can't access info dir in emacs under msys2

can't access info dir in emacs under msys2

[Bostjan Vilfan]

Hello,
I installed 64bit emacs in my Windows 10 computer as described in
https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/download.html;
however, I am experiencing difficulties in accessing manuals, other than the emacs manual and the emacs lisp manual (for example, I would like to access the org mode manual). Could someone, please, let me know how to set up emacs so that I can access all manuals in /msys64/mingw64/share/info.
Regards,
bostjanv

Re: can't access info dir in emacs under msys2

[Byung-Hee HWANG (황병희, 黃炳熙)]

Bostjan Vilfan <bjvilfan@gmail.com> 께서 쓰시길,
 《記事 全文 <c259728c-5134-41c7-b25b-8227ee8cae07@googlegroups.com>
 에서》:

> Hello,
> I installed 64bit emacs in my Windows 10 computer as described in
> https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/download.html;
> however, I am experiencing difficulties in accessing manuals, other
> than the emacs manual and the emacs lisp manual (for example, I would
> like to access the org mode manual). Could someone, please, let me
> know how to set up emacs so that I can access all manuals in
> /msys64/mingw64/share/info.
> Regards,
> bostjanv

At gnu web site, there are official manual. Because setup manual in
system, it is not easy to MS-Windows users. Just you would be visiting
gnu web site, then check out emacs manual. In my case Google is my
friend^^ 
 
-- 
^고맙습니다 _地平天成_ 감사합니다_^))//

Re: can't access info dir in emacs under msys2

[Bostjan Vilfan]

On Monday, October 3, 2016 at 3:40:03 PM UTC+2, Byung-Hee HWANG (황병희, 黃炳熙) wrote:
> Bostjan Vilfan <bjvilfan@gmail.com> 께서 쓰시길,
>  《記事 全文 <c259728c-5134-41c7-b25b-8227ee8cae07@googlegroups.com>
>  에서》:
> 
> > Hello,
> > I installed 64bit emacs in my Windows 10 computer as described in
> > https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/download.html;
> > however, I am experiencing difficulties in accessing manuals, other
> > than the emacs manual and the emacs lisp manual (for example, I would
> > like to access the org mode manual). Could someone, please, let me
> > know how to set up emacs so that I can access all manuals in
> > /msys64/mingw64/share/info.
> > Regards,
> > bostjanv
> 
> At gnu web site, there are official manual. Because setup manual in
> system, it is not easy to MS-Windows users. Just you would be visiting
> gnu web site, then check out emacs manual. In my case Google is my
> friend^^ 
>  
> -- 
> ^고맙습니다 _地平天成_ 감사합니다_^))//

Hello,
If I understand you correctly, you are referring me to the emacs manual. But that is exactly my problem. Nothing in the manual seems to work. For example, the manual says that the main info directory may be supplied with the environment variable INFOPATH. Doesn't work. Whatever value I give it, the only info manuals I am able to display are the emacs manual and the emacs lisp manual. Then there is the customizable variable Info-default-directory-list, which also does not seem to work. So I hope I have described the problem sufficiently.
Regards,
bostjanv

Re: can't access info dir in emacs under msys2

[Eli Zaretskii]

> Date: Mon, 3 Oct 2016 08:39:46 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Bostjan Vilfan <bjvilfan@gmail.com>
> 
> If I understand you correctly, you are referring me to the emacs manual. But that is exactly my problem. Nothing in the manual seems to work. For example, the manual says that the main info directory may be supplied with the environment variable INFOPATH. Doesn't work.

Setting INFOPATH in the environment does work for me.  Please describe
how you set that variable, and how you invoke Emacs.  E.g., if you
invoke Emacs from the desktop shortcut, you need to set INFOPATH via
right-clicking on "Computer", selecting "Advanced", and editing the
Environment Variables list there.

> Then there is the customizable variable Info-default-directory-list, which also does not seem to work.

Likewise, please describe how you tried to customize that variable.
Also, does the value of Info-directory-list in the running Emacs
reflect your customizations?

Re: can't access info dir in emacs under msys2

[Óscar Fuentes]

Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> writes:

>> Then there is the customizable variable Info-default-directory-list,
>> which also does not seem to work.
>
> Likewise, please describe how you tried to customize that variable.
> Also, does the value of Info-directory-list in the running Emacs
> reflect your customizations?

