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\input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*- @comment !Date: 1993/12/21 22:31:56 ! !Revision: 1.1 ! @comment %**start of header (This is for running Texinfo on a region.) @setfilename ../info/dired.info @settitle Tree Dired Version 6 @c @setchapternewpage odd @comment %**end of header (This is for running Texinfo on a region.) @iftex @finalout @end iftex @ifinfo This file documents Tree Dired, the GNU Emacs Directory Browser, and most of the extra features available as an option. Copyright (C) 1991, 1992 Free Software Foundation Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved on all copies. @ignore Permission is granted to process this file through TeX and print the results, provided the printed document carries copying permission notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual). @end ignore Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the section entitled ``GNU General Public License'' is included exactly as in the original, and provided that the entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a permission notice identical to this one. Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions, except that the section entitled ``GNU General Public License'' may be included in a translation approved by the author instead of in the original English. @end ifinfo @titlepage @sp 6 @center @titlefont{Tree Dired} @sp 2 @center @titlefont{The GNU Emacs} @sp 1 @center @titlefont{Directory Editor} @sp 4 @c @@center !Date: 1993/12/21 22:31:56 ! @sp 1 @c @@center !Revision: 1.1 ! @sp 5 @center Sebastian Kremer @center sk@@thp.uni-koeln.de @page @noindent !Date: 1993/12/21 22:31:56 ! @noindent !Revision: 1.1 ! @vskip 0pt plus 1filll Copyright @copyright{} 1991, 1992 Free Software Foundation Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved on all copies. @ignore Permission is granted to process this file through TeX and print the results, provided the printed document carries copying permission notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual). @end ignore Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the section entitled ``GNU General Public License'' is included exactly as in the original, and provided that the entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a permission notice identical to this one. Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions, except that the section entitled ``GNU General Public License'' may be included in a translation approved by the author instead of in the original English. @end titlepage @ifinfo @node Top, Dired, (dir), (dir) This file documents Tree Dired (version 6), the GNU Emacs Directory Editor, including the optional ``Dired Extra'' features. Tree Dired is an enhanced version of the Classic (18.xx Emacs) Dired and will be the Dired of Emacs 19. It is known to work with Emacs 18.55 and 18.57 (and probably most earlier versions). @c and also with prerelease versions of Emacs 19, but I don't write that @c since I don't want to be bombarded with questions like `when it will @c be ready'... @noindent Revision of this manual: @noindent !Id: dired.texinfo,v 1.1 1993/12/21 22:31:56 jwz Exp ! @noindent Report bugs to: @example Sebastian Kremer <sk@@thp.uni-koeln.de> @end example @menu * Dired:: Dired, the Directory Editor * Tree Dired Extra:: Tree Dired Extra features * Dired Internals:: Dired Internals * Dired Known Problems:: Known Problems with Dired --- Indices --- * Dired Variable Index:: * Dired Function Index:: * Dired Key Index:: * Dired Concept Index:: --- The Detailed Node Listing --- Dired, the Directory Editor * Entering Dired:: * Editing in Dired:: * Listing Files in Dired:: * Marking Files in Dired:: * Mark-using Commands:: * Commands That Do Not Use Marks:: * Subdirectories in Dired:: * Hiding Directories in Dired:: * Acknowledgement:: * Dired Customization:: Mark-using Commands * Copy and Move Into a Directory:: * Renaming and More With Regexps:: * Other File Creating Commands:: * Deleting Files With Dired:: * Dired Shell Commands:: * Compressing and Uncompressing:: * Changing File Attributes:: * Loading and Byte-compiling Emacs Lisp Files:: * Printing the Marked Files:: Dired Customization * Dired User Options:: * Dired Configuration:: * Dired Hooks:: Tree Dired Extra features * Tree Dired Extra Features:: * Dired Minibuffer History:: * Inserting All Marked Subdirectories:: * Dynamic Dired Markers:: * Omitting Files in Dired:: * Advanced Dired Mark Commands:: * Virtual Dired:: * Multiple Dired Directories:: * Dired Local Variables:: * Making Relative Symbolic Links in Dired:: * Letting Dired Guess What Shell Command to Apply:: * dired-trns.el:: Filename Transformers for Dired Shell Commands * dired-cd.el:: Changing the Working Directory for Dired Shell Commands * dired-nstd.el:: Nested Dired format * find-dired.el:: Feeding Find Output to Dired Dired Internals * Tree Dired Internals:: * Dired Mark Internals:: @end menu @end ifinfo @node Dired, Tree Dired Extra, Top, Top @chapter Dired, the Directory Editor @cindex Dired @cindex Deletion (of files) Dired makes it easy to delete or visit many of the files in a single directory (and possibly its subdirectories) at once. It makes an Emacs buffer containing a listing of the directories, in the format of @code{ls -lR}. You can use the normal Emacs commands to move around in this buffer, and special Dired commands to operate on the files. You can run shell commands on files, visit, compress, load or byte-compile them, change their file attributes and insert subdirectories into the same buffer. You can ``mark'' files for later commands or ``flag'' them for deletion, either file by file or all files matching certain criteria. @menu * Entering Dired:: * Editing in Dired:: * Listing Files in Dired:: * Marking Files in Dired:: * Mark-using Commands:: * Commands That Do Not Use Marks:: * Subdirectories in Dired:: * Hiding Directories in Dired:: * Acknowledgement:: * Dired Customization:: @end menu @node Entering Dired, Editing in Dired, Dired, Dired @section Entering Dired @findex Dired @kindex C-x d @vindex dired-listing-switches @noindent To invoke Dired, do @kbd{C-x d} or @kbd{M-x dired}. The command reads a directory name or wildcard file name pattern as a minibuffer argument just like the @code{list-directory} command, @kbd{C-x C-d}. Invoking Dired with a prefix argument lets you enter the listing switches for the directory. Dired assumes you meant to use a wildcard if the last component of the name is not an existing file. Note that only the last pathname component may contain wildcards. With wildcards it uses the shell to do the filename globbing, whereas usually it calls @samp{ls} directly. Because of this, you might have to quote characters that are special to the shell. For example, to dired all auto-save files in your @file{~/mail/} directory, use @samp{~/mail/\#*} as argument to Dired. Note the backslash needed to quote @samp{#} (at the beginning of a word) to the shell. Where @code{dired} differs from @code{list-directory} is in naming the buffer after the directory name or the wildcard pattern used for the listing, and putting the buffer into Dired mode so that the special commands of Dired are available in it. The variable @code{dired-listing-switches} is a string used as an argument to @code{ls} in making the directory; this string @i{must} contain @samp{-l}. Most other switches are also allowed, especially @samp{-F}, @samp{-i} and @samp{-s}. For the @samp{-F} switch to work you may have to set the variable @code{dired-ls-F-marks-symlinks}, depending on what kind of @samp{ls} program you are using. @xref{Dired Configuration}. @refill When a Dired buffer for the given directory already exists, it is simply selected without refreshing it. You can type @kbd{g} if you suspect it is out of date. @findex dired-other-window @kindex C-x 4 d To display the Dired buffer in another window rather than in the selected window, use @kbd{C-x 4 d} (@code{dired-other-window)} instead of @kbd{C-x d}.@refill @node Editing in Dired, Listing Files in Dired, Entering Dired, Dired @section Editing in Dired @noindent Once the Dired buffer exists, you can switch freely between it and other Emacs buffers. Whenever the Dired buffer is selected, certain special commands are provided that operate on files that are listed. The Dired buffer is ``read-only'', and inserting text in it is not useful, so ordinary printing characters such as @kbd{d} and @kbd{x} are used for Dired commands, and digits are prefix arguments.@refill @cindex Current file (in Dired) The file described by the line that point is on is called the @dfn{current file}. The directory this file is in is the @dfn{current Dired directory}. Note that there may be several directories in one Dired buffer as long as they belong to the same tree. The top level directory, the @dfn{root} of the tree, is used as the working directory of the buffer.@refill Some or all directories can be @dfn{hidden}, leaving only their headerlines visible, and exlcuding their files from Dired operations. @cindex Marking files (in Dired) Files can be @dfn{marked} for later commands. Marking means putting a special character, usually @samp{*}, in the first column of the file line. To @dfn{flag} a file means to mark it for later deletion. This special case of ``marking'' is distinguished so that you do not delete files accidentally. Internally, the only difference between marking and flagging is the character used to mark the file: @samp{*} (an asterisk) for a marked file, and @samp{D} for files flagged for deletion. @cindex Mark-using commands Most Dired commands operate on the ``marked'' files and default to the current file. They are the @dfn{mark-using} commands. Deleting is the only mark-using command that does not default to the current file. Dired buffers ``know'' about each other. For example, copying from @var{dir1} into @var{dir2} will update @var{dir2}'s Dired buffer(s). When you move files or directories, file and dired buffers are kept up to date and refer to the new location. But Dired only knows about files changed by itself, not by other parts of Emacs or programs outside Emacs. All the usual Emacs cursor motion commands are available in Dired buffers. Some special purpose commands are also provided. The keys @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} are redefined so that they try to position the cursor at the beginning of the filename on the line, rather than at the beginning of the line. For extra convenience, @key{SPC} and @kbd{n} in Dired are equivalent to @kbd{C-n}. @kbd{p} is equivalent to @kbd{C-p}. Moving by lines is also done so often in Dired that it deserves to be easy to type. @key{DEL} (move up and unflag) is often useful simply for moving up.@refill @node Listing Files in Dired, Marking Files in Dired, Editing in Dired, Dired @section Listing Files in Dired @cindex Headerline @cindex Non-file line @cindex File line @noindent Initially the Dired buffer shows the directory you selected. The first line shows the full directory name. It is an example of a @dfn{headerline} of a directory. Note that it is terminated by a colon (@samp{:}) that is not part of the directory name. The second line usually displays the total size of all files in the directory or the wildcard used. Both are examples of @dfn{non-file lines}. Applying a command to a non-file line signals an error. The other lines of the directory, called the @dfn{file lines}, show information about each file such as permission bits, size and date of last modification, and the name of the file.@refill For example, the listing @example /home/sk/lib/emacs/lisp: total 4973 -rw-r--r-- 1 sk users 231608 Feb 6 16:58 ChangeLog drwxr-sr-x 2 sk users 2048 Feb 6 11:07 RCS -r--r--r-- 1 sk users 141389 Feb 6 10:45 dired.el -r--r--r-- 1 sk users 113033 Feb 5 16:21 dired.texi @dots{} /home/sk/lib/emacs/lisp/RCS: total 4798 -r--r--r-- 1 sk users 231748 Feb 6 16:59 dired.texi,v -r--r--r-- 1 sk users 763898 Feb 6 10:45 dired.el,v @dots{} @end example has a headerline for the @file{lisp} directory, a total line saying there are 4973 K in all the files of that directory (your @samp{ls} program may use units of blocks instead), and several file lines. After that, a headerline for the @file{RCS} subdirectory with its total line and its files follows. Here is an example of a wildcard listing: @example /home/sk/lib/emacs/lisp: wildcard dired* -rw-r--r-- 1 sk users 113036 Feb 6 16:59 dired.texi -r--r--r-- 1 sk users 81267 Feb 6 16:29 dired.elc -r--r--r-- 1 sk users 38436 Feb 6 16:28 dired-x.elc -r--r--r-- 1 sk users 60258 Feb 6 16:27 dired-x.el -r--r--r-- 1 sk users 141389 Feb 6 10:45 dired.el @dots{} @end example Since @samp{ls} does not provide a total count when called with a wildcard argument, the second line now gives instead the wildcard used, here @samp{dired*}. If there would have been a directory matching the wildcard, e.g. a @samp{dired/} subdirectory, its file line would be shown, but it would not have been expanded automatically. Filenames may have embedded and trailing (but not leading) spaces. Leading spaces are not recognized because different @samp{ls} programs differ in the amount of whitespace the insert before the filename. Filenames may @emph{not} contain newlines or @samp{^M}'s. You can get away with @samp{^M}'s in filenames if you do @example (setq selective-display nil) @end example @noindent in the Dired buffer (inside @code{dired-mode-hook}, @xref{Dired Hooks}.). But this also disables the @kbd{=} and @kbd{$} hiding commands, @xref{Hiding Directories in Dired}.@refill Other unprintable characters than @samp{^M} or newline (@samp{^J}) in filenames are no problem for Dired. But your @samp{ls} program may not output them correctly (e.g., replacing all unprintable characters with a question mark @samp{?}). Dired can do nothing if @samp{ls} suppresses information about the filenames. But some (System V derived) @samp{ls} programs have a @samp{-b} switch to quote control characters, e.g. @samp{\n} for a newline character, or @samp{\007} for a ASCII bell character (@kbd{C-g}), so you might want to add @samp{b} to your switches (see below). Dired translates the quoted control character escapes when a @samp{-b} switch was used. The @samp{-b} switch is the recommended method to cope with funny filenames containing newlines or leading spaces. But check if your @samp{ls} understands @samp{-b} and really quotes newlines and spaces. Dired is known to work with GNU @samp{ls -b}, but other @samp{ls -b} don't quote spaces, so leading spaces still don't work with these @samp{ls} programs. @refill The appearance of the listing is determined by the listing switches used, for example whether you display or suppress @samp{.