single init file/directory for windows and linux using version control svn or cvs

single init file/directory for windows and linux using version control svn or cvs

[Patrick Drechsler]

Hi,

I'm trying to conceive a single repository for my personal
configurations using SVN. To keep everything in one folder I have
deleted "~/.emacs" and started using "~/.emacs.d/init.el". Furthermore I
have put all my external lisp files in "~/.emacs.d/mysitelisp", which
are included correctly by init.el.

This works fine with Linux, WindowsXP and Cygwin. BUT I had to repeat
this procedure in each corresponding home directories.

Can I put a directory ".emacs.d" including an init.el somewhere under 
Windows/Cygwin so that it will be recognized by a default Emacs 
installation (C:\.emacs.d\init.el is ignored when there is no C:\.emacs 
or C:\_emacs)?

Furthermore: What would be the current Emacs variable to tweak for using an

IF windows
	use this path
ELSEIF Cygwin
	use another path
ELSE ;; linux
	use yet another path

construct?

My Windows version of Emacs is (which is also used by cygwin):

GNU Emacs 22.0.50.1 (i386-mingw-nt5.1.2600) of 2006-06-24 on NEUTRINO

My Linux version is (from Ubuntu Dapper: Emacs Snapshot):

GNU Emacs 22.0.50.1 (i486-pc-linux-gnu, GTK+ Version 2.8.17) of 
2006-08-24 on vernadsky, modified by Debian

Since both versions are not stable I am wondering if they are compatible 
or if I should chose another combination...


If they are compatible: What is the best approach for a multi-platform 
install file? I am sorry if I missed something obvious in the Emacs 
manual or in the archives. This is also the reason for the lengthy 
subject line (other people might find it useful).


TIA,

Patrick

Here is my init file (for windows, as an example):



;; PDTODO:
;; is it good to replace all "~/" paths with "C:/" ?

;; set default Gnus init file:
(setq gnus-init-file "~/.emacs.d/.gnus")


;;  ============================================================
;; FRAME TITLE: ================================================
;;  ============================================================
(setq frame-title-format "%b")


;;  ============================================================
;; ANSWER Y INSTEAD OF YES ON PROMPTS. =========================
;;  ============================================================
(defalias 'yes-or-no-p 'y-or-n-p)


;;  ============================================================
;; SKELETON PAIR MODE ==========================================
;;  ============================================================
(setq skeleton-pair t)
(global-set-key "(" 'skeleton-pair-insert-maybe)
(global-set-key "[" 'skeleton-pair-insert-maybe)
(global-set-key "\"" 'skeleton-pair-insert-maybe)
(global-set-key "'" 'skeleton-pair-insert-maybe)
(global-set-key "{" 'skeleton-pair-insert-maybe)


;;  ============================================================
;; COMMENT =====================================================
;;  ============================================================
(defun insert-comment-heading (comment)
   "Insert COMMENT, followed by \" ---...\".  The line will be
;;   commented based on which mode you are in."
   (interactive "sComment: ")
   (insert  comment " " (make-string (- 75
                                        (+ (length comment) 5)
                                        10)
                                     ?=))
   (comment-region (point-at-bol) (point-at-eol))
(newline))
(global-set-key [f7]      'insert-comment-heading)


;;  ============================================================
;; INDENT REGION GLOBALLY ======================================
;;  ============================================================
(global-set-key [f12]      'indent-region)


;;  ============================================================
;; ORG MODE ====================================================
;;  ============================================================

(add-to-list 'auto-mode-alist '("\\.org$" . org-mode))
(define-key global-map "\C-cl" 'org-store-link)
(define-key global-map "\C-ca" 'org-agenda)
;; activate progress logging:
(setq org-log-done t)
;; activate org-mode for all README-files:
(add-to-list 'auto-mode-alist '("README.*$" . org-mode))

;; packages along with Org-mode, configure the variable
;; `org-CUA-compatible'.  When set, Org-mode will move the following
;; keybindings in org-mode files, and in the agenda buffer (but not
;; during date selection).

;;           S-UP    -> M-p             S-DOWN  -> M-n
;;           S-LEFT  -> M--             S-RIGHT -> M-+
;;           S-RET   -> C-S-RET

;; including remember mode in org mode:
(add-to-list 'load-path "~/.emacs.d/mysitelisp/planner-mode/remember/")
(require 'remember)

(setq org-directory "F:\org-stuff")
(setq org-default-notes-file "~/.notes")
(setq remember-annotation-functions '(org-remember-annotation))
(setq remember-handler-functions '(org-remember-handler))
(add-hook 'remember-mode-hook 'org-remember-apply-template)

(setq org-remember-templates
       '((?t "* TODO %?\n  %i\n  %a" "F:\org-stuff\TODO.org")
         (?j "* %U %?\n\n  %i\n  %a" "F:\org-stuff\JOURNAL.org")))

(setq org-agenda-include-diary t)






