Re: emacs.desktop non-functional

[ken <gebser@mousecar.com>]

On 03/18/2016 04:20 PM, Eli Zaretskii wrote:
>> From: ken <gebser@mousecar.com>
>> Date: Fri, 18 Mar 2016 15:21:52 -0400
>>
>>> Do you have a .emacs.desktop file created when you exit a session?  In
>>> what directories on your system do you have a file by that name?  And
>>> what happens if you invoke desktop-save manually from a running Emacs
>>> session -- does that file get created/updated somewhere?
>>>
>>> Also, what exactly does it mean the "functionality is gone" in your
>>> case?  What did you try to do and what happened?
>>
>> https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/emacs/Saving-Emacs-Sessions.html
>
> I don't think we will make any progress in investigating the reason(s)
> that prevent desktop from working by quoting from the manual.

I just wanted to explain what I was expecting and what wasn't happening 
without having to type so much.  I thought too some other people on the 
list jwould be interested in what we're talking about.


>
> I asked the questions and hoped that I will get detailed answers.
> Like how do you invoke Emacs, in which directory, etc.  This is
> important information that is supposed to lead to the problem.

There's an icon in the Applications menu that I click on when I have to. 
  But "emacs" is also in that group of applications which gnome starts 
automatically.


>
>> "Use the desktop library to save the state of Emacs from one session to
>> another. Once you save the Emacs desktop—the buffers, their file names,
>> major modes, buffer positions, and so on—then subsequent Emacs sessions
>> reload the saved desktop. By default, the desktop also tries to save the
>> frame and window configuration...."
>>
>> It doesn't do any of that.

Does your emacs do all of that?


>
> Please note that the manual on-line is for version 24.5, whereas you
> have 24.3.  So not all of what is described is supposed to be working
> in your version.  Perhaps consider upgrading to 24.5.

The functionality is the same, so it's not necessary for that sreason.

I'd rather not upgrade.  There are often dependency problems.  I figure 
if Redhat doesn't see a reason to upgrade, that's good enough for me. 
Also the functionality I'm after is already in the version I have...  or 
should be.


>
>> Whenever I start emacs (not emacs-client) I
>> get at most one file (buffer) from a previous session loaded.
>
> What if you invoke desktop-read by hand -- does that restore the
> previous session's buffers?

No.  No new buffers, just all the same ones which were already opened.

The minibuffer says "Warning: desktop file appears to be in use by PID 
4074.  Using it may cause conflicts.  Use it anyway?"  PID 4074 doesn't 
exist... probably from a crashed session.



Did some testing.  When I open a new buffer and type somethign in it but 
before saving the buffer to a file, the buffer name is not to be found 
in any of the emacs.desktop files.

If I then save taht buffer to a file, still nothing-- neither the buffer 
name nor its filename-- is saved to any emacs.desktop file.

So I'm guessing then that if the system suddenly goes down at this 
point, there will be no record in .emacs.desktop of that newly opened 
file.  (This is actually the initial case I'm wondering about.)  Is that 
how it works for you as well?


This might be strange too:

$ ps -ef|grep emacs
xx        2887  2453  0 Mar17 ?        00:00:00 /usr/bin/emacs 
--smid=1019c4f12271782266145082947974782600000023660023 --no-splash 
--chdir=/home/zl --daemon
xx        2944  2453  0 Mar17 ?        00:00:00 emacsclient -c 
--alternate-editor=
xx        2951  2944  0 Mar17 ?        00:00:00 emacs --daemon
xx        3100  2951  0 Mar17 ?        00:00:00 emacs --daemon
xx        3101  2887  0 Mar17 ?        00:00:00 /usr/bin/emacs 
--smid=1019c4f12271782266145082947974782600000023660023 --no-splash 
--chdir=/home/zl --daemon
xx        4074  2687  0 09:26 ?        00:00:25 emacs

Isn't that a lot of processes for having just four files open?