} files with the @samp{-a} and @samp{-A} switches, use the @samp{-F} switch to tag filenames etc. It may additionally be restricted to certain files if you used wildcards to display only those files matching a shell file wildcard.@refill @cindex Dired listing switches Dired has commands that change the listing switches for this buffer. They are mainly used to set the sort mode, but can also be used to change other formatting options. The buffer is automatically refreshed after the switches are changed to let the new format take effect. The default value for the switches comes from the variable @code{dired-listing-switches}; a prefix argument to @code{dired} can be use to determine the switches used for a specific buffer. @xref{Entering Dired}. Each Dired buffer has its own value for the switches, stored in the variable @code{dired-actual-switches}.@refill @vindex dired-actual-switches @vindex dired-sort-by-name-regexp @vindex dired-sort-by-date-regexp The Dired modeline displays @samp{by name} or @samp{by date} to indicate the sort mode. It uses the regexps in the variables @code{dired-sort-by-date-regexp} and @code{dired-sort-by-name-regexp} to decide what should be displayed. If neither of the regexps matches, the listing switches are displayed literally. You can use this to always display the literal switches instead of @samp{by name} or @samp{by date}: set them to a regexp that never matches any listing switches, for example @samp{^$}.@refill @vindex dired-ls-sorting-switches Most @samp{ls} programs can only sort by name (without @samp{-t}) or by date (with @samp{-t}), nothing else. GNU @samp{ls} additionally sorts on size with @samp{-S}, on extension with @samp{-X}, and unsorted (in directory order) with @samp{-U}. So anything that does not contain these is sort "by name". However, this is configurable in the variable @code{dired-ls-sorting-switches}, which defaults to @code{"SXU"}. It contains a string of @samp{ls} switches (single letters) except @samp{t} that influence sorting. It is consulted at load time, so if you redefine it, you must do it before Dired is loaded.@refill @table @kbd @item s @kindex s @findex dired-sort-toggle-or-edit (@code{dired-sort-toggle-or-edit}) Toggle between sort by name/date and refresh the dired buffer. With a prefix argument you can edit the current listing switches instead. @end table @cindex Refreshing a Dired listing After some time the listing may become out of date because of actions by other programs than Dired. You can refresh the complete Dired buffer from disk or only refresh the lines of certain files or a single file. @table @kbd @item l @kindex l @findex dired-do-redisplay (@code{dired-do-redisplay}) Redisplay all marked (or, with a prefix argument, the next @var{N}) files. As always, if no files are marked, the current file is used. If on a headerline, redisplay that subdirectory. In that case, a prefix arg lets you edit the @samp{ls} switches used for the new listing. @kindex g @findex revert-buffer @item g (@code{revert-buffer}) The @kbd{g} command in Dired ultimately runs @code{dired-revert} to reinitialize the buffer from the actual disk directory (or directories). All marks and flags in the Dired buffer are restored, except of course for files that have vanished. Hidden subdirectories are hidden again. @xref{Hiding Directories in Dired}. @refill @item k @kindex k @findex dired-kill-line-or-subdir (@code{dired-kill-line-or-subdir}) Kill this line (but not this file). Optional prefix argument is a repeat factor. If file is displayed as expanded subdirectory, kill that as well. If on a subdirectory line, kill that subdirectory. Reinsert it with @kbd{i} (@code{dired-maybe-insert-subdir}), @xref{Subdirectories in Dired}. Killing a file line means that the line is removed from the Dired buffer. The file is not touched, and the line will reappear when the buffer is refreshed (using @kbd{g}, @code{revert-buffer}). A killed subdirectory will not reappear after reverting the buffer, since @kbd{g} only list those subdirectories that were listed before. @item M-k @kindex M-k @findex dired-do-kill (@code{dired-do-kill}) Kill all marked lines (not files). With a prefix argument, kill all lines not marked or flagged. (For file marking, @xref{Marking Files in Dired}.) @item C-x u @kindex C-x u @item C-_ @kindex C-_ @findex dired-undo (@code{dired-undo}) Undo in a Dired buffer. This doesn't recover lost files, it is just normal undo with a temporarily writable buffer. You can use it to recover marks, killed lines or subdirs. In the latter case, you have to do @kbd{M-x dired-build-subdir-alist} to parse the buffer again for the new subdirectory list.@refill @end table @node Marking Files in Dired, Mark-using Commands, Listing Files in Dired, Dired @section Marking Files in Dired @noindent This section describes commands to mark and unmark single files, and commands to mark several files at once if they match certain criteria. There also is a command to move to the next marked file. As always, hidden subdirs are not affected. @xref{Hiding Directories in Dired}. @table @kbd @item m @kindex m @findex dired-mark-subdir-or-file (@code{dired-mark-subdir-or-file}) If on a file line, mark the current file. A numeric argument tells how many next or previous files to mark. If on a subdirectory header line, mark all its files except `.' and `..'. @item u @kindex u @findex dired-unmark-subdir-or-file (@code{dired-unmark-subdir-or-file}) Like @kbd{m}, only unmarking instead of marking. @item DEL @kindex DEL @findex dired-backup-unflag (@code{dired-backup-unflag}) Move up lines and remove flags there. Optional prefix argument says how many lines to unflag; default is one line. @item M-DEL @kindex M-DEL @findex dired-unflag-all-files (@code{dired-unflag-all-files}) Remove a specific or all flags from every file. With an argument, queries for each marked file. Type your help character, usually @kbd{C-h}, at that time for help. @item * @kindex * @findex dired-mark-executables (@code{dired-mark-executables}) Mark all executable files. With prefix argument, unflag all those files. @item @@ @kindex @@ @findex dired-mark-symlinks (@code{dired-mark-symlinks}) Mark all symbolic links. With prefix argument, unflag all those files. @item / @kindex / @findex dired-mark-directories (@code{dired-mark-directories}) Mark all directory files except `.' and `..'. With prefix argument, unflag all those files. @item %m @kindex %m @findex dired-mark-files-regexp (@code{dired-mark-files-regexp}) Mark all files matching @var{regexp} for use in later commands. A prefix argument means to unmark them instead. @file{.} and @file{..} are never marked. The match is against the non-directory part of the filename. Use @samp{^} and @samp{$} to anchor matches. Exclude subdirs by hiding them. This is an Emacs regexp, not a shell wildcard. E.g., use @samp{\.o$} for object files - just @samp{.o} will mark more than you might think. By default, the match is case sensitive (just like filenames), since @code{case-fold-search} is set to @code{nil} in Dired buffers. @item M-@} @kindex M-@} @findex dired-next-marked-file (@code{dired-next-marked-file}) Move to the next marked file, wrapping around the end of the buffer. @item M-@{ @kindex M-@{ @findex dired-prev-marked-file (@code{dired-prev-marked-file}) Move to the previous marked file, wrapping around the beginning of the buffer. @end table @node Mark-using Commands, Commands That Do Not Use Marks, Marking Files in Dired, Dired @section Mark-using Commands @cindex Mark-using commands Most Dired commands operate on the ``marked'' files and default to the current file. They are the ``mark-using'' commands. Deleting is the only mark-using command that does not default to the current file. @cindex Numeric argument to Dired's mark-using commands @cindex Prefix argument to Dired's mark-using commands @cindex Repeat count for Dired's mark-using commands @cindex Mark-using commands, use of prefix argument as repeat count Mark-using Dired commands treat a numeric argument as a repeat count, meaning to act on the files of the next few lines instead of on the marked files. That is, when you give a prefix argument the marks are not consulted at all. A negative argument means to operate on the files of the preceding lines. Either set of files is called @dfn{marked files} below, whether they really come from marks or from a prefix argument. The prompt of a mark-using command always makes clear which set of files is operated upon: it mentions either the marker character @samp{*} or the @samp{next @var{N}} files, where a negative @var{N} really means the previous @var{-N} files.@refill @cindex Prefix argument via digit keys Thus you can use a prefix argument of @code{1} to apply a command to just the current file, e.g, if you don't want to disturb the other files you marked. As digits are prefix arguments in Dired, simply type @kbd{1} followed by the command. Many mark-using commands treat a prefix of @var{N=0} specially, since it would otherwise be a no-op. @cindex Why something went wrong in Dired @cindex Error logging in Dired @kindex W All mark-using commands display a list of files for which they failed. Type @kbd{W} to see why a (mark-using or other) command failed. Error messages from shell commands (@samp{stderr}) cannot be redirected separately and goes together with the usual output (@samp{stdout}). @menu * Copy and Move Into a Directory:: * Renaming and More With Regexps:: * Other File Creating Commands:: * Deleting Files With Dired:: * Dired Shell Commands:: * Compressing and Uncompressing:: * Changing File Attributes:: * Loading and Byte-compiling Emacs Lisp Files:: * Printing the Marked Files:: @end menu @node Copy and Move Into a Directory, Renaming and More With Regexps, Mark-using Commands, Mark-using Commands @subsection Copy, Move etc. Into a Directory @cindex Target commands in Dired @cindex Dired target commands @noindent This section explains commands that create a new file for each marked file, for example by copying (@kbd{c}) or moving (@kbd{r}) files. They prompt in the minibuffer for a @var{target} argument, usually the target directory in which the new files are created. But if there is but one marked file, the target may also be a plain file. (Otherwise you could not simply rename or copy a single file within the same directory.) Even with one marked file the target may still be an (existing) directory. @cindex Target default in Dired @cindex Default target in Dired @vindex dired-dwim-target The target prompt displays a @dfn{default target} that will be used if you just type @kbd{RET}. Normally the default target is the current Dired directory, so if you want to copy into some specific subdirectory, move point into that subdirectory before typing @kbd{c}. But if there is a Dired buffer in the next window, and @code{dired-dwim-target} is true, its current Dired directory is used. This makes it easy to copy from one Dired buffer into another if both are displayed. On the other hand you have to use @kbd{C-x 1} to make other Dired buffers vanish if you do not want to have them as default targets. To make Dired never look at the next window, set the variable @code{dired-dwim-target} to nil (@samp{dwim} means Do What I Mean). @xref{Dired User Options}, on how to set cutomization variables. @cindex Overwriting of files in Dired As a general rule, Dired will not let you remove or overwrite a file without explicit confirmation. Dired asks you for each existing target file whether or not to overwrite just this file (answer @kbd{y} or @kbd{n}) or all remaining files (answer @kbd{!}). You can also type your help character, usually @kbd{C-h}, at that time for help. @table @kbd @findex dired-do-copy @kindex c @vindex dired-copy-preserve-time @item c (@code{dired-do-copy}) Copy the marked (or next @var{N}) files into a directory, or copy a single file. Thus, a zero prefix argument (@var{N-0}) copies nothing. But it toggles the variable @code{dired-copy-preserve-time}.@* @xref{Dired User Options}, on how to set customization variables. @findex dired-do-move @kindex r @item r (@code{dired-do-move}) Move the marked files into a directory. If there is just one marked file, rename that file. As the marked files default to the current file, this can also be used to simply rename the current file. Dired silently changes the visited file name of buffers associated with moved files so that they refer to the new location of the file. When a directory is renamed, its headerlines in Dired buffers are updated, and any buffers visiting affected files have their visited file name changed to refer to the new location. Their buffer name is changed if no buffer with such a name already exists. Affected files are all those which contain the directory somewhere in their absolute path name. A zero prefix arguments does not move any files, but toggles the variable @code{dired-dwim-target}. @findex dired-do-hardlink @kindex H @item H (@code{dired-do-hardlink}) Make hard links from the target directory to each marked file. @findex dired-do-symlink @kindex Y @item Y (@code{dired-do-symlink}) Make symbolic links from the target directory to each marked file. @end table @vindex dired-keep-marker-copy @vindex dired-keep-marker-hardlink @vindex dired-keep-marker-symlink Linking is very similar to copying in that new files are created while the old files stay. If you want each newly copied or linked file to be marked with the same marker that its original has, set the variables @code{dired-keep-marker-copy}, @code{dired-keep-marker-hardlink} or @code{dired-keep-marker-symlink} to @code{t}. Set them to @code{nil} to not give these newly created files marks. The default is to mark them with @samp{C}, @samp{H} and @samp{Y}, respectively. @vindex dired-keep-marker-move Moving differs from copying and linking in that the old file is removed as part of the creation of the new file. Thus it makes sense to set the variable @code{dired-keep-marker-move} to @code{t} (the default) so that moved files ``take their markers with them''. @node Renaming and More With Regexps, Other File Creating Commands, Copy and Move Into a Directory, Mark-using Commands @subsection Renaming (and More) With Regexps @cindex Regexp commands in Dired @cindex Dired regexp commands A second class of Commands uses regular expressions to construct a new filename from each marked file. @xref{Regexps,Syntax of Regular Expressions,Regular Expressions,emacs,The GNU Emacs Manual}. The commands to make new names by regexp conversion are the same as those to make them in another directory, except that they share a prefix char, @kbd{%}. @table @kbd @item %r @kindex %r @findex dired-rename-regexp (@code{dired-rename-regexp}) Rename files with regexps @item %c @kindex %c @findex dired-do-copy-regexp (@code{dired-do-copy-regexp}) Copy files with regexps. @item %H @kindex %H @findex dired-do-hardlink-regexp (@code{dired-do-hardlink-regexp}) Make hard links with regexps. @item %Y @kindex %Y @findex dired-do-symlink-regexp (@code{dired-do-symlink-regexp}) Make symbolic links with regexps. @end table These commands prompt in the minibuffer for a @var{regexp} and a @var{newname}. For each marked file matching @var{regexp}, a new filename is constructed from @var{newname}. The match can be anywhere in the file name, it need not span the whole filename. Use @samp{^} and @samp{$} to anchor matches that should span the whole filename. Only the first match in the filename is replaced with @var{newtext}. (It would be easy to change this to replace all matches, but probably harder to use.) @samp{\&} in @var{newname} stands for the entire text being replaced. @samp{\@var{d}} in @var{newname}, where @var{d} is a digit, stands for whatever matched the @var{d}'th parenthesized grouping in @var{regexp}. As each match is found, the user must type a character saying whether or not to apply the command to just this file (@kbd{y} or @kbd{n}) or to all remaining files(@kbd{!