Using emacs in a terminal window

[Ken Brown <kbrown at cornell dot edu>]

I've answered several questions in recent weeks about how to use emacs 
in a terminal window.  To try to clarify this, I plan to put some 
suggestions in /usr/share/doc/Cygwin/emacs.README the next time I update 
the emacs packages.  The current draft is appended below.  Please let me 
know if you see any inaccuracies or if anything could be stated more 
clearly.

Ken

----------------------------------

Usage suggestions:

 1. For best results, install the emacs-X11 package and run emacs
    under X windows (by typing 'emacs&' in an xterm window, for
    instance).

 2. If you use emacs in a terminal window, the following settings are
    recommended; without them, some keystrokes may not work as you
    expect:

    - mintty: Put BackspaceSendsDEL=1 in your .minttyrc file.

    - xterm: Invoke xterm with -xrm *backarrowKey:false or put
      'XTerm*backarrowKey: false' in your .Xdefaults file.  Once xterm
      is started, give the command 'stty erase ^?'.  (These
      suggestions are only relevant if you invoke emacs with the -nw
      option in an xterm window or if you have not installed
      emacs-X11.)

    - rxvt: Invoke rxvt with the -backspackey DEC option or put
      'Rxvt*backspacekey: DEC' in your .Xdefaults file.

    - Cygwin console (the window you get by using the Cygwin desktop
      shortcut): Make sure your CYGWIN environment variable contains
      tty before you start the console.  Even then, some keystrokes
      will not work as expected, such as the C-M-key combinations.  A
      workaround is to use the ESC prefix to simulate the Alt (Meta)
      key.  If you want C-M-a, for instance, type ESC C-a.

 3. If you follow the advice above, C-h should work as the help key.
    (In the case of the Cygwin console, this applies only to Cygwin
    1.7, starting with the cygwin-1.7.0-49 release.)  If C-h doesn't
    produce help, the function key F1 is an alternative.


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