GNU bug report logs - #40269
Emacs should recognize "file:" when opening files

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Message #5 received at submit <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: 積丹尼 Dan Jacobson <jidanni <at> jidanni.org>
To: bug-gnu-emacs <at> gnu.org
Subject: Emacs should recognize "file:" when opening files
Date: Sat, 28 Mar 2020 12:04:01 +0800

Emacs should recognize file:///home/bla/bla/h.html
That way users could do
$ set file:///home/bla/bla/h.html
$ $BROWSER $@
$ emacs $@
etc. and they would all work the same!
No I don't want to use extensions.

Message #8 received at 40269 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi <at> gnus.org>
To: 積丹尼 Dan Jacobson <jidanni <at> jidanni.org>
Cc: 40269 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#40269: Emacs should recognize "file:" when opening files
Date: Wed, 05 Aug 2020 13:40:54 +0200

積丹尼 Dan Jacobson <jidanni <at> jidanni.org> writes:

> Emacs should recognize file:///home/bla/bla/h.html
> That way users could do
> $ set file:///home/bla/bla/h.html
> $ $BROWSER $@
> $ emacs $@
> etc. and they would all work the same!
> No I don't want to use extensions.

What should it do with this input?  Start eww?  Edit h.html?

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

Message #11 received at 40269 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: 積丹尼 Dan Jacobson <jidanni <at> jidanni.org>
To: Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi <at> gnus.org>
Cc: 40269 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#40269: Emacs should recognize "file:" when opening files
Date: Thu, 06 Aug 2020 13:55:45 +0800

>>>>> "LI" == Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi <at> gnus.org> writes:
LI> 積丹尼 Dan Jacobson <jidanni <at> jidanni.org> writes:

>> Emacs should recognize file:///home/bla/bla/h.html
>> That way users could do
>> $ set file:///home/bla/bla/h.html
>> $ $BROWSER $@
>> $ emacs $@
>> etc. and they would all work the same!
>> No I don't want to use extensions.

LI> What should it do with this input?  Start eww?  Edit h.html?

Well emacs is an editor so I suppose it should edit it.
But OK it could also browse if it insists.
Anything is better than the current behavior of totally not being
prepared for file:/// .

Message #14 received at 40269 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi <at> gnus.org>
To: 積丹尼 Dan Jacobson <jidanni <at> jidanni.org>
Cc: 40269 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#40269: Emacs should recognize "file:" when opening files
Date: Thu, 06 Aug 2020 09:22:19 +0200

積丹尼 Dan Jacobson <jidanni <at> jidanni.org> writes:

> Well emacs is an editor so I suppose it should edit it.
> But OK it could also browse if it insists.
> Anything is better than the current behavior of totally not being
> prepared for file:/// .

I don't know whether that makes sense at all.  I just don't see the use
case of feeding an URL to Emacs and then expecting to be able to start
editing it.  It's a pretty obscure thing to want to happen.

So I'm closing this bug report.

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

Message #21 received at 40269 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
To: 積丹尼 Dan Jacobson <jidanni <at> jidanni.org>
Cc: larsi <at> gnus.org, 40269 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#40269: Emacs should recognize "file:" when opening files
Date: Thu, 06 Aug 2020 16:41:41 +0300

> From: 積丹尼 Dan Jacobson
>  <jidanni <at> jidanni.org>
> Date: Thu, 06 Aug 2020 13:55:45 +0800
> Cc: 40269 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
> 
> >>>>> "LI" == Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi <at> gnus.org> writes:
> LI> 積丹尼 Dan Jacobson <jidanni <at> jidanni.org> writes:
> 
> >> Emacs should recognize file:///home/bla/bla/h.html
> >> That way users could do
> >> $ set file:///home/bla/bla/h.html
> >> $ $BROWSER $@
> >> $ emacs $@
> >> etc. and they would all work the same!
> >> No I don't want to use extensions.
> 
> LI> What should it do with this input?  Start eww?  Edit h.html?
> 
> Well emacs is an editor so I suppose it should edit it.
> But OK it could also browse if it insists.
> Anything is better than the current behavior of totally not being
> prepared for file:/// .

Is there an actual use case here, or are we inventing it as we go?

Message #24 received at 40269 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: 積丹尼 Dan Jacobson <jidanni <at> jidanni.org>
To: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
Cc: larsi <at> gnus.org, 40269 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#40269: Emacs should recognize "file:" when opening files
Date: Fri, 07 Aug 2020 01:44:33 +0800

>>>>> "EZ" == Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org> writes:
EZ> Is there an actual use case here, or are we inventing it as we go?

Sure:
$ emacs file:///etc/motd

Use M-x make-directory RET RET to create the directory and its parents

What a "outdated" response from emacs.

It should at least say "I am emacs. I know you used a file: URL. I know
file URL have more meaning than arbitrary zzzz: URLs. But I currently
don't have a consensus about what to do with them right now." At least.

