$file-ignore - File extensions to ignore
$file-ignore "string"; Default is ""
$file-ignore specifies a space separated list of file endings which the file completion is to ignore. This is used by any function which prompts the user for a file name, such as find-file(2). A file ending in this case is NOT the extension but the last n characters where n is the number of characters in the specified ignore file.
To ignore all files which have the extension "o", using:
set-variable $file-ignore "o"
would not only ignore "foo.o", but also "foo.oo", "foo.po" and "foo" as well as any file that ends in an "o". What is really required is
set-variable $file-ignore ".o"
It is useful to ignore the "./" and "../" directories so that a directory containing one file will auto-complete to that one file. This is achieved by using:
set-variable $file-ignore "./"
To ignore MicroEmacs '99 backup files ("~"), C object files (".o"), "./" and "../" directories try using:
set-variable $file-ignore "~ .o ./"
The file completion only completes further than the first non-unique point in the current list of possibles if and only if it can ignore all but one file, so if the current directory contains:
./ ../ foo foo.c foo.c~ foo.o
using the above ignore list, completing with "" has no effect as "foo" and "foo.c" cannot be ignored; completing with "foo." will however complete to "foo.c".
(c) Copyright JASSPA 1999
Last Modified: 1998/09/03
Generated On: 1999/12/01