Re: emacs settings priority

[crstml]

Eli Zaretskii wrote:
> > From: crstml@libero.it
> > Date: Fri, 5 Apr 2024 09:17:38 +0200
> >
> > Hello all
> >
> > I have some issues when I want to set the fonts in emacs and I
> > think that they are related to the priority of the various means
> > (X resource, command line, init file) used for that.
> >
> > I've tried without success to find in the manual information
> > about these priorities/precedences.
> >
> > Is it possible to know how emacs decides what font is used when the
> > same font is specified in more places: X resource, command line,
> > init file?
> Why is it important to know?
When a user specify some setting in the command line for example he expects
some feedback from the application. If the effect of that setting is not visible
the user must understand the cause.

> Users aren't supposed to specify
> contradictory setting via several different means of doing so.
Is the fact that the users aren't supposed to specify different settings
via several different means an overall design decision? If yes, then the
users should be aware of this decision and it should be specified in the
manual.

But (personal opinion based on my way of using emacs) such a design decision
is not very wise. Users must be able to control how the settings are applied
or what are the causes of their impossibility of specifying settings.

Maybe I want to start an instance of emacs with a different background color
and font size in a certain context (using the command line or a context
dependent configuration file) and I see that these settings are not applied.

How can I understand why not or what can I do?

> Anyway, some information about this can be found in "Startup Summary"
> node of the ELisp reference manual, which describes the order in which
> the various stages of the initialization happen.
>
> > But the question can also be generalized to other properties not
> > only for fonts.
> There's no generalized answer.