;;  ============================================================
;; SYNONYM =====================================================
;;  ============================================================
(add-to-list 'load-path "~/.emacs.d/mysitelisp/")
(setq synonyms-file "~/.emacs.d/mysitelisp/thesaurus/mthesaur.txt")
(setq synonyms-cache-file 
"~/.emacs.d/mysitelisp/thesaurus/pd-synonym-cache-file.txt")
(require 'synonyms)

;;  ============================================================
;; THESAURUS: ==================================================
;;  ============================================================
(add-to-list 'load-path "~/.emacs.d/mysitelisp/thesaurus/")

;; (require 'mthesaur)			; Thesaurus
(autoload 'mthesaur-search "mthesaur"
   "Thesaurus lookup of a word or phrase." t)
(autoload 'mthesaur-search-append "mthesaur"
   "Thesaurus lookup of a word or phrase, append results." t)

(global-set-key "\C-ct" 'mthesaur-search)
(global-set-key "\C-c\C-t" 'mthesaur-search-append)


;;  ============================================================
;; ISPELL AND CO ===============================================
;;  ============================================================


;;  ============================================================
;; AUCTEX ======================================================
;;  ============================================================
;;; this is needed because otherwise auctex will not be loaded:
;;; pdtodo: is this needed for windows?
;; (load "auctex.el" nil t t)
;; (load "preview-latex.el" nil t t)
;;; pdtodo: or this?
;; (require 'tex-site)

(setq TeX-auto-save t)
(setq TeX-parse-self t)
(setq-default TeX-master nil)

;; active folding:
(add-hook 'LaTeX-mode-hook (lambda ()
                              (TeX-fold-mode 1)
                              (TeX-fold-buffer)))

;; ALIGN TABLES: ===============================================
(add-hook  'LaTeX-mode-hook
            (function
             (lambda ()
               (define-key LaTeX-mode-map "\C-c\C-a" ;; "^C^A"
                 'align-current))))

;; PSTRICKS ====================================================
(add-hook 'LaTeX-mode-hook
           '(lambda nil
              (LaTeX-add-environments
               '("pspicture"
                 (lambda (env &rest ignore)
                   (LaTeX-insert-environment
                    env
                    (let ((lower-left (read-input "(Optional) Lower left 
corner (x0,y0): "))
                          (upper-right (read-input "Upper right corner 
(x1,y1): ")))
                      (concat (unless (zerop (length lower-left)) 
(format "(%s)"
									 lower-left))
                              (format "(%s)" upper-right)))))))))


;;  ============================================================
;; REFTEX ======================================================
;;  ============================================================
(setq reftex-plug-into-AUCTeX t)
(add-hook 'LaTeX-mode-hook 'turn-on-reftex)   ; with AUCTeX LaTeX mode
(add-hook 'latex-mode-hook 'turn-on-reftex)   ; with Emacs latex mode

;; from the RefTeX manual:
(setq reftex-use-external-file-finders t)
(setq reftex-external-file-finders
       '(("tex" . "kpsewhich -format=.tex %f")
         ("bib" . "kpsewhich -format=.bib %f")))

;; As a summary, here are the settings I recommend for heavy use of
;; RefTeX with large documents:
(setq reftex-enable-partial-scans t
       reftex-save-parse-info t
       reftex-use-multiple-selection-buffers t)

;; (setq reftex-bibpath-environment-variables
;;       '("/home/patrick/data/uni/literature/bibtex-files/"))

;;; done in section sweave below:
;; ;; Reftex and Noweb files:
;; (setq reftex-file-extensions
;;       '(("Rnw" ".Rnw" "nw" "tex" ".tex" ".ltx") ("bib" ".bib")))
;; (setq TeX-file-extensions
;;       '("Rnw" "nw" "tex" "sty" "cls" "ltx" "texi" "texinfo"))

(eval-after-load "ispell"
   '(let ((list (car ispell-tex-skip-alists)))
      (add-to-list 'list '("\\\\cite[tpk]" ispell-tex-arg-end))
      (setcar ispell-tex-skip-alists list)))

(eval-after-load "ispell"
   '(let ((list (car ispell-tex-skip-alists)))
      (add-to-list 'list '("\\\\citeal[tp]" ispell-tex-arg-end))
      (setcar ispell-tex-skip-alists list)))



;;  ============================================================
;; ESS =========================================================
;;  ============================================================
;; this is windows specific:
(setq-default inferior-R-program-name "C:/Programme/R/R-2.3.1/bin/Rterm")
(load "C:/Programme/emacs/site-lisp/ess/lisp/ess-site")



;;  ============================================================
;; MATLAB ======================================================
;;  ============================================================
;;; i think i'll use the windows IDE -> comment following code for
;;; Windows
;;
;;; here are my linux configs for matlab:
;; (setq matlab-shell-command "bash"
;;       matlab-shell-command-switches '("-c" "( unset LANG ; 
/usr/local/bin/matlab -nodesktop)"))

;; (add-to-list 'load-path 
"/usr/local/matlab/matlab72/java/extern/EmacsLink/lisp")(autoload 
'matlab-eei-connect "matlab-eei"
;;   "Connects Emacs to MATLAB's external editor interface.")

