display-buffer-alist

display-buffer-alist

[Paddy Mullen]

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Hello,

I'm having a very hard time understanding the documentation for
display-buffer-alist.  emacs24 behaves differently than emacs23.  Here is
the behaviour that I am used to and would like to return to.

Emacs 23:
C-x C-f  (find-file)
the file that I select opens in the current window


Emacs 24:
C-x C-f (find-file)
the file that I select opens in another window

the window that the file will open in, in emacs 24 is unpredictable, making
it very difficult to organize a multiple window session.

Could someone please post the setq command to get emacs 24 to behave the
way I am used to.

something along the lines of

(setq display-buffer-alist '(??????))

all the other examples that I have seen use functions like setcar, setcdr
which don't help me since my display-buffer-alist is nil.


Thanks,
Paddy

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display-buffer-alist

[Paddy Mullen]

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Hello,

I'm having a very hard time understanding the documentation for
display-buffer-alist.  emacs24 behaves differently than emacs23.  Here is
the behaviour that I am used to and would like to return to.

Emacs 23:
C-x C-f  (find-file)
the file that I select opens in the current window


Emacs 24:
C-x C-f (find-file)
the file that I select opens in another window

the window that the file will open in, in emacs 24 is unpredictable, making
it very difficult to organize a multiple window session.

Could someone please post the setq command to get emacs 24 to behave the
way I am used to.

something along the lines of

(setq display-buffer-alist '(??????))

all the other examples that I have seen use functions like setcar, setcdr
which don't help me since my display-buffer-alist is nil.


Thanks,
Paddy

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Re: display-buffer-alist

[Paddy Mullen]

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Oops,  I didn't think this had posted the first time, sorry for the double
post.


On Sat, Nov 5, 2011 at 11:57 AM, Paddy Mullen <paddy@paddymullen.com> wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I'm having a very hard time understanding the documentation for
> display-buffer-alist.  emacs24 behaves differently than emacs23.  Here is
> the behaviour that I am used to and would like to return to.
>
> Emacs 23:
> C-x C-f  (find-file)
> the file that I select opens in the current window
>
>
> Emacs 24:
> C-x C-f (find-file)
> the file that I select opens in another window
>
> the window that the file will open in, in emacs 24 is unpredictable,
> making it very difficult to organize a multiple window session.
>
> Could someone please post the setq command to get emacs 24 to behave the
> way I am used to.
>
> something along the lines of
>
> (setq display-buffer-alist '(??????))
>
> all the other examples that I have seen use functions like setcar, setcdr
> which don't help me since my display-buffer-alist is nil.
>
>
> Thanks,
> Paddy
>

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RE: display-buffer-alist

[Drew Adams]

> I'm having a very hard time understanding the documentation
> for display-buffer-alist.

You are not alone. 

> emacs24 behaves differently than emacs23.

Not only differently by default, but perhaps even altogether differently (?).
I'm not even sure you _can_ (easily? at all?) obtain the Emacs 23 behavior using
Emacs 24.  And I'm not sure users will be able to easily understand the
differences.

Fortunately, Emacs 24 has not yet been released.

> Could someone please post the setq command to get emacs 24
> to behave the way I am used to.  something along the lines of
> (setq display-buffer-alist '(??????))

I wish someone could - or rather, to be more optimistic, I hope someone will.
Unfortunately, I cannot.  I'm in the same boat as you, I'm afraid.

Believe it or not, one of the main motivations for the changes was supposedly to
make things simpler!  It was thought that the interactions among the existing
separate user options affecting buffer display, such as
`special-display-regexps' and `pop-up-frames', could confuse users.  (Dunno
whether there were really any user complaints about this - I'm not aware of
any.)

Another motivation was, I believe, to give users (and code) more control over
display details (which window, when, where, etc.).  Whether that mixes well with
the goal of making things simpler is uncertain.

So instead of a few different user options, we now have the single usine-a-gaz
`display-buffer-alist'.  There seem to be enough knobs and dials baked into
`display-buffer-alist' to make its mastery worthy of a doctoral dissertation.

And it's only a start, AFAICT.  There are also changes to various functions and
commands, which can affect existing code.  You've read the doc - you have an
idea what you're up against.

There is not only a documentation problem and perhaps a use complexity problem.
There are also outstanding bugs.  And the behavior seems to be "evolving" (i.e.
volatile) as (some) bugs get fixed and new ones are introduced.  There was a
second redesign (overhaul) a relatively short while back.

