Emacs Lisp: Buffer Local Variable

By Xah Lee. Date: 2023-09-01. Last updated: 2023-09-26.

Buffer-Local Variables are global variables but have their own independent values in each buffer.
Every Buffer-Local Variable has a global Default Value. That is the value by befault in all buffers, if not changed.

Many builtin variables in emacs are buffer-local. e.g. major-mode • default-directory • tab-width
You can define a variable to be buffer local.
You can make a normally non-buffer-local variable to have buffer local value.

Create Buffer-Local Variable

defvar-local

(defvar-local VAR VAL &optional DOCSTRING)

Define a buffer-local variable with a default value.

This is equivalent to calling defvar followed by make-variable-buffer-local.

(defvar-local
    xx-format-style
    1
  "sample buffer-local variable.")

make-variable-buffer-local

(make-variable-buffer-local VARIABLE)

Make VARIABLE become buffer-local whenever it is set.

⚠ WARNING: this function create a Symbol as variable if the symbol does not already exist. In elisp package, you should declare a variable first by defvar etc. Or use defvar-local.

(make-variable-buffer-local 'xx-a)

make-local-variable

(make-local-variable VARIABLE)

Make VARIABLE have a separate value in the current buffer. Other buffers will continue to share a common default value. (The buffer-local value of VARIABLE starts out as the same value VARIABLE previously had. If VARIABLE was void, it remains void.) Return VARIABLE.

(defvar
  xx-b
  'long
  "sample variable.")

(make-local-variable 'xx-b)

(make-local-variable 'xx-c)
;; warning: if symbol xx-c does not exist, this does not work. it does not create a symbol xx-c

Set Default Value to Buffer-Local Variable

setq-default

Make a value the default value for a buffer-local variable

(setq-default tab-width 4)

Set Value to Buffer-Local Variable

setq-local

(setq-local VAR1 VAL1 etc)

Set buffer-local values to variable.

(require 'newcomment)
(setq-local comment-start "# ")

Other Functions on Buffer-Local Variable

Command: kill-local-variable

Function: local-variable-p
Function: local-variable-if-set-p
Function: buffer-local-value
Function: buffer-local-boundp
Function: buffer-local-variables
Function: kill-all-local-variables

Variable: change-major-mode-hook

Function: default-value
Function: default-boundp
Function: set-default
Function: default-toplevel-value
Function: set-default-toplevel-value

Reference