bug#81509: 31.0.91; Calling dired on nonexistent directory changes current buffer

On Tue, 28 Jul 2026 21:12:24 +0300 Eli Zaretskii <[email protected]> wrote:

>> From: Stephen Berman <[email protected]>
>> Cc: [email protected],  [email protected]
>> Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2026 18:40:55 +0200
>> 
>> On Tue, 28 Jul 2026 20:04:32 +0530 (IST) Madhu <[email protected]> wrote:
>> 
>> > *  Stephen Berman <[email protected]> <[email protected]>
>> > Wrote on Tue, 28 Jul 2026 15:55:29 +0200
>> >> This behavior is a by-product of 3b7d9e37ce0c.  (BTW, the nonexistent
>> >> directory doesn't have to be represented by a wildcard in the sense of a
>> >> shell glob (e.g. *nonexist*), i.e. C-x d /tmp/a/nonexist also shows the
>> >> same behavior.  But /tmp/a/nonexist is a wildcard in the sense of
>> >> insert-directory and maybe that's what the OP meant.)  Before that
>> >> change, when attempting to visit in Dired a nonexistent directory,
>> >> insert-directory signalled an error, which short-circuited the Dired
>> >> command, so that the current buffer when the Dired command was invoked
>> >> remained current.  Since 3b7d9e37ce0c, ls errors, such as trying to
>> >> display a nonexistent directory, are now shown in a special buffer after
>> >> completing the Dired command, as you observed.  But the Dired commands
>> >> use `pop-to-buffer-same-window' and
>> >> `switch-to-buffer-other-{window,frame,tab}' and calling these with a
>> >> nonexistent directory - i.e. with nil - as argument makes another buffer
>> >> current.  I agree this is surprising behavior.  The attached patch
>> >> prevents this, i.e., the buffer that was current when the Dired command
>> >> was invoked remains current when the directory to be visited is
>> >> nonexistent.  Madhu, can you confirm?
>> >
>> > Thanks, the patch works as expected, --Regards, Madhu
>> 
>> Thanks for confirming, now pushed to emacs-31.
>
> Should this bug be closed now?

Sure, done now.  Thanks.

Steve Berman