Version 1.8.1

v1.8.1

Bump version

Version 1.8

Breaking Changes

• #144: purpose-x-magit extension: replace magit purpose with Magit
  When using the purpose-x-magit extension via purpose-x-magit-single-on, the extension no longer defines a magit purpose. Instead it defines an identical purpose named Magit. This way, the purpose can be used as a condition in purpose-special-action-sequences.

  Those who use purpoxe-x-magit via purpose-x-magit-multi-on are not affected by this change.

Enhancements

• #172: Rework Travis CI tests configuration and add Emacsen up to 27.1

• #149, #152: Lower memeory usage when calculating a buffer's purpose

Bug Fixes

• #182: Prevent debug command from bypassing purpose

• #166, #180: Toggle integration fixes when purpose-mode is toggled
  Previously, the integration fixes would remain active even when purpose-mode was disabled, disrupting the normal display behavior of integrated packages and features.

• #153, #177: purpose-x-popwin extension: quit-window closes popup window when no previous buffers can be shown in it

• #171: Reimplement whitespace-display-window using purposes
  Original whitespace-display-window doesn't go through display-buffer, thus disregarding window-purpose entirely.

• #170: Reimplement edebug-pop-to-buffer using purposes

  Original edebug-pop-to-buffer doesn't go through display-buffer, thus disregarding window-purpose entirely.

• #169: Prevent Isearch help commands from bypassing purpose

• #168: purpose-x-magit extension: prevent magit-display-buffer-function from bypassing purpose

• #167: Prevent next-error from bypassing purpose

• #166: Properly format defcustom package-version

• #133: Neotree fix honors neo-window-position

• #137: purpose-change-buffer to ignore dedicated argument in new Emacsen
  As of Emacs 27.0.50, the function window--display-buffer no longer accepts a dedicated argument, and instead relies on alist and display-buffer-mark-dedicated to decide dedication state of the window. As result, purpose-change-buffer ignores the dedicated argument when using Emacs version 27 or newer. Older Emacs versions are not affected.

• #134: add support for Zone

• #78 (comment) purpose-x-persp extension: persp-curr is now a function

Version 1.7

Breaking Changes

• removed support for Emacs 24.3
  Supported versions are Emacs 24.4 and newer (up to 26.1 at the time of writing). The branch release-1.6 will continue to support Emacs 24.3 and is available for those who need it. No development or bug fixes are planned for this branch, but pull requests will be accepted.

Bug Fixes

• #116: honor display-buffer-mark-dedicated

Version 1.6.1

Breaking Changes

• #84, #125: remove option purpose-preferred-prompt and prompts shims.
  Removed completing-read and read-file-name shims, thus the
  custom variable purpose-preferred-prompt has been removed. From the README:

  In the past, the variable purpose-preferred-prompt, allowed you to choose whether you want Purpose to use IDO or Helm when it needs information from the user. This variable has been removed.
  Instead, the prompt relies on the normal mechanism. For Helm prompts enable helm-mode, for Ivy mode enable ivy-mode, for IDO prompts enable ido-mode, etc. If using ido-mode, note that because how IDO works it doesn't cover all commands, and some commands won't have an IDO prompt. To work around that, please see the package ido-completion-read+ (formerly ido-ubiquitous).

Enhancements

• #113, #114: default to edit purpose for buffers visiting files
  If a buffer is visiting a file, its default purpose (if no other
  purpose matches) will be edit.
• Emacsen 25.1, 25.3 and 26.1 added to Travis CI tests
  Emacs 25.2 not added, because it is almost exactly the same as
  25.3, and the difference doesn't affect Purpose's behavior.

Bug Fixes

• added some missing default purposes for some modes
  • css-mode: edit
  • eshell-mode, term-mode: terminal
• #110: wrong window layout after using magit-popup's help system
  Added a fix in window-purpose-fixes.el.
• #111: wrong layout when using org-goto
  Added a fix in window-purpose-fixes.el.
• #123 purpose-x-popwin: fix custom type mismatches
• #127, #128: purpose-x-code1: correctly create and display dired buffer
• #118: fix typos in README
• #121: prefer the selected window even with multiple frames
• #120: pop-up-frames takes precedence over pop-up-windows

Version 1.6

New Features

• New functions for easier purpose configuration
  User purposes: purpose-add-user-purposes, purpose-remove-user-purposes.
  Extension purposes: purpose-add-extension-purposes, purpose-remove-extension-purposes
• Added Purpose menu to the menu-bar

Enhancements

• Purpose ships with preinstalled layouts
  Subdirectory layouts contains preinstalled layouts. Customizable variable purpose-use-built-in-layouts controls if those layouts are available to the user (available by default).
• purpose-window-with-purpose now takes optional frame argument
  Defaults to the selected frame.

