Re: Using a File index

[Mathias Dahl <brakjoller@gmail.com>]

"weber" <hugows@gmail.com> writes:

>> How was it solved?
>
> With this code:
> (defun indexed-find (file)
>   (interactive "MFilename: ")
>   (find-file "my_file_index.txt")
>   (if (re-search-forward (concat file " = ") nil t 1)
> 	  (progn
> 		(setq beg (point))
> 		(end-of-line)
> 		(setq end (point))
> 		(find-file (buffer-substring beg end)))
> 	  (message "File not found!"))
>   (kill-buffer "my_file_index.txt"))

I had some free time and could not resist trying out some
alternatives... :)

Alternative 1:

This is basically your code, just written a bit differently:

(defun indexed-find-2 (file)
  (interactive "MFilename: ")
  (with-temp-buffer
    (insert-file-contents "my_file_index.txt")
    (if (search-forward-regexp (format "%s = \\(.*\\)" file) nil t)
        (find-file (match-string 1))
      (message "File not found!"))))

You might want to use the full path or a variable in the file
name above.

Alternative 2:

Another way to do what you want, using completion.

(defun indexed-find-3 ()
  (interactive)
  (let* ((file-data 
         (with-temp-buffer
           (insert-file-contents "my_file_index.txt")
           (buffer-substring (point-min) (point-max))))
         (rows (split-string file-data "\n"))
         (file (completing-read "File: " rows)))
    (if (string-match "\\(.*\\) = \\(.*\\)$" file)
        (find-file (match-string 2 file))
      (message "Could not find a file on that row"))))

Or, same code, but a but harder to read maybe:

(defun indexed-find-4 ()
  (interactive)
  (let ((file (completing-read 
               "File: " 
               (split-string          
                (with-temp-buffer
                  (insert-file-contents "my_file_index.txt")
                  (buffer-substring (point-min) (point-max)))
                "\n"))))
    (if (string-match "\\(.*\\) = \\(.*\\)$" file)
        (find-file (match-string 2 file))
      (message "Could not find a file on that row"))))

> The index file was made with a ruby script, and I update it manually
> when there are some new files...

You might also want to have a look at using Emacs
file-cache (http://www.emacswiki.org/cgi-bin/wiki/FileNameCache)
or similar functionality.

Happy hacking!