the
@samp{Help} menu to view this file inside of XEmacs.

@unnumberedsubsubsec User-visible changes in XEmacs 21.1

@itemize @bullet

@item
XEmacs is now supported under Microsoft Windows 95/98 and Windows
NT/2000/XP operating systems.  To discuss Windows-specific issues,
subscribe to the mailing list at
@email{xemacs-winnt-request@@xemacs.org}.

@item
XEmacs has been unbundled into constituent installable packages.

@item
@strong{Other notable changes}: The @samp{Options} menu has been ported to
Custom; XEmacs now is able to choose X visuals and use private
colormaps; You can drag the vertical divider of "horizontally"
(side-by-side) split windows.

@item
@strong{Building changes}: XEmacs can be built with support for 31-bit Lisp
integers and 32-bit pointers (previously, it was 28-bit integers and
pointers); XEmacs can be built with LDAP support; @file{dir} files can be
removed in the Info subsystem, and will be regenerated on-the-fly.

@item
@strong{New packages}: @file{imenu}, @file{popper}, @file{gdb-highlight}

@item
@strong{Package changes}: Many changes to @file{cc-mode}, @file{gnus},
@file{gnuclient}.  See @file{NEWS} for full details.

@item
@strong{New commands, variables and functions}:
@code{center-to-window-line} (like @code{recenter} but doesn't force a
redisplay); variable @code{user-full-name} (customize what your full
name looks like in mail); @kbd{M-x customize-changed-options} (customize
options whose default values changes because you upgraded your XEmacs);
@kbd{M-x add-log-convert} (converts an old-style ChangeLog buffer to
new-style); @kbd{M-x zap-up-to-char} (like @code{zap-to-char} but
doesn't delete the char searched for); commands to store, retrieve and
increment numbers in registers, useful for macros.

@item
@strong{Changes to commands, variables, and functions}: @kbd{M-x
query-replace} and friends operate only on the region when it's active;
@code{echo-keystrokes} can now be a floating-point number; @kbd{M-.}
searches exact tag matches before inexact ones; function
@code{user-full-name} with no arguments returns the var
@code{user-full-name}; a prefix arg to @kbd{M-:} and @kbd{C-h c} inserts
the result in the current buffer.

@item
@strong{Other changes}: Under X, new application class @samp{XEmacs};
byte-compilation of user-specs now works.

@item
@strong{XEmacs/Mule (internationalization) changes}: Mule support now
works on TTY's; Egg/SJ3 input method now officially supported (Quail and
Egg/Skk already available through LEIM since 20.3); localized Japanese
menubars if XEmacs is built with the right support.

@end itemize

@unnumberedsubsubsec Lisp and internal changes in XEmacs 21.1

@itemize @bullet

@item
@strong{Specifier changes}: The window locale now has a higher
precedence than the buffer locale when instantiating; new macro
@code{let-specifier}; new specifiers
@code{vertical-scrollbar-visible-p}, horizontal-scrollbar-visible-p',
@code{scrollbar-on-left-p}, @code{scrollbar-on-top-p},
@code{vertical-divider-always-visible-p},
@code{vertical-divider-shadow-thickness},
@code{vertical-divider-line-width}, @code{vertical-divider-spacing};
specifiers and symbols whose value is a specifier allowed as modeline
specifications.

@item
@strong{Frame focus changes}: @code{focus-follows-mouse} works like FSF,
prevents any attempt to permanently change the selected frame; new
function @code{focus-frame} sets the window system focus a frame; new
macros @code{save-selected-frame} and @code{with-selected-frame}.

@item
@strong{Window function changes}: @code{select-window} now has optional
argument @var{NORECORD} to inhibit recording a buffer change;
@code{vertical-motion} now correctly handles optional @var{WINDOW}
argument and has new optional argument @var{PIXELS}, to have the
returned values be in pixels; new function
@code{vertical-motion-pixels}; new functions
@code{window-text-area-pixel-@{width,height,edges@}}; new functions
@code{shrink-window-pixels} and @code{enlarge-window-pixels}; new
function @code{window-displayed-text-pixel-height}.

