Re: Vi-like end of buffer in emacs?

[Kevin Rodgers]

wlcna wrote:
> "Ian Eure" <ian@digg.com> wrote...
> > You want fringe-mode. M-x customize-group RET fringe RET.
> >
> > It doesn't show actual characters in the buffer like vi does, but has  
> > a graphic on the edge.
>
> Thanks!  I figured someone probably had an easy fix for this.  I tried 
> it out a bit.  Not as nice as vim, but it's OK.  Not sure why it shows 
> the little marks on the last line of the file when you can type on that 
> line, but it's OK.
>
> I noticed though that I have to have this customize group thing instead 
> of more straightforwardly using lisp to set this in my init file code... 
> (fringe-mode) can be put in my init file, but the only argument is the 
> size of the fringe and no args for fact that I want to show empty lines.
>
> But anyway, customize works, though I avoid that customize stuff, just 
> coming back to emacs now - it irks me and seems opposed to the idea of 
> all the lisp integration...

All you need is: (setq-default indicate-empty-lines t)

For my customization, I prefer the Emacs 21 empty line glyphs:

(when (fboundp 'define-fringe-bitmap)
  (define-fringe-bitmap 'empty-line [0 0 #x3c #x3c #x3c #x3c 0 0]) ; 
Emacs 21
  )

And less obtrusive color:

(when (display-color-p)
  (let ((bg-mode (frame-parameter (selected-frame) 'background-mode)))
    (cond ((eq bg-mode 'light)
           (set-face-foreground 'fringe "grey60"))
          ((eq bg-mode 'dark)
           (set-face-foreground 'fringe "grey40")))))

--
Kevin Rodgers
Denver, Colorado, USA