I used to have the following line in auto-complete:
(require 'auto-complete-config)
(add-to-list 'ac-dictionary-directories "~/.emacs.d/auto-complete/dict")
(ac-config-default)
but now that I installed auto-complete as an Emacs package, I don't have an auto-complete folder in my .emacs.d directory anymore, so the second line above does not work.
This leads me to two questions:
More generally, where are packages installed?
How should I adapt my add-to-list line now that I have auto-complete installed as a package?
By default (in newer versions of auto-complete) the directory used will the the one in the site-lisp folder where emacs installed the package so that line is not required. Simply placing
(setq-default ac-sources
'(ac-source-abbrev ac-source-dictionary
ac-source-words-in-same-mode-buffers))
In your .emacs will let auto-complete know the sources you want for completion and the dictionary file will be placed appropriately.
If you want a custom dictionary (at least what I did) was
(add-to-list 'ac-dictionary-directiories "~/.dict")
Just make sure the directory you put exists.
EDIT: Forgot to mention that this is only if you want to add custom dictionaries to auto-complete (Java object higlighting or custom keywords, etc...). The language ones are enabled by default.
Related
So I downloaded an .el file, I put it on the ~/.emacs.d/elpa/ folder, but it won't appear on the M-x list-packages. How do I make it appear there or how can I install this file/package?
There are two ways of installing an Emacs package: either type M-x list-packages and install it from the list, letting Emacs download it for you, or download the package yourself and install it with M-x package-install-file.
Installing from a package archive
In the first case, note that there are several different package archives. The default value for the variable package-archives only contains GNU ELPA, but most people want to add MELPA to that list since it has more packages. To do that, you need to add the following to your .emacs file (copied from the MELPA web page):
(require 'package) ;; You might already have this line
(add-to-list 'package-archives
'("melpa" . "https://melpa.org/packages/"))
(when (< emacs-major-version 24)
;; For important compatibility libraries like cl-lib
(add-to-list 'package-archives '("gnu" . "http://elpa.gnu.org/packages/")))
(package-initialize) ;; You might already have this line
After that, typing M-x list-packages should list more packages than you'll ever need :)
Installing from a downloaded file
There are two types of packages: single-file packages and multi-file packages. The former can be downloaded as a single .el file, while the latter are distributed as tarballs (.tar). Both types can be installed with M-x package-install-file.
Note that not every .el file can be installed as a package. The comments at the beginning of the file need to follow a certain convention, documented in the Simple packages node of the Emacs Lisp reference manual.
That leaves the possibility that the .el file you've downloaded is not installable as a package. In that case, you should put it in some other directory (~/.emacs.d/elpa is meant for installed packages only), add that directory to the load-path variable, and require the package. If you have foo.el and put it in ~/path/to/foo, it would look something like this:
(add-to-list 'load-path "~/path/to/foo")
(require 'foo)
An .el file is not a package. Installing it via ELPA is probably vastly preferrable to manually downloading a static .el file; perhaps the maintainer has a home page with ELPA (or Marmalade, etc) instructions.
In particular, a package will receive updates as they are made available, so you will not be forever stuck on an increasingly obsolete, unmanaged version (though quiet, fully automatic updates are not yet available or feasible, AFAICT).
But if you have to get by with just the file you already downloaded, you can put it pretty much anywhere you like, as long as that directory is included in the load-path. Manually mucking with the elpa directory is a bad idea, though; put it somewhere else.
Look for comments near the top of the file for any additional instructions; any autoloads, for example, will probably have to be configured separately, and usually completely manually.
This used to be how you always did things in older versions of Emacs, so you should find that the Internet is still practically bulging with guides and tutorials which explain the finer details of this mechanism, if this answer alone isn't sufficient.
I've installed a few packages from elpa and melpa. Some packages don't really require that I edit my .emacs file to add any hooks or include a (require 'fn) line. On the other hand some packages provide instructions that explain editing the .emacs file is part of the installation. I recently installed ace-jump-mode and the packaging system created a directory for the package in .emacs.d something like: ace-jump-mode-20130719.2053/ and the instructions for installation call for adding a few lines to my .emacs file.
So there are 2 parts to this question.
when is editing .emacs file required after installing a package?
Adding that path to ace-jump seems like it will break if ever I need to update the package, is there a better way of including the path in my .emacs file?
Different packages handle key bindings and loading differently. Sometimes you'll have to modify your configuration, and sometimes you won't. The best bet is to read the documentation for each thing you install, which you appear to already be doing.
You shouldn't have to explicitly specify the path to your ace-jump package. ELPA / package.el will take care of updating your load-path. The following snippet should work, without specifying that path manually:
;; No (add-to-list 'load-path ...)
(require 'ace-jump-mode)
;; Optional
(define-key global-map (kbd "C-c SPC") 'ace-jump-mode)
I see at this link how emacs prelude ensures that a set of packages is installed when emacs starts. I was wondering if I could somehow extend the variable prelude-packages to add some other packages, without changing the prelude-packages.el file?
Barring that I was wondering how I could define a list of packages that are installed at start-up if they aren't currently installed.
