Re: map-file-lines

[joakim@verona.se]

Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca> writes:

>> Maybe like this:
>> - find where you want to edit, by searching chunk-at-a-time
>> - display a buffer of this chunk
>> - edit it
>> - save the chunk back into the file
>
>> This could behave conceptually like narrowing. Obviously not perfect,
>> but better than not being able to edit large files at all.
>
> OK, that's indeed how I imagine it as well, but I fail to see how this
> relates to map-file-lines.  All you need for that is to use the BEG and
> END args of insert-file-contents (and maybe also to extend those args
> so they can be floats, in case Emacs's ints are too limited).

That might indeed be the case. I dont advocate any particular solution
to the bigfile problem. I just wanted to explain that some of us
longterm emacs users would like this functionality in Emacs.

That being said, how would the insert-file-contents solution work in
practice? Has something been done along these lines already? Would it be
possible to make some kind of generic solution that would make for
instance hexl mode work on large files?

>
>         Stefan
-- 
Joakim Verona