From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Path: news.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: "Drew Adams" Newsgroups: gmane.emacs.help Subject: RE: icicles completion buffer Date: Thu, 15 Jan 2009 10:00:46 -0800 Message-ID: <002201c9773b$33233150$c2b22382@us.oracle.com> References: <5a00bdcd-6bef-4c40-a7f7-518019fb992a@i24g2000prf.googlegroups.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: lo.gmane.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Trace: ger.gmane.org 1232042555 5724 80.91.229.12 (15 Jan 2009 18:02:35 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@ger.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Thu, 15 Jan 2009 18:02:35 +0000 (UTC) To: "'tomer'" , Original-X-From: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+geh-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Thu Jan 15 19:03:45 2009 Return-path: Envelope-to: geh-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org Original-Received: from lists.gnu.org ([199.232.76.165]) by lo.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 4.50) id 1LNWYj-0002U8-W1 for geh-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org; Thu, 15 Jan 2009 19:03:14 +0100 Original-Received: from localhost ([127.0.0.1]:56838 helo=lists.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.43) id 1LNWXT-0007xT-J0 for geh-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org; Thu, 15 Jan 2009 13:01:55 -0500 Original-Received: from mailman by lists.gnu.org with tmda-scanned (Exim 4.43) id 1LNWWa-0007Ni-4G for help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org; Thu, 15 Jan 2009 13:01:00 -0500 Original-Received: from exim by lists.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.43) id 1LNWWX-0007Ko-Gu for help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org; Thu, 15 Jan 2009 13:00:59 -0500 Original-Received: from [199.232.76.173] (port=34439 helo=monty-python.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.43) id 1LNWWX-0007Ka-4s for help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org; Thu, 15 Jan 2009 13:00:57 -0500 Original-Received: from rcsinet13.oracle.com ([148.87.113.125]:47550 helo=rgminet13.oracle.com) by monty-python.gnu.org with esmtps (TLS-1.0:DHE_RSA_AES_256_CBC_SHA1:32) (Exim 4.60) (envelope-from ) id 1LNWWW-0002HB-KA for help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org; Thu, 15 Jan 2009 13:00:56 -0500 Original-Received: from acsinet13.oracle.com (acsinet13.oracle.com [141.146.126.235]) by rgminet13.oracle.com (Switch-3.3.1/Switch-3.3.1) with ESMTP id n0FI1cks015703 (version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA bits=256 verify=OK); Thu, 15 Jan 2009 18:01:39 GMT Original-Received: from acsmt706.oracle.com (acsmt706.oracle.com [141.146.40.84]) by acsinet13.oracle.com (Switch-3.3.1/Switch-3.3.1) with ESMTP id n0FI1R3w022833; Thu, 15 Jan 2009 18:01:28 GMT Original-Received: from dradamslap1 (/130.35.178.194) by default (Oracle Beehive Gateway v4.0) with ESMTP ; Thu, 15 Jan 2009 18:00:45 +0000 X-Mailer: Microsoft Office Outlook 11 In-Reply-To: <5a00bdcd-6bef-4c40-a7f7-518019fb992a@i24g2000prf.googlegroups.com> X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.3350 Thread-Index: Acl27P8KFytrRPE5QSKjULefhgGVdAAQmy8w X-Source-IP: acsmt706.oracle.com [141.146.40.84] X-Auth-Type: Internal IP X-CT-RefId: str=0001.0A09020A.496F79D0.005B:SCFSTAT928724,ss=1,fgs=0 X-detected-operating-system: by monty-python.gnu.org: GNU/Linux 2.6 (newer, 1) X-BeenThere: help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: Users list for the GNU Emacs text editor List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Original-Sender: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+geh-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Errors-To: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+geh-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Xref: news.gmane.org gmane.emacs.help:61367 Archived-At: Hi Tomer, > Icicle output the completion buffer items in non aligned way. > is it possible that the completion buffer items will be lleft alligned > like a list this way is easier to find items. Short answer: Set option `icicle-candidate-width-factor' to a number closer to 100% (default=70%). 100% ensures that all candidates will always be left-aligned. I don't recommend that, however. Long answer: You can have your cake and eat it too. Icicles adjusts spacing and other properties of buffer *Completions* to provide better placement of candidates. Depending on the particular set of candidates to display, the heuristics used for this space management can be more or less successful. In general, they do a very good job. Typically, most candidates are in fact left-aligned by default, but that is not the primary aim. Strict left-alignment, as in vanilla Emacs, can waste space, especially when candidate widths are quite variable: the widest candidate determines the column width for the others. Icicles makes more use of *Completions* than vanilla Emacs, and you typically want to see more candidates in a smaller space. You can set preferences that fine-tune this behavior. All of the characteristics of *Completions* buffer display are in the Customize group `Icicles-Completions-Display'. Do `M-x customize-group Icicles-Completions-Display' to see or edit them. The particular options that are relevant for your question are these: `icicle-inter-candidates-min-spaces' (default=1) Minimum number of spaces between candidates displayed in *Completions*. `icicle-candidate-width-factor' (default=70) Percentage of widest candidate width to use for calculating columns. Not only can you set these as you like as a general preference, but if you also use library Do Re Mi then you can even change them on the fly, incrementally adjusting the appearance for the current set of candidates. This is helpful, because different sets of candidates have different width distributions, so they have different optimal displays (and depending on your personal idea of "optimal"). Do Re Mi is WYSIWYG: you see the effect as you make the change. You make this on-the-fly adjustment using either `C-x |' or `C-x w' (during completion). After hitting one of these keys, use the mouse wheel or the arrow keys to incrementally adjust the appearance. (Hit some other key, e.g. `RET', to stop adjusting.) Keys `up' and `down' adjust the inter-candidate spacing, and keys `left' and `right' adjust the width factor. The mouse wheel adjusts candidate spacing if you used `C-x |' and column width if you used `C-x w'. Any adjustment you make using the Do Re Mi keys remains in effect afterward. If you want to save the settings for future Emacs sessions, just visit Customize and save the current values. So even if you want just to set the preferences once and for all, using Do Re Mi is the best way to find the option values you prefer, before saving them. Cycling among candidates can also help with the effective visual alignment of candidates. When the focus is the minibuffer, cycling is in candidate order, left-to-right, then down the rows. If you use `C-insert' you can toggle the focus between the minibuffer and *Completions*. When *Completions* has the focus, the arrow keys cycle up/down in columns and left/right in rows. Moving down a column can have the visual effect of compensating for entries that are not strictly left-aligned - try it. http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/Icicles_-_Completions_Display#icicle-inter-candid ates-min-spaces http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/Icicles_-_Customization_and_General_Tips#icicle-i nter-candidates-min-spaces Do Re Mi: http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/DoReMi