Buffer List Editing

The bufed command on Ctrl-x Ctrl-b functions like dired, but it works with buffers instead of files. It creates a list of buffer names. Each buffer name appears on a line along with the size of the buffer, the associated file name (if any) and a star if the buffer contains unsaved changes, and/or an R if the buffer is currently marked read-only. The bufed command pops up the list, and highlights the line describing the current buffer.

In bufed's popup window, alphabetic keys run special bufed commands. The N and P keys go to the next and previous buffers in the list, respectively, by going down or up one line. The D command deletes the buffer on the current line, but warns you if the buffer contains unsaved changes. The S key saves the buffer on the current line, and Shift-P prints the buffer like the print-buffer command. The E or <Space> command selects the buffer on the current line and displays it in the current window, removing the bufed listing.

As in dired, several keys provide shortcuts for common operations. The 1 key expands the current window to take up the whole screen, then selects the highlighted buffer. The 2 key splits the current window horizontally and selects the highlighted buffer in the second window. The 5 key works like the 2 key, except it splits the window vertically. The Z key zooms the current window to full-screen, then selects the highlighted buffer.

By default, the most recently accessed buffers appear at the top of the list, and those you haven't used recently appear at the end. The current buffer always appears at the top of the list. You can press "b", "f", or "i" to make Epsilon sort the list by buffer name, file name, or size, respectively. Pressing 'a' makes Epsilon sort by access time again. Pressing the upper case letters "B", "F", "I", or "A" reverses the sense of the sort. Pressing "u" produces a buffer list ordered by time of creation, with the oldest buffers at the bottom. Pressing "m" toggles whether modified buffers appear first in the list. Alphabetic keys not mentioned above do nothing. Most other keys like <Down> or Ctrl-s run their usual commands.

The bufed command does not normally list special buffers such as the kill buffers, whose names start with a dash character ("-"). To include even these buffers, give the bufed command a numeric argument.

By default, bufed pops up a 50-column window in the non-Windows versions. You can change this width by setting the bufed-width variable. (In Epsilon for Windows, change the dialog's width by dragging its border, as usual.) The bufed-column-width variable controls how much space is used for buffer names in the display.

The bufed-show-absolute-path variable says whether bufed should display file names using their absolute path names, not those relative to the current directory. The bufed-grouping variable says whether to group buffers with no files, or system buffers, together in the list, instead of sorting them with other buffers.

Standard bindings:

Ctrl-x Ctrl-b bufed

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