;; (autoload 'matlab-mode "matlab" "Enter Matlab mode." t)
;; (setq auto-mode-alist (cons '("\\.m\\'" . matlab-mode) auto-mode-alist))
;; (autoload 'matlab-shell "matlab" "Interactive Matlab mode." t)


;; (setq matlab-indent-function t)  ; if you want function bodies indented
;; (setq matlab-verify-on-save-flag nil) ; turn off auto-verify on save
;; ;; (setq matlab-shell-command-switches '("-nojvm"))
;; '(matlab-shell-command-switches (quote ("-nodesktop -nosplash")))

;; (defun pd-matlab-mode-hook ()
;;   ;(setq fill-column 76) ; where auto-fill should wrap
;;   (imenu-add-to-menubar "Find"))
;; (add-hook 'matlab-mode-hook 'pd-matlab-mode-hook)



;;  ============================================================
;; ECB =========================================================
;;  ============================================================
;;; done via customize...


;;  ============================================================
;; GDB STUFF (GNU DEBUGGER): ===================================
;;  ============================================================
(setq gdb-many-windows 1)

;;  ============================================================
;; GRAPHVIZ / DOT ==============================================
;;  ============================================================
(load-file "~/.emacs.d/mysitelisp/graphviz-dot-mode.el")


;;  ============================================================
;; BBDB ========================================================
;;  ============================================================
(setq bbdb-file "~/.emacs.d/.bbdb")
;; other bbdb configurations in .gnus

;;  ============================================================
;; PSVN ========================================================
;;  ============================================================
;; To use psvn.el put the following line in your .emacs:
(require 'psvn)
;; Start the svn interface with M-x svn-status


;;  ============================================================
;;  ============================================================
;;  ============================================================



(custom-set-variables
   ;; custom-set-variables was added by Custom.
   ;; If you edit it by hand, you could mess it up, so be careful.
   ;; Your init file should contain only one such instance.
   ;; If there is more than one, they won't work right.
  '(LaTeX-math-menu-unicode t)
  '(TeX-DVI-via-PDFTeX t)
  '(TeX-PDF-mode t)
  '(TeX-fold-env-spec-list (quote (("[noweb]" ("noweb")) ("[comment]" 
("comment")) ("[figure]" ("figure")) ("[table]" ("table")))))
  '(TeX-fold-macro-spec-list (quote (("[f]" ("footnote")) (1 ("cite" 
"citep" "citet" "citealp" "citealt")) ("[l]" ("label")) (1 ("ref" 
"pageref" "fref" "Fref" "vref" "Vref" "vpageref")) ("[i]" ("index")) 
("*" ("item")) ("..." ("dots")) (1 ("part" "chapter" "section" 
"subsection" "subsubsection" "paragraph" "subparagraph" "part*" 
"chapter*" "section*" "subsection*" "subsubsection*" "paragraph*" 
"subparagraph*" "emph" "textit" "textsl" "textmd" "textrm" "textsf" 
"texttt" "textbf" "textsc" "textup")) (2 ("vrefrange")))))
  '(TeX-one-master "\\.\\(texi?\\|dtx\\|Rnw\\)$")
  '(all-christian-calendar-holidays t)
  '(browse-url-browser-function (quote browse-url-firefox))
  '(browse-url-firefox-new-window-is-tab t)
  '(calendar-week-start-day 1)
  '(column-number-mode t)
  '(cua-mode nil nil (cua-base))
  '(diary-file "~/.emacs.d/diary")
  '(display-time-24hr-format t)
  '(display-time-mode t)
  '(european-calendar-style t)
  '(global-font-lock-mode t nil (font-core))
  '(graphviz-dot-preview-extension "png")
  '(holidays-in-diary-buffer t)
  '(inhibit-splash-screen t)
  '(iswitchb-mode t)
  '(org-agenda-files (quote ("f:/org-stuff/computerstuff.org" 
"f:/org-stuff/heinzerling.org" "f:/org-stuff/THESIS.org" 
"f:/org-stuff/privat.org" "f:/org-stuff/TODO.org" 
"f:/org-stuff/JOURNAL.org")))
  '(pc-selection-mode t nil (pc-select))
  '(show-paren-mode t)
  '(transient-mark-mode t)
  '(view-diary-entries-initially t))
(custom-set-faces
   ;; custom-set-faces was added by Custom.
   ;; If you edit it by hand, you could mess it up, so be careful.
   ;; Your init file should contain only one such instance.
   ;; If there is more than one, they won't work right.
  )

Re: single init file/directory for windows and linux using version control svn or cvs

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: Patrick Drechsler <patrick@pdrechsler.de>
> Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2006 01:09:10 +0200
> 
> Can I put a directory ".emacs.d" including an init.el somewhere under 
> Windows/Cygwin so that it will be recognized by a default Emacs 
> installation (C:\.emacs.d\init.el is ignored when there is no C:\.emacs 
> or C:\_emacs)?

Why can't you set the HOME environment variable on Windows to point to
the place where you keep your .emacs.d directory?

To keep the bulk of init.el in a single place, you could have a
minimal ~/.emacs.d/init.el, one for each OS, that loads the rest from
a single place.