@item
@strong{Other function changes}: Arithmetic comparison functions
@code{<}, @code{>}, @code{=}, @code{/=} now accept a variable number of
arguments; hashtables now have a consistent read/print syntax; keyword
symbols cannot be set to a value other than themselves; @code{concat} no
longer accepts integer arguments; new function @code{string}, like
@code{list}, @code{vector}, etc.; new function @code{temp-directory}
(OS-independent way to get a temp directory); @code{load-average} has
optional argument @var{USE-FLOATS}; @code{make-event} implemented
completely; new function @code{function-interactive} (returns a
function's interactive spec); new functions @code{lmessage},
@code{lwarn} (printf-like versions of @code{display-wessage},
@code{display-warning}); new keyword @code{:version} to
@code{defcustom}.

@item
@strong{Performance}: when the new GNU Malloc aka Doug Lea Malloc is
available, it will be used (better performance on libc6 Linux systems);
tracking line-numbers in modeline is now efficient; profiling records a
call-count of all called functions, retrievable through
@code{profile-call-count-results}.

@item
@strong{Startup and path searching}: code to assemble paths at startup
rewritten for new package system; new function @code{split-path} (splits
by @code{path-separator}); @code{Info-default-directory-list} obsolete,
use @code{Info-directory-list} instead; site-lisp is deprecated and no
longer on the load-path by default.

@end itemize

@node Q9.0.4, Q9.0.5, Q9.0.3, Current Events
@unnumberedsubsec Q9.0.4: What's new in XEmacs 20.4?

XEmacs 20.4 is a bugfix release with no user-visible changes.
@c Filled in from NEWS file of 20.5-b33

@node Q9.0.5, Q9.0.6, Q9.0.4, Current Events
@unnumberedsubsec Q9.0.5: What's new in XEmacs 20.3?

XEmacs 20.3 was released in November 1997. It contains many bugfixes,
and a number of new features, including Autoconf 2 based configuration,
additional support for Mule (Multi-language extensions to Emacs), many
more customizations, multiple frames on TTY-s, support for multiple info
directories, an enhanced gnuclient, improvements to regexp matching,
increased MIME support, and many, many synches with GNU Emacs 20.

The XEmacs/Mule support has been only seriously tested in a Japanese
locale, and no doubt many problems still remain.  The support for
ISO-Latin-1 and Japanese is fairly strong.  MULE support comes at a
price---about a 30% slowdown from 19.16.  We're making progress on
improving performance and XEmacs 20.3 compiled without Mule (which is
the default) is definitely faster than XEmacs 19.16.

XEmacs 20.3 is the first non-beta v20 release, and will be the
basis for all further development.

@node Q9.0.6,  , Q9.0.5, Current Events
@unnumberedsubsec Q9.0.6: What's new in XEmacs 20.2?

The biggest changes in 20.2 include integration of EFS (the next
generation of ange-ftp) and AUC Tex (the Emacs subsystem that includes a
major mode for editing Tex and LaTeX, and a lot of other stuff).  Many
bugs from 20.0 have been fixed for this release.  20.2 also contains a
new system for customizing XEmacs options, invoked via @kbd{M-x
customize}.

XEmacs 20.2 is the development release (20.0 was beta), and is no longer
considered unstable.

For older news, see the file @file{ONEWS} in the @file{etc} directory of
the XEmacs distribution.

@node Legacy Versions,  Bleeding Edge, Current Events, Top
@unnumbered 10 New information about old XEmacsen

This is part 10 of the XEmacs Frequently Asked Questions list.  It will
occasionally be updated to reflect new information about versions which
are no longer being revised by the XEmacs Project.  The primary purpose
is advice on compatibility of older XEmacsen with new packages and
updated versions of packages, but bug fixes (which will not be applied
to released XEmacsen, but users can apply themselves) are also accepted.

@menu
10.0: XEmacs 21.1
* Q10.0.1::   Gnus 5.10 won't display smileys in XEmacs 21.1.
* Q10.0.2::   XEmacs won't start on Windows in XEmacs 21.1.
@end menu

@unnumberedsec 10.0: XEmacs 21.1

@node Q10.0.1, Q10.0.2, Legacy Versions, Legacy Versions
@unnumberedsubsec Q10.0.1: Gnus 5.10 won't display smileys in XEmacs 21.1.

@email{eeide@@cs.utah.edu, Eric Eide} wrote:

@quotation
Previously I wrote:

    Eric> Summary: with Gnus 5.10.1 in XEmacs 21.1.14, I don't see
    Eric> any smileys :-(.

