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date Mon, 13 Aug 2007 08:45:50 +0200
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1
2 @node Entering Emacs, Exiting, Pull-down Menus, Top
3 @chapter Entering and Exiting Emacs
4 @cindex entering Emacs
5 @cindex entering XEmacs
6
7 The usual way to invoke Emacs is to type @kbd{emacs @key{RET}} at the
8 shell (for XEmacs, type @kbd{xemacs @key{RET}}). Emacs clears the
9 screen and then displays an initial advisory message and copyright
10 notice. You can begin typing Emacs commands immediately afterward.
11
12 Some operating systems insist on discarding all type-ahead when Emacs
13 starts up; they give Emacs no way to prevent this. Therefore, it is
14 wise to wait until Emacs clears the screen before typing the first
15 editing command.
16
17 @vindex initial-major-mode
18 Before Emacs reads the first command, you have not had a chance to
19 give a command to specify a file to edit. Since Emacs must always have a
20 current buffer for editing, it presents a buffer, by default, a buffer named
21 @samp{*scratch*}. The buffer is in Lisp Interaction
22 mode; you can use it to type Lisp expressions and evaluate them, or you
23 can ignore that capability and simply doodle. You can specify a
24 different major mode for this buffer by setting the variable
25 @code{initial-major-mode} in your init file. @xref{Init File}.
26
27 It is possible to give Emacs arguments in the shell command line to
28 specify files to visit, Lisp files to load, and functions to call.
29
30 @node Exiting, Command Switches, Entering Emacs, Top
31 @section Exiting Emacs
32 @cindex exiting
33 @cindex killing Emacs
34 @cindex suspending
35 @cindex shrinking XEmacs frame
36
37 There are two commands for exiting Emacs because there are two kinds
38 of exiting: @dfn{suspending} Emacs and @dfn{killing} Emacs.
39 @dfn{Suspending} means stopping Emacs temporarily and returning control
40 to its superior (usually the shell), allowing you to resume editing
41 later in the same Emacs job, with the same files, same kill ring, same
42 undo history, and so on. This is the usual way to exit. @dfn{Killing}
43 Emacs means destroying the Emacs job. You can run Emacs again later,
44 but you will get a fresh Emacs; there is no way to resume the same
45 editing session after it has been killed.
46
47 @table @kbd
48 @item C-z
49 Suspend Emacs (@code{suspend-emacs}). If used under the X window system,
50 shrink the X window containing the Emacs frame to an icon (see below).
51 @item C-x C-c
52 Kill Emacs (@code{save-buffers-kill-emacs}).
53 @end table
54
55 If you use XEmacs under the X window system, @kbd{C-z} shrinks
56 the X window containing the Emacs frame to an icon. The Emacs process
57 is stopped temporarily, and control is returned to the window manager.
58 If more than one frame is associated with the Emacs process, only the
59 frame from which you used @kbd{C-z} is retained. The X windows
60 containing the other Emacs frames are closed.
61
62 To activate the "suspended" Emacs, use the appropriate window manager
63 mouse gestures. Usually left-clicking on the icon reactivates and
64 reopens the X window containing the Emacs frame, but the window manager
65 you use determines what exactly happens. To actually kill the Emacs
66 process, use @kbd{C-x C-c} or the @b{Exit Emacs} item on the @b{File}
67 menu.
68
69 @kindex C-z
70 @findex suspend-emacs
71 On systems that do not permit programs to be suspended, @kbd{C-z} runs
72 an inferior shell that communicates directly with the terminal, and
73 Emacs waits until you exit the subshell. On these systems, the only way
74 to return to the shell from which Emacs was started (to log out, for
75 example) is to kill Emacs. @kbd{C-d} or @code{exit} are typical
76 commands to exit a subshell.
77
78 @kindex C-x C-c
79 @findex save-buffers-kill-emacs
80 To kill Emacs, type @kbd{C-x C-c} (@code{save-buffers-kill-emacs}). A
81 two-character key is used for this to make it harder to type. In
82 XEmacs, selecting the @b{Exit Emacs} option of the @b{File} menu is an
83 alternate way of issuing the command.
84
85 Unless a numeric argument is used, this command first offers to save any
86 modified buffers. If you do not save all buffers, you are asked for
87 reconfirmation with @kbd{yes} before killing Emacs, since any changes
88 not saved will be lost. If any subprocesses are still running, @kbd{C-x
89 C-c} asks you to confirm killing them, since killing Emacs kills the
90 subprocesses simultaneously.
91
92 In most programs running on Unix, certain characters may instantly
93 suspend or kill the program. (In Berkeley Unix these characters are
94 normally @kbd{C-z} and @kbd{C-c}.) @i{This Unix feature is turned off
95 while you are in Emacs.} The meanings of @kbd{C-z} and @kbd{C-x C-c} as
96 keys in Emacs were inspired by the standard Berkeley Unix meanings of
97 @kbd{C-z} and @kbd{C-c}, but that is their only relationship with Unix.
98 You could customize these keys to do anything (@pxref{Keymaps}).
99
100 @c ??? What about system V here?