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(Exiting): Don't describe text-only terminals as the

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default.  Describe the new startup screen.
(Exiting): Describe how to kill Emacs first.  Change description of
iconification to handle modern window systems.
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Chong Yidong 2008-07-15 20:57:39 +00:00
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doc/emacs/entering.texi
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@c Copyright (C) 1985, 1986, 1987, 1993, 1994, 1995, 2001, 2002, 2003,
@c 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
@c See file emacs.texi for copying conditions.
@node Entering Emacs, Exiting, Commands, Top
@iftex
@chapter Entering and Exiting Emacs
@cindex entering Emacs
@cindex starting Emacs
The usual way to invoke Emacs is with the shell command
@command{emacs}. Emacs clears the screen, then displays an initial
help message and copyright notice. Some operating systems discard
your type-ahead when Emacs starts up; they give Emacs no way to
prevent this. On those systems, wait for Emacs to clear the screen
before you start typing.
From a shell window under the X Window System, run Emacs in the
background with @command{emacs&}. This way, Emacs won't tie up the
shell window, so you can use it to run other shell commands while
Emacs is running. You can type Emacs commands as soon as you direct
your keyboard input to an Emacs frame.
@vindex initial-major-mode
When Emacs starts up, it creates a buffer named @samp{*scratch*}.
That's the buffer you start out in. The @samp{*scratch*} buffer uses
Lisp Interaction mode; you can use it to type Lisp expressions and
evaluate them. You can also ignore that capability and just write notes
there. You can specify a different major mode for this buffer by
setting the variable @code{initial-major-mode} in your init file.
@xref{Init File}.
It is possible to specify files to be visited, Lisp files to be
loaded, and functions to be called through Emacs command-line
arguments. @xref{Emacs Invocation}. The feature exists mainly for
compatibility with other editors, and for scripts.
Many editors are designed to edit one file. When done with that
file, you exit the editor. The next time you want to edit a file, you
must start the editor again. Working this way, it is convenient to
use a command-line argument to say which file to edit.
However, killing Emacs after editing one each and starting it afresh
for the next file is both unnecessary and harmful, since it denies you
the full power of Emacs. Emacs can visit more than one file in a
single editing session, and that is the right way to use it. Exiting
the Emacs session loses valuable accumulated context, such as the kill
ring, registers, undo history, and mark ring. These features are
useful for operating on multiple files, or even continuing to edit one
file. If you kill Emacs after each file, you don't take advantage of
them.
The recommended way to use GNU Emacs is to start it only once, just
after you log in, and do all your editing in the same Emacs session.
Each time you edit a file, you visit it with the existing Emacs, which
eventually has many files in it ready for editing. Usually you do not
kill Emacs until you are about to log out. @xref{Files}, for more
information on visiting more than one file.
To edit a file from another program while Emacs is running, you can
use the @command{emacsclient} helper program to open a file in the
already running Emacs. @xref{Emacs Server}.
This chapter explains how to enter Emacs, and how to exit it.
@end iftex
@ifnottex
@raisesections
@end ifnottex
@node Entering Emacs, Exiting, Commands, Top
@section Entering Emacs
@cindex entering Emacs
@cindex starting Emacs
The usual way to invoke Emacs is with the shell command
@command{emacs}. From a terminal window running in the X Window
System, you can also run Emacs in the background with
@command{emacs&}; this way, Emacs won't tie up the terminal window, so
you can use it to run other shell commands.
@cindex startup screen
When Emacs starts up, the initial frame displays a special buffer
named @samp{*GNU Emacs*}. This buffer contains @dfn{links} to common
tasks that might be useful to beginning users. For instance,
activating the @samp{Emacs Tutorial} link opens the Emacs tutorial;
this does the same thing as the command @kbd{C-h t}
(@code{help-with-tutorial}). To activate a link, either move point
onto it and type @kbd{@key{RET}}, or click on it with @kbd{mouse-1}
(the left mouse button).
Using a command line argument, you can tell Emacs to visit one or
more specific files as soon as it starts up. For example,
@command{emacs foo.txt} starts Emacs with a buffer displaying the
contents of the file @samp{foo.txt}. This feature exists mainly for
compatibility with other editors, which are designed to edit one file
at a time: once you are done with that file, you exit the editor, and
start it again the next time you need it.
