emacs switch similar to vi's -R, or view equivalent?

emacs switch similar to vi's -R, or view equivalent?

[Andrew B. Young]

Hello,

Is there an emacs switch similar to vi's -R, or view equivalent?

I use emacs regularly but find "view this_file" very comforting,
e.g., sudo view /etc/aliases.  This forces me to ! the write as
an extra measure of safety.

My guess is that I need a special init file that gets loaded via an 
alias, i.e., "ev this_file".

Thanks,
Andrew

Re: emacs switch similar to vi's -R, or view equivalent?

[Peter Dyballa]

Am 22.08.2006 um 17:19 schrieb Andrew B. Young:

> Is there an emacs switch similar to vi's -R, or view equivalent?

Have you tried view-buffer (when file has already been opened) or  
view-file?

--
Greetings

   Pete

"We have to expect it, otherwise we would be surprised."

Re: emacs switch similar to vi's -R, or view equivalent?

[William Xu]

"Andrew B. Young" <andrew@an3e.org> writes:

> My guess is that I need a special init file that gets loaded via an
> alias, i.e., "ev this_file".

You mean visting a file in read only mode?

M-x find-file-read-only

-- 
William

Barometer, n.:
	An ingenious instrument which indicates what kind of weather we
	are having.
		-- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary"

Re: emacs switch similar to vi's -R, or view equivalent?

[Edward Dodge]

William Xu <william.xwl@gmail.com> writes:

> "Andrew B. Young" <andrew@an3e.org> writes:
>
>> My guess is that I need a special init file that gets loaded via an
>> alias, i.e., "ev this_file".
>
> You mean visting a file in read only mode?
>
> M-x find-file-read-only

Better known as "C-x C-r"

-- 
Edward Dodge
          
   __o    
 _`\(,_   
(_)/ (_)  ---  --- 

Re: emacs switch similar to vi's -R, or view equivalent?

[Kevin Rodgers]

Andrew B. Young wrote:
> Is there an emacs switch similar to vi's -R, or view equivalent?
> 
> I use emacs regularly but find "view this_file" very comforting,
> e.g., sudo view /etc/aliases.  This forces me to ! the write as
> an extra measure of safety.
> 
> My guess is that I need a special init file that gets loaded via an 
> alias, i.e., "ev this_file".

Here's a gem from 1997 
(http://groups.google.com/group/gnu.emacs.help/msg/46410ee284d11cc0):

(setq command-switch-alist
       (cons '("--read-only" . find-file-read-only-command-line-arg) ; "-R"
             command-switch-alist))

(defun find-file-read-only-command-line-arg (switch)
   "Visit next command line argument (after SWITCH) as a read-only file."
   ;; (prog1 (car x) (setq x (cdr x))) == (pop x):
   (find-file-read-only (prog1 (car command-line-args-left)
                          (setq command-line-args-left
                                (cdr command-line-args-left)))))

-- 
Kevin

Re: emacs switch similar to vi's -R, or view equivalent?

[Andrew B. Young]

EXACTLY what I'm after!  Thanks so much Kevin.

Thanks also to Peter, William, and Edward for their helpful replies.
I am aware of their suggestions and that's what I have been doing for years.
But it's the command line switch I really wanted--saves keystrokes.

Cheers,
Andrew

Kevin Rodgers wrote:
> Andrew B. Young wrote:
>> Is there an emacs switch similar to vi's -R, or view equivalent?
>>
>> I use emacs regularly but find "view this_file" very comforting,
>> e.g., sudo view /etc/aliases.  This forces me to ! the write as
>> an extra measure of safety.
>>
>> My guess is that I need a special init file that gets loaded via an 
>> alias, i.e., "ev this_file".
>
> Here's a gem from 1997 
> (http://groups.google.com/group/gnu.emacs.help/msg/46410ee284d11cc0):
>
> (setq command-switch-alist
>       (cons '("--read-only" . find-file-read-only-command-line-arg) ; 
> "-R"
>             command-switch-alist))
>
> (defun find-file-read-only-command-line-arg (switch)
>   "Visit next command line argument (after SWITCH) as a read-only file."
>   ;; (prog1 (car x) (setq x (cdr x))) == (pop x):
>   (find-file-read-only (prog1 (car command-line-args-left)
>                          (setq command-line-args-left
>                                (cdr command-line-args-left)))))
>