bug#64398: Buffer list

bug#64398: Buffer list

[Angelo Borsotti]

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Message-ID: <83wmzj6i1g.fsf@ANGELO-PC.mail-host-address-is-not-set>
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This is not really a bug, rather a feature request.
The list of buffers, displayed by clicking on "Buffers" in the top bar,
displays only 10 buffers, forcing the user in too many cases to display
all of them to find the desired one. Would it be possible to double the
length of the list displayed?

Thank you
-Angelo Borsotti


In GNU Emacs 28.2 (build 2, x86_64-w64-mingw32)
 of 2022-09-13 built on AVALON
Windowing system distributor 'Microsoft Corp.', version 10.0.19045
System Description: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro (v10.0.2009.19045.3086)

Configured using:
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bug#64398: Buffer list

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: Angelo Borsotti <angelo.borsotti@gmail.com>
> Date: Sat, 1 Jul 2023 12:31:37 +0200
> 
> This is not really a bug, rather a feature request.
> The list of buffers, displayed by clicking on "Buffers" in the top bar,
> displays only 10 buffers, forcing the user in too many cases to display
> all of them to find the desired one. Would it be possible to double the
> length of the list displayed?

You can do it yourself by customizing the value of the variable
buffers-menu-max-size to something greater than 10, its current
default.

bug#64398: Buffer list

[Stefan Kangas]

Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> writes:

>> From: Angelo Borsotti <angelo.borsotti@gmail.com>
>> Date: Sat, 1 Jul 2023 12:31:37 +0200
>>
>> This is not really a bug, rather a feature request.
>> The list of buffers, displayed by clicking on "Buffers" in the top bar,
>> displays only 10 buffers, forcing the user in too many cases to display
>> all of them to find the desired one. Would it be possible to double the
>> length of the list displayed?
>
> You can do it yourself by customizing the value of the variable
> buffers-menu-max-size to something greater than 10, its current
> default.

I see that the current default was chosen in 1993 (commit 4095411173af).
Perhaps 30 years is long enough that it's time to update it.  Screen
sizes are much larger these days, after all.

Are there any adverse effects associated with, say, setting it to 15 or
even doubling the number?

bug#64398: Buffer list

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: Stefan Kangas <stefankangas@gmail.com>
> Date: Mon, 4 Sep 2023 13:22:04 -0700
> Cc: Angelo Borsotti <angelo.borsotti@gmail.com>, 64398@debbugs.gnu.org
> 
> Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> writes:
> 
> >> From: Angelo Borsotti <angelo.borsotti@gmail.com>
> >> Date: Sat, 1 Jul 2023 12:31:37 +0200
> >>
> >> This is not really a bug, rather a feature request.
> >> The list of buffers, displayed by clicking on "Buffers" in the top bar,
> >> displays only 10 buffers, forcing the user in too many cases to display
> >> all of them to find the desired one. Would it be possible to double the
> >> length of the list displayed?
> >
> > You can do it yourself by customizing the value of the variable
> > buffers-menu-max-size to something greater than 10, its current
> > default.
> 
> I see that the current default was chosen in 1993 (commit 4095411173af).
> Perhaps 30 years is long enough that it's time to update it.  Screen
> sizes are much larger these days, after all.
> 
> Are there any adverse effects associated with, say, setting it to 15 or
> even doubling the number?

If we make the number much larger, we should probably have a separate
default value for TTY frames, where I think small frame sizes are
still quite frequent.

Or maybe we should have the default computed dynamically based on the
actual frame size?

bug#64398: Buffer list

[Stefan Kangas]

Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> writes:

> If we make the number much larger, we should probably have a separate
> default value for TTY frames, where I think small frame sizes are
> still quite frequent.

Agreed.

> Or maybe we should have the default computed dynamically based on the
> actual frame size?

That's an interesting idea, but would be more work, and we have other
things to do too.  It also somehow seems to be the job of the toolkit to
worry about such things, but maybe that's just me.

It's tempting to just bump this to some similarly conservative value
like 15 or 12 on graphical displays, and be done with it.

bug#64398: Buffer list

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: Stefan Kangas <stefankangas@gmail.com>
> Date: Tue, 5 Sep 2023 14:46:32 -0700
> Cc: angelo.borsotti@gmail.com, 64398@debbugs.gnu.org
> 
> It's tempting to just bump this to some similarly conservative value
> like 15 or 12 on graphical displays, and be done with it.

We could do that, but then 15 is the maximum value we could use, since
it makes the menu take 24 lines, which is the largest value possible
with 24-line TTY frames.

bug#64398: Buffer list

[Stefan Kangas]

Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> writes:

>> It's tempting to just bump this to some similarly conservative value
>> like 15 or 12 on graphical displays, and be done with it.
>
> We could do that, but then 15 is the maximum value we could use, since
> it makes the menu take 24 lines, which is the largest value possible
> with 24-line TTY frames.