You can place a .el file in personal/ directory in Prelude. Prelude loads any .el file it finds there in an alphabetical order. Below is the content of my personal/00-packages.el file.:
(require 'package)
(add-to-list 'package-archives
'("marmalade" .
"http://marmalade-repo.org/packages/"))
(package-initialize)
;; My packages
(setq prelude-packages (append '(
drupal-mode
nginx-mode
) prelude-packages))
;; Install my packages
(prelude-install-packages)
"00" is added to the file name to ensure that the file is loaded before all personal customizations. Add any new package you need to the list being appended to prelude-packages.
Also, if you want to use any mode that is not available in MELPA or Marmalade, you can simply drop the mode's file in personal folder and Prelude will pick it up while loading. If there are any customizations to that mode, simply create another .el file and add the Emacs Lisp code there.
Prelude recommends to use
(prelude-require-packages '(some-package some-other-package))
if you have several package. Or in case you want to add just one package:
(prelude-require-package 'some-package)
If you want you can still maintain your package list in a variable:
(setq my-packages '(drupal-mode nginx-mode toto-mode)
(prelude-require-package my-packages)
In your .emacs file you could add code like this (very similar to the code in the link you sent) to check if each package is installed and install it if is not:
(dolist (package '(eredis anything erlang elnode))
(unless (package-installed-p package)
(package-install package)))
In answer to your question there's no reason you can't do this after the prelude code has run.
I'm new to Emacs. I found many emacs plugins are released as an .el file. I'm not sure how to install them. Can I just put them in my emacs installation directory?
After placing it, say myplugin.el to your ~/.emacs.d/ directory, add the following in your .emacs file:
(add-to-list 'load-path "~/.emacs.d/")
(load "myplugin.el")
Also, in many cases you would need the following instead of the second line:
(require 'myplugin)
In any case, you should consult the documentation of the package you are trying to install on which one you should use.
If you are unsure where your ~ directory is, you may see it by typing C-x d ~/ and pressing Enter.
As already stated, you'll need the location of the file to be in Emacs' load path.
Read the comments at the top of the file to see if it has any particular installation or usage instructions. Authors often provide this information, and there isn't one single correct way to do it, so it's sensible to look.
Failing that, if the file contains a (provide 'some-name) line (typically at the end of the file), then you would be expected to use (require 'some-name) to load it.
You may also wish to byte-compile the library for speed (but that's a different question).
Many times, an emacs plugin will consist of a directory of elisp files that need to be accessible from the load path. A simple way to ensure that all individual elisp files as well as subdirectories of elisp files are included in the load path and accessible is to do something similar to the following:
Create a directory called ~/.emacs.d/site-lisp.
Install any single elisp files in the ~/.emacs.d/site-lisp directory.
Install any packages that consist of multiple elisp files in a subdirectory under your ~/.emacs.d/site-lisp directory.
Add the following code to your ~/.emacs file to ensure that Emacs "sees" all the elisp files that you have installed:
(add-to-list 'load-path "~/.emacs.d/site-lisp")
(progn (cd "~/.emacs.d/site-lisp")
(normal-top-level-add-subdirs-to-load-path))
This will ensure that all elisp files that are located either in either the ~/.emacs.d/site-lisp directory or in a subdirectory under that directory are accessible.
Some supplementary information:
MATLAB.el comes from http://matlab-emacs.sourceforge.net/
On windows, use the load path that looks like this:
(add-to-list 'load-path' "C:\\Dropbox\\Portable\\emacs\\matlab-emacs")
If you want FULL MATLAB functionality you should use:
;;MATLAB Mode:
(add-to-list 'load-path' "C:\\Dropbox\\Portable\\emacs\\matlab-emacs")
(require 'matlab-load)
if you just want to edit text files:
;;MATLAB Mode:
(add-to-list 'load-path' "C:\\Dropbox\\Portable\\emacs\\matlab-emacs")
(autoload 'matlab-mode "matlab" "Enter MATLAB mode." t)
(setq auto-mode-alist (cons '("\\.m\\'" . matlab-mode) auto-mode-alist))
(autoload 'matlab-shell "matlab" "Interactive MATLAB mode." t)
I can't get 'remember' to work in org-mode of emacs.
I'm on snow leopard.
I added
(global-set-key (kbd "C-M-r") 'org-remember)
to my .emacs file but when I try to use that shortcut it says:
Wrong type argument: commandp, remember
So I added
(org-remember-insinuate)
and when I start emacs it says:
symbol's function definition is void org-remember-insinuate
Ideas?
GNU Emacs 22.1.1
Checking the obvious stuff...
Have you ensured that org-remember was loaded? i.e. by adding this to your .emacs:
(require 'org-remember)
And, while you're at it, have you ensured that remember can load properly also?
(require 'remember)
remember is a separate package from org, which you'll have to download. Check out the wiki page.
You'll want to ensure that the org and remember packages are in your load path before you require the libraries, with something like:
(add-to-list 'load-path "/path/to/orgdir/lisp")
(add-to-list 'load-path "/path/to/remember")
(require 'remember)
(require 'org-remember)
Note: Emacs 22 comes with org-mode, but not a recent version. You need the more recent version in order to get the org-remember package.