> Furthermore: What would be the current Emacs variable to tweak for using an
> 
> IF windows
> 	use this path
> ELSEIF Cygwin
> 	use another path
> ELSE ;; linux
> 	use yet another path
> 
> construct?

Try system-configuration.

> Since both versions are not stable I am wondering if they are compatible 
> or if I should chose another combination...

Quite compatible.

> If they are compatible: What is the best approach for a multi-platform 
> install file?

What do you mean by ``install file''?

Re: single init file/directory for windows and linux using version control svn or cvs

[Stefan Monnier]

> I'm trying to conceive a single repository for my personal configurations
> using SVN.  To keep everything in one folder I have deleted "~/.emacs" and
> started using "~/.emacs.d/init.el".  Furthermore I have put all my
> external lisp files in "~/.emacs.d/mysitelisp", which are included
> correctly by init.el.

I agree that Emacs should be moving in such a direction.  We already use the
~/.emacs.d directory for various config files.

> This works fine with Linux, WindowsXP and Cygwin.  BUT I had to repeat
> this procedure in each corresponding home directories.

What procedure?

> Furthermore: What would be the current Emacs variable to tweak for using an

> IF windows
> 	use this path
> ELSEIF Cygwin
> 	use another path
> ELSE ;; linux
> 	use yet another path

> construct?

I tend to do it like this:

  (cond
   ((file-directory-p "/sw/bin/")
    ... use /sw/bin ...)
   ((file-directory-p "D:/homes/")
    ... use d:/homes/ ...)
   ((file-directory-p "/usr/local/bin/")
    ... use /usr/local/bin ...)
   (t ... use the default ...))

Especially since I have access to different GNU/Linux systems which use
different paths, so checking the OS doesn't cut it.


        Stefan

Re: single init file/directory for windows and linux using version control svn or cvs

[Richard Stallman]

    This works fine with Linux, WindowsXP and Cygwin.

Windows XP is an operating system, but Linux is just a part of one.
Linux is the kernel that people use with the GNU system.
If you call the system "Linux", that gives the system's principal developers
none of the credit.  Would you please give us equal mention
by calling the system "GNU/Linux"?

    Can I put a directory ".emacs.d" including an init.el somewhere under 
    Windows/Cygwin so that it will be recognized by a default Emacs 
    installation (C:\.emacs.d\init.el is ignored when there is no C:\.emacs 
    or C:\_emacs)?

Emacs ought to recognize ~/.emacs.d/init.el, on any system, when it does
not find .emacs.  If this does not work on Windows, it is a bug.
Could you confirm that that is what is happening to you?

    My Linux version is (from Ubuntu Dapper: Emacs Snapshot):

Ubuntu is a version of the GNU/Linux system.  See
http://www.gnu.org/gnu/linux-and-gnu.html.

Re: single init file/directory for windows and linux using version control svn or cvs

[Eric Hanchrow]

    Can I put a directory ".emacs.d" including an init.el somewhere under
    Windows/Cygwin so that it will be recognized by a default Emacs
    installation (C:\.emacs.d\init.el is ignored when there is no
    C:\.emacs or C:\_emacs)?

Even though I don't really understand your question, I suspect the
answer is "yes".  For what it's worth, I too keep my home directory
under subversion, and use the same emacs init file for all platforms.

    Furthermore: What would be the current Emacs variable to tweak for using an

You probably are looking for something like this:

  (case system-type
    ((windows-nt darwin)
     (do-some-stuff))
    (t
     (do-other-stuff)))

-- 
That is the true genius of America ... that our votes will be
counted, at least most of the time.
        -- Barack Obama, 2004 Democratic National Convention

Re: single init file/directory for windows and linux using version control svn or cvs

[Patrick Drechsler]

Eli Zaretskii wrote:
>> From: Patrick Drechsler <patrick@pdrechsler.de>
>> Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2006 01:09:10 +0200
>>
>> Can I put a directory ".emacs.d" including an init.el somewhere under 
>> Windows/Cygwin so that it will be recognized by a default Emacs 
>> installation (C:\.emacs.d\init.el is ignored when there is no C:\.emacs 
>> or C:\_emacs)?
> 
> Why can't you set the HOME environment variable on Windows to point to
> the place where you keep your .emacs.d directory?

Thanks for this advice, exactly what I was looking for!

>> Furthermore: What would be the current Emacs variable to tweak for using an
>>
>> IF windows
>> 	use this path
>> ELSEIF Cygwin
>> 	use another path
>> ELSE ;; linux
>> 	use yet another path
>>
>> construct?
> 
> Try system-configuration.

Great, thanks again!

Regards

Patrick

Re: single init file/directory for windows and linux using version control svn or cvs

[Patrick Drechsler]

Stefan Monnier wrote:
>> Furthermore: What would be the current Emacs variable to tweak for using an
> 
>> IF windows
>> 	use this path
>> ELSEIF Cygwin
>> 	use another path
>> ELSE ;; linux
>> 	use yet another path
> 
>> construct?
> 
> I tend to do it like this:
> 
>   (cond
>    ((file-directory-p "/sw/bin/")
>     ... use /sw/bin ...)
>    ((file-directory-p "D:/homes/")
>     ... use d:/homes/ ...)
>    ((file-directory-p "/usr/local/bin/")
>     ... use /usr/local/bin ...)
>    (t ... use the default ...))
> 
> Especially since I have access to different GNU/Linux systems which use
> different paths, so checking the OS doesn't cut it.

