Re: [F.J.Wright@qmul.ac.uk: Re: Success using Windows NT]

Re: [F.J.Wright@qmul.ac.uk: Re: Success using Windows NT]

[Jason Rumney]

Richard Stallman <rms@gnu.org> writes:

> Could you propose changes to the manual to DTRT?

OK, here are my proposed changes to the Environment Variables section
of cmdargs.texi.  An MS-Windows section containing details of all the 
MS-Windows specific issues will take some time, as I have to look
through the FAQ and my previous notes about what should go in such a
section to determine exactly what needs to be written.

> Should the build process still run addpm?  It seems no longer to be
> necessary.

It is necessary if the user is upgrading from an older version of
Emacs that did not use emacs_dir, and it does not do any harm for
other users.



*** cmdargs.texi.~1.63.~	Thu May 30 20:17:49 2002
--- cmdargs.texi	Thu Jun 13 00:28:35 2002
***************
*** 347,359 ****
  setenv ORGANIZATION "not very much"
  @end example
  
!   When Emacs is uses the X Window System, it inherits the use
  of a large number of environment variables from the X libraries.  See
  the X documentation for more information.
  
  @menu
  * General Variables::   Environment variables that all versions of Emacs use.
  * Misc Variables::      Certain system-specific variables.
  @end menu
  
  @node General Variables
--- 347,360 ----
  setenv ORGANIZATION "not very much"
  @end example
  
!   When Emacs uses the X Window System, it inherits the use
  of a large number of environment variables from the X libraries.  See
  the X documentation for more information.
  
  @menu
  * General Variables::   Environment variables that all versions of Emacs use.
  * Misc Variables::      Certain system-specific variables.
+ * MS-Windows Registry:: An alternative to the environment on MS-Windows.
  @end menu
  
  @node General Variables
***************
*** 430,435 ****
--- 431,441 ----
  @env{LANG} is not set.  But if @env{LC_ALL} is specified, it overrides
  the settings of all the other locale environment variables.
  
+ On MS-Windows, if LANG is not already set in the environment when
+ Emacs starts, it will be set by Emacs based on the system-wide default
+ language, which can be set in the `Regional Settings' Control Panel on
+ some versions of MS-Windows.
+ 
  The value of the LC_CTYPE category is
  matched against entries in @code{locale-language-names},
  @code{locale-charset-language-names}, and
***************
*** 540,546 ****
--- 546,600 ----
  
  @item WINDOW_GFX
  Used when initializing the Sun windows system.
+ 
+ @item PRELOAD_WINSOCK
+ On MS-Windows, if this variable is set, the network library will be
+ loaded and initialized at startup instead of waiting until the first
+ time it is required.
+ 
+ @item emacs_dir
+ On MS-Windows, @env{emacs_dir} is a special environment variable that
+ is calculated by Emacs at startup to be the full path of the directory
+ in which Emacs is installed, provided it is installed in the standard
+ directory structure.  It is not much use setting this variable
+ yourself unless your installation is non-standard, since unlike other
+ environment variables, it will be overridden by Emacs at startup.
+ When setting other environment variables, such as @env{EMACSLOADPATH},
+ you may find it useful to use @env{emacs_dir} rather than hard-coding
+ an absolute path.  This allows multiple versions of Emacs to be used
+ on a Windows machine with the same environment variable settings, and
+ the Emacs installation directory to be moved without changing any
+ environment or registry settings.
  @end table
+ 
+ @node MS-Windows Registry
+ @appendixsubsec The MS-Windows System Registry
+ @cindex addpm, MS-Windows installation program
+ @cindex registry, environment variables on MS-Windows
+ 
+ On MS-Windows, the installation program @code{addpm.exe} adds values
+ for @env{emacs_dir}, @env{EMACSLOADPATH}, @env{EMACSDATA},
+ @env{EMACSPATH}, @env{EMACSDOC}, @env{SHELL} and @env{TERM} to the
+ @file{HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE} section of the system registry, under
+ @file{/Software/GNU/Emacs}.  It does this because there is no standard
+ place to set environment variables across different versions of
+ Windows.  While running @code{addpm.exe} is no longer strictly
+ neccesary in recent versions of Emacs, 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.
+ 
+ When Emacs starts, as well as checking the environment, it also checks
+ the System Registry for those variables and for @env{HOME}, @env{LANG}
+ and @env{PRELOAD_WINSOCK}.
+ 
+ To determine the value of those variables, Emacs goes through the
+ following procedure.  First, the environment is checked.  If the
+ variable is not found there, Emacs looks for registry keys by that
+ name under @file{/Software/GNU/Emacs}; first in the
+ @file{HKEY_CURRENT_USER} section of the registry, and if not found
+ there, in the @file{HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE} section.  Finally, if the
+ values are still not determined, the compiled in defaults are used.
  
