How to copy current buffer to a temporary buffer

How to copy current buffer to a temporary buffer

[Cecil Westerhof]

I want to copy the current buffer to a temporary buffer, to do some
edits on it. (Converting a text file to a html file.)

The following works:
    (defun make-html-file ()
      (interactive)
      (let ((buffer-name (generate-new-buffer-name "tempori.html")))
        (copy-region-as-kill (point-min) (point-max))
        (switch-to-buffer buffer-name)
        (html-mode)
        (yank)))

But the ‘problem’ is that this adds your current buffer to the kill
ring. That is a side effect that should be circumvented.

So I tried the following:
    (defun make-html-file ()
      (interactive)
      (let ((buffer-name (generate-new-buffer-name "tempori.html"))
            (old-buffer (current-buffer)))
        (switch-to-buffer buffer-name)
        (auto-fill-mode 0)
        (insert-buffer-substring old-buffer)
        (html-mode)))

The problem is that this formats the lines and because of this the
regular expressions that are used for the converting do not work
anymore. How can I write the function in such a way that it does not
add to the kill ring, without the lines being formatted?

I could of-course use:
    (pop kill-ring)

in the first function, but could the second function made to work?

-- 
Cecil Westerhof
Senior Software Engineer
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/cecilwesterhof

Re: How to copy current buffer to a temporary buffer

[Pascal J. Bourguignon]

Cecil Westerhof <Cecil@decebal.nl> writes:

> I want to copy the current buffer to a temporary buffer, to do some
> edits on it. (Converting a text file to a html file.)


(let ((contents (buffer-substring (point-min) (point-max))))
  (with-temp-buffer
   (insert contents)
   (do-something)))


-- 
__Pascal Bourguignon__
http://www.informatimago.com/
"Le mercure monte ?  C'est le moment d'acheter !"

Re: How to copy current buffer to a temporary buffer

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: "Pascal J. Bourguignon" <pjb@informatimago.com>
> Date: Fri, 16 May 2014 11:31:28 +0200
> 
> Cecil Westerhof <Cecil@decebal.nl> writes:
> 
> > I want to copy the current buffer to a temporary buffer, to do some
> > edits on it. (Converting a text file to a html file.)
> 
> 
> (let ((contents (buffer-substring (point-min) (point-max))))
>   (with-temp-buffer
>    (insert contents)
>    (do-something)))

I think using the insert-buffer function will make this more efficient
(since no string needs to be consed, something that might not be
trivial with large buffers).

Re: How to copy current buffer to a temporary buffer

[Cecil Westerhof]

Op Friday 16 May 2014 12:13 CEST schreef Eli Zaretskii:

>> From: "Pascal J. Bourguignon" <pjb@informatimago.com>
>> Date: Fri, 16 May 2014 11:31:28 +0200
>>
>> Cecil Westerhof <Cecil@decebal.nl> writes:
>>
>>> I want to copy the current buffer to a temporary buffer, to do
>>> some edits on it. (Converting a text file to a html file.)
>>
>>
>> (let ((contents (buffer-substring (point-min) (point-max))))
>> (with-temp-buffer
>> (insert contents)
>> (do-something)))
>
> I think using the insert-buffer function will make this more
> efficient (since no string needs to be consed, something that might
> not be trivial with large buffers).

I used insert-buffer earlier on, but that formatted the lines and that
is not acceptable.

I now have the following code:
    (defun make-html-file ()
      (copy-region-as-kill (point-min) (point-max))
      (switch-to-buffer (generate-new-buffer-name "tempori.html"))
      (yank)
      (pop kill-ring)
      (html-mode))

No need for a let anymore and I think the code is more clear also.

-- 
Cecil Westerhof
Senior Software Engineer
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/cecilwesterhof

Re: How to copy current buffer to a temporary buffer

[Pascal J. Bourguignon]

Cecil Westerhof <Cecil@decebal.nl> writes:

> Op Friday 16 May 2014 12:13 CEST schreef Eli Zaretskii:
>
>>> From: "Pascal J. Bourguignon" <pjb@informatimago.com>
>>> Date: Fri, 16 May 2014 11:31:28 +0200
>>>
>>> Cecil Westerhof <Cecil@decebal.nl> writes:
>>>
>>>> I want to copy the current buffer to a temporary buffer, to do
>>>> some edits on it. (Converting a text file to a html file.)
>>>
>>>
>>> (let ((contents (buffer-substring (point-min) (point-max))))
>>> (with-temp-buffer
>>> (insert contents)
>>> (do-something)))
>>
>> I think using the insert-buffer function will make this more
>> efficient (since no string needs to be consed, something that might
>> not be trivial with large buffers).

Oops, I knew I was missing something.


> I used insert-buffer earlier on, but that formatted the lines and that
> is not acceptable.

You can do this then:

    (let ((source-buffer (current-buffer)))
      (with-temp-buffer
        (insert-buffer source-buffer)
        (set-text-properties (point-min) (point-max) '())
        (do-something)))


-- 
__Pascal Bourguignon__
http://www.informatimago.com/
"Le mercure monte ?  C'est le moment d'acheter !"

Re: How to copy current buffer to a temporary buffer

[Thien-Thi Nguyen]

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() Cecil Westerhof <Cecil@decebal.nl>
() Fri, 16 May 2014 13:49:00 +0200

   I used insert-buffer earlier on, but that formatted
   the lines and that is not acceptable.

What does "formatted the lines" mean, precisely?  The docstring for
‘insert-buffer’ recommends ‘insert-buffer-substring’.  Did you try that?

-- 
Thien-Thi Nguyen
   GPG key: 4C807502
   (if you're human and you know it)
      read my lisp: (responsep (questions 'technical)
                               (not (via 'mailing-list)))
                     => nil

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