[PATCH] Add file-ring to dired-aux.el

[PATCH] Add file-ring to dired-aux.el

[Justin Fields]

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From ca8f28008aeb95e74a0b5de28445cc25602ab724 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Justin Fields <justinlime1999@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 20 Oct 2024 22:54:57 -0500
Subject: [PATCH] Dired-Aux: add file ring to dired

* lisp/dired-aux.el
(dired-file-ring): New var.
(dired-file-ring-capture, dired-file-ring-clear)
(dired-file-ring-move, dired-file-ring-execute)
(dired-file-ring-copy, dired-file-ring-symlink)
(dired-file-ring-symlink-relative): New Functions
---
 lisp/dired-aux.el | 50 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 50 insertions(+)

diff --git a/lisp/dired-aux.el b/lisp/dired-aux.el
index 7fe67eed1e0..0274e175d1b 100644
--- a/lisp/dired-aux.el
+++ b/lisp/dired-aux.el
@@ -3255,6 +3255,56 @@ Type \\`SPC' or \\`y' to %s one file, \\`DEL' or \\`n' to skip to next,
   (dired-rename-non-directory #'downcase "Rename downcase" arg))
 
 \f
+
+;;; File ring
+(defvar dired-file-ring nil
+  "Captured dired files.")
+
+(defun dired-file-ring-execute (action action-name file-list)
+  "Execute a function to run for every item in the FILE-LIST.
+Argument ACTION argument to call with `dired-create-files' with as
+its' FILE-CREATOR.
+Argument ACTION-NAME The name of the action, used for logging.
+Argument FILE-LIST List of files to preform ACTION on."
+  (dired-create-files action action-name file-list
+    (lambda (file) (concat default-directory (file-name-nondirectory (directory-file-name file)))))
+  (revert-buffer))
+
+(defun dired-file-ring-capture ()
+  "Capture marked Dired files to the file ring."
+  (interactive)
+  (mapc (lambda (file) (add-to-list 'dired-file-ring file)) (dired-get-marked-files))
+  (message "Captured %s Files. %s files are present in the file ring" (length (dired-get-marked-files)) (length dired-file-ring)))
+
+(defun dired-file-ring-clear ()
+  "Reset/clear the file ring."
+  (interactive)
+  (setq dired-file-ring nil))
+
+(defun dired-file-ring-move ()
+  "Move the file/s from the file ring to current dir.
+This action clears the file ring."
+  (interactive)
+  (dired-file-ring-execute #'rename-file "MOVE" dired-file-ring)
+  (dired-file-ring-clear))
+
+(defun dired-file-ring-copy ()
+  "Copy the file/s from the file ring to current dir."
+  (interactive)
+  (dired-file-ring-execute #'dired-copy-file "COPY" dired-file-ring))
+
+(defun dired-file-ring-symlink ()
+  "Create a symlink for the the file/s from the file ring to current dir."
+  (interactive)
+  (dired-file-ring-execute #'make-symbolic-link "SYM-LINK" dired-file-ring))
+
+(defun dired-file-ring-symlink-relative ()
+  "Create a relative symlink for the the file/s from the file ring to current dir."
+  (interactive)
+  (dired-file-ring-execute #'dired-make-relative-symlink "RELATIVE SYM-LINK" dired-file-ring))
+
+\f
+
 ;;; Insert subdirectory
 
 ;;;###autoload
-- 
2.46.0

Re: [PATCH] Add file-ring to dired-aux.el

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: Justin Fields <justinlime1999@gmail.com>
> Date: Mon, 21 Oct 2024 03:11:23 -0500
> 
> From ca8f28008aeb95e74a0b5de28445cc25602ab724 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
> From: Justin Fields <justinlime1999@gmail.com>
> Date: Sun, 20 Oct 2024 22:54:57 -0500
> Subject: [PATCH] Dired-Aux: add file ring to dired

Thanks.  Some comments below.  If someone else has comments, please
post them.

> +;;; File ring
> +(defvar dired-file-ring nil
> +  "Captured dired files.")

Why do you call this a "ring"?  AFAICT, it is a simple list, created
and used as such.

> +(defun dired-file-ring-execute (action action-name file-list)
> +  "Execute a function to run for every item in the FILE-LIST.

The first line of a doc string should preferably mention all of the
mandatory arguments.

> +Argument ACTION argument to call with `dired-create-files' with as
> +its' FILE-CREATOR.

This reads awkwardly due to lack of punctuation.  Our usual style is
to say

  ACTION is passed to `dired-create-files' as its FILE-CREATOR
  argument.

Same comment for the other arguments.

> +Argument ACTION-NAME The name of the action, used for logging.

This should say "...for error logging by `dired-create-files'.", so
that readers could look up that logging.

