From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Path: news.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: Bob Proulx Newsgroups: gmane.emacs.help Subject: Re: Feeling lost without tabs Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 10:25:23 -0600 Message-ID: <20140721100116137439270@bob.proulx.com> References: <834myc64eh.fsf@gnu.org> <877g37ubbi.fsf@debian.uxu> NNTP-Posting-Host: plane.gmane.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Trace: ger.gmane.org 1405959960 29090 80.91.229.3 (21 Jul 2014 16:26:00 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@ger.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 16:26:00 +0000 (UTC) To: help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org Original-X-From: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+geh-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Mon Jul 21 18:25:53 2014 Return-path: Envelope-to: geh-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org Original-Received: from lists.gnu.org ([208.118.235.17]) by plane.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1X9GPQ-00030V-1i for geh-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org; Mon, 21 Jul 2014 18:25:52 +0200 Original-Received: from localhost ([::1]:35102 helo=lists.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1X9GPP-0006tc-Jc for geh-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org; Mon, 21 Jul 2014 12:25:51 -0400 Original-Received: from eggs.gnu.org ([2001:4830:134:3::10]:49434) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1X9GP7-0006tT-4s for help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org; Mon, 21 Jul 2014 12:25:40 -0400 Original-Received: from Debian-exim by eggs.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1X9GOz-0002tf-K2 for help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org; Mon, 21 Jul 2014 12:25:33 -0400 Original-Received: from joseki.proulx.com ([216.17.153.58]:39535) by eggs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1X9GOz-0002tH-6v for help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org; Mon, 21 Jul 2014 12:25:25 -0400 Original-Received: from hysteria.proulx.com (hysteria.proulx.com [192.168.230.119]) by joseki.proulx.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id B649521232 for ; Mon, 21 Jul 2014 10:25:23 -0600 (MDT) Original-Received: by hysteria.proulx.com (Postfix, from userid 1000) id AA1A82DC39; Mon, 21 Jul 2014 10:25:23 -0600 (MDT) Mail-Followup-To: help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <877g37ubbi.fsf@debian.uxu> User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.23 (2014-03-12) X-detected-operating-system: by eggs.gnu.org: GNU/Linux 3.x X-Received-From: 216.17.153.58 X-BeenThere: help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.14 Precedence: list List-Id: Users list for the GNU Emacs text editor List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+geh-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Original-Sender: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+geh-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Xref: news.gmane.org gmane.emacs.help:98867 Archived-At: Emanuel Berg wrote: > Bob Proulx writes: > > I bind C-x C-b to electric-buffer-list. I couldn't > > live without it now. In MNHO it is soooo much nicer > > than list-buffers. > > Could you just short say what the differences are and > how you experience them to be better? I never used > `electric-buffer-list' but it looks kind of the same at > first glance. As others have said it opens a buffer window, places the point at the first file in that buffer window. This shows me a buffer window list and focuses there. I can review my buffer windows. Hitting SPACE selects a buffer window. If I hit SPACE immediately then I return to the same buffer window I left. Otherwise I can n, n, n down to the buffer window I want and SPACE to select it. The newly selected buffer now replaces the previously selected buffer window. The new emacs window configuration with regard to split windows is the same for all other windows but the currently focused window only is changed to another buffer. I had previously said C-n C-p to move through the menu list. But of course n and p also work. I usually already have my finger on the control so had not really taken notice of the flexibility. With list-buffers the buffer list splits the current frame into two windows and puts the buffer window list into the other window. Whatever buffer I had in the other split window is now gone. In order to focus on the buffer list I need to either C-x 0 or C-x o. Then in the *Buffer list* window I use n or p to position on the desired buffer. Then press f or o or any of a variety of keys to select that buffer in either the current window or the other window. The result is that with list-buffers it is disruptive to the window layout that I have active at the moment I want to switch one of the windows to a different buffer. Plus there are more steps needed to perform the same function. With electric-buffer-list bound: C-x C-b n n SPACE With buffer-list bound: C-x C-b C-o n n f C-x 4 b C-x 4 b C-x 4 b The C-x 4 b times three is the finger memory way I rotate through two windows in order to swap their contents. Because using list-buffers splits the current frame or replaces the other window in the frame it causes order of windows to be reversed from the previous arrangement. That requires a window buffer swap in order to restore the desired ordering. For example I prefer a code window above and a gdb debugger window below and not the other way around. Maybe there is a better way to use list-buffers that avoids that problem but I just looked again and I didn't see it. The window order issue is completely avoided by using electric-buffer-list since that only affects the current window and does not modify any others. I hadn't been aware of buffer-menu. Playing with it now shows that it works very similarly to electric-buffer-list. I think anyone using either buffer-menu or electric-buffer-list are in the same group and want the same thing and could use either of those almost interchangeably. I assume electric-buffer-list came first and buffer-menu duplicated the behavior since I have been using electric-buffer-list for a very many years and had not ever heard of buffer-menu before? That is my assumption until I learn otherwise. Bob