RE: void variable problem

[Drew Adams]

> I installed synonyms.el, and it depends on access to mthesar.txt. So I
> created: /home/haines/mthesaur/mthesaur.txt and in .emacs 
> access it with the line
> (setq synonyms-file  /home/haines/mthesaur/mthesaur.txt)
> But when emacs loads, I get this error:
>   (void-variable /home/haines/mthesaur/mthesaur\.txt) 
> 
> What does the backshash in "mthesaur\.txt" mean?

Eli already mentioned that the file-name value needs to be string (i.e. "...").

The error message shows that Emacs read the symbol named `mthesaur.txt' and
tried to find its value as a variable.  When printing the symbol name, Emacs
escapes the `.' with a backslash.

Instead of using (setq synonyms-file...) you can use Customize (command
`customize-option').  I recommend this.

Or you can just start using command `synonyms' and it will prompt you for the
file to use.  And if you want Emacs to remember this, then use `customize
option' to save it.

This is all explained in file synonyms.el, in the Commentary (file header).