GNU bug report logs - #78830
30.1; M- browse-url-of-buffer doesn't work second time in a row

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

From: Milen Hristov <milen <at> andreshko.com>
To: bug-gnu-emacs <at> gnu.org
Subject: 30.1; M- browse-url-of-buffer doesn't work second time in a row
Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2025 14:40:49 +0300

X-Debbugs-Cc: 
--text follows this line--

I’m editing pure HTML file over TRAMP. I want to preview it locally and I’m using M- browser-url-of-buffer. The command works flawlessly the first time and it opens the default browser (Safari in my case). I see that Emacs created a local temp file which the browser renders. 

When I try to invoke the command second time, after I have done changes to the HTML file (saved or not, the behaviour is the same) - Emacs invokes Mac OS native “Connect to server” menu, which tries automatically to connect to the remote server, where the actual file is. 
Expected behaviour is to make another temporary file with the new changes in the buffer and show it locally in the browser or if it needs to fetch the file from the remote, then use tramp, not MacOS “Connect to server"

When I restart the buffer and try again M- browse-url-of-buffer, it works again as expected. However every next time it shows the above described behaviour.

In short, "M- browse-url-of-buffer" always works the first time it is invoked for a buffer, but not after that.


In GNU Emacs 30.1 (build 1, aarch64-apple-darwin21.6.0, NS
 appkit-2113.65 Version 12.7.6 (Build 21H1320)) of 2025-02-24 built on
 armbob.lan
Windowing system distributor 'Apple', version 10.3.2575
System Description:  macOS 15.5

Configured using:
 'configure --with-ns '--enable-locallisppath=/Library/Application
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Configured features:
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Important settings:
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Major mode: Web

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Load-path shadows:
/Users/milen/.emacs.d/elpa/which-key-20240620.2145/which-key hides /Applications/Emacs.app/Contents/Resources/lisp/which-key
/Users/milen/.emacs.d/elpa/transient-20250609.1609/transient hides /Applications/Emacs.app/Contents/Resources/lisp/transient
/Users/milen/.emacs.d/elpa/bind-key-20230203.2004/bind-key hides /Applications/Emacs.app/Contents/Resources/lisp/bind-key
/Users/milen/.emacs.d/elpa/eglot-1.18/eglot hides /Applications/Emacs.app/Contents/Resources/lisp/progmodes/eglot

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Memory information:
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Message #8 received at 78830 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
To: Milen Hristov <milen <at> andreshko.com>
Cc: 78830 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#78830: 30.1;
 M- browse-url-of-buffer doesn't work second time in a row
Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2025 09:01:31 +0300

> Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2025 14:40:49 +0300
> From:  Milen Hristov via "Bug reports for GNU Emacs,
>  the Swiss army knife of text editors" <bug-gnu-emacs <at> gnu.org>
> 
> X-Debbugs-Cc: 
> --text follows this line--
> 
> I’m editing pure HTML file over TRAMP. I want to preview it locally and I’m using M- browser-url-of-buffer. The command works flawlessly the first time and it opens the default browser (Safari in my case). I see that Emacs created a local temp file which the browser renders. 
> 
> When I try to invoke the command second time, after I have done changes to the HTML file (saved or not, the behaviour is the same) - Emacs invokes Mac OS native “Connect to server” menu, which tries automatically to connect to the remote server, where the actual file is. 
> Expected behaviour is to make another temporary file with the new changes in the buffer and show it locally in the browser or if it needs to fetch the file from the remote, then use tramp, not MacOS “Connect to server"
> 
> When I restart the buffer and try again M- browse-url-of-buffer, it works again as expected. However every next time it shows the above described behaviour.
> 
> In short, "M- browse-url-of-buffer" always works the first time it is invoked for a buffer, but not after that.

I seem to be unable to reproduce this problem, perhaps because I'm not
on macOS.  Could you perhaps step with Edebug through
browse-url-of-file (which is called from browse-url-of-buffer) on the
second invocation, and see what goes wrong there and why?

I suspect this part could be relevant:

  (when (and (file-remote-p file)
             (not browse-url-temp-file-name))
    (setq browse-url-temp-file-name (file-local-copy file)
          file browse-url-temp-file-name))
  (browse-url (browse-url-file-url file))

perhaps because browse-url-temp-file-name is non-nil the second time?
But I don't know how the macOS "Connect to server" menu is invoked;
can you clarify that?

Message #11 received at 78830 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
To: Milen Hristov <milen <at> andreshko.com>
Cc: 78830 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#78830: 30.1; M- browse-url-of-buffer doesn't work second time
 in a row
Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2025 10:09:11 +0300

[Please use Reply All to reply, to keep our bug tracker CC'ed.]

> From: Milen Hristov <milen <at> andreshko.com>
> Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2025 09:37:32 +0300
> 
> 
> 
> > On 19 Jun 2025, at 9:01, Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org> wrote:
> > 
> >> Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2025 14:40:49 +0300
> >> From:  Milen Hristov via "Bug reports for GNU Emacs,
> >> the Swiss army knife of text editors" <bug-gnu-emacs <at> gnu.org>
> >> 
> >> X-Debbugs-Cc: 
> >> --text follows this line--
> >> 
> >> I’m editing pure HTML file over TRAMP. I want to preview it locally and I’m using M- browser-url-of-buffer. The command works flawlessly the first time and it opens the default browser (Safari in my case). I see that Emacs created a local temp file which the browser renders. 
> >> 
> >> When I try to invoke the command second time, after I have done changes to the HTML file (saved or not, the behaviour is the same) - Emacs invokes Mac OS native “Connect to server” menu, which tries automatically to connect to the remote server, where the actual file is. 
> >> Expected behaviour is to make another temporary file with the new changes in the buffer and show it locally in the browser or if it needs to fetch the file from the remote, then use tramp, not MacOS “Connect to server"
> >> 
> >> When I restart the buffer and try again M- browse-url-of-buffer, it works again as expected. However every next time it shows the above described behaviour.
> >> 
> >> In short, "M- browse-url-of-buffer" always works the first time it is invoked for a buffer, but not after that.
> > 
> > I seem to be unable to reproduce this problem, perhaps because I'm not
> > on macOS.  Could you perhaps step with Edebug through
> > browse-url-of-file (which is called from browse-url-of-buffer) on the
> > second invocation, and see what goes wrong there and why?
> > 
> > I suspect this part could be relevant:
> > 
> >  (when (and (file-remote-p file)
> >             (not browse-url-temp-file-name))
> >    (setq browse-url-temp-file-name (file-local-copy file)
> >          file browse-url-temp-file-name))
> >  (browse-url (browse-url-file-url file))
> > 
> > perhaps because browse-url-temp-file-name is non-nil the second time?
> > But I don't know how the macOS "Connect to server" menu is invoked;
> > can you clarify that?
> 
> 
> I stepped through it and it seems the MacOS dialog window is triggered on line 822 of browse-url.el:
> 
> 	(setq file-name browse-url-temp-file-name)
> 	(write-region (point-min) (point-max) file-name nil 'no-message))
>       (browse-url-of-file file-name))))
> 
> more specifically here: (browse-url-of-file file-name)

Thanks, that was my guess.  I asked you to step through the code of
browse-url-of-file itself, for that reason.  (Let me know if you need
help with using Edebug to step into function calls like this.)  The
code snippet I show is from browse-url-of-file, and it specifically
tests whether the file is remote or not, so I think something is wrong
in that logic.

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