How we can find ourselves in _pretest_ phase under these conditions I really
don't know.  I'm just hoping that things will all be fixed and clearly
documented before they throw the release itself over the wall to us lusers.

Maybe in the end we'll all be far happier for all these changes.  For now, I
feel the same as you: Somebody please tell me what incantation to use to get
back the behavior I had in Emacs 23 (22, 21, 20...).

On n'arrete pas le progres...

RE: display-buffer-alist

[Paddy Mullen]

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I don't know what any single incantation should look like.  Do you mind
sharing what you have tried so that I can fool around with it some myself.

On Nov 5, 2011 5:24 PM, "Drew Adams" <drew.adams@oracle.com> wrote:
>
> > I'm having a very hard time understanding the documentation
> > for display-buffer-alist.
>
> You are not alone.
>
> > emacs24 behaves differently than emacs23.
>
> Not only differently by default, but perhaps even altogether differently
(?).
> I'm not even sure you _can_ (easily? at all?) obtain the Emacs 23
behavior using
> Emacs 24.  And I'm not sure users will be able to easily understand the
> differences.
>
> Fortunately, Emacs 24 has not yet been released.
>
> > Could someone please post the setq command to get emacs 24
> > to behave the way I am used to.  something along the lines of
> > (setq display-buffer-alist '(??????))
>
> I wish someone could - or rather, to be more optimistic, I hope someone
will.
> Unfortunately, I cannot.  I'm in the same boat as you, I'm afraid.
>
> Believe it or not, one of the main motivations for the changes was
supposedly to
> make things simpler!  It was thought that the interactions among the
existing
> separate user options affecting buffer display, such as
> `special-display-regexps' and `pop-up-frames', could confuse users.
 (Dunno
> whether there were really any user complaints about this - I'm not aware
of
> any.)
>
> Another motivation was, I believe, to give users (and code) more control
over
> display details (which window, when, where, etc.).  Whether that mixes
well with
> the goal of making things simpler is uncertain.
>
> So instead of a few different user options, we now have the single
usine-a-gaz
> `display-buffer-alist'.  There seem to be enough knobs and dials baked
into
> `display-buffer-alist' to make its mastery worthy of a doctoral
dissertation.
>
> And it's only a start, AFAICT.  There are also changes to various
functions and
> commands, which can affect existing code.  You've read the doc - you have
an
> idea what you're up against.
>
> There is not only a documentation problem and perhaps a use complexity
problem.
> There are also outstanding bugs.  And the behavior seems to be "evolving"
(i.e.
> volatile) as (some) bugs get fixed and new ones are introduced.  There
was a
> second redesign (overhaul) a relatively short while back.
>
> How we can find ourselves in _pretest_ phase under these conditions I
really
> don't know.  I'm just hoping that things will all be fixed and clearly
> documented before they throw the release itself over the wall to us
lusers.
>
> Maybe in the end we'll all be far happier for all these changes.  For
now, I
> feel the same as you: Somebody please tell me what incantation to use to
get
> back the behavior I had in Emacs 23 (22, 21, 20...).
>
> On n'arrete pas le progres...
>

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RE: display-buffer-alist

[Drew Adams]

> I don't know what any single incantation should look like.
> Do you mind sharing what you have tried so that I can fool
> around with it some myself.

Sorry, I don't have anything to offer for that.  I'm still using my pre-24
settings.  In principle, things are supposed to be backward-compatible and still
work.

Maybe someone else can help here.

But of course it depends what Emacs 23 behavior you're trying to reproduce:
depends what customizations you use etc.  I'm looking to reproduce my setup,
you're looking to reproduce yours, etc.  Supposedly we will each find a solution
using the new features instead of the old.  To me it's still a mystery how.

Re: display-buffer-alist

[martin rudalics]

 > I'm having a very hard time understanding the documentation for
 > display-buffer-alist.  emacs24 behaves differently than emacs23.  Here
 > is the behaviour that I am used to and would like to return to.
 >
 > Emacs 23:
 > C-x C-f  (find-file)
 > the file that I select opens in the current window
 >
 >
 > Emacs 24:
 > C-x C-f (find-file)
 > the file that I select opens in another window

With emacs -Q the file is not shown in another window on my machine.  So
please report this as a bug either using emacs -Q or by providing us the
relevant details from your .emacs.

 > the window that the file will open in, in emacs 24 is unpredictable,
 > making it very difficult to organize a multiple window session.

Please describe in the bug report what and how this happens.

 > Could someone please post the setq command to get emacs 24 to behave the way I am used to.

