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Annotation of GNUtools/emacs/etc/OPTIONS, revision 1.1.1.1

1.1 root 1: This describes the sequence of Emacs start-up actions, including the meaning
2: of all the command-line options. It was written by Joe Wells.
3:
4: 1. These command line switches are handled, only if they appear before
5: all other command line arguments, and only if they appear in this
6: order:
7:
8: `-map'. Only under VMS. Instead of "undumping", under VMS the
9: contents of a dump file are mapped over a section of memory (very
10: quickly initializing lots of variables). You would not normally
11: use this options explicitly; it is given automatically by the
12: command file that implements the `emacs' command.
13:
14: `-t'. The next argument is treated as the name of a terminal to use
15: instead of whatever is connected to the stdin, stdout, and stderr
16: FILE pointers.
17:
18: `-display' (synonym: `-d'). The next argument is treated as the
19: name of an X Window System server with which to connect. This
20: overrides the DISPLAY environment variable.
21:
22: `-nw'. This means don't connect to an X Window server even if the
23: DISPLAY environment variable was set or the `-display' switch was
24: specified. Instead, Emacs talks to a regular dumb terminal.
25:
26: `-batch'. Run noninteractively. This disables any full screen
27: interaction either with a dumb terminal or with a window system.
28: In addition, Emacs will die after processing all command line
29: arguments. The variable `noninteractive' is t.
30:
31: All of Emacs's internal data structures are initialized between steps 2
32: and 5.
33:
34: 2. The `*scratch*' buffer is created and its value of `default-directory'
35: is set from the result of calling the `getwd' library routine.
36: (getwd does what the `pwd' program does.)
37:
38: 3. If X11 is being used, Emacs determines the name under which it looks
39: for X resource values. (I haven't checked how it does this under
40: X10.)
41:
42: 1. If there is a `-rn' command line switch, it is handled now, no
43: matter where it is on the command line. (Later it will be
44: processed again and ignored.) The next argument is used as
45: Emacs's resource name.
46:
47: 2. If the `-rn' switch was missing, Emacs looks for the WM_RES_NAME
48: environment variable.
49:
50: 3. If neither of the previous two steps succeed, Emacs uses the
51: filename with which it was invoked as its resource name.
52:
53: 4. If X11 is being used, these command line switches are handled now,
54: no matter where they appear in the command line. (Under X10, they
55: are not handled until step 13.) WARNING: this can cause strange
56: interactions with the processing of the remaining command line
57: arguments in step 13.
58:
59: In addition, under both X11 and X10, X resources (ie. the stuff in
60: an `.Xdefaults' file) are handled now. Command line switches take
61: precedence over resources.
62:
63: After each command line switch are given the equivalent resource
64: names in this format: (X10 name / X11 instance name / X11 class name).
65:
66: `-r'. Reverse video. (ReverseVideo/reverseVideo/ReverseVideo)
67: `-font' (synonym: `-fn'). Font. (BodyFont/font/Font)
68: `-wn'. Window name (X11 only). (/title/Title)
69: `-in'. Icon name (X11 only). (/iconName/Title)
70: `-i'. Use built-in icon bitmap. (BitMapIcon//)
71:
72: `-b'. Border width (in pixels).
73: (BorderWidth/borderWidth/BorderWidth)
74:
75: `-ib'. Internal border width (in pixels) (default: 1).
76: (/internalBorder/BorderWidth)
77:
78: `-xrm RESOURCESTRING'. Specifies a resource name and value
79: that overrides any other value in the X server for that name.
80: This is useful also for setting parameters that don't have their
81: own specific options.
82:
83: `-geometry' (synonym: `-w'). Window shape and size. `-geometry' is
84: X11 only, but its synonym `-w' was available under X10.
85: (/geometry/Geometry)
86:
87: Color options only:
88:
89: `-fg'. Foreground color. (Foreground/foreground/Foreground)
90: `-bg'. Background color. (Background/background/Background)
91: `-bd'. Border color. (Border/borderColor/BorderColor)
92: `-cr'. Cursor color. (Cursor/cursorColor/Foreground)
93: `-ms'. Mouse pointer color. (Mouse/pointerColor/Foreground)
94:
95: In addition, under X10, the resource `Keymap' was handled now.
