Re: compile perl file, specify current buffer, using help effectively

[Burton Samograd]

"David Schneider" <goedelsch@gmail.com> writes:

> I am trying to use emacs as an IDE for perl development.  I think it
> would be useful to have a compile command that runs perl on the
> current buffer I am editing.  The compile command defaults to make -k.
> I want to change it to perl xx where xx is the name of the current
> buffer - is there some variable or special syntax I can use to get the
> current filename?

In your ~/.emacs you can put:

(setq compile-command "perl xx")

or you can just change the command name when it asks and then it will
use whatever you set it to for subsiquent compiles.

A handy binding in your .emacs is:

(global-set-key "\C-cc" 'compile)

Which calls compile when you hit Control c and then c.
  
> More important then the answer, is how do I figure
> this out from the help.  I have been using C-h a to try to search the
> help.  This gives me lists of commands or variables which may be
> related - but I frequently find my questions are still unanswered.

That is just something that takes time to learn.  Emacs is big and
takes a *long* time to master.  Asking questions (like you are doing)
is one of the best ways to get quick answers.  You can then learn more
by taking the answer and exploring emacs more.  Try looking at the
compile-command variable documentation using C-h v
(describe-variable). Another useful one is C-h f (describe-function),
which you can use to describe the compile function (where you can find
out about the compile-command variable, 5th paragraph).

-- 
burton samograd                                 kruhft .at. gmail
kruhft.blogspot.com     www.myspace.com/kruhft  metashell.blogspot.com