Question about initial-buffer-choice

Question about initial-buffer-choice

[CToID]

Hello folks,

So for example, if `initial-buffer-choice` is set to t, and I try to 
open a file in Emacs using command-line, i. e. enter `emacs foobar.js` 
in my terminal.  Then Emacs will start up, but in addition to one window 
displaying the content of `foobar.js`, there is also another window 
containing scratch buffer.

I'm not sure if this is intended behaviour or not, but if Emacs is 
started through command-line, with file arguments given, shouldn't it 
only display the content of file(s), but not the initial buffer?

-- 
Best,
ID

Re: Question about initial-buffer-choice

[Eli Zaretskii]

> Date: Fri, 12 Jul 2024 21:24:56 +0800
> From: CToID <funk443@yahoo.com.tw>
> 
> So for example, if `initial-buffer-choice` is set to t, and I try to 
> open a file in Emacs using command-line, i. e. enter `emacs foobar.js` 
> in my terminal.  Then Emacs will start up, but in addition to one window 
> displaying the content of `foobar.js`, there is also another window 
> containing scratch buffer.
> 
> I'm not sure if this is intended behaviour or not, but if Emacs is 
> started through command-line, with file arguments given, shouldn't it 
> only display the content of file(s), but not the initial buffer?

When this variable is non-nil, its value is handled as an additional
command-line argument.  So yes, this is the intended behavior when you
start Emacs with names of files or directories from the command line.

Re: Question about initial-buffer-choice

[CToID]

On 2024-07-12 Fri 23:02 UTC+0800, Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> said:

> 
> When this variable is non-nil, its value is handled as an additional
> command-line argument.  So yes, this is the intended behavior when you
> start Emacs with names of files or directories from the command line.
> 
Myabe it's better to add another variable to control this behaviour?

-- 
Best,
ID

Re: Question about initial-buffer-choice

[Eli Zaretskii]

> Date: Fri, 12 Jul 2024 23:27:34 +0800
> From: CToID <funk443@yahoo.com.tw>
> 
> On 2024-07-12 Fri 23:02 UTC+0800, Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> said:
> 
> > 
> > When this variable is non-nil, its value is handled as an additional
> > command-line argument.  So yes, this is the intended behavior when you
> > start Emacs with names of files or directories from the command line.
> > 
> Myabe it's better to add another variable to control this behaviour?

What do you want to control?

Why did you set the variable to t, instead of leaving it at its
default value of nil?

Re: Question about initial-buffer-choice

[CToID]

On 2024-07-13 Sat 00:06 UTC+0800, Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> said:

> 
> What do you want to control?
>

Control whether the whatever buffer `initial-buffer-choice` specifies 
will be shown if Emacs is invoked with a file name in command line.

> Why did you set the variable to t, instead of leaving it at its
> default value of nil?
> 

Setting it to nil works for sure, but that limits your initial buffer to 
scratch, doesn't it?  What if I want a dired or file buffer instead?

-- 
Best,
ID

Re: Question about initial-buffer-choice

[Eli Zaretskii]

> Date: Sat, 13 Jul 2024 01:02:31 +0800
> From: CToID <funk443@yahoo.com.tw>
> 
> On 2024-07-13 Sat 00:06 UTC+0800, Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> said:
> 
> > Why did you set the variable to t, instead of leaving it at its
> > default value of nil?
> > 
> 
> Setting it to nil works for sure, but that limits your initial buffer to 
> scratch, doesn't it?  What if I want a dired or file buffer instead?

So you want Emacs to ignore initial-buffer-choice when there are files
from the command-line?  Feel free to submit a feature-request bug
report with this suggestion.

Re: Question about initial-buffer-choice

[Joel Reicher]

CToID <funk443@yahoo.com.tw> writes:

> So for example, if `initial-buffer-choice` is set to t, and I 
> try to open a file in Emacs using command-line, i. e. enter 
> `emacs foobar.js` in my terminal.  Then Emacs will start up, but 
> in addition to one window displaying the content of `foobar.js`, 
> there is also another window containing scratch buffer.
>
> I'm not sure if this is intended behaviour or not, but if Emacs 
> is started through command-line, with file arguments given, 
> shouldn't it only display the content of file(s), but not the 
> initial buffer?

I get behaviour similar to what I think you want by always using 
emacsclient to open files, and including --no-splash in the 
command for alternate editor.

You might be able to do a different customisation the same way so 
that it applies only when directly opening files when an emacs 
server is not already running.

Regards,

        - Joel

Re: Question about initial-buffer-choice

[CToID]

On 2024-07-13 14:31 GMT+08:00, Joel Reicher wrote:
> 
> I get behaviour similar to what I think you want by always using 
> emacsclient to open files, and including --no-splash in the command for 
> alternate editor.
> 

I did some testing, and --no-splash only decides whether Emacs shows the 
splash buffer or not.  It doesn't affect the buffer specified in 
initial-buffer-choice.

-- 
Best,
ID

Re: Question about initial-buffer-choice

[Joel Reicher]

CToID <funk443@yahoo.com.tw> writes:

> On 2024-07-13 14:31 GMT+08:00, Joel Reicher wrote:
>> I get behaviour similar to what I think you want by always 
>> using emacsclient to open files, and including --no-splash in 
>> the command for alternate editor.
>
> I did some testing, and --no-splash only decides whether Emacs 
> shows the splash buffer or not.  It doesn't affect the buffer 
> specified in initial-buffer-choice.

I know, I wasn't suggesting you use --no-splash; only that you use 
emacsclient with alternate editor for the "situation 
trigger". Perhaps --funcall for something you can define to do 
what you need.

Regards,

        - Joel