Bug Fixes

• #79: nil buffer means other-buffer for some buffer switching commands
  These commands are: purpose-switch-buffer, purpose-switch-buffer-other-window, purpose-pop-buffer and purpose-pop-buffer-same-window.
• dislpay function returning fail means don’t display buffer at all
• #80: added autoloads to some commands outside of window-purpose.el
• fixed argument order for purpose--remove-suffix in Emacs 24.3 and 24.4
• #95: loading layouts to show different buffers
  purpose-set-window-layout places different buffers of the same purpose, if the layout has multiple windows with same purpose. Previously, all windows with the purpose would show the same buffer after loading a layout. This affects all layout-loading commands.

Version 1.5

New features

• Layouts can be stored in multiple directories and accessed by layout name
  Layouts can now be accessed by layout name, instead of by file name, by using the commands purpose-load-window-layout, purpose-save-window-layout, purpose-load-frame-layout and purpose-save-frame-layout. The files used to store layout are named according to the formats <window-layout-name>.window-layout and <frame-layout-name>.frame-layout.
  A new customizable variable purpose-layout-dirs specifies a list of directories in which to store layout files. Its default value is ("~/.emacs.d/layouts/").
  The old purpose-load-window-layout, purpose-save-window-layout, purpose-load-frame-layout and purpose-save-frame-layout have been renamed to purpose-load-window-layou-file, purpose-save-window-layout-file, purpose-load-frame-layout-file and purpose-save-frame-layout-file, and their behaviour has not changed.

• action argument of display-buffer and pop-to-buffer functions is fully supported:
  When the action argument of display-buffer or pop-to-buffer is used, Purpose will treat the function or list of functions specified by the action as an additional action sequence (called "user action sequence"). Purpose will try to use the sequence to display the buffer before trying the special action sequence or normal action sequence.

• New macros to change the purpose configuration temporarily:
  New macros purpose-save-purpose-config, purpose-with-temp-purposes, purpose-with-empty-purposes and purpose-with-additional-purposes allow code to be executed with a different purpose configuration, and restore the previous purpose configuration afterwards.

• New macros to change the special display actions temporarily:
  New macros purpose-with-temp-display-actions, purpose-with-temp-display-action, purpose-with-additional-display-actions and purpose-with-additional-display-action allow code to be executed with a different value for purpose-special-display-actions, and restore the previous value afterwards.

  For example, open *Messages* buffer in a new frame:

  (purpose-with-temp-purposes '(("*Messages*" . msg)) nil nil
    (purpose-with-temp-display-action '(msg purpose-display-pop-up-frame)
      (pop-to-buffer "*Messages*")))

New extension: purpose-x-kill

The purpose-x-kill extension hooks Purpose into the buffer-replacement mechanism that is triggered when a visible buffer is killed. The rules for deciding what to do with killed buffer's window are simple:

• If the window is buffer-dedicated, delete the window.
• If the window is purpose-dedicated, and there is another buffer with the same purpose, display that buffer in the window.
• If the window is purpose-dedicated, but there are no other buffers with the same purpose, delete the window.
• Otherwise, display any buffer in the window.

Integration with other packages

• Integration with which-key:
  Give which-key its own purpose, don't interfere with how which-key opens its window.
• Integration with Ivy:
  Include workaround to ignore force-same-window parameter in purpose-switch-buffer when called from ivy-switch-buffer. This matches the way Purpose ignores the force-same-window parameter when switch-to-buffer is called interactively.

Testing

Migrate to new Travis-CI infrastructure, builds should be faster now.

