I would like to implement a function that would let me cycle only through directory buffers that are open, and skip files or scratch buffers.
How would I go about that?
Take a look at tabbar mode -- you can define the groups to anything you want (e.g., dired), and cycle between groups with tabbar-backward-group and tabbar-forward-group:
http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/TabBarMode
tabbar-buffer-list-function can be used to further define whether certain files are displayed (or hidden).
tabbar-buffer-groups is the default group which can be modified with setq to whatever you want. If you want to create alternative methods of grouping, you can use tabbar-buffer-groups-function.
If dired is a group, then you can switch between those buffers by using (setq tabbar-cycle-scope 'tabs) with tabbar-backward and tabbar-forward.
If you'd like to have a go at implementing something,
have a look at Buffer-menu-mode. It's already got a toggle T for
showing only files.
And then it's just a matter to see how it builds the list
and filter it with
(eq major-mode 'dired-mode)
The source is quite small at strangely 665 lines.
I use buffer-stack for this.
I wrote two different functions that use that package: one for switching between dired buffers, and other for switching between buffers of the same mode I am. I use both intensively. This is how I do it:
;; For shorter keybindings
(defmacro command (&rest body)
`(lambda ()
(interactive)
,#body))
(defvar buffer-stack-mode)
(defun buffer-op-by-mode (op &optional mode)
(let ((buffer-stack-filter 'buffer-stack-filter-by-mode)
(buffer-stack-mode (or mode major-mode)))
(funcall op)))
(defun buffer-stack-filter-by-mode (buffer)
(with-current-buffer buffer
(equal major-mode buffer-stack-mode)))
(global-set-key [(meta kp-7)]
(command (buffer-op-by-mode 'buffer-stack-up)))
(global-set-key [(meta kp-9)]
(command (buffer-op-by-mode 'buffer-stack-down)))
(global-set-key [(meta kp-3)]
(command (buffer-op-by-mode 'buffer-stack-down 'dired-mode)))
(global-set-key [(meta kp-1)]
(command (buffer-op-by-mode 'buffer-stack-up 'dired-mode)))
EDIT:
I include the macro I use for command keybindings
Icicles offers a couple ways to do this.
Start in a Dired buffer and do C-0 C-x b TAB
C-x b, then C-x m +, then enter dired-mode (using completion), then TAB
Those give you only Dired buffers as the available candidates, which you can then match by name.
You can cycle among the buffers that match your input, using arrow keys (C-up, C-down). Use RET or C-g to end.
Prefix arg 0 means the candidates are the buffers in the same mode as the current buffer --- hence the first option above.
When completing, C-x C-m + prompts you for a mode and then filters out all candidates whose mode is not the same as or derived from the mode you enter (in this case, dired-mode) --- hence the second option above.
C-x b is bound in Icicle mode to icicle-buffer. If you want to open the buffers in different windows then use C-x 4 b (icicle-buffer-other-window).
See http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/Icicles_-_Buffer-Name_Input for more info.
Related
All,
I'm looking for a way to switch buffers in multiple windows similar to other IDEs. Let's say I split my frame into two windows (C-x 3). I'd like to handle buffers for .c filesalways in the left window and .h files in the right. I'm looking for a way to couple a list of buffers to a specific window, and cycle buffers only belonging to the current window. So if I'm editing a .h file on the right side, and press a key combination I get the next .h file.
Thanks for any advice,
Janos
I use buffer-stack (available via MELPA) for something similar. buffer-stack allows you to cycle between buffers in a very flexible way (it remembers your most recent used buffers, and it uses separates stacks per frame).
You can add filter functions to buffer switching commands. So you could add a filter function for considering only buffers with filenames with same extension than the current one. I use a filtering function to switch among buffers of the same mode. Here is it as an example that shows my keybindings to switch filtering by current mode and also swith to dired buffers. It would be easy to add another filter based on file extension:
(defmacro command (&rest body)
`(lambda ()
(interactive)
,#body))
(defvar buffer-stack-mode)
(defun buffer-op-by-mode (op &optional mode)
(let ((buffer-stack-filter 'buffer-stack-filter-by-mode)
(buffer-stack-mode (or mode major-mode)))
(funcall op)))
(defun buffer-stack-filter-by-mode (buffer)
(with-current-buffer buffer
(equal major-mode buffer-stack-mode)))
(global-set-key [(meta kp-7)]
(command (buffer-op-by-mode 'buffer-stack-up)))
(global-set-key [(meta kp-9)]
(command (buffer-op-by-mode 'buffer-stack-down)))
(global-set-key [(meta kp-3)]
(command (buffer-op-by-mode 'buffer-stack-down 'dired-mode)))
(global-set-key [(meta kp-1)]
(command (buffer-op-by-mode 'buffer-stack-up 'dired-mode)))
You can use ff-find-other-file. With a prefix argument
C-u, it will open another window.