Message #27 received at 40269 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
To: 積丹尼 Dan Jacobson <jidanni <at> jidanni.org>
Cc: larsi <at> gnus.org, 40269 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#40269: Emacs should recognize "file:" when opening files
Date: Thu, 06 Aug 2020 21:04:46 +0300

> From: 積丹尼 Dan Jacobson <jidanni <at> jidanni.org>
> Cc: larsi <at> gnus.org,  40269 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
> Date: Fri, 07 Aug 2020 01:44:33 +0800
> 
> >>>>> "EZ" == Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org> writes:
> EZ> Is there an actual use case here, or are we inventing it as we go?
> 
> Sure:
> $ emacs file:///etc/motd
> 
> Use M-x make-directory RET RET to create the directory and its parents
> 
> What a "outdated" response from emacs.
> 
> It should at least say "I am emacs. I know you used a file: URL. I know
> file URL have more meaning than arbitrary zzzz: URLs. But I currently
> don't have a consensus about what to do with them right now." At least.

That's not a use case.  A use case would be when you describe that you
have this-and-that problem or need, and the natural solution is to use
the file:// URL to access a local file (instead of just naming the
file as usual).

Message #30 received at 40269 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: 積丹尼 Dan Jacobson <jidanni <at> jidanni.org>
To: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
Cc: larsi <at> gnus.org, 40269 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#40269: Emacs should recognize "file:" when opening files
Date: Fri, 07 Aug 2020 04:26:46 +0800

Let's say I browse a local file in a browser.
Now I want to edit it in emacs.
Well if you let me just copy the whole URL, including the file:///
things would be great.
But just because emacs was born in the 1970s or something,
I have to remove the file:/// else emacs totally can't deal with it.
Everything else can deal with it, except emacs.
For emacs I have to do DEL DEL DEL DEL DEL DEL DEL each time.
That's because emacs hasn't been updated since 1970, the user feels.

Message #33 received at 40269 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
To: 積丹尼 Dan Jacobson <jidanni <at> jidanni.org>
Cc: larsi <at> gnus.org, 40269 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#40269: Emacs should recognize "file:" when opening files
Date: Fri, 07 Aug 2020 08:32:44 +0300

> From: 積丹尼 Dan Jacobson <jidanni <at> jidanni.org>
> Cc: larsi <at> gnus.org,  40269 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
> Date: Fri, 07 Aug 2020 04:26:46 +0800
> 
> Let's say I browse a local file in a browser.
> Now I want to edit it in emacs.
> Well if you let me just copy the whole URL, including the file:///
> things would be great.

That already works: "M-x eww RET" in Emacs, copy the file:// URL to
respond to the prompt, and voilà!  If you actually need to modify the
file, type "C-x C-q" and proceed editing to your heart's content.

> But just because emacs was born in the 1970s or something,
> I have to remove the file:/// else emacs totally can't deal with it.
> Everything else can deal with it, except emacs.
> For emacs I have to do DEL DEL DEL DEL DEL DEL DEL each time.
> That's because emacs hasn't been updated since 1970, the user feels.

Actually, the latest change to Emacs were today.

Message #36 received at 40269 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: 積丹尼 Dan Jacobson <jidanni <at> jidanni.org>
To: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
Cc: larsi <at> gnus.org, 40269 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#40269: Emacs should recognize "file:" when opening files
Date: Sat, 08 Aug 2020 00:09:27 +0800

EZ> That already works: "M-x eww RET" in Emacs, copy the file:// URL to

I want
$ emacs file:///... to do something, anything (non-dumb).

How about having to do M-x find-file instead of being able to enter
things from the command line? Yuck.

And what "major savings" is "breaking" file:/// buying emacs anyway?

I already have enough
$ typeset
emacs_w3m ()
{
    emacsclient -e "(w3m \"$@\")" && wmctrl -a macs
}

And yes I can hit E there to edit the file. That's not the point.

I saying that if chrome, firefox, can deal with emacs' /nurds/burg
then it is only fair that emacs should be able to deal with
chrome, firefox's file:///nurds/burg .

Also I bet emacs isn't "RFC compliant".
I'm sure there is a RFC that says
"Programs MUST translate file:///nurds/burg to a local resource" or something.

Message #39 received at 40269 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
To: 積丹尼 Dan Jacobson <jidanni <at> jidanni.org>
Cc: larsi <at> gnus.org, 40269 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#40269: Emacs should recognize "file:" when opening files
Date: Fri, 07 Aug 2020 20:14:28 +0300

> From: 積丹尼 Dan Jacobson <jidanni <at> jidanni.org>
> Cc: larsi <at> gnus.org,  40269 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
> Date: Sat, 08 Aug 2020 00:09:27 +0800
> 
> I saying that if chrome, firefox, can deal with emacs' /nurds/burg
> then it is only fair that emacs should be able to deal with
> chrome, firefox's file:///nurds/burg .

Emacs _can_ deal with file://, you just need to invoke "M-x eww"
instead of "M-x find-file".

Why are you insisting on using the latter?

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