How about something like the below?

diff --git a/lisp/menu-bar.el b/lisp/menu-bar.el
index 5e837485db3..14d8d664d58 100644
--- a/lisp/menu-bar.el
+++ b/lisp/menu-bar.el
@@ -2314,14 +2314,16 @@ menu-bar-select-yank
 \f
 ;;; Buffers Menu

-(defcustom buffers-menu-max-size 10
+(defcustom buffers-menu-max-size (if (display-graphic-p) 15 10)
   "Maximum number of entries which may appear on the Buffers menu.
-If this is 10, then only the ten most-recently-selected buffers are shown.
-If this is nil, then all buffers are shown.
-A large number or nil slows down menu responsiveness."
-  :type '(choice integer
-		 (const :tag "All" nil))
-  :group 'menu)
+If this is a number, only that many most-recently-selected
+buffers are shown.
+If this is nil, all buffers are shown."
+  :type '(choice natnump
+                 (const :tag "All" nil))
+  :group 'menu
+  :version "30.1")

 (defcustom buffers-menu-buffer-name-length 30
   "Maximum length of the buffer name on the Buffers menu.

bug#64398: Buffer list

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: Stefan Kangas <stefankangas@gmail.com>
> Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2023 04:54:39 -0700
> Cc: angelo.borsotti@gmail.com, 64398@debbugs.gnu.org
> 
> Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> writes:
> 
> >> It's tempting to just bump this to some similarly conservative value
> >> like 15 or 12 on graphical displays, and be done with it.
> >
> > We could do that, but then 15 is the maximum value we could use, since
> > it makes the menu take 24 lines, which is the largest value possible
> > with 24-line TTY frames.
> 
> How about something like the below?

menu-bar.el is preloaded, so we should use custom-initialize-delay, I
think?

Otherwise LGTM, thanks.

bug#64398: Buffer list

[Stefan Kangas]

Version: 30.1

Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> writes:

>> From: Stefan Kangas <stefankangas@gmail.com>
>> Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2023 04:54:39 -0700
>> Cc: angelo.borsotti@gmail.com, 64398@debbugs.gnu.org
>>
>> Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> writes:
>>
>> >> It's tempting to just bump this to some similarly conservative value
>> >> like 15 or 12 on graphical displays, and be done with it.
>> >
>> > We could do that, but then 15 is the maximum value we could use, since
>> > it makes the menu take 24 lines, which is the largest value possible
>> > with 24-line TTY frames.
>>
>> How about something like the below?
>
> menu-bar.el is preloaded, so we should use custom-initialize-delay, I
> think?

Right.

> Otherwise LGTM, thanks.

Thanks, installed on master

bug#64398: Buffer list

[Po Lu via Bug reports for GNU Emacs, the Swiss army knife of text editors]

Stefan Kangas <stefankangas@gmail.com> writes:

> Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> writes:
>
>>> It's tempting to just bump this to some similarly conservative value
>>> like 15 or 12 on graphical displays, and be done with it.
>>
>> We could do that, but then 15 is the maximum value we could use, since
>> it makes the menu take 24 lines, which is the largest value possible
>> with 24-line TTY frames.
>
> How about something like the below?
>
> diff --git a/lisp/menu-bar.el b/lisp/menu-bar.el
> index 5e837485db3..14d8d664d58 100644
> --- a/lisp/menu-bar.el
> +++ b/lisp/menu-bar.el
> @@ -2314,14 +2314,16 @@ menu-bar-select-yank
>  \f
>  ;;; Buffers Menu
>
> -(defcustom buffers-menu-max-size 10
> +(defcustom buffers-menu-max-size (if (display-graphic-p) 15 10)
>    "Maximum number of entries which may appear on the Buffers menu.
> -If this is 10, then only the ten most-recently-selected buffers are shown.
> -If this is nil, then all buffers are shown.
> -A large number or nil slows down menu responsiveness."
> -  :type '(choice integer
> -		 (const :tag "All" nil))
> -  :group 'menu)
> +If this is a number, only that many most-recently-selected
> +buffers are shown.
> +If this is nil, all buffers are shown."
> +  :type '(choice natnump
> +                 (const :tag "All" nil))
> +  :group 'menu
> +  :version "30.1")
>
>  (defcustom buffers-menu-buffer-name-length 30
>    "Maximum length of the buffer name on the Buffers menu.

This doesn't work because menu-bar.el is preloaded and additionally
because Emacs supports creating both GUI and terminal frames in the same
process, whereas a feature can only be loaded once, with the value of
display-graphic-p subject to whatever frame is selected at the time it
is loaded.  Why not set it to 15 and call it a day?