}). For help type your help character, usually @kbd{C-h}, at that time.@refill For example, if you want to rename all @file{.lsp} files to @file{.el} files, type first @kbd{%m} with @samp{\.lsp$} as regexp to mark all @file{.lsp} files. Then type @kbd{%r} with @samp{\.lsp$} and @samp{.el} as @var{regexp} and @var{newtext} arguments. Dired will prompt you for each file to be renamed. Or to append @file{.old} to all marked files, use @kbd{%r} @samp{$} @kbd{RET} @samp{.old} @kbd{RET}, replacing the empty string at the end of each file name with @samp{.old}. You can use the regexp @samp{\(.+\)\.\(.+\)$} to make the basename as @samp{\1} and the extension as @samp{\2} available in @var{newtext}. With a zero prefix arg, renaming by regexp affects the complete pathname. Usually only the non-directory part of file names is used and changed, and renaming only takes place within the current directory. The zero prefix argument can be used to change the directory part as well. Often you will want to apply the command to all files matching the same @var{regexp} that you use in the command. Simply use the @kbd{%m} command with @var{regexp} as argument, which will then also be the default for the next regexp using command.@refill For example, to remove a @file{V17I12-} prefix from several filenames, use @kbd{%m} @samp{^V17I12-} @kbd{RET} @kbd{%r} @kbd{RET} @kbd{RET}, in effect replacing the prefix with the empy string. @node Other File Creating Commands, Deleting Files With Dired, Renaming and More With Regexps, Mark-using Commands @subsection Other File Creating Commands @cindex Case-changing Dired commands @cindex Dired case-changing commands Commands to change the case of file names: @table @kbd @findex dired-upcase @kindex %u @item %u (@code{dired-upcase}) Rename each marked file to upper case. @findex dired-downcase @kindex %l @item %l (@code{dired-downcase}) Rename each marked file to lower case. @end table @node Deleting Files With Dired, Dired Shell Commands, Other File Creating Commands, Mark-using Commands @subsection Deleting Files With Dired @noindent Deleting is a special mark-using command. It uses a special marker, @samp{D}, and does not default to the current file if no files are marked to prevent accidental deletions.@refill @xref{Dired Customization}, variable @code{dired-del-marker} to make deleting behave exactly like any mark-using command.@refill @table @kbd @findex dired-flag-file-deleted @kindex d @item d (@code{dired-flag-file-deleted}) Flag this file for deletion. If on a subdirectory headerline, mark all its files except @file{.} and @file{..}. @findex dired-unmark-subdir-or-file @kindex u @item u (@code{dired-unmark-subdir-or-file}) Remove deletion-flag on this line. @findex dired-backup-unflag @kindex @key{DEL} @item @key{DEL} (@code{dired-backup-unflag}) Remove deletion-flag on previous line, moving point to that line. @findex dired-flag-regexp-files @kindex %d @item %d (@code{dired-flag-regexp-files}) Flag all files containing the specified @var{regexp} for deletion. The match is against the non-directory part of the filename. Use @samp{^} and @samp{$} to anchor matches. Exclude subdirs by hiding them. The special directories @file{.} and @file{..} are never flagged. @findex dired-do-deletions @kindex x @item x (@code{dired-do-deletions}) Delete the files that are flagged for deletion (with @samp{D}). @findex dired-do-delete @kindex X @item X (@code{dired-do-delete}) Delete the @samp{*}-marked (as opposed to the @samp{D}-flagged) files. @findex dired-flag-auto-save-files @kindex # @item # (@code{dired-flag-auto-save-files}) Flag all auto-save files (files whose names start and end with @samp{#}) for deletion (@pxref{Auto Save,Auto-Saving: Protection Against Disasters,Auto Save,emacs,The GNU Emacs Manual}). @findex dired-flag-backup-files @kindex ~ @item ~ (@code{dired-flag-backup-files}) Flag all backup files (files whose names end with @samp{~}) for deletion (@pxref{Backup,Backup Files,Backup,emacs,The GNU Emacs Manual}). @findex dired-clean-directory @kindex . @item .@: @r{(Period)} (@code{dired-clean-directory}) Flag excess numeric backup files for deletion. The oldest and newest few backup files of any one file are exempt; the middle ones are flagged. @end table You can flag a file for deletion by moving to the line describing the file and typing @kbd{d} or @kbd{C-d}. The deletion flag is visible as a @samp{D} at the beginning of the line. Point is moved to the beginning of the next line, so that repeated @kbd{d} commands flag successive files. The files are flagged for deletion rather than deleted immediately to avoid the danger of deleting a file accidentally. Until you direct Dired to delete the flagged files, you can remove deletion flags using the commands @kbd{u} and @key{DEL}. @kbd{u} works just like @kbd{d}, but removes flags rather than making flags. @key{DEL} moves upward, removing flags; it is like @kbd{u} with numeric argument automatically negated. To delete the flagged files, type @kbd{x}. This command first displays a list of all the file names flagged for deletion, and requests confirmation with @kbd{yes}. Once you confirm, all the flagged files are deleted, and their lines are deleted from the text of the Dired buffer. The shortened Dired buffer remains selected. If you answer @kbd{no} or quit with @kbd{C-g}, you return immediately to Dired, with the deletion flags still present and no files actually deleted. Deletions proceed from the end of the buffer, so if subdirs are in a natural order in the buffer, it usually works to flag @samp{dir1}, @samp{dir1/dir2} and @samp{dir1/dir2/*} (by typing @kbd{d} on the directory headerlines) and delete everything, including @samp{dir1/dir2} and @samp{dir1}. Using shell commands (e.g. @samp{rm -rf}) to remove complete directories may be quicker than having Dired remove each file separately. (@xref{Dired Shell Commands}.) However, like all actions external to Dired, this does not update the display.@refill @c and does not offer to kill buffers of deleted files. The @kbd{#}, @kbd{~} and @kbd{.} commands flag many files for deletion, based on their names. These commands are useful precisely because they do not actually delete any files; you can remove the deletion flags from any flagged files that you really wish to keep.@refill @kbd{#} flags for deletion all files that appear to have been made by auto-saving (that is, files whose names begin and end with @samp{#}). @kbd{~} flags for deletion all files that appear to have been made as backups for files that were edited (that is, files whose names end with @samp{~}). @vindex dired-kept-versions @kbd{.} (Period) flags just some of the backup files for deletion: only numeric backups that are not among the oldest few nor the newest few backups of any one file. Normally @code{dired-kept-versions} (not @code{kept-new-versions}; that applies only when saving) specifies the number of newest versions of each file to keep, and @code{kept-old-versions} specifies the number of oldest versions to keep. Period with a positive numeric argument, as in @kbd{C-u 3 .}, specifies the number of newest versions to keep, overriding @code{dired-kept-versions}. A negative numeric argument overrides @code{kept-old-versions}, using minus the value of the argument to specify the number of oldest versions of each file to keep.@refill @node Dired Shell Commands, Compressing and Uncompressing, Deleting Files With Dired, Mark-using Commands @subsection Shell Commands on Marked files @cindex Shell commands (in Dired) @noindent You can run arbitrary shell commands on the marked files. If there is output, it goes to a separate buffer. @table @kbd @findex dired-do-shell-command @kindex ! @item ! (@code{dired-do-shell-command}) Run a shell command on the marked files. @end table A command string is prompted for in the minibuffer. The list of marked files is appended to the command string unless asterisks @samp{*} indicate the place(s) where the list should go. Thus,@refill @example command -flags @end example is equivalent to @example command -flags * @end example The filenames are inserted in the order they appear in the buffer. The file listed topmost in the buffer will be the leftmost in the list. Currently, there is no way to insert a real @samp{*} into the command. As with all mark-using commands, if no files are marked or a specific numeric prefix arg is given, the current or the next @var{N} files are used. The prompt mentions the file(s) or the marker, as appropriate. However, for shell commands, a zero argument is special. It means to run command on each marked file separately: @example cmd * |foo @end example results in @example cmd F1 |foo; @dots{}; cmd F@var{n} |foo @end example Usually @example cmd F1 @dots{} F@var{n} |foo @end example would be executed.@refill No automatic redisplay is attempted because Dired cannot know what files should be redisplayed for a general shell command. For example, a @samp{tar cvf} will not change the marked files at all, but rather create a new file, while a @samp{ci -u -m'@dots{}' *} will probably change the permission bits of all marked files. Type @kbd{l} to redisplay just the marked files, or @kbd{l} on a directory headerline to redisplay just that directory, or @kbd{g} to redisplay all directories.@refill The shell command has the top level directory as working directory, so output files usually are created there instead of in a subdirectory, which may sometimes be surprising if all files come from the same subdirectory. Just remember that an Emacs buffer can have but one working directory, and this is the top level directory in Dired buffers. Examples for shell commands: @itemize @bullet @item Type @kbd{!} and @example tar cvf foo.tar @end example @noindent to tar all marked files into a @file{foo.tar} file. Dired does not know that a new file has been created and you have to type @kbd{g} to refresh the listing. If you have several subdirectories in your Dired buffer, the names given to @samp{tar} will be relative to the top level directory, and the output file @file{foo.tar} will also be created there.@refill You can use @example tar cvf - * | compress -c > foo.tar.Z @end example @noindent as an alternative to immediately compress the tar file. @item Type @kbd{0 !} and @example uudecode @end example @noindent to uudecode each of the marked files. Note the use of the zero prefix argument to apply the shell command to each file separately (uudecode doesn't accept a list of input files). Type @kbd{g} afterwards to see the created files. @item Type @kbd{0 !} and @example uuencode * * >*.uu @end example @noindent to uuencode each of the marked files, writing into a corresponding @file{.uu} file. Note the use of the zero prefix argument to apply the shell command to each file separately. Type @kbd{g} afterwards to see the created @file{.uu} files. @item Type @kbd{1 !} and @example mail joe@@somewhere <* @end example @noindent to mail the current file (note the prefix argument @samp{1}) to user @samp{joe@@somewhere}.@refill @item @cindex running the current file @cindex executing the current file @cindex current file, how to run it Here is a Dired shell command to execute the current file, assuming no other files are marked (else just give the prefix @kbd{1} to @kbd{!}): @example ./* @end example which will be expanded to @samp{./@var{cmd}}, thus @var{cmd} will be executed.. (Just @samp{./} would be expanded to @samp{./ @var{cmd}}, with an intervening @kbd{SPC}.) This will work even if you don't have @file{.} in your @code{$PATH}. If @file{.} is in your path (not a good idea, as you will find out if you dired a directory containing a file named @file{ls}), a single @kbd{SPC} as command would also work. @c <<NEED MORE AND BETTER EXAMPLES HERE>> @end itemize @node Compressing and Uncompressing, Changing File Attributes, Dired Shell Commands, Mark-using Commands @subsection Compressing and Uncompressing @noindent You can compress or uncompress the marked files. Dired refuses to compress files ending in @file{.Z} (which are already compressed) or symbolic links (the link would be overwritten by a plain, compressed file) and to uncompress files not ending in @file{.Z}. @table @kbd @findex dired-do-compress @kindex C @item C (@code{dired-do-compress}) Compress the marked files. @findex dired-do-uncompress @kindex U @item U (@code{dired-do-uncompress}) Uncompress the marked files. @end table @node Changing File Attributes, Loading and Byte-compiling Emacs Lisp Files, Compressing and Uncompressing, Mark-using Commands @subsection Changing File Attributes @noindent You can change the file attributes (mode, group, owner) of marked files. @table @kbd @findex dired-do-chmod @kindex M @item M (@code{dired-do-chmod}) Change the mode (also called ``permission bits'') of the marked files. This calls the @samp{chmod} program, thus symbolic modes like @samp{g+w} are allowed. Multiple switches like @samp{-fR g+w} are not understood, though. Use @kbd{!