code.delx.au - gnu-emacs/blob - nt/README.W32

   1 Copyright (C) 2001-2012  Free Software Foundation, Inc.
   2 See the end of the file for license conditions.
   3
   4                            Emacs for Windows
   5
   6   This README file describes how to set up and run a precompiled
   7   version of GNU Emacs for Windows.  This distribution can be found on
   8   the ftp.gnu.org server and its mirrors:
   9
  10         ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/emacs/windows/
  11
  12   This server contains other distributions, including the full Emacs
  13   source distribution and a barebin distribution which can be installed
  14   over it, as well as older releases of Emacs for Windows.
  15
  16   Answers to frequently asked questions, and further information about
  17   this port of GNU Emacs and related software packages can be found via
  18   http:
  19
  20         http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/windows/
  21
  22 * Preliminaries
  23
  24   Along with this file should be six subdirectories (bin, etc, info,
  25   lisp, leim, site-lisp).  If you have downloaded the barebin
  26   distribution, then it will contain only the bin directory and the
  27   built in documentation in etc/DOC-X, the rest of the subdirectories
  28   are in the src distribution, which the barebin distribution is
  29   designed to be used with.
  30
  31 * Setting up Emacs
  32
  33   To install Emacs, simply unpack all the files into a directory of
  34   your choice, but note that you might encounter minor problems if
  35   there is a space anywhere in the directory name.  To complete the
  36   installation process, you can optionally run the program addpm.exe
  37   in the bin subdirectory.  This will put an icon for Emacs in the
  38   Start Menu under "Start -> Programs -> Gnu Emacs".
  39
  40   Some users have reported that the Start Menu item is not created for
  41   them.  If this happens, just create your own shortcut to runemacs.exe,
  42   eg. by dragging it on to the desktop or the Start button.
  43
  44   Note that running addpm is now an optional step; Emacs is able to
  45   locate all of its files without needing any information to be set in
  46   the environment or the registry, although such settings will still
  47   be obeyed if present.  This is convenient for running Emacs on a
  48   machine which disallows registry changes, or on which software
  49   should not be installed.  For instance, you can now run Emacs
  50   directly from a CD or USB flash drive without copying or installing
  51   anything on the machine itself.
  52
  53 * Prerequisites for Windows 9X
  54
  55   To run Emacs on Windows 9X (Windows 95/98/Me), you will need to have
  56   the Microsoft Layer for Unicode (MSLU) installed.  It can be
  57   downloaded from the Microsoft site, and comes in a form of a single
  58   dynamic library called UNICOWS.DLL.  If this library is not
  59   accessible to Emacs, it will pop up a dialog saying that it cannot
  60   find the library, and will refuse to start up a GUI session.
  61   (However, it is still possible to use Emacs in text mode, even
  62   without UNICOWS.DLL, by invoking it as "emacs -nw", see below.)
  63
  64 * Starting Emacs
  65
  66   To run Emacs, simply select Emacs from the Start Menu, or invoke
  67   runemacs.exe directly from Explorer or from a command prompt.  This
  68   will start Emacs in its default GUI mode, ready to use.  If you have
  69   never used Emacs before, you should follow the tutorial at this
  70   point (select Emacs Tutorial from the Help menu), since Emacs is
  71   quite different from ordinary Windows applications in many respects.
  72
  73   If you want to use Emacs in tty or character mode within a command
  74   window, you can start it by typing "emacs -nw" at the command prompt.
  75   (Obviously, you need to ensure that the Emacs bin subdirectory is in
  76   your PATH first, or specify the path to emacs.exe.)  The -nw
  77   (non-windowed) mode of operation is most useful if you have a telnet
  78   server on your machine, allowing you to run Emacs remotely.
  79
  80 * EXE files included
  81
  82   Emacs comes with the following executable files in the bin directory.
  83
  84   + emacs.exe - The main Emacs executable.  As this is designed to run
  85     as both a text-mode application (emacs -nw) and as a GUI application,
  86     it will pop up a command prompt window if run directly from Explorer.
  87
  88   + runemacs.exe - A wrapper for running Emacs as a GUI application
  89     without popping up a command prompt window.  If you create a
  90     desktop shortcut for invoking Emacs, make it point to this
  91     executable, not to emacs.exe.
