Normally I want ido to ignore all non-user buffers, i.e. all buffers which start with a *. I have achieved this using the following setting:
(setq ido-ignore-buffers '("\\` " "^\*"))
However, this poses a problem when working with a shell or an interpreter, e.g. ielm, where the interaction buffer is named *ielm*. Obviously adding all buffers to be ignored manually is not really an option because the list can get quite long with a lot of different emacs packages loaded. I know about C-a which disabled the ignore pattern from within ido, however, I don't want to hit C-a every time I switch to an ielm buffer.
My question is:
Is there some variable which allows to specify buffers which ido should not ignore (although they match the normal ignore list)? Or is there some other approach for solving this?
The list that the ido-ignore-buffers variable points to may contain not only regular expressions but also functions (any mix of them, actually). It's easy to provide a function to filter out all non-user buffers except *ielm*:
(defun ido-ignore-non-user-except-ielm (name)
"Ignore all non-user (a.k.a. *starred*) buffers except *ielm*."
(and (string-match "^\*" name)
(not (string= name "*ielm*"))))
(setq ido-ignore-buffers '("\\` " ido-ignore-non-user-except-ielm))
Here's an example of having multiple unignored buffer names:
(setq my-unignored-buffers '("*ielm*" "*scratch*" "*foo*" "*bar*"))
(defun my-ido-ignore-func (name)
"Ignore all non-user (a.k.a. *starred*) buffers except those listed in `my-unignored-buffers'."
(and (string-match "^\*" name)
(not (member name my-unignored-buffers))))
(setq ido-ignore-buffers '("\\` " my-ido-ignore-func))
An interesting example of using ignore functions can be found among comments in the ido.el source code (I've removed ;; at the beginning of each line):
(defun ido-ignore-c-mode (name)
"Ignore all c mode buffers -- example function for ido."
(with-current-buffer name
(derived-mode-p 'c-mode)))
Basically, once you've got buffer name, you can do any checking/ignoring you want.
Related
I tried out Sublime Text 2 recently, and I found Goto Anything superbly useful for navigating source code (Ctrl-P file#symbol seems to work really well). Is there something similar for Emacs? Preferably something that just works, without a ton of custom elisp.
What I've tried so far:
I've seen Helm and Anything, but as far as I understand neither of them is capable of actual "instant" search (see edit below).
I've used multi-occur-in-matching-buffers, but it too seems unable to satisfy the "instant" criterion.
imenu / idomenu works well for single files, but doesn't work across files.
I currently use #2 and #3 together, as a poor substitute for Goto Anything.
If not an exact clone of Goto Anything, then I could make do with a naive instant search solution (one that searches for a given string across all open buffers and displays results dynamically). So that's acceptable too.
I use Emacs 24.2, so any v24-only elisp is also fine.
EDIT: I gave Helm another shot, at event_jr's suggestion, and I found that it does support instant searching across all open buffers. helm-multi-occur + helm-follow-mode comes surprisingly close to meeting my needs, the only minor issues being (at the risk of sounding nit-picky):
I haven't found a way to turn on helm-follow-mode automatically when I run helm-multi-occur. I have to invoke it manually with C-c C-f. Anyone care to take a shot at this with a snippet of elisp? (see edit #2 below)
it isn't "intelligent" like ST2's Goto Anything (i.e., it doesn't understand "symbols" in source code, like Goto Anything does).
EDIT #2: Now I've got most of Goto Anything, thanks to event_jr's answer below (and of course, thanks to Helm's creator, Thierry Volpiatto). I recommend it heartily to anyone looking for a similar feature. Below is the elisp I'm currently using:
;; instant recursive grep on a directory with helm
(defun instant-rgrep-using-helm ()
"Recursive grep in a directory."
(interactive)
(let ((helm-after-initialize-hook #'helm-follow-mode))
(helm-do-grep)))
;; instant search across all buffers with helm
(defun instant-search-using-helm ()
"Multi-occur in all buffers backed by files."
(interactive)
(let ((helm-after-initialize-hook #'helm-follow-mode))
(helm-multi-occur
(delq nil
(mapcar (lambda (b)
(when (buffer-file-name b) (buffer-name b)))
(buffer-list))))))
;; set keybindings
(global-set-key (kbd "C-M-s") 'instant-search-using-helm)
(global-set-key (kbd "C-M-S-s") 'helm-resume)
(global-set-key (kbd "C-M-g") 'instant-rgrep-using-helm)
Just use helm.
It is perhaps more configuration than you asked for, but once you get it
configured how you like, it should be quite comfortable. Very much like Emacs
;).
