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The University of Texas at Austin

FAQ

Text Editing
  1. How do I change the colors for the syntax highlighting in xemacs? The defaults are ugly.
  2. How can I use "StarOffice"? How can I view Microsoft Excel or Word documents on a UNIX machine?
  3. How can I add a directory to my font path? If I know where a font is and I want to use it, how can I make programs recognize it?
  4. How can I view or create a file with the .pdf extension (Adobe Doc format)?
  5. What text editors are available?
  6. I've started Emacs. How do I quit?
  7. I've started vi. How do I quit?
  8. I've started Sam. How do I quit?
  9. How can I turn on parentheses highlighting in vim?
How do I change the colors for the syntax highlighting in xemacs? The defaults are ugly.

Just click on the keyword that has the color you want to change and go to options -> customize -> face and then type in font-lock-keyword-face.

How can I use "StarOffice"? How can I view Microsoft Excel or Word documents on a UNIX machine?

The campus version of StarOffice 8.0 (an office suite capable of reading and writing Microsoft office formats, and writing to PDF/PS) has been installed on the Sun and Linux hosts. Just run /lusr/bin/soffice to initialize it for use in your account. Those of you who run twm as your window manager, will need to switch to tvtwm in order to use this software.

How can I add a directory to my font path? If I know where a font is and I want to use it, how can I make programs recognize it?

Use the following command to add a directory to your font path. xset fp+ [name of directory] You may need to run xset fp rehash afterwards to add its fonts to the available listing.

How can I view or create a file with the .pdf extension (Adobe Doc format)?

You can view the file using acroread or xpdf. Staroffice 7 supports printing to PDF files.

What text editors are available?

The two major UNIX editors are emacs and vi. Other editors installed are xedit, xcoral, and xemacs, Sam, pico, ed, and nano. Others may be installed in /p/bin and supported by the public group.

I've started Emacs. How do I quit?

Hold down the ctrl key and press x; then c. Please make sure you exit before you log out. See the man pages on Emacs for more information.

I've started vi. How do I quit?

Press the escape key (esc on some machines) to make sure you are in command mode (also called edit mode). In command mode type "ZZ" or ":wq". If you want to exit without saving changes, use ":q!".

I've started Sam. How do I quit?

Use the right mouse button to bring up a menu and select "~~sam~~". Sam's command window should open; type "q" and press return.

How can I turn on parentheses highlighting in vim?

Add the following to your .vimrc

unlet! g:loaded_matchparen
runtime plugins/matchparen.vimAppend the following to your .vimrc: let loaded_matchparen = 1