This document is more aimed at quick notes for the various packages I have installed into my emacs. You may find this usfull or you may not. It should also be noted that much of this document is copied from the original package documentation of the package being documented. All this does is put the parts I think I may need on a regular basis in one place to make it easier for me to find.
el-get
This is the package manager I’ve choosen to use.
It should be noted that the below commands will do what they say and make a package available for this session. To make things persist across restarts you have to update your ‘init.el’ start up files.
Adding and removing packages
command |
Description |
Meta+x el-get-install |
Will prompt for a package name, with completion, then install it. It will only propose packages that are not already ‘installed’. Any package that you have a recipe for is a candidate. |
Meta+x el-get-remove |
Will prompt for an ‘installed’ package name, with completion, then remove it. Depending on the ‘type’ of the package, this often means simply deleting the directory where the source package lies. Sometime we have to use external tools instead (e.g. ‘apt-get’). No effort is made to unload the features. |
Meta+x el-get-reinstall |
This is just a shortcut for ‘el-get-remove’ followed by ‘el-get-install’ of the same package. It is primarily useful when a package has changed types, so the normal el-get-update process will not work correctly. |
Keeping up to date
command |
Description |
Meta+x el-get-self-update |
Update only one package, ‘el-get’ itself |
Meta+x el-get-update |
Will prompt for an installed package name, with completion, then update it. This will run the ‘build’ commands and ‘int’ the package again. |
Meta+x el-get-update-all |
Will update all packages that have the ‘installed’ status in your status file. Before the update you will be prompted for confirmation that you wish to proceed. Beware that using this function can lead to hours of settings review: more often than not updating a package requires some adjustments to your setup. Updating all of them at once will require reviewing almost all your setup. |
Meta+x el-get-reload |
Reload the given package files. Happens automatically at update time too. |
Viewing available recipes
Command |
Description |
Meta+x el-get-list-packages |
Opens a buffer listing all known packages (those for which you have a recipe). The listing includes the package name, its status (one of available, installed, removed or required) and the package description. The description is a free form text and has not been provided for all recipes. |
Meta+x el-get-describe |
Prompt for a package name, with completion, then open an ‘Help’ window with details about the selected package. Those include current status, website, description, installation method, full recipe, and buttons to easily install, update or remove the package. |
Meta+x el-get-find-recipe-file |
Will prompt for the name of a package, with completion, then ‘find-file’ its ‘recipe’ file. If the recipe does not exist, it will create a new recipe file with the appropriate name. |