10

Just as the question stated, I would like a function that would count of the windows that are currently being shown in that frame.

So this:

+--------------+-------------+
|              |             |
|              |             |
|  *scratch*   | *Messages*  |
|              |             |
|              |             |
|              |             |
+--------------+-------------+
|           *Help*           |
|                            |
+----------------------------+

Would return => 3

I started a function below:

(defun count-windows ()
  "Count how many buffers are currently being shown."
  (interactive)
)
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  • 2
    Do you mean the number of windows, or the number of unique buffers visible in windows? – Dan♦ Nov 13 '14 at 13:26
  • 3
    In the example given, you have 3 windows showing 3 different buffers. If, say, 2 of those windows were showing *scratch*, would you want the function to return 3 or 2? – Dan♦ Nov 13 '14 at 13:42
  • @Dan, sorry for the misunderstanding, and I would the function to return 3 still. – Luke Shimkus Nov 13 '14 at 13:44
  • 1
    Got it -- answer below gives both options: it looks like you want the simpler one (count-windows). – Dan♦ Nov 13 '14 at 13:50
21

If you mean the number of windows regardless of which buffers are showing, then: (length (window-list)) will do it. Better still, you can just use the existing (count-windows) function.

If you want to count the number of unique buffers visible in windows on the frame, then you can use:

(length (cl-delete-duplicates (mapcar #'window-buffer (window-list))))

(Note that window-list can also take an optional FRAME argument if you want something other than the selected frame.)

Wrapping the latter in your function call will give you:

(defun count-unique-visible-buffers (&optional frame)
  "Count how many buffers are currently being shown.  Defaults to
selected frame."
  (length (cl-delete-duplicates (mapcar #'window-buffer (window-list frame)))))

(Note that this function assumes you have loaded 'cl-lib. As per comments, you could use delete-dups in place of cl-delete-duplicates if you want to avoid cl-lib.)

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  • 2
    +1 Great answer! The only info that's missing is that cl-delete-duplicates needs to be made available by requireing cl. – itsjeyd Nov 13 '14 at 13:43
  • 1
    Good catch, thanks. I've edited the answer to mention it. – Dan♦ Nov 13 '14 at 13:47
  • 1
    Do you know a way or a function that doesn't require you to load 'cl-lib? – Luke Shimkus Nov 13 '14 at 13:54
  • 3
    Actually, yes: it turns out the delete-dups would also work, and doesn't require 'cl-lib. – Dan♦ Nov 13 '14 at 13:57

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