} (@code{dired-do-shell-command}) for that. @findex dired-do-chgrp @kindex G @item G (@code{dired-do-chgrp}) Change the group of the marked files. @vindex dired-chown-program @findex dired-do-chown @kindex O @item O (@code{dired-do-chown}) Change the owner of the marked files. This usually works for the superuser only. It uses the program in the variable @code{dired-chown-program} to do the change.@refill @end table @node Loading and Byte-compiling Emacs Lisp Files, Printing the Marked Files, Changing File Attributes, Mark-using Commands @subsection Loading and Byte-compiling Emacs Lisp Files @noindent You can load and byte-compile GNU Emacs Lisp files. Errors are caught and reported after all files have been processed. @table @kbd @findex dired-do-load @kindex L @item L (@code{dired-do-load}) Load the marked elisp files. @findex dired-do-byte-compile @kindex B @item B (@code{dired-do-byte-compile}) Byte compile the marked elisp files. @end table @node Printing the Marked Files, , Loading and Byte-compiling Emacs Lisp Files, Mark-using Commands @subsection Printing the Marked Files @table @kbd @findex dired-do-print @kindex P @vindex lpr-command @vindex lpr-switches @item P (@code{dired-do-print}) Print the marked (or next @var{N}) files. Uses the shell command coming from variables @code{lpr-command} and @code{lpr-switches} as default. Since internally this is just a special case of @code{dired-do-shell-command}, you can use @samp{*} and pipes like for shell command, e.g., @example (setq lpr-command: "lwf") (setq lpr-switches: '("-l -m * | lpr -Palw")) @end example to print with the shell command @samp{lwf -l -m * | lpr -Palw}, where @samp{*} will be substituted by the marked files. The @code{lpr-buffer} and @code{lpr-region} don't know about @samp{*} or @samp{|}, though, only Dired does. @end table @node Commands That Do Not Use Marks, Subdirectories in Dired, Mark-using Commands, Dired @section Commands That Do Not Use Marks @noindent These are commands that visit files. @xref{Visiting,Visiting Files,Visiting,emacs,The GNU Emacs Manual}. @table @kbd @findex dired-advertised-find-file @kindex f @item f (@code{dired-advertised-find-file}) Visits the file described on the current line. It is just like typing @kbd{C-x C-f} and supplying that file name. If the file on this line is a subdirectory, @kbd{f} actually causes Dired to be invoked on that subdirectory. @findex dired-find-file-other-window @kindex o @item o (@code{dired-find-file-other-window}) Like @kbd{f}, but uses another window to display the file's buffer. The Dired buffer remains visible in the first window. This is like using @kbd{C-x 4 C-f} to visit the file. @xref{Windows,Multiple Windows,Windows,emacs,The GNU Emacs Manual}. @findex dired-view-file @kindex v @item v (@code{dired-view-file}) Views the file described on this line using @kbd{M-x view-file}. Viewing a file is like visiting it, but is slanted toward moving around in the file conveniently and does not allow changing the file. @xref{Misc File Ops,View File,Miscellaneous File Operations,emacs,The GNU Emacs Manual}. @refill Viewing a file that is a directory goes to its headerline if it is in this buffer. Otherwise, it is displayed in another buffer. @c Forgot that this only works for my version of C-x C-r... @c @c You might think that a @code{dired-view-file-other-window} command is @c missing, but it is easy to use @kbd{o} followed by @kbd{C-x C-r} @c @kbd{RET}, which will first visit the file in the other window, then @c @samp{find-file-read-only} it (@kbd{RET} defaulting to the current @c buffer's file). @end table @cindex Diffing files in Dired @noindent Commands to diff a file: @table @kbd @findex dired-diff @kindex D @item D (@code{dired-diff}) Compare file at point with another file (default: file at mark), by running the system command @samp{diff}. The other file is the first file given to @samp{diff}. @findex dired-backup-diff @kindex M-~ @item M-~ (@code{dired-backup-diff}) Diff this file with its backup file. Uses the latest backup, if there are several numerical backups. If this file is a backup, diff it with its original. The backup file is the first file given to @samp{diff}. @end table @noindent Other commands: @table @kbd @findex dired-create-directory @kindex + @cindex Creating a directory in Dired @cindex Directory, how to create one in Dired @item + (@code{dired-create-directory}) Create a directory. @end table @table @kbd @findex dired-why @kindex W @cindex Why something went wrong in Dired @cindex Error logging in Dired @item W (@code{dired-why}) Pop up a buffer with error log output from Dired. All mark-using commands log errors there. (Standard error from shell commands cannot be logged separately, it goes into the usual shell command output buffer.) A group of errors from a single command ends with a formfeed, so that you can use @kbd{C-x [} (@code{backward-page}) to find the beginning of new error logs that are reported by a command. @end table @node Subdirectories in Dired, Hiding Directories in Dired, Commands That Do Not Use Marks, Dired @section Subdirectories in Dired @noindent Thise section explains how to @dfn{insert} (or @dfn{expand}) subdirectories in the same Dired buffer and move around in them. @cindex Inserting subdirectories in same Dired buffer @cindex Expanding subdirectories in Dired You can display subdirectories in your Dired buffer by using @samp{-R} in your Dired listing switches. But you do not usually want to have a complete recursive listing in all your Dired buffers. So there is a command to insert a single directory: @table @kbd @findex dired-maybe-insert-subdir @kindex i @item i @cindex Inserted subdirectory @cindex Expanded subdirectory @cindex In-situ subdirectory @cindex Headerline (@code{dired-maybe-insert-subdir}) Insert this subdirectory into the same Dired buffer. If it is already present, just move to it (type @kbd{l}, @code{dired-do-redisplay} to refresh it). Else inserts it as @samp{ls -lR} would have done. With a prefix arg, you may edit the ls switches used for this listing. You can add @samp{R} to the switches to expand the whole tree starting at this subdirectory. This function takes some pains to conform to @samp{ls -lR} output. For example, it adds the headerline for the inserted subdirectory.@refill The mark is dropped before moving, so @kbd{C-x C-x} takes you back to the old position in the buffer. @end table Dired changes the buffer-local value of the variable @code{page-delimiter} to @code{"\n\n"}, so that subdirectories become pages. Thus, the page moving commands @kbd{C-x [} and @kbd{C-x ]} (@code{backward-page} and @code{forward-page}) can be used to move to the beginning (i.e., the headerlines) of subdirectories. In addition, the following commands move around directory-wise, usually putting you on a file line instead of on a headerline. For a mnemonic, note that they all look like rotated versions of each other, and that they move in the direction they point to. @table @kbd @findex dired-prev-dirline @kindex < @item < (@code{dired-prev-dirline}) Goto previous directory file line. @findex dired-next-dirline @kindex > @item > (@code{dired-next-dirline}) Goto next directory file line. @findex dired-up-directory @kindex ^ @item ^ (@code{dired-up-directory}) Dired parent directory. Tries first to find its file line, then its header line in this buffer, then its Dired buffer, finally creating a new Dired buffer if necessary. @findex dired-view-file @kindex v @item v (@code{dired-view-file}) When the current file is not a directory, view it. When file is a directory, tries to go to its subdirectory. @comment actually, it is not always inverse This command is inverse to the @kbd{^} command and it is very convenient to use these two commands together. @end table The following commands move up and down in the directory tree: @table @kbd @findex dired-tree-up @kindex M-C-u @item M-C-u (@code{dired-tree-up}) Go up to the parent directory's headerline. @findex dired-tree-down @kindex M-C-d @item M-C-d (@code{dired-tree-down}) Go down in the tree, to the first subdirectory's headerline. @end table The following commands move forwards and backwards to subdirectory headerlines: @table @kbd @findex dired-next-subdir @kindex M-C-n @item M-C-n (@code{dired-next-subdir}) Go to next subdirectory headerline, regardless of level. @findex dired-prev-subdir @kindex M-C-p @item M-C-p (@code{dired-prev-subdir}) Go to previous subdirectory headerline, regardless of level. @end table @node Hiding Directories in Dired, Acknowledgement, Subdirectories in Dired, Dired @section Hiding Directories in Dired @cindex Hiding in Dired @noindent @dfn{Hiding} a subdirectory means to make it invisible, except for its headerline. Files inside a hidden subdirectory are never considered by Dired. For example, mark-using commands will not ``see'' files in a hidden directory. Thus you can use hiding to temporarily exclude subdirectories from operations without having to remove the markers. The hiding commands toggle, that is they unhide what was hidden and vice versa. @table @kbd @findex dired-hide-subdir @kindex $ @item $ (@code{dired-hide-subdir}) Hide or unhide the current subdirectory and move to next directory. Optional prefix argument is a repeat factor. @findex dired-hide-all @kindex = @item = (@code{dired-hide-all}) Hide all subdirectories, leaving only their header lines. If there is already something hidden, make everything visible again. Use this command to get an overview in very deep directory trees or to move quickly to subdirs far away. @end table @node Acknowledgement, Dired Customization, Hiding Directories in Dired, Dired @section Acknowledgement @noindent I would like to thank @itemize @bullet @item Richard Stallman for providing a pre-release version of @file{dired.el} from Emacs 19, critical comments and many helpful suggestions @item Andy Norman for the collaboration that made Tree Dired and ange-ftp such a successful combination @item Jamie Zawinski for insisting on and writing nested Dired format, and for lots of other things @item Michael Ernst for the ``omitting'' code and helpful discussion about Dired design @item Hans Chalupsky for providing FTP service and writing @file{dired-trns.el} @item Roland McGrath for @file{find-dired.el} and bug fixes for the diffing commands @item Kevin Gallagher for sending me existing VMS Dired fixes @item Hal R. Brand for VMS support and porting his old dired fixes to Tree Dired @item Hugh Secker-Walker for writing @file{dired-cd.el} @item Tom Wurgler for ideas such as the @dfn{dired-jump-back} command @item Cengiz Alaettinoglu, who found more bugs in Tree Dired than anybody else (except me) @end itemize @noindent and all other beta testers and people who reported bugs or just said ``thanks''. @node Dired Customization, , Acknowledgement, Dired @section Dired Customization @noindent You can customize Dired by setting some variables in your @file{~/.emacs} file. Other variables are intended to be configured when Dired is installed. Finally, there are so-called `hook' variables. @menu * Dired User Options:: * Dired Configuration:: * Dired Hooks:: @end menu @node Dired User Options, Dired Configuration, Dired Customization, Dired Customization @subsection Customization of Dired @noindent The following variables are for personal customization in your @file{~/.emacs} file. For example, include a line similar to the following @example (setq dired-listing-switches "-Alt") ; sort on time, ignore . and .. @end example to set your favorite Dired listing switches. @c Should actually use @defopt here, but this is in Texinfo2 only. @table @code @vindex dired-listing-switches @item dired-listing-switches Default: @code{"-al"} Switches passed to @samp{ls} for Dired. @i{Must} contain the @samp{l} option. @vindex dired-trivial-filenames @item dired-trivial-filenames Default: @code{"^\\.\\.?$\\|^#"} Regexp of files to skip when moving point to the first file of a new directory listing. Nil means move to the subdirectory line, t means move to first file. @vindex dired-marker-char @item dired-marker-char Default: @code{?*} (@samp{?*} is the Lisp notation for the character @samp{*}.) In Dired, character used to mark files for later commands. This is a variable so that one can write things like @example (let ((dired-marker-char ?X)) ;; great code using X markers ... ) @end example @vindex dired-del-marker @item dired-del-marker Default: @code{?D} Character used to flag files for deletion. Usually, marking for commands and flagging for deletion are separate features. (Internally they use the same marking mechanism.) You type @kbd{d} to flag with @samp{D} and @kbd{x} to delete the @samp{D}-flagged files.@refill This explains how to make deletion behave just like a special case of the general file marking feature, so that you type @kbd{m} to mark with @samp{*} (as usual) and @kbd{d} to delete the @samp{*} (or next @var{N}) files: In your @file{~/.emacs}, include @example (setq dired-del-marker dired-marker-char) ; use * also for deletions (setq dired-load-hook (function (lambda () ;; other customizations here ;; let "d" do the actual deletion: (define-key dired-mode-map "d" 'dired-do-delete)))) @end example If you do not like that @kbd{d} defaults to the current file if there are no marks, replace the @code{define-key} statement in @code{dired-load-hook} above with this one: @example (define-key dired-mode-map "d" 'dired-do-deletions) @end example @vindex dired-shrink-to-fit @item dired-shrink-to-fit Default: @code{(if (fboundp 'baud-rate) (> (baud-rate) search-slow-speed) t)} Whether Dired shrinks the display buffer to fit the marked files. @vindex dired-no-confirm @item dired-no-confirm Default: @code{nil} If non-nil, list of commands Dired should not confirm. Confirmation for commands that require an argument to be entered (like the shell command for @kbd{!