The problem is the absence of the info directory node. I need to
investigate why it is not installed.

Re: can't access info dir in emacs under msys2

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: Óscar Fuentes <ofv@wanadoo.es>
> Date: Mon, 03 Oct 2016 21:33:34 +0200
> 
> The problem is the absence of the info directory node. I need to
> investigate why it is not installed.

Ah, that could explain everything.  However, the OP did say that he
can access the 2 main Emacs manuals, which shouldn't be possible by
just "C-h i" if there's no DIR file.  What am I missing?

Does that mean every MSYS2 build of every package has this problem?
Because otherwise at least some Info manual should appear in the DIR
menu, right?

Re: can't access info dir in emacs under msys2

[Óscar Fuentes]

Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> writes:

>> The problem is the absence of the info directory node. I need to
>> investigate why it is not installed.
>
> Ah, that could explain everything.  However, the OP did say that he
> can access the 2 main Emacs manuals, which shouldn't be possible by
> just "C-h i" if there's no DIR file.  What am I missing?

I'm confused by that too.

> Does that mean every MSYS2 build of every package has this problem?
> Because otherwise at least some Info manual should appear in the DIR
> menu, right?

When Emacs is started from the MSYS2 shell, M-x info shows the entries
for Bash, grep etc. This is possible because MSYS2 sets INFOPATH when
the shell starts. However, when started from a desktop shortcut it shows
nothing. It should show the Emacs entries, since Info-directory-list
points to the correct place, but the lack of info directory node
prevents that.

Re: can't access info dir in emacs under msys2

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: Óscar Fuentes <ofv@wanadoo.es>
> Date: Tue, 04 Oct 2016 15:15:37 +0200
> 
> When Emacs is started from the MSYS2 shell, M-x info shows the entries
> for Bash, grep etc. This is possible because MSYS2 sets INFOPATH when
> the shell starts. However, when started from a desktop shortcut it shows
> nothing. It should show the Emacs entries, since Info-directory-list
> points to the correct place, but the lack of info directory node
> prevents that.

If INFOPATH works, then why doesn't Info-directory-list work?  Do they
point to the same directory?

Re: can't access info dir in emacs under msys2

[Óscar Fuentes]

Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> writes:

> If INFOPATH works, then why doesn't Info-directory-list work?  Do they
> point to the same directory?

Info-directory-list contains only the directory where the Emacs info
files are installed (under ".../msys32/mingw32/share/info") while
INFOPATH contains the directories where the MSYS2 info files are, for
instance .../msys32/usr/share/info (IIRC).

Since Emacs is a MinGW ("native") application it is expected that it
ignores the existence of the MSYS2 ("cygwinized") directories unless
something tells it otherwise, such as INFOPATH in this case.

Re: can't access info dir in emacs under msys2

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: Óscar Fuentes <ofv@wanadoo.es>
> Date: Tue, 04 Oct 2016 17:51:04 +0200
> 
> Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> writes:
> 
> > If INFOPATH works, then why doesn't Info-directory-list work?  Do they
> > point to the same directory?
> 
> Info-directory-list contains only the directory where the Emacs info
> files are installed (under ".../msys32/mingw32/share/info") while
> INFOPATH contains the directories where the MSYS2 info files are, for
> instance .../msys32/usr/share/info (IIRC).
> 
> Since Emacs is a MinGW ("native") application it is expected that it
> ignores the existence of the MSYS2 ("cygwinized") directories unless
> something tells it otherwise, such as INFOPATH in this case.

Understood.  The OP said he customized Info-directory-list, so I
assumed it pointed to the correct list of directories.  I believe you
are talking about the default value of Info-directory-list.

Re: can't access info dir in emacs under msys2

[Óscar Fuentes]

Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> writes:

> Understood.  The OP said he customized Info-directory-list, so I
> assumed it pointed to the correct list of directories.  I believe you
> are talking about the default value of Info-directory-list.

Right.

Re: can't access info dir in emacs under msys2

[Óscar Fuentes]

Bostjan Vilfan <bjvilfan@gmail.com> writes:

> I installed 64bit emacs in my Windows 10 computer as described in
> https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/download.html;
> however, I am experiencing difficulties in accessing manuals, other
> than the emacs manual and the emacs lisp manual (for example, I would
> like to access the org mode manual). Could someone, please, let me
> know how to set up emacs so that I can access all manuals in
> /msys64/mingw64/share/info.

