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1
2 @node Command Switches, Basic, Exiting, Top
3 @section Command Line Switches and Arguments
4 @cindex command line arguments
5 @cindex arguments (from shell)
6
7 XEmacs supports command line arguments you can use to request
8 various actions when invoking Emacs. The commands are for compatibility
9 with other editors and for sophisticated activities. If you are using
10 XEmacs under the X window system, you can also use a number of
11 standard Xt command line arguments. Command line arguments are not usually
12 needed for editing with Emacs; new users can skip this section.
13
14 Many editors are designed to be started afresh each time you want to
15 edit. You start the editor to edit one file; then exit the editor. The
16 next time you want to edit either another file or the same one, you
17 start the editor again. Under these circumstances, it makes sense to use a
18 command line argument to say which file to edit.
19
20 The recommended way to use XEmacs is to start it only once, just
21 after you log in, and do all your editing in the same Emacs process.
22 Each time you want to edit a file, you visit it using the existing
23 Emacs. Emacs creates a new buffer for each file, and (unless you kill
24 some of the buffers) Emacs eventually has many files in it ready for
25 editing. Usually you do not kill the Emacs process until you are about
26 to log out. Since you usually read files by typing commands to Emacs,
27 command line arguments for specifying a file when Emacs is started are seldom
28 needed.
29
30 Emacs accepts command-line arguments that specify files to visit,
31 functions to call, and other activities and operating modes. If you are
32 running XEmacs under the X window system, a number of standard
33 Xt command line arguments are available as well.
34
35 The following subsections list:
36 @itemize @bullet
37 @item
38 Command line arguments that you can always use
39 @item
40 Command line arguments that have to appear at the beginning of the
41 argument list
42 @item
43 Command line arguments that are only relevant if you are running XEmacs
44 under X
45 @end itemize
46
47 @subsection Command Line Arguments for Any Position
48 Command line arguments are processed in the order they appear on the
49 command line; however, certain arguments (the ones in the
50 second table) must be at the front of the list if they are used.
51
52 Here are the arguments allowed:
53
54 @table @samp
55 @item @var{file}
56 Visit @var{file} using @code{find-file}. @xref{Visiting}.
57
58 @item +@var{linenum} @var{file}
59 Visit @var{file} using @code{find-file}, then go to line number
60 @var{linenum} in it.
61
62 @item -load @var{file}
63 @itemx -l @var{file}
64 Load a file @var{file} of Lisp code with the function @code{load}.
65 @xref{Lisp Libraries}.
66
67 @item -funcall @var{function}
68 @itemx -f @var{function}
69 Call Lisp function @var{function} with no arguments.
70
71 @item -eval @var{function}
72 Interpret the next argument as a Lisp expression, and evaluate it.
73 You must be very careful of the shell quoting here.
74
75 @item -insert @var{file}
76 @itemx -i @var{file}
77 Insert the contents of @var{file} into the current buffer. This is like
78 what @kbd{M-x insert-buffer} does; @xref{Misc File Ops}.
79
80 @item -kill
81 Exit from Emacs without asking for confirmation.
82
83 @item -version
84 Prints version information. This implies @samp{-batch}.
85
86 @example
87 % xemacs -version
88 XEmacs 19.13 of Mon Aug 21 1995 on willow (usg-unix-v) [formerly Lucid Emacs]
89 @end example
90
91 @item -help
92 Prints a summary of command-line options and then exits.
93 @end table
94
95 @subsection Command Line Arguments (Beginning of Line Only)
96 The following arguments are recognized only at the beginning of the
97 command line. If more than one of them appears, they must appear in the
98 order in which they appear in this table.
99
100 @table @samp
101 @item -t @var{file}
102 Use @var{file} instead of the terminal for input and output. This
103 implies the @samp{-nw} option, documented below.
104
105 @cindex batch mode
106 @item -batch
107 Run Emacs in @dfn{batch mode}, which means that the text being edited is
108 not displayed and the standard Unix interrupt characters such as
109 @kbd{C-z} and @kbd{C-c} continue to have their normal effect. Emacs in
110 batch mode outputs to @code{stderr} only what would normally be printed
111 in the echo area under program control.
112
113 Batch mode is used for running programs written in Emacs Lisp from shell
114 scripts, makefiles, and so on. Normally the @samp{-l} switch or
115 @samp{-f} switch will be used as well, to invoke a Lisp program to do
116 the batch processing.
117
118 @samp{-batch} implies @samp{-q} (do not load an init file). It also
119 causes Emacs to kill itself after all command switches have been
120 processed. In addition, auto-saving is not done except in buffers for
121 which it has been explicitly requested.
