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1.1 root 1: .TI EMACS
2: Introduction to the GNU Emacs Text Editor
3:
4: .I Emacs
5: is a general-purpose, full-screen text editor that Academic
6: Computing Services provides with neither consulting
7: nor bug-fixing support.
8: The
9: .I emacs
10: command resides in the directory
11: .I /usr/xtra ,
12: so you must either include it in your search path (type
13: .E "help searchpath"
14: for more information) or invoke it with its full name,
15: .E /usr/xtra/emacs .
16: We chose the GNU version \*- GNU stands for Gnu's Not Unix,
17: the name of a Unix-compatible software system intended
18: for free distribution \*- because it appears to be the most
19: popular and best-documented, not to mention cheapest,
20: of the various versions available.
21: .SH Key Features and Cautions
22: Here are some important factors to consider when using
23: .I emacs .
24: First of all, when there are system crashes, terminal disconnections,
25: or other problems that cause an editing session to be aborted,
26: .I emacs ,
27: like
28: .I vi ,
29: does its best to save your editor buffers before giving up, but unlike
30: .I vi ,
31: you have no recourse if you lose the results of your editing session.
32: In such a case
33: .I
34: you will not be eligible for any refund
35: .R
36: nor can you be assured that the problem will be fixed.
37: Second,
38: .I emacs
39: is perhaps the most powerful editor in existence, but it is also complex
40: and slow, especially on starting up (although it has screen updating
41: and typeahead facilities that make it seem faster than
42: .I vi
43: on a slow terminal).
44: On the other hand, it has an extensive built-in help mechanism
45: and a style that some people say is more natural than
46: .I vi 's.
47: The manual for this version of
48: .I emacs
49: is currently available from the ACS Library in 218 Evans Hall.
50: .SH Other Advantages
51: .I Emacs
52: can easily be customized and extended with your own commands,
53: it can display two or more files at once (in different
54: regions of the screen called windows), and can do horizontal scrolling.
55: In support of text processing it can do automatic filling of text,
56: detection and correction of spelling mistakes, and textual transposition.
57: In support of program development it accomodates indentation and
58: comment styles for different programming languages, tag tables, and
59: Lisp expression evaluation.
60: Miscellaneous extra features include mechanisms for editing pictures,
61: editing directories, and handling mail.
62: One of the most unusual advantages of this version of
63: .I emacs ,
64: the GNU version, is that it is probably the most celebrated
65: program in the GNU free-software movement, which holds that good
66: programs should be shared without cost among people who want to use them.
67: See the manual section entitled ``The GNU Manifesto'' for more details.
68: .SH Local Differences
69: This version contains support for X Windows, a general-purpose
70: window package running on Micro-Vax and Sun workstations.
71: We will try to keep current with latest releases of
72: .I emacs
73: running on the campus, but once again, we cannot promise to
74: respond to specific new releases or bug reports.
75: .SH Getting Started
76: There are a few points to keep in mind when you first begin to use
77: .I emacs .
78: First, your TERM environment variable setting must be consistent
79: with your terminal or terminal emulator (just as for
80: .I vi ).
81: Second, the terminal or terminal emulator must be set up to send
82: full 8-bit bytes.
83: In a regular login session full 8-bit transmission can be enabled
84: by setting NO PARITY before entering
85: .I emacs ;
86: in an
87: .I rlogin
88: session you have to have invoked
89: .I rlogin
90: with the
91: .E \-8
92: option.
93: If the terminal type is wrong or 8-bit transmission is not set
94: (for example, if your terminal or terminal emulator is set up
95: for IBM CMS connections), you may get parity error messages
96: or garbage on the screen.
97:
98: Another less crucial point is to turn off flow-control (xon/xoff)
99: in your terminal or terminal emulator, that is, to set it so
100: that it does not transmit Control-S and Control-Q characters
101: during your login session.
102: A symptom of this problem is the spontaneous occurrence of
103: the message ``I-search'' at the bottom of the screen.
104:
105: To start up the editor, type
106: .E emacs ,
107: and to get out of it type the two-character sequence
108: .E "Control-X Control-C" .
109: Although the help mechanism is very powerful, we recommend
110: reading the first few chapters of the manual before starting up
111: .I emacs .
112: If you want to go ahead anyway, you may find it hard to get rid
113: rid of the help text displayed on your screen
114: when you have finished reading it: use the two-character sequence
115: .E "Control-X 1"
116: (one) to restore your display to normal.
117: To get a tutorial type the sequence
118: .E "Control-H t" ;
119: if you select it
120: .I emacs
121: simply switches your editing session to a copy of a file which
122: is the tutorial; perhaps the easiest way to get out of the tutorial
123: is to type the sequence
124: .E "Control-X Control-C" .
125: There is also a very informative ``info'' facility; type
126: .E "ESC info"
127: to get into it.
128:
129: After using the editor you may notice some new files in your
130: directory having the same name as the one you were editing but with
131: a `~' appended or a `#' prepended to the name.
132: These are special backup and auto-save files, respectively,
133: and are no cause for concern unless you want to save space,
134: in which case it is safe to remove them.
135:
136:
137: jak
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