There is a long standing problem with how info files are packaged and
installed by MSYS2. I intend to look into this on the coming weeks.

Meanwhile you can `C-u M-x info' and navigate to the info file you wish
to read.

Please note that, until recently, MSYS2 emacs was distributed with
compressed info files, which require the presence of gzip on the PATH.
If you start emacs by executing `runemacs' from a MSYS2 command shell
you already have gzip on the PATH. The new emacs 25 release is
distributed with uncompressed info files so you can start Emacs from a
desktop shortcut if you wish (you need to create the shortcut yourself,
pointing at runemacs.exe.)

Re: can't access info dir in emacs under msys2

[Thien-Thi Nguyen]

[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 607 bytes --]


() Bostjan Vilfan <bjvilfan@gmail.com>
() Mon, 3 Oct 2016 00:25:10 -0700 (PDT)

   how to set up emacs so that I can access all manuals in
   /msys64/mingw64/share/info.

See env var ‘INFOPATH’ in:

 (info "(emacs) General Variables")

Another way is to modify variable ‘Info-directory-list’.

-- 
Thien-Thi Nguyen -----------------------------------------------
 (defun responsep (type via)
   (case type
     (technical (eq 'mailing-list via))
     ...))                              748E A0E8 1CB8 A748 9BFA
--------------------------------------- 6CE4 6703 2224 4C80 7502


[-- Attachment #2: signature.asc --]
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Re: can't access info dir in emacs under msys2

[Robert Thorpe]

Bostjan Vilfan <bjvilfan@gmail.com> writes:

> set up emacs so that I can access all manuals in
> /msys64/mingw64/share/info.

As Thien-Thi Nguyen says you can set infopath, and as Eli Zaretski says
that should work.  The path needs to be set so that it's seen by Emacs.
You have to make sure the value isn't just local to some instance of
cmd.exe.

I don't do that, instead I do something like this:

(setq Info-additional-directory-list '("C:/MinGW/msys/1.0/share/info"))

Note that the "dir" file in directory you specify has to be correct.
There can sometimes be problems with this on Mingw and derivatives.  You
can check that it's correct by running command line info.

BR,
Robert Thorpe

Re: can't access info dir in emacs under msys2

[Javier]

> however, I am experiencing difficulties in accessing manuals, other
> than the emacs manual and the emacs lisp manual (for example, I
> would like to access the org mode manual). Could someone, please,
> let me know how to set up emacs so that I can access all manuals in
> /msys64/mingw64/share/info.

adding this to .emacs should solve it

(add-to-list 'Info-default-directory-list "/msys64/mingw64/share/info")

Another pesky detail is that there needs to exist a file named 'dir' in
each of the info directories /msys64/mingw64/share/info/dir and
the org-mode manual needs to be listed in the file.

Then hit C-h i and you should see a list of all installed manuals.

Since some manuals are not included in distros (or the distros put
them in the wrong place) you can keep a private info dir with the
manuals that interest you.

(add-to-list 'Info-default-directory-list "~/MY_OWN_INFO_DIR")

and add an entry for each manual in ~/MY_OWN_INFO_DIR/dir
The format of the file is very picky on capitalization.
Mine is


----------------------------------------------------------------
This is the file .../info/dir, which contains the
topmost node of the Info hierarchy, called (dir)Top.
The first time you invoke Info you start off looking at this node.
^_
File: dir,  Node: Top   This is the top of the INFO tree

  This (the Directory node) gives a menu of major topics.
  Typing "q" exits, "?" lists all Info commands, "d" returns here,
  "h" gives a primer for first-timers,
  "mEmacs<Return>" visits the Emacs manual, etc.

  In Emacs, you can click mouse button 2 on a menu item or cross reference
  to select it.

* Menu:

Python
* Python-3.3: (python-3.3).           The Python Documentation
* Python-2.7: (python-2.7).           The Python Documentation
* numpy-1.8.0: (numpy-1.8.0).         Numpy for python2
* scipy-0.13.3: (scipy-0.13.3).       Scipy for python2
* sphinx: (sphinx).                   Sphinx 1.1.3 Doc

LANGS
* perldoc-all: (perldoc-all).   perldoc

MISC
* sicp: (sicp)                  SICP

Re: can't access info dir in emacs under msys2

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: Javier <j@invalid.invalid>
> Date: Fri, 7 Oct 2016 18:28:01 +0000 (UTC)
> 
> adding this to .emacs should solve it
> 
> (add-to-list 'Info-default-directory-list "/msys64/mingw64/share/info")

This cannot be right on Windows, since that is not a complete Windows
file name, it lacks the drive letter.

