bug#19661: wrapping before window-width (new wrap-column text property?)

[Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>]

> Date: Sat, 24 Jan 2015 10:08:33 +0100
> From: martin rudalics <rudalics@gmx.at>
> CC: 19661@debbugs.gnu.org
> 
>  > That'd be a kludge-around.  I thought we were talking about teaching
>  > Emacs new layout tricks, not overloading existing ones with features
>  > they weren't designed to support.
> 
> Layouts should be handled at the Elisp level.

This is impossible with the current Emacs design, and you know it.
The design is that Lisp programs _specify_ the layout, by setting up
text properties, overlays, and local variables.  The actual _handling_
of the layout is done by the display engine, which is not exposed to
Lisp.

So if a particular kind of layout is not supported by the display
engine, you cannot specify it in Lisp.

> For example, having (multicolumn) text flow around an image is tedious.
> So this would be just an incentive to provide different window layouts
> (or layers).

I agree, but I don't think this can or should be done in Lisp.  Over
the years, I've seen many features that attempted to produce fancy
display traits not supported by the engine, and they all look kludgey
to me.  They also break very easily.

>  > We all know the subtle problems in follow-mode, right?
> 
> Which we would have to solve anyway.

The solutions are on the C level, not in Lisp.

> I wouldn't reinvent the wheel.

The wheel should be round, then it's a wheel.