ack-in-project.el

(defun ack-in-project (pattern)
  "Run ack, with user-specified ARGS, and collect output in a buffer.
While ack runs asynchronously, you can use the \\[next-error] command to
find the text that ack hits refer to. The command actually run is
defined by the ack-command variable."
  (interactive (list (read-string "Ack for (in app root): " (thing-at-point 'symbol))))
 
  (let (compile-command
        (compilation-error-regexp-alist grep-regexp-alist)
        (compilation-directory default-directory)
        (ack-full-buffer-name (concat "*ack-" pattern "*")))

    ;; lambda defined here since compilation-start expects to call a function to get the buffer name
    (compilation-start (concat ack-command " -i  --noheading --nocolor " pattern " " (rinari-root)) 'ack-mode
                       (when ack-use-search-in-buffer-name
                         (function (lambda (ignore)
                                     ack-full-buffer-name)))
                       (regexp-quote pattern))))

(global-set-key "\C-cfa" 'ack-in-project)