Protesilaos Stavrou

Emacs: beframe version 0.2.0

beframe enables a frame-oriented Emacs workflow where each frame has access to the list of buffers visited therein. In the interest of brevity, we call buffers that belong to frames “beframed”.

Below are the release notes

There were no release notes for the initial version of Beframe. Watch the video demo I produced on 2023-02-28 to get an overview of what this package is all about: https://protesilaos.com/codelog/2023-02-28-emacs-beframe-demo/.

In short: beframe your buffers, not your outlook. Oops that is for the philosophy blog! 🙃

A beframed buffer menu

The command beframe-buffer-menu produces a dedicated buffer with a list of buffers for the current frame. This is the counterpart of beframe-switch-buffer. When called with a prefix argument (C-u with default key bindings), it prompts for a frame whose buffers it will display.

Frame-specific scratch buffer

The user option beframe-create-frame-scratch-buffer allows beframe-mode to create a frame-specific scratch buffer that runs the initial-major-mode. This is done upon the creation of a new frame and the scratch buffer is named after the frame it belongs to. For example, if the frame is called modus-themes, the corresponding scratch buffer is *scratch for modus-themes*. Set this user option to nil to disable the creation of such scratch buffers.

The user option beframe-kill-frame-scratch-buffer is the counterpart of beframe-create-frame-scratch-buffer. It kills the frame-specific scratch buffer after the frame is deleted. Set this user option to nil to disable the killing of such buffers.

Assuming and unassuming buffers

Beframe makes it possible to add or remove buffers from the list of buffers associated with the current frame. This provides for a flexible workflow where buffers can be initially beframed yet consolidated into new lists on demand.

Assuming buffers

To assume buffers is to include them in the buffer list associated with the current frame.

  • The command beframe-assume-frame-buffers (alias beframe-add-frame-buffers) prompts for a frame and then copies its buffer list into the current frame.

  • The command beframe-assume-buffers (alias beframe-add-buffers) adds buffers from a given frame to the current frame. In interactive use, the command first prompts for a frame and then asks about the list of buffers therein. The to-be-assumed buffer list is compiled with completing-read-multiple. This means that the user can select multiple buffers, each separated by the crm-separator (typically a comma).

  • The command beframe-assume-buffers-all-frames prompts with minibuffer completion for a list of buffers to assume. The interface is the same as that of beframe-assume-buffers except that there is no prompt for a frame: buffers belong to the consolidated buffer list (all frames).

  • The command beframe-assume-all-buffers-no-prompts unconditionally assumes the consolidated buffer list.

Unassuming buffers

To unassume buffers is to omit them from the buffer list associated with the current frame.

  • The command beframe-unassume-frame-buffers (alias beframe-remove-frame-buffers) prompts for a frame and then removes its buffer list from the current frame.

  • The command beframe-unassume-buffers (alias beframe-remove-buffers) removes buffers from the current frame. In interactive use, the to-be-unassumed buffer list is compiled with completing-read-multiple. This means that the user can select multiple buffers, each separated by the crm-separator (typically a comma).

  • The command beframe-unassume-all-buffers-no-prompts unconditionally unassumes the consolidated buffer list, but preserves the list stored in the user option beframe-global-buffers.

Sort beframed buffers from Lisp

This is courtesy of Tony Zorman: https://lists.sr.ht/~protesilaos/general-issues/%3C87edq4n3qt.fsf%40hyperspace%3E.

commit dfa4678c208e1e5c41413f2d39416f84c21f28ff Author: Tony Zorman soliditsallgood@mailbox.org Date: Sat Mar 4 11:48:17 2023 +0100

Add the ability to sort the buffer list

Some completion libraries, like consult, give the user the option to sort the list of buffers according to some strategy. For example, sorting by visibility—in the sense that one is first shown hidden buffers, then visible ones, and only then the current buffer—may be preferrable when deciding to switch buffers via consult-buffer.

Since beframe.el can be used as a consult source (see the manual), endowing beframe–buffer-list with an arbitrary sort function greatly improves the synergy between the two libraries.

beframe.el | 56 ++———–— 1 file changed, 42 insertions(+), 14 deletions(-)

The manual explains how this works in practice: https://protesilaos.com/emacs/beframe#h:1c2d3d64-aa7b-4585-a418-ccedbb548b38. Thanks to Tony Zorman for including the reference to the sorting mechanism!

Next:
Previous:
See all: Code blog entries