As for your idea of getting the next .h file, you're just limiting
yourself by trying to bring a bad idea from IDE into Emacs.
Use projectile or ido-switch-buffer or helm-buffers-list: these
tools can manage hundreds of files at a time, while the approach of "getting the next file"
(i.e. tabs) fails around 20.
I would like to customize the behavior when I split windows in Emacs:
I am always splitting because I want to view a separate buffer side-by-side with the one I'm currently editing.
I use electric-buffer-list (bound to C-x C-b) to navigate buffers.
I end up doing all of the following separately:
C-x 3 to split horizontally.
C-x o to switch to the other window.
C-x C-b to invoke electric-buffer-list so I can select the buffer I want to view.
It seems like I should be able to write an Elisp function that will do all of this when I press C-x 3.
I found this post which describes the focus switching part of the behavior that I want, but I don't understand how to extend that answer to achieve all of what I'm trying to do.
Edit: After reviewing #lawlist's post and debugging my syntax, I think I want to do something like this:
(defun split-right-and-buffer-list ()
(interactive)
(split-window-horizontally)
(other-window 0)
(electric-buffer-list 0))
(global-set-key (kbd "C-x 3") 'split-right-and-buffer-list)
This does everything I want, except that the buffer list that comes up only lists the current buffer, instead of the normal list of all buffers that I get when I invoke electric-buffer-list from its key binding.
With some very small modifications the function you came up with will do what you want:
(defun split-right-and-buffer-list ()
(interactive)
(split-window-horizontally)
(other-window 1)
(electric-buffer-list nil))
(global-set-key (kbd "C-x 3") 'split-right-and-buffer-list)
Passing 1 instead of 0 as an argument to other-window causes Emacs to select the new window created as a result of calling split-window-horizontally.
Passing nil instead of 0 as an argument to electric-buffer-list causes Emacs to show all buffers, not just file-visiting ones.
The thing that can trip you up here is that this isn't mentioned in the documentation for electric-buffer-list (which doesn't include any information about the ARG it takes). But when you look at the source code of this command, you'll notice that it simply passes the value of the argument on to a function called list-buffers-noselect (and doesn't use it for anything else). The documentation of this function contains the missing piece of information mentioned above.
If you do not mind having custom commands to do what you want try the following functions
(require 'ido)
(defun my-split-window-open-buffer-right (buffer)
(interactive (list (ido-read-buffer "Please select a buffer: ")))
(select-window (split-window-right))
(switch-to-buffer buffer))
(defun my-split-window-open-buffer-below (buffer)
(interactive (list (ido-read-buffer "Please select a buffer: ")))
(select-window (split-window-below))
(switch-to-buffer buffer))
Bind them to keys of you liking. I would prefer this over redefining/advising functions I have not written.
Is there a way to execute emacs command on multiple buffers without having to selecting them individually and executing it on each individual buffer.
I usually open multiple files matching a particular regex, e.g. ~/*.py and wish to enable a particular mode, say hs-minor-mode or glasses-mode on each, or say execute C-c # C-M-h on each. Currently I have to select each one of them and do it individually. So is there a hack or a loop to automate the task.
Lets say I mark the buffers from the buffer-list and then run the command for all those marked.
I tried this but after executing the commands in eval-expression I completely lost access to my minibuffer, meaning whenever I typed M-x the minibuffer returned this
unable to access the minibuffer emacs error "Process Menu Mode doesn't support Hideshow Minor Mode"
and I was forced to actually kill the entire emacs process because the C-x C-s wasn't working neither was the End Task.
PS: I have no experience in elisp
You can use ibuffer mode for this (It is part of the default Emacs distribution).
(global-set-key "\C-x\C-b" 'ibuffer) ;; make ibuffer the default
In *Ibuffer* you can mark the required buffers with m and then
execute a form in each with E.
Generally, ibuffer is a lot more flexible then the usual buffer list and I think ibuffer should really be the default buffer-list in Emacs.
If you do this often, you might want to switch those particular modes on every time you enter python mode by attaching them to the mode-hook:
(add-hook 'python-mode-hook 'hs-minor-mode)
(add-hook 'python-mode-hook 'glasses-mode)
I didn't know ibuffer had that feature!
Anyway, for those who are more familiar with dired, here is a command that do the same. Select the files in dired with m or any other more powerful method. Then do, M-xdired-do-command and write a form or a command just as in M-x.
(defun dired-do-command (command)
"Run COMMAND on marked files. Any files not already open will be opened.
After this command has been run, any buffers it's modified will remain
open and unsaved."
(interactive
(list
(let ((print-level nil)
(minibuffer-history-position 0)
(minibuffer-history-sexp-flag (1+ (minibuffer-depth))))
(unwind-protect
(read-from-minibuffer
"Command: " (prin1-to-string (nth 0 command-history))
read-expression-map t
(cons 'command-history 0))
;; If command was added to command-history as a
;; string, get rid of that. We want only
;; evaluable expressions there.
(if (stringp (car command-history))
(setq command-history (cdr command-history)))))))
(dolist (filename (dired-get-marked-files))
(with-current-buffer (find-file-noselect filename)
(if (symbolp command)
(call-interactively command)
(eval command)))))
I would like that after splitting the window (C-x 3 or C-x 2) to be able to automatically get to cursor in the new opened buffer (the other than the current). How can I achieve this behavior ?
You can switch between buffers with C-x o. As to do that automatically I don't think there is an existing command for that.
You can do it like this:
(global-set-key "\C-x2" (lambda () (interactive)(split-window-vertically) (other-window 1)))
(global-set-key "\C-x3" (lambda () (interactive)(split-window-horizontally) (other-window 1)))
In Emacs 24.3.1 it works if you change the argument 1 for 0.
!!!DO NOT USE THIS ANSWER!!! -- as pointed out in the comments, advising split-window can lead to undesired side-effects.
I recommend Bozhidar Batsov's answer instead.
Put the following in your .emacs file:
(defadvice split-window (after move-point-to-new-window activate)
"Moves the point to the newly created window after splitting."
(other-window 1))
As well as splitting the frame manually with C-x 2 or C-x 3, buffers are also automatically "popped-up" some times. These are also not selected/active by default.
This can be fixed by changing the function used to split a window. It's set to split-window-sensibly by default, but you can set it to your own function that calls split-window-sensibly and then selects the buffer.
Unfortunately, though, this has the side-effect of selecting the *Completions* buffer when you hit TAB in the minibuffer. So, it's worth checking to see if the minibuffer is active and not switching in this case. I'd bet there are other such undesirable scenarios as well. I'll try to update this post as and when I find them.
;; after splitting a frame automatically, switch to the new window (unless we
;; were in the minibuffer)
(setq split-window-preferred-function 'my/split-window-func)
(defun my/split-window-func (&optional window)
(let ((new-window (split-window-sensibly window)))
(if (not (active-minibuffer-window))
(select-window new-window))))
(Works with Emacs 24.5.1.)
My thought of when you would want to follow the window after a split-window was when it had the same buffer like in the following code:
(defun split-window--select-window (orig-func &rest args)
"Switch to the other window after a `split-window'"
(let ((cur-window (selected-window))
(new-window (apply orig-func args)))
(when (equal (window-buffer cur-window) (window-buffer new-window))
(select-window new-window))
new-window))
(advice-add 'split-window :around #'split-window--select-window)
Simple
C-x o will help you switch to the "other" buffer.
The problem occurs when customizing options in Emacs. Every time I click on a link a new buffer is created. How to force Emacs to use single buffer?
Try this:
(defadvice custom-buffer-create (before my-advice-custom-buffer-create)
"Exit the current Customize buffer before creating a new one, unless there are modified widgets."
(if (eq major-mode 'Custom-mode)
(let ((custom-buffer-done-kill t)
(custom-buffer-modified nil))
(mapc (lambda (widget)
(and (not custom-buffer-modified)
(eq (widget-get widget :custom-state) 'modified)
(setq custom-buffer-modified t)))
custom-options)
(if (not custom-buffer-modified)
(Custom-buffer-done)))))
(ad-activate 'custom-buffer-create)
As an alternative to my original answer (which I am not inclined to use myself), I thought I might suggest other ways in which you might deal with getting rid of lots of Customize buffers once you have finished customising things.
First, do note that simply pressing q will "Exit current Custom buffer according to `custom-buffer-done-kill'" (i.e. either bury it or kill it).
Second is to use M-x kill-matching-buffers RET \*Customize RET (and then confirm each one), but that's a bit tedious.
What I'd actually do is use ibuffer.
If you don't use it already, I recommend binding C-x C-b to ibuffer, which is a greatly enhanced alternative to the default list-buffers. I love it primarily for its filtering and grouping abilities, but it can do a great deal besides that.
(global-set-key (kbd "C-x C-b") 'ibuffer)
I also use the advice which can currently be found here at the Emacs Wiki so that ibuffer always opens with the buffer I came from selected.
That done, and from a Customize buffer, C-x C-b * M RET D y will kill all the Customize buffers. That is:
C-x C-b Open ibuffer (with point on the current Customize buffer entry)
* M Mark buffers by major mode...
RET ...select the mode (which defaulted to the major mode of the selected buffer, or otherwise type Custom-mode RET)
D y kill all marked buffers
Try it out; you'll probably like it. Searching for ibuffer will turn up other handy uses.
For instance, you could use / n ^\* RET / g tmp RET to separate out all buffers starting with * into a "tmp" group, so that they don't clutter up the group of buffers you are more likely to be interested in.
As with any major mode, use C-h m to read the built-in documentation.