Subject: Re: bug#5641: wishlist: menubar button for terminal buffers

From: Lars Ingebrigtsen <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 18 Jul 2021 15:44:49 +0200

Praveen A <[email-masked]> writes:

> I have been using emacs terminal mode (ansi-term) extensively as my
> primary terminal emulator program. The big reason is support for
> properly rendering Indic text (this is important to see file names and
> outputs from localised programs properly while using terminal - both
> of them quite common if you happen to use a Indic locale). One thing I
> found lacking is an easy way to swicth between terminals.

(I'm going through old bug reports that unfortunately weren't resolved
at the time.)

`C-x b ans TAB' will commonly list all the ansi term buffers.

> Currently they are treated just as other buffers and if you happen to
> have lot of buffers, switching between terminals are not easy,
> especially when you have lot of buffers opened by erc. And add to it,
> there is no way to differentiate between already opened terminals. I
> would like to request an easier way to switch between
> terminals. Something like what erc provides or just a menubar button
> (like the buffers menu - with just terminal buffers listed).

Adding a menu bar entry under Terminal that lists all terminal buffers
would be easy enough to add -- but I'm not sure it would be very
useful.  As you point out, the terminal buffers usually have very
similar names (*ansi-term*<1>, *ansi-term*<2>...).

But perhaps the new menu thing could also try to list some other
distinguishing factors, like the current working directory?  Is there
anything else we could use?

-- 
(domestic pets only, the antidote for overdose, milk.)
   bloggy blog: http://lars.ingebrigtsen.no