Function: virtual-dired
virtual-dired is a and interactive for dired-virtual,
defined in dired-x.el.gz.
Signature
(virtual-dired DIRNAME &optional SWITCHES)
Documentation
Put this Dired buffer into Virtual Dired mode.
In Virtual Dired mode, all commands that do not actually consult the filesystem will work.
This is useful if you want to peruse and move around in an ls -lR
output file, for example one you got from an ftp server. With
ange-ftp, you can even Dired a directory containing an ls-lR file,
visit that file and turn on Virtual Dired mode. But don't try to save
this file, as dired-virtual indents the listing and thus changes the
buffer.
If you have saved a Dired buffer in a file you can use M-x dired-virtual (dired-virtual) to
resume it in a later session.
Type g (revert-buffer) in the Virtual Dired buffer and answer y to convert
the virtual to a real Dired buffer again. You don't have to do this, though:
you can relist single subdirs using l (dired-do-redisplay).
Key Bindings