Commit | Line | Data |
---|---|---|
6bf7aab6 | 1 | @c This is part of the Emacs manual. |
b65d8176 | 2 | @c Copyright (C) 1985, 1986, 1987, 1993, 1994, 1995, 2002, 2003, 2004, |
8d99e09d | 3 | @c 2005, 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc. |
6bf7aab6 DL |
4 | @c See file emacs.texi for copying conditions. |
5 | @node Entering Emacs, Exiting, Text Characters, Top | |
6 | @chapter Entering and Exiting Emacs | |
7 | @cindex entering Emacs | |
177c0ea7 | 8 | @cindex starting Emacs |
6bf7aab6 | 9 | |
708bf232 RS |
10 | The usual way to invoke Emacs is with the shell command |
11 | @command{emacs}. Emacs clears the screen and then displays an initial | |
12 | help message and copyright notice. Some operating systems discard all | |
13 | type-ahead when Emacs starts up; they give Emacs no way to prevent | |
14 | this. If you ever use those systems, learn the habit of waiting for | |
15 | Emacs to clear the screen before typing your first editing command. | |
6bf7aab6 DL |
16 | |
17 | If you run Emacs from a shell window under the X Window System, run it | |
60a96371 | 18 | in the background with @command{emacs&}. This way, Emacs does not tie up |
6bf7aab6 DL |
19 | the shell window, so you can use that to run other shell commands while |
20 | Emacs operates its own X windows. You can begin typing Emacs commands | |
21 | as soon as you direct your keyboard input to the Emacs frame. | |
22 | ||
23 | @vindex initial-major-mode | |
1f7ebf7c | 24 | When Emacs starts up, it creates a buffer named @samp{*scratch*}. |
708bf232 RS |
25 | That's the buffer you start out in. The @samp{*scratch*} buffer uses |
26 | Lisp Interaction mode; you can use it to type Lisp expressions and | |
27 | evaluate them, or you can ignore that capability and just write notes | |
28 | in it. (You can specify a different major mode for this buffer by | |
29 | setting the variable @code{initial-major-mode} in your init file. | |
30 | @xref{Init File}.) | |
6bf7aab6 DL |
31 | |
32 | It is possible to specify files to be visited, Lisp files to be | |
33 | loaded, and functions to be called, by giving Emacs arguments in the | |
b4e112e7 | 34 | shell command line. @xref{Emacs Invocation}. But we don't recommend |
6bf7aab6 DL |
35 | doing this. The feature exists mainly for compatibility with other |
36 | editors. | |
37 | ||
38 | Many other editors are designed to be started afresh each time you | |
39 | want to edit. You edit one file and then exit the editor. The next | |
40 | time you want to edit either another file or the same one, you must run | |
41 | the editor again. With these editors, it makes sense to use a | |
42 | command-line argument to say which file to edit. | |
43 | ||
44 | But starting a new Emacs each time you want to edit a different file | |
1db81533 RS |
45 | does not make sense. This would fail to take advantage of Emacs's |
46 | ability to visit more than one file in a single editing session, and | |
47 | it would lose the other accumulated context, such as the kill ring, | |
48 | registers, undo history, and mark ring, that are useful for operating | |
708bf232 | 49 | on multiple files or even one. |
6bf7aab6 DL |
50 | |
51 | The recommended way to use GNU Emacs is to start it only once, just | |
52 | after you log in, and do all your editing in the same Emacs session. | |
53 | Each time you want to edit a different file, you visit it with the | |
54 | existing Emacs, which eventually comes to have many files in it ready | |
55 | for editing. Usually you do not kill the Emacs until you are about to | |
56 | log out. @xref{Files}, for more information on visiting more than one | |
57 | file. | |
58 | ||
9f1cc7eb RS |
59 | If you want to edit a file from another program and already have |
60 | Emacs running, you can use the @command{emacsclient} program to open a | |
61 | file in the already running Emacs. @xref{Emacs Server}, for more | |
62 | information on editing files with Emacs from other programs. | |
63 | ||
6cca5de0 LT |
64 | @ifnottex |
65 | @raisesections | |
66 | @end ifnottex | |
67 | ||
6bf7aab6 DL |
68 | @node Exiting, Basic, Entering Emacs, Top |
69 | @section Exiting Emacs | |
70 | @cindex exiting | |
71 | @cindex killing Emacs | |
72 | @cindex suspending | |
73 | @cindex leaving Emacs | |
74 | @cindex quitting Emacs | |
75 | ||
1db81533 RS |
76 | There are two commands for exiting Emacs because there are three |
77 | kinds of exiting: @dfn{suspending} Emacs, @dfn{Iconifying} Emacs, and | |
78 | @dfn{killing} Emacs. | |
6bf7aab6 DL |
79 | |
80 | @dfn{Suspending} means stopping Emacs temporarily and returning | |
81 | control to its parent process (usually a shell), allowing you to resume | |
82 | editing later in the same Emacs job, with the same buffers, same kill | |
1db81533 RS |
83 | ring, same undo history, and so on. This is the usual way to exit Emacs |
84 | when running on a text terminal. | |
85 | ||
86 | @dfn{Iconifying} means replacing the Emacs frame with a small box | |
87 | somewhere on the screen. This is the usual way to exit Emacs when you're | |
