39.2.2 Initial Frame Properties

You can specify the properties for the initial startup frame by setting initial-frame-plist in your .emacs file.

Variable: initial-frame-plist

This variable’s value is a plist of alternating property-value pairs used when creating the initial X window frame.

SXEmacs creates the initial frame before it reads your ~/.emacs file. After reading that file, SXEmacs checks initial-frame-plist, and applies the property settings in the altered value to the already created initial frame.

If these settings affect the frame geometry and appearance, you’ll see the frame appear with the wrong ones and then change to the specified ones. If that bothers you, you can specify the same geometry and appearance with X resources; those do take affect before the frame is created. See X Resources in The SXEmacs User’s Manual.

X resource settings typically apply to all frames. If you want to specify some X resources solely for the sake of the initial frame, and you don’t want them to apply to subsequent frames, here’s how to achieve this: specify properties in default-frame-plist to override the X resources for subsequent frames; then, to prevent these from affecting the initial frame, specify the same properties in initial-frame-plist with values that match the X resources.

If these properties specify a separate minibuffer-only frame via a minibuffer property of nil, and you have not yet created one, SXEmacs creates one for you.

Variable: minibuffer-frame-plist

This variable’s value is a plist of properties used when creating an initial minibuffer-only frame—if such a frame is needed, according to the properties for the main initial frame.

Variable: default-frame-plist

This is a plist specifying default values of frame properties for subsequent SXEmacs frames (not the initial ones).

See also special-display-frame-plist, in Choosing Window.

If you use options that specify window appearance when you invoke SXEmacs, they take effect by adding elements to default-frame-plist. One exception is ‘-geometry’, which adds the specified position to initial-frame-plist instead. See Command Arguments in The SXEmacs User’s Manual.