And you should file a bug with Thierry for getting some more newbie friendly
defaults. He is quite responsive with issues.
helm-multi-occur
Primarily multi-buffer interactive "occur" is provided through
helm-multi-occur. If you execute the command, you'll notice that you have
to pick some buffers first (use C-SPC to select from the list,
M-SPC to select all). Then you can enter your query at the next
prompt. It's easy to make your own version that skips the buffer selection
like so:
(eval-after-load "helm-regexp"
'(setq helm-source-moccur
(helm-make-source "Moccur"
'helm-source-multi-occur :follow 1)))
(defun my-helm-multi-all ()
"multi-occur in all buffers backed by files."
(interactive)
(helm-multi-occur
(delq nil
(mapcar (lambda (b)
(when (buffer-file-name b) (buffer-name b)))
(buffer-list)))))
helm-buffers-list
Often you don't care about the exact occurrences of the query string, but want a
list of all buffers that contain it.
helm-buffers-list has some tricks up its sleeve. The first symbol you
specify is filtering by major-mode, and you can use the "#" prefix to narrow
the list to buffers that contain a string.
To wit, "ruby #prompt" will show you a list of buffers whose major-mode
contains "ruby" and whose contents contains "prompt". Or you can just use "#prompt" to show all buffers that contain "prompt".
Powerful and comfortable once you get used to it.
EDIT modified my-helm-multi-all to enable helm-follow-mode.
EDIT 2 update helm-follow-mode code to reflect helm changes.
EDIT 3 updated again to reflect helm changes
Emacs has Projectile satisfy your need:
jump to a file in project
multi-occur in project buffers
Heml is far from the fuzzy searching of ST3.
Fiplr looks promising but doesn't work on my laptop (see first issue on the github)
Simp.el looks like Fiplr but doesn't work either on my end.
Projectile works for me! Here's your solution!
I used also ido-mode and flx-ido for the fuzzy searching,
and for the vertical way of displaying results I use this in my .emacs:
;; Display ido results vertically, rather than horizontally
(setq ido-decorations (quote ("\n-> " "" "\n " "\n ..." "[" "]" " [No match]" " [Matched]" " [Not readable]" " [Too big]" " [Confirm]")))
(defun ido-disable-line-truncation () (set (make-local-variable 'truncate-lines) nil))
(add-hook 'ido-minibuffer-setup-hook 'ido-disable-line-truncation)
(defun ido-define-keys () ;; C-n/p is more intuitive in vertical layout
(define-key ido-completion-map (kbd "C-n") 'ido-next-match)
(define-key ido-completion-map (kbd "C-p") 'ido-prev-match))
(add-hook 'ido-setup-hook 'ido-define-keys)
Icicles offers some features that are similar to what it seems you are looking for.
C-x b and C-x C-f, to choose buffers or files, allow multi-completion: you can type a pattern to match the buffer/file name and/or a pattern to match content in the buffer/file. Candidates are filtered incrementally as you type (what you call "instant" is what Emacs calls "incremental"). You can refine either or both search patterns progressively, narrowing the choices in different ways. You can visit any number of buffers/files that match, at the same time. You can also use the same method to search the marked files in Dired: C-F.
C-c `(icicle-search) incrementally searches across multiple buffers or files. Again, progressive refinement etc.
The main difference between #1 and #2 is this:
For #1, you just want to find matching buffers or files. You don't care immediately about finding particular occurrences --- any match suffices.
For #2, you provide the buffers or files to search, and you want to navigate among search hits.
You can also use #1 to locate the buffers and files you want, then search their contents: The content-matching pattern you last used is available as the search pattern for Isearch (C-s).
for emacs I customize and modify this solution (for use install helm):
(defun helm-occur-from-point (initial-value)
"Invoke `helm-occur' from point."
(interactive)
(let ((input initial-value)
(bufs (list (buffer-name (current-buffer)))))
;; (isearch-exit)
(helm-occur-init-source)
(helm-attrset 'moccur-buffers bufs helm-source-occur)
(helm-set-local-variable 'helm-multi-occur-buffer-list bufs)
(helm-set-local-variable
'helm-multi-occur-buffer-tick
(cl-loop for b in bufs
collect (buffer-chars-modified-tick (get-buffer b))))
(helm :sources 'helm-source-occur
:buffer "*helm occur*"
:history 'helm-grep-history
:input input
:truncate-lines t)))
(defun get-point-text ()
"Get 'interesting' text at point; either word, or region"
(if mark-active
(buffer-substring (mark) (point))
(thing-at-point 'symbol)))
(defun helm-occur-1 (initial-value)
"Preconfigured helm for Occur with initial input."
(helm-occur-from-point initial-value))
(defun bk-helm-occur ()
"Invoke helm-occur with initial input configured from text at point"
(interactive)
(helm-occur-1 (get-point-text)))
(global-set-key (kbd "M-s-o") 'bk-helm-occur)
primary it based on
#see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6872508 but on last helm versions not work but fixed with my changes (just copy/paste from some internal helm modules)
How can we close temporary buffers which are enclosed with * automatically. For e.g. messages, completions buffer needs to be closed. Killing all these buffers manually after use is painful.