}) means a list of marked files is displayed in a pop-up buffer. Confirmation for commands that do not require an argument (like compressing with @kbd{C}) means you have to confirm by typing @kbd{y} or @kbd{SPC}. Except @code{nil}, it can be a sublist of @example '(byte-compile chgrp chmod chown compress copy delete hardlink load move print shell symlink uncompress) @end example to suppress confirmation for just those commands. @c @vindex dired-deletion-confirmer @c But you can @c set the variable @code{dired-deletion-confirmer} to another function @c than @code{yes-or-no-p}, its default value. Using @code{y-or-no-p} will @c confirm with only a single key stroke, @key{y} or @key{n}, and using @c @code{identity} will effectively switch off confirmation. @vindex dired-keep-marker-move @item dired-keep-marker-move Default: @code{t} If nil, moved files are not marked. If t, moved marked files are marked with the same marker they had before (maybe none if you used the prefix argument to specify the next @var{N} files). If a character, moved files (marked or not) are marked with that character. This also applies to the following, similar variables for copied, and hard or symbolically linked files: @vindex dired-keep-marker-copy @item dired-keep-marker-copy Default: @code{?C} @vindex dired-keep-marker-hardlink @item dired-keep-marker-hardlink Default: @code{?H} @vindex dired-keep-marker-symlink @item dired-keep-marker-symlink Default: @code{?Y} @vindex dired-dwim-target @item dired-dwim-target Default: @code{nil} If non-nil, Dired tries to guess a default target directory: If there is a Dired buffer displayed in the next window, use its current subdirectory, instead of the current subdirectory of this Dired buffer. The target is used in the prompt for file copy, move etc., @xref{Copy and Move Into a Directory}. @item dired-copy-preserve-time @vindex dired-copy-preserve-time Default: @code{nil} If non-nil, Dired preserves the last-modified time in a file copy. (This works on only some systems.) Use @kbd{c} (@code{dired-do-copy}) with a zero prefix argument to toggle its value. The prompt of copy commands will display @samp{Copy [-p]} instead of just @samp{Copy} if preservation of file times is turned on. @item dired-backup-if-overwrite @vindex dired-backup-if-overwrite Default: @code{nil} Non-nil if Dired should ask about making backups before overwriting files. Special value @code{'always} suppresses confirmation. @end table @node Dired Configuration, Dired Hooks, Dired User Options, Dired Customization @subsection Dired Configuration The following variables should have already been installed correctly by your system manager. If not, you can still set them in your @file{~/.emacs} file.@refill @table @code @vindex dired-chown-program @item dired-chown-program Pathname of chown command, default @code{"chown"} (or @code{"/etc/chown"} on System V derived systems.) @vindex dired-ls-program @item dired-ls-program Absolute or relative name of the @samp{ls} program used by Dired, default @code{"ls"}. @vindex dired-ls-F-marks-symlinks @item dired-ls-F-marks-symlinks Set this to @code{t} if dired-ls-program with @samp{-lF} marks the symbolic link itself with a trailing @samp{@@} (usually the case under Ultrix). Example: If @example ln -s foo bar; ls -F bar @end example gives @example bar -> foo @end example set it to @code{nil}, if it gives @example bar@@ -> foo @end example set it to @code{t}. Dired checks if there is really a @@ appended. Thus, if you have a marking @samp{ls} program on one host and a non-marking one on another host, and do not care about symbolic links which really end in a @@, you can always set this variable to @code{t}. @end table @node Dired Hooks, , Dired Configuration, Dired Customization @subsection Dired Hooks @noindent Hook variables can contain functions that are run at certain times in Dired. @table @code @vindex dired-load-hook @item dired-load-hook Run after loading Dired. You can customize key bindings or load extensions with this. For example: @example (setq dired-load-hook (function (lambda () ;; Load extras: (load "dired-x") ;; How to define your own key bindings: (define-key dired-mode-map " " 'scroll-up) (define-key dired-mode-map "b" 'scroll-down)))) @end example @vindex dired-mode-hook @item dired-mode-hook Run at the very end of @code{dired-mode}, after most buffer local variables have been initialized (e.g., @code{default-directory} and @code{dired-directory}), but before the directory listing has been read in. Do buffer local things here, for example: @example (setq dired-mode-hook (function (lambda () (dired-extra-startup) ;; dired-extra support ;; How to set (local) variables in each new Dired buffer: (setq case-fold-search t) (setq truncate-lines t)))) @end example Since the listing has not yet been inserted you could still change @code{dired-actual-switches}. For example, if you use @file{ange-ftp.el}, you might want to replace the @samp{-A} with the @samp{-a} switch, depending on whether @code{default-directory} corresponds to a System V hosts that does not understand all BSD @samp{ls} switches. The @code{dired.README} file gives an example. If you set @code{dired-actual-switches} remember that you may also have to set @code{dired-sort-mode} to the appropriate string so that the modeline looks right. Do not set @code{dired-mode-hook} inside your @code{dired-load-hook}, simply set it somewhere in your @file{~/.emacs} (before Dired is loaded, if you explicitly load Dired). This is so that extensions packages loaded via the load hook can add things to the @code{dired-mode-hook} at the front or at the end, as they see fit. In case you set @code{truncate-lines} to @code{t} as in the above example, here is a function to toggle the value of @code{truncate-lines}, in Dired and other buffers: @example (defun set-truncate-lines () "Toggle value of truncate-lines and refresh window display." (interactive) (setq truncate-lines (not truncate-lines)) ;; now refresh window display (an idiom from simple.el): (save-excursion (set-window-start (selected-window) (window-start (selected-window))))) @end example You could bind it to @kbd{C-x 4 $}: @example (define-key ctl-x-4-map "$" 'set-truncate-lines) @end example It is sometimes useful to toggle @code{truncate-lines} in Dired buffers to make long filenames completely visible and get the listing properly aligned again. @vindex dired-before-readin-hook @item dired-before-readin-hook This hook is run before a dired buffer is newly read in (created or reverted). @vindex dired-after-readin-hook @item dired-after-readin-hook After each listing of a file or directory, this hook is run with the buffer narrowed to the listing. The @code{dired-subdir-alist} has already been updated so that the usual Dired functions like @code{dired-get-filename} work. It is possible to modify the buffer with this hook. The package @file{dired-x.el} does this to implement omitting certain uninteresting files from a Dired buffer. Under X11, highlighting of certain files is also possible (see package @file{dired-x11.el}). @end table @node Tree Dired Extra, Dired Internals, Dired, Top @chapter Tree Dired Extra features Numerous ``extra'' features are available, such as omitting certain files from listings, minibuffer history, RCS related commands, and more. @menu * Tree Dired Extra Features:: * Dired Minibuffer History:: * Inserting All Marked Subdirectories:: * Dynamic Dired Markers:: * Omitting Files in Dired:: * Advanced Dired Mark Commands:: * Virtual Dired:: * Multiple Dired Directories:: * Dired Local Variables:: * Making Relative Symbolic Links in Dired:: * Letting Dired Guess What Shell Command to Apply:: * dired-trns.el:: Filename Transformers for Dired Shell Commands * dired-cd.el:: Changing the Working Directory for Dired Shell Commands * dired-nstd.el:: Nested Dired format * find-dired.el:: Feeding Find Output to Dired @end menu @node Tree Dired Extra Features, Dired Minibuffer History, Tree Dired Extra, Tree Dired Extra @section Tree Dired Extra Features The rest of this manual describes the extra features provided by the file @file{dired-x.el} and some other files. To take advantage of these features, you must load the file and set some variables and hooks. See the accompanying @file{dired-x.README} file for details and a template of code to insert in your @file{.emacs}. Miscellanous features not fitting anywhere else: Variables: @table @code @item dired-find-subdir @vindex dired-find-subdir Default: @code{nil} If non-nil, Dired does not make a new buffer for a directory if it can be found (perhaps as subdirectory) in some existing Dired buffer. If there are several Dired buffers for a directory, the most recently used is chosen. Dired avoids switching to the current buffer, so that if you have a normal and a wildcard buffer for the same directory, @kbd{C-x d RET} will toggle between those two. @end table @table @kbd @findex dired-goto-file @kindex M-g @item M-g (@code{dired-goto-file}) Goto file line of a file (or directory). @findex dired-goto-subdir @kindex M-G @item M-G (@code{dired-goto-subdir}) Goto headerline of an inserted directory. This commands reads its argument with completion over the names of the inserted subdirectories. @end table @table @kbd @findex dired-do-background-shell-command @kindex & @cindex Input to Dired shell commands @cindex Interactive Dired shell commands @cindex Background Dired shell commands @item & (@code{dired-do-background-shell-command}) Run a shell command on the marked files, in the background. This requires @file{background.el} from Olin Shiver's comint package to work. Note that you can type input to the command in its buffer. @item w @kindex w @findex dired-copy-filename-as-kill (@code{dired-copy-filename-as-kill}) The @kbd{w} command puts the names of the marked (or next @var{N}) files into the kill ring, as if you had killed them with @kbd{C-w}. With a zero prefix argument @var{N}=0, use the complete pathname of each file. With a raw (just @kbd{C-u}) prefix argument, use the relative pathname of each marked file. As a special case, if no prefix argument is given and point is on a directory headerline, it gives you the name of that directory, without looking for marked files. @vindex dired-marked-files The list of names is also stored onto the variable @code{dired-marked-files} for use, e.g., in an @kbd{ESC ESC} (@code{eval-expression}) command. As this command also displays what was pushed onto the kill ring you can use it to display the list of currently marked files in the echo area (unless you happen to be on a subdirectory headerline). You can then feed the file name to other Emacs commands with @kbd{C-y}. For example, say you want to rename a long filename to a slightly different name. First type @kbd{w} to push the old name onto the kill ring. Then type @kbd{r} to rename it and use @kbd{C-y} inside @kbd{r}'s minibuffer prompt to insert the old name at a convenient place. @item T @kindex T @findex dired-do-toggle (@code{dired-do-toggle}) Toggle marks. That is, currently marked files become unmarked and vice versa. Files marked with other flags (such as `D') are not affected. The special directories `.' and `..' are never toggled. @end table @node Dired Minibuffer History, Inserting All Marked Subdirectories, Tree Dired Extra Features, Tree Dired Extra @section Minibuffer History for Dired Shell Commands @cindex History of Minibuffer input @cindex Minibuffer History @cindex Gmhist @kindex ! @kindex & @kindex M-p @kindex M-n If @file{dired-x.el} determines at load-time that the Gmhist package is available, the Dired shell commands @kbd{!} and @kbd{&} maintain a history of commands. Use @kbd{M-p} and @kbd{M-n} to scroll through them while you are prompted in the minibuffer for a shell command. @xref{Gmhist Keys in the Minibuffer,Gmhist Keys in the Minibuffer,Gmhist Keys in the Minibuffer,gmhist,The Gmhist Manual}, for more info. Gmhist also handles defaults: @table @code @vindex dired-dangerous-shell-command @item dired-dangerous-shell-command Default: @code{"rm"} Regexp for dangerous shell commands that should never be the default. It is deliberately chosen to match @samp{rm} anywhere in the command, e.g. in @samp{rmdir}. @end table @node Inserting All Marked Subdirectories, Dynamic Dired Markers, Dired Minibuffer History, Tree Dired Extra @section Insert all marked subdirectories @table @kbd @kindex I @findex dired-do-insert-subdir @item I (@code{dired-do-insert-subdir}) Insert all marked subdirectories that are not already inserted. Non-directories are silently ignored. Thus type @kbd{/I} to insert one more level of subdirectories. You can repeat this until no new directories are inserted to fully expand the directory tree in this buffer. As a faster alternative, use the prefix argument for @kbd{C-x d} (@code{dired}) to add @samp{R} to the switches. @end table @node Dynamic Dired Markers, Omitting Files in Dired, Inserting All Marked Subdirectories, Tree Dired Extra @section Dynamic Marker Characters @cindex Dynamic marker characters @cindex Marker characters in Dired, changing them @cindex Changing marker character in Dired @cindex Stack of marker characters in Dired You can change the marker character from its usual value @code{*} to something else. Use this to mark a different set of files while keeping the information on the already marked files. You can nest several marker characters. The current stack of marker characters is displayed in the Dired mode line, and all prompts of mark-using commands mention to which marker they apply. @table @kbd @item ( @kindex ( @findex dired-set-marker-char (@code{dired-set-marker-char}) Set the marker character to something else. Use @kbd{)} to restore the previous value. @item ) @kindex ) @findex dired-restore-marker-char (@code{dired-restore-marker-char}) Restore the marker character to its previous value. Uses @code{dired-default-marker} if the marker stack is empty. @end table @kindex A @kindex Z @kindex m @kindex ( Instead of using @kbd{m} inside a @kbd{(}@dots{}@kbd{)}, you can mark files ``in passing'' with, say @samp{Z} without changing the current marker character. You will probably later use @kbd{(} to temporarily make @samp{Z} to the marker and do something on the @samp{Z}-files, and then return using @code{)}. @table @code @item dired-mark-keys Default: @code{'("Z")} List of keys (strings) that insert themselves as file markers. @end table @node Omitting Files in Dired, Advanced Dired Mark Commands, Dynamic Dired Markers, Tree Dired Extra @section Omitting Files in Dired @cindex Omitting Files in Dired @dfn{Omitting} a file means removing it from the directory listing. Omitting is useful for keeping Dired buffers free of uninteresting files (for instance, auto-save, auxiliary, backup, and