After a bit of sleuthing, I discovered the essence of the problem.
For me, the form:

@lisp
    	(with-temp-buffer
    	  (insert-file-contents "foo.xpm")
    	  (buffer-string))
@end lisp

returns the empty string.  This is because something somewhere
replaces the XPM data with a glyph --- I haven't figured out where
this occurs.
@end quotation

@email{kyle_jones@@wonderworks.com, Kyle Jones} replies:

@quotation
Do this:

@lisp
    (setq format-alist nil)
@end lisp

The image-mode stuff is gone from format-alist in the 21.4
branch, praise be.
@end quotation

@node Q10.0.2,  , Q10.0.1, Legacy Versions
@unnumberedsubsec Q10.0.2: XEmacs won't start on Windows in XEmacs 21.1.

XEmacs relies on a process called "dumping" to generate a working
executable. Under MS-Windows this process effectively fixes the memory
addresses of information in the executable. When XEmacs starts up it tries
to reserve these memory addresses so that the dumping process can be
reversed -- putting the information back at the correct addresses.
Unfortunately some .DLLs (for instance the soundblaster driver) occupy
memory addresses that can conflict with those needed by the dumped XEmacs
executable. In this instance XEmacs will fail to start without any
explanation. Note that this is extremely machine specific.

21.1.10 includes a fix for this that makes more intelligent guesses
about which memory addresses will be free, and this should cure the
problem for most people.  21.4 implements "portable dumping", which
eliminates the problem altogether.  We recommend you use the 21.4
binaries, but you can use the 21.1 binaries if you are very paranoid
about stability.  @xref{Q1.1.2, Are binaries available?}.


@node Bleeding Edge, , Legacy Versions, Top
@unnumbered 10 Working with XEmacs Source Code Repositories.

This is part 11 of the XEmacs Frequently Asked Questions list.  The
primary purpose is advice on use of the version control systems used to
keep the history of XEmacs development.

@menu
11.0: The XEmacs repositories
* Q11.0.1::   Where is the most recent XEmacs development code?
* Q11.0.2::   Where is the most recent XEmacs stable code?
* Q11.0.3::   Where is the most recent XEmacs package code?
* Q11.0.4::   Why isn't @var{package} available? and what to do about it.
* Q11.0.5::   How do I get commit access?

11.1: Working with CVS
* Q11.1.1::   How do I keep cool using CVS?

11.2: Working with Mercurial
* Q11.2.1::   What is Mercurial?
* Q11.2.2::   Where do I get Mercurial?
* Q11.2.3::   Do I really have to waste space on history?
* Q11.2.4::   @code{hg diff} gives bizarre output.
* Q11.2.5::   How do I recover from a bad commit?  (I already pushed.)
* Q11.2.6::   How do I recover from a bad commit?  (I haven't pushed yet.)
* Q11.2.7::   Testing patches with Mercurial Queues.
@end menu

@unnumberedsec 11.0: The XEmacs repositories

@node Q11.0.1, Q11.0.2, Bleeding Edge, Bleeding Edge
@unnumberedsubsec Where is the most recent XEmacs development code?

The most recent XEmacs @emph{development} code is kept in a Mercurial
repository, hosted by the Debian project.  The read-only URL, for
anybody who doesn't intend to push upstream directly, is

@example
http://hg.debian.org/hg/xemacs/xemacs
@end example

The read-write URL for committers is

@example
ssh://sperber-guest@@hg.debian.org//hg/xemacs/xemacs
@end example

Yes, Virginia, that doubled slash is correct.

@xref{Q11.0.5, How do I get commit access?}.

@xref{Q11.2.1, What is Mercurial?}.

@node Q11.0.2, Q11.0.3, Q11.0.1, Bleeding Edge
@unnumberedsubsec Where is the most recent XEmacs stable code?

The most recent XEmacs @emph{stable} code is kept in a Mercurial
repository, hosted by the Debian project.  The read-only URL is

@example
http://hg.debian.org/hg/xemacs/xemacs-21.4
@end example

If you're @emph{not} Vin, you don't need commit access.  If you
@emph{are} Vin, you shouldn't need to refer to this FAQ.

@xref{Q11.2.1, What is Mercurial?}.


@node Q11.0.3, Q11.0.4, Q11.0.2, Bleeding Edge
@unnumberedsubsec Where is the most recent XEmacs package code?

