[xemacs-hg @ 2003-02-13 09:57:04 by ben] profile updates profile.c: Major reworking. Keep track of new information -- total function timing (includes descendants), GC usage, total GC usage (includes descendants). New functions to be called appropriately from eval.c, alloc.c to keep track of this information. Keep track of when we're actually in a function vs. in its profile, for more accurate timing counts. Track profile overhead separately. Create new mechanism for specifying "internal sections" that are tracked just like regular Lisp functions and even appear in the backtrace if `backtrace-with-internal-sections' is non-nil (t by default for error-checking builds). Add some KKCC information for the straight (non-Elisp) hash table used by profile, which contains Lisp objects in its keys -- but not used yet. Remove old ad-hoc methods for tracking garbage collection, redisplay (which was incorrect anyway when Lisp was called within these sections). Don't record any tick info when blocking under MS Windows, since the timer there is in real time rather than in process time. Make `start-profiling', `stop-profiling' interactive. Be consistent wrt. recursive functions and functions currently on the stack when starting or stopping -- together these make implementing the `total' values extremely difficult. When we start profiling, we act as if we just entered all the functions currently on the stack. Likewise when exiting. Create vars in_profile for tracking time spent inside of profiling, and profiling_lock for setting exclusive access to the main hash table when reading from it or modifying it. (protects against getting screwed up by the signal handle going off at the same time. profile.h: New file. Create macros for declaring internal profiling sections. lisp.h: Move profile-related stuff to profile.h. alloc.c: Keep track of total consing, for profile. Tell profile when we are consing. Use new profile-section method for noting garbage-collection. alloc.c: Abort if we attempt to call the allocator reentrantly. backtrace.h, eval.c: Add info for use by profile in the backtrace frame and transfer PUSH_BACKTRACE/POP_BACKTRACE from eval.c, for use with profile. elhash.c: Author comment. eval.c, lisp.h: New Lisp var `backtrace-with-internal-sections'. Set to t when error-checking is on. eval.c: When unwinding, eval.c: Report to profile when we are about-to-call and just-called wrt. a function. alloc.c, eval.c: Allow for "fake" backtrace frames, for internal sections (used by profile and `backtrace-with-internal-sections'. event-Xt.c, event-gtk.c, event-msw.c, event-tty.c: Record when we are actually blocking on an event, for profile's sake. event-stream.c: Record internal profiling sections for getting, dispatching events. extents.c: Record internal profiling sections for map_extents. hash.c, hash.h: Add pregrow_hash_table_if_necessary(). (Used in profile code since the signal handler is the main grower but can't allow a realloc(). We make sure, at critical points, that the table is large enough.) lread.c: Create internal profiling sections for `load' (which may be triggered internally by autoload, etc.). redisplay.c: Remove old profile_redisplay_flag. Use new macros to declare internal profiling section for redisplay. text.c: Use new macros to declare internal profiling sections for char-byte conversion and internal-external conversion. SEMI-UNRELATED CHANGES: ----------------------- text.c: Update the long comments.

@node Reading Mail, Calendar/Diary, Sending Mail, Top
@chapter Reading Mail
@cindex mail
@cindex message

XEmacs provides three separate mail-reading packages.  Each one comes with
its own manual, which is included standard with the XEmacs distribution.

The recommended mail-reading package for new users is VM.  VM works
with standard Unix-mail-format folders and was designed as a replacement
for the older Rmail.

XEmacs also provides a sophisticated and comfortable front-end to the
MH mail-processing system, called @samp{mh-e}.  Unlike in other
mail programs, folders in MH are stored as file-system directories,
with each message occupying one (numbered) file.  This facilitates
working with mail using shell commands, and many other features of
MH are also designed to integrate well with the shell and with
shell scripts.  Keep in mind, however, that in order to use mh-e
you must have the MH mail-processing system installed on your
computer.

Finally, XEmacs provides the Rmail package.  Rmail is (currently) the
only mail reading package distributed with FSF GNU Emacs, and is
powerful in its own right.  However, it stores mail folders in a special
format called @samp{Babyl}, that is incompatible with all other
frequently-used mail programs.  A utility program is provided for
converting Babyl folders to standard Unix-mail format; however, unless
you already have mail in Babyl-format folders, you should consider
using VM or mh-e instead. (If at times you have to use FSF Emacs, it
is not hard to obtain and install VM for that editor.)