Problem with simple script to clean out an ERC buffer

Problem with simple script to clean out an ERC buffer

[J. David Boyd]

I've put this together:


(defun clearERCbuffer()
(interactive)
(previous-line)
(end-of-line)
(set-mark(point))
(beginning-of-buffer)
(exchange-point-and-mark)
; (set-text-properties (point-min) (point-max) nil nil )
(delete-region (point-min) (point-max)))

(bind-key (kbd "H-C-c") 'clearERCbuffer)


So I go into an ERC buffer, put the cursor at the prompt, hit H-C-c, and it
always tells me that "Text is read-only"

But, if I manually execute the commands above, and press C-w when I get to the
delete-region command, it works fine.

I tried the set-text-properties to remove any read-only attributes, but that
makes no difference.

What stupidly obvious item am I overlooking?

Thanks,

Dave in Hudson, FL

Re: Problem with simple script to clean out an ERC buffer

[Jonathan Kyle Mitchell]

On Tue, Jun 5, 2018 at 4:21 PM, J. David Boyd <dboyd2@mmm.com> wrote:
>
>
> I've put this together:
>
>
> (defun clearERCbuffer()
> (interactive)
> (previous-line)
> (end-of-line)
> (set-mark(point))
> (beginning-of-buffer)
> (exchange-point-and-mark)
> ; (set-text-properties (point-min) (point-max) nil nil )
> (delete-region (point-min) (point-max)))
>
> (bind-key (kbd "H-C-c") 'clearERCbuffer)
>
>
> So I go into an ERC buffer, put the cursor at the prompt, hit H-C-c, and it
> always tells me that "Text is read-only"
>
> But, if I manually execute the commands above, and press C-w when I get to the
> delete-region command, it works fine.
>
> I tried the set-text-properties to remove any read-only attributes, but that
> makes no difference.
>
> What stupidly obvious item am I overlooking?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Dave in Hudson, FL


How about just:

(let ((inhibit-read-only t))
  (erase-buffer))

[1] https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/elisp/Read-Only-Buffers.html

--
Jonathan Kyle Mitchell

Re: Problem with simple script to clean out an ERC buffer

[J. David Boyd]

Jonathan Kyle Mitchell <kyle@jonathanmitchell.org> writes:

> On Tue, Jun 5, 2018 at 4:21 PM, J. David Boyd <dboyd2@mmm.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>> I've put this together:
>>
>>
>> (defun clearERCbuffer()
>> (interactive)
>> (previous-line)
>> (end-of-line)
>> (set-mark(point))
>> (beginning-of-buffer)
>> (exchange-point-and-mark)
>> ; (set-text-properties (point-min) (point-max) nil nil )
>> (delete-region (point-min) (point-max)))
>>
>> (bind-key (kbd "H-C-c") 'clearERCbuffer)
>>
>>
>> So I go into an ERC buffer, put the cursor at the prompt, hit H-C-c, and it
>> always tells me that "Text is read-only"
>>
>> But, if I manually execute the commands above, and press C-w when I get to the
>> delete-region command, it works fine.
>>
>> I tried the set-text-properties to remove any read-only attributes, but that
>> makes no difference.
>>
>> What stupidly obvious item am I overlooking?
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Dave in Hudson, FL
>
>
> How about just:
>
> (let ((inhibit-read-only t))
>   (erase-buffer))
>
> [1] https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/elisp/Read-Only-Buffers.html
>
> --
> Jonathan Kyle Mitchell


Thanks, that did the trick.  Always grateful the help that is available here!

Dave in Hudson, FL

Re: Problem with simple script to clean out an ERC buffer

[Emanuel Berg]

J. David Boyd wrote:

> So I go into an ERC buffer, put the cursor at
> the prompt, hit H-C-c, and it always tells me
> that "Text is read-only"
>
> But, if I manually execute the commands
> above, and press C-w when I get to the
> delete-region command, it works fine.

Is it a good idea to manually erase the
text/data of an ERC buffer?

What's the purpose of that?

Perhaps there is an IRC command to do that?

-- 
underground experts united
http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573

Re: Problem with simple script to clean out an ERC buffer

[J. David Boyd]

Emanuel Berg <moasen@zoho.com> writes:

> J. David Boyd wrote:
>
>> So I go into an ERC buffer, put the cursor at
>> the prompt, hit H-C-c, and it always tells me
>> that "Text is read-only"
>>
>> But, if I manually execute the commands
>> above, and press C-w when I get to the
>> delete-region command, it works fine.
>
> Is it a good idea to manually erase the
> text/data of an ERC buffer?
>
> What's the purpose of that?
>
> Perhaps there is an IRC command to do that?


