Re: tramp with shell mode and absolute paths

[Michael Albinus]

Matthew Curry <address@hidden> writes:

> Hi all:

Hi,

> For instance, *Buffer List* shows this on spawning a remote shell with
> M-x shell:
>   * *shell*                 81  Shell:run       /scp:soma:/home/e3/
>
> I do a "cd /" (or just "cd", or "cd ~") and now *Buffer List* shows this:
>   * *shell*                114  Shell:run       /
>
> And from then on, tab autocomplete will look at the local machine's
> filesystem instead of the remote one.

I would say it's the canonical behaviour. The shell mode does not know
of Tramp, it just sets the default directory to "/". And this is a local
file name.

> So my question is a) is this a known problem and b) is there a way to
> make shell-mode respond to absolute paths more correctly?

You are looking for eshell. This shell understands both native shell
commands, and kind of Elisp, for example syntax of remote file
names. See <http://www.gnu.org/software/tramp/#Remote-processes>, where
a sample eshell session is given.

With Emacs 23.2, the eshell integration with Tramp will be even tighter,
because it understands then "su" and "sudo" commands on remote hosts,
and gives you respective file access.

> Thanks,
>
> -Matt

Best regards, Michael.