Using Emacs in this way---starting it afresh each time you want to
edit a file---is unnecessary and wasteful. Emacs can visit more than
one file in a single editing session, and exiting the Emacs session
loses valuable accumulated context, such as the kill ring, registers,
undo history, and mark ring. These features, described later in the
manual, are useful for performing edits across multiple files, or
continuing edits to a single file.
The recommended way to use Emacs is to start it only once, just
after you log in, and do all your editing in the same Emacs session.
Each time you edit a file, visit it with the existing Emacs, which
eventually has many files in it ready for editing. @xref{Files}, for
more information on visiting more than one file.
To edit a file from another program while Emacs is running, you can
use the @command{emacsclient} helper program to open a file in the
already running Emacs. @xref{Emacs Server}.
Emacs accepts other command line arguments that tell it to load
certain Lisp files, call certain functions, and so forth. These
features exist mainly for advanced users. @xref{Emacs Invocation}.
@node Exiting, Basic, Entering Emacs, Top
@section Exiting Emacs
@cindex exiting
@cindex killing Emacs
@cindex suspending
@cindex leaving Emacs
@cindex quitting Emacs
There are two commands for exiting Emacs, and three kinds of
exiting: @dfn{iconifying} Emacs, @dfn{suspending} Emacs, and
@dfn{killing} Emacs.
@dfn{Iconifying} means replacing the Emacs frame with a small box or
``icon'' on the screen. This is the usual way to exit Emacs when
you're using a graphical display---if you bother to ``exit'' at all.
(Just switching to another application is usually sufficient.)
@dfn{Suspending} means stopping Emacs temporarily and returning
control to its parent process (usually a shell), allowing you to
resume editing later in the same Emacs job. This is the usual way to
exit Emacs when running it on a text terminal.
@dfn{Killing} Emacs means destroying the Emacs job. You can run Emacs
again later, but you will get a fresh Emacs; there is no way to resume
the same editing session after it has been killed.
@table @kbd
@item C-x C-c
Kill Emacs (@code{save-buffers-kill-emacs}).
@item C-z
Suspend Emacs (@code{suspend-emacs}) or iconify a frame
(@code{iconify-or-deiconify-frame}).
@item C-x C-c
Kill Emacs (@code{save-buffers-kill-emacs}).
@end table
@kindex C-z
@findex iconify-or-deiconify-frame
On graphical displays, @kbd{C-z} runs the command
@code{iconify-or-deiconify-frame}, which temporarily iconifies (or
``minimizes'') the selected Emacs frame (@pxref{Frames}). You can
then use the window manager to select some other application. (You
could select another application without iconifying Emacs first, but
getting the Emacs frame out of the way can make it more convenient to
find the other application.)
@findex suspend-emacs
On a text terminal, @kbd{C-z} runs the command @code{suspend-emacs}.
Suspending Emacs takes you back to the shell from which you invoked
Emacs. You can resume Emacs with the shell command @command{%emacs}
in most common shells. On systems that don't support suspending
programs, @kbd{C-z} starts an inferior shell that communicates
directly with the terminal, and Emacs waits until you exit the
subshell. (The way to do that is probably with @kbd{C-d} or
@command{exit}, but it depends on which shell you use.) On these
systems, you can only get back to the shell from which Emacs was run
(to log out, for example) when you kill Emacs.
@vindex cannot-suspend
Suspending can fail if you run Emacs under a shell that doesn't
support suspension of its subjobs, even if the system itself does
support it. In such a case, you can set the variable
@code{cannot-suspend} to a non-@code{nil} value to force @kbd{C-z} to
start an inferior shell.
@kindex C-x C-c
@findex save-buffers-kill-emacs
To exit and kill Emacs, type @kbd{C-x C-c}
(@code{save-buffers-kill-emacs}). A two-character key is used to make
it harder to type by accident. This command first offers to save any
modified file-visiting buffers. If you do not save them all, it asks
for confirmation with @kbd{yes} before killing Emacs, since any
changes not saved now will be lost forever. Also, if any subprocesses are
still running, @kbd{C-x C-c} asks for confirmation about them, since
killing Emacs will also kill the subprocesses.