revision control files) so that the user can concentrate on the interesting files. Like hidden files, omitted files are never seen by Dired. @xref{Dired Hiding,Hiding in Dired,Hiding in Dired,dired,Tree Dired Manual}. Omitting differs from hiding in several respects: @itemize @bullet @item Omitting works on individual files, not on directories; an entire directory cannot be omitted (though each of its files could be). @item Omitting is wholesale; if omitting is turned on for a dired buffer, then all ``uninteresting'' files listed in that buffer are omitted. The user does not omit (or unomit) files one at a time. @item Omitting can be automatic; uninteresting file lines in the buffer can be removed before the user ever sees them. @item Marked files are never omitted. @end itemize @table @kbd @item M-o @kindex M-o @findex dired-omit-toggle (@code{dired-omit-toggle}) Toggle between displaying and omitting ``uninteresting'' files. With a prefix argument, don't toggle and just mark the files, but don't actually omit them. @end table In order to make omitting work, you must have @code{dired-omit-expunge} on your @code{dired-after-readin-hook}, and you must call @code{dired-omit-startup} (or @code{dired-extra-startup}, which calls @code{dired-omit-startup}) in your @code{dired-mode-hook}. Simply loading @file{dired-x.el} inside @code{dired-load-hook} takes care of all this. The following variables can be used to customize omitting. @table @code @vindex dired-omit-files-p @item dired-omit-files-p Default: @code{nil} @cindex How to make omitting the default in Dired If non-nil, ``uninteresting'' files are not listed. Uninteresting files are those whose filenames match regexp @code{dired-omit-files}, plus those ending with extensions in @code{dired-omit-extensions}. @kbd{M-o} (@code{dired-omit-toggle}) toggles its value, which is buffer-local. Do @example (setq dired-omit-files-p t) @end example inside your @code{dired-mode-hook} to have omitting initially turned on in every Dired buffer. Since @file{dired-x.el} prepends the form @samp{(dired-extra-startup)} to what you put yourself in your @code{dired-mode-hook}, the @code{setq} will take place after @code{dired-omit-files-p} has already been made local to the current Dired buffer, so modelines of non-dired buffers are not affected. For this to work you shouldn't set @code{dired-mode-hook} inside @code{dired-load-hook}, but directly in your @file{~/.emacs} (before Dired is loaded, if you explicitly load Dired). You can then use @kbd{M-o} to unomit in that buffer. @vindex dired-omit-files @item dired-omit-files Default: @code{"^#\\|\\.$"} Filenames matching this buffer-local regexp will not be displayed. This only has effect when @code{dired-omit-files-p} is t. The default value omits the special directories @file{.} and @file{..} and autosave files (plus other files ending in ``.''). @vindex dired-omit-extensions @item dired-omit-extensions Default: The elements of @code{completion-ignored-extensions}, @code{latex-unclean-extensions}, @code{bibtex-unclean-extensions} and @code{texinfo-unclean-extensions}. If non-nil, a list of extensions (strings) to omit from Dired listings. Its format is the same as that of @code{completion-ignored-extensions}. @vindex dired-omit-localp @item dired-omit-localp Default: @code{'no-dir} The @var{localp} argument @code{dired-omit-expunge} passes to @code{dired-get-filename}. If it is @code{'no-dir}, omitting is much faster, but you can only match against the non-directory part of the filename. Set it to @code{nil} if you need to match the whole pathname or @code{t} to match the pathname relative to the buffer's top-level directory. @item dired-omit-marker-char @vindex dired-omit-marker-char Default: @kbd{C-o} Temporary marker used by Dired to implement omitting. Should never be used as marker by the user or other packages. @cindex Omitting additional files There is one exception to this rule: by doing @example (setq dired-mark-keys "\C-o") ;; i.e., the value of dired-omit-marker-char ;; (which is not defined yet) @end example anywhere in your @file{~/.emacs}, you will bind the @kbd{C-o} key to insert a @key{C-o} marker, thus causing these files to be omitted in addition to the usually omitted files. Unfortunately the files you omitted manually this way will show up again after reverting the buffer, unlike the others. @end table @cindex RCS files, how to omit them in Dired @cindex Omitting RCS files in Dired To avoid seeing RCS files and the RCS directory, do @example (setq dired-omit-files "\\.$\\|#\\|^RCS$\\|,v$") @end example This assumes @code{dired-omit-localp} has its default value of @code{'no-dir} to make the @code{^}-anchored matches work. As a slower alternative, with @code{dired-omit-localp} set to @code{nil}, you can use @code{/} instead of @code{^} in the regexp. @cindex Tib files, how to omit them in Dired @cindex Omitting tib files in Dired If you use tib, the bibliography program for use with @TeX{} and La@TeX{}, you might want to omit the @file{INDEX} and the @file{-t.tex} files: @example (setq dired-omit-files "\\.$\\|#\\|^INDEX$\\|-t\\.tex$") @end example @node Advanced Dired Mark Commands, Virtual Dired, Omitting Files in Dired, Tree Dired Extra @section Advanced Mark Commands @table @kbd @item M-( @kindex M-( @findex dired-mark-sexp @cindex Lisp expression, marking files with in Dired @cindex Mark file by lisp expression (@code{dired-mark-sexp}) Mark files for which @var{predicate} returns non-nil. With a prefix argument, unflag those files instead. The @var{predicate} is a lisp expression that can refer to the following symbols: @table @code @item inode [@i{integer}] the inode of the file (only for @samp{ls -i} output) @item s [@i{integer}] the size of the file for @samp{ls -s} output (usually in blocks or, with @samp{-k}, in KBytes) @item mode [@i{string}] file permission bits, e.g., @samp{"-rw-r--r--"} @item nlink [@i{integer}] number of links to file @item uid [@i{string}] owner @item gid [@i{string}] group (If the gid is not displayed by @samp{ls}, this will still be set (to the same as uid)) @item size [@i{integer}] file size in bytes @item time [@i{string}] the time that @samp{ls} displays, e.g., @samp{"Feb 12 14:17"} @item name [@i{string}] the name of the file @item sym [@i{string}] if file is a symbolic link, the linked-to name, else @samp{""} @end table @noindent For example, use @example (equal 0 size) @end example to mark all zero length files. To find out all not yet compiled Emacs lisp files in a directory, dired all @file{.el} files in the lisp directory using the wildcard @samp{*.el}. Then use @kbd{M-(} with @example (not (file-exists-p (concat name "c"))) @end example to mark all @file{.el} files without a corresponding @file{.elc} file. @item M-M @kindex M-M @cindex Marker character, how to replace it @cindex Replacing one marker character with another (@code{dired-do-unmark}) Unmark marked files by replacing the marker with another character. The new character defaults to a space, effectively unmarking them. @item , @kindex , @cindex RCS controlled files, how to mark them @cindex Marking RCS controlled files (@code{dired-mark-rcs-files}) Mark all files that are under RCS control. With prefix argument, unflag all those files. Mentions RCS files for which a working file was not found in this buffer. Type @kbd{W} (@code{dired-why}) to see them again. @item C-m C-c @kindex C-m C-c @cindex Compilation files, how to mark them @cindex Marking compilation files @cindex List of files, how to mark them @cindex Marking a list of files from a buffer (@kbd{C-m C-c} is the suggested binding for @code{dired-mark-files-compilation-buffer}, it is not bound by default.) Mark the files mentioned in the @samp{*compilation*} buffer. With an argument, you may specify the other buffer and your own regexp instead of @code{compilation-error-regexp}. Use @samp{^.+$} (the default with a prefix argument) to match complete lines. In conjunction with narrowing the other buffer you can mark an arbitrary list of files, one per line, with this command. If your regexp contains a subexpression, i.e. @samp{\(@var{...}\)}, that subexpression is taken for the file name, else the whole match is used. Thus you can easily strip pre- and suffixes from filenames by using @samp{@var{prefix}\(.+\)@var{postfix}} as regexp. This is especially useful for a list of files obtained from @kbd{M-x grep} or output from a similar shell command. @item C-m C-d @kindex C-m C-d @cindex Corresponding files, how to mark them @cindex List of files, how to mark them (@kbd{C-m C-d} is the suggested binding for @code{dired-mark-files-from-other-dired-buffer}, it is not bound by default.) Mark those files in this Dired buffer that have the same name as the marked files in the Dired buffer in the other window. In short, mark the corresponding files from the other Dired buffer. @end table @table @kbd @item F @kindex F @cindex Visiting several files at once @cindex Simultaneous visiting of several files @findex dired-do-find-file (@code{dired-do-find-file}) Visit all marked files at once, and display them simultaneously. If you want to keep the dired buffer displayed, type @kbd{C-x 2} first. If you want just the marked files displayed and nothing else, type @kbd{C-x 1} first. The current window is split across all files. Remaining lines go to the last window. The number of files that can be displayed this way is restricted by the height of the current window and the variable @code{window-min-height}. @end table @table @code @item dired-mark-extension @findex dired-mark-extension Mark all files with a certain extension for use in later commands. A @samp{.} is not automatically prepended to the string entered. When called from lisp, @var{extension} may also be a list of extensions and an optional argument @var{marker-char} specifies the marker used. @item dired-flag-extension @findex dired-flag-extension Flag all files with a certain extension for deletion. A @samp{.} is @emph{not} automatically prepended to the string entered. @item dired-clean-patch @findex dired-clean-patch Flag dispensable files created by the @samp{patch} program for deletion. See variable @code{patch-unclean-extensions}. @item dired-clean-tex @findex dired-clean-tex Flag dispensable files created by @TeX{}, La@TeX{} and @samp{texinfo} for deletion. See variables @code{tex-unclean-extensions}, @code{texinfo-unclean-extensions}, @code{latex-unclean-extensions} and @code{bibtex-unclean-extensions}. @end table Variables used by the above cleanup commands (and in the default value for variable @code{dired-omit-extensions}): @table @code @item patch-unclean-extensions @vindex patch-unclean-extensions Default: @code{'(".rej" ".orig")} List of extensions of dispensable files created by the @samp{patch} program. @item tex-unclean-extensions @vindex tex-unclean-extensions Default: @code{'(".toc" ".log" ".aux")} List of extensions of dispensable files created by @TeX{}. @item texinfo-unclean-extensions @vindex texinfo-unclean-extensions Default: @code{'(".cp" ".cps" ".fn" ".fns" ".ky" ".kys" ".pg" ".pgs" ".tp" ".tps" ".vr" ".vrs")} List of extensions of dispensable files created by texinfo. @item latex-unclean-extensions @vindex latex-unclean-extensions Default: @code{'(".idx" ".lof" ".lot" ".glo")} List of extensions of dispensable files created by LaTeX. @item bibtex-unclean-extensions @vindex bibtex-unclean-extensions Default: @code{'(".blg" ".bbl")} List of extensions of dispensable files created by BibTeX. @end table @node Virtual Dired, Multiple Dired Directories, Advanced Dired Mark Commands, Tree Dired Extra @section Virtual Dired @cindex Virtual Dired @cindex Perusing ls listings @cindex ls listings, how to peruse them in Dired Using @dfn{Virtual Dired} means putting a buffer with Dired-like contents in Dired mode. The files described by the buffer contents need not actually exist. This is useful if you want to peruse an @samp{ls -lR} output file, for example one you got from an FTP server. You can use all motion commands usually available in Tree Dired. You can also use it to save a Dired buffer in a file and resume it in a later session. @findex dired-virtual @kindex g @findex dired-virtual-revert Type @kbd{M-x dired-virtual} to put the current buffer into virtual Dired mode. You will be prompted for the top level directory of this buffer, with a default value guessed from the buffer contents. To convert the virtual to a real Dired buffer again, type @kbd{g} (which calls @code{dired-virtual-revert}) in the virtual Dired buffer and answer @samp{y}. You don't have to do this, though: you can relist single subdirectories using @kbd{l} (@code{dired-do-redisplay}) on the subdirectory headerline, leaving the buffer in virtual Dired mode all the time. @findex dired-virtual-mode @vindex auto-mode-alist The function @samp{dired-virtual-mode} is specially designed to turn on virtual Dired mode from the @code{auto-mode-alist}. To automatically edit all @file{*.dired} files in virtual Dired mode, put this into your @file{~/.emacs}: @example (setq auto-mode-alist (cons '("[^/]\\.dired$" . dired-virtual-mode) auto-mode-alist)) @end example The regexp is a bit more complicated than usual to exclude ".dired" local variable files. @node Multiple Dired Directories, Dired Local Variables, Virtual Dired, Tree Dired Extra @section Multiple Dired Directories and Non-Dired Commands @cindex Multiple Dired directories @cindex Working directory An Emacs buffer can have but one working directory, stored in the buffer-local variable @code{default-directory}. A Dired buffer may have several subdirectories inserted, but still has but one working directory: that of the top level Dired directory in that buffer. For some commands it is appropriate that they use the current Dired directory instead of @code{default-directory}, e.g., @code{find-file} and @code{compile}. A general mechanism is provided for special handling of the working directory in special major modes: @table @code @item default-directory-alist @vindex default-directory-alist Default: @code{((dired-mode . (dired-current-directory)))} Alist of major modes and their opinion on @code{default-directory}, as a lisp expression to evaluate. A resulting value of @code{nil} is ignored in favor of @code{default-directory}. @item default-directory @findex default-directory Function with usage like variable @code{default-directory}, but knows about the special cases in variable @code{default-directory-alist}. @end table The following dired-x commands take special care about the current Dired directory: @table @code @item find-this-file @findex find-this-file @findex find-file @kindex C-x C-f Bind this to @kbd{C-x C-f} as a replacement for @code{find-file} that will prompt for the filename within the current Dired subdirectory, not the top level directory. @item find-this-file-other-window @findex find-this-file-other-window @findex find-file-other-window @kindex C-x 4 C-f Bind this to @kbd{C-x 4 C-f} as a replacement for @code{find-file-other-window}. @item dired-smart-shell-command @findex dired-smart-shell-command @findex shell-command @kindex M-! Like function @code{shell-command}, but in the current Tree Dired directory. Bound to @kbd{M-!