Zero Install Download
These Zero Install images require no installation and run with the full features of JASSPA MicroEmacs in a single executable. Typically used for migration to a new system where the user requires an Emacs editor but does not want to (or is not able to) perform a full installation. The editor is built for the most common systems and packaged with the latest macros built-in. A set of composite pre-built executables is provided for transfer to CD-ROM or memory stick.
The images are classed as early access but have so far proved to be robust enough for release.
Please note the Known Issues at the bottom of this page for Fedora and RedHat systems.
Licensing
As of January 2002 Jasspa's MicroEmacs is distributed under the GNU General Public License (GPL).
Platform Downloads
A selection of quick downloads for the most popular platforms.
Composite Image Downloads
The following files contain all of the executable images in a single archive that may be transferred to Memory Stick or CD-ROM.
| mezi_20091109.iso.gz | ISO CD-ROM image | |
| mezi_20091109.tar.gz | Gzip'ed tar archive | |
| mezi_20091109.zip | zip'ed archive |
Source Downloads
The following files are the source of this build
| bfs-v0.1.2.tar.gz | BFS Source. This an early release and the build rules are very primitive, should produce a library. | |
| jasspa-mesrc-20091212.tar.gz | JASSPA MicroEmacs source 2009.12.12 | |
| jasspa-mesrc-20100503.tar.gz | JASSPA MicroEmacs source 2010.05.03 (Eee PC Build) | |
| jasspa-metree-20091212.bfs | Pre-built Macro archive | |
| jasspame.pdf | JASSPA MicroEmacs Quick Start Guide. |
So How Does This Work ?
The motivation behind this latest development was to produce a fully featured version of JASSPA MicroEmacs which included all of the macros (which do most of the work) in a single executable package that could be transported to different systems without installing anything. i.e. copy it onto the system and run it. Secondly we realised that we also wanted to customise the macros contained within such that we could carry round our own extensions but did not necessarily want to re-build the binary as the target systems we wanted to run on might not contain all of the necessary build tools and libraries to re-build the image. Thirdly anything we added to the executable must contain a hierarchical file structure and must be a platform independent format which may be constructed and manipulated on any platform whilst being space efficient.
The solution was to obviously tack the information onto the end of the executable as we know where the executable is. The next problem was how to append information onto the executable that we can retrieve at runtime. There was obviously conventional archive formats, but they are not so good at run-time traversal, in addition there were no tools to add and remove the archive. A cat would of course append information to the end of a file, but removal is much more difficult. In the end we came up with a new archive format that performed with conventional file system commands such as listing a directory and reading files in addition added compression such that we could efficiently reduce the size of the data attachment. Given that the archive is being placed at the bottom of the executable then the archive must be located from the bottom. The end result is a built-in file system format called bfs, this in hindsight was probably not a really good name because it conflicts with the BEoS file system (latterly we have settled on the Tacky (Tacked-on) File System or tfs but have yet to perform the name space move).
The bfs command line utility is used to manipulate the archive and attach it to the executable, its basic operation is outlined below. The following examples use me.exe as a clearer example of which item is the executable. Obviously in a UNIX type environment then the .exe suffix is not used and does not exist.
To build a bfs archive then simply unpack the metree and remove things that you do not want in the archive:
% tar zxvf jasspa-metree-20091017.tar.gz % rm -rf ./jasspa/pixmaps # Delete the pixmaps not required. % rm -rf ./jasspa/spelling # Delete the empty spelling directory. % rm -rf ./jasspa/company # Delete the empty company directory. % rm -f ./jasspa/macros/null # Delete the null file.
You can add new things such as a spelling dictionary, some of your private files etc. DO NOT add the dynamic files such as user.erf or the session files as the archive is READ-ONLY and cannot write back any saved session or history information.
Build the archive and add to an executable from a different directory to create a new executable with BFS archive attached:
% bfs -a mypath/mecw.exe -o me.exe ./jasspa
Append an already existing archive to the executable:
% bfs -a mypath/mecw.exe -o me.exe jasspa-metree-20091117.bfs
This should now be a stand alone executable. If you append again it will remove the old archive and add a new one.
The archive may be updated in place using either a directory or a .bfs file. This will remove the existing archive and replace it with the new archive. i.e.
% bfs -a me.exe ./jasspa # Add a new archive from directory. % bfs -a me.exe jasspa.bfs # Add a pre-built archive.