Yes there is, but it doesn't do anything:  erc-cmd-CLEAR

Supposed to "Clear the window content", but the code reads:

(defun erc-cmd-CLEAR ()
  "Clear the window content."
  (recenter 0)
  t)
(put 'erc-cmd-CLEAR 'process-not-needed t)

So not only does it not clear the window, but it seems to be disabled.

Anyway, I like to clear out the buffer so I can reduce my memory footprint.
If there is anything important in it, I usually grab it and put it into an org
file.

Re: Problem with simple script to clean out an ERC buffer

[Joost Kremers]

On Wed, Jun 06 2018, J. David Boyd wrote:
> Yes there is, but it doesn't do anything:  erc-cmd-CLEAR
>
> Supposed to "Clear the window content", but the code reads:
>
> (defun erc-cmd-CLEAR ()
>   "Clear the window content."
>   (recenter 0)
>   t)
> (put 'erc-cmd-CLEAR 'process-not-needed t)
>
> So not only does it not clear the window, but it seems to be 
> disabled.

No, the erc source mentions that the `process-not-needed' property 
just indicates that the command can be run when the erc process is 
not alive. So it's not disabled.

Since erc.el is part of Emacs, you might ask on the emacs-devel 
list why this command doesn't seem to do what it advertises and 
whether it should be changed to actually "clear the window 
content".

> Anyway, I like to clear out the buffer so I can reduce my memory 
> footprint.
> If there is anything important in it, I usually grab it and put 
> it into an org
> file.

As for your original question, your function has a bug:

```

(defun clearERCbuffer()
  (interactive)
  (previous-line)
  (end-of-line)
  (set-mark(point))
  (beginning-of-buffer)
  (exchange-point-and-mark)
  ;; (set-text-properties (point-min) (point-max) nil nil )
  (delete-region (point-min) (point-max)))

```

The final function call is `(delete-region (point-min) 
(point-max))`, which means that all the point, mark and region 
magic you did before that is moot, because you're trying to delete 
the entire buffer.

Which is probably why your getting an error: in the part that you 
are deleting there's most likely (I don't use erc, so I can't 
check) something (a prompt perhaps) that is indeed read-only. What 
you probably want is simply `(delete-region)`, except that START 
and END aren't optional.

So, I would do something like (untested):

```
(defun clearERCbuffer()
  (interactive)
  (save-mark-and-excursion
    (forward-line -1)
    (end-of-line)
    (delete-region (point-min) (point))))
```

Some remarks:

- `save-mark-and-excursion` saves point and mark and restores them 
  after executing its body. This means that point should be back 
  to where it was before you called the function. Note that if 
  you're on Emacs 25, you should replace `save-mark-and-excursion` 
  with `save-excursion`.
- The doc string of `previous-line` suggests it shouldn't be used 
  in Lisp programs, so I used `(forward-line -1)` instead.
- With `delete-region`, there's no need to create an active region 
  first. By (temporarily, due to `save-mark-and-excursion`) 
  positioning the cursor at the end of the previous line, it's 
  possible to simply use (point) as the END argument to 
  `delete-region`.

HTH

-- 
Joost Kremers
Life has its moments

Re: Problem with simple script to clean out an ERC buffer

[J. David Boyd]

Joost Kremers <joostkremers@fastmail.fm> writes:

> On Wed, Jun 06 2018, J. David Boyd wrote:
>> Yes there is, but it doesn't do anything:  erc-cmd-CLEAR
>>
>> Supposed to "Clear the window content", but the code reads:
>>
>> (defun erc-cmd-CLEAR ()
>>   "Clear the window content."
>>   (recenter 0)
>>   t)
>> (put 'erc-cmd-CLEAR 'process-not-needed t)
>>
>> So not only does it not clear the window, but it seems to be
>> disabled.
>
> No, the erc source mentions that the `process-not-needed' property
> just indicates that the command can be run when the erc process is not
> alive. So it's not disabled.
>
> Since erc.el is part of Emacs, you might ask on the emacs-devel list
> why this command doesn't seem to do what it advertises and whether it
> should be changed to actually "clear the window content".
>
>> Anyway, I like to clear out the buffer so I can reduce my memory
>> footprint.
>> If there is anything important in it, I usually grab it and put it
>> into an org
>> file.
>
> As for your original question, your function has a bug:
>
> ```
>
> (defun clearERCbuffer()
>  (interactive)
>  (previous-line)
>  (end-of-line)
>  (set-mark(point))
>  (beginning-of-buffer)
>  (exchange-point-and-mark)
>  ;; (set-text-properties (point-min) (point-max) nil nil )
>  (delete-region (point-min) (point-max)))
>
> ```
>
> The final function call is `(delete-region (point-min) (point-max))`,
> which means that all the point, mark and region magic you did before
> that is moot, because you're trying to delete the entire buffer.
>
> Which is probably why your getting an error: in the part that you are
> deleting there's most likely (I don't use erc, so I can't check)
> something (a prompt perhaps) that is indeed read-only. What you
> probably want is simply `(delete-region)`, except that START and END
> aren't optional.
>
> So, I would do something like (untested):
>
> ```
> (defun clearERCbuffer()
>  (interactive)
>  (save-mark-and-excursion
>    (forward-line -1)
>    (end-of-line)
>    (delete-region (point-min) (point))))
> ```
>
> Some remarks:
>
> - `save-mark-and-excursion` saves point and mark and restores them
> after executing its body. This means that point should be back to
> where it was before you called the function. Note that if you're on
> Emacs 25, you should replace `save-mark-and-excursion` with
> `save-excursion`.
> - The doc string of `previous-line` suggests it shouldn't be used in
> Lisp programs, so I used `(forward-line -1)` instead.
> - With `delete-region`, there's no need to create an active region
> first. By (temporarily, due to `save-mark-and-excursion`) positioning
> the cursor at the end of the previous line, it's possible to simply
> use (point) as the END argument to `delete-region`.
>
> HTH


Thanks.  So that's why I kept getting told that I had read-only text.  The
prompt is indeed read only, so that makes sense.

All your ideas make sense, thanks very much!

Re: Problem with simple script to clean out an ERC buffer

[Emanuel Berg]

J. David Boyd wrote:

> Yes there is, but it doesn't do anything:
> erc-cmd-CLEAR
>
> Supposed to "Clear the window content", but the
> code reads:
>
> (defun erc-cmd-CLEAR () "Clear the window
> content." (recenter 0) t) (put 'erc-cmd-CLEAR
> 'process-not-needed t)

Indeed, it doesn't seem to do anything. You can
ask at gmane.emacs.erc.general (or
erc-discuss@gnu.org) and tell them about it.

> Anyway, I like to clear out the buffer so
> I can reduce my memory footprint. If there is
> anything important in it, I usually grab it
> and put it into an org file.

"Reduce the memory footprint"??? It is just
an Emacs text buffer!

-- 
underground experts united
http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573

Re: Problem with simple script to clean out an ERC buffer

[J. David Boyd]

Emanuel Berg <moasen@zoho.com> writes:

> J. David Boyd wrote:
>
>> Yes there is, but it doesn't do anything:
>> erc-cmd-CLEAR
>>
>> Supposed to "Clear the window content", but the
>> code reads:
>>
>> (defun erc-cmd-CLEAR () "Clear the window
>> content." (recenter 0) t) (put 'erc-cmd-CLEAR
>> 'process-not-needed t)
>
> Indeed, it doesn't seem to do anything. You can
> ask at gmane.emacs.erc.general (or
> erc-discuss@gnu.org) and tell them about it.
>
>> Anyway, I like to clear out the buffer so
>> I can reduce my memory footprint. If there is
>> anything important in it, I usually grab it
>> and put it into an org file.
>
> "Reduce the memory footprint"??? It is just
> an Emacs text buffer!


Yes, but I have many many buffers open, lots of ERC buffers open, and
just don't like having 30k rows of text that I have already read hanging
around....

Re: Problem with simple script to clean out an ERC buffer

[Emanuel Berg]

J. David Boyd wrote:

>> "Reduce the memory footprint"??? It is just
>> an Emacs text buffer!
>
> Yes, but I have many many buffers open, lots
> of ERC buffers open, and just don't like
> having 30k rows of text that I have already
> read hanging around....

Wow, you read a lot of IRC chats!

Still, perhaps one can automate this somehow,
like once every day, iterate all the ERC
buffers, see if they are too long, and if so,
clear them.

That wouldn't take into consideration what
you've read or not so perhaps you still want
it manually.

