Re: Opening multiple files in a single buffer?

[Douglas Lewan <d.lewan2000@gmail.com>]

On 6/13/20 10:31 AM, Gregory Heytings wrote:
>
> Dear List,
>
> I've now been using Emacs for many, many years, and there is perhaps a 
> single feature I'm really missing, namely opening more than one file 
> in a single buffer, with the contents of the files appearing one after 
> the other in the same buffer, with some kind of visual separator 
> between them. I don't know if that feature exists in other text editors.
>
> For example, suppose you write a book, which has fifteen chapters in 
> files chap1.tex, ..., chap15.tex.  Opening these files in a single 
> buffer means that you could use isearch-{forward,backward} in the 
> whole book.  (I know that multi-isearch-buffers could be used in this 
> particular case, but it is not as convenient to use.)  You could also 
> use query-replace on the whole book, or reindent all files, or execute 
> shell-command on all files at once, and so forth.  (Again I know that 
> all this can be done with already existing features, e.g. through 
> dired, but again I find them not as convenient as what I have in mind.)
>
> Each file would have its own major and minor modes, and the mode-line 
> would adapt depending on the file corresponding to the buffer portion 
> in which the point is currently located.
>
> My question is: Is this feasible, or is the one-to-one correspondence 
> between buffers and files too deeply rooted in Emacs' codebase that it 
> is not feasible?  If it is feasible, could this feature be considered 
> for implementation in a future Emacs version?

I would say it's feasible, but probably awkward as stated. An 
application that implements something similar via a sequence of buffers 
with a way of navigating next and previous and providing appropriate 
commands via a (map) function would probably be simpler to build and 
manage. It would also be much more natural.

-- 

,Doug
d.lewan2000@gmail.com
(908) 720 7908

If this is what winning looks like, I'd hate to see what losing is.