@c This is part of the Emacs manual.
-@c Copyright (C) 1985, 1986, 1987, 1993, 1994, 1995 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+@c Copyright (C) 1985, 1986, 1987, 1993, 1994, 1995, 2002, 2003, 2004,
+@c 2005, 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
@c See file emacs.texi for copying conditions.
@node Entering Emacs, Exiting, Text Characters, Top
@chapter Entering and Exiting Emacs
@cindex entering Emacs
-@cindex starting Emacs
+@cindex starting Emacs
- The usual way to invoke Emacs is with the shell command @command{emacs}.
-Emacs clears the screen and then displays an initial help message and
-copyright notice. Some operating systems discard all type-ahead when
-Emacs starts up; they give Emacs no way to prevent this. Therefore, it
-is advisable to wait until Emacs clears the screen before typing your
-first editing command.
+ The usual way to invoke Emacs is with the shell command
+@command{emacs}. Emacs clears the screen and then displays an initial
+help message and copyright notice. Some operating systems discard all
+type-ahead when Emacs starts up; they give Emacs no way to prevent
+this. If you ever use those systems, learn the habit of waiting for
+Emacs to clear the screen before typing your first editing command.
If you run Emacs from a shell window under the X Window System, run it
in the background with @command{emacs&}. This way, Emacs does not tie up
as soon as you direct your keyboard input to the Emacs frame.
@vindex initial-major-mode
- When Emacs starts up, it makes 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, or you can ignore that capability and simply doodle. (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}.)
+ 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, or you can ignore that capability and just write notes
+in it. (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, by giving Emacs arguments in the
-shell command line. @xref{Command Arguments}. But we don't recommend
+shell command line. @xref{Emacs Invocation}. But we don't recommend
doing this. The feature exists mainly for compatibility with other
editors.
command-line argument to say which file to edit.
But starting a new Emacs each time you want to edit a different file
-does not make sense. For one thing, this would be annoyingly slow.
-For another, this would fail to take advantage of Emacs's ability to
-visit more than one file in a single editing session. And it would
-lose the other accumulated context, such as the kill ring, registers,
-undo history, and mark ring.
+does not make sense. This would fail to take advantage of Emacs's
+ability to visit more than one file in a single editing session, and
+it would lose the other accumulated context, such as the kill ring,
+registers, undo history, and mark ring, that are useful for operating
+on multiple files or even one.
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.
log out. @xref{Files}, for more information on visiting more than one
file.
+ If you want to edit a file from another program and already have
+Emacs running, you can use the @command{emacsclient} program to open a
+file in the already running Emacs. @xref{Emacs Server}, for more
+information on editing files with Emacs from other programs.
+
+@ifnottex
+@raisesections
+@end ifnottex
+
@node Exiting, Basic, Entering Emacs, Top
@section Exiting Emacs
@cindex exiting
@cindex leaving Emacs
@cindex quitting Emacs
- There are two commands for exiting Emacs because there are two kinds
-of exiting: @dfn{suspending} Emacs and @dfn{killing} Emacs.
+ There are two commands for exiting Emacs because there are three
+kinds of exiting: @dfn{suspending} Emacs, @dfn{Iconifying} Emacs, and
+@dfn{killing} Emacs.
@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, with the same buffers, same kill
-ring, same undo history, and so on. This is the usual way to exit.
+ring, same undo history, and so on. This is the usual way to exit Emacs
+when running on a text terminal.
+
+ @dfn{Iconifying} means replacing the Emacs frame with a small box
+somewhere on the screen. This is the usual way to exit Emacs when you're
+using a graphics terminal---if you bother to ``exit'' at all. (Just switching
+to another application is usually sufficient.)
@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
@kindex C-z
@findex suspend-emacs
- To suspend Emacs, type @kbd{C-z} (@code{suspend-emacs}). This 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 do not support suspending programs, @kbd{C-z} starts
-an inferior shell that communicates directly with the terminal.
-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.) The only way on these systems to get back to the shell from
-which Emacs was run (to log out, for example) is to kill Emacs.
-
- Suspending also fails if you run Emacs under a shell that doesn't
-support suspending programs, 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.
+ To suspend or iconify Emacs, type @kbd{C-z} (@code{suspend-emacs}).
+On text terminals, this suspends Emacs. On graphical displays,
+it iconifies the Emacs frame.
+
+ 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.) The only way on these systems to
+get back to the shell from which Emacs was run (to log out, for
+example) is to kill Emacs.
+
+ Suspending can fail if you run Emacs under a shell that doesn't
+support suspending programs, 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.
(One might also describe Emacs's parent shell as ``inferior'' for
-failing to support job control properly, but that is a matter of taste.)
+failing to support job control properly, but that is a matter of
+taste.)
- When Emacs communicates directly with an X server and creates its own
-dedicated X windows, @kbd{C-z} has a different meaning. Suspending an
-application that uses its own X windows is not meaningful or useful.
-Instead, @kbd{C-z} runs the command @code{iconify-or-deiconify-frame},
-which temporarily closes up the selected Emacs frame (@pxref{Frames}).
-The way to get back to a shell window is with the window manager.
+ On graphical displays, @kbd{C-z} has a different meaning: it runs
+the command @code{iconify-or-deiconify-frame}, which temporarily
+iconifies (or ``minimizes'') the selected Emacs frame
+(@pxref{Frames}). Then you can use the window manager to get back to
+a shell window.
@kindex C-x C-c
@findex save-buffers-kill-emacs
- To kill Emacs, type @kbd{C-x C-c} (@code{save-buffers-kill-emacs}). A
-two-character key is used for this to make it harder to type. This
-command first offers to save any modified file-visiting buffers. If you
-do not save them all, it asks for reconfirmation with @kbd{yes} before
-killing Emacs, since any changes not saved 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 kill the subprocesses
-immediately.
-
- There is no way to restart an Emacs session once you have killed it.
+ To exit and kill Emacs, type @kbd{C-x C-c}
+(@code{save-buffers-kill-emacs}). A two-character key is used for
+this 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 reconfirmation with @kbd{yes} before killing Emacs,
+since any changes not saved 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.
+
+@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}.
+
+ There is no way to resume an Emacs session once you have killed it.
You can, however, arrange for Emacs to record certain session
-information, such as which files are visited, when you kill it, so that
-the next time you restart Emacs it will try to visit the same files and
+information when you kill it, such as which files are visited, so that
+the next time you start Emacs it will try to visit the same files and
so on. @xref{Saving Emacs Sessions}.
The operating system usually listens for certain special characters
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
+@end ifnottex
+
+@ignore
+ arch-tag: df798d8b-f253-4113-b585-f528f078a944
+@end ignore
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