Work with Buffers

This chapter keeps several file-backed and pathless buffers live, switches among their retained editing states, inspects the complete Buffer Menu, and uses the protected save and close workflows.

Before You Begin

If you enter this chapter directly, first complete Prepare the User Guide Exercises.

Complete Editing. Restore the notes group so the kit-supplied practice files are fresh and the chapter-created session-notes.txt is absent, then open editing-practice.txt:

~/odra-guide/kit/bin/odra-guide reset notes
odra ~/odra-guide/work/dirs/notes/editing-practice.txt

Odra starts with one file-backed buffer. A buffer owns live text and editing history; a pane presents a view of a buffer. This chapter changes the live buffer set without arranging panes yet.

Create a Pathless Buffer

Press C-x b to run switch-to-buffer. Existing buffers appear as filtered candidates. Enter this unmatched name:

session-notes

The candidate surface exposes one create row. Press Enter to create and activate the empty pathless buffer, then type:

Review the afternoon forecast.

Press C-x C-s. Because the buffer has no file yet, Odra opens Save as:. Enter:

~/odra-guide/work/dirs/notes/session-notes.txt

This path is created by the current chapter; it is not supplied by the kit. The notes reset group removes it.

Press Enter. The buffer becomes file-backed without losing its text, cursor, or history.

Open and Reuse Files

Press C-x C-f, enter the following path, and press Enter:

~/odra-guide/work/dirs/notes/review.md

Odra opens the file as another live buffer and selects it. Opening the same normalized path again reuses this buffer instead of rereading the file into a duplicate editing state.

Press C-x b, type editing-practice, and select the matching file-backed candidate. The cursor and viewport return to the state retained when you left that buffer. Switch to session-notes.txt and back to review.md to verify that each buffer retains its own cursor and undo history.

An unmatched nonempty C-x b query means create a pathless buffer. C-x C-f always resolves a file path. Press C-g to cancel either interaction without changing the active buffer.

C-x Right and C-x Left select the next or previous live buffer. Traversal wraps in stable session order; revisiting a buffer does not reorder that cycle. With only one live buffer, either command reports that no other buffer exists.

Replace, Write, and Insert Files

Press C-x C-v to replace the current clean buffer with another file. A modified buffer remains active until it is saved or explicitly discarded, so the replacement cannot hide unsaved work.

Press C-x C-w to write the current buffer to a new path and continue visiting that path. Existing destination files use the same protected publication path as other saves; a rejected publication leaves the current association intact.

Press C-x i to choose a UTF-8 text file and insert its contents at point. The complete insertion is one undoable edit. Empty files and non-UTF-8 input are rejected without changing the buffer.

Press C-x C-q to toggle mutation of the active text buffer. While read-only, editing commands fail without creating history; the same binding restores editing.

Read the Buffer Menu

Press C-x C-b. The Buffer Menu lists the active buffer first, followed by the remaining buffers in most-recently-used order. Each row contains a mark, compact state flags, and the complete buffer label.

Use Up or Down to move between rows. Press Enter to activate the highlighted buffer, or press q or C-g to close the menu and return to the buffer that opened it.

Save and Close Marked Buffers

Press C-x s to open the Buffer Menu with every modified file-backed buffer premarked for save. Review or change the marks, then press x. A prefix argument, C-u C-x s, executes that save batch immediately. Pathless modified buffers remain explicit because they require a destination decision.

Activate review.md, add one checklist line, and reopen the Buffer Menu. Move to the modified review.md row and press s; the row gains an S mark and selection advances when another row is available.

Move to session-notes.txt and press d; the row gains a D mark. Press u once to remove that mark, then press d again. This changes only the pending operation set.

Press x to execute all current marks. The review file is saved and its modified indicator clears. The clean session-notes.txt buffer closes, but its saved file remains on disk. The menu refreshes from the surviving live buffers after the complete operation.

If a marked pathless buffer must be saved before closing, choose s at the Marked buffer: decision and complete the Save marked buffer as: path interaction. Choose d to discard its unsaved text, or c to cancel the complete marked operation.

Close One Buffer Safely

Press C-x b, create temporary-draft, and type discard this draft. Press C-x k, filter for temporary-draft, and press Enter.

The buffer is modified and pathless, so Odra presents:

Modified buffer: [s]ave [d]iscard [c]ancel

Press c first. The buffer remains live and active state is preserved. Run C-x k again, select temporary-draft, and press d. Odra closes it and activates a surviving buffer.

A modified file-backed buffer instead asks whether to discard its changes. Declining leaves it live. A clean buffer closes without a content decision.

Exit with Several Buffers

Press C-x C-c when the practice session is complete. Odra checks modified buffers in most-recently-used order. Save or explicitly discard each one; a single cancellation aborts the exit and keeps the remaining buffer set live.

Successful saves completed before a later cancellation remain saved. Odra does not silently discard modified file-backed or pathless text.

Verify the Result

You have completed this chapter when you can create and save a pathless buffer, open and revisit several files with independent editing state, read the Buffer Menu indicators, execute a mixed marked save-and-close operation, cancel a protected close, and exit without losing modified text.

Continue with Arrange Panes to present the live working set through a nested layout.

Previous: Save and Revisit Editor State · User Guide · Next: Arrange Panes