-- 
underground experts united
http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573

Re: Problem with simple script to clean out an ERC buffer

[J. David Boyd]

Emanuel Berg <moasen@zoho.com> writes:

> J. David Boyd wrote:
>
>>> "Reduce the memory footprint"??? It is just
>>> an Emacs text buffer!
>>
>> Yes, but I have many many buffers open, lots
>> of ERC buffers open, and just don't like
>> having 30k rows of text that I have already
>> read hanging around....
>
> Wow, you read a lot of IRC chats!
>
> Still, perhaps one can automate this somehow,
> like once every day, iterate all the ERC
> buffers, see if they are too long, and if so,
> clear them.
>
> That wouldn't take into consideration what
> you've read or not so perhaps you still want
> it manually.


I definitely want it to be a manual process.  Sometimes I don't get back to
check a chatroom for a day or more, so I don't want anything truncating it
before I get there.

Re: Problem with simple script to clean out an ERC buffer

[Van L]

> J. David Boyd writes:
> 
> Sometimes I don't get back to
> check a chatroom for a day or more, so I don't want anything truncating it
> before I get there.

There is a variable for continuously writing chat buffer to file so you lose nothing.

Re: Problem with simple script to clean out an ERC buffer

[Emanuel Berg]

Van L wrote:

>> Sometimes I don't get back to check
>> a chatroom for a day or more, so I don't
>> want anything truncating it before
>> I get there.
>
> There is a variable for continuously writing
> chat buffer to file so you lose nothing.

Hold - Mr. Boyd may run out of disk space
doing that!

Seriously, what is it in the IRC logs that is
so important you have to check it like some
20-ish moronic dude who wants to attend every
single party fearing otherwise he will
"miss" something?

-- 
underground experts united
http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573

Re: Problem with simple script to clean out an ERC buffer

[Van L]

> Emanuel Berg writes:
> 
>>> Sometimes I don't get back to check
>>> a chatroom for a day or more, so I don't
>>> want anything truncating it before
>>> I get there.
>> 
>> There is a variable for continuously writing
>> chat buffer to file so you lose nothing.
> 
> Hold - Mr. Boyd may run out of disk space
> doing that!

True in theory. 30kb file can fit on video file 
store capacity with plenty to spare in reality.

> Seriously, what is it in the IRC logs that is
> so important you have to check it like some
> 20-ish moronic dude who wants to attend every
> single party fearing otherwise he will
> "miss" something?

Is that what IRC is good for?

Re: Problem with simple script to clean out an ERC buffer

[Emanuel Berg]

Van L wrote:

>> Seriously, what is it in the IRC logs that
>> is so important you have to check it like
>> some 20-ish moronic dude who wants to attend
>> every single party fearing otherwise he will
>> "miss" something?
>
> Is that what IRC is good for?

Now you made me think...

IRC is good to not feel alone and completely
disconnected from the human race, like to have
it output/scroll in the background while not
really caring what it says most of the time.

IRC is good for the sake of itself, and
technology, like the ham/radio amateurs of past
decades, calling each other around the globe
just to speak about the technology that made it
possible and pretty much that's it.

IRC is good for very quick questions on
technology, questions that you know some guy
can answer instantly, questions about problems
that will not require/spur any discussion with
different options and so on (for such
questions, Gmane/Usenet/mailing lists are much
better than IRC IMO).

-- 
underground experts united
http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573

Re: Problem with simple script to clean out an ERC buffer

[Bob Proulx]

Emanuel Berg wrote:
> Seriously, what is it in the IRC logs that is
> so important you have to check it like some
> 20-ish moronic dude who wants to attend every
> single party fearing otherwise he will
> "miss" something?

I get a "IRC highlight" if someone addresses my nickname.  But I might
not be at the keyboard.  Here is an example.

  Alice> Hey Bob can you help me out? A light switch is broken. Can
  you stop by the house and look at it?

And then conversation keeps going with other people.  I return to the
keyboard some long time later.  I see that I have been addressed
sometime in the near past.  Who was speaking to me?  But all I
immediately see is a sea of text from other conversation.

What I do is I search back for my nickname and see what would have
caused me to have been addressed (hightlighted).  I find the message
from my friend.  I respond.

  Bob> Hi Alice.  Sure.  I would be happy to come look at your broken
  light switch.  When can I drop by?

Now you might say that after a day or two when there was no response
because I didn't see it that she should try a different communication
method such as email.  Timeout and retry.  But IRC works for my friend
who happens to be a widower and needs a little help like this every so
often and it also works for me using the above technique.  It wouldn't
work if I didn't have enough history to look back to see the message
that addressed me.  You may think I am a "20-ish moronic dude" but it
is just "different strokes for different folks".

