* lisp/dired-aux.el (dired-do-async-shell-command): Doc fix.

(dired-do-async-shell-command): Don't add `*' at the end of the
command (Bug#11815).
(dired-do-shell-command): Doc fix.
(dired-shell-stuff-it): Strip the trailing "&" and ";" if any.
Join the individual commands using either "&" or ";" as the
separator depending on the values of these trailing characters.
At the end re-add the trailing "&".  (Bug#10598)

* lisp/simple.el (async-shell-command): Sync the interactive spec with
`shell-command'.  Doc fix.
(shell-command): Doc fix.

4 files changed, 89 insertions, 38 deletions

diff --git a/etc/NEWS b/etc/NEWS
index bf7880bd1ac..3435a839a74 100644
--- a/etc/NEWS
+++ b/etc/NEWS
@@ -274,13 +274,13 @@ The variable `diff-use-changed-face' defines whether to use
 the face `diff-changed', or `diff-removed' and `diff-added'
 to highlight changes in context diffs.
 
+** Ediff now uses the same color scheme as Diff mode
+on high color displays.
+
 ** Flymake uses fringe bitmaps to indicate errors and warnings.
 See flymake-fringe-indicator-position, flymake-error-bitmap and
 flymake-warning-bitmap.
 
-** Ediff now uses the same color scheme as Diff mode
-on high color displays.
-
 ** `sh-script'
 *** Pairing of parens/quotes uses electric-pair-mode instead of skeleton-pair.
 *** `sh-electric-here-document-mode' now controls auto-insertion of here-docs.
@@ -348,6 +348,12 @@ these commands now).
 ** erc will look up server/channel names via auth-source and use the
 channel keys found, if any.
 
+** Dired
+
+*** `dired-do-async-shell-command' executes each file sequentially
+if the command ends in `;' (when operating on multiple files).
+Othwerwise, it executes the command on each file in parallel.
+
 ** FFAP
 
 *** The option `ffap-url-unwrap-remote' can now be a list of strings,
diff --git a/lisp/ChangeLog b/lisp/ChangeLog
index 2320a16a26e..cbc233079a7 100644
--- a/lisp/ChangeLog
+++ b/lisp/ChangeLog
@@ -1,5 +1,20 @@
 2012-07-17  Juri Linkov  <juri@jurta.org>
 
+        * dired-aux.el (dired-do-async-shell-command): Doc fix.
+        (dired-do-async-shell-command): Don't add `*' at the end of the
+        command (Bug#11815).
+        (dired-do-shell-command): Doc fix.
+        (dired-shell-stuff-it): Strip the trailing "&" and ";" if any.
+        Join the individual commands using either "&" or ";" as the
+        separator depending on the values of these trailing characters.
+        At the end re-add the trailing "&".  (Bug#10598)
+
+        * simple.el (async-shell-command): Sync the interactive spec with
+        `shell-command'.  Doc fix.
+        (shell-command): Doc fix.
+
+2012-07-17  Juri Linkov  <juri@jurta.org>
+
         * descr-text.el (describe-char): Fix format args.  (Bug#10129)
 
 2012-07-17  Fabián Ezequiel Gallina  <fgallina@cuca>
diff --git a/lisp/dired-aux.el b/lisp/dired-aux.el
index ffd93a85ee8..6186f762e0a 100644
--- a/lisp/dired-aux.el
+++ b/lisp/dired-aux.el
@@ -545,8 +545,17 @@ offer a smarter default choice of shell command."
 (defun dired-do-async-shell-command (command &optional arg file-list)
   "Run a shell command COMMAND on the marked files asynchronously.
 
-Like `dired-do-shell-command' but if COMMAND doesn't end in ampersand,
-adds `* &' surrounded by whitespace and executes the command asynchronously.
+Like `dired-do-shell-command', but adds `&' at the end of COMMAND
+to execute it asynchronously.
+
+When operating on multiple files, asynchronous commands
+are executed in the background on each file in parallel.
+In shell syntax this means separating the individual commands
+with `&'.  However, when COMMAND ends in `;' or `;&' then commands
+are executed in the background on each file sequentially waiting
+for each command to terminate before running the next command.
+In shell syntax this means separating the individual commands with `;'.
+
 The output appears in the buffer `*Async Shell Command*'."
   (interactive
    (let ((files (dired-get-marked-files t current-prefix-arg)))
@@ -555,18 +564,14 @@ The output appears in the buffer `*Async Shell Command*'."
       (dired-read-shell-command "& on %s: " current-prefix-arg files)
       current-prefix-arg
       files)))
-  (unless (string-match "[*?][ \t]*\\'" command)
-    (setq command (concat command " *")))
   (unless (string-match "&[ \t]*\\'" command)
     (setq command (concat command " &")))
   (dired-do-shell-command command arg file-list))
 
-;; The in-background argument is only needed in Emacs 18 where
-;; shell-command doesn't understand an appended ampersand `&'.
 ;;;###autoload
 (defun dired-do-shell-command (command &optional arg file-list)
   "Run a shell command COMMAND on the marked files.
-If no files are marked or a specific numeric prefix arg is given,
+If no files are marked or a numeric prefix arg is given,
 the next ARG files are used.  Just \\[universal-argument] means the current file.
 The prompt mentions the file(s) or the marker, as appropriate.
 
@@ -588,7 +593,17 @@ If you want to use `*' as a shell wildcard with whitespace around
 it, write `*\"\"' in place of just `*'.  This is equivalent to just
 `*' in the shell, but avoids Dired's special handling.
 