  92
  93   + emacsclient.exe - A command-line client program that can
  94     communicate with a running Emacs process.  See the `Emacs Server'
  95     node of the Emacs manual.
  96
  97   + emacsclientw.exe - A version of emacsclient that does not open
  98     a command-line window.
  99
 100   + addpm.exe - A basic installer that creates Start Menu icons for Emacs.
 101     Running this is optional.
 102
 103   + cmdproxy.exe - Used internally by Emacs to work around problems with
 104     the native shells in various versions of Windows.
 105
 106   + ctags.exe, etags.exe - Tools for generating tag files.  See the
 107     `Tags' node of the Emacs manual.
 108
 109   + ebrowse.exe - A tool for generating C++ browse information.  See the
 110     `Ebrowse' manual.
 111
 112   + ddeclient.exe - A tool for interacting with DDE servers.
 113
 114   + hexl.exe - A tool for producing hex dumps of binary files.  See the
 115     `Editing Binary Files' node of the Emacs manual.
 116
 117   + movemail.exe - A helper application for safely moving mail from
 118     a mail spool or POP server to a local user mailbox.  See the
 119     `Movemail' node of the Emacs manual.
 120
 121 * Image support
 122
 123   Emacs has built in support for XBM and PPM/PGM/PBM images, and the
 124   libXpm library is bundled, providing XPM support (required for color
 125   toolbar icons and splash screen).  Source for libXpm should be available
 126   on the same place as you got this binary distribution from.  The version
 127   of libXpm bundled with this version of Emacs is 3.5.7, based on x.org's
 128   libXpm library from X11R7.3.
 129
 130   Emacs can also support some other image formats with appropriate
 131   libraries.  These libraries are all available as part of GTK
 132   download for Windows (http://www.gtk.org/download/win32.php), or
 133   from the GnuWin32 project.  Emacs will find them if the directory
 134   they are installed in is on the PATH.
 135
 136       PNG: requires the PNG reference library 1.4 or later, which will
 137       be named libpng14.dll or libpng14-14.dll.  LibPNG requires zlib,
 138       which should come from the same source as you got libpng.
 139       Starting with Emacs 23.3, the precompiled Emacs binaries are
 140       built with libpng 1.4.x and later, and are incompatible with
 141       earlier versions of libpng DLLs.  So if you have libpng 1.2.x,
 142       the PNG support will not work, and you will have to download
 143       newer versions.
 144
 145       JPEG: requires the Independent JPEG Group's libjpeg 6b or later,
 146       which will be called jpeg62.dll, libjpeg.dll, jpeg-62.dll or jpeg.dll.
 147
 148       TIFF: requires libTIFF 3.0 or later, which will be called libtiff3.dll
 149       or libtiff.dll.
 150
 151       GIF: requires libungif or giflib 4.1 or later, which will be
 152       called giflib4.dll, libungif4.dll or libungif.dll.
 153
 154    If you have image support DLLs under different names, customize the
 155    value of `dynamic-library-alist'.
 156
 157    In addition, Emacs can be compiled to support SVG.  This precompiled
 158    distribution has not been compiled that way, since the SVG library
 159    or one or more of its extensive dependencies appear to be
 160    unreliable under Windows.  See nt/INSTALL in the src distribution if
 161    you wish to compile Emacs with SVG support.
 162
 163 * GnuTLS support
 164
 165   In order to support GnuTLS at runtime, Emacs must be able to find
 166   the relevant DLLs during startup; failure to do so is not an error,
 167   but GnuTLS won't be available to the running session.
 168
 169   You can get pre-built binaries (including any required DLL and the
 170   gnutls.h file) and an installer at http://josefsson.org/gnutls4win/.
 171
 172 * Uninstalling Emacs
 173
 174   If you should need to uninstall Emacs, simply delete all the files
 175   and subdirectories from the directory where it was unpacked (Emacs
 176   does not install or update any files in system directories or
 177   anywhere else).  If you ran the addpm.exe program to create the
 178   registry entries and the Start menu icon, then you can remove the
 179   registry entries using regedit.  All of the settings are written
 180   under the Software\GNU\Emacs key in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, or if you
 181   didn't have administrator privileges when you installed, the same
 182   key in HKEY_CURRENT_USER.  Just delete the whole Software\GNU\Emacs
 183   key.