@dfn{Killing} Emacs means terminating the Emacs program. To do
this, type @kbd{C-x C-c} (@code{save-buffers-kill-emacs}). A
two-character key is used to make it harder to type by accident. If
there are any modified file-visiting buffers when you type @kbd{C-x
C-c}, Emacs first offers to save these buffers. If you do not save
them all, it asks for confirmation again, since the unsaved changes
will be lost. Emacs also asks for confirmation if any subprocesses
are still running, since killing Emacs will also kill the subprocesses
(@pxref{Shell}).
Emacs can, optionally, record certain session information when you
kill it, such as the files you were visiting at the time. This
information is then available the next time you start Emacs.
@xref{Saving Emacs Sessions}.
@vindex confirm-kill-emacs
If the value of the variable @code{confirm-kill-emacs} is
non-@code{nil}, @kbd{C-x C-c} assumes that its value is a predicate
function, and calls that function. If the result is non-@code{nil}, the
session is killed, otherwise Emacs continues to run. One convenient
function to use as the value of @code{confirm-kill-emacs} is the
function @code{yes-or-no-p}. The default value of
@code{confirm-kill-emacs} is @code{nil}.
function, and calls that function. If the result of the function call
is non-@code{nil}, the session is killed, otherwise Emacs continues to
run. One convenient function to use as the value of
@code{confirm-kill-emacs} is the function @code{yes-or-no-p}. The
default value of @code{confirm-kill-emacs} is @code{nil}.
You can't resume an Emacs session after killing it. Emacs can,
however, record certain session information when you kill it, such as
which files you visited, so the next time you start Emacs it will try
to visit the same files. @xref{Saving Emacs Sessions}.
@cindex minimizing a frame
@cindex iconifying
@cindex suspending
You can ``exit'' Emacs in two other ways. On a graphical display,
you can @dfn{iconify} (or @dfn{minimize}) an Emacs frame; depending on
the window system, this either replaces the Emacs frame with a tiny
``icon'' or conceals the frame entirely (@pxref{Frames}). On a
text-only terminal, you can @dfn{suspend} Emacs; this means stopping
the Emacs program temporarily, returning control to its parent process
(usually a shell).
The operating system usually listens for certain special characters
@kindex C-z
@findex iconify-or-deiconify-frame
@findex suspend-emacs
On a graphical display, @kbd{C-z} runs the command
@code{iconify-or-deiconify-frame}, which iconifies the selected Emacs
frame. On a text terminal, @kbd{C-z} runs the command
@code{suspend-emacs}, which suspends Emacs.
After iconifying or suspending Emacs, you can return to it and
continue editing wherever you left off. The way to do this depends on
the window system or shell. In most common shells, you can resume
Emacs after suspending it with the shell command @command{%emacs}.
@vindex cannot-suspend
On very old systems that don't support suspending programs,
@kbd{C-z} starts an inferior shell that communicates directly with the
terminal, and Emacs waits until you exit the subshell. (The way to
exit the subshell is usually @kbd{C-d} or @command{exit}.) On these
systems, you can only get back to the shell from which Emacs was run
(to log out, for example) when you kill Emacs. Suspending can also
fail if you run Emacs under a shell that doesn't support suspending
jobs, even if the system itself does support it. In this case, you
can set the variable @code{cannot-suspend} to a non-@code{nil} value
to force @kbd{C-z} to start an inferior shell.
Text-only terminals usually listen for certain special characters
whose meaning is to kill or suspend the program you are running.
@b{This operating system feature is turned off while you are in Emacs.}
The meanings of @kbd{C-z} and @kbd{C-x C-c} as keys in Emacs were
inspired by the use of @kbd{C-z} and @kbd{C-c} on several operating
systems as the characters for stopping or killing a program, but that is
their only relationship with the operating system. You can customize
these keys to run any commands of your choice (@pxref{Keymaps}).
@b{This terminal feature is turned off while you are in Emacs.} The
meanings of @kbd{C-z} and @kbd{C-x C-c} as keys in Emacs were inspired
by the use of @kbd{C-z} and @kbd{C-c} on several operating systems as
the characters for stopping or killing a program, but that is their
only relationship with the operating system. You can customize these
keys to run any commands of your choice (@pxref{Keymaps}).
@ifnottex
@lowersections