File browser with tags

LJ user olpa asks himself: File browser with tags. Why it is needed?

IMHO if one uses such a browser then the functionality implemented in more specific programs a-la Windows Media Player or Picasa has become absolutely useless.

I myself started to dig in the similar direction. But first of all I'd like to files combine by tags be available in any program including the ill-stared dialog Open File.... And I do not like to implement yet another file manager.

The problem is easy solved at file system level and it seems to be all: sqlite base + fuse + console utility + nautilus plugin, it's rather easy and beautiful implemented. But damn, it will not work on Windows.

Update 23.07.2007 The modest operating system Emacs supports it for a long time.

Darcs + Emacs

Aha, I've found it:

 ;;David's Advanced Revision Control System
(if (executable-find "darcs")
    (progn (add-to-list 'vc-handled-backends 'DARCS)
           (autoload 'vc-darcs-find-file-hook "vc-darcs")
           (add-hook 'find-file-hooks 'vc-darcs-find-file-hook)))

Since not on every computer there is/is needed darcs I've wrapped in config darcs support in order not to receive annoying error messages on every file opening.

I was lazy to write checking for the presence of executable file in PATH. It turned out that everything already exists. M-x apropos is great :)

Run Emacs, run...

tripplemacs
Originally uploaded by kmmbvnr.

I'll keep it to remember... when it will happen again - three opened emacses from three operating systems

I'm playing with compatibility of SOAP implementations.

Emacs: Free pascal interaction

Hum... I googled, but have not found. Evidently, nobody was concerned with the problem of interaction emacs and fpc.

Well, I've readjusted what I can - highlight uses, support of compile errors messaging and the default compile-command.

;;Pascal mode
(require 'compile)
(pushnew '("^\\([a-zA-Z0-9\\.]+\\)(\\([0-9]+\\),\\([0-9]+\\))\s\\(.*$\\)" 1 2 3)
         compilation-error-regexp-alist)
(defun pascal-mode-additional-init ()
  (local-set-key "\C-c\C-c" 'compile)
  (unless (or (file-exists-p "makefile")
              (file-exists-p "Makefile"))
    (set (make-local-variable 'compile-command)
         (concat "fpc -g " buffer-file-name)))
  (font-lock-add-keywords 'pascal-mode
  '(("^[ \t]*\\(uses\\)\\>[ \t]*\\([a-z]\\)" 1 font-lock-keyword-face prepend))))

What should else I do so good?

A brief HOWTO live under Linux

For some reason my interaction with Linux recently follows the algorithm:

1. Extremely need some missing functionality in a necessary program


2. For a long time I whimper, but stand it


3. At last I read manuals suppose what if this feature exists and if does not how this program can be integrated with others


4. Google for an external program implementing the necessary piece


5. Put all together and get what I wanted.

For example, http client elisp implementation can not work through proxy with authorization, all who use it can not do it accordingly. It is possible to write in Live Journal using Emacs, but to post it is not. I googled, found a variant... and for a long time hardly tried to understand the implementation details so that to create a correct config. The result is here.

I constantly wanted to have a possibility of copying the full path to a current selection in a file manager - in Far it is done with Ctrl-Shift-F combination. After that in any program execute File->Open and insert this file name. Voila. I do not know how to get the same functionality in Nautilus but for mc I've found a console utility for working with clipboard and created an additional item of the user menu:

~/.mc/menu 1 Copy current location to clipboard
  echo -n %d/%p | xclip -selection clipboard

It turned out that X server supports whole three kinds of clipboards...

how can i switch to Russian?

Hum... It seemed to me that immediately after the installation emacs detects system keyboard layout automatically, I thought that I made a mess in the config, but got the same result after the config deletion.

I'm deep in thought... to what key combinations bind the keyboard layouts switching.

Usability: Undo

It's interesting, emacs has no concept of redo, a result of consecutive undos it's just a new state which in turn can be undone.

In the usual implementation of undo / redo when any changes are done after a series of undos all undo states are lost. From one side it is correct, and from the other side it is not. If the states were really wrong, the user will not remember about it and all is good, but if I drew a path in Photoshop, undo it, painted again... decided that at the first time I did it better and oops ...


Similarly, realization back/next in browsers bothered me until bookmarks support appeared.

True, in emacs also not everything is clean, to undo a part of a series of consecutive undos I need to type some useless keys combination to force emacs record the state. I would prefer undo sequence happens in the quasi mode: C-x C-u and while I hold Control and type then state fixing does not occur, if I make a mistake then I release Control the state is recorded and I can undo it again without changing my hands position.

And why in E-macs moving to the beginning of a line is done by C-a?

Because A is the first letter in the alphabet?

Links: Lisp books

Learning Lisp - Forum thread with links to Lisp books.

Sample SLIME configuration for productive work

Installing SLIME

With the magic hook, SLIME could be run on lisp file open.

 ;Lisp enviroment installation
(setq inferior-lisp-program "clisp")
(add-to-list 'load-path "path_to_slime")
(require 'slime)
(slime-setup)

;Making slime connect to your lisp automatically when you open a lisp file.
(defun cliki:start-slime ()
(unless (slime-connected-p)
 (save-excursion (slime))))
(add-hook 'slime-mode-hook 'cliki:start-slime)

Few more usefull tips can be found there.