RE: dired in one buffer

[Drew Adams]

    dired-find-alternate-file (normally assigned to the 'a' key in dired-
    mode) replaces the current buffer (the dired buffer) with the
    file/directory that the cursor is on.

Just thought I'd mention that you can also use `C-x C-v' to do this. Instead
of substituting the file or directory where the cursor is, it prompts you
for the file or directory name.

With a long directory listing (many files), when your cursor is not
necessarily near the file or directory you want to visit, it can be quicker
to use `C-x C-v', especially since you can use completion to provide the
name.

I would never bother to make an alternate-directory substitute command to
replace `^', for instance, because it is quick enough to do `C-x C-v' and
use, say, `M-DEL' (in the minibuffer) to remove the last directory
component. And I probably use `C-x C-v' more in Dired than anywhere else,
because although I often want several file buffers (visible or not), I don't
as often want multiple Dired buffers.

People use Emacs differently, but I find that my cursor in Dired is usually
not where I need it to be for this kind of thing (`a').