Re: Q: Is there a built-in way to read multiple file names?

[Ihor Radchenko <yantar92@posteo.net>]

Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> writes:

>> > I think you are generalizing the wrong UI.  A good UI for specifying
>> > several file names is not reading them one after the other, it is
>> > marking the files you want to operate on, and then clicking GO.  Like
>> > in Ibuffer, for example.
>> 
>> I 100% agree.
>> That's what helm provides, say, for `completing-read-multiple'.
>> But for `read-file-name' specifically, there is no way to extend the
>> built-in completion.
>
> We have Ibuffer and Dired (and other similar features), which
> functions that return lists of marked entities.  That is what needs
> to be used for multiple selections, not some loop over read-file-name
> and its ilk.

My concern about dired and similar is that it is not possible to exit
them and go back to the original place as easily as C-g in the
completion prompt. Interactive narrowing is also not as easy as in the
completion.

>> I wish that *completions* buffer allowed selecting multiple candidates
>> at once when using `completing-read-multiple' or similar commands.
>
> I think completion is the wrong framework for this purpose, because
> the user might want to select files/buffers/whatever whose names don't
> share anything in common.

IMHO, helm proves that completion framework can be used for very quick
selection. It does it via:

1. The notion of "current" candidate from the list that can be navigated
   right from the minibuffer (like next/previous-completion in the
   *completions*)
2. minibuffer command to mark/unmark candidates quickly
3. ability to retain marked candidates even the prompt input changes

I find it quick and convenient to use, despite being a completion
framework.

I also do not see why the same cannot be done based on the basis of
completion-list-mode.

-- 
Ihor Radchenko // yantar92,
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