122
123 @item -nw
124 Start up XEmacs in TTY mode (using the TTY XEmacs was started from),
125 rather than trying to connect to an X display. Note that this happens
126 automatically if the @samp{DISPLAY} environment variable is not set.
127
128 @item -debug-init
129 Enter the debugger if an error in the init file occurs.
130
131 @item -unmapped
132 Do not map the initial frame. This is useful if you want to start up
133 XEmacs as a server (e.g. for gnuserv screens or external client widgets).
134
135 @item -no-init-file
136 @itemx -q
137 Do not load your Emacs init file @file{~/.emacs}.
138
139 @item -no-site-file
140 Do not load the site-specific init file @file{lisp/site-start.el}.
141
142 @item -user @var{user}
143 @itemx -u @var{user}
144 Load @var{user}'s Emacs init file @file{~@var{user}/.emacs} instead of
145 your own.
146 @end table
147
148 @vindex command-line-args
149 Note that the init file can get access to the command line argument
150 values as the elements of a list in the variable
151 @code{command-line-args}. (The arguments in the second table above will
152 already have been processed and will not be in the list.) The init file
153 can override the normal processing of the other arguments by setting
154 this variable.
155
156 One way to use command switches is to visit many files automatically:
157
158 @example
159 xemacs *.c
160 @end example
161
162 @noindent
163 passes each @code{.c} file as a separate argument to Emacs, so that
164 Emacs visits each file (@pxref{Visiting}).
165
166 Here is an advanced example that assumes you have a Lisp program file
167 called @file{hack-c-program.el} which, when loaded, performs some useful
168 operation on the current buffer, expected to be a C program.
169
170 @example
171 xemacs -batch foo.c -l hack-c-program -f save-buffer -kill > log
172 @end example
173
174 @noindent
175 Here Emacs is told to visit @file{foo.c}, load @file{hack-c-program.el}
176 (which makes changes in the visited file), save @file{foo.c} (note that
177 @code{save-buffer} is the function that @kbd{C-x C-s} is bound to), and
178 then exit to the shell from which the command was executed. @samp{-batch}
179 guarantees there will be no problem redirecting output to @file{log},
180 because Emacs will not assume that it has a display terminal to work
181 with.
182
183 @subsection Command Line Arguments (for XEmacs Under X)
184 @vindex frame-title-format
185 @vindex frame-icon-title-format
186 If you are running XEmacs under X, a number of options are
187 available to control color, border, and window title and icon name:
188
189 @table @samp
190 @item -title @var{title}
191 @itemx -wn @var{title}
192 @itemx -T @var{title}
193 Use @var{title} as the window title. This sets the
194 @code{frame-title-format} variable, which controls the title of the X
195 window corresponding to the selected frame. This is the same format as
196 @code{mode-line-format}.
197
198 @item -iconname @var{title}
199 @itemx -in @var{title}
200 Use @var{title} as the icon name. This sets the
201 @code{frame-icon-title-format} variable, which controls the title of
202 the icon corresponding to the selected frame.
203
204 @item -mc @var{color}
205 Use @var{color} as the mouse color.
206
207 @item -cr @var{color}
208 Use @var{color} as the text-cursor foreground color.
209 @end table
210
211 In addition, XEmacs allows you to use a number of standard Xt
212 command line arguments.
213
214 @table @samp
215
216 @item -background @var{color}
217 @itemx -bg @var{color}
218 Use @var{color} as the background color.
219
220 @item -bordercolor @var{color}
221 @itemx -bd @var{color}
222 Use @var{color} as the border color.
223
224 @item -borderwidth @var{width}
225 @itemx -bw @var{width}
226 Use @var{width} as the border width.
227
228 @item -display @var{display}
229 @itemx -d @var{display}
230 When running under the X window system, create the window containing the
231 Emacs frame on the display named @var{display}.
232
233 @item -foreground @var{color}
234 @itemx -fg @var{color}
235 Use @var{color} as the foreground color.
236
237 @item -font @var{name}
238 @itemx -fn @var{name}
239 Use @var{name} as the default font.
240
241 @item -geometry @var{spec}
242 @itemx -geom @var{spec}
243 @itemx -g @var{spec}
244 Use the geometry (window size and/or position) specified by @var{spec}.
245
246 @item -iconic
247 Start up iconified.
248
249 @item -rv
250 Bring up Emacs in reverse video.
251
252 @item -name @var{name}
253 Use the resource manager resources specified by @var{name}.
254 The default is to use the name of the program (@code{argv[0]}) as
255 the resource manager name.
256
257 @item -xrm
258 Read something into the resource database for this invocation of Emacs only.
259
260 @end table