 184
 185   The Start menu entry can be removed by right-clicking on the Task bar
 186   and selecting Properties, then using the Remove option on the Start
 187   Menu Programs page.  (If you installed under an account with
 188   administrator privileges, then you need to click the Advanced button
 189   and look for the Gnu Emacs menu item under All Users.)
 190
 191 * Troubleshooting
 192
 193   Unpacking the distributions
 194
 195   If you encounter trouble trying to run Emacs, there are a number of
 196   possible causes.  Check the following for indications that the
 197   distribution was not corrupted by the tools used to unpack it:
 198
 199     * Be sure to disable CR/LF translation or the executables will
 200       be unusable.  Older versions of WinZipNT would enable this
 201       translation by default.  If you are using WinZipNT, disable it.
 202       (I don't have WinZipNT myself, and I do not know the specific
 203       commands necessary to disable it.)
 204
 205     * Check that filenames were not truncated to 8.3.  For example,
 206       there should be a file lisp\abbrevlist.elc; if this has been
 207       truncated to abbrevli.elc, your distribution has been corrupted
 208       while unpacking and Emacs will not start.
 209
 210     * On Windows 9X, make sure you have the UNICOWS.DLL library either
 211       in the same directory where you have emacs.exe or in the
 212       directory where system-wide DLLs are kept.
 213
 214   If you believe you have unpacked the distributions correctly and are
 215   still encountering problems, see the section on Further Information
 216   below.
 217
 218   Virus scanners
 219
 220   Some virus scanners interfere with Emacs' use of subprocesses.  If you
 221   are unable to use subprocesses and you use Dr. Solomon's WinGuard or
 222   McAfee's Vshield, turn off "Scan all files" (WinGuard) or "boot sector
 223   scanning" (McAfee exclusion properties).
 224
 225 * Further information
 226
 227   If you have access to the World Wide Web, I would recommend pointing
 228   your favorite web browser to the following document (if you haven't
 229   already):
 230
 231         http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/windows/
 232
 233   This document serves as an FAQ and a source for further information
 234   about the Windows port and related software packages.
 235
 236   In addition to the FAQ, there is a mailing list for discussing issues
 237   related to the Windows port of Emacs.  For information about the
 238   list, see this Web page:
 239
 240         http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/help-emacs-windows
 241
 242   To ask questions on the mailing list, send email to
 243   help-emacs-windows@gnu.org.  (You don't need to subscribe for that.)
 244   To subscribe to the list or unsubscribe from it, fill the form you
 245   find at http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/help-emacs-windows as
 246   explained there.
 247
 248   Another valuable source of information and help which should not be
 249   overlooked is the various Usenet news groups dedicated to Emacs.
 250   These are particularly good for help with general issues which aren't
 251   specific to the Windows port of Emacs.  The main news groups to use
 252   for seeking help are:
 253
 254         gnu.emacs.help
 255         comp.emacs
 256
 257   There are also fairly regular postings and announcements of new or
 258   updated Emacs packages on this group:
 259
 260         gnu.emacs.sources
 261
 262 * Reporting bugs
 263
 264   If you encounter a bug in this port of Emacs, we would like to hear
 265   about it.  First check the FAQ on the web page above to see if the bug
 266   is already known and if there are any workarounds.  Then check whether
 267   the bug has something to do with code in your .emacs file, e.g. by
 268   invoking Emacs with the "-Q" option.
 269
 270   If you decide that it is a bug in Emacs, use the built in bug
 271   reporting facility to report it (from the menu; Help -> Send Bug Report).
 272   If you have not yet configured Emacs for mail, then when you press
 273   C-c C-c to send the report, it will ask you to paste the text of the
 274   report into your mail client.  If the bug is related to subprocesses,
 275   also specify which shell you are using (e.g., include the values of
 276   `shell-file-name' and `explicit-shell-file-name' in your message).
 277
 278   Enjoy!
 279
 280 \f
 281 This file is part of GNU Emacs.
 282
 283 GNU Emacs is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
 284 it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
 285 the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
 286 (at your option) any later version.
 287
 288 GNU Emacs is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
 289 but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
 290 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
 291 GNU General Public License for more details.
 292
 293 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 294 along with GNU Emacs.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.