elisp: call command on current file

Question

I want to set a key in emacs to perform a shell command on the file in the buffer, and revert the buffer without prompting. The shell command is: p4 edit 'currentfilename.ext'

(global-set-key [\C-E] (funcall 'revert-buffer 1 1 1)) 
;; my attempt above to call revert-buffer with a non-nil 
;; argument (ignoring the shell command for now) -- get an init error:
;; Error in init file: error: "Buffer does not seem to be associated with any file"

Completely new to elisp. From the emacs manual, here is the definition of revert-buffer:

Command: revert-buffer &optional ignore-auto noconfirm preserve-modes

Thanks!

Answer 1

The actual error you're seeing is because you've specified the global-set-key incorrectly, namely the function call. What you want is:

(global-set-key (kbd "C-S-e") '(lambda () (revert-buffer t t t)))

You had the funcall actually evaluating when your .emacs was loading, which is what caused the error.

Then, to get the whole thing, you can create a command like:

(defun call-something-on-current-buffers-file ()
  "run a command on the current file and revert the buffer"
  (interactive)
  (shell-command 
   (format "/home/tjackson/bin/dummy.sh %s" 
       (shell-quote-argument (buffer-file-name))))
  (revert-buffer t t t))
(global-set-key (kbd "C-S-e") 'call-something-on-current-buffers-file)

Obviously customize the command, and add error checking if you want.

Answer 2

Maybe using the minor mode "auto-revert-mode" is an option. Just enable it on the current buffer:

M-x "auto-revert-mode"

and always ensure the buffer is saved, before executing an external command.