  @node Display X
  @appendixsec Specifying the Display Name 

Re: [F.J.Wright@qmul.ac.uk: Re: Success using Windows NT]

[Richard Stallman]

The text is basically clear.  Sometimes it uses the future tense
and passive voice when it ought to stick to the active present:

+ On MS-Windows, if LANG is not already set in the environment when
+ Emacs starts, it will be set by Emacs based on the system-wide default

It is clearer to say,

+ On MS-Windows, if LANG is not already set in the environment when
+ Emacs starts, Emacs sets it based on the system-wide default

Could you go through and make such changes wherever they are
appropriate?

Aside from that, there are many errors in Texinfo usage.
For instance, LANG being an envvar, it should be
written in @env.  Could you reread the part of the Texinfo manual
that discusses these commands, then go through and make corrections?

    + Windows.  While running @code{addpm.exe} is no longer strictly
    + neccesary in recent versions of Emacs, if you are upgrading from an

That's a spelling error; it should be "necessary".

      Finally, if the
    + values are still not determined, the compiled in defaults are used.

You need to write "compiled-in" for clarity.  (This is also a good
place to replace the passive voice with active.)

Thanks for working on this; with a little more work, as described
above, it will do the job just fine.

Re: [F.J.Wright@qmul.ac.uk: Re: Success using Windows NT]

[Jason Rumney]

Thank you for your comments.  I have revised the 

> Aside from that, there are many errors in Texinfo usage.
> For instance, LANG being an envvar, it should be
> written in @env.  Could you reread the part of the Texinfo manual
> that discusses these commands, then go through and make corrections?

Apart from the example given above, I could not find any Texinfo
errors in the text I wrote, even after reading the manual.  Perhaps it
is just my inexperience.  @command might be more appropriate than
@code for addpm.exe, but other commands in cmdargs.texi all use
@code, and the texinfo manual says this is OK for compatibility with
older versions of texinfo.

>     + neccesary
> 
> That's a spelling error; it should be "necessary".

Strange, I have flyspell enabled in texinfo-mode, but I missed that.

Re: [F.J.Wright@qmul.ac.uk: Re: Success using Windows NT]

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: Jason Rumney <jasonr@gnu.org>
> Date: 14 Jun 2002 23:59:53 +0100
> 
> Apart from the example given above, I could not find any Texinfo
> errors in the text I wrote, even after reading the manual.

I point out some below.

> @command might be more appropriate than
> @code for addpm.exe, but other commands in cmdargs.texi all use
> @code, and the texinfo manual says this is OK for compatibility with
> older versions of texinfo.

Yes, it's better to use @command, but @code is not too bad either.

    + On MS-Windows, if LANG is not already set in the environment when
    + Emacs starts, it will be set by Emacs based on the system-wide default
    + language, which can be set in the `Regional Settings' Control Panel on
    + some versions of MS-Windows.

I think it's better to use @samp{Regional Settings}.

    + @cindex addpm, MS-Windows installation program

This should be @pindex, since addpm is a program.

    + older version, running addpm.exe ensures that you do not have older

addpm.exe should have the @code or @file markup.

Re: [F.J.Wright@qmul.ac.uk: Re: Success using Windows NT]

[Jason Rumney]

"Eli Zaretskii" <eliz@is.elta.co.il> writes:

> > From: Jason Rumney <jasonr@gnu.org>
> > Date: 14 Jun 2002 23:59:53 +0100
> > 
> > Apart from the example given above, I could not find any Texinfo
> > errors in the text I wrote, even after reading the manual.
> 
> I point out some below.

Thanks.  I'll address these and install the changes.

Re: [F.J.Wright@qmul.ac.uk: Re: Success using Windows NT]

[Dr Francis J. Wright]

From: "Jason Rumney" <jasonr@gnu.org>
To: <rms@gnu.org>
Cc: <emacs-devel@gnu.org>; <F.J.Wright@qmul.ac.uk>
Sent: Thursday, June 13, 2002 12:40 AM
Subject: Re: [F.J.Wright@qmul.ac.uk: Re: Success using Windows NT]


> Richard Stallman <rms@gnu.org> writes:
> 
> > Could you propose changes to the manual to DTRT?
> 
> OK, here are my proposed changes to the Environment Variables section
> of cmdargs.texi.  An MS-Windows section containing details of all the 
> MS-Windows specific issues will take some time, as I have to look
> through the FAQ and my previous notes about what should go in such a
> section to determine exactly what needs to be written.

Your additions look very useful to me.  Thanks for doing that.

Francis