1 @node Command Switches, Startup Paths, Exiting, Top
2 @section Command Line Switches and Arguments
3 @cindex command line arguments
4 @cindex arguments (from shell)
6 SXEmacs supports command line arguments you can use to request
7 various actions when invoking SXEmacs. The commands are for compatibility
8 with other editors and for sophisticated activities. If you are using
9 SXEmacs under the X window system, you can also use a number of
10 standard Xt command line arguments. Command line arguments are not usually
11 needed for editing with SXEmacs; new users can skip this section.
13 Many editors are designed to be started afresh each time you want to
14 edit. You start the editor to edit one file; then exit the editor. The
15 next time you want to edit either another file or the same one, you
16 start the editor again. Under these circumstances, it makes sense to use a
17 command line argument to say which file to edit.
19 The recommended way to use SXEmacs is to start it only once, just
20 after you log in, and do all your editing in the same SXEmacs process.
21 Each time you want to edit a file, you visit it using the existing
22 SXEmacs. SXEmacs creates a new buffer for each file, and (unless you kill
23 some of the buffers) SXEmacs eventually has many files in it ready for
24 editing. Usually you do not kill the SXEmacs process until you are about
25 to log out. Since you usually read files by typing commands to SXEmacs,
26 command line arguments for specifying a file when SXEmacs is started are seldom
29 SXEmacs accepts command-line arguments that specify files to visit,
30 functions to call, and other activities and operating modes. If you
31 are running SXEmacs under the X window system, a number of standard Xt
32 command line arguments are available, as well as a few X parameters
33 that are SXEmacs-specific.
35 Options with long names with a single initial hyphen are also
36 recognized with the GNU double initial hyphen syntax. (The reverse
39 The following subsections list:
42 Command line arguments that you can always use
44 Command line arguments that have to appear at the beginning of the
47 Command line arguments that are only relevant if you are running SXEmacs
51 @subsection Command Line Arguments for Any Position
52 Command line arguments are processed in the order they appear on the
53 command line; however, certain arguments (the ones in the
54 second table) must be at the front of the list if they are used.
56 Here are the arguments allowed:
60 Visit @var{file} using @code{find-file}. @xref{Visiting}.
62 @item +@var{linenum} @var{file}
63 Visit @var{file} using @code{find-file}, then go to line number
66 @item -load @var{file}
67 @itemx --load @var{file}
69 Load a file @var{file} of Lisp code with the function @code{load}.
70 @xref{Lisp Libraries}.
72 @item -funcall @var{function}
73 @itemx --funcall @var{function}
74 @itemx -f @var{function}
75 Call Lisp function @var{function} with no arguments.
77 @item -eval @var{function}
78 @itemx --eval @var{function}
79 @itemx -e @var{function}
80 Interpret the next argument as a Lisp expression, and evaluate it.
81 You must be very careful of the shell quoting here.
83 @item -insert @var{file}
84 @itemx --insert @var{file}
86 Insert the contents of @var{file} into the current buffer. This is like
87 what @kbd{M-x insert-buffer} does; @xref{Misc File Ops}.
91 Exit from SXEmacs without asking for confirmation. Always the last
92 argument processed, no matter where it appears in the command line.
97 Prints version information. This implies @samp{-batch}.
101 SXEmacs: v22.1.15-131-gccf396e, built Sun May 10 07:40:48 2015 on bastard.steveyoungs.com
107 Prints a summary of command-line options and then exits.
110 @subsection Command Line Arguments (Beginning of Line Only)
111 The following arguments are recognized only at the beginning of the
112 command line. If more than one of them appears, they must appear in the
113 order in which they appear in this table.
117 @itemx --show-dump-id
119 Print the ID for the new portable dumper's dump file on the terminal and
120 exit. (Prints an error message and exits if SXEmacs was not configured
124 @itemx --no-dump-file
126 Don't load the dump file. Roughly equivalent to old temacs. (Ignored if
127 SXEmacs was not configured @samp{--pdump}.)
129 @item -terminal @var{file}
130 @itemx --terminal @var{file}
132 Use @var{file} instead of the terminal for input and output. This
133 implies the @samp{-nw} option, documented below.
138 Run SXEmacs in @dfn{batch mode}, which means that the text being edited is
139 not displayed and the standard Unix interrupt characters such as
140 @kbd{C-z} and @kbd{C-c} continue to have their normal effect. SXEmacs in
141 batch mode outputs to @code{stderr} only what would normally be printed
142 in the echo area under program control.
144 Batch mode is used for running programs written in SXEmacs Lisp from shell
145 scripts, makefiles, and so on. Normally the @samp{-l} switch or
146 @samp{-f} switch will be used as well, to invoke a Lisp program to do
147 the batch processing.
149 @samp{-batch} implies @samp{-q} (do not load an init file). It also
150 causes SXEmacs to kill itself after all command switches have been
151 processed. In addition, auto-saving is not done except in buffers for
152 which it has been explicitly requested.
157 Start up SXEmacs in TTY mode (using the TTY SXEmacs was started from),
158 rather than trying to connect to an X display. Note that this happens
159 automatically if the @samp{DISPLAY} environment variable is not set.
161 @item -color-terminal
162 @itemx --color-terminal
164 Tells SXEmacs to assume that any TTY frame should be colorized even
165 when the color support was not detected. The color support is of
166 the 8 color ANSI terminals. If color capabilities of the terminal
167 are detected those more accurate settings are used.
