can other-buffer in split windows select a visible buffer?

Question

I often swap 2 most latest buffers back and forth with (switch-to-buffer (other-buffer)). This works just fine in most situations.

However, when I have 2 split windows, and the other window is opening a file I would switch to using the above command, other-buffer skips that buffer and it returns the 3rd-latest buffer instead. This is quite annoying.

Is there any way to swap 2 most latest buffers regardless of what other windows are opening?

Answer 1

other-buffer takes an optional third argument that says it's okay to use buffers visible in other windows. The relevant bit of the docstring:

(other-buffer &optional BUFFER VISIBLE-OK FRAME)

Return most recently selected buffer other than BUFFER. Buffers not visible in windows are preferred to visible buffers, unless optional second argument VISIBLE-OK is non-nil. Ignore the argument BUFFER unless it denotes a live buffer. If the optional third argument FRAME specifies a live frame, then use that frame’s buffer list instead of the selected frame’s buffer list.

So: the following code should do what you want:

(switch-to-buffer (other-buffer (current-buffer) t))

That's a lot to type, however, so you may as well wrap it in a command that you can bind to your key of choice:

(defun switcheroo ()
  "Switch to the most recent other buffer, even if it's visible
in another window."
  (interactive)
  (switch-to-buffer (other-buffer (current-buffer) t)))