Emacs follow-mode

#1

Post by cpr » Sat, Jul 23, 2011, 8:50 PM UTC

Re: Emacs follow-mode

#2

Post by cpr » Sat, Jul 23, 2011, 8:52 PM UTC

I've been using Emacs for 32 years (hard to believe) and never knew about this incredible but apparently obscure feature of Emacs.

On my 27" cinema display, even using 12pt Monaco for my tired old eyes for extreme legibility, I can get 4-5 columns of 90 lines each, when editing source files or text, for an effective "screen length" of 360-450 lines. With 10pt, you can get 500+ lines "on screen" easily.

Docs: http://www.gnu.org/software/libtool/manual/emacs/Follow-Mode... .

Re: Emacs follow-mode

#3

Post by dmpatierno » Sat, Jul 23, 2011, 9:50 PM UTC

In vim, with scrollbind:

  nmap  ef	:vsplitwincmd lexe "norm! Ljz":set scb:wincmd h:set scb

Source: http://markmail.org/message/kbnyhxffy6zs7pic

Re: Emacs follow-mode

#4

Post by iamelgringo » Sat, Jul 23, 2011, 9:56 PM UTC

You can do that in Sublime Text as well: File -> Clone File

http://www.sublimetext.com/

Re: Emacs follow-mode

#5

Post by chrismealy » Sat, Jul 23, 2011, 10:00 PM UTC

cpr wrote: post #2

I've been using Emacs for 32 years (hard to believe) and never knew about this incredible but apparently obscure feature of Emacs. On my 27" cinema display, even using 12pt Monaco for my tired old eyes for extreme legibility, I can get 4-5 columns of 90 lines each, when editing source files or text, for an effective "screen length" of 360-450 lines. With 10pt, you can get 500+ lines "on screen" easily. Docs: http://w…

I've only been using emacs for 18 years and I use 19pt Menlo!

Re: Emacs follow-mode

#6

Post by pyre » Sat, Jul 23, 2011, 10:05 PM UTC

dmpatierno wrote: post #3

In vim, with scrollbind: nmap ef :vsplit wincmd l exe "norm! Ljz " :set scb :wincmd h :set scb Source: http://markmail.org/message/kbnyhxffy6zs7pic

There is also this:

http://mysite.verizon.net/astronaut/vim/index.html#MPAGE

Re: Emacs follow-mode

#7

Post by pyre » Sat, Jul 23, 2011, 10:08 PM UTC

iamelgringo wrote: post #4

You can do that in Sublime Text as well: File -> Clone File http://www.sublimetext.com/

Will the cursor automatically swap between the buffers when you reach the edge? (e.g. buffer 1 is showing page 1 and buffer 2 is showing page 2; when you get the end of page 1, the cursor/focus switches to buffer 2, rather than it just being two independently scrolling views into the same file)

Re: Emacs follow-mode

#8

Post by program » Sat, Jul 23, 2011, 10:13 PM UTC

The documentation is misleading. You can use follow-mode on an arbitrary number of windows that show the same buffer.

Re: Emacs follow-mode

#9

Post by nileshk » Sat, Jul 23, 2011, 10:16 PM UTC

follow-mode is great. I use functions that:

1. split into three or four windows

2. balance the windows (so each takes up equal amount of space)

3. turn on line highlighting

Line highlighting helps because when using follow-mode it can become difficult to quickly spot where the cursor is without it (e.g. if you do an incremental search, the cursor could end up in any one of the many windows).

You can find the functions I wrote here, search for functions that end in "-and-follow":

https://github.com/nileshk/emacs/blob/master/nileshk/functio...

What I'd like to have is a function that dynamically opens just enough windows so that the entire file you are editing is entirely visible (possibly with an upper limit for number of windows that can be set).

Re: Emacs follow-mode

#10

Post by bch » Sat, Jul 23, 2011, 10:17 PM UTC

I try to not be surprised by the power and flexibility of Emacs. Having been impressed so much over the years, I've tried to come to know it as simply "awesome". That said, it's hard to not be impressed when it shows itself as even more awesome, even when you thought you were prepared for that eventuality ;)