> +  (dired-create-files action action-name file-list
> +    (lambda (file) (concat default-directory (file-name-nondirectory (directory-file-name file)))))

Why does this use 'concat' instead of 'expand-file-name'?

> +(defun dired-file-ring-capture ()
> +  "Capture marked Dired files to the file ring."
> +  (interactive)
> +  (mapc (lambda (file) (add-to-list 'dired-file-ring file)) (dired-get-marked-files))
> +  (message "Captured %s Files. %s files are present in the file ring" (length (dired-get-marked-files)) (length dired-file-ring)))

This will say "Captured 1 Files", which is incorrect English.  Please
use ngettext to do this better.

My suggestion is to rephrase this message to say something like

  %s files now in `file-ring', %s added

This makes the message much shorter and easier to understand, IMO.

> +(defun dired-file-ring-move ()
> +  "Move the file/s from the file ring to current dir.

By "current dir" do you mean default-directory?  We don't use the term
"current directory" in Emacs because Emacs pretends that each buffer
has its own "current directory".

> +This action clears the file ring."
> +  (interactive)
> +  (dired-file-ring-execute #'rename-file "MOVE" dired-file-ring)
> +  (dired-file-ring-clear))

What happens with files in subdirectories, e.g., if the user typed 'i'
before marking files?  Does this command create the corresponding
subdirectories in the default-directory when it moves the files?

> +(defun dired-file-ring-copy ()
> +  "Copy the file/s from the file ring to current dir."
> +  (interactive)
> +  (dired-file-ring-execute #'dired-copy-file "COPY" dired-file-ring))

Same question here.

> +(defun dired-file-ring-symlink ()
> +  "Create a symlink for the the file/s from the file ring to current dir."
> +  (interactive)
> +  (dired-file-ring-execute #'make-symbolic-link "SYM-LINK" dired-file-ring))
> +
> +(defun dired-file-ring-symlink-relative ()
> +  "Create a relative symlink for the the file/s from the file ring to current dir."
> +  (interactive)
> +  (dired-file-ring-execute #'dired-make-relative-symlink "RELATIVE SYM-LINK" dired-file-ring))

The doc strings of these two commands should be more explicit
regarding which file is the symlink and what will be its target.

This feature, when installed, will need a NEWS entry.

Finally, to accept a contribution of this size we need you to sign the
copyright assignment agreement.  Would you like to start this legal
paperwork rolling at this time?  If yes, I will send you the form to
fill and the instructions to go with it.

Re: [PATCH] Add file-ring to dired-aux.el

[Justin Fields]

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Hi there, Thanks for taking a look.

Apologies for the sloppiness you pointed out, this was originally targeted
for the MELPA, but I was advised that this could be useful functionality in
mainline, so this is my first time attempting to contribute directly to
emacs :)

> Why do you call this a "ring"?  AFAICT, it is a simple list, created
> and used as such.

To be perfectly honest, it was just the first thing that came to mind to
help distinguish this feature. If anybody has any better suggestions I can
append accordingly.

> Why does this use 'concat' instead of 'expand-file-name'?
The (file-name-nondirectory (directory-file-name file)) in the snippet
returns a bare filename. I use concat here to set the destination as an
identical filename, in the default-directory.

> What happens with files in subdirectories, e.g., if the user typed 'i'
> before marking files?  Does this command create the corresponding
> subdirectories in the default-directory when it moves the files?
Yes, the files have their actions performed recursively, so all subdirs are
created as well.

I have noticed just now though, in your example, default-directory remains
unchanged, but it looks like if I swap to (dired-current-directory)
instead, it should be resolved properly when in a subdir. Thanks for
catching that.

I'll also work on amending all the documentation mistakes you pointed out
as well.

> This feature, when installed, will need a NEWS entry.
I might just not be looking hard enough, but do you have any resources
available that I could look into for this? :)

> Finally, to accept a contribution of this size we need you to sign the
> copyright assignment agreement.  Would you like to start this legal
> paperwork rolling at this time?  If yes, I will send you the form to
> fill and the instructions to go with it.

Of course! Very much appreciated.

On Mon, Oct 21, 2024 at 4:48 AM Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> wrote:

