Re: [Mac-emacs-users] Is anybody out there?

[Robert P. <rpo...@ap...>]

Hello Andrew,

Boy, just thinking about all the complexities of porting something like
emacs to the Mac makes my head hurt.  ;-)

Question #1:
When I execute Mx-find-grep-dired I get a prompt for the directory to search
which is correct, then after entering a RegExp pattern it comes back with an
empty list, the command it executed at the top and a message in the
mini-buffer that says "Symbol's function definition is void: start-process"
I tried this on the OS X box I have and it works fine.  Is there something I
need to do first before this executes successfully?

Question #2:
When I try to print with Mx-print-buffer it comes back with a message that
says "Searching for program: unknown error (100), pr"  I can't use the
normal print from the file menu since it doesn't have one.  Is there a way
to print?

Question #3:
I have situations where I am editing XML code and there will be a number of
elements defined for a particular item in the code.
For example:
<user_data>
    <u_item no="1">
        <user item stuff>...
    </u_item no>

    <u_item no="2">
        <user item stuff>...
    </u_item no>
</user_data>

I was trying to find a way to build a macro that would use a variable to
contain a counter that incremented every time it found a pattern like
<u_item no="?"> and assign it a number in between the double quotes.  The
reason for this is I may have 15 of these u_item tags and decide I need to
insert another one at element #2.  I would like a to give the macro a
pattern to search for and allow it to go through all of the elements and
renumber them.  I am a programmer, so, I know since emacs has a language it
can do this, but I don't have enough reference material to find it.  Is
there a way to do this and could you point me to a reference for learning
how to do it?

Question #4:
I can't type some key combinations.  For example, C-M-% should invoke the
query-replace-regexp command.  It just stares at me like it's saying "boy
are you stupid" ;-)  Of course I can type Mx-query-replace-regexp but is
there any way to get the key combination working with a shift key involved?

Question #5:
Is there a way I can download and install other major modes like XML editing
mode?

Question #6:
I have read where there is a way to get hanging indents to work well.  When
I invoke outline-mode I like for the wrapping of text to align with the
current level indent.  Is this something that can be set?

Question #7:
How do you move up to the parent of the current directory you are in.
Usually in Unix & Windows there are current and parent directory indicators
(. And ..) to select in the file list for moving to the parent directory.  I
have noticed they are not in the file listings on the Mac version of emacs.
Is there a way other than re-executing C-x C-f and backing out of the
directory by deleting part of the path?

I will give you a break and stop with the questions at this point.  I may
have more later but I hope this doesn't take too much of your time.

I appreciate any help you can give.

Robert



On 7/2/01 6:03 PM, "Andrew Choi" <ak...@i-...> wrote:

>> I sent an e-mail a few weeks ago and haven't heard from anyone.  I
>> don't know if my e-mail account is the problem or if there are no
>> emacs on the Mac users.  I have a couple of questions about using
>> emacs but hadn't been able to find anyone that uses it.
>> 
>> Thanks for a reply!
>> 
>> Robert Pollard
> 
> Hi Robert,
> 
> I receive this message but not any previous ones.  What questions do
> you have?  Please send them and I'll try to help.
> 
> I haven't spent any time updating Emacs 20 for the Mac OS because I
> have been working on GNU Emacs 21, which should be released quite
> soon.  Mac OS classic support is now part of the standard
> distribution.  I also have a preliminary port of GNU Emacs 21 for Mac
> OS X that will be released when GNU Emacs 21 is released.
> 
> But I'll be happy to answer questions on the Emacs 20 port in the mean
> time.
> 
> Andrew.