Re: check to see if a buffer with a certain name exists?

[Ian Eure <ian@digg.com>]

On Nov 13, 2008, at 11:50 AM, Nikolaj Schumacher wrote:

> Matt Price <matt.price@utoronto.ca> wrote:
>
>> in lisp i'm not seeing a quick way to test for something like this.
>> best i can see right now is to use dolist thus:
>>
>> (dolist (name (buffer-list) foundit)
>>  (let ((foundit 0))
>>    (if (string-match "*scratch*" name)
>>    (setq foundit 1))
>> )
>> )
>
> Drew already gave you the cleaner way.  Let me also tell you, why  
> yours
> is not working.
>
> First, you bind foundit inside the `dolist' body.  The value is lost  
> when
> the `let' block exits, and the variable is undefined.
>
> Second, `buffer-list' returns buffer "objects", not strings.
>
> Here's how it would work:
>
> (let ((foundit 0))
>  (dolist (name (buffer-list) foundit)
>    (if (string-match "*scratch*" (buffer-name name))
>        (setq foundit 1))))
>
> Or the Awesome Lisp Way(TM):
>
> (member "*scratch*" (mapcar 'buffer-name (buffer-list)))
>
Is there something wrong with:

(get-buffer "*Mutt*")

...which returns the #buffer object?

Or if you really care about t/nil, you can do:

(bufferp (get-buffer "*Mutt*"))

  - Ian