Good idea, I will give it a try. Thanks!

Regards

Patrick

Re: single init file/directory for windows and linux using version control svn or cvs

[Patrick Drechsler]

Richard Stallman wrote:
>     This works fine with Linux, WindowsXP and Cygwin.
> 
> Windows XP is an operating system, but Linux is just a part of one.
> Linux is the kernel that people use with the GNU system.
> If you call the system "Linux", that gives the system's principal developers
> none of the credit.  Would you please give us equal mention
> by calling the system "GNU/Linux"?

Sorry about that. I'll refer to the OS as GNU/Linux in the future.

>     Can I put a directory ".emacs.d" including an init.el somewhere under 
>     Windows/Cygwin so that it will be recognized by a default Emacs 
>     installation (C:\.emacs.d\init.el is ignored when there is no C:\.emacs 
>     or C:\_emacs)?
> 
> Emacs ought to recognize ~/.emacs.d/init.el, on any system, when it does
> not find .emacs.  If this does not work on Windows, it is a bug.
> Could you confirm that that is what is happening to you?

Setting the HOME variable in Windows solved the problem (see Eli's posting).

Regards

Patrick

Re: single init file/directory for windows and linux using version control svn or cvs

[Patrick Drechsler]

Eric Hanchrow wrote:
>     Furthermore: What would be the current Emacs variable to tweak for using an
> 
> You probably are looking for something like this:
> 
>   (case system-type
>     ((windows-nt darwin)
>      (do-some-stuff))
>     (t
>      (do-other-stuff)))

Thanks for your reply, just what I was looking for!

Regards

Patrick

Re: single init file/directory for windows and linux using version control svn or cvs

[CHENG Gao]

*On Wed, 20 Sep 2006 21:58:48 -0400
* Richard Stallman <rms@gnu.org> climbed out of the dark hell and cried out:

> Emacs ought to recognize ~/.emacs.d/init.el, on any system, when it does
> not find .emacs.  If this does not work on Windows, it is a bug.
> Could you confirm that that is what is happening to you?

I use ~/.emacs.d/init.el under M$ Windoze and MacOSX, thus I can put all
Emacs related setting files in one ./emacs.d/ file. I confirm this works
well under two OSes above mentioned.

Re: single init file/directory for windows and linux using version control svn or cvs

[Jason Rumney]

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CHENG Gao wrote:
> *On Wed, 20 Sep 2006 21:58:48 -0400
> * Richard Stallman <rms@gnu.org> climbed out of the dark hell and cried out:
>
>   
>> Emacs ought to recognize ~/.emacs.d/init.el, on any system, when it does
>> not find .emacs.  If this does not work on Windows, it is a bug.
>> Could you confirm that that is what is happening to you?
>>     
>
> I use ~/.emacs.d/init.el under M$ Windoze and MacOSX, thus I can put all
> Emacs related setting files in one ./emacs.d/ file. I confirm this works
> well under two OSes above mentioned.
>   

The case found by the original poster is when $HOME is not set in the 
environment. In Emacs 22 we default to the user specific APPDATA system 
directory, but we first check that C:\.emacs and C:\_emacs do not exist, 
in case the user used a previous version of  Emacs that defaulted to 
C:\. The original poster had created C:\.emacs.d\init.el, but we do not 
check for this file when deciding whether to default to the old HOME 
location, since it is only supported since Emacs 22.



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Re: single init file/directory for windows and linux using version control svn or cvs

[Richard Stallman]

    The case found by the original poster is when $HOME is not set in the 
    environment. In Emacs 22 we default to the user specific APPDATA system 
    directory, but we first check that C:\.emacs and C:\_emacs do not exist, 
    in case the user used a previous version of  Emacs that defaulted to 
    C:\. The original poster had created C:\.emacs.d\init.el, but we do not 
    check for this file when deciding whether to default to the old HOME 
    location, since it is only supported since Emacs 22.

Perhaps Emacs should check for C:\.emacs.d\ also.
Why not?

Since it is a Windows-only issue, I leave that up to you.

Re: single init file/directory for windows and linux using version control svn or cvs

[CHENG Gao]

*On Thu, 21 Sep 2006 13:15:12 +0100
* Jason Rumney <jasonr@gnu.org> climbed out of the dark hell and cried out:

> CHENG Gao wrote:
>> *On Wed, 20 Sep 2006 21:58:48 -0400 * Richard Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
>> climbed out of the dark hell and cried out:
>>
>>   
>>> Emacs ought to recognize ~/.emacs.d/init.el, on any system, when it
>>> does not find .emacs. If this does not work on Windows, it is a bug.
>>> Could you confirm that that is what is happening to you?
>>>     
>> I use ~/.emacs.d/init.el under M$ Windoze and MacOSX, thus I can put
>> all Emacs related setting files in one ./emacs.d/ file. I confirm this
>> works well under two OSes above mentioned.
>>   
>
> The case found by the original poster is when $HOME is not set in the
> environment. In Emacs 22 we default to the user specific APPDATA system
> directory, but we first check that C:\.emacs and C:\_emacs do not exist,
> in case the user used a previous version of Emacs that defaulted to C:\.
> The original poster had created C:\.emacs.d\init.el, but we do not check
> for this file when deciding whether to default to the old HOME location,
> since it is only supported since Emacs 22.

