; Installation This package has one main requirement: `magit', for `magit-section'. Assuming this package is satisfied, the `universal-sidecar.el' file may be placed on the load path and `require'd. ; Usage The `universal-sidecar-toggle' command will bring up a per-frame "sidecar" buffer. These sidecar buffers are used to show information about or related to the focused buffer. Information is shown in *sections*, which are configured using the `universal-sidecar-sections' variable. The behavior of this variable, and expected interface is described below in configuration. Additionally, to make sure that the sidecar buffer is updated, it's necessary to advise several functions. This can be done automatically using the `universal-sidecar-insinuate' function, which will advise functions listed in `universal-sidecar-advise-commands'. This may be undone with `universal-sidecar-uninsinuate'. Additionally, `universal-sidecar-insinuate' will add `universal-sidecar-refresh' to the `focus-in-hook', and will set an idle timer to refresh all sidecar buffers (idle time configured with `universal-sidecar-refresh-time'). Buffers can be ignored by modifying the `universal-sidecar-ignore-buffer-regexp', or using the (irregular) `universal-sidecar-ignore-buffer-functions' hook. This hook will be run with an argument (the buffer) and run until a non-nil result. ;; Configuration The name of the sidecar buffer is configured using `universal-sidecar-buffer-name-format', which must contain `%F', a representation of the description of the frame. Which sections are shown is configured using `universal-sidecar-sections', which is a list of functions or functions-with-arguments. For example, let's consider the section `buffer-git-status', which shows git status. This section allows a keyword argument, `:show-renames', which defaults to t. If we want the default behavior, we would configure it using (add-to-list 'universal-sidecar-sections 'buffer-git-status) However, if we want the opposite behavior (don't show renames), we'd configure it as shown below. (add-to-list 'universal-sidecar-sections '(buffer-git-status :show-renames t)) Note that using `add-to-list' is generally bad practice, as the sections will be run in the order they're present in the list. Next, the displayed buffer name is generated using `universal-sidecar-buffer-id-format' and `universal-sidecar-buffer-id-formatters'. These may be customized to your liking. Note: `universal-sidecar-buffer-id-formatters' is an alist of character/function pairs. The functions should take as their first (and only mandatory) argument the buffer for which the sidecar is being displayed. Finally, sidecar buffers are displayed using `display-window'. This means that how the buffer is displayed is easily configurable from `display-buffer-alist'. The author's configuration is shown below as an example. In particular, using the `display-buffer-in-side-window' display action is suggested, as it's generally not helpful to select the sidecar window through normal window motion commands (add-to-list 'display-buffer-alist '("\\*sidecar\\*" (display-buffer-in-side-window) (slot . 0) (window-width . 0.2) (window-height . 0.2) (preserve-size t . t) (window-parameters . ((no-other-window . t) (no-delete-other-windows . t))))) Finally, errors in sections or section definitions are by default logged to the *Warnings* buffer. This is done in a way to allow for debugging. Moreover, the logging can be disabled by setting `universal-sidecar-inhibit-section-error-log' to non-nil, in which case (unless debugging is enabled) these errors will be ignored. ; Section Functions The basic installation of `universal-sidecar' does not include any section functions. This is to reduce the number of dependencies of the package itself so that it may be used as a library for others, or to help integrate multiple packages. A `universal-sidecar-sections.el' package is available as well, which will have simple section definitions that may be of use. However, implementation of functions is generally straight-forward. First, sections are simply functions which take a minimum of two arguments, `buffer', or the buffer we're generating a sidecar for, and `sidecar', the sidecar buffer. When writing these section functions, it is recommended to avoid writing content to `sidecar' until it's verified that the information needed is available. That is **don't write sections without bodies**. To aid in defining sections, the `universal-sidecar-define-section' and `universal-sidecar-insert-section' macros are available. The first defines a section which can be added to `universal-sidecar-sections'. The second simplifies writing sections by adding proper separators and headers to the sidecar buffer. We will demonstrate both below. (universal-sidecar-define-section fortune-section (file title) (:major-modes org-mode :predicate (not (buffer-modified-p))) (let ((title (or title (and file (format "Fortune: %s" file)) "Fortune")) (fortune (shell-command-to-string (format "fortune%s" (if file (format " %s" file) ""))))) (universal-sidecar-insert-section fortune-section title (insert fortune)))) Note: the arguments (`file' and `title') are *keyword* arguments. Additionally, you specify that this section only applies when `buffer' is a descendent of `:major-modes' which can be either a symbol or a list of symbols. `:predicate' is used to specify a somewhat more complex predicate to determine if the section should be generated. This section could be added in any of the following ways: (add-to-list 'universal-sidecar-sections 'fortune-section) (add-to-list 'universal-sidecar-sections '(fortune-section :file "definitions")) (add-to-list 'universal-sidecar-sections '(fortune-section :title "O Fortuna!")) (add-to-list 'universal-sidecar-sections '(fortune-section :file "definitions" :title "Random Definition")) Finally, section text can be formatted and fontified as if it was in some other mode, for instance, `org-mode' using `universal-sidecar-fontify-as'. An example is shown below. (universal-sidecar-fontify-as org-mode ((org-fold-core-style 'overlays)) (some-function-that-generates-org-text) (some-post-processing-of-org-text)) ;; Changelog v1.2.3 (2023-06-24): Pass package-lint and byte-compile-file with minimal errors. v1.2.4 (2023-07-17): Allow the sidecar's displayed buffer identifier to be autogenerated using `universal-sidecar-buffer-id-format' and `universal-sidecar-buffer-id-formatters'. v1.2.6 (2023-09-04): Fix type error in `universal-sidecar-format-buffer-id'. v1.2.7 (2023-09-04): Fix a byte compilation issue. v1.3.0 (2023-09-14): Log errors, don't ignore them. v1.4.0 (2023-09-22): Add `universal-sidecar-inhibit-section-error-log' to control when sidecar section errors are logged. v1.4.3 (2024-01-03): Buffers can now be ignored using the `universal-sidecar-ignore-buffer-regexp' and `universal-sidecar-ignore-buffer-functions' variables. v1.5.0 (2024-01-06): The macro `universal-sidecar-fontify-as' is now available to fontify code as if in some major mode. v1.5.1 (2024-01-14): `universal-sidecar-advise-commands' and `universal-sidecar-unadvise-commands' now take arguments to allow programmatic advising. v1.5.2 (2024-01-15): `universal-sidecar-buffer-mode-hook' is now customizable.