the menu Options / Truncate Long Lines in This Buffer not working correctly

the menu Options / Truncate Long Lines in This Buffer not working correctly

[Dan Nicolaescu]

Run:
emacs -Q 

After that:
C-x 3

now select the menu 
"Options / Truncate Long Lines in This Buffer"
the toggle in the menu it is turning on and off, but the truncation mode
does not toggle the way the menu entry describes it.

This is quite confusing for people that are not very familiar with emacs.

Re: the menu Options / Truncate Long Lines in This Buffer not working correctly

[Glenn Morris]

Dan Nicolaescu wrote:

> C-x 3
>
> now select the menu 
> "Options / Truncate Long Lines in This Buffer"
> the toggle in the menu it is turning on and off, but the truncation mode
> does not toggle the way the menu entry describes it.

Hopefully this is better now.

I'm not sure whether one should go further and define a new command
linked to the toggle, that if needed makes
truncate-partial-width-windows buffer-local and sets it to nil, before
setting truncate-lines appropriately. Probably that is a bridge too far.

Re: the menu Options / Truncate Long Lines in This Buffer not working correctly

[Dan Nicolaescu]

Glenn Morris <rgm@gnu.org> writes:

  > Dan Nicolaescu wrote:
  > 
  > > C-x 3
  > >
  > > now select the menu 
  > > "Options / Truncate Long Lines in This Buffer"
  > > the toggle in the menu it is turning on and off, but the truncation mode
  > > does not toggle the way the menu entry describes it.
  > 
  > Hopefully this is better now.

It's better in the sense that the toggle is displayed correctly.  But
unfortunately it is not very useful for a user that does not know the
subtleties of truncating lines.

  > I'm not sure whether one should go further and define a new command
  > linked to the toggle, that if needed makes
  > truncate-partial-width-windows buffer-local and sets it to nil, before
  > setting truncate-lines appropriately.

IMO, that would be TRTD, it would make the menu keep its promise to
toggle truncating long lines in the buffer.

Re: the menu Options / Truncate Long Lines in This Buffer not working correctly

[Glenn Morris]

Dan Nicolaescu wrote:

>   > I'm not sure whether one should go further and define a new command
>   > linked to the toggle, that if needed makes
>   > truncate-partial-width-windows buffer-local and sets it to nil, before
>   > setting truncate-lines appropriately.
>
> IMO, that would be TRTD, it would make the menu keep its promise to
> toggle truncating long lines in the buffer.

I don't think a menu toggle can ever work right. The problem is
controlled by two variables, and you would never be able to get back
to the initial state, unless you made it rather complex.

Even if you simplify things by getting rid of
truncate-partial-width-windows, there are still three possible states:
always truncate lines, never truncate lines, truncate only in partial
width windows. You could have a radio button I suppose, but it all
seems a bit much to me.

Re: the menu Options / Truncate Long Lines in This Buffer not working correctly

[Dan Nicolaescu]