Personally I think HOME dir issue under M$ Windoze is over-addressed.
IIRC, there is no fallback dir for HOME under GNU/Linux and BSD, and
user always (and should) know where HOME is. Why Windoze is so special
that a (or even some) fallback dir(s) is(are) provided? Even Windoze
users should know where HOME is. I understand it may not be the case,
let alone IIRC different Windoze versions have different HOME. To
accomodate this complicated and inconsistent situation may make things
more complicated.

Maybe the clearer and simpler solution is to tell users to set HOME dir
explicitly in manual. If a user can not handle HOME thing, my suggestion
is DONT use Emacs. notepad.exe is better choice.

I set HOME to c:/cygwin/home/user, and in CMD shell:
C:\>set HOME
HOME=c:/cygwin/home/user
HOMEDRIVE=C:
HOMEPATH=\Documents and Settings\user
(M$ Windoze XP Home Edition SP 2)

Checking registry, under \\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\\Volatile Environment,
                                                <- Volatile! Good wording! 
there are environment vars like APPDATA, CLIENTNAME, HOMEDRIVE, HOMEPATH
etc., and if you check environment vars by
WIN key+Pause->Advanced->Environment Variables, you can not see any of
them. Windoze miracle!

For CVS Emacs (HEAD and unicode-2 branch), addpm.exe does not add any
registry item for new and fresh installation. It only updates registry
if they exist. So Emacs need no registry setting to work well. Why
should Emacs depend on registry items like HOMEPATH/APPDATA?

Sorry my comment is becoming too long and boring. I shut up now.

Re: single init file/directory for windows and linux using version control svn or cvs

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: Richard Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
> Date: Thu, 21 Sep 2006 16:15:24 -0400
> Cc: emacs-devel@gnu.org, chenggao@gmail.com
> 
>     The case found by the original poster is when $HOME is not set in the 
>     environment. In Emacs 22 we default to the user specific APPDATA system 
>     directory, but we first check that C:\.emacs and C:\_emacs do not exist, 
>     in case the user used a previous version of  Emacs that defaulted to 
>     C:\. The original poster had created C:\.emacs.d\init.el, but we do not 
>     check for this file when deciding whether to default to the old HOME 
>     location, since it is only supported since Emacs 22.
> 
> Perhaps Emacs should check for C:\.emacs.d\ also.
> Why not?

I think Jason gave the reason in the last sentence above: becase the
~/.emacs.d/init.el feature was added only in Emacs 22, so users of
older versions will not have their init files there.

Re: single init file/directory for windows and linux using version control svn or cvs

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: CHENG Gao <chenggao@gmail.com>
> Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2006 10:41:52 +0800
> 
> IIRC, there is no fallback dir for HOME under GNU/Linux and BSD, and
> user always (and should) know where HOME is. Why Windoze is so special
> that a (or even some) fallback dir(s) is(are) provided?

Because a GNU/Linux system _always_ has the HOME environment variable
defined for every user, while a Windows system doesn't.  So Emacs that
runs on Windows needs to find some place to look for its per-user
files if HOME is not defined; it cannot rely on the fact that HOME is
_always_ defined.  By contrast, a GNU/Linux system where HOME is not
defined is broken in many ways, so Emacs on GNU/Linux does not need
to consider such a situation.

> Even Windoze users should know where HOME is.

I hope by now you understand why they do NOT know.  The notion of a
HOME directory simply doesn't exist on Windows.

> Maybe the clearer and simpler solution is to tell users to set HOME dir
> explicitly in manual.

That's not a good idea, since one needs a working Emacs to read the
manual.

> If a user can not handle HOME thing, my suggestion is DONT use
> Emacs. notepad.exe is better choice.

Why treat users harshly when we can solve the issue in the code.  As
we have, actually, which is why I think it's pointless to discuss such
suggestions now.

Re: single init file/directory for windows and linux using version control svn or cvs

[CHENG Gao]

*On Fri, 22 Sep 2006 15:46:42 +0300
* Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> climbed out of the dark hell and cried out:

>> IIRC, there is no fallback dir for HOME under GNU/Linux and BSD, and
>> user always (and should) know where HOME is. Why Windoze is so special
>> that a (or even some) fallback dir(s) is(are) provided?
>
> Because a GNU/Linux system _always_ has the HOME environment variable
> defined for every user, while a Windows system doesn't. So Emacs that
> runs on Windows needs to find some place to look for its per-user files
> if HOME is not defined; it cannot rely on the fact that HOME is _always_
> defined. By contrast, a GNU/Linux system where HOME is not defined is
> broken in many ways, so Emacs on GNU/Linux does not need to consider
> such a situation.

