Emacs Init: Install Package Manually
What is a Package
- A emacs package is a elisp file or several emacs lisp files.
- Emacs lisp file ends in
.el
- A emacs package is usually identified by the file name, e.g.
xah-fly-keys.el
.
Load the File
Load the File Interactively
Alt+x load-file
then give the file name.
or, open the file, then
Alt+x eval-buffer
Now, emacs is aware of the package.
Load File at Startup
If you want emacs to load the file when it starts, put the file in the dir
~/.emacs.d/lisp/
where
~/.emacs.d/
is your
Emacs Init: File Location
.
Create that lisp
directory if it doesn't exist.
put this in your Emacs Init File:
;; add lisp dir in emacs init dir, to load path (add-to-list 'load-path (concat user-emacs-directory "lisp/" )) ;; load a package named xx.el (load "xx") ;; best not to include the file name extension .el or .elc. because emacs will then use the byte compiled file .elc if available.
Byte Compile (Optional)
Activate the Mode
If the package is a Major Mode or Minor Mode, you have to activate it, by calling the command in the package.
For example, if the file name is xx.el
, then the command to activate it is typically Alt+x xx or xx-mode.
Auto Activate Mode When Opening File
This is usually setup by the package, but not always. Here's the basics:
(add-to-list 'auto-mode-alist '("\\.el\\'" . xah-elisp-mode))
For detail, see: Emacs Init: Set Default Major Mode.
Mode Documentation
Emacs major mode usually have inline doc. To view it
- Activate the mode Alt+x mode_name
- Alt+x
describe-mode
Sometimes, a mode comes with complete documentation in info
format (file with suffix .info
). To read the info, type
Ctrl+u Alt+x info
then type the info file's name.