} in Dired buffers. @item dired-smart-background-shell-command @findex dired-smart-background-shell-command @findex background @kindex M-& Like function @code{background}, but in the current Tree Dired directory. Bound to @kbd{M-&} in Dired buffers. @item dired-jump-back @findex dired-jump-back @kindex C-x j (Suggested binding @kbd{C-x j}) Jump back to dired: If in a file, dired the current directory and move to file's line. If in Dired already, pop up a level and goto old directory's line. In case the proper Dired file line cannot be found, refresh the Dired buffer and try again. @item dired-jump-back-other-window @findex dired-jump-back-other-window @kindex C-x 4 j (Suggested binding @kbd{C-x 4 j}) Like @code{dired-jump-back}, but to other window. @item dired-vm @kindex V @findex dired-vm @vindex vm-folder-directory (@kbd{V}) Run VM on this file (assumed to be a UNIX mail folder). Further `v' commands from within VM in that folder will default to the folder's directory, not the usual @code{vm-folder-directory}. @vindex dired-vm-read-only-folders If you give this command a prefix argument, it will visit the folder read-only. This only works in VM 5, not VM 4. If the variable @code{dired-vm-read-only-folders} is t, @code{dired-vm} will visit all folders read-only. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, e.g., the symbol @code{'if-file-read-only}, only files not writable by you are visited read-only. This is the recommended value if you run VM 5. @item dired-rmail @findex dired-rmail Run Rmail on this file (assumed to be mail folder in Rmail/BABYL format). @end table @c subsection Narrow and Widen in a Dired Buffer @node Dired Local Variables, Making Relative Symbolic Links in Dired, Multiple Dired Directories, Tree Dired Extra @section Local Variables for Dired Directories @cindex Local Variables for Dired Directories @vindex dired-local-variables-file When Dired visits a directory, it looks for a file whose name is the value of variable @code{dired-local-variables-file} (default: @file{.dired}). If such a file is found, Dired will temporarily insert it into the Dired buffer and run @code{hack-local-variables}. @xref{File Variables,Local Variables in Files,Local Variables in Files,emacs,The GNU Emacs Manual}. You can set @code{dired-local-variables-file} to @code{nil} to suppress this. For example, put @example Local Variables: dired-actual-switches: "-lat" dired-sort-mode: " by date" End: @end example into a @file{.dired} file of a directory to sort by date only in that directory. Note that since @code{dired-hack-local-variables} is run inside @code{dired-mode-hook} the modeline has already been set, so you have to update that for yourself by setting @code{dired-sort-mode} in addition to changing the switches. @node Making Relative Symbolic Links in Dired, Letting Dired Guess What Shell Command to Apply, Dired Local Variables, Tree Dired Extra @section Making Relative Symbolic Links in Dired In GNU Emacs version 18, the built-in function @code{make-symbolic-link} always calls @code{expand-file-name} on its arguments, so relative symlinks (e.g. @samp{foo -> ../bar/foo}) are impossible to create. Dired Extra uses @code{call-process} and @samp{ln -s} for a workaround. @table @code @item dired-make-symbolic-link @findex dired-make-symbolic-link Arguments @var{name1} @var{name2} and optional @var{ok-if-already-exists}. Create file @var{name2}, a symbolic link pointing to @var{name1} (which may be any string whatsoever and is passed untouched to @samp{ln -s}). @var{ok-if-already-exists} means that @var{name2} will be overwritten if it already exists. If it is an integer, user will be asked about this. On error, signals a file-error. @item dired-make-relative-symlink @findex dired-make-relative-symlink Three arguments: @var{file1} @var{file2} and optional @var{ok-if-already-exists}. Make a symbolic link @var{file2} (pointing to @var{file1}). The link is relative (if possible), for example @example (dired-make-relative-symlink "/vol/tex/bin/foo" "/vol/local/bin/foo") @end example @noindent results in a link @example /vol/local/bin/foo -> ../../tex/bin/foo @end example @item dired-do-relsymlink @findex dired-do-relsymlink (binding @kbd{S}) Symbolically link all marked (or next @var{N}) files into a directory, or make a symbolic link to the current file. This creates relative symbolic links like @example foo -> ../bar/foo @end example @noindent not absolute ones like @example foo -> /ugly/path/that/may/change/any/day/bar/foo @end example @item dired-do-relsymlink-regexp @findex dired-do-relsymlink-regexp (@kbd{%S}) Symbolically link all marked files containing @var{regexp} to @var{newname}, using relative (not absolute) names. See functions @code{dired-rename-regexp} and @code{dired-do-relsymlink} for more info. @end table @node Letting Dired Guess What Shell Command to Apply, dired-trns.el, Making Relative Symbolic Links in Dired, Tree Dired Extra @section Letting Dired Guess What Shell Command to Apply Based upon the name of a filename, Dired tries to guess what shell command you might want to apply to it. For example, if you have point on a file named @file{foo.tar} and you press @kbd{!}, Dired will guess you want to @samp{tar xvf} it and suggest that as the default shell command. If you are using the @file{gmhist} package (@xref{Dired Minibuffer History}), the default will be mentioned in brackets and you can type @kbd{M-p} to get the default into the minibuffer so that you can edit it, e.g., changing @samp{tar xvf} to @samp{tar tvf}. If there are several commands for a given file, e.g., @samp{xtex} and @samp{dvips} for a @file{.dvi} file, you can type @kbd{M-p} several times to see each of the matching commands. Dired only tries to guess a command for a single file, never for a list of marked files. @table @code @item dired-auto-shell-command-alist-default @vindex dired-auto-shell-command-alist-default Predefined rules for shell commands. Set this to nil to turn guessing off. The elements of @code{dired-auto-shell-command-alist} (defined by the user) will override these rules.@refill @item dired-auto-shell-command-alist @vindex dired-auto-shell-command-alist If non-nil, an alist of file regexps and their suggested commands overriding the predefined rules in @code{dired-auto-shell-command-alist-default}.@refill Each element of the alist looks like @example (@var{regexp} @var{command}@dots{}) @end example where each @var{command} can either be a string or a lisp expression that evaluates to a string. If several @var{COMMAND}s are given, all will temporarily be pushed on the history. These rules take precedence over the predefined rules in the variable @code{dired-auto-shell-command-alist-default} (to which they are prepended when @file{dired-x} is loaded). You can set this variable in your @file{~/.emacs}. For example, to add rules for @samp{.foo} and @samp{.bar} file extensions, write @example (setq dired-auto-shell-command-alist (list (list "\\.foo$" "@var{foo-command}");; fixed rule ;; possibly more rules... (list "\\.bar$";; rule with condition test '(if @var{condition} "@var{bar-command-1}" "@var{bar-command-2}")))) @end example @noindent This will override any predefined rules for the same extensions. @item dired-guess-have-gnutar @vindex dired-guess-have-gnutar Default: @code{nil} If non-nil, name of the GNU tar executable (e.g., @samp{"tar"} or @samp{"gnutar"}). GNU tar's @samp{z} switch is used for compressed tar files. If you don't have GNU tar, set this to nil: a pipe using @samp{zcat} is then used. @end table @node dired-trns.el, dired-cd.el, Letting Dired Guess What Shell Command to Apply, Tree Dired Extra @section Filename Transformers for Dired Shell Commands @cindex Transformer @cindex Basename of a file, how to use in Dired shell commands @cindex Extension of a file, how to use in Dired shell commands File name @dfn{transformers} are functions that take a filename (a string) as an argument and transform it into some other string (e.g., a filename without an extension). This package makes transformers available in Dired shell commands. For example, running the Dired shell command (type @kbd{!} or @kbd{M-x} @code{dired-do-shell-command})@refill @example echo * [b] [db] @end example would list the full name, the basename, and the absolute basename of each marked file. Each transformer is associated with a dispatch character. The associations are stored in a keymap for fast and easy lookup. The dispatch character is used to activate the associated transformer function at a particular position in a shell command issued in Dired. The dispatch character must be enclosed in brackets to distinguish it from normal letters. To take advantage of this package, simply load it after loading Dired, e.g., in your @code{dired-load-hook}. You can then use transformers like "[b]" for the basename in your Dired shell commands (see below). You can define your own transformers using the macro @code{dired-trans-define}. @table @code @item dired-trans-define @findex dired-trans-define Macro that assigns the transformer function @code{(lambda (file) @var{body})} to @var{char} (a character or string). @var{body} must return a string: the transformed file. @end table Several transformers are predefined: @table @samp @item * returns the unmodified filename (equivalent to @samp{[dbe]}). @item n returns the Name component of a filename without directory information @item d returns the Directory component of a filename @item b returns the Basename of a filename, i.e., the name of the file without directory and extension (see variable @code{dired-trans-re-ext}) A basename with directory component can be obtained by @samp{[db]}. @item e returns the Extension of a filename (i.e., whatever @code{dired-trans-re-ext} splits off) @item v returns a file without directory and without @file{,v} suffixes if any. @item z returns a file without directory and without @file{.Z} suffixes if any. @end table @noindent The following variables can be used to customize @file{dired-trns.el}: @table @code @item dired-trans-re-ext @vindex dired-trans-re-ext Default: @code{"\\.[^.]*\\(\\.Z\\)?$"} The part of a filename matching this regexp will be viewed as extension. @item dired-trans-starters @vindex dired-trans-starters Default: @code{"[#[]"} User definable set of characters to be used to indicate the start of a transformer sequence. @item dired-trans-enders @vindex dired-trans-enders Default: @code{"[]# ]"} User definable set of characters to be used to indicate the end of a transformer sequence. @end table @node dired-cd.el, dired-nstd.el, dired-trns.el, Tree Dired Extra @section Changing the Working Directory for Dired Shell Commands The package @file{dired-cd.el} permits the working directory of the Dired shell commands @kbd{!} (@code{dired-do-shell-command}) and @kbd{&} (@code{dired-do-background-shell-command}) to be the files' subdirectory under certain circumstances. Loading this extension does not change the behavior of Dired until the variables @code{dired-cd-same-subdir} and/or @code{dired-cd-on-each} are non-nil. @vindex dired-cd-same-subdir If @code{dired-cd-same-subdir} is non-nil and if all the selected files (marked, non-zero numeric argument, etc.) are in the same subdirectory, then @code{dired-do-shell-command} and @code{dired-do-background-shell-command} cause the shell to perform a @samp{cd} into that directory before the commands are executed. Also, the selected filenames are provided to the command without any directory components. @vindex dired-cd-on-each If @code{dired-cd-on-each} is non-nil and if the @samp{on-each} option is specified (numeric argument of zero), then @kbd{!