> > From: Justin Fields <justinlime1999@gmail.com>
> > Date: Mon, 21 Oct 2024 03:11:23 -0500
> >
> > From ca8f28008aeb95e74a0b5de28445cc25602ab724 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
> > From: Justin Fields <justinlime1999@gmail.com>
> > Date: Sun, 20 Oct 2024 22:54:57 -0500
> > Subject: [PATCH] Dired-Aux: add file ring to dired
>
> Thanks.  Some comments below.  If someone else has comments, please
> post them.
>
> > +;;; File ring
> > +(defvar dired-file-ring nil
> > +  "Captured dired files.")
>
> Why do you call this a "ring"?  AFAICT, it is a simple list, created
> and used as such.
>
> > +(defun dired-file-ring-execute (action action-name file-list)
> > +  "Execute a function to run for every item in the FILE-LIST.
>
> The first line of a doc string should preferably mention all of the
> mandatory arguments.
>
> > +Argument ACTION argument to call with `dired-create-files' with as
> > +its' FILE-CREATOR.
>
> This reads awkwardly due to lack of punctuation.  Our usual style is
> to say
>
>   ACTION is passed to `dired-create-files' as its FILE-CREATOR
>   argument.
>
> Same comment for the other arguments.
>
> > +Argument ACTION-NAME The name of the action, used for logging.
>
> This should say "...for error logging by `dired-create-files'.", so
> that readers could look up that logging.
>
> > +  (dired-create-files action action-name file-list
> > +    (lambda (file) (concat default-directory (file-name-nondirectory
> (directory-file-name file)))))
>
> Why does this use 'concat' instead of 'expand-file-name'?
>
> > +(defun dired-file-ring-capture ()
> > +  "Capture marked Dired files to the file ring."
> > +  (interactive)
> > +  (mapc (lambda (file) (add-to-list 'dired-file-ring file))
> (dired-get-marked-files))
> > +  (message "Captured %s Files. %s files are present in the file ring"
> (length (dired-get-marked-files)) (length dired-file-ring)))
>
> This will say "Captured 1 Files", which is incorrect English.  Please
> use ngettext to do this better.
>
> My suggestion is to rephrase this message to say something like
>
>   %s files now in `file-ring', %s added
>
> This makes the message much shorter and easier to understand, IMO.
>
> > +(defun dired-file-ring-move ()
> > +  "Move the file/s from the file ring to current dir.
>
> By "current dir" do you mean default-directory?  We don't use the term
> "current directory" in Emacs because Emacs pretends that each buffer
> has its own "current directory".
>
> > +This action clears the file ring."
> > +  (interactive)
> > +  (dired-file-ring-execute #'rename-file "MOVE" dired-file-ring)
> > +  (dired-file-ring-clear))
>
> What happens with files in subdirectories, e.g., if the user typed 'i'
> before marking files?  Does this command create the corresponding
> subdirectories in the default-directory when it moves the files?
>
> > +(defun dired-file-ring-copy ()
> > +  "Copy the file/s from the file ring to current dir."
> > +  (interactive)
> > +  (dired-file-ring-execute #'dired-copy-file "COPY" dired-file-ring))
>
> Same question here.
>
> > +(defun dired-file-ring-symlink ()
> > +  "Create a symlink for the the file/s from the file ring to current
> dir."
> > +  (interactive)
> > +  (dired-file-ring-execute #'make-symbolic-link "SYM-LINK"
> dired-file-ring))
> > +
> > +(defun dired-file-ring-symlink-relative ()
> > +  "Create a relative symlink for the the file/s from the file ring to
> current dir."
> > +  (interactive)
> > +  (dired-file-ring-execute #'dired-make-relative-symlink "RELATIVE
> SYM-LINK" dired-file-ring))
>
> The doc strings of these two commands should be more explicit
> regarding which file is the symlink and what will be its target.
>
> This feature, when installed, will need a NEWS entry.
>
> Finally, to accept a contribution of this size we need you to sign the
> copyright assignment agreement.  Would you like to start this legal
> paperwork rolling at this time?  If yes, I will send you the form to
> fill and the instructions to go with it.
>

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Re: [PATCH] Add file-ring to dired-aux.el

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: Justin Fields <justinlime1999@gmail.com>
> Date: Mon, 21 Oct 2024 05:14:52 -0500
> Cc: emacs-devel@gnu.org
> 
> > Why do you call this a "ring"?  AFAICT, it is a simple list, created
> > and used as such.
> 
> To be perfectly honest, it was just the first thing that came to mind to help distinguish this feature. If anybody
> has any better suggestions I can append accordingly.

Something like dired-marked-files?

> > Why does this use 'concat' instead of 'expand-file-name'?
> The (file-name-nondirectory (directory-file-name file)) in the snippet returns a bare filename. I use concat here
> to set the destination as an identical filename, in the default-directory.

If you use expand-file-name, you will also get correct results.

> > This feature, when installed, will need a NEWS entry.
> I might just not be looking hard enough, but do you have any resources available that I could look into for
> this? :)

Just look at etc/NEWS and see how we announce new features and
commands there.

> > Finally, to accept a contribution of this size we need you to sign the
> > copyright assignment agreement.  Would you like to start this legal
> > paperwork rolling at this time?  If yes, I will send you the form to
> > fill and the instructions to go with it.
> 
> Of course! Very much appreciated. 

Form sent off-list.  Thank you for your interest in Emacs.