Re: can't access info dir in emacs under msys2

[Óscar Fuentes]

Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> writes:

>> adding this to .emacs should solve it
>> 
>> (add-to-list 'Info-default-directory-list "/msys64/mingw64/share/info")

As previously mentioned, this is not needed because Info-directory-list
already contains the correct path. OTOH, the docstring of
Info-default-directory-list implies that customizing this variable is
not quite correct.

The problem is the missing dir file. There is a recipe on this thread
for generating it.

> This cannot be right on Windows, since that is not a complete Windows
> file name, it lacks the drive letter.

Indeed, although it can work by chance if Emacs and your work files are
installed on the same volume.

Re: can't access info dir in emacs under msys2

[Oleksandr Gavenko]

On 2016-10-03, Bostjan Vilfan wrote:

> however, I am experiencing difficulties in accessing manuals, other than the
> emacs manual and the emacs lisp manual (for example, I would like to access
> the org mode manual). Could someone, please, let me know how to set up emacs
> so that I can access all manuals in /msys64/mingw64/share/info.

``Info-directory-list`` is the easiest way to extend INFOPATH.

With native Emacs and ``cygwin-mount.el`` you may have:

--8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
  INFOPATH=:/cygdrive/d/home/usr/share/info:/usr/share/info:/usr/local/share/info
  MANPATH=:/cygdrive/d/home/usr/share/man:/usr/share/man:/usr/local/share/man
--8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---

Trailing ``:`` ensure that default search path included in search.

In that way these variables can be used both by Cygwin/MSYS ``info``/``emacs``
and native Emacs. See example in:

  http://hg.defun.work/skel/file/e40a0cc2ec05/.env

Because I have personal info pages store and always use ``cygwin-mount.el`` on
Windows I have:

--8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
  (unless (getenv "INFOPATH")
    (if (eq system-type 'windows-nt)
        (setenv "INFOPATH" (concat (expand-file-name "~/usr/share/info") ":/usr/share/info:"))
      (setenv "INFOPATH" (expand-file-name "~/usr/share/info:"))))

  ;; Assume that cygwin-mount already activated.
  (when (featurep 'cygwin-mount)
    (setenv "INFOPATH" "/usr/share/info/:~/usr/share/info/:")
    ;; Redefine path-separator to UNIX to update Info-directory-list.
    (let ( (path-separator ":") )
      (require 'info)
      (info-initialize) ))
--8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---

-- 
http://defun.work/

Re: can't access info dir in emacs under msys2

[Robert Thorpe]

Bostjan Vilfan <bjvilfan@gmail.com> writes:

> OK. Probably THAT was the problem (no dir file). But, is there an automatic
> tool for creating the dir file?

Install-info can be used.  It works one info file at a time though.  I
don't know how to do a bulk install.  I've re-added help-gnu-emacs, I
expect someone there will know.

A system like MSYS2 should come with the dir file correctly constructed.

BR,
Robert Thorpe

Re: can't access info dir in emacs under msys2

[Óscar Fuentes]

Robert Thorpe <rt@robertthorpeconsulting.com> writes:

> Bostjan Vilfan <bjvilfan@gmail.com> writes:
>
>> OK. Probably THAT was the problem (no dir file). But, is there an automatic
>> tool for creating the dir file?
>
> Install-info can be used.  It works one info file at a time though.  I
> don't know how to do a bulk install.  I've re-added help-gnu-emacs, I
> expect someone there will know.

If you use the 64 bits version, open a MSYS2 shell and

$ cd /mingw64/share/info
$ for f in *.info; do install-info.exe $f dir; done
$ for f in *.info.gz; do install-info.exe $f dir; done

If you use the 32 bits version, replace mingw64 with mingw32 above.

> A system like MSYS2 should come with the dir file correctly constructed.

Yes. Somehow the dir file is not created (or is deleted) when Emacs is
installed. I need to investigate why.