Is there a way to close temporary buffers created by emacs (not by us)?
Do you really need to close those buffers? If you use a proper buffer switching method like iswitchb then you don't have to care about temporary or other buffers, because you can go directly to any buffer you want.
I'd second the suggestion you use ido or iswitchb to avoid being bothered by temporary buffers. The presence of those buffers is a natural consequence of using emacs, so don't try to swim upstream!
On the other hand, if you're irritated by the growing list of open buffers, you can use midnight.el to automatically close inactive buffers after a period of time, or you can use ibuffer to easily select and close unwanted buffers en masse.
Personally, I leave buffers open for a long time, I tidy them up occasionally using ibuffer, and I rely on ido to switch buffers quickly. In Emacs 24, you can set ido-use-virtual-buffers to t, and then ido will let you switch to closed files, reopening them as necessary.
To avoid having those buffers in your way, you could define key-bindings to cycle through «user buffers» and «useless buffers» :
http://ergoemacs.org/emacs/effective_emacs.html , section «Switching Next/Previous User Buffers»
but some useful buffers start with a *, like shells, compilation buffer, ielm, etc.
As user said, it would be better to use a smart buffer-switching package such as iswitchb and ido. iswitchb's iswitchb-buffer-ignore and ido's ido-ignore-buffers variables allow us to specify what buffers to ignore using regular expressions.
However, if you really want to kill those buffers, a program like this will be helpful to you:
(require 'cl)
(defvar kill-star-buffers-except
'("\\`\\*scratch\\*\\'"
"\\`\\*Messages\\*\\'"
"\\` \\*Minibuf-[[:digit:]]+\\*\\'"
"\\` \\*Echo Area [[:digit:]]+\\*\\'")
"Exception list for `kill-star-buffers'")
(defun kill-star-buffers ()
"Kill all star buffers except those in `kill-star-buffers-except'"
(interactive)
(mapc (lambda (buf)
(let ((buf-name (buffer-name buf)))
(when (and
;; if a buffer's name is enclosed by * with optional leading
;; space characters
(string-match-p "\\` *\\*.*\\*\\'" buf-name)
;; and the buffer is not associated with a process
;; (suggested by "sanityinc")
(null (get-buffer-process buf))
;; and the buffer's name is not in `kill-star-buffers-except'
(notany (lambda (except) (string-match-p except buf-name))
kill-star-buffers-except))
(kill-buffer buf))))
(buffer-list)))
When using M-/, the text in the current buffer is autocompleted with suggestions out of all active buffers.
Is there a way to limit the suggestions to only one specific buffer?
Assuming you are talking about dabbrev-expand (M-/ is the usual binding), then there are a variety of options depending on your requirements.
To search only a specific white list of buffers, the simplest approach is to set the variable dabbrev-search-these-buffers-only:
"If non-nil, a list of buffers which dabbrev should search.
If this variable is non-nil, dabbrev will only look in these buffers.
It will not even look in the current buffer if it is not a member of
this list."
Here's an example from a custom mode of mine (I rebind M-/ to this function for this mode)
(defun tks-dabbrev-expand (arg)
"Expand either aliases or descriptions, depending on context."
(interactive "*P")
(let* ((candidates
(if (looking-back "^\\S-+")
" *tks-aliases*"
" *tks-descriptions*"))
(dabbrev-search-these-buffers-only (list (get-buffer candidates))))
(dabbrev-expand arg)))
Note that there are several other ways in which you can filter the list of buffers which dabbrev will search inside. The dabbrev customize group has the details:
M-x customize-group RET dabbrev RET
Several emacs extensions create "junk" buffers, and I have to manually remove them from various buffer lists.
Emacs has a concept of "hidden buffers", which is used for instance for the minibuffer.
How can I make an arbitrary buffer a hidden buffer?
Emacs does have a concept of uninteresting/hidden buffers - and designates them as such by making their names begin with a space. See the documentation for buffer names. You can make a buffer "uninteresting" by changing its name to begin with a space.
Try M-x make-buffer-uninteresting:
(defun make-buffer-uninteresting ()
"rename the current buffer to begin with a space"
(interactive)
(unless (string-match-p "^ " (buffer-name))
(rename-buffer (concat " " (buffer-name)))))
If you enable ido (which you should because i don't know why you would use emacs without it), then you can configured which buffers are ignored using the ido-ignore-buffers list, which is a list of regex's specifying buffers to ignore for normal buffer switching. (really, you should be using ido if you aren't already).
Is there a way to search all the open buffers for a particular pattern?