The most recent XEmacs @emph{packages} code is kept in a CVS
repository, hosted by the Debian project.  The read-only @code{CVSROOT},
for anybody who doesn't intend to push upstream directly, is

@example
CVSROOT=:pserver:anonymous@@cvs.alioth.debian.org:/cvsroot/xemacs
@end example

The read-write @code{CVSROOT} for committers is

@example
CVSROOT=:ext:@var{aliothuser}@@cvs.alioth.debian.org:/cvsroot/xemacs
@end example

where @var{aliothuser} is your account on @code{alioth.debian.org}.  Then

@example
cvs checkout packages
@end example

as usual.  For more information, see
@uref{http://www.xemacs.org/Develop/cvsaccess.html, XEmacs CVS Archive}
on the website.

@xref{Q11.1.1, How do I stay cool using CVS?}.

@xref{Q11.0.5, How do I get commit access?}.


@node Q11.0.4, Q11.0.5, Q11.0.3, Bleeding Edge
@unnumberedsubsec Why isn't @var{package} available? and what to do about it.

If a package isn't available from the Packages repository, probably
nobody has shown enough interest to add it yet.  (Occasionally, there is
a better package already in the XEmacs repository, of course.)

The first step is to ask about it, and propose addition, on
@email{xemacs-beta@@xemacs.org, the XEmacs Contributors list}.

Most regular XEmacs contributors already shoulder primary responsibility
for several packages, and contribute to maintenance of the rest, so you
are unlikely to get a massively enthusiastic response unless you
volunteer to become the maintainer of the version packaged for XEmacs
yourself.  The duties are not terribly onerous if you're an active user
of the package @ref{(xemacs-devguide)XEmacs Package Maintainer}.


@node Q11.0.5, Q11.1.1, Q11.0.4, Bleeding Edge
@unnumberedsubsec How do I get commit access?

To get commit access to XEmacs code, write to
@email{xemacs-review@@xemacs.org, the XEmacs Review Board} and request
it.  Once approved, for the development code, you also need to send
@email{mike@@xemacs.org, Michael Sperber} your SSH v2 RSA key (Alioth
policy; v1 and DSA keys aren't acceptable).  A CC to
@email{xemacs-services@@xemacs.org, the XEmacs Services team} is a good
idea, although not absolutely necessary.  You should also get an Alioth
account so that you can publish branches for review.

For packages code, you must get an Alioth account.  Send your account
name information to @email{xemacs-services@@xemacs.org, the XEmacs
Services team}.

The stable repository is gated; only the gatekeeper (currently Vin
Shelton) has commit access.  Patches for the stable repository should be
submitted to @email{xemacs-patches@@xemacs.org, XEmacs Patches}, as usual.

@uref{http://www.xemacs.org/Develop/hgaccess.html, XEmacs Mercurial Archive}

@uref{http://www.xemacs.org/Develop/cvsaccess.html, XEmacs CVS Archive}

@xref{Q11.1.1, How do I stay cool using CVS?}.

@xref{Q11.2.1, What is Mercurial?}.

@unnumberedsec 11.1: Working with CVS

@node Q11.1.1, Q11.2.1, Q11.0.5, Bleeding Edge
@unnumberedsubsec How do I keep cool using CVS?

You don't.  CVS is just basically and in detail @emph{un}-cool.

What would be really cool is if you would help us out in moving the
packages repository to Mercurial.  Volunteer on
@email{xemacs-beta@@xemacs.org, the XEmacs Contributors list}.  What's
needed is to figure out how to provide a one step checkout for the whole
package hierarchy, while restricting commits to one package at a time.

For help using CVS, Google or ask on @email{xemacs-beta@@xemacs.org}.
Please update this FAQ with one or two of the best references you find.

@unnumberedsec 11.1: Working with Mercurial

@node Q11.2.1, Q11.2.2, Q11.1.1, Bleeding Edge
@unnumberedsubsec What is Mercurial?

Mercurial is a @dfn{distributed version control system}, or DVCS.  This
means that versioning information can be easily exchanged between
different lines of development, even if located on different hosts.  In
the older @dfn{centralize version control system} model, when you
@dfn{commit} a change, it is immediately reflected in the public
repository.  In a DVCS, each user has a @dfn{local repository}, and
the commit operation creates a version in that repository.  To
communicate with the public repository, a separate @dfn{push} operation
must be executed.  The DVCS model is more appropriate for open source
development.

