[bpt/emacs.git] / etc / emacsclient.1

.TH EMACSCLIENT 1
.\" NAME should be all caps, SECTION should be 1-8, maybe w/ subsection
.\" other parms are allowed: see man(7), man(1)
.SH NAME
emacsclient \- tells a running Emacs to visit a file
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B emacsclient
.I "[options] files ..."
.SH "DESCRIPTION"
This manual page documents briefly the
.BR emacsclient
command.
This manual page was written for the Debian GNU/Linux distribution
because the original program does not have a manual page.
Instead, it has documentation in the GNU Info format; see below.
.PP
.B emacsclient 
works in conjunction with the built-in server of Emacs.
.PP
You typically do not call 
.B emacsclient
directly.  Instead, you set the environment variable EDITOR
to 
.B emacsclient
and let programs like 'vipw' or 'bug' or anything run
it for you, which will use an existing Emacs to visit the file.

For
.B emacsclient 
to work, you need an already running Emacs with a server.  Within Emacs, call 
the function
`server-start'.  (Your `.emacs' file can do this automatically if you
add the expression `(server-start)' to it.)  

When you've finished editing the buffer, type `C-x #'
(`server-edit').  This saves the file and sends a message back to the
`emacsclient' program telling it to exit.  The programs that use
`EDITOR' wait for the "editor" (actually, `emacsclient') to exit.  `C-x
#' also checks for other pending external requests to edit various
files, and selects the next such file.

If you set the variable `server-window' to a window or a frame, `C-x
#' displays the server buffer in that window or in that frame.

.SH OPTIONS
The programs follow the usual GNU command line syntax, with long
options starting with two dashes (`-').
.TP
.B \-n, \-\-no-wait
returns
immediately without waiting for you to "finish" the buffer in Emacs.
.TP
.B \-e, \-\-eval
do not visit files but instead evaluate the arguments as Emacs
Lisp expressions.
.TP
.B \-a, \-\-alternate-editor=EDITOR
if the Emacs server is not running, run the specified editor instead.
This can also be specified via the `ALTERNATE_EDITOR' environment variable.
.TP
.B \-d, \-\-display=DISPLAY
tell the server to display the files on the given display.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
The program is documented fully in
.IR "Using Emacs as a Server"
available via the Info system.
.SH BUGS
If there is no running Emacs server, 
.B emacsclient 
cannot launch one. I use a small Perl script instead of raw 
.B emacsclient
to do it (it works only with systems which have BSD sockets, which is fine
for Debian GNU/Linux).
.SH AUTHOR
This manual page was written by Stephane Bortzmeyer <bortzmeyer@debian.org>,
for the Debian GNU/Linux system (but may be used by others).
.SH COPYING
This manual page is in the public domain.

.\" arch-tag: 2b35e723-b197-4073-8752-231bc8b3d3f3
Commit	Line	Data
a933dad1 DL	1	.TH EMACSCLIENT 1
	2	.\" NAME should be all caps, SECTION should be 1-8, maybe w/ subsection
	3	.\" other parms are allowed: see man(7), man(1)
	4	.SH NAME
	5	emacsclient \- tells a running Emacs to visit a file
	6	.SH SYNOPSIS
	7	.B emacsclient
	8	.I "[options] files ..."
	9	.SH "DESCRIPTION"
	10	This manual page documents briefly the
	11	.BR emacsclient
	12	command.
	13	This manual page was written for the Debian GNU/Linux distribution
	14	because the original program does not have a manual page.
	15	Instead, it has documentation in the GNU Info format; see below.
	16	.PP
	17	.B emacsclient
	18	works in conjunction with the built-in server of Emacs.
	19	.PP
a1784ba2	20	You typically do not call
a933dad1	21	.B emacsclient
a1784ba2	22	directly. Instead, you set the environment variable EDITOR
a933dad1 DL	23	to
	24	.B emacsclient
	25	and let programs like 'vipw' or 'bug' or anything run
	26	it for you, which will use an existing Emacs to visit the file.
	27
	28	For
	29	.B emacsclient
	30	to work, you need an already running Emacs with a server. Within Emacs, call
	31	the function
	32	`server-start'. (Your `.emacs' file can do this automatically if you
	33	add the expression `(server-start)' to it.)
	34
	35	When you've finished editing the buffer, type `C-x #'
	36	(`server-edit'). This saves the file and sends a message back to the
	37	`emacsclient' program telling it to exit. The programs that use
	38	`EDITOR' wait for the "editor" (actually, `emacsclient') to exit. `C-x
	39	#' also checks for other pending external requests to edit various
	40	files, and selects the next such file.
	41
	42	If you set the variable `server-window' to a window or a frame, `C-x
	43	#' displays the server buffer in that window or in that frame.
	44
	45	.SH OPTIONS
	46	The programs follow the usual GNU command line syntax, with long
	47	options starting with two dashes (`-').
	48	.TP
	49	.B \-n, \-\-no-wait
	50	returns
	51	immediately without waiting for you to "finish" the buffer in Emacs.
a1784ba2 SM	52	.TP
	53	.B \-e, \-\-eval
	54	do not visit files but instead evaluate the arguments as Emacs
	55	Lisp expressions.
	56	.TP
	57	.B \-a, \-\-alternate-editor=EDITOR
	58	if the Emacs server is not running, run the specified editor instead.
	59	This can also be specified via the `ALTERNATE_EDITOR' environment variable.
	60	.TP
	61	.B \-d, \-\-display=DISPLAY
	62	tell the server to display the files on the given display.
a933dad1 DL	63	.SH "SEE ALSO"
	64	The program is documented fully in
	65	.IR "Using Emacs as a Server"
	66	available via the Info system.
	67	.SH BUGS
	68	If there is no running Emacs server,
	69	.B emacsclient
	70	cannot launch one. I use a small Perl script instead of raw
	71	.B emacsclient
	72	to do it (it works only with systems which have BSD sockets, which is fine
	73	for Debian GNU/Linux).
	74	.SH AUTHOR
	75	This manual page was written by Stephane Bortzmeyer <bortzmeyer@debian.org>,
	76	for the Debian GNU/Linux system (but may be used by others).
716d48ed EZ	77	.SH COPYING
716d48ed EZ	78	This manual page is in the public domain.
ab5796a9 MB	79
ab5796a9 MB	80	.\" arch-tag: 2b35e723-b197-4073-8752-231bc8b3d3f3