Re: How to evaluate forms from a given file?

[email protected] writes:

> On 2026-03-10, at 10:24, [email protected] wrote:
>
>> [email protected] writes:
>>
>>>
>>> I need to execute Elisp from some file with `emacsclient --eval'.
>>> Should I say `emacsclient --eval "(load-file ...)"',  `emacsclient
>>> --eval "(load ...)"' or something else?
>>>
>>
>> (info "(elisp) How Programs Do Loading")
>>
>>  -- Command: load-file filename
>>      This command loads the file FILENAME.  If FILENAME is a relative
>>      file name, then the current default directory is assumed.  This
>>      command does not use ‘load-path’, and does not append suffixes.
>>      However, it does look for compressed versions (if Auto Compression
>>      Mode is enabled).  Use this command if you wish to specify
>>      precisely the file name to load.
>>
>> So, you will decide whether to use ‘load’ versus ‘load-file’
>> depending on how well you know the file’s name and where it
>> is located.  (‘load’ also provides additional parameters for
>> other conditions.)
>>
>> Roughly:
>> load-file -> load this specific file in this location
>> load -> load a file after finding where it is and which
>>         form is available
>
> Thanks.  I've seen this part of the manual (obviously), but it left me
> unsure about which one should I use, or whether there is a third one,
> a lower-level function used by both of these.
>
> Thanks anyway,

Using it with emacsclient, you probably want to use
‘load-file’, for example

   emacsclient -e '(load-file "./my-elisp.el")'

You can issue that command from any directory regardless of
the setting of ‘load-path’.

On the other hand, if you have a library/package that you
want to load into a running Emacs, that package would be in
a directory that is listed in ‘load-path’, and so Emacs will
find it and add the "best" filename extension:

   emacsclient -e '(load "my-elisp-pkg")'

-- 
The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne.
- Geoffrey Chaucer, The Parliament of Birds.