@itemize
@item
The VCS model mirrors the development organization, where developers
tend to work independently or in very small groups.

@item
Users without commit access can conveniently manage their local changes.

@item
Developers can work, and commit changes, while disconnected from the
Internet.  Then they merge and push their changes later.
@end itemize

Use of a DVCS does require some changes in workflow, but the XEmacs
developers consider that inconvenience to be far more than balanced by
the advantages.


@node Q11.2.2, Q11.2.3, Q11.2.1, Bleeding Edge
@unnumberedsubsec Where do I get Mercurial?

Most OS distributions (including add-on distributions like
@uref{http://www.cygwin.com/, Cygwin} and
@uref{http://www.macports.org/, MacPorts}) include Mercurial packages.
Of course, you can get the source distribution, as well as pre-built
packages for most major platforms, from
@uref{http://mercurial.selenic.com/wiki/, the Mercurial developers}.


@node Q11.2.3, Q11.2.4, Q11.2.2, Bleeding Edge
@unnumberedsubsec Do I really have to waste space on history?

Yes, you do.  It's really not that much, though.  In one of my current
workspaces, I see

@table @code
@item XEmacs source files (and other cruft, such as editor backups)
115464KB
@item Build products
49676
@item Mercurial control files and history
25644
@end table

That really does include all of the history available in the main XEmacs
development branch, and the build products are near twice the size of
all of the Mercurial-specific information.


@node Q11.2.4, Q11.2.5, Q11.2.3, Bleeding Edge
@unnumberedsubsec @code{hg diff} gives bizarre output.

You may see an unreasonable diff (often large) that doesn't seem to
reflect your work.

This is usually due to using @code{hg diff} on a @dfn{merge commit}.
That means the commit has multiple parents, and joins together two lines
of development that occurred concurrently.

You're diffing against the "wrong" one; try the other one.  You get the
relevant revision number or ID from @code{hg log}.  In more detail:

When there is a merge in Mercurial, it will often be the case that
one of the parents is the immediate predecessor of the merge
commit.  @code{hg log} will report something like

@example
    changeset:   4789:56049bea9231    # revision D, below
    parent:      4788:5cca06f930ea    # your commit
    parent:      4787:6e6f7b79c1fc    # diff against this
    user:        you (or somebody else)

    changeset:   4788:5cca06f930ea    # revision B, below
    parent:      4760:217abcf015c4    # revision A, below
    user:        you

    changeset:   4787:6e6f7b79c1fc    # revision C, below
    parent:      4786:d6cfba1cc388
    user:        somebody else
@end example

Note that the divergence took place a long time ago (r4760).
It's natural to diff against (tip - 1), in the example above,
@code{hg diff -r 4788}.  But this will give unexpected output!

A picture of this history looks something like

@example
      B --- D
     /     /
    A ... C
@end example

where A is the common ancestor, B is the commit you did, C is the
mainline at the time of the merge, and D is the merge commit.  The
three dots between A and C can represent many commits, and a lot
of work.  Given no conflicts in the merge, @code{hg diff -r C -r D} is
the same as @code{hg diff -r A -r B}, @emph{i.e.}, it shows your work.
Similarly, @code{hg diff -r B -r D} is the same as
@code{hg diff -r A -r C}.  This latter diff is likely to be quite large,
and it doesn't show your work.  Unfortunately, that is the typical
result of diffing against the "previous" commit.

@node Q11.2.5, Q11.2.6, Q11.2.4, Bleeding Edge
@unnumberedsubsec How do I recover from a bad commit?  (I already pushed.)

Once upon a time, an XEmacs developer wrote:

 > GAAAAK!  What's the best way to restore ChangeLog and its history?

He had just inadvertently pushed a commit which deleted
@file{src/ChangeLog}!  The history is still there, not to worry.  (In
this case, another developer had restored src/ChangeLog already.)  The
best way depends on a number of things.  First, let's look at the log
and the state of the DAG (the graph of commits).  Here's the log,
formatted somewhat differently from the usual output for compactness.

