Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site mit-eddie.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxn!ihnp4!mit-eddie!barmar From: barmar@mit-eddie.UUCP (Barry Margolin) Newsgroups: net.emacs Subject: Re: Screen different from file for word processing? Message-ID: <4996@mit-eddie.UUCP> Date: Fri, 16-Aug-85 03:21:11 EDT Article-I.D.: mit-eddi.4996 Posted: Fri Aug 16 03:21:11 1985 Date-Received: Sun, 18-Aug-85 04:48:57 EDT References: <161@ho95e.UUCP> Reply-To: barmar@mit-eddie.UUCP (Barry Margolin) Organization: MIT, Cambridge, MA Lines: 22 In article <161@ho95e.UUCP> wcs@ho95e.UUCP (x0705) writes: >Is there any way to get EMACS to display screen images other than the >contents of the file? Emacs doesn't display the contents of the file, it displays the contents of the buffer. There is no reason that the buffer has to contain the same characters as any file. You merely need to write new versions of the file reading/writing commands which translate to/from the file format to the text you wish to display. For instance, we have a mode in Multics Emacs in which the buffer displays the contents of the file in a format similar to Unix's "od" output. In such buffers ^X^W and ^X^S are bound to object-mode-write-file and object-mode-save-same-file, which translate from dump format to normal while writing out. Another example is Dired, which displays directories much differently from the way they actually appear in the directory files. In other words, your extension code has full control over what the user sees in the buffer. -- Barry Margolin ARPA: barmar@MIT-Multics UUCP: ..!genrad!mit-eddie!barmar