C-s interactively searches current buffer.
Similarly, is there something that searches all the open buffers?
I know I can use "occur", but "Occur" brings a new buffer and changes/messes with the buffer organization.
The built-in multi-occur-in-matching-buffers hasn't been mentioned. I use a modified version of this (because I invariably want to search all buffers, and specifying a buffer name pattern each time is annoying).
(defun my-multi-occur-in-matching-buffers (regexp &optional allbufs)
"Show lines matching REGEXP in all file-visiting buffers.
Given a prefix argument, search in ALL buffers."
(interactive (occur-read-primary-args))
(multi-occur-in-matching-buffers "." regexp allbufs))
(global-set-key (kbd "M-s /") 'my-multi-occur-in-matching-buffers)
To invert the behaviour of the prefix argument so that the default behaviour is to search all buffers, change the call to:
(multi-occur-in-matching-buffers "." regexp (not allbufs))
(and, of course, update the docstring accordingly.)
I've fixed the TODO:
;; I know that string is in my Emacs somewhere!
(require 'cl)
(defcustom search-all-buffers-ignored-files (list (rx-to-string '(and bos (or ".bash_history" "TAGS") eos)))
"Files to ignore when searching buffers via \\[search-all-buffers]."
:type 'editable-list)
(require 'grep)
(defun search-all-buffers (regexp prefix)
"Searches file-visiting buffers for occurence of REGEXP. With
prefix > 1 (i.e., if you type C-u \\[search-all-buffers]),
searches all buffers."
(interactive (list (grep-read-regexp)
current-prefix-arg))
(message "Regexp is %s; prefix is %s" regexp prefix)
(multi-occur
(if (member prefix '(4 (4)))
(buffer-list)
(remove-if
(lambda (b) (some (lambda (rx) (string-match rx (file-name-nondirectory (buffer-file-name b)))) search-all-buffers-ignored-files))
(remove-if-not 'buffer-file-name (buffer-list))))
regexp))
(global-set-key [f7] 'search-all-buffers)
ibuffer might help you. Have a look at this article. I imagine that this might be most interesting for you:
'O' - ibuffer-do-occur
- Do an occur on the selected buffers.
This does a regex search on all the selected buffers and displays the result in an occur window. It is unbelievably useful when browsing through code. It becomes truly awesome when you combine it with the ‘filter’ powers of ibuffer (coming up ahead). Eg: Do C-x C-b, mark all files using (say) Perl major-mode, do occur to find out all places where a certain function is mentioned in these files. Navigate to the point at will through the Occur window.
'M-s a C-s' - ibuffer-do-isearch
- Do an incremental search in the marked buffers.
This is so awesome that you have to try it right this instant. Select two or more buffers, hit the hotkey, search for something that occurs in all these buffers. These two features alone are enough to make me a lifelong fan of IBuffer. Go do it now!
Taking a clue from Leo's comment to Bozhidar:
(defun my-isearch-buffers ()
"isearch multiple buffers."
(interactive)
(multi-isearch-buffers
(delq nil (mapcar (lambda (buf)
(set-buffer buf)
(and (not (equal major-mode 'dired-mode))
(not (string-match "^[ *]" (buffer-name buf)))
buf))
(buffer-list)))))
You might have to tweak the conditions inside the and to filter whatever other kinds of buffers you want to ignore.
Although this is not exactly what you're asking for, I search multiple files using grep (M-X grep) and grep-find (M-X grep-find).
This sort of does what you want, in that when you've come to the end of matches for the string/regexp you're searching for, the next search command will start in a new buffer.
(setq isearch-wrap-function 'isearch-bury-buffer-instead-of-wrap)
(defun isearch-bury-buffer-instead-of-wrap ()
"bury current buffer, try to search in next buffer"
(bury-buffer))
It doesn't switch to a different buffer when the search fails, and when you "back up" the search results by pressing <backspace>, you won't pop back into the previous buffers searched.
In Icicles, C-c ' is command icicle-occur, which can search multiple buffers.
C-u C-c ' searches a set of buffers that you choose. You can choose by dynamically filtering the buffer names with your minibuffer input, then hit C-! to search all of those buffers whose names match. Similarly, C-99 C-c ' searches only the buffers that are visiting files.
Like occur and grep, icicle-occur searches line by line. More generally, instead of using lines as the search contexts you can use any buffer portions at all. C-c ` (backquote instead of quote) is command icicle-search. With a non-negative prefix arg it searches a set of buffers that you choose.
The first thing you do is give it a regexp that defines the search contexts. E.g., if you give it .* then it acts like icicle-occur: each search context is a line. If you give it a regexp that matches only function definitions then those are the search contexts, and so on.
http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/Icicles_-_Search_Commands%2c_Overview