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

[Nikolaj Schumacher <me@nschum.de>]

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)))




regards,
Nikolaj Schumacher