TIA.

bug#64398: Buffer list

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: Po Lu <luangruo@yahoo.com>
> Cc: Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>,  64398@debbugs.gnu.org,
>   angelo.borsotti@gmail.com
> Date: Thu, 05 Oct 2023 15:21:05 +0800
> 
> Stefan Kangas <stefankangas@gmail.com> writes:
> 
> > Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> writes:
> >
> >>> It's tempting to just bump this to some similarly conservative value
> >>> like 15 or 12 on graphical displays, and be done with it.
> >>
> >> We could do that, but then 15 is the maximum value we could use, since
> >> it makes the menu take 24 lines, which is the largest value possible
> >> with 24-line TTY frames.
> >
> > How about something like the below?
> >
> > diff --git a/lisp/menu-bar.el b/lisp/menu-bar.el
> > index 5e837485db3..14d8d664d58 100644
> > --- a/lisp/menu-bar.el
> > +++ b/lisp/menu-bar.el
> > @@ -2314,14 +2314,16 @@ menu-bar-select-yank
> >  \f
> >  ;;; Buffers Menu
> >
> > -(defcustom buffers-menu-max-size 10
> > +(defcustom buffers-menu-max-size (if (display-graphic-p) 15 10)
> >    "Maximum number of entries which may appear on the Buffers menu.
> > -If this is 10, then only the ten most-recently-selected buffers are shown.
> > -If this is nil, then all buffers are shown.
> > -A large number or nil slows down menu responsiveness."
> > -  :type '(choice integer
> > -		 (const :tag "All" nil))
> > -  :group 'menu)
> > +If this is a number, only that many most-recently-selected
> > +buffers are shown.
> > +If this is nil, all buffers are shown."
> > +  :type '(choice natnump
> > +                 (const :tag "All" nil))
> > +  :group 'menu
> > +  :version "30.1")
> >
> >  (defcustom buffers-menu-buffer-name-length 30
> >    "Maximum length of the buffer name on the Buffers menu.
> 
> This doesn't work because menu-bar.el is preloaded and additionally
> because Emacs supports creating both GUI and terminal frames in the same
> process, whereas a feature can only be loaded once, with the value of
> display-graphic-p subject to whatever frame is selected at the time it
> is loaded.  Why not set it to 15 and call it a day?

It's possible, but then we will not be able to extend this in the
future anymore, as I explained above.  But maybe we don't care.

If we do care, then we could have an additional option, or we could
make this option accept a cons cell, or something else.

bug#64398: Buffer list

[Stefan Kangas]

reopen 64398
retitle 64398 Bump buffers-menu-max-size value
thanks

Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> writes:

>> This doesn't work because menu-bar.el is preloaded and additionally
>> because Emacs supports creating both GUI and terminal frames in the same
>> process, whereas a feature can only be loaded once, with the value of
>> display-graphic-p subject to whatever frame is selected at the time it
>> is loaded.  Why not set it to 15 and call it a day?
>
> It's possible, but then we will not be able to extend this in the
> future anymore, as I explained above.  But maybe we don't care.
>
> If we do care, then we could have an additional option, or we could
> make this option accept a cons cell, or something else.

If we know that it will work, perhaps the simplest solution here is
fine, and we can just bump the default to 15 unconditionally.

bug#64398: Buffer list

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: Stefan Kangas <stefankangas@gmail.com>
> Date: Thu, 5 Oct 2023 12:54:02 +0000
> Cc: 64398@debbugs.gnu.org, angelo.borsotti@gmail.com
> 
> Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> writes:
> 
> >> This doesn't work because menu-bar.el is preloaded and additionally
> >> because Emacs supports creating both GUI and terminal frames in the same
> >> process, whereas a feature can only be loaded once, with the value of
> >> display-graphic-p subject to whatever frame is selected at the time it
> >> is loaded.  Why not set it to 15 and call it a day?
> >
> > It's possible, but then we will not be able to extend this in the
> > future anymore, as I explained above.  But maybe we don't care.
> >
> > If we do care, then we could have an additional option, or we could
> > make this option accept a cons cell, or something else.
> 
> If we know that it will work, perhaps the simplest solution here is
> fine, and we can just bump the default to 15 unconditionally.

Fine, let's go by that for now, and revisit it if and when it becomes
an issue.  But please add a comment there saying that going much
further than 15 should consider the height of TTY frames.

bug#64398: Buffer list

[Stefan Kangas]

Version: 30.1

Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> writes:

>> If we know that it will work, perhaps the simplest solution here is
>> fine, and we can just bump the default to 15 unconditionally.
>
> Fine, let's go by that for now, and revisit it if and when it becomes
> an issue.  But please add a comment there saying that going much
> further than 15 should consider the height of TTY frames.

Now done on master.

[1: eb5a453a58a]: 2023-10-05 20:17:53 +0200
  Set buffers-menu-max-size to 15 unconditionally
  https://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/emacs.git/commit/?id=eb5a453a58a4d7fe1ab213d0fdb746ccb65b9909