Martin's virtual lair

Here is my Emacs configuration file which I have been using on my Ubuntu box for several years. Over time I added more and more options to it. I'm sharing it because it might be helpful for other Emacs users out there. The file is heavily commented, thus hopefully making it easy to comprehend and modify.

Some features are pretty basic while others tailor to more specific needs:

• removal of the ugly splash screen
• custom screen size and scrollbar location
• optionally disable the space-consuming toolbar, menubar and scrollbar
  
• nice white-on-black color scheme with bold fonts
  
• visual feedback on buffer selections and parenthesis matching
  
• syntax coloring for more exotic file types (.pov, .inc, .pyx, .ppl)
  
• Auctex-specific configurations for LaTeX
• storing the hidden ~ autosave files in ~/.emacs-autosaves/ rather than everywhere
  

Hint: lines starting with one or more semicolons are comments, and thus the semicolons need to be added/removed in order to comment/uncomment specific commands. True-or-false statements accept the string "t" for true and "nil" for false. In order to get syntax hightlighting for some typical file types, it may be necessary to install additional packages. Under Ubuntu, one will automatically obtain proper highlighting for LaTeX by installing the auctex package, and highlighting for PHP by installing the python-mode and php-elisp packages.

;; Emacs usually has a splash screen on startup.  Let's get rid of
;; that and start with a blank buffer.
(setq inhibit-startup-message t)

;; I like to see what is selected in the buffer.  This turns on visual
;; feedback on selections.
(setq transient-mark-mode t)

;; Position of the vertical scrollbar. Useful for left-handers.
; (set-scroll-bar-mode 'left)

; Temporary files cluttering up the space are annoying.  Here's how we
; can deal with them -- create a directory in your home directory, and
; save to there instead!  No more random ~ files.
(defvar user-temporary-file-directory
  "~/.emacs-autosaves/")
(make-directory user-temporary-file-directory t)
(setq backup-by-copying t)
(setq backup-directory-alist
      `(("." . ,user-temporary-file-directory)
        (tramp-file-name-regexp nil)))
(setq auto-save-list-file-prefix
      (concat user-temporary-file-directory ".auto-saves-"))
(setq auto-save-file-name-transforms
      `((".*" ,user-temporary-file-directory t)))

;; Enable mouse wheel scrolling. (but should work out-of-the-box)
; (if (load "mwheel" t)
;    (mwheel-install))

;; Column line where text should be wrapped
; (setq-default fill-column 75)

;; Cursor color
(set-cursor-color "white")
;; Color for selected text
(set-face-background 'region "gray20")

;; set keybindings
(global-set-key [f4] 'goto-line)

;; Color setup (note: these lines are commented because the next
;; paragraph will take care of them)
; (set-foreground-color "white")
; (set-background-color "black")

;; this section will give us bold fonts
(custom-set-faces  ;;  only one 'custom-set-faces' entry may exist in .emacs!!
 '(default ((t (:foreground "white" :background "black" :bold t))) t)
 ; '(default ((t (:foreground "white" :background "black" t))) t)
 '(isearch ((t (:foreground "black" :background "yellow"))) t)
)

;; places top left corner of initial frame at location (x,y) on screen
;(setq initial-frame-alist
;      '(
;	(top               . 30)
;	(left              . 0)
;	)
;      )

;; Match parentheses.  Useful to be sure you've closed everything up.
 (show-paren-mode t)

;; Display settings
; default size and color options for all frames.
(setq default-frame-alist
 '(
    (width             . 75)
    (height            . 50)
  )
)

; Change font size
(set-face-attribute 'default nil :height 105)

;; turn off the toolbar, menubar or scrollbar
;; (this method will render the setting of frame size unreliable, this
;; could be resolved by using the .Xresources file instead)
; (tool-bar-mode 0)
; (menu-bar-mode 0)
; (set-scroll-bar-mode nil)

;; alternative method, to be inserted in .Xresources file:
; emacs.geometry: 80x50
; emacs.menuBar: off
; emacs.verticalScrollBars: off
; emacs.toolBar: 0

;; Activate highlighting for POV-Ray files
;; load-path is where the .el files for POV-Ray are stored
;; current version can be downloaded at http://xahlee.org/3d/povray_emacs.html
(add-to-list 'load-path "~/.emacs-custom-el/pov-mode-3.2")
(autoload 'pov-mode "pov-mode" "PoVray scene file mode" t)
(add-to-list 'auto-mode-alist '("\\.pov\\'" . pov-mode))
(add-to-list 'auto-mode-alist '("\\.inc\\'" . pov-mode))

;; Activate python highlighting for PYX and PPL files
(add-to-list 'auto-mode-alist '("\\.pyx\\'" . python-mode))
(add-to-list 'auto-mode-alist '("\\.ppl\\'" . python-mode))

;; *****************************
;; *** AUCTEX-specific stuff ***
;; *****************************

;; do not choose different fonts for section, subsection etc.
; (setq font-latex-fontify-sectioning 'color)

;; font locking (i.e. syntax highlighting) spanning more than one line
(setq font-latex-do-multi-line t)

;; enable/disable highlighting of subscript and superscript via raised
;; or lowered text
(setq font-latex-fontify-script nil)

;; *********************
;; *** miscellaneous ***
;; *********************

;; Activate font-lock mode (syntax coloring).
(global-font-lock-mode t)

;; Line numbers are good.  Getting column numbering as well is better.
(column-number-mode t)

;; Always end files in a newline.
; (setq require-final-newline 't)
;; ...or ask to end in newline if needed
; (setq require-final-newline 'query)

This is how my Emacs looks on startup (with ~/.emacs loaded into the buffer):