Yes I know. Windoze has its HOME, with name as HOMEPATH (for Windoze
XP). And you can always set HOME environment var.

>> Even Windoze users should know where HOME is.
>
> I hope by now you understand why they do NOT know. The notion of a HOME
> directory simply doesn't exist on Windows.
>
>> Maybe the clearer and simpler solution is to tell users to set HOME
>> dir explicitly in manual.
>
> That's not a good idea, since one needs a working Emacs to read the
> manual.

Emacs does not need .emacs to work. Without .emacs, you have a barebone
emacs, and you can read Info.

>
>> If a user can not handle HOME thing, my suggestion is DONT use Emacs.
>> notepad.exe is better choice.
>
> Why treat users harshly when we can solve the issue in the code. As we
> have, actually, which is why I think it's pointless to discuss such
> suggestions now.
Sorry I dont mean to be harsh.

I just think things are getting complicated for NT Emacs.

CVS Emacs (HEAD and unicode-2 branch) does not add any registry item
now. As I read in addpm.c, 
,----
| 
|   /* Previous versions relied on registry settings, but we do not need
|      them any more.  If registry settings are installed from a previous
|      version, replace them to ensure they are the current settings.
|      Otherwise, do nothing.  */
`----

so addpm only updates existed registry items for upgrading installation,
and wont add registry for fresh installation. Personally I think
avoiding registry is very good decision.

So why should NT Emacs depend on registry items as APPDATA or HOMEPATH? It
seems contradictory to what new way addpm.c follows. 

And providing fallbacks to HOME in Windoze seems very bizarre. 

As I read from Info:
,----
| G.4 HOME Directory on MS-Windows
| ================================
| 
| The Windows equivalent of the `HOME' directory is the "user-specific
| application data directory".  The actual location depends on your
| Windows version and system configuration; typical values are
| `C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Application Data' on Windows 2K/XP
| and later, and either `C:\WINDOWS\Application Data' or
| `C:\WINDOWS\Profiles\USERNAME\Application Data' on the older Windows
| 9X/ME systems.
| 
|    The home directory is where your init file `.emacs' is stored.  When
| Emacs starts, it first checks whether the environment variable `HOME'
| is set.  If it is, it looks for the init file in the directory pointed
| by `HOME'.  If `HOME' is not defined, Emacs checks for an existing
| `.emacs' file in `C:\', the root directory of drive `C:'(1).  If
| there's no such file in `C:\', Emacs next uses the Windows system calls
| to find out the exact location of your application data directory.  If
| that fails as well, Emacs falls back to `C:\'.
`----

So many dirs are scanned for .emacs (or .emacs.el or _emacs or
./emacs.d/init.el etc). 

My logics is for a dont-know-nothing-about-emacs user, he may have a
fresh installation of Emacs, and is it possile that there is some .emacs
file miraculously showing in any OPTIONAL PLACE GOOD FOR Emacs INIT
FILE? I dont think so. He still need edit a .emacs and put somewhere. He
may be happy if he finds he can place it anywhere (as allowed). Maybe he
is confused. Who knows.

For a user who knows what .emacs is and how to set it, giving several
places for init file may be handy, but makes things complicated, and is
not in conformity with what Emacs does in other OSes. Is it desirable?

BTW, Emacs manual has this part:
,----
| C.5.3 The MS-Windows System Registry
| ------------------------------------
| 
| Under MS-Windows, the installation program `addpm.exe' adds values for
| `emacs_dir', `EMACSLOADPATH', `EMACSDATA', `EMACSPATH', `EMACSDOC',
| `SHELL' and `TERM' to the `HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE' section of the system
| registry, under `/Software/GNU/Emacs'.  It does this because there is
| no standard place to set environment variables across different
| versions of Windows.  Running `addpm.exe' is no longer strictly
| necessary in recent versions of Emacs, but if you are upgrading from an
| older version, running `addpm.exe' ensures that you do not have older
| registry entries from a previous installation, which may not be
| compatible with the latest version of Emacs.
`----

Seems it's not true any more. As I mentioned above, addpm updates
existed registry values if they exist, otherwise, do nothing.

I found this while I try to install Mew (I use selfbuilt emacs-unicode-2
branch from latest cvs source). Mew installation under Windoze depends
on Windoze registry, and it failed since there is not any Emacs-related
registry. I have to run
addpm c:\emacs
to add these registry items, and installation works then.

Re: single init file/directory for windows and linux using version control svn or cvs

[Richard Stallman]

    > Perhaps Emacs should check for C:\.emacs.d\ also.
    > Why not?

    I think Jason gave the reason in the last sentence above: becase the
    ~/.emacs.d/init.el feature was added only in Emacs 22, so users of
    older versions will not have their init files there.

That is what I am responding to.  His argument leads to the conclusion
that it might be acceptable not to check C:\.emacs.d\; that not
checking it is not be a bug.

So we don't have to do this.  But wouldn't it be a good idea anyway?
That would be more consistent and natural behavior.