708bf232 RS |
88 | using a graphics terminal---if you bother to ``exit'' at all. (Just switching |
89 | to another application is usually sufficient.) | |
6bf7aab6 DL |
90 | |
91 | @dfn{Killing} Emacs means destroying the Emacs job. You can run Emacs | |
92 | again later, but you will get a fresh Emacs; there is no way to resume | |
93 | the same editing session after it has been killed. | |
94 | ||
95 | @table @kbd | |
96 | @item C-z | |
97 | Suspend Emacs (@code{suspend-emacs}) or iconify a frame | |
98 | (@code{iconify-or-deiconify-frame}). | |
99 | @item C-x C-c | |
100 | Kill Emacs (@code{save-buffers-kill-emacs}). | |
101 | @end table | |
102 | ||
103 | @kindex C-z | |
104 | @findex suspend-emacs | |
1db81533 | 105 | To suspend or iconify Emacs, type @kbd{C-z} (@code{suspend-emacs}). |
708bf232 | 106 | On text terminals, this suspends Emacs. On graphical displays, |
1db81533 RS |
107 | it iconifies the Emacs frame. |
108 | ||
109 | Suspending Emacs takes you back to the shell from which you invoked | |
110 | Emacs. You can resume Emacs with the shell command @command{%emacs} | |
111 | in most common shells. On systems that don't support suspending | |
112 | programs, @kbd{C-z} starts an inferior shell that communicates | |
708bf232 | 113 | directly with the terminal, and Emacs waits until you exit the subshell. |
1db81533 RS |
114 | (The way to do that is probably with @kbd{C-d} or @command{exit}, but |
115 | it depends on which shell you use.) The only way on these systems to | |
116 | get back to the shell from which Emacs was run (to log out, for | |
117 | example) is to kill Emacs. | |
118 | ||
119 | Suspending can fail if you run Emacs under a shell that doesn't | |
120 | support suspending programs, even if the system itself does support | |
121 | it. In such a case, you can set the variable @code{cannot-suspend} to | |
122 | a non-@code{nil} value to force @kbd{C-z} to start an inferior shell. | |
6bf7aab6 | 123 | (One might also describe Emacs's parent shell as ``inferior'' for |
1db81533 RS |
124 | failing to support job control properly, but that is a matter of |
125 | taste.) | |
126 | ||
708bf232 | 127 | On graphical displays, @kbd{C-z} has a different meaning: it runs |
1db81533 RS |
128 | the command @code{iconify-or-deiconify-frame}, which temporarily |
129 | iconifies (or ``minimizes'') the selected Emacs frame | |
130 | (@pxref{Frames}). Then you can use the window manager to get back to | |
131 | a shell window. | |
6bf7aab6 DL |
132 | |
133 | @kindex C-x C-c | |
134 | @findex save-buffers-kill-emacs | |
1f7ebf7c RS |
135 | To exit and kill Emacs, type @kbd{C-x C-c} |
136 | (@code{save-buffers-kill-emacs}). A two-character key is used for | |
137 | this to make it harder to type by accident. This command first offers | |
138 | to save any modified file-visiting buffers. If you do not save them | |
139 | all, it asks for reconfirmation with @kbd{yes} before killing Emacs, | |
140 | since any changes not saved will be lost forever. Also, if any | |
141 | subprocesses are still running, @kbd{C-x C-c} asks for confirmation | |
142 | about them, since killing Emacs will also kill the subprocesses. | |
6bf7aab6 | 143 | |
e020c833 EZ |
144 | @vindex confirm-kill-emacs |
145 | If the value of the variable @code{confirm-kill-emacs} is | |
146 | non-@code{nil}, @kbd{C-x C-c} assumes that its value is a predicate | |
147 | function, and calls that function. If the result is non-@code{nil}, the | |
148 | session is killed, otherwise Emacs continues to run. One convenient | |
149 | function to use as the value of @code{confirm-kill-emacs} is the | |
150 | function @code{yes-or-no-p}. The default value of | |
151 | @code{confirm-kill-emacs} is @code{nil}. | |
152 | ||
1f7ebf7c | 153 | There is no way to resume an Emacs session once you have killed it. |
6bf7aab6 | 154 | You can, however, arrange for Emacs to record certain session |
1f7ebf7c RS |
155 | information when you kill it, such as which files are visited, so that |
156 | the next time you start Emacs it will try to visit the same files and | |
6bf7aab6 DL |
157 | so on. @xref{Saving Emacs Sessions}. |
158 | ||
159 | The operating system usually listens for certain special characters | |
160 | whose meaning is to kill or suspend the program you are running. | |
161 | @b{This operating system feature is turned off while you are in Emacs.} | |
162 | The meanings of @kbd{C-z} and @kbd{C-x C-c} as keys in Emacs were | |
163 | inspired by the use of @kbd{C-z} and @kbd{C-c} on several operating | |
164 | systems as the characters for stopping or killing a program, but that is | |
165 | their only relationship with the operating system. You can customize | |
166 | these keys to run any commands of your choice (@pxref{Keymaps}). | |
ab5796a9 | 167 | |
6cca5de0 LT |
168 | @ifnottex |
169 | @lowersections | |
170 | @end ifnottex | |
171 | ||
ab5796a9 MB |
172 | @ignore |
173 | arch-tag: df798d8b-f253-4113-b585-f528f078a944 | |
174 | @end ignore |