Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!yale!umich!samsung!uunet!snorkelwacker!apple!rutgers!elbereth.rutgers.edu!cje From: cje@elbereth.rutgers.edu (Cthulhu's Jersey Epopt) Newsgroups: comp.emacs Subject: Why can't I set default-directory ? Message-ID: Date: 10 Aug 90 18:50:20 GMT Organization: Miskatonic U. Computer Operations & User Services Lines: 24 Cc: cje If I run an emacs session from my main directory, whenever I use find-file or visit-file, it assumes the file's in that directory. If I want to go to a file in a subdirectory, I just add the subdir to the dir tree in the file name. All well and good. Now let's say I want to look at another directory's files -- /usr/local/lib/tex for example. I can edit the filename in the minibuffer, and there I am. Now when I use find-file, I get /usr/local/lib/tex . Also well and good. But all this stuff is apparently stored in the default-directory variable. Emacs will happily change the value of d-d if I edit the minibuffer, but it won't let me change it via set-variable -- it doesn't recognize d-d (though describe-variable does). Why can't I set this directly? (I guess I'm envisioning setting keys that will switch to commonly used directories such as .../tex .) -- Yog-Sothoth Neblod Zin, Addending the HPL Centennial on 8/18? Look for me! Chris Jarocha-Ernst UUCP: {ames, att, harvard, moss, seismo}!rutgers!elbereth.rutgers.edu!cje ARPA: JAROCHAERNST@CANCER.RUTGERS.EDU CCIS, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08855-0879