96:
97: 5. If your Emacs isn't dumped, the default Lisp libraries are
98: loaded now.
99:
100: 6. Emacs enters a recursive edit. The first time Emacs does a
101: recursive edit, steps 7 through 15 are followed, and then Emacs
102: enters its normal editing mode.
103:
104: 7. If the environment variable PWD exists, the value of
105: `default-directory' in the `*scratch*' buffer is set to the value of
106: PWD. This often causes problems and confusion when the value of PWD
107: doesn't actually contain the pathname of the current directory.
108:
109: 8. Now the `-no-init-file' (synonym: `-q') and `-user' (synonym: `-u')
110: command line switches are handled. They must follow the switches
111: mentioned in step 1, and must precede any other command line
112: arguments. Actually, both of these options can be specified;
113: whichever is last on the command line wins.
114:
115: 9. The user's `.emacs' file is loaded now, if the `-no-init-file'
116: option was not specified. If the `-user' option was specified,
117: that user's init file is loaded instead. This file is named
118: `.emacs' in the user's home directory. If no such file exists,
119: this step has no effect.
120:
121: 10. The system wide `default.el' file is loaded now, if the variable
122: `inhibit-default-init' is nil. The user can set this variable in the
123: `.emacs' file to skip this step.
124:
125: 11. If the *scratch* buffer still exists now, the value of
126: `initial-major-mode' is called as a function in this buffer.
127: Normally, this puts this buffer in Lisp Interaction mode.
128:
129: 12. Now the terminal/window-system setup file is loaded. The name of
130: this file is determined as follows:
131:
132: 1. It starts with the value of `term-file-prefix'. Normally this is
133: `term/', but the user can set it to another value. If this
134: variable is nil, this entire step is skipped.
135:
136: 2. For a window system, the prefix is followed by the name of the
137: value of the variable `window-system', followed by `-win'. For X
138: Windows, this means the name is `term/x-win'.
139:
140: 3. For a terminal, the prefix is followed by the value of the
141: environment variable TERM, for example, `term/vt200'. If Emacs
142: cannot find such a file to load, it retries by stripping off
143: suffixes that begin with a hyphen. For example, if TERM is
144: `vt200-40', first Emacs will try `term/vt200-40', and if that
145: fails it will try `term/vt200'.
146:
147: 13. The rest of the command line arguments are handled at this point, in
148: the order they appear:
149:
150: `-funcall' (synonyms: `-f', `-e'). The next argument is treated as
151: the name of a function, which is called with no arguments.
152:
153: `-load' (synonym: `-l'). The next argument is treated as the name
154: of a file to load. NOTE: the value of the variable `load-path'
155: will be restored after this file is done loading. Thus, trying
156: to change `load-path' in such a file will fail!!
157:
158: `-kill'. When this argument is handled, Emacs kills itself.
159:
160: `+DDD', where D is a digit. DDD is used as a line number to go to.
161: When the next ordinary file argument on the command line is
162: handled, Emacs positions point in that file on line DDD.
163:
164: An ordinary filename. Emacs edits this file using the function
165: `find-file'. If the filename is not an absolute filename, it is
166: expanded relative to the value that default-directory in the
167: `*scratch*' buffer had at the beginning of step 11. The buffer
168: visiting this file becomes the current buffer.
169:
170: `-insert' (synonym: `-i'). The next argument is treated as the name
171: of a file. This file is inserted in the current buffer.
172: Initially, this is the `*scratch*' buffer. Otherwise it is the
173: buffer visiting the file most recently specified on the command
174: line.
175:
176: Other command line switches may have been created by modifying the
177: value of the variable `command-switch-alist'. If X Windows is being
178: used, all X-specific switches mentioned above in steps 3 and 4 will
179: be processed. Under X11, they will have already been handled, and
180: will be ignored now. Under X10, they are being handled for the
181: first time.
182:
183: 14. The values of the variables `term-setup-hook' and `window-setup-hook'
184: are called as functions with no arguments, in the order listed.
185:
186: 15. If the user did not specify any of the command line options handled
187: in step 13, and the variable `inhibit-startup-message' is still nil,
188: the familiar Emacs startup message is displayed.
189:
190:

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