emacs - Man Page

The following options are of general interest:

file

Edit file.

--file=file, --find-file=file, --visit=file

The same as specifying file directly as an argument.

+number

Go to the line specified by number (do not insert a space between the "+" sign and the number). This applies only to the next file specified.

+line:column

Go to the specified line and column.

--chdir=directory

Change to directory.

-q, --no-init-file

Do not load an init file.

-nl, --no-shared-memory

Do not use shared memory.

--no-site-file

Do not load the site-wide startup file.

-nsl, --no-site-lisp

Do not add site-lisp directories to load-path.

--no-desktop

Do not load a saved desktop.

-Q, --quick

Similar to "-q --no-site-file --no-splash".  Also, avoid processing X resources.

--no-splash

Do not display a splash screen during start-up.

--debug-init

Enable Emacs Lisp debugger during the processing of the user init file ~/.emacs. This is useful for debugging problems in the init file.

-u user, --user=user

Load user's init file.

--init-directory=directory

Start emacs with user-emacs-directory set to directory.

-t file, --terminal=file

Use specified file as the terminal instead of using stdin/stdout. This must be the first argument specified in the command line.

--daemon[=name], --bg-daemon[=name]

Start Emacs as a daemon, enabling the Emacs server and disconnecting from the terminal.  You can then use the emacsclient (see emacsclient(1)) command to connect to the server (with optional name).

--fg-daemon[=name]

Like "--bg-daemon", but don't disconnect from the terminal.

--version

Display Emacs version information and exit.

--help

Display this help and exit.

The following options are Lisp-oriented (these options are processed in the order encountered):

-f function, --funcall=function

Execute the lisp function function.

-l file, --load=file

Load the lisp code in the file file.

--eval=expr, --execute=expr

Evaluate the Lisp expression expr.

The following options are useful when running Emacs as a batch editor:

--batch

Edit in batch mode. The editor will send messages to stderr. You must use -l and -f options to specify files to execute and functions to call.

--script file

Run file as an Emacs Lisp script.

--insert=file

Insert contents of file into the current buffer.

--kill

Exit Emacs while in batch mode.

-L dir, --directory=dir

Add dir to the list of directories Emacs searches for Lisp files.

Emacs has been tailored to work well with the X Window System. If you run Emacs from under X windows, it will create its own X window to display in. You will probably want to start the editor as a background process so that you can continue using your original window.

Emacs can be started with the following X switches:

--name=name

Specify the name which should be assigned to the initial Emacs window. This controls looking up X resources as well as the window title.

--no-x-resources

Do not load X resources.

-T name, --title=name

Specify the title for the initial X window.

-r,  -rv,  --reverse-video

Display the Emacs window in reverse video.

-fn font, --font=font

Set the Emacs window's font to that specified by font. You will find the various X fonts in the /usr/lib/X11/fonts directory. Note that Emacs will only accept fixed width fonts. Under the X11 Release 4 font-naming conventions, any font with the value "m" or "c" in the eleventh field of the font name is a fixed width font. Furthermore, fonts whose name are of the form widthxheight are generally fixed width, as is the font fixed. See xlsfonts(1) for more information.

When you specify a font, be sure to put a space between the switch and the font name.

--xrm=resources

Set additional X resources.

--color, --color=mode

Override color mode for character terminals; mode defaults to "auto", and can also be "never", "auto", "always", or a mode name like "ansi8".

-bw pixels, --border-width=pixels

Set the Emacs window's border width to the number of pixels specified by pixels. Defaults to one pixel on each side of the window.

-ib pixels, --internal-border=pixels

Set the window's internal border width to the number of pixels specified by pixels. Defaults to one pixel of padding on each side of the window.

-g geometry, --geometry=geometry

Set the Emacs window's width, height, and position as specified. The geometry specification is in the standard X format; see X(7) for more information. The width and height are specified in characters; the default for GUI frames is a width of 80 and a height between 35 and 40, depending on the OS and the window manager. See the Emacs manual, section "Options for Window Size and Position", for information on how window sizes interact with selecting or deselecting the tool bar, tab bar and menu bar.

-lsp pixels, --line-spacing=pixels

Additional space to put between lines.

-vb,  --vertical-scroll-bars

Enable vertical scrollbars.

-fh,  --fullheight

Make the first frame as high as the screen.

-fs,  --fullscreen

Make the first frame fullscreen.

-fw,  --fullwidth

Make the first frame as wide as the screen.

-mm,  --maximized

Maximize the first frame, like "-fw -fh".