-If COMMAND produces output, it goes to a separate buffer.
+If COMMAND ends in `&', `;', or `;&', it is executed in the
+background asynchronously, and the output appears in the buffer
+`*Async Shell Command*'.  When operating on multiple files and COMMAND
+ends in `&', the shell command is executed on each file in parallel.
+However, when COMMAND ends in `;' or `;&' then commands are executed
+in the background on each file sequentially waiting for each command
+to terminate before running the next command.  You can also use
+`dired-do-async-shell-command' that automatically adds `&'.
+
+Otherwise, COMMAND is executed synchronously, and the output
+appears in the buffer `*Shell Command Output*'.
 
 This feature does not try to redisplay Dired buffers afterward, as
 there's no telling what files COMMAND may have changed.
@@ -607,10 +622,7 @@ can be produced by `dired-get-marked-files', for example."
    (let ((files (dired-get-marked-files t current-prefix-arg)))
      (list
       ;; Want to give feedback whether this file or marked files are used:
-      (dired-read-shell-command (concat "! on "
-                                        "%s: ")
-                                current-prefix-arg
-                                files)
+      (dired-read-shell-command "! on %s: " current-prefix-arg files)
       current-prefix-arg
       files)))
   (let* ((on-each (not (string-match dired-star-subst-regexp command)))
@@ -654,23 +666,34 @@ can be produced by `dired-get-marked-files', for example."
 ;; Might be redefined for smarter things and could then use RAW-ARG
 ;; (coming from interactive P and currently ignored) to decide what to do.
 ;; Smart would be a way to access basename or extension of file names.
-  (let ((stuff-it
-         (if (or (string-match dired-star-subst-regexp command)
-                 (string-match dired-quark-subst-regexp command))
-             (lambda (x)
-               (let ((retval command))
-                 (while (string-match
-                         "\\(^\\|[ \t]\\)\\([*?]\\)\\([ \t]\\|$\\)" retval)
-                   (setq retval (replace-match x t t retval 2)))
-                 retval))
-           (lambda (x) (concat command dired-mark-separator x)))))
-    (if on-each
-        (mapconcat stuff-it (mapcar 'shell-quote-argument file-list) ";")
-      (let ((files (mapconcat 'shell-quote-argument
-                              file-list dired-mark-separator)))
-        (if (> (length file-list) 1)
-            (setq files (concat dired-mark-prefix files dired-mark-postfix)))
-        (funcall stuff-it files)))))
+  (let* ((in-background (string-match "[ \t]*&[ \t]*\\'" command))
+         (command (if in-background
+                      (substring command 0 (match-beginning 0))
+                    command))
+         (sequentially (string-match "[ \t]*;[ \t]*\\'" command))
+         (command (if sequentially
+                      (substring command 0 (match-beginning 0))
+                    command))
+         (stuff-it
+          (if (or (string-match dired-star-subst-regexp command)
+                  (string-match dired-quark-subst-regexp command))
+              (lambda (x)
+                (let ((retval command))
+                  (while (string-match
+                          "\\(^\\|[ \t]\\)\\([*?]\\)\\([ \t]\\|$\\)" retval)
+                    (setq retval (replace-match x t t retval 2)))
+                  retval))
+            (lambda (x) (concat command dired-mark-separator x)))))
+    (concat
+     (if on-each
+         (mapconcat stuff-it (mapcar 'shell-quote-argument file-list)
+                    (if (and in-background (not sequentially)) "&" ";"))
+       (let ((files (mapconcat 'shell-quote-argument
+                               file-list dired-mark-separator)))
+         (if (> (length file-list) 1)
+             (setq files (concat dired-mark-prefix files dired-mark-postfix)))
+         (funcall stuff-it files)))
+     (if in-background "&" ""))))
 
 ;; This is an extra function so that it can be redefined by ange-ftp.
 ;;;###autoload
diff --git a/lisp/simple.el b/lisp/simple.el
index 37e0b48d31d..c958c460f98 100644
--- a/lisp/simple.el
+++ b/lisp/simple.el
@@ -2247,9 +2247,11 @@ to `shell-command-history'."
 (defun async-shell-command (command &optional output-buffer error-buffer)
   "Execute string COMMAND asynchronously in background.
 
-Like `shell-command' but if COMMAND doesn't end in ampersand, adds `&'
-surrounded by whitespace and executes the command asynchronously.
+Like `shell-command', but adds `&' at the end of COMMAND
+to execute it asynchronously.
+
 The output appears in the buffer `*Async Shell Command*'.
+That buffer is in shell mode.
 
 In Elisp, you will often be better served by calling `start-process'
 directly, since it offers more control and does not impose the use of a
@@ -2257,8 +2259,12 @@ shell (with its need to quote arguments)."
   (interactive
    (list
     (read-shell-command "Async shell command: " nil nil
-                        (and buffer-file-name
-                             (file-relative-name buffer-file-name)))
+                        (let ((filename
+                               (cond
+                                (buffer-file-name)
+                                ((eq major-mode 'dired-mode)
+                                 (dired-get-filename nil t)))))
+                          (and filename (file-relative-name filename))))
     current-prefix-arg
     shell-command-default-error-buffer))
   (unless (string-match "&[ \t]*\\'" command)
@@ -2269,9 +2275,10 @@ shell (with its need to quote arguments)."
   "Execute string COMMAND in inferior shell; display output, if any.
 With prefix argument, insert the COMMAND's output at point.
 
-If COMMAND ends in ampersand, execute it asynchronously.
+If COMMAND ends in `&', execute it asynchronously.
 The output appears in the buffer `*Async Shell Command*'.
-That buffer is in shell mode.
+That buffer is in shell mode.  You can also use
+`async-shell-command' that automatically adds `&'.
 
 Otherwise, COMMAND is executed synchronously.  The output appears in
 the buffer `*Shell Command Output*'.  If the output is short enough to