Re: emacs <--> file-browser as coroutines

[Rusi <rustompmody@gmail.com>]

On Monday, June 27, 2016 at 1:48:40 PM UTC+5:30, Yuri Khan wrote:
> On Mon, Jun 27, 2016 at 1:09 PM, Rustom Mody  wrote:
> 
> > The second (needs first) is more experimental -- its about emacs not using
> > its usual C-x C-f method of opening files but calling out to the file
> > browser
> > [In my experiments that's nautilus]
> > Similar on other gnu-linux-variants should be much the same
> 
> If you pull down the File menu and select the Open File item there or
> click on the Open File button on the toolbar, you will be presented
> with an Open File dialog that is specific to and appropriate for your
> desktop environment.
> 
>     <menu-bar> <file> <open-file> runs the command
>     menu-find-file-existing, which is an interactive compiled Lisp
>     function in `menu-bar.el'.
> 
> The actual code that decides whether to ask for a file name in the
> minibuffer or to pop up a dialog is in read-file-name-default and
> next-read-file-uses-dialog-p. The latter returns t if the current
> frame is graphical, the variables use_file_dialog and use_dialog box
> are non-nil, and the command was invoked with the mouse.
> 
> You might be able to circumvent that last condition and get
> read-file-name-default to use the dialog even if invoked from the
> keyboard.

Thanks Yuri for pointing out the open-file entry in that dialog

> 
> 
> The file manager as such is usually not an appropriate method of
> asking for a file name in response to an Open File command; that calls
> for a modal dialog.

The question (at least the 2nd part) could well be:
Why are we stuck on Open File being modal?
Think ecb/speedbar etc -- the file-browser exists, it can be used...
Or ignored and one can keep working on/with other things.
It does not need to go away or come in the way -- almost the definition of
'modal dialog'

> However, the file manager can invoke Emacs or
> emacsclient in response to a double-click on a file of a suitable
> type, to a menu or context menu command, or a drag-and-drop of a file
> into an Emacs window or on an Emacs launcher button or icon. (All of
> the above actually works for me in Thunar, provided that I set up file
> type associations.)

Hey Thanks for that -- Ive added it to the writeup

This mode of working -- drag-n-drop -- is sufficiently alien to me that
I did not think of trying to drop a file in (or is it on?) to emacs.

Just strengthens the alternative model I was suggesting:
- Keep both emacs and file browser open
- Navigate to files one desires to view/edit in the browser
- Drag-n-drop into emacs as required

The one thing I miss is an option to ensure that only one browser window opens
There seems to have been one such in the past but now cant find it