nt/README.W32

   1 Copyright (C) 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010
   2   Free Software Foundation, Inc.
   3 See the end of the file for license conditions.
   4
   5                            Emacs for Windows
   6
   7   This README file describes how to set up and run a precompiled
   8   version of GNU Emacs for Windows.  This distribution can be found on
   9   the ftp.gnu.org server and its mirrors:
  10
  11         ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/emacs/windows/
  12
  13   This server contains other distributions, including the full Emacs
  14   source distribution and a barebin distribution which can be installed
  15   over it, as well as older releases of Emacs for Windows.
  16
  17   Answers to frequently asked questions, and further information about
  18   this port of GNU Emacs and related software packages can be found via
  19   http:
  20
  21         http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/windows/
  22
  23 * Preliminaries
  24
  25   Along with this file should be six subdirectories (bin, etc, info,
  26   lisp, leim, site-lisp).  If you have downloaded the barebin
  27   distribution, then it will contain only the bin directory and the
  28   built in documentation in etc/DOC-X, the rest of the subdirectories
  29   are in the src distribution, which the barebin distribution is
  30   designed to be used with.
  31
  32 * Setting up Emacs
  33
  34   To install Emacs, simply unpack all the files into a directory of
  35   your choice, but note that you might encounter minor problems if
  36   there is a space anywhere in the directory name.  To complete the
  37   installation process, you can optionally run the program addpm.exe
  38   in the bin subdirectory.  This will put an icon for Emacs in the
  39   Start Menu under "Start -> Programs -> Gnu Emacs".
  40
  41   Some users have reported that the Start Menu item is not created for
  42   them.  If this happens, just create your own shortcut to runemacs.exe,
  43   eg. by dragging it on to the desktop or the Start button.
  44
  45   Note that running addpm is now an optional step; Emacs is able to
  46   locate all of its files without needing any information to be set in
  47   the environment or the registry, although such settings will still
  48   be obeyed if present.  This is convenient for running Emacs on a
  49   machine which disallows registry changes, or on which software
  50   should not be installed.  For instance, you can now run Emacs
  51   directly from a CD or USB flash drive without copying or installing
  52   anything on the machine itself.
  53
  54 * Starting Emacs
  55
  56   To run Emacs, simply select Emacs from the Start Menu, or invoke
  57   runemacs.exe directly from Explorer or from a command prompt.  This
  58   will start Emacs in its default GUI mode, ready to use.  If you have
  59   never used Emacs before, you should follow the tutorial at this
  60   point (select Emacs Tutorial from the Help menu), since Emacs is
  61   quite different from ordinary Windows applications in many respects.
  62
  63   If you want to use Emacs in tty or character mode within a command
  64   window, you can start it by typing "emacs -nw" at the command prompt.
  65   (Obviously, you need to ensure that the Emacs bin subdirectory is in
  66   your PATH first, or specify the path to emacs.exe.)  The -nw
  67   (non-windowed) mode of operation is most useful if you have a telnet
  68   server on your machine, allowing you to run Emacs remotely.
  69
  70 * EXE files included
  71
  72   Emacs comes with the following executable files in the bin directory.
  73
  74   + emacs.exe - The main Emacs executable.  As this is designed to run
  75     as both a text-mode application (emacs -nw) and as a GUI application,
  76     it will pop up a command prompt window if run directly from Explorer.
  77
  78   + runemacs.exe - A wrapper for running Emacs as a GUI application
  79     without popping up a command prompt window.
  80
  81   + emacsclient.exe - A command-line client program that can
  82     communicate with a running Emacs process.  See the `Emacs Server'
  83     node of the Emacs manual.
  84
  85   + emacsclientw.exe - A version of emacsclient that does not open
  86     a command-line window.
  87
  88   + addpm.exe - A basic installer that creates Start Menu icons for Emacs.
  89     Running this is optional.
  90
  91   + cmdproxy.exe - Used internally by Emacs to work around problems with
  92     the native shells in various versions of Windows.
  93
  94   + ctags.exe, etags.exe - Tools for generating tag files.  See the
  95     `Tags' node of the Emacs manual.
  96
  97   + ebrowse.exe - A tool for generating C++ browse information.  See the
  98     `Ebrowse' manual.
  99
 100   + ddeclient.exe - A tool for interacting with DDE servers.
 101
 102   + hexl.exe - A tool for converting files to hex dumps.  See the
 103     `Editing Binary Files' node of the Emacs manual.
 104
 105   + movemail.exe - A helper application for safely moving mail from
 106     a mail spool or POP server to a local user mailbox.  See the
 107     `Movemail' node of the Emacs manual.
 108
 109   + digest-doc.exe, sorted-doc.exe - Tools for rebuilding the
 110     built-in documentation.
 111
 112 * Image support
 113
 114   Emacs has built in support for XBM and PPM/PGM/PBM images, and the
 115   libXpm library is bundled, providing XPM support (required for color
 116   toolbar icons and splash screen).  Source for libXpm should be available
 117   on the same place as you got this binary distribution from.  The version
 118   of libXpm bundled with this version of Emacs is 3.5.7, based on x.org's
 119   libXpm library from X11R7.3.
 120
 121   Emacs can also support some other image formats with appropriate
 122   libraries.  These libraries are all available as part of GTK, or from
 123   gnuwin32.sourceforge.net.  Emacs will find them if the directory they
 124   are installed in is on the PATH.
 125
 126       PNG: requires the PNG reference library 1.2 or later, which will
 127       be named libpng13d.dll, libpng13.dll, libpng12d.dll, libpng12.dll
 128       or libpng.dll.  LibPNG requires zlib, which should come from the same
 129       source as you got libpng.