-fg color, --foreground-color=color

On color displays, set the color of the text.

Use the command M-x list-colors-display for a list of valid color names.

-bg color, --background-color=color

On color displays, set the color of the window's background.

-bd color, --border-color=color

On color displays, set the color of the window's border.

-cr color, --cursor-color=color

On color displays, set the color of the window's text cursor.

-ms color, --mouse-color=color

On color displays, set the color of the window's mouse cursor.

-d displayname, --display=displayname

Create the Emacs window on the display specified by displayname. Must be the first option specified in the command line.

-nbi,  --no-bitmap-icon

Do not use picture of gnu for Emacs icon.

--iconic

Start Emacs in iconified state.

-nbc,  --no-blinking-cursor

Disable blinking cursor.

--parent-id=xid

Set parent window.

-nw,  --no-window-system

Tell Emacs not to create a graphical frame. If you use this switch when invoking Emacs from an xterm(1) window, display is done in that window.

-D,  --basic-display

This option disables many display features; use it for debugging Emacs.

You can set X default values for your Emacs windows in your .Xresources file (see xrdb(1)). Use the following format:

emacs.keyword:value

where value specifies the default value of keyword. Emacs lets you set default values for the following keywords:

background (class Background)

For color displays, sets the window's background color.

bitmapIcon (class BitmapIcon)

If bitmapIcon's value is set to on, the window will iconify into the "kitchen sink."

borderColor (class BorderColor)

For color displays, sets the color of the window's border.

borderWidth (class BorderWidth)

Sets the window's border width in pixels.

cursorColor (class Foreground)

For color displays, sets the color of the window's text cursor.

cursorBlink (class CursorBlink)

Specifies whether to make the cursor blink. The default is on. Use off or false to turn cursor blinking off.

font (class Font)

Sets the window's text font.

foreground (class Foreground)

For color displays, sets the window's text color.

fullscreen (class Fullscreen)

The desired fullscreen size. The value can be one of fullboth, maximized, fullwidth, or fullheight, which correspond to the command-line options "-fs", "-mm", "-fw", and "-fh", respectively. Note that this applies to the initial frame only.

geometry (class Geometry)

Sets the geometry of the Emacs window (as described above).

iconName (class Title)

Sets the icon name for the Emacs window icon.

internalBorder (class BorderWidth)

Sets the window's internal border width in pixels.

lineSpacing (class LineSpacing)

Additional space ("leading") between lines, in pixels.

menuBar (class MenuBar)

Gives frames menu bars if on; don't have menu bars if off. See the Emacs manual, sections "Lucid Resources" and "Motif Resources", for how to control the appearance of the menu bar if you have one.

minibuffer (class Minibuffer)

If none, don't make a minibuffer in this frame. It will use a separate minibuffer frame instead.

paneFont (class Font)

Font name for menu pane titles, in non-toolkit versions of Emacs.

pointerColor (class Foreground)

For color displays, sets the color of the window's mouse cursor.

privateColormap (class PrivateColormap)

If on, use a private color map, in the case where the "default visual" of class PseudoColor and Emacs is using it.

reverseVideo (class ReverseVideo)

If reverseVideo's value is set to on, the window will be displayed in reverse video.

screenGamma (class ScreenGamma)

Gamma correction for colors, equivalent to the frame parameter "screen-gamma".

scrollBarWidth (class ScrollBarWidth)

The scroll bar width in pixels, equivalent to the frame parameter "scroll-bar-width".

selectionFont (class SelectionFont)

Font name for pop-up menu items, in non-toolkit versions of Emacs. (For toolkit versions, see the Emacs manual, sections "Lucid Resources" and "Motif Resources".)

selectionTimeout (class SelectionTimeout)

Number of milliseconds to wait for a selection reply. A value of 0 means wait as long as necessary.

synchronous (class Synchronous)

Run Emacs in synchronous mode if on. Synchronous mode is useful for debugging X problems.

title (class Title)

Sets the title of the Emacs window.

toolBar (class ToolBar)

Number of lines to reserve for the tool bar.

tabBar (class TabBar)

Number of lines to reserve for the tab bar.

useXIM (class UseXIM)

Turns off use of X input methods (XIM) if false or off.

verticalScrollBars (class ScrollBars)

Gives frames scroll bars if on; suppresses scroll bars if off.

visualClass (class VisualClass)

Specify the "visual" that X should use. This tells X how to handle colors. The value should start with one of TrueColor, PseudoColor, DirectColor, StaticColor, GrayScale, and StaticGray, followed by -depth, where depth is the number of color planes.