Emacs 24 should behave as Emacs 23 in the example you gave.  So there
should be no need for such a command.

martin

Re: display-buffer-alist

[Paddy Mullen]

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Thanks for the help.  The problem was with display-buffer-for-wide-screen.el

http://www.emacswiki.org/cgi-bin/wiki/download/display-buffer-for-wide-screen.el

Once I removed that from my .emacs, things worked fine.
I would still like to see a proper example of elisp code setting the
display-buffer-alist.

Thanks,
Paddy

On Sun, Nov 6, 2011 at 3:51 AM, martin rudalics <rudalics@gmx.at> wrote:

> > I'm having a very hard time understanding the documentation for
> > display-buffer-alist.  emacs24 behaves differently than emacs23.  Here
> > is the behaviour that I am used to and would like to return to.
> >
> > Emacs 23:
> > C-x C-f  (find-file)
> > the file that I select opens in the current window
> >
> >
> > Emacs 24:
> > C-x C-f (find-file)
> > the file that I select opens in another window
>
> With emacs -Q the file is not shown in another window on my machine.  So
> please report this as a bug either using emacs -Q or by providing us the
> relevant details from your .emacs.
>
>
> > the window that the file will open in, in emacs 24 is unpredictable,
> > making it very difficult to organize a multiple window session.
>
> Please describe in the bug report what and how this happens.
>
>
> > Could someone please post the setq command to get emacs 24 to behave the
> way I am used to.
>
> Emacs 24 should behave as Emacs 23 in the example you gave.  So there
> should be no need for such a command.
>
> martin
>

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Re: display-buffer-alist

[martin rudalics]

 > Thanks for the help.  The problem was with display-buffer-for-wide-screen.el
 >
 > http://www.emacswiki.org/cgi-bin/wiki/download/display-buffer-for-wide-screen.el
 >
 > Once I removed that from my .emacs, things worked fine.

What precisely failed?  I didn't look at it but it hooks in at a lower
level (namely that of `display-buffer-function') so it should still work
with Emacs 24.

 > I would still like to see a proper example of elisp code setting the
 > display-buffer-alist.

Elisp code should not do that.  `display-buffer-alist' is reserved for
users as in

(customize-set-variable
  'display-buffer-alist '((".*" . (display-buffer-same-window . nil))))

Unfortunately, so far there's no common agreement on what the ALIST
argument of `display-buffer-same-window' is supposed to accomplish.

martin

Re: display-buffer-alist

[Paddy Mullen]

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thank you, that was exactly the line that I was looking for.
I wasn't thinking elisp code as in an extension module, more along the
lines of elisp code that I would enter into my .emacs .   Especially for
something like display-buffer-alist I really dislike the M-x customize
functionality


On Thu, Nov 10, 2011 at 3:22 AM, martin rudalics <rudalics@gmx.at> wrote:

> > Thanks for the help.  The problem was with display-buffer-for-wide-**
> screen.el
> >
> > http://www.emacswiki.org/cgi-**bin/wiki/download/display-**
> buffer-for-wide-screen.el<http://www.emacswiki.org/cgi-bin/wiki/download/display-buffer-for-wide-screen.el>
> >
> > Once I removed that from my .emacs, things worked fine.
>
> What precisely failed?  I didn't look at it but it hooks in at a lower
> level (namely that of `display-buffer-function') so it should still work
> with Emacs 24.
>
>
> > I would still like to see a proper example of elisp code setting the
> > display-buffer-alist.
>
> Elisp code should not do that.  `display-buffer-alist' is reserved for
> users as in
>
> (customize-set-variable
>  'display-buffer-alist '((".*" . (display-buffer-same-window . nil))))
>
> Unfortunately, so far there's no common agreement on what the ALIST
> argument of `display-buffer-same-window' is supposed to accomplish.
>
> martin
>

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display-buffer-alist

[Tak Kunihiro]

When a LaTeX document is compiled using AUCTeX, its log is on buffer
such as below.

  *~/orochi-devel/documentation/OrochiSetupWin7/report.tex output*

By C-c C-l `TeX-recenter-output-buffer', I see the buffer on
other-window.  With following setup, I see it on a new frame.

#+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp
  (add-to-list 'display-buffer-alist
               '("\\*~.* output\\*"
                 (display-buffer-reuse-window
                  display-buffer-pop-up-frame
                  display-buffer-pop-up-window)
                 (reusable-frames . t)))
#+END_SRC

It is nice if the frame even does not have minibuffer.  Based on info,
a frame parameter (minibuffer . t) only takes effect when a frame is
created.  How do I set it up using `display-buffer-alist'?