171 Enter the debugger if an error in the init file occurs.
175 Displays information on how SXEmacs constructs the various paths into its
176 hierarchy on startup. (See also @pxref{Startup Paths}.)
180 Do not map the initial frame. This is useful if you want to start up
181 SXEmacs as a server (e.g. for gnuserv screens or external client widgets).
184 @itemx --no-init-file
186 Do not load your SXEmacs init file. @xref{Init File}.
189 @itemx --no-site-file
190 Do not load the site-specific init file @file{lisp/site-start.el}.
193 @itemx --no-autoloads
194 Do not load global symbol files (@file{auto-autoloads}) at startup.
195 This implies @samp{-vanilla}.
197 @item -no-early-packages
198 @itemx --no-early-packages
199 Do not process early packages. (For more information on startup issues
200 concerning the package system, @xref{Startup Paths}.)
204 This is equivalent to @samp{-q -no-site-file -no-early-packages}.
206 @item -user-init-file @var{file}
207 @itemx --user-init-file @var{file}
208 Load @var{file} as your SXEmacs init file instead of the default
209 @file{$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/sxemacs/init.el}.
211 @item -user-init-directory @var{directory}
212 @itemx --user-init-directory @var{directory}
213 Use @var{directory} as the location of your initialization files.
215 @item -user-pkgs-directory @var{directory}
216 @itemx --user-pkgs-directory @var{directory}
217 Use @var{directory} as the location of your local,
218 @code{early-packages}, hierarchy instead of the
219 default. @file{@var{$XDG_DATA_HOME}/sxemacs}.
221 @item -user @var{user}
222 @itemx --user @var{user}
224 Attempt to load @var{user} init instead of your own. There is no
225 privilege escalation going on, the SXEmacs process is still owned by
226 you, not @var{user}. In fact, using this option is often hindered by
227 file and directory permissions. YMMV. @xref{Init File}.
231 @vindex command-line-args
232 Note that the init file can get access to the command line argument
233 values as the elements of a list in the variable
234 @code{command-line-args}. (The arguments in the second table above will
235 already have been processed and will not be in the list.) The init file
236 can override the normal processing of the other arguments by setting
239 One way to use command switches is to visit many files automatically:
246 passes each @code{.c} file as a separate argument to SXEmacs, so that
247 Emacs visits each file (@pxref{Visiting}).
249 Here is an advanced example that assumes you have a Lisp program file
250 called @file{hack-c-program.el} which, when loaded, performs some useful
251 operation on the current buffer, expected to be a C program.
254 sxemacs -batch foo.c -l hack-c-program -f save-buffer -kill > log
258 Here SXEmacs is told to visit @file{foo.c}, load @file{hack-c-program.el}
259 (which makes changes in the visited file), save @file{foo.c} (note that
260 @code{save-buffer} is the function that @kbd{C-x C-s} is bound to), and
261 then exit to the shell from which the command was executed. @samp{-batch}
262 guarantees there will be no problem redirecting output to @file{log},
263 because SXEmacs will not assume that it has a display terminal to work
266 @subsection Command Line Arguments (for SXEmacs Under X)
267 @vindex frame-title-format
268 @vindex frame-icon-title-format
269 If you are running SXEmacs under X, a number of options are
270 available to control color, border, and window title and icon name:
273 @item -title @var{title}
274 @itemx -wn @var{title}
275 @itemx -T @var{title}
276 Use @var{title} as the window title. This sets the
277 @code{frame-title-format} variable, which controls the title of the X
278 window corresponding to the selected frame. This is the same format as
279 @code{mode-line-format}.
281 @item -iconname @var{title}
282 @itemx -in @var{title}
283 Use @var{title} as the icon name. This sets the
284 @code{frame-icon-title-format} variable, which controls the title of
285 the icon corresponding to the selected frame.
287 @item -mc @var{color}
288 Use @var{color} as the mouse color.
290 @item -cr @var{color}
291 Use @var{color} as the text-cursor foreground color.
294 Install a private colormap for SXEmacs.
297 In addition, SXEmacs allows you to use a number of standard Xt
298 command line arguments.
302 @item -background @var{color}
303 @itemx -bg @var{color}
304 Use @var{color} as the background color.
306 @item -bordercolor @var{color}
307 @itemx -bd @var{color}
308 Use @var{color} as the border color.
310 @item -borderwidth @var{width}
311 @itemx -bw @var{width}
312 Use @var{width} as the border width.
314 @item -display @var{display}
315 @itemx -d @var{display}
316 When running under the X window system, create the window containing the
317 Emacs frame on the display named @var{display}.
319 @item -foreground @var{color}
320 @itemx -fg @var{color}
321 Use @var{color} as the foreground color.
323 @item -font @var{name}
324 @itemx -fn @var{name}
325 Use @var{name} as the default font.
327 @item -geometry @var{spec}
328 @itemx -geom @var{spec}
330 Use the geometry (window size and/or position) specified by @var{spec}.
336 Bring up SXEmacs in reverse video.
338 @item -name @var{name}
339 Use the resource manager resources specified by @var{name}.
340 The default is to use the name of the program (@code{argv[0]}) as
341 the resource manager name.
344 Read something into the resource database for this invocation of SXEmacs only.