Using emacs to view scrollback-buffer (from gnu-screen)

Using emacs to view scrollback-buffer (from gnu-screen)

[Hugo Heden]

Good day all,

I am trying to write a little script that in certain situations lets
emacs show a file containing a scrollback-buffer. I am using emacs
with multi-tty support ("emacs --version" yields "GNU Emacs
23.0.60.1"). There's a daemon running ("emacs --daemon"), so I thought
it might be quick enough to view the scrollback buffer with
"emacsclient -t <file>". I am experimenting with gnu-screen,
http://www.gnu.org/software/screen/ , and  would like to use
"emacsclient -t" to view, and get keyboard access to, the scrollback
buffer (with emacs-style cursor navigation, copy/paste etc).

The buffer is written to a file, /tmp/screenscrollbackbuffer. I'd like
to do the following:

(A) make emacs show the file in read-only mode.

(B) have the cursor automatically moved to the end of the file at start-up.

(C) possibly have emacs starting with auto-revert-tail-mode or
auto-revert-mode enabled as well..

How do I do this? Can I configure this stuff on the command line? How?
Or should I write an .emacs-style configuration file that this scripts
somehow passes to emacsclient?




Best regards

Hugo Heden

Re: Using emacs to view scrollback-buffer (from gnu-screen)

[Kevin Rodgers]

Hugo Heden wrote:
> Good day all,
> 
> I am trying to write a little script that in certain situations lets
> emacs show a file containing a scrollback-buffer. I am using emacs
> with multi-tty support ("emacs --version" yields "GNU Emacs
> 23.0.60.1"). There's a daemon running ("emacs --daemon"), so I thought
> it might be quick enough to view the scrollback buffer with
> "emacsclient -t <file>". I am experimenting with gnu-screen,
> http://www.gnu.org/software/screen/ , and  would like to use
> "emacsclient -t" to view, and get keyboard access to, the scrollback
> buffer (with emacs-style cursor navigation, copy/paste etc).
> 
> The buffer is written to a file, /tmp/screenscrollbackbuffer. I'd like
> to do the following:
> 
> (A) make emacs show the file in read-only mode.

emacs -t FILE --eval '(setq buffer-read-only t)'

> (B) have the cursor automatically moved to the end of the file at start-up.

emacs -t FILE --eval '(goto-char (point-max))'

> (C) possibly have emacs starting with auto-revert-tail-mode or
> auto-revert-mode enabled as well..

emacs -t FILE --eval '(auto-revert-tail-mode 1)'

> How do I do this? Can I configure this stuff on the command line? How?
> Or should I write an .emacs-style configuration file that this scripts
> somehow passes to emacsclient?

You can do it on the command line.  See the [Appendix C Command Line 
Arguments for] Emacs Invocation node in the Emacs manual.

-- 
Kevin Rodgers
Denver, Colorado, USA

Re: Using emacs to view scrollback-buffer (from gnu-screen)

[Hugo Heden]

>> (A) make emacs show the file in read-only mode.
>
> emacs -t FILE --eval '(setq buffer-read-only t)'
>
>> (B) have the cursor automatically moved to the end of the file at
>> start-up.
>
> emacs -t FILE --eval '(goto-char (point-max))'
>
>> (C) possibly have emacs starting with auto-revert-tail-mode or
>> auto-revert-mode enabled as well..
>
> emacs -t FILE --eval '(auto-revert-tail-mode 1)'
>

[snip]

> --
> Kevin Rodgers
> Denver, Colorado, USA
>

Kevin, thanks a lot, this is excellent.

Best regards

Hugo Heden