 130
 131       JPEG: requires the Independant JPEG Group's libjpeg 6b or later,
 132       which will be called jpeg62.dll, libjpeg.dll, jpeg-62.dll or jpeg.dll.
 133
 134       TIFF: requires libTIFF 3.0 or later, which will be called libtiff3.dll
 135       or libtiff.dll.
 136
 137       GIF: requires libungif or giflib 4.1 or later, which will be
 138       called giflib4.dll, libungif4.dll or libungif.dll.
 139
 140    In addition, Emacs can be compiled to support SVG.  This precompiled
 141    distribution has not been compiled that way, since the SVG library
 142    or one or more of its extensive dependencies appear to be
 143    unreliable under Windows.  See nt/INSTALL in the src distribution if
 144    you wish to compile Emacs with SVG support.
 145
 146 * Uninstalling Emacs
 147
 148   If you should need to uninstall Emacs, simply delete all the files
 149   and subdirectories from the directory where it was unpacked (Emacs
 150   does not install or update any files in system directories or
 151   anywhere else).  If you ran the addpm.exe program to create the
 152   registry entries and the Start menu icon, then you can remove the
 153   registry entries using regedit.  All of the settings are written
 154   under the Software\GNU\Emacs key in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, or if you
 155   didn't have administrator privileges when you installed, the same
 156   key in HKEY_CURRENT_USER.  Just delete the whole Software\GNU\Emacs
 157   key.
 158
 159   The Start menu entry can be removed by right-clicking on the Task bar
 160   and selecting Properties, then using the Remove option on the Start
 161   Menu Programs page.  (If you installed under an account with
 162   administrator privileges, then you need to click the Advanced button
 163   and look for the Gnu Emacs menu item under All Users.)
 164
 165 * Troubleshooting
 166
 167   Unpacking the distributions
 168
 169   If you encounter trouble trying to run Emacs, there are a number of
 170   possible causes.  Check the following for indications that the
 171   distribution was not corrupted by the tools used to unpack it:
 172
 173     * Be sure to disable CR/LF translation or the executables will
 174       be unusable.  Older versions of WinZipNT would enable this
 175       translation by default.  If you are using WinZipNT, disable it.
 176       (I don't have WinZipNT myself, and I do not know the specific
 177       commands necessary to disable it.)
 178
 179     * Check that filenames were not truncated to 8.3.  For example,
 180       there should be a file lisp\abbrevlist.elc; if this has been
 181       truncated to abbrevli.elc, your distribution has been corrupted
 182       while unpacking and Emacs will not start.
 183
 184   If you believe you have unpacked the distributions correctly and are
 185   still encountering problems, see the section on Further Information
 186   below.
 187
 188   Virus scanners
 189
 190   Some virus scanners interfere with Emacs' use of subprocesses.  If you
 191   are unable to use subprocesses and you use Dr. Solomon's WinGuard or
 192   McAfee's Vshield, turn off "Scan all files" (WinGuard) or "boot sector
 193   scanning" (McAfee exclusion properties).
 194
 195 * Further information
 196
 197   If you have access to the World Wide Web, I would recommend pointing
 198   your favorite web browser to the following document (if you haven't
 199   already):
 200
 201         http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/windows/
 202
 203   This document serves as an FAQ and a source for further information
 204   about the Windows port and related software packages.
 205
 206   In addition to the FAQ, there is a mailing list for discussing issues
 207   related to the Windows port of Emacs.  For information about the
 208   list, see this Web page:
 209
 210         http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/help-emacs-windows
 211
 212   To ask questions on the mailing list, send email to
 213   help-emacs-windows@gnu.org.  (You don't need to subscribe for that.)
 214   To subscribe to the list or unsubscribe from it, fill the form you
 215   find at http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/help-emacs-windows as
 216   explained there.
 217
 218   Another valuable source of information and help which should not be
 219   overlooked is the various Usenet news groups dedicated to Emacs.
 220   These are particularly good for help with general issues which aren't
 221   specific to the Windows port of Emacs.  The main news groups to use
 222   for seeking help are:
 223
 224         gnu.emacs.help
 225         comp.emacs
 226
 227   There are also fairly regular postings and announcements of new or
 228   updated Emacs packages on this group:
 229
 230         gnu.emacs.sources
 231
 232 * Reporting bugs
 233
 234   If you encounter a bug in this port of Emacs, we would like to hear
 235   about it.  First check the FAQ on the web page above to see if the bug
 236   is already known and if there are any workarounds.  Then check whether
 237   the bug has something to do with code in your .emacs file, e.g. by
 238   invoking Emacs with the "-Q" option.
 239
 240   If you decide that it is a bug in Emacs, use the built in bug
 241   reporting facility to report it (from the menu; Help -> Send Bug Report).
 242   If you have not yet configured Emacs for mail, then when you press
 243   C-c C-c to send the report, it will ask you to paste the text of the
 244   report into your mail client.  If the bug is related to subprocesses,
 245   also specify which shell you are using (e.g., include the values of
 246   `shell-file-name' and `explicit-shell-file-name' in your message).
 247
 248   Enjoy!
 249
 250 \f
 251 This file is part of GNU Emacs.
 252
 253 GNU Emacs is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
 254 it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
 255 the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
 256 (at your option) any later version.
 257
 258 GNU Emacs is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
 259 but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
 260 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
 261 GNU General Public License for more details.
 262
 263 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 264 along with GNU Emacs.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.