I am no expert on X11 ressources, but here is a few ideas. Beware that this is based on a mental image I have built for myself which may have anywhere between 0 and 100 % resemblance to reality.
First note that X11 distinguishes between an applications *class* and its *name*. So you could try writing Emacs.background: Black To set a default for all applications in the Emacs class. I guess that lowercase entries are then referring to actual application names. The (resource) name of an application defaults to the executables name, but may be modified with the standard X11 option of -name. Thus you could also have written: foobar.background: Black and then invoke emacs as emacs -name foobar -title my-foobar The -title is just to set the titlebar of the window. This may also explain why the "emacs." setting was working from .xsession but not with fvwm. You were referring to the name, but if fvwm somehow changes this (resource wise), you will be in trouble. You can experiment from a shell. Apparently, emacs looks into .Xdefaults whenever it starts. Just add -q to avoid reading your .emacs. You could also handle this from within your .emacs. You could say stuff such as: (if (eq window-system 'x) (progn (setq default-frame-alist (cons (cons '(background-color . "white") '(foreground-color . "black") default-frame-alist ))) (modify-frame-parameters nil default-frame-alist))) ---------------------------+-------------------------------------------------- Christian Lynbech | Ericsson Telebit A/S Fax: +45 8628 8186 | Fabrikvej 11, DK-8260 Viby J Phone: +45 8738 2228 | email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- URL: http://www.tbit.dk ---------------------------+-------------------------------------------------- Hit the philistines three times over the head with the Elisp reference manual. - [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Michael A. Petonic)