In this previous Emacs - Async File Copying in Dired using Rsync, I have demonstrated how to use rsync to replace the built-in Dired copy function. Today, I have improved that function so that rsync window will dislay progress separately from my currently working windows. Moreover, after finishing copying, it will show the message and automatically close the progress window after 5 seconds. Also, the rsync progress window can not be selected by call other-window. As a result, the rsync feature now does not affect my current work. I can continue what I’m currently doing while leaving rsync take care of my files.
Note: it would not run on Windows computers.
Implementation
This is the new code. Put it in your .emacs, replace with my old rsync function if you have already use it.
Update 8 Apr 2013: I have improved the code a little bit so that later it will be much easier for me to add new async function like moving, compressing,… Also, this time, you can run multiple rsync process.
tmtxt/dired-async function: run the input command asynchronously
(defun tmtxt/dired-async (dired-async-command dired-async-command-name)
"Execute the async shell command in dired.
dired-async-command: the command to execute
dired-async-command-name: just the name for the output buffer
Create a new window at the bottom, execute the dired-async-command and print
the output the that window. After finish execution, print the message to that
window and close it after 5s"
(let ((dired-async-window-before-sync (selected-window))
(dired-async-output-buffer
(concat "*" dired-async-command-name "*" " at " (current-time-string))))
;; make a new window
(tmtxt/dired-async-new-async-window)
;; not allow popup
(add-to-list 'same-window-buffer-names dired-async-output-buffer)
;; run async command
(async-shell-command dired-async-command dired-async-output-buffer)
;; set event handler for the async process
(set-process-sentinel (get-buffer-process dired-async-output-buffer)
'tmtxt/dired-async-process-handler)
;; switch the the previous window
(select-window dired-async-window-before-sync)))tmtxt/dired-async-new-async-window function: create a new window for async command to display output
(defun tmtxt/dired-async-new-async-window ()
"Create a new window for displaying tmtxt/dired-async process and switch to that window"
(let ((dired-async-window-height (- (window-total-height (frame-root-window)) 10)))
(let ((dired-async-window
(split-window (frame-root-window) dired-async-window-height 'below)))
(select-window dired-async-window)
(set-window-parameter dired-async-window 'no-other-window t))))tmtxt/dired-async-process-handler function: handle when process finish execution, kill the buffer and the window that hold the process
(defun tmtxt/dired-async-process-handler (process event)
"Handler for window that displays the async process.
Usage: After start an tmtxt/dired-async, call this function
(set-process-sentinel process 'tmtxt/dired-async-process-handler)
process: the tmtxt/dired-async process
The function will print the message to notify user that the process is
completed and automatically kill the buffer and window that runs the
process."
;; check if the process status is exit, then kill the buffer and the window
;; that contain that process after 5 seconds (for the user to see the output)
(when (equal (process-status process) 'exit)
;; get the current async buffer and window
(let ((current-async-buffer (process-buffer process)))
(let ((current-async-window (get-buffer-window current-async-buffer)))
(print "Process completed.\nThe window will be closed automatically in 5s."
current-async-buffer)
(set-window-point current-async-window
(buffer-size current-async-buffer))
;; kill the buffer and window after 5 seconds
(run-at-time "5 sec" nil 'kill-buffer current-async-buffer)
(run-at-time "5 sec" nil 'delete-window current-async-window)))))tmtxt/dired-async-rsync function: interactive function to execute rsync
(defun tmtxt/dired-async-rsync (dest)
(interactive
;; offer dwim target as the suggestion
(list (expand-file-name (read-file-name "Rsync to:" (dired-dwim-target-directory)))))
(let ((files (dired-get-marked-files nil current-prefix-arg))
dired-async-rsync-command)
;; the rsync command
(setq dired-async-rsync-command "rsync -arvz --progress ")
;; add all selected file names as arguments to the rsync command
(dolist (file files)
(setq dired-async-rsync-command
(concat dired-async-rsync-command (shell-quote-argument file) " ")))
;; append the destination to the rsync command
(setq dired-async-rsync-command
(concat dired-async-rsync-command (shell-quote-argument dest)))
;; execute the command asynchronously
(tmtxt/dired-async dired-async-rsync-command "rsync")))Finally, bind it to a key combination, in my case it it C-c C-r
(define-key dired-mode-map (kbd "C-c C-r") 'tmtxt/dired-async-rsync)To use it, open up a dired window, select some file that you want to copy and press the key combination C-c C-r, select the destination and press RET. If you have the variable dired-dwim-target set to t, you can open 2 dired windows and this command will automatically choose the directory in the other window as the default destination folder. The rsync progress window will display in the bottom without affecting your current workspace. After finishing copying, it will display a message and automatically close the rsync window after 5 second.
In summary, we can use it in the same way that we used to use other dired copy and move functions.
Coming up next
I’m currently developing some functions that help emacs dired execute tasks asynchonously (since dired is my default my management application). I’m currently in those final weeks of the semester so I don’t have much time. If you want those features, wait for me to finish my semester in May.
Screenshots
This is some screenshots from my Emacs.
The rsync process window when it is running.
The rsync window when it finish.