How to change parameters for window colors?

How to change parameters for window colors?

[Jimmerr]

Hi, I was unable to find any understandable explanation of how to do 
this. I did find mention (I think in the int file docs) of using an 
alist  for features in your .emacs file, such as (feature . value).
But I could find no explanation at all on what the this means, how to do 
it, how to use it, an example of the syntax, etc etc etc.  Although I 
searched the docs for hours. Do I sound frustrated?

How do set preferences in emacs so windows open with the colors I want? 
I don't want to have to M-x set-foreground-color and M-x 
set-background-color every time I open a window, I'm sure there has to 
be a way to set defaults like this.

If you know how to do it, can you please provide an example. 

Thanks
Jim

Re: How to change parameters for window colors?

[Tim X]

>>>>> "Jimmerr" == Jimmerr  <jimkkREMOVEME@umich.edu> writes:

 Jimmerr> Hi, I was unable to find any understandable explanation of
 Jimmerr> how to do this. I did find mention (I think in the int file
 Jimmerr> docs) of using an alist for features in your .emacs file,
 Jimmerr> such as (feature . value).  But I could find no explanation
 Jimmerr> at all on what the this means, how to do it, how to use it,
 Jimmerr> an example of the syntax, etc etc etc.  Although I searched
 Jimmerr> the docs for hours. Do I sound frustrated?

 Jimmerr> How do set preferences in emacs so windows open with the
 Jimmerr> colors I want?  I don't want to have to M-x
 Jimmerr> set-foreground-color and M-x set-background-color every time
 Jimmerr> I open a window, I'm sure there has to be a way to set
 Jimmerr> defaults like this.

 Jimmerr> If you know how to do it, can you please provide an example.

As with most things in emacs, there are numerous ways of doing
this. Some of them work better on some platforms than others. YOu
don't mention what platform you are running emacs on. Here are some
ways -

If running under X windows, you can use entries in your .Xresources
file. Something like -

emacs.Foreground: wheat
emacs.Background: black

or for setting individual faces, you can use syntax like
emacs.Face.AttributeCatagory: where catagory can be 
Foreground, Background, Family (font), Width, Height etc. e.g.
emacs.menu.attributeForeground: snow1
emacs.menu.attributeBackground: darkred
emacs.menu.attributeFamily: -xos4-terminus
emacs.menu.attributeHeight: 120
emacs.menu.attributeWidth: normal
emacs.menu.attributeWeight: bold

If your not running under X windows, then you can use M-x
customize-face <ret> [facename] <ret> where [facename] is one of the
emacs defined faces. Start with default e.g.

M-x customize-face <ret> default <ret>

This will open up a customize buffer with the details of the face
attributes which you can set/change. When you save the changes, they
will be written to your .emacs file and will be re-instated each time
you start emacs. You can get a buffer with all faces in it with

M-x customize-face <ret> <ret>

Another alternative is the command list-faces-display which opens up a
buffer which will show the names of all the defined faces and a sample
of what they are currently set to. Using the mouse, you can see either
a definition of the face or you can cause a customize buffer to be
opened for that face, which will allow you to change its
attributes/colours. 

Tim

Re: How to change parameters for window colors?

[Kevin Rodgers]

Jimmerr wrote:

> Hi, I was unable to find any understandable explanation of how to do 
> this. I did find mention (I think in the int file docs) of using an 
> alist  for features in your .emacs file, such as (feature . value).
> But I could find no explanation at all on what the this means, how to do 
> it, how to use it, an example of the syntax, etc etc etc.  Although I 
> searched the docs for hours. Do I sound frustrated?
> 
> How do set preferences in emacs so windows open with the colors I want? 
> I don't want to have to M-x set-foreground-color and M-x 
> set-background-color every time I open a window, I'm sure there has to 
> be a way to set defaults like this.
> 
> If you know how to do it, can you please provide an example. 

File: emacs,  Node: Creating Frames,  Next: Frame Commands,  Prev: Mode Line 
Mouse,  Up: Frames

Creating Frames
===============
...
    You can control the appearance of new frames you create by setting
the frame parameters in `default-frame-alist'.  You can use the
variable `initial-frame-alist' to specify parameters that affect only
the initial frame.  *Note Initial Parameters: (elisp)Initial
Parameters, for more information.

    The easiest way to specify the principal font for all your Emacs
frames is with an X resource (*note Font X::), but you can also do it by
modifying `default-frame-alist' to specify the `font' parameter, as
shown here:

      (add-to-list 'default-frame-alist '(font . "10x20"))

Here's a similar example for specifying a foreground color:

      (add-to-list 'default-frame-alist '(background-color . "blue"))

-- 
<a href="mailto:&lt;kevin.rodgers&#64;ihs.com&gt;">Kevin Rodgers</a>