Re: Tabs

[Juri Linkov]

>> There is a long story of several attempts to implement tabs in Emacs.
>
> I know tabs as things which move visually to the next column 8n.  I only
> know vaguely what "tabs" means in this new sense.  A @dfn{tabs} would be
> greatly appreciated.

In text editors and tiling window managers, Tab is a graphical control
element that allows multiple window layouts to be contained within a single
frame, using the tab-bar as a navigational widget for switching between them.

The branch implements two kinds of tabs: frame tabs and window tabs.

Frame tabs are named persistent window configurations that can be
represented visually as rectangular areas on the tab-bar row at the top
of the frame for easy switching, but switching should be also possible
without using the tab-bar.

Window tabs are buffers associated with the window and can be
represented visually as rectangular areas on the tab-line row
at the top of each window.

>> Finally now a complete implementation is available for these
>> etc/TODO tasks:
>
> The documentation in the Emacs manual still needs to be finished.

Agreed, will work on this.

> I've tried several of the new commands on a Linux tty, including
> tab-bar-mode, and C-x 6 b.  Although they didn't throw any errors, none
> of them appeared to do anything.  Is the new mode intended to work on a
> tty?

Thanks for trying.  I guess you tried only frame tabs on a tty
since window tabs are already supported on a tty.

But in case of frame tabs indeed, tab-bar-mode should not be
necessary to be able to use tabs that are just named persistent
window configurations.

So I added to the branch a new mode that can be used by
`M-x list-tabs RTE'.  Like `list-buffers' displays a list of buffers,
`list-tabs' displays a list of named window configurations - the same list
that can be displayed as tabs in the tab-bar when tab-bar-mode is enabled.
Or another analogy of its look is like a widget displayed in the center
of the screen when switching windows in a window manager.

In the list of window configurations, usual keybindings are supported:
RET -- select current line's window configuration.
d -- mark that window configuration to be deleted, and move down.
x -- delete marked window configurations.

>> Keybindings for the tab-bar:
>>   C-TAB     - switches to the next frame tab;
>> S-C-TAB     - switches to the previous frame tab.
>
> I don't think C-TAB and S-C-TAB exist on a typical tty keyboard.  They
> don't on the default Linux tty keyboard.

Web browsers support alternative keys C-<PgUp> and C-<PgDn>.
Are these keys available on a tty?

>> Clicking on the plus sign adds a new window configuration tab to the tab-bar.
>
> Is there a keyboard equivalent?

Yes, 'C-x 6 2' or `M-x make-tab RET'.  And 'C-x 6 0' ('M-x delete-tab RET')
deletes the current tab with its window configuration.