Emacs

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Definition

Note: Copy/Paste from http://tecfa.unige.ch/guides/emacs/pointers.html (will clean this up sometimes soon I hope - Daniel K. Schneider 19:50, 2 November 2007 (MET)

Emacs is a text editor, and much more. XEmacs provides a comprehensive environment where you can edit source code, or multiple text files, read mail or news, and even edit files remotely using FTP.

There exist many variants: The most popular ones are Xemacs and GNU emacs

Warning: Emacs is very powerful, but since it was born before Windows (or even MS-DOS), shortcuts are not the same. Also it is geared towards speed. The typical emacs user doesn't not want time-consuming pop dialogs, but you dialog though a little minibuffer window. That's stuff you have to learn. Else forget it. When you install Emacs there is a tutorial (Hit the help button) and do it at least 10 times ;)

See also: Text editor

Specialized tips

(Some tips regarding formats discussed in this wiki)

ActionScript

Install: actionscript-mode.el written by Pet Tomato. Tested by Daniel K. Schneider with GnuEmacs 21.4.1 under Ubuntu. He provides 2 files:

  • actionscript-mode.el
  • as-config.el (this is only an option, did not install this)

There is a different and more recent actionscript mode from Austin Haas based on David Linquists ecmascript-mode. (made for emacsw32). I use this now for emacs 22.1.1 on Ubuntu - Daniel K. Schneider 13:17, 1 November 2008 (UTC)

To install these I did the following:

  • Copied the 2 *.el files to /usr/share/emacs/site-lisp
  • Byte-compiled (this is not necessary)
  • Inserted this in my .emacs file:
;; Actionscript stuff
(autoload 'actionscript-mode "actionscript-mode"
  "Major mode for editing ActionScript files." t)

(add-to-list 'auto-mode-alist '("\\.as[123]?$" . actionscript-mode))

XML

DTD support

Both Emacs and Xemacs (default "fat") installation provide good XML/DTD and XSLT support.

Relax NG (RNC) support

Use nXML mode (it is distributed with a standard recent Gnu emacs installation). Here is a short how to:

  • Type nxml-mode
  • Start with a minimal template, e.g. to edit MXML Flex code use this:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<mx:Application xmlns:mx="http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml">
</mx:Application>
  • Menu XML->Set Schema ; File
    • Select the appropriate RNC file
  • To insert attributes
    • Put your cursor inside a begin tag and hit CTRL-Return
    • Then select a tag from the *Completions* buffer with the mouse or start typing and hit SPACE to find completions.
  • To insert tags:
    • Put the cursor between tags
    • Type "<" and hit CTRL-Return or type some stuff and hit SPACE to see completions.
    • Start inserting attributes (as above) if you like
    • Then either type ">" followed by "</" + CTRL-Return or enter "/>".

As you can see, this interface was made for people willing to learn keyboard strokes. It's faster than using right-click contextual menus but more challenging for some ...

XML Schema (XSD) support
  • XML Schema support doesn't exist (IMHO).

Links

Manuals & Short References

En français:

Customization Links

Configuring the functionalities of XEmacs:

FAQ's

Tutorials

On the Web you can find many mini-tutorials, there are also book chapters, etc.

  • There's the XEmacs tutorial available from the Help Menu under `Basics->Tutorials', or by typing C-h t. To check whether it's available in a non-english language, type C-u C-h t TAB, type the first letters of your preferred language, then type RET.
  • Emacs editing environment by Michael Stutz at IBM developer works. Complete, requires 12 hours of work. (Free) registration required.
  • Emacs Beginner's Tutorial by J.D. Zawodny @ RootPrompt.org
  • XEmacs Tutorial Introduction by Sarah Waterson
  • Tutorial - xemacs (good, but Very short)

En français:

Specialized topics

Emacs programming

(Some) Emacs Modes

Tools / Software

  • For Linux, just the packaging system to install, e.g. Synaptic Package Manager for Ubuntu. Check out addons (search for emacs)
Various emacs versions

Other Links