Bob

P.S. The above is a true story summary of a recent exchange that
happened in real life.  Busted three way hall switch needed to be
replaced.  I did change the names to the usual placeholder names
though.  But the events are real.

"Ladies and gentlemen: the story you are about to hear is true.  Only
the names have been changed to protect the innocent."

Re: Problem with simple script to clean out an ERC buffer

[Van L]

> Bob Proulx writes:
> 
> The above is a true story

I think once the developers 
get rx-regexp Pong perfect 
your search through the history 
can disappear into a casual 
conversation with your voice 
assistant.

And, it will remind you in 
case you forget to ask.

Re: Problem with simple script to clean out an ERC buffer

[Emanuel Berg]

Bob Proulx wrote:

> You may think I am a "20-ish moronic dude"

Well, don't think so but yes, I think e-mail or
SMS would be much better for this particular
use-case :)

-- 
underground experts united
http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573

Re: Problem with simple script to clean out an ERC buffer

[Emanuel Berg]

>> You may think I am a "20-ish moronic dude"
>
> Well, don't think so but yes, I think e-mail or
> SMS would be much better for this particular
> use-case :)

Or, if you insist on IRC, how about setting up
a new channel for this purpose? Then you
wouldn't have to scroll thru other people's
discussion - everything (and nothing else) would
already be in that channel.

Still, I think e-mail or SMS would be better!

I forgot one use case where IRC would be/is
great and that is if there is an ongoing
project. I suppose the many open source
software projects are the best example, but in
principle one could think of a bunch of people
preparing an expedition to Himalaya or the
South Pole having a channel to communicate
plans, gear, but also getting to know each
other (very important). However this would
require everyone to use IRC and I've yet to see
a company outside the computer world where
everyone used IRC. Remember that if only
2 or 3 people didn't use it the whole idea
might even be harmful as some people would
expect them to know stuff they didn't, or these
2-3 people would feel excluded. Even in the
best of worlds it could be a bad idea since
everyone would talk about everything, while
actually relaxing subconsciously, "there is so
much talk back and forth going on, I'm sure
they got it all figured out!"

As for the FOSS example, the same thing could
happen - not with as disastrous results of
course - but rather people would just log in to
their favorite software's IRC channels, and
they'd think they'd do something useful, but
actually just idle or chat about
everything else.

I think the solution to this particular problem
would be to not go for the official #emacs,
#tmux, and so so on, but instead create
subchannels for their particular field of
activity, because most often the channel and
even project will be unknown to most
users/fans/chatters/idlers.

-- 
underground experts united
http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573

Re: Problem with simple script to clean out an ERC buffer

[Bob Proulx]

Emanuel Berg wrote:
> >> You may think I am a "20-ish moronic dude"
> >
> > Well, don't think so but yes, I think e-mail or
> > SMS would be much better for this particular
> > use-case :)
> 
> Or, if you insist on IRC, how about setting up
> a new channel for this purpose? Then you
> wouldn't have to scroll thru other people's
> discussion - everything (and nothing else) would
> already be in that channel.

The conversation I shared actually did happen on a dedicated channel
already.  On IRC anyone can create any number of channels for their
own use.  So what you said was already happening.  If that blows your
mind then consider this:

  There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, 
  Than are dreamt of in your philosophy. 
  - Hamlet talking to Horatio

> Still, I think e-mail or SMS would be better!

I often think and wish that other people would do things the way *I*
would do them.  But, alas, these other people still go off and do
things they way *they* want to do them.  Usually without consulting
me!  I can then either compromise and deal with them as best as
possible.  Or I can crawl further into my hole and push some more
rocks on top of the entrance.

Bob

Re: Problem with simple script to clean out an ERC buffer

[Emanuel Berg]

Bob Proulx wrote:

> I often think and wish that other people
> would do things the way *I* would do them.

I wonder if the downright truth is, that IRC
is simply a huge body of technology with no
real gain to it save for possibly
phycological, or, if there is a gain, this
constitutes a very small size compared to the
whole of IRC.

