40 Operating System Interface

This chapter is about starting and getting out of Emacs, access to values in the operating system environment, and terminal input, output, and flow control.

See Building Emacs, for related information. See also Display, for additional operating system status information pertaining to the terminal and the screen.

• Starting Up: Customizing Emacs startup processing.
• Getting Out: How exiting works (permanent or temporary).
• System Environment: Distinguish the name and kind of system.
• User Identification: Finding the name and user id of the user.
• Time of Day: Getting the current time.
• Time Conversion: Converting a time from numeric form to a string, or to calendrical data (or vice versa).
• Timers: Setting a timer to call a function at a certain time.
• Terminal Input: Recording terminal input for debugging.
• Terminal Output: Recording terminal output for debugging.
• Sound Output: Playing sounds on the computer's speaker.
• Special Keysyms: Defining system-specific key symbols for X.
• Flow Control: How to turn output flow control on or off.
• Batch Mode: Running Emacs without terminal interaction.