emacs: Speedbar
21.9 Speedbar Frames
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The “speedbar” is a special frame for conveniently navigating in or
operating on another frame. The speedbar, when it exists, is always
associated with a specific frame, called its “attached frame”; all
speedbar operations act on that frame.
Type ‘M-x speedbar’ to create the speedbar and associate it with the
current frame. To dismiss the speedbar, type ‘M-x speedbar’ again, or
select the speedbar and type ‘q’. (You can also delete the speedbar
frame like any other Emacs frame.) If you wish to associate the
speedbar with a different frame, dismiss it and call ‘M-x speedbar’ from
that frame.
The speedbar can operate in various modes. Its default mode is “File
Display” mode, which shows the files in the current directory of the
selected window of the attached frame, one file per line. Clicking on a
file name visits that file in the selected window of the attached frame,
and clicking on a directory name shows that directory in the speedbar
(
Mouse References). Each line also has a box, ‘[+]’ or ‘<+>’,
that you can click on to “expand” the contents of that item. Expanding
a directory adds the contents of that directory to the speedbar display,
underneath the directory’s own line. Expanding an ordinary file adds a
list of the tags in that file to the speedbar display; you can click on
a tag name to jump to that tag in the selected window of the attached
frame. When a file or directory is expanded, the ‘[+]’ changes to
‘[-]’; you can click on that box to “contract” the item, hiding its
contents.
You navigate through the speedbar using the keyboard, too. Typing
<RET> while point is on a line in the speedbar is equivalent to clicking
the item on the current line, and <SPC> expands or contracts the item.
‘U’ displays the parent directory of the current directory. To copy,
delete, or rename the file on the current line, type ‘C’, ‘D’, and ‘R’
respectively. To create a new directory, type ‘M’.
Another general-purpose speedbar mode is “Buffer Display” mode; in
this mode, the speedbar displays a list of Emacs buffers. To switch to
this mode, type ‘b’ in the speedbar. To return to File Display mode,
type ‘f’. You can also change the display mode by clicking ‘mouse-3’
anywhere in the speedbar window (or ‘mouse-1’ on the mode-line) and
selecting ‘Displays’ in the pop-up menu.
Some major modes, including Rmail mode, Info, and GUD, have
specialized ways of putting useful items into the speedbar for you to
select. For example, in Rmail mode, the speedbar shows a list of Rmail
files, and lets you move the current message to another Rmail file by
clicking on its ‘<M>’ box.
For more details on using and programming the speedbar,
Speedbar (speedbar)Top.
Info Catalog
emacs: Fonts
emacs: Frames
emacs: Multiple Displays