Re: v. 29.1.1 | Missing syntax colouring option

[Jens Schmidt]

On 2023-08-10  13:18, Ricky Tigg wrote:

> The extension of the file I work with is *ps1*. I doubt Emacs knows how to
> determine that the expected code language is PowerShell as there is no
> syntax coloring.

Not every imaginable package is included up-front in Emacs, some
(actually: many, and not all of them imaginable) are available as
external packages and require additional installation.

There is a PowerShell Emacs major mode including syntax highlighting
on MELPA (https://melpa.org/).  However MELPA is not in the list of
default package archives, so some extra work is needed to get that
going.  See section "Package Installation" in the Emacs manual.  The
EmacsWiki also gives instructions, just google for "emacswiki melpa".

> Also an observation that cannot be missed; the software lacks the option *Open
> a recent file*. Having to repeatedly specify the same path is without doubt
> not an option in modern software. It would be worth adding that option..
> Regards.

Others have provided already options, but maybe you look for something
as simple as a history when finding files or doing other file operations
*from the minibuffer* (that very bottom line in an Emacs frame)?  Just
use cursor-up and cursor-down after starting any such file operation.
For example:

  C-x C-f <up>

would bring up the path of the previous file operation to your current
prompt.  AFAICT that history gets populated even if you access files
through the menu bar or tool bar.

Oh, and you can use the savehist package, which is built-in to Emacs, to
save the minibuffer history across Emacs sessions.