ivy.el (ivy-call): Restore previous buffer

[raxod502]

In cases where set-buffer was called before ivy-read, the correct window was restored but the effects of set-buffer were lost. Restoring the buffer explicitly fixes the problem.

Example code to reproduce the issue:

(with-current-buffer "*scratch*"
  (set-buffer "*Messages*")
  (ivy-read "Select one: " (list "X"))
  (pcase (buffer-name)
    ("*scratch*" (message "Buffer was not restored correctly."))
    ("*Messages*" (message "Buffer was restored correctly."))
    (_ (message "Something unexpected has happened."))))

[basil-conto]

Running your recipe from make plain, either in the *scratch* buffer or an arbitrary one, always yields "Buffer was restored correctly." for me, on all Emacs versions 24-27. What am I missing?

---

Swiper version: 7df7ab6
Emacs verson:

In GNU Emacs 27.0.50 (build 5, x86_64-pc-linux-gnu, X toolkit, Xaw3d scroll bars)
 of 2018-05-31 built on thunk
Repository revision: fb9c52bb7d29c85f3baee770355260830dacea50
Windowing system distributor 'The X.Org Foundation', version 11.0.11906000
System Description: Debian GNU/Linux buster/sid

[raxod502]

Oops! Let me look into this further. I know something is wrong, but I think I probably misidentified the problem in this pull request :(

[basil-conto]

I know something is wrong, but I think I probably misidentified the problem in this pull request

Or perhaps the recipe above just doesn't showcase the problem?

[raxod502]

I think that it does showcase the problem, but the problem only exists due to some other package or configuration that was active when I did the testing.

[raxod502]

Welp, I did a lot of bisecting, and here's a new recipe that works from emacs -Q:

(with-current-buffer "*scratch*"
  (set-buffer "*Messages*")
  (ivy-read "Select one: " (list "X") :action (lambda (x) x))
  (pcase (buffer-name)
    ("*scratch*" (message "Buffer was not restored correctly."))
    ("*Messages*" (message "Buffer was restored correctly."))
    (_ (message "Something unexpected has happened."))))

Note the explicit :action. If you substitute 'identity instead of (lambda (x) x), then the issue does not reproduce. This is because for some reason there is an explicit check against the symbol 'identity here:

swiper/ivy.el

Line 1219 in 7df7ab6

(if (eq action 'identity)

In case you were wondering, the reason the original recipe was working for me was because I was using ivy-prescient.el, which adds an advice to ivy-read that causes :action to always be non-nil.

[basil-conto]

Welp, I did a lot of bisecting, and here's a new recipe that works from emacs -Q:

Nice.

This is because for some reason there is an explicit check against the symbol 'identity here:

Not sure what the purpose of that is, but even if there is a valid one, it can nevertheless be simplified:

diff --git a/ivy.el b/ivy.el
index f8aceb2..83c46dd 100644
--- a/ivy.el
+++ b/ivy.el
@@ -1216,8 +1216,8 @@ ivy-call
                      ivy-text)
                     (t
                      (ivy-state-current ivy-last)))))
-          (if (eq action 'identity)
-              (funcall action x)
+          (if (eq action #'identity)
+              x
             (select-window (ivy--get-window ivy-last))
             (prog1 (with-current-buffer (ivy-state-buffer ivy-last)
                      (unwind-protect (funcall action x)

[abo-abo]

I like the fix proposed by @basil-conto more. @raxod502 does it solve your problem? In case it does I suggest we close this PR and apply the fix by @basil-conto instead.

[basil-conto]

@abo-abo My patch (#1607 (comment)) is not a solution to @raxod502's issue; it was just a suggestion for a truly trivial additional simplification.

[abo-abo]

Thanks.