Version 1.4

Core changes

• New user option to choose IDO or Helm prompts:
  Customizable variable purpose-preferred-prompt lets the user decide which
  prompts Purpose should use. Available options:
  • auto (the default): Use IDO if ido-mode is enabled, otherwise use Helm if
    helm-mode is enabled, otherwise use default Emacs prompts ("vanilla").
  • ido: IDO
  • helm: Helm
  • vanilla: default Emacs prompts
• New command: purpose-set-window-purpose:
  New command purpose-set-window-purpose allows user to change the purpose of
  the current window. The window's buffer is changed accordingly.
• Improved mode-line display of window's dedication status:
  "#" means window is dedicated to its buffer, "!" means window is dedicated to
  its purpose. Examples:
  • [edit]: window has edit purpose and is not dedicated.
  • [edit!]: window has edit purpose and is dedicated to its current purpose.
  • [edit#]: window has edit purpose and is dedicated to its current buffer.
  • [edit!#]: window has edit purpose and is dedicated to its current purpose
    and to its current buffer.
• Don't force same window when switch-to-buffer is called interactively:
  Normally, executing command switch-to-buffer implies that if the chosen buffer
  can't be disaplyed in the current window, don't display it at all. Purpose
  does allow the buffer to be displayed in another window, if the current window
  is not available.
  Doesn't change the behavior of switch-to-buffer when called non-interactively.
• New option for purpose-display-fallback:
  purpose-display-fallback can be set to a function. In such case, it should a
  display function: a function that receives two arguments - BUFFER to display and
  an ALIST, displays the buffer in some window and returns that window. See
  display-buffer for more info.
• More accurate restoration of windows' width when loading a window layout:
  When saving and loading window layouts, window-total-width is used instead
  window-width, resulting in a more accurate layout when loading a previously
  saved layout. For completeness, window-total-height replaced window-height
  as well, though that doesn't seem to have changed anything.
• Better handling of the minibuffer:
  The minibuffer was given its own purpose, and several functions were modified to
  handle the minibuffer better.
• Changed purpose-get-extra-window-params-function to purpose-get-extra-window-params-functions:
  The hook purpose-get-extra-window-params-function was changed so it can hold
  several functions instead of just one, and was renamed accordingly. Modify this
  variable via add-hook and remove-hook.
• New function: purpose-get-all-purposes:
  New function purpose-get-all-purposes returns a list of all defined purposes.
  Thanks to @jinnovation .
• Made window parameter purpose-dedicated a persistent parameter:
  Matters for window-state-get and window-state-put. Should help with saving
  and loading the window layout through external packages.

Miscellaneous changes

• Deleted obsolete files purpose.el and purpose-x.el:
  These files weren't used since version 1.3.
• New tests and better test coverage

Integration with other packages

• Integration with Popwin:
  Stop Purpose from interfering with Popwin when Popwin creates a popup window.
• Integration with guide-key:
  Give guide-key its own purpose, so other buffers don't reuse guide-key's window.
• Integration with NeoTree:
  Fix for creating NeoTree's window in the correct place in the frame.
• Integration with Hydra:
  Changed the fix for Hydra's LV window, so the fix is loaded after lv is
  loaded, rather than after hydra is loaded.

Extensions

• Improved Code1 extension:
  • Better detection of when the selected window has changed.
  • Dired buffers are buried automatically, so they don't show up first when
    switching buffers.
• New extension for enhancing perspectives:
  See perspective extension.
  • Commands for switching to a buffer in the current perspective with the same
    purpose as the current buffer.
  • Enable different purpose configurations for different perspectives.
• New extension for popup windows (simple popwin emulation):
  See popwin extension.
  • popup purpose for showing buffers in a dedicated popup window.
  • Automatic and manual closing of popup windows.
  • Commands to make the popup window "stick" and "unsticked". A "sticked" window
    is not closed automatically.
  • Use function purpose-x-popwin-popupify to treat purposes as popup. Different
    "popupified" purposes serve as different kinds of popup windows.

Version 1.3

Summary of Version 1.3

Version 1.3 improves Purpose in several ways.
First, Purpose's package was renamed to "window-purpose" , and Purpose now uses autoloads and automatic tests.
Second, Purpose has some new extensions and features, such as Code1 extension, new display functions and new user commands.
Third, a few bugs have been fixed and integration with several other packages has been introduced. Among these packages are Helm, Magit and Hydra.
See below for a full list of changes.

Next Release

The plan for Purpose's next version is to focus on integrating Purpose with other packages. Packages that do their own kind of window management will probably need special care to make them work with Purpose.

One such notable package is Helm. Currently, Purpose has basic support for Helm that should work fine, but they may be some rough edges. Purpose's support for Helm should be improved in the next version.

Reporting issues and contributing will help significantly, so feel free.

Important changes:

• Renamed package: The package was renamed from "purpose" to "window-purpose". The source files were renamed as well, but the symbols themselves remain unchanged.
  Hopefully this will help users to find the package, without causing too much trouble for existing users.

Changes

Integration changes and extensions:

• Integration with Helm and IDO: Purpose works reasonably with Helm. The issue where Purpose would call IDO functions instead of regular functions is resolved: when ido-mode is enabled, Purpose will use IDO. Otherwise, if helm-mode is enabled, Purpose will use Helm.
  There may still be some issues with using Purpose and Helm together, I plan to fully integrate Purpose and Helm in the next release. Reporting issues and any other help is welcome.
  Purpose continues to support IDO fully.
• Integration with Magit: For users of Magit, two different purpose configurations are available. One configuration gives the same purpose to all Magit buffers, while the other purpose gives a unique purpose for each Magit major mode. To activate, use command purpose-x-magit-single-on or purpose-x-magit-multi-on. To deactivate, use command purpose-x-magit-off.
  See Extensions.
• Integration with Hydra (issue #31): Fixed issue with Hydra's popup window displaying in the wrong place.
• Integration with golden-ratio-mode: For users of golden-ratio-mode, proper integration with Purpose is activated by command purpose-x-golden-ratio-setup and deactivated by command purpose-x-golden-ratio-unset.
  See Extensions.
• New extension: Code1: Code1 is an extension that provides a window layout with one main dedicated edit window, and 3 dedicated side windows (dired, ibuffer, imenu-list). Activate with command purpose-x-code1-setup, deactivate with purpose-x-code1-unset. This extension is not fully developed, so sometimes the dired buffer doesn't update.
  See Extensions.
• New extensions combining popup-switcher and purpose-switch-buffer-with-purpose: command purpose-x-psw-switch-buffer-with-purpose uses popup-switcher's interface to switch to a buffer with the same purpose as the current buffer. popup-switcher needs to be installed separately.
  See Extensions.

User interface and API changes:

• New commands and key bindings:
  C-c , 1: purpose-delete-non-dedicated-windows
C-c , w: purpose-delete-window-at - delete window at top/bottom/left/right (depends on prefix argument)
  C-c , b: purpose-switch-buffer-with-purpose
C-c , 4 b: purpose-switch-buffer-with-purpose-other-window
C-c , 5 b: purpose-switch-buffer-with-purpose-other-frame
• New functions and commands for handling windows at edges (issue #32):
  • Get functions: purpose-get-top-window, purpose-get-left-window, etc.
  • Display functions: purpose-display-at-top, purpose-display-at-left, etc.
  • Delete functions: purpose-delete-window-at-top, purpose-delete-window-at-left, etc.
• Renaming of variables and functions:
  purpose-default-action-sequence --> purpose-default-action-order
purpose--change-buffer --> purpose-change-buffer
purpose-display-buffer-hook --> purpose-display-buffer-functions
• New hook: purpose-display-buffer-functions: The hook purpose-display-buffer-functions runs after Purpose displayed a buffer (runs at the end of purpose--action-function, if display was successful).
• New options for purpose-display-fallback: value nil for purpose-display-fallback means to fallback to Emacs' original display-buffer function when Purpose can't display a buffer. Value error means to signal an error. Other possible values are pop-up-window (the default) and pop-up-frame.

General changes:

• Automatic tests: Purpose gained automatic tests through Travis CI.
• Error with eager macro expansion is fixed (issue #35)
• Purpose now uses autoloads
• Fixed bug with compilation-next-error-function (issue #17)

---

Plans for the future:

• Integration with other packages: I plan to make Purpose work well with other packages. Packages that do their own window management will probably need special care (e.g. Helm, Popwin). Reporting issues and contributing would help significantly, so feel free.

...

Version 1.2

Important Changes:

• The purpose configuration system has been redone. The configuration now has 3 layers: user settings, extensions settings, and default settings.
  Users can configure purposes through customize. Extensions can configure purposes through purpose-conf objects and purpose-set-exended-configuration function.
  See the wiki for more details.
• Purpose is now customizable. User-relevant variables can be changed via customize (group "purpose").
• Purpose is now compatible with Emacs 24.3, and probably some older versions as well.

User-Interface Changes:

• New functions: purpose-reset-window-layout and purpose-reset-frame-layout restore the layout to the previously loaded window layout or frame layout, respectively.
• New function: purpose-switch-buffer-with-purpose is like purpose-switch-buffer, but only buffers with the same purpose as the current one are offered. You can call it with C-u C-u C-x b.
  Similar functions purpose-switch-buffer-with-purpose-other-window and purpose-switch-buffer-with-purpose-other-frame also exist.
• New fallback behavior for displaying a buffer: pop-up-window instead of pop-up-frame.
• New variable: purpose-special-action-sequences lets you define special display behaviors for specific purposes.

General Changes:

• Purpose now uses lexical bindings.
• purpose-set-window-layout and purpose-set-frame-layout optionally save the loaded layout in purpose-mru-window-layout and purpose-mru-frame-layout. MRU stands for "most recently used".
• Code uses purpose-message instead of message for debugging. Variable purpose-message-on-p toggles purpose-message on and off (default is off).

Bug Fixes:

• When loading layouts (purpose-set-window-layout) with a window that was split at least twice in the same direction, all windows except the first one were loaded in the reverse order. This bug was fixed.
• purpose-display-pop-up-window would use an existing window and ignore purposes, instead of creating a new window. This bug was fixed (display-buffer-pop-up-window is no longer used).

Fixes for v1.1

v1.1.1

important fix and a cool extension