@example
5025    anne    Restore src/ChangeLog.
5024    barb    merge
        parents: 5023 5010
5023    barb    Error-checking.
5020    barb    merge
        parents: 5019 5006 
5019    barb    Fix non-Mule build.
5011    barb    Some internals-manual updates.
        parents: 5002
5010    cary    Windows fixes for Visual Studio 6.
        parents: 5008 5009
5009    cary    Miscellaneous small fixes to Windows VS6 build.
        parents: 5006
5008    dana    Add license information.
5007    dana    Relicense emodules.texi.
5006    cary    Instantiate compile fix for nt.c.
5005    edna    Cast correctly.
5003    edna    #'union doesn't preserve relative order
5002    barb    Fix some compile bugs.
@end example

(The gaps at 5003...5005, 5011...5019, and 5020...5023 are filled with
sequences of commits by the same developers.)  Let's visualize this as a
graph.  Time increases to the right, the leading "50" is omitted for
brevity, and the dotted links indicate that several irrelevant commits
were omitted, also for brevity.

@example
                        ,------ 09 -----.
                       /                 \
02 --- 03 ... 05 --- 06 --- 07 --- 08 --- 10 --- 24 --- 25
  \                    \                        /
   `-- 11 ... 19 -------`-- 20 ... 23 ---------'
@end example

The "problem commit" is 5010, which merges 5008 with 5009, and somehow
managed to "lose" @file{src/ChangeLog}.  The unobvious consequence is
that, although the @emph{other} changes made in 5007 and 5008 were
successfully merged and are present in 5010, the log entry made by
Dana for 5008 "just disappeared".  (The log entry for 5007 is in a
different @file{ChangeLog}, so it's safe.)

@subsubheading The safe and simple way for Cary

To recover state file-by-file (also for whole directories), use @code{hg
revert}.  This does not change the "current" version, @emph{i.e.}, the
commit that will be the parent for your next commit.

If it's not a merge commit, it's simple to restore the ChangeLog.  It's
best to do it before making any other commits in your own workspace, and
before pulling in new commits from others.  If there are a lot of such
commits in your workspace already, ask for help.  But in this case,
there was no such problem.  Just

@example
hg revert -r 5009 src/ChangeLog
# Add Dana's log entry by hand.
hg commit -m "Restore src/ChangeLog."
@end example

5009 is the revision id of the most recent commit that had the correct
version of the file.  You get that from the "parent" field in @code{hg
log}, or from the DAG browser (@code{hg view}, requires @code{hgk}
extension enabled).

Alternatively, Cary could revert from 5008.  This would leave her with
@emph{her} log entry for 5009 missing, and that would have to be added
by hand.

Note that in the actual history, Cary didn't realize that Dana's log
went missing, so Anne had to pick up the slack in 5025.

@subsubheading Recovery by another developer

Another way to recover earlier state is with @code{hg checkout} (or
@code{hg update}, which is another way to spell the same command).  This
changes the version that hg sees as "current", as well as reverting the
workspace.

A common scenario is that another developer, such as Barb in the log
above, was already working on @file{src/ChangeLog}, saves her copy, then
tries to merge.  She would then get a modify/delete conflict.  It's
tempting to just resolve that in favor of keeping the file, and commit.
This often works, but an alternative way uses the VCS:

@example
hg checkout 5010
hg revert -r 5009 src/ChangeLog
# Add Dana's log entry by hand.
hg commit -m "Restore src/ChangeLog."
@end example

to get the same effect as described above, then

@example
hg merge
@end example

(making her changes "float to the top" of the log) or

@example
hg checkout 5023
hg merge
@end example

(putting the Cary's branch at the top of the log).  This assumes she has
no other heads in her workspace.  If she does have other heads she would
have to use an explicit argument to @code{hg merge}.

Note that in the actual history, Barb didn't realize that Dana's log
went missing, so Anne (or somebody) had to pick up the slack in 5025.

@subsubheading The hard but accurate way

Suppose Barb did @code{hg pull -u}, but notices the problem before
resolving conflicts and committing the merge.  Assume Barb was fully committed
before doing @code{hg pull -u}.

