Dired
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Some Dired buffers as implemented in Emacs, with some custom colors. | |
| Developer(s) | Stan Kugell (original), Richard Stallman (for Emacs), Mike Lijewski, Stuart Cracraft (standalone Unix versions) |
|---|---|
| Initial release | Circa 1974 |
| Stable release | 7.17 / 30 July 2009 |
| Operating system | Unix-like |
| Type | File manager |
| License | GPL (Free Software) |
| Website | Mike Sperber's dired page |
Dired is a visual directory editor, a computer program for editing file system directories. Dired runs on any Emacs platform. Its commands are generally more modal than most Emacs commands because Dired is a specialized major mode on its own. Dired can perform all expected operations; in operation and use it is akin to an orthodox file manager like Midnight Commander.
Dired was the first visual editor of file system information, or File Manager.[1][2] Later examples include the Windows File Explorer (formerly Windows Explorer) and the Apple Macintosh Finder. The first version of Dired was written as a stand-alone program c. 1974 by Stan Kugell at the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (SAIL).[1] It was incorporated into GNU Emacs from the earliest versions,[3] and re-implemented in C and C++ on other operating systems.[4][5]
Several Emacs Lisp scripts have been developed to extend Dired functionalities in Emacs. In combination with Tramp[6] it is able to access remote file systems for editing files by means of SSH, FTP, telnet and many other protocols, as well as the capability of accessing as another user for editing files with restricted permissions (such as administrator access) in the same session. There are also functionalities that make it possible to rename multiple files via search and replace[7] or apply regular expressions for marking (selecting) multiple files.[8] Once marked, files can be operated on in various ways from deleting, to renaming, to executing an external shell command or elisp function on them.
GNU's dired manual stated that its main use is in deleting files.[9] Many users find it too abstruse for performing other operations.[10]
References
- 1 2 Kugell, Stanley G. (1974). "SAILDART/1978-08". Stanford Artificial Intelligence Lab DART (Dump and Restore Technique) Archive. Retrieved 2014-02-19.
- ↑ SAILDART Username key for above
- ↑ "Emacs NEWS.1-17 file".
Dired has a new command...
- ↑ "DED".
it is indisputable that both were inspired by an earlier stand-alone program running on Tenex available in the Stanford AI Lab (SAIL) in 1978.
- ↑ "The Cracraft and Lijewski DIRED Programs".
Historically, shortly after emacs "dired" appeared in the TECO implementation, a stand-alone version was written...
- ↑ "Tramp User Manual". Free Software Foundation. Retrieved 2009-04-04.
- ↑ "WDired".
- ↑ "Dired Marks vs. Flags".
- ↑ "Dired, the Directory Editor".
The primary use of Dired is to flag files for deletion and then delete the files previously flagged.
- ↑ "The Cracraft and Lijewski DIRED Programs".
The program tends to be used for browsing and deleting files; users find the other features too obtuse for daily use. Too many commands. Its hard to remember what key does which command.
External links
- Dired manual at GNU.org
- Entry at the Emacs wiki; focuses mostly on the many scripts and tweaks that can modify the default Dired's behavior.
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