ECB Directories-window - ECB - the Emacs Code Browser
Description: ECB - the Emacs Code Browser

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#### 4.1.3 ECB Directories-window

The ECB directories interactor is for browsing directories. The direct children of the invisible root-node are called source-path and can be defined with the option `ecb-source-path`. Each source-path is the starting-node of the complete directory-structure below this path and can be browsed with the directories-interactor.

When a sources ECB-window is contained in the current layout then per default only directories and subdirectories are displayed in the directories tree-buffer (the source-files are displayed in the sources tree-buffer - see ECB Sources-window) but this can be changed with the option `ecb-show-sources-in-directories-buffer`.

##### 4.1.3.1 Usage of the directories ECB-window

- Select directories (and - if enabled - source files) in the ECB-Directories buffer by clicking a mouse button on the directory name or by hitting RETURN when the cursor is placed on the item line, see Usage of ECB.

  IMPORTANT: If you use the POWER-click (i.e. hold down the SHIFT-key while clicking with the primary mouse button (see Using the mouse) or RETURN (see Using the keyboard)) on a directory node in the this buffer then the directory-contents-cache for this directory will be refreshed and actualized.

- Directory names with a “[+]” symbol after (or before) them can be expanded/collapsed by clicking on the symbol, pressing the TAB key (see Using the keyboard) when the cursor is placed on the package line or clicking a mouse button on the item, see Using the mouse.
- Right clicking on an item will open a popup menu where different operations on the item under the mouse cursor can be performed. This popup-menu offers operations for version-control, dired, grep, some file-operations like creating a directory and commands to make a directory a source-path in the sense of `ecb-source-path`.
- Pressing F2 will open the ECB customization group (see Customizing) in the edit window. F3 shows the online help in the edit-window. Pressing F4 in the ECB-directories buffer will offer adding a new source-path.

When source-files-nodes are displayed in the directories-buffer (see `ecb-show-sources-in-directories-buffer`) then for these nodes all descriptions of section ECB Sources-window are valid.

##### 4.1.3.2 Activating/Displaying the directories ECB-window

Either use one of the predefined layouts which contain the directories ECB-window (see Changing the ECB-layout) (e.g. via `C-c . l c`) or create a new ecb-layout via the command `ecb-create-new-layout` and add a buffer of type “directories” into this new layout (see Creating a new ECB-layout).

##### 4.1.3.3 Customizing the directories ECB-window

See ecb-directories for a list of all options currently available for customizing this ECB-windows to your needs.