+(defun dired-align-file (beg end)
+ "Align the fields of a file to the ones of surrounding lines.
+BEG..END is the line where the file info is located."
+ ;; Some versions of ls try to adjust the size of each field so as to just
+ ;; hold the largest element ("largest" in the current invocation, of
+ ;; course). So when a single line is output, the size of each field is
+ ;; just big enough for that one output. Thus when dired refreshes one
+ ;; line, the alignment if this line w.r.t the rest is messed up because
+ ;; the fields of that one line will generally be smaller.
+ ;;
+ ;; To work around this problem, we here add spaces to try and
+ ;; re-align the fields as needed. Since this is purely aesthetic,
+ ;; it is of utmost importance that it doesn't mess up anything like
+ ;; `dired-move-to-filename'. To this end, we limit ourselves to
+ ;; adding spaces only, and to only add them at places where there
+ ;; was already at least one space. This way, as long as
+ ;; `directory-listing-before-filename-regexp' always matches spaces
+ ;; with "*" or "+", we know we haven't made anything worse. There
+ ;; is one spot where the exact number of spaces is important, which
+ ;; is just before the actual filename, so we refrain from adding
+ ;; spaces there (and within the filename as well, of course).
+ (save-excursion
+ (let (file file-col other other-col)
+ ;; Check the there is indeed a file, and that there is anoter adjacent
+ ;; file with which to align, and that additional spaces are needed to
+ ;; align the filenames.
+ (when (and (setq file (progn (goto-char beg)
+ (dired-move-to-filename nil end)))
+ (setq file-col (current-column))
+ (setq other
+ (or (and (goto-char beg)
+ (zerop (forward-line -1))
+ (dired-move-to-filename))
+ (and (goto-char beg)
+ (zerop (forward-line 1))
+ (dired-move-to-filename))))
+ (setq other-col (current-column))
+ (/= file other)
+ ;; Make sure there is some work left to do.
+ (> other-col file-col))
+ ;; If we've only looked at the line above, check to see if the line
+ ;; below exists as well and if so, align with the shorter one.
+ (when (and (< other file)
+ (goto-char beg)
+ (zerop (forward-line 1))
+ (dired-move-to-filename))
+ (let ((alt-col (current-column)))
+ (when (< alt-col other-col)
+ (setq other-col alt-col)
+ (setq other (point)))))
+ ;; Keep positions uptodate when we insert stuff.
+ (if (> other file) (setq other (copy-marker other)))
+ (setq file (copy-marker file))
+ ;; Main loop.
+ (goto-char beg)
+ (skip-chars-forward " ") ;Skip to the first field.
+ (while (and (> other-col file-col)
+ ;; Don't touch anything just before (and after) the
+ ;; beginning of the filename.
+ (> file (point)))
+ ;; We're now just in front of a field, with a space behind us.
+ (let* ((curcol (current-column))
+ ;; Nums are right-aligned.
+ (num-align (looking-at "[0-9]"))
+ ;; Let's look at the other line, in the same column: we
+ ;; should be either near the end of the previous field, or
+ ;; in the space between that field and the next.
+ ;; [ Of course, it's also possible that we're already within
+ ;; the next field or even past it, but that's unlikely since
+ ;; other-col > file-col. ]
+ ;; Let's find the distance to the alignment-point (either
+ ;; the beginning or the end of the next field, depending on
+ ;; whether this field is left or right aligned).
+ (align-pt-offset
+ (save-excursion
+ (goto-char other)
+ (move-to-column curcol)
+ (when (looking-at
+ (concat
+ (if (eq (char-before) ?\s) " *" "[^ ]* *")
+ (if num-align "[0-9][^ ]*")))
+ (- (match-end 0) (match-beginning 0)))))
+ ;; Now, the number of spaces to insert is align-pt-offset
+ ;; minus the distance to the equivalent point on the
+ ;; current line.
+ (spaces
+ (if (not num-align)
+ align-pt-offset
+ (and align-pt-offset
+ (save-excursion
+ (skip-chars-forward "^ ")
+ (- align-pt-offset (- (current-column) curcol)))))))
+ (when (and spaces (> spaces 0))
+ (setq file-col (+ spaces file-col))
+ (if (> file-col other-col)
+ (setq spaces (- spaces (- file-col other-col))))
+ (insert-char ?\s spaces)
+ ;; Let's just make really sure we did not mess up.
+ (unless (save-excursion
+ (eq (dired-move-to-filename) (marker-position file)))
+ ;; Damn! We messed up: let's revert the change.
+ (delete-char (- spaces)))))
+ ;; Now skip to next field.
+ (skip-chars-forward "^ ") (skip-chars-forward " "))
+ (set-marker file nil)))))
+
+