} (@code{dired-do-shell-command}) and @kbd{&} (@code{dired-mark-background-shell-command}) use a subshell to perform a @samp{cd} into the subdirectory of each file before the commands on that file are executed. Also, each filename is provided to the command without any directory components. Note that this behavior occurs regardless of whether the files are all in the same directory or not. After the above @samp{cd} wrapping has occured, the existing @code{dired-shell-stuff-it} is used to do the actual file-name quoting and substitution into the command. Thus, custom versions of this procedure should work, e.g., the @samp{dired-trans} package will transform commands correctly. However, since filenames lack any directory components, features that use the directory components will fail, e.g. the @samp{[d]} transform specifier will be empty. To use this package, load it in your @code{dired-load-hook}. Do @example (setq dired-cd-same-subdir t) @end example @noindent and perhaps @example (setq dired-cd-on-each t) @end example @noindent in your @file{~/.emacs}. By default, @code{dired-cd} doesn't change the behavior of Dired when it is loaded. @vindex dired-cd-same-subdir If @code{dired-cd-same-subdir} is non-nil, then the shell commands @samp{cd} to the appropriate directory if all the selected files are in that directory; however, on-each behavior (with zero prefix argument) is not changed. @vindex dired-cd-on-each If @code{dired-cd-on-each} is non-nil, then each instance of the command for an on-each shell command runs in the file's directory regardless of whether the files are all in the same directory. @node dired-nstd.el, find-dired.el, dired-cd.el, Tree Dired Extra @section Nested Dired format [NO DOCUMENTATION YET] This is still buggy, @xref{Dired Known Problems}. @node find-dired.el, , dired-nstd.el, Tree Dired Extra @section Feeding Find Output to Dired @cindex Find and Dired The @code{find-dired} command runs the @samp{find} command in a buffer and starts Dired on the inserted file lines, even while @samp{find} is still running. For example, with @samp{-type d} as argument, you will get a Dired buffer that contains all subdirectories of a given directory, but none of the other files. Note that @samp{find} just gives you file lines, not inserted subdirectories with associated headerlines as repeated use of the @kbd{i} (@code{dired-maybe-insert-subdir}) command would. Also, the names contain slashes if they are in a subdirectory, which never occurs in a normal Dired buffer. Dired understands these names anyway and you can for example type @kbd{f} on such lines as usual. However, while @samp{find} is still running you shouldn't type @kbd{i} to insert subdirectories, since new @samp{find} output is always appended at the end. Use @kbd{f} or @kbd{o} instead to dired the specific subdirectory in a new Dired buffer. After @samp{find} has finished (as indicated by a message and the modeline) all Dired commands work as usual. @table @code @item find-dired @findex find-dired Run @samp{find} on a directory @var{dir}, with find arguments @var{args}, and go into dired-mode on a buffer of the output. The command run (after changing into @var{dir}) is @example find . \( @var{args} \) -ls @end example @item find-name-dired @findex find-name-dired Search @var{dir} recursively for files matching the globbing pattern @var{pattern}, and run Dired on those files. @var{pattern} is a shell wildcard (not an Emacs regexp) and need not be quoted. The command run (after changing into @var{dir}) is @example find . -name '@var{pattern}' -ls @end example @item find-grep-dired @findex find-grep-dired Find files in directory @var{dir} containing a regexp @var{arg} and start Dired on output. The command run (after changing into @var{dir}) is @example find . -exec grep -s @var{arg} @{@} \; -ls @end example @end table @node Dired Internals, Dired Known Problems, Tree Dired Extra, Top @appendix Dired Internals This is a short introduction about how Dired's Tree and Mark features work. You are encouraged to read the code (@file{dired.el}) for more information. @menu * Tree Dired Internals:: * Dired Mark Internals:: @end menu @node Tree Dired Internals, Dired Mark Internals, Dired Internals, Dired Internals @section Tree Dired Internals @cindex Internals of Tree Dired @cindex Tree Dired Internals @vindex dired-subdir-alist @vindex default-directory In Tree Dired, instead of just one directory, all or part of the directory @emph{tree} starting at the top level directory (the working directory or @code{default-directory} of the buffer) may be in a Dired buffer. Each file line belongs to exactly one of those subdirectories. After the @code{ls} program has inserted its output, Dired parses the buffer once to find out where the subdirectory boundaries are and saves them in the variable @code{dired-subdir-alist}. The beginning of the headerline inserted by @code{ls} serves as boundary between subdirectories. @kindex i @findex dired-maybe-insert-subdir Subsequent @kbd{i} (@code{dired-maybe-insert-subdir}) commands update this alist and insert the appropriate headerline. Each retrieval of the filename on the current line first extracts the basename (assuming a more or less standard @code{ls} output format), and then function @code{dired-current-directory} looks up the current Dired directory in @code{dired-subdir-alist}. The lookup is keyed on buffer position, as each buffer position is between exactly two subdirectory boundaries. (The end of the buffer serves as an implicit subdirectory boundary.) @table @code @item dired-subdir-alist @vindex dired-subdir-alist Association list of subdirectories and their buffer positions: @example ((@var{lastdir} . @var{lastmarker}) @dots{} (@var{default-directory} . @var{firstmarker})). @end example The markers point right before the beginning of the line, so that they separate subdirectories adjacent in the buffer. The directories must be in the form returned by @code{file-name-as-directory}. @item dired-subdir-regexp @vindex dired-subdir-regexp Value: "^. \\([^ \n\r]+\\)\\(:\\)[\n\r]" Regexp matching a maybe hidden subdirectory line in @samp{ls -lR} output. Subexpression 1 is subdirectory proper, no trailing colon. The match starts at the beginning of the line and ends after the end of the line (@samp{\n} or @samp{\r}). Subexpression 2 must end right before the @samp{\n} or @code{\r}. This is so that Dired can easily check whether a subdirectory is hidden or not: hidden lines end with @samp{\r} (@kbd{C-m}) instead of a newline. This regexp used to be @code{"^. \\(/[^\n\r]*\\)\\(:\\)[\n\r]"}, allowing spaces, but disallowing relative filenames (which occur when browsing ls -lR listing in virtual Dired mode, so I changed it). Note that @code{"^. \\([^\n\r]+\\)\\(:\\)[\n\r]"} (desirable since it allows both spaces and relative names) will not always work: if you have a file that ends in a colon, its whole line (including permission bits, date etc.) would be mistaken for a subdirectory headerline when parsing @samp{ls -lR} output. @code{dired-subdir-regexp} is only relevant for parsing @samp{ls -lR} output. If Dired inserts subdirectories itself (using @code{dired-insert-subdir}), they will always be absolute and there is no restriction on the format of filenames, e.g., they can contain spaces. @end table @node Dired Mark Internals, , Tree Dired Internals, Dired Internals @section Dired Mark Internals This is a short overview about how marking files and retrieving marked files in Dired works. @cindex Internal of Dired file marking @cindex Dired file marking internals @cindex File marking internals in Dired @cindex Marking files in Dired, internals of @code{ls} output is indented two spaces two make room for an optional marker character in front of each file line. Marking simply replaces the first space with the marker character, usually @code{*} or, for deletions, @code{D}. Indenting just by one would leave the markers adjacent to the permission bits. @table @code @item dired-mark-if @findex dired-mark-if The macro @code{dired-mark-if} is used internally to mark files matching certain criteria. It takes two arguments, the @var{predicate}, a lisp expression evaluating non-nil on file lines to be marked, and @var{msg}, a message to be displayed while scanning the buffer. @var{msg} may be nil to suppress the message. @findex dired-mark-map @item dired-mark-map To operate on the marked files, all internal Dired functions ultimately call the macro @code{dired-mark-map}. It takes two arguments, @var{body} and @var{arg}, plus an optional argument @var{show-progress}: Perform @var{body} with point somewhere on each marked line (inside a @code{save-excursion}) and return a list of @var{body}'s results. If no marked file could be found, execute @var{body} on the current line. If @var{arg} is an integer, use the next @var{arg} (or previous -@var{arg}, if @var{arg}<0) files instead of the marked files. In that case point is dragged along. This is so that commands on the next ARG (instead of the marked) files can be chained easily. Note that for positive ARG point is left on the first file not operated upon, for negative on the last file operated upon If @var{arg} is otherwise non-nil, use current file instead. If optional third argument @var{show-progress} evaluates to non-nil, we redisplay the Dired buffer after each file is processed. No guarantee is made about the position on the marked line. @var{body} must ensure this itself if it depends on this. Search starts at the beginning of the buffer, thus the @code{car} of the list corresponds to the line nearest to the buffer's bottom. This is also true for (positive and negative) integer values of @var{arg}. The @var{body} should not be too long as it is expanded four times.@refill @c This warning should no longer apply. sk 6-Sep-1991 16:28 @c Warning: @var{body} must not add new lines before point - this may cause @c an endless loop. @end table @noindent A common case is to retrieve the names of all marked files: @table @code @findex dired-mark-get-files @item dired-mark-get-files Return the marked files as list of strings. The list is in the same order as the buffer, that is, the car is the first marked file. Values returned are normally absolute pathnames. Optional argument @var{localp} equal to @code{no-dir} means return the filename proper only, with no directory information; any other non-nil value means make them relative to default-directory. Optional second argument @var{arg} forces use of other files. If @var{arg} is an integer, use the next @var{arg} files. If @var{arg} is otherwise non-nil, use the current file. @end table @node Dired Known Problems, Dired Variable Index, Dired Internals, Top @appendix Known Problems with Dired There are some problems with Dired that are either not Dired's fault, hard to fix or not worth fixing. @itemize @bullet @item Renaming directories usually works fine (all affected Dired and file buffers are updated), but moving a directory between different filesystems (those on different hard disks or different partitions) does not work: it creates a plain target file containing the contents of the original directory (inodes and filenames) or fails completely. Unfortunately Emacs' builtin function @code{rename-file} does not give you a clear error message like @samp{cross-device link attempted}, but rather a spurious @code{(file-error "Removing old name" "not owner")}, at least in Emacs 18.55. On some systems renaming a directory always fails (even within the same filesystem) with the spurious @samp{not owner} error. @c This was reported for HP-UX. @c @c On one system (IBM Rs6000 running AIX 3.1.3) date lossage was reported, @c but this was not reproducible. @item If @file{foo} is a symlink to a non-existing file, @code{(file-exists-p "foo")} returns nil. Thus, Dired will overwite such (strange) kinds of symlinks without noticing. Dired could test both @code{file-symlink-p} and @code{file-exists-p}, but this would slow down all file operations to catch a very rare case. @item Copying a directory does not work - it results in a zero-length target file. This comes from Emacs' @code{copy-file} function, not from Dired. If you really want to copy a directory (recursively), use `!' and your favorite shell command to do it (e.g. cp -R or cp -r). @item Initial spaces in a filename are not recognized. If I could be sure that all @samp{ls} programs insert exactly one space between the time and the filename, I could easily fix this. But @samp{ls} programs tend to vary in their amount of white space, and even with one @samp{ls} program there is a difference between year and clocktime formats @example drwxr-xr-x 2 ab027 thp 512 Aug 13 1990 thp/ drwxr-xr-x 4 ab027 thp 512 Feb 3 21:59 ./ @end example If your @samp{ls} supports the @samp{-b} switch and quotes spaces with that switch, simply add @samp{b} to your @code{dired-listing-switches}. @xref{Listing Files in Dired}. Spaces anywhere but at the beginning do work. @item In general, only commands that may have targets outside of the current directory tree update other buffers (copy, move and link commands). Especially, deletions, (un)compress, chmod/chgrp/chown update only the current buffer. @item Some compress programs make output even if all goes well. Dired takes output as a sign of trouble and assumes that the subprocess failed. Redefine function @code{dired-check-process-checker} suitably to look closer at the generated output. In Emacs 19, the exit status of compress will be checked. @item Aliases like @samp{rm -i} for @samp{rm} or @samp{ls -F} for @samp{ls} can cause problems in Dired's (and Emacs') shell command. (Aliases for @samp{ls} only matter if you dired wildcards, because only then the shell is used to run @samp{ls}.) Csh expands aliases only for interactive shells, which is probably what you want. In Bash, you can achieve this by testing @code{PS1} in your @file{~/.bashrc}: @example # `.bashrc' file # this test fails when invoked by rsh if [ "$@{PS1-no@}" != "no" ] # is this an interactive shell? then . ~/.bash_alias # if so, source aliases fi @end example @item Directory names starting with @file{-} (a minus) may lose when they are to be created or removed. If you care about this, and your rmdir and mkdir understand about @file{--} meaning end of options, change @file{emacs-19.el} accordingly. In Emacs 19 the @code{make-directory} and @code{remove-directory} operations will be builtin, not implemented with @samp{rmdir} and @samp{mkdir} subprocesses. @item @file{dired-nstd.el}: This is still buggy. For example, after you've compressed the last file it may not correctly return that file's absolute pathname (@code{dired-current-directory} erronously returns nil because of markers collapsed during redisplay), ultimately leading to lisp errors. @c Not longer a problem as of dired-version 5.242, sk 28-Jan-1992 11:17. @c @item @c Symbolic links to directories are sometimes strange. On System V @c derived systems (e.g., DG/UX, AIX/370), after @c @example @c mkdir dir; ln -s dir link @c @end example @c both @file{link} and @file{link/} are considered symbolic links by the @c @samp{stat(2)} system call, while on BSD derived systems (e.g., Sun OS, @c Mach, HP/UX, Ultrix) @file{link/} is considered a directory. In @c general, the BSD behaviour is preferable, at least for Dired. On the @c other systems it is cumbersome to get Dired to dereference those links. @item The regexp-using @kbd{%}-commands get into an endless loop if you specify a regular expression that matches the empty string. @item Function @code{find-alternate-file} in Emacs 18.57 has a bug that causes @kbd{C-x C-v RET} (which usually re-visits the current buffer) to fail on Dired buffers. This is fixed in the version in @file{emacs-19.el}, automatically loaded by Dired. @item It is not possible to resort the Dired buffer without reverting it. That would be hard to implement (and slow to run) given that ls date format would have to be parsed for @samp{ls -t} sorting order. @end itemize @node Dired Variable Index, Dired Function Index, Dired Known Problems, Top @unnumbered Dired Variable Index @printindex vr @node Dired Function Index, Dired Key Index, Dired Variable Index, Top @unnumbered Dired Function Index @printindex fn @node Dired Key Index, Dired Concept Index, Dired Function Index, Top @unnumbered Dired Key Index @printindex ky @node Dired Concept Index, , Dired Key Index, Top @unnumbered Dired Concept Index @printindex cp @c @summarycontents @contents @bye