Re: M-x compile for different file extensions

[Kevin Rodgers <kevinr@ihs.com>]

Kai Großjohann wrote:

> There is one argument in favor of automatically selecting the right
> compile command.  Suppose a user has a lot of *.giggle files and they
> want to run "mumblefrotz" on them to produce *.stiffle files.
> Suppose that the *.giggle files are all over the place, not just in
> one directory.  Then it might be convenient for these users to select
> the compile-command based on the major mode of the buffer, instead of
> writing makefiles everywhere with basically the same contents.  (The
> user might not have the right to edit the global make.rules file.)


Yes, and the doc string for compile-command and the Compilation node of
the manual both point the user in toward using a buffer local value for
the variable.  Perhaps the documentation just needs to be a little more
explicit for novice users, but I had no trouble figuring out:

(add-hook 'giggle-mode-hook
	  (lambda ()
	    (let ((giggle-file (file-name-nondirectory buffer-file-name)))
	      (set (make-local-variable 'compile-command)
		   (format "mumblefrotz -o %s.stiggle %s"
			   (file-name-sans-extension giggle-file)
			   giggle-file)))))

But it might be nice if the user could just do something like

(add-to-list 'auto-compile-command-alist
	     '("\\.giggle\\'" . "mumblefrotz -o %s.stiggle %s.giggle"))

-- 
Kevin