@example
# Restore the ChangeLog, "covering up" the broken commit.
# Check out Cary's head.  This nukes the merged files in the workspace,
# but @emph{the history and versions in Barb's rev. 5023 are preserved
# in the repository}.  The -C is necessary to overwrite files.
hg checkout -C 5010
hg revert -r 5009 src/ChangeLog
# Merge Dana's branch (yes, again).
# The repeated merge outside of src/ChangeLog should resolve to a
# no-op, but the ChangeLog probably conflicts.
# The -f is needed because revert leaves uncommitted changes.
hg merge -f 5008
hg commit -m "Re-merge Dana's branch to recover her logs."
# Merge Barb's work.
# If Barb has only two heads, which seems likely, the argument to
# merge is optional.
hg merge 5023
hg commit -m merge
@end example

Visualizing this with a graph, we have:

@example
                        ,------ 09 -----.
                       /                 \
02 --- 03 ... 05 --- 06 --- 07 --- 08 --- 10 *** 24 --- 25
  \                    \             \          /      /
   \                    \             `--------'      /
    \                    \                           /
     `-- 11 ... 19 -------`-- 20 ... 23 ------------'
@end example

Note that the versions 5024 and 5025 in this graph denote
@emph{different} versions from the actual history.  The starred link
means that editing work (aside from resolving conflicts) was done, on
top of the merge.  However, the editing work is actually done by
Mercurial (the revert command)!


@node Q11.2.6, Q11.2.7, Q11.2.5, Bleeding Edge
@unnumberedsubsec How do I recover from a bad commit?  (I haven't pushed yet.)

If you hadn't yet pushed the commit you now regret, and realize it
before doing further commits, you can use @code{hg strip tip}.  Then
just redo the commit, possibly with additional changes before
committing.

@code{hg strip} is dangerous; for practical purposes it destroys
history, and it also reverts the files in your workspace.  It's
probably possible to recover the history, but I don't know how.  And any
uncommitted changes that might be lost are gone forever.  However, it
is useful in cases like this.

When in doubt, use the safer method @ref{Q11.2.5}.


@node Q11.2.7, , Q11.2.6, Bleeding Edge
@unnumberedsubsec Testing patches with Mercurial Queues.

When testing a patch proposed on xemacs-beta or xemacs-patches,
conflicts or new heads often appear later, when using @code{hg pull -u}.

There are both theoretical and practical reasons why this happens,
and it's unlikely to change.  The current workflow of XEmacs is also
unlikely to change soon; testing patches is also probably going to
remain necessary.  One way to avoid this issue is to use Mercurial
Queues (mq), an extension distributed with Mercurial.

Enable mq by adding

@example
    [extensions]

    hgext.mq =
@end example

to your @file{~/.hgrc}.  (Yes, the right hand side is empty.)  If you
already have an @code{[extensions]} section, don't repeat it.  Add
@code{hgext.mq =} to the existing extensions section.

When you want to test a patch, you need an hg workspace with no
uncommitted changes.  If you already have some uncommitted changes,
you can preserve them with mq as follows:

@example
    $ hg qnew -f -m "Preserve local changes." local-changes
@end example

The @code{-m} flag specifies the commit message for the new patch.  The
@code{-f} flag "forces" qnew to put all of the uncommitted local changes
into an mq patch, and commits it (you will see a commit with summary
"Preserve local changes." if you do an @code{hg log} now).
"local-changes" is the name of the patch.

Now, create an mq patch for the test patch (which we assume was saved
to @file{/tmp/xemacs.patch}):

    $ hg qimport -P -n test-xemacs-patch /tmp/xemacs.patch

The @code{-n} flag specifies the name of the patch.  Give it a name
sufficiently explicit so you'll know what it is later.  Remember, it
may take several weeks for the patch to be pushed to the public
mainline.  The @code{-P} flag says "apply this patch to the workspace
now".

When you want to update the workspace, you need to remove the mq
commits, update, and restore your local changes and the test patch.
You do it this way:

@example
    $ hg qpop --all
    $ hg pull -u                # use your usual method, hg fetch etc.
    $ hg qpush --all
@end example

@code{hg qpop --all} undoes all the mq commits, but leaves the patches
in @file{.hg/patches}.  @code{hg qpush --all} reapplies the patches and
restores the mq commits.  Of course you hope that the patch will be
committed upstream.  When it is, you do this:

@example
    $ hg qpop --all
    $ hg pull -u
    $ hg qdelete test-xemacs-patch
    $ hg qpush --all
@end example

and you're back in business with the official version of the patch you
tested, and all your local changes applied.

It's also possible to split your local changes into smaller mq
patches, but that's out of scope for this answer.

@bye
