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When I open ibuffer to manage opened buffers I see [ *, %, >, D ] markings. There is no documentation describing what they mean. enter image description here

I wonder what do they mean (Emacs 26.1) ?

A_P
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  • @Drew Please write the last sentence of [your comment](https://emacs.stackexchange.com/questions/47836/what-do-and-mean-in-ibuffer-buffer#comment73668_47836) as an answer. – Tobias Feb 15 '19 at 00:20
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    Tip: if you can't find documentation on something in a major mode using the normal methods, try `M-x customize-group RET `. Doing this for `ibuffer` shows you what the markers are called (and lets you change them). – Phil Hudson Feb 19 '19 at 22:32

1 Answers1

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* means the buffer has been modified, and % means it is read-only.

(Comments here corrected my initial misstatement that * means the buffer is marked for subsequent action. The character used for that is >, not `*.)

Comments here also mention, as a reminder, that the same characters * and % are used in the mode-line to indicate that a buffer has been modified and is read-only, respectively.)

(h (or as always, C-h m) in Ibuffer shows help on the major mode. But I see that it does not provide any legend for understanding such markings. Please consider filing a bug/enhancement report: M-x report-emacs-bug.)

Drew
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    When I open Emacs 26 and type `M-x ibuffer` and press the letter `m`, I see a mark in the form of a `>` symbol. I see a variable named `ibuffer-modified-char` and its default value is `*`; and, I see a variable named `ibuffer-marked-char` and its default value is `>`. The read-only portion is correct, which corresponds to the variable `ibuffer-read-only-char` with a default value of `%`. And, although not asked by the O.P., there is a variable `ibuffer-deletion-char` whose default value is `D`. – lawlist Feb 15 '19 at 01:41
  • Having `*` mean modified matches my experience as well. – Prgrm.celeritas Feb 15 '19 at 03:05
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    Note also that `*` and `%` are used with these same meanings in the mode line for any buffer, such that you will see `--`, `**`, `%%`, or `%*` for unmodified, modified, read-only, or modified *and* read-only respectively. – phils Feb 15 '19 at 05:02
  • @phils how can a buffer be modified and read-only? – A_P Feb 15 '19 at 14:19
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    A_P: it could be modified and THEN turned to read-only. – Dan Feb 15 '19 at 14:28
  • @lawlist: Thx; corrected. – Drew Feb 15 '19 at 15:54
  • @phils: Thx; added mention of the mode-line indications. – Drew Feb 15 '19 at 15:56