You can list the archive attached to the executable:
% bfs -l me.exe
You can test the archive attached to the executable:
% bfs -t me.exe
You can get some information on the archive attached to the executable:
% bfs -i me.exe
You can remove (or strip) the archive attached to the executable:
% bfs -s me.exe
You can extract the archive attached to the executable which will extract the directory tree in the archive to a new directory called oldarch.
% bfs -x oldarch me.exe # Extract to directory called "oldarch" % bfs -f oldarch.bfs me.exe # Extract to a file called "oldarch.bfs"
We mentioned in the preamble that bfs is architecture independent and a little endian Linux executable or big endian Sun sparc executable may be safely manipulated and appended by a Windows version of bfs, and vice versa. bfs treats all files as binary hence care should be taken with line endings, although MicroEmacs is not directly affected by the different line ending forms.
Customizing the executable
The standard bfs archive built by JASSPA contains the standard macros but no customization so when a user wishes to bundle their macros and common extensions the following steps outline how to do it.
Firstly lets assume that the user starts from the supplied attached archive, the first thing to do is to extract it and then modify it.
% bfs -x myarch me.exe # Extract to directory called "myarch"
The extracted tree will have two directories:
myarch/macros myarch/contrib
Assuming that the user wants to add a spelling dictionary, then create a new directory called spelling and place the required spelling dictionary files in this new directory (we selected the US dictionary here). Note that you can include more than one spelling dictionary file set in here:
% mkdir myarch/spelling % (cd myarch/spelling; tar zxvf pathto/ls_enus.tar.gz)
If you have some company wide files then create a directory called company and place the macro files into this directory:
% mkdir myarch/company % cp pathto/companyfiles* myarch/company
If you have your own private extensions then it is suggested that you place these at the top level i.e. in the myarch directory. Note that the private files include a user name component so some may not be found if you are logged in as a different user, so consider carefully the files to transfer across. DO NOT place any dynamic files into the archive as it is read only i.e. user.erf as these cannot be written. It is strongly recommended that the files in the myarch/macros are not changed as this enables user changes that do not work to be easily backed out; placing a file in the myarch directory is used in preference to, and overrides, the same file in myarch/macros.
% cp pathto/myfiles* myarch
With the archive directory composed then we simply add it to the end of the executable, this operation displaces any old archive with the new one:
% bfs -a me.exe ./myarch
Now when you run the executable it will contain the archive that you constructed. Note that the attached archive is last in the search path so any macro files found in the file system in the normal search path will override the same macro files that exist in the archive.
Accessing the file system from within MicroEamcs
The bfs file system is accessible from within MicroEmacs using the URL bfs://. The directory location may be traversed by the user and files may be copied out and executed within the editor from this location. i.e.
C-x C-f bfs://
results in a directory listing of the file system:
Directory listing of: bfs:// 4833 used in 0 files and 4 dirs (Not-Filtered) Attr Size Modified Name dr-x 21 2009/11/21 18:16:38 ../ dr-x 152 2009/11/21 18:16:38 contrib/ dr-x 4639 2009/11/21 18:16:38 macros/
Note that the bfs:// location is automatically placed on the file search path in the colon separated list and is referenced as {bfs} in the colon separated search path list.
Known Issues
JASSPA MicroEmacs is not starting up in a X-Windows mode on Fedora 11/12 and possibly some other RedHat systems. On executing me then it silently fails to start. The reason for this is that the built-in default font cannot be resolved. In order to fix this then the following steps may be taken:
- Create a file .Xresources in the $HOME directory if it does not already exist.
- Add the line
MicroEmacs*font: -*-fixed-medium-r-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
to the .Xresources file. - Merge the local resources definitions to the XServer with the command:
% xrdb -merge $HOME/.Xresources
After performing these steps then any pre-built MicroEmacs will run up correctly and not silently fail.
If you wish to re-build the binary with the default font then edit unixterm.c::2976 and change the default font string.
NO WARRANTY
This program is licensed free of charge, there is no warranty for the program, to the extent permitted by applicable law. Except when otherwise stated in writing the copyright holders and/or other parties provide the program "as is" without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The entire risk as to the quality and performance of the program is with you. Should the program prove defective, you assume the cost of all necessary servicing, repair or correction.
In no event unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing will any copyright holder, or any other party who may modify and/or redistribute the program as permitted above, be liable to you for damages, including any general, special, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the use or inability to use the program (including but not limited to loss of data or data being rendered inaccurate or losses sustained by you or third parties or a failure of the program to operate with any other programs), even if such holder or other party has been advised of the possibility of such damages.
By downloading any material from this site you agree to these conditions.