-- 
underground experts united
http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573

Re: Problem with simple script to clean out an ERC buffer

[J. David Boyd]

Emanuel Berg <moasen@zoho.com> writes:

> Van L wrote:
>
>>> Sometimes I don't get back to check
>>> a chatroom for a day or more, so I don't
>>> want anything truncating it before
>>> I get there.
>>
>> There is a variable for continuously writing
>> chat buffer to file so you lose nothing.
>
> Hold - Mr. Boyd may run out of disk space
> doing that!
>
> Seriously, what is it in the IRC logs that is
> so important you have to check it like some
> 20-ish moronic dude who wants to attend every
> single party fearing otherwise he will
> "miss" something?


Nothing, and I don't check it like that. I check it like a 59-ish non-moronic
dude is afraid he will "miss" something!   :-)

Re: Problem with simple script to clean out an ERC buffer

[Emanuel Berg]

This reminds me that clear, as in clear(1) or
/usr/bin/clear , doesn't do anything in
Shell mode either (Shell mode as in shell.el).

But hey, aren't programmers trained to see the
beauty in symmetry?

-- 
underground experts united
http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573

Re: Problem with simple script to clean out an ERC buffer

[Jonathan Kyle Mitchell]

On Wed, Jun 6, 2018 at 12:43 PM, Emanuel Berg <moasen@zoho.com> wrote:
> This reminds me that clear, as in clear(1) or
> /usr/bin/clear , doesn't do anything in
> Shell mode either (Shell mode as in shell.el).
>
> But hey, aren't programmers trained to see the
> beauty in symmetry?
>
> --
> underground experts united
> http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573

That's expected since /usr/bin/clear assumes it's talking to a "real"
terminal which shell.el is not. On the other hand, eshell.el has its
own clear command implemented in Lisp that should work.

erc-cmd-CLEAR does something different even though its docstring says
it "clears" the window contents. It basically just moves the current
line up to the top of the window without erasing the buffer. Whether
that's the intention I can't say.

--
Jonathan Kyle Mitchell

Re: Problem with simple script to clean out an ERC buffer

[Robert Pluim]

Emanuel Berg <moasen@zoho.com> writes:

> This reminds me that clear, as in clear(1) or
> /usr/bin/clear , doesn't do anything in
> Shell mode either (Shell mode as in shell.el).
>

I donʼt think shell mode claims to implement a terminal.

Robert

Re: Problem with simple script to clean out an ERC buffer

[Emanuel Berg]

Robert Pluim wrote:

>> This reminds me that clear, as in clear(1) or
>> /usr/bin/clear , doesn't do anything in
>> Shell mode either (Shell mode as in shell.el).
>
> I don't think shell mode claims to implement
> a terminal.

At the moment, it would seem neither does ERC.

Nah, I think it is an ordinary bug. If you do
the Elisp suggested in this thread (inhibit
read-only, then `erase-buffer') you see that
not only does it work as one would expect, but
hit RET and you get the prompt back, so it
doesn't brake anything either.

That would indicate it would be a small effort
for the ERC people to implement this behavior
and associate it with the joint ERC/IRC command
that is already there.

-- 
underground experts united
http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573

Re: Problem with simple script to clean out an ERC buffer

[J. David Boyd]

Emanuel Berg <moasen@zoho.com> writes:

> Robert Pluim wrote:
>
>>> This reminds me that clear, as in clear(1) or
>>> /usr/bin/clear , doesn't do anything in
>>> Shell mode either (Shell mode as in shell.el).
>>
>> I don't think shell mode claims to implement
>> a terminal.
>
> At the moment, it would seem neither does ERC.
>
> Nah, I think it is an ordinary bug. If you do
> the Elisp suggested in this thread (inhibit
> read-only, then `erase-buffer') you see that
> not only does it work as one would expect, but
> hit RET and you get the prompt back, so it
> doesn't brake anything either.
>
> That would indicate it would be a small effort
> for the ERC people to implement this behavior
> and associate it with the joint ERC/IRC command
> that is already there.

And that works fine for me.  Now I just need to map it to an ERC mode key
rather than a global key, and I'm happy.

Thanks for all the help, everyone!

Dave in Hudson, FL

Re: Problem with simple script to clean out an ERC buffer

[J. David Boyd]

Emanuel Berg <moasen@zoho.com> writes:

> This reminds me that clear, as in clear(1) or
> /usr/bin/clear , doesn't do anything in
> Shell mode either (Shell mode as in shell.el).
>
> But hey, aren't programmers trained to see the
> beauty in symmetry?


Yeah, a little I guess.

But wasn't it Emerson that said the line about "a foolish consistency", and
what is symmetry but consistency taken to an extreme?