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I'm working on some compiler shortcuts: I want to write a function (cmp FILE-NAME &optional args) that will use FILE-NAME and args to construct the appropriate COMMAND to call (compile COMMAND) with.

For example: (cmp "Test.java" "-Xlint:all") will run (compile "javac Test.java -Xlint:all")

This is mostly so I can write my default args that I'll want to compile specific programs with.

As part of this, I'll need my function to determine the programming language of the given file. I could do this with some simple expressions like:

(setq file-ext (substring file-name (string-match "\.[^.]*$" file-name)))
(setq programming-language (cond ((equal ".java" file-ext) "java")
                                 ((equal ".c" file-ext) "c")
                                 ((equal ".sc" file-ext) "scala")))

This would work but I'd have to add a new condition for any new programming language, and it seems overkill because I know that Emacs is already able to determine a file's programming language: it's how it knows to, for example, load java-mode when I open a Java file.

So I know it's probably a simple question, but I can't find documentation to show me how Emacs determines a file's programming language, and how I can leverage that same function for my own customization.

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  • emacs.stackexchange.com/tags/elisp/info Commented Jul 7, 2022 at 16:30
  • Emacs's ability to "determine a file's programming language" is based on a simple list, just a bit more complicated than the one you conteplated. Do C-h v auto-mode-alist. Commented Jul 7, 2022 at 16:34
  • Do you maybe want to use the external file utility? E.g. in your shell, run file <path>. That's the best way I know of to identify the purpose of a file. Commented Aug 2, 2023 at 7:52

1 Answer 1

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Emacs doesn't determine a file's programming language. What it does is look at the file buffer's major mode, and that mode is often (by default) associated with a given programming language.

See (C-h v) variable auto-mode-alist for the association of file-name suffixes with major modes.

So the first question to ask yourself is this: Do you really need to know the "programming language"? Or does it suffice to know the major mode?

Note that there's no real way (no way possible) to know/obtain the name of a programming language from a major mode. You can try various ad hoc means of getting it, by parsing some doc or function/variable names, but there's no real association that's dependable.

See if you can do what you're (really) trying to accomplish just by using the major-mode. That you have access to.

See the Elisp manual, node Major Mode Conventions for some info about major modes.

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  • Thank you! The auto-mode-alist looks like a great option: it's basically a pre-filled-out list of what I was looking for. I'm looking into the major-mode and I can definitely see its use, but if I'm understanding it correctly, its value will depend on what my current open buffer is. So if I want to compile "desktop/Test.java," I'd have to open the file first for the mode to switch to java-mode Commented Jul 7, 2022 at 18:23
  • Not sure what you're saying, in that last part. You can get the mode for a file extension from auto-mode-alist. You can get to all info about that mode from C-h f <the-mode-name>. From that *Help* buffer you have a link to the source code that defines the mode. Commented Jul 7, 2022 at 18:37
  • I think we're on the same page. I can use auto-mode-alist to get the mode for any file (or at least most of them: it's a pretty big list). I was wondering if I could use major-mode similarly, but it seems major-mode is defined for the current buffer, so I could only use it when I'm trying to compile the file in my current buffer Commented Jul 7, 2022 at 18:43
  • @andy_programs (with-current-buffer BUF major-mode) or (buffer-local-value 'major-mode BUF) gives you the major-mode value in the buffer BUF. Commented Aug 2, 2023 at 8:10

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