Re: single init file/directory for windows and linux using version control svn or cvs

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: CHENG Gao <chenggao@gmail.com>
> Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2006 22:31:59 +0800
> 
> > Because a GNU/Linux system _always_ has the HOME environment variable
> > defined for every user, while a Windows system doesn't. So Emacs that
> > runs on Windows needs to find some place to look for its per-user files
> > if HOME is not defined; it cannot rely on the fact that HOME is _always_
> > defined. By contrast, a GNU/Linux system where HOME is not defined is
> > broken in many ways, so Emacs on GNU/Linux does not need to consider
> > such a situation.
> 
> Yes I know. Windoze has its HOME, with name as HOMEPATH (for Windoze
> XP).

Previous discussions revealed that the directory pointed to by
HOMEPATH is not a very good place to put .emacs and other files Emacs
creates in the user's home directory.  That is why we chose APPDATA
instead.

But even if we would use HOMEPATH, that would have been already a
complication on Windows, since we will need special logic to look in
HOME and in C:/, for compatibility with previous versions of Emacs and
with users who do set HOME.

> > That's not a good idea, since one needs a working Emacs to read the
> > manual.
> 
> Emacs does not need .emacs to work. Without .emacs, you have a barebone
> emacs, and you can read Info.

Not always.  For example, if the user has INFOPATH set, it overrides
the built-in defaults, and the Emacs manual might become inaccessible.

In my experience, it is not a good idea to expect users to read the
manual for important features to work.

> So why should NT Emacs depend on registry items as APPDATA or HOMEPATH? It
> seems contradictory to what new way addpm.c follows. 

We don't depend on the registry, we use existing OS features.  The
fact that the OS records them in the registry is irrelevant, as long
as those feature can be reasonably assumed to always exist.

> So many dirs are scanned for .emacs (or .emacs.el or _emacs or
> ./emacs.d/init.el etc). 

This happens only once, when Emacs starts up.  It looks for the
directory with .emacs, and records what it found.  Thereafter, it just
uses that value.  So I don't see a performance issue here.

> My logics is for a dont-know-nothing-about-emacs user, he may have a
> fresh installation of Emacs, and is it possile that there is some .emacs
> file miraculously showing in any OPTIONAL PLACE GOOD FOR Emacs INIT
> FILE? I dont think so. He still need edit a .emacs and put somewhere. He
> may be happy if he finds he can place it anywhere (as allowed). Maybe he
> is confused. Who knows.

If there's no previous .emacs, then nothing bad happens.  The
complicated logic is for users of previous versions who upgrade to
Emacs 22.

> For a user who knows what .emacs is and how to set it, giving several
> places for init file may be handy, but makes things complicated, and is
> not in conformity with what Emacs does in other OSes. Is it desirable?

It is desirable, because users of previous versions might have their
.emacs in C:/.

> BTW, Emacs manual has this part:
> ,----
> | C.5.3 The MS-Windows System Registry
> | ------------------------------------
> | 
> | Under MS-Windows, the installation program `addpm.exe' adds values for
> | `emacs_dir', `EMACSLOADPATH', `EMACSDATA', `EMACSPATH', `EMACSDOC',
> | `SHELL' and `TERM' to the `HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE' section of the system
> | registry, under `/Software/GNU/Emacs'.  It does this because there is
> | no standard place to set environment variables across different
> | versions of Windows.  Running `addpm.exe' is no longer strictly
> | necessary in recent versions of Emacs, but if you are upgrading from an
> | older version, running `addpm.exe' ensures that you do not have older
> | registry entries from a previous installation, which may not be
> | compatible with the latest version of Emacs.
> `----
> 
> Seems it's not true any more. As I mentioned above, addpm updates
> existed registry values if they exist, otherwise, do nothing.

You are right; I will fix this part.  Thanks.

> I found this while I try to install Mew (I use selfbuilt emacs-unicode-2
> branch from latest cvs source). Mew installation under Windoze depends
> on Windoze registry, and it failed since there is not any Emacs-related
> registry. I have to run
> addpm c:\emacs
> to add these registry items, and installation works then.

Sounds like Mew installation needs to be updated, too.

Re: single init file/directory for windows and linux using version control svn or cvs

[Jason Rumney]

CHENG Gao wrote:
> Checking registry, under \\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\\Volatile Environment,
>                                                 <- Volatile! Good wording! 
>   

This part of the environment is volatile because it is set at Windows 
startup from windows system calls after any network startup scripts are 
run. Emacs uses system API calls to discover these standard locations, 
not the environment variables, as this is more reliable across all 
versions of Emacs.

Re: single init file/directory for windows and linux using version control svn or cvs

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: Richard Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
> CC: chenggao@gmail.com, emacs-devel@gnu.org, jasonr@gnu.org
> Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2006 23:34:47 -0400
> 
> His argument leads to the conclusion that it might be acceptable not
> to check C:\.emacs.d\; that not checking it is not be a bug.
> 
> So we don't have to do this.  But wouldn't it be a good idea anyway?
> That would be more consistent and natural behavior.

I'm not sure it's worth the hassle, but if someone has time to write
the code, I don't see a reason not to accept it.