The Modernization of Emacs: terminology buffer and keybinding

[Robert Uhl]

Twisted <twisted0n3 at gmail.com> writes:

> On Jun 23, 8:35 pm, Robert Uhl <eadmun... at NOSPAMgmail.com> wrote:
>> Twisted <twisted... at gmail.com> writes:
>>
>> > For an example of the latter, consider opening a file. Can't remember
>> > the exact spelling and capitalization of the file name? Sorry, bud,
>> > you're SOL. Go find it in some other app and memorize the name, then
>> > return to emacs.
>>
>> Once again I am forced to wonder if you have _ever_ actually used
>> emacs.  find-file has tab completion: hit tab without anything typed, and
>> it displays _everything_ in the directory; type a few characters to
>> narrow it down; hit tab to complete the filename and be done with it.
>>
>> Or of course you could use directory mode, which enables you to navigate
>> around a directory tree, performing actions on files (including editing
>> them).
>>
>> Then of course there's ido.el, which is even better: type a few
>> characters from anywhere in the name, and it displays files matching
>> those characters.
>
> Really? None of this happens if you just do the straightforward file-
> open command, which should obviously at least provide a navigable
> directory tree, but definitely does not.

The first does.  Really, it does.  Fire up emacs (which you've never
done before) and type C-x C-f.  You will be presented with a prompt
something like 'Find file: ~/'; hit tab once; you'll see the message
'[Complete, but not unique]'; hit tab again and you will be presented a
list of all files in that directory.

> Tab completion is a poor cousin to a real directory tree navigator, as
> I'm sure most would agree.

I wouldn't.  There are several directory navigators installed on this
machine, but I never use anything more than bash's tab completion.

If you like 'em, though, just select File:Visit New File.  It gives you
a platform-default (gtk+, for me) file selector.

> Even if it will show all matches to a partial name instead of none,
> it's the textual equivalent of navigating a directory tree made into
> menus instead of provided by a proper folder view window. Windows
> users unfortunately have the experience regularly: the notorious Start
> menu. You have to expand submenus to find stuff, and you can't leave
> it idling to do something somewhere else and come back to it because
> it's a menu.

Nope, because of the way emacs works you can stop what you're doing, do
something else and come back to the minibuffer.  As an example, while I
was typing the first paragraph, I had find-file running in the
minibuffer (I was checking for the exact prompts and phrases used).

> I can only imagine the pain of trying to navigate an equivalent way in
> an 80x25 box of text information.

Fortunately, folks brighter than you & I have imagined a nice way for
us.  It pops up a new Emacs window (pane, if you prefer the terminology)
showing a list of all filenames.  You could continue typing, or just
click on a filename in the window, or hit return while the cursor is on
a filename in that window.

-- 
Robert Uhl <http://public.xdi.org/=ruhl>
Dilbert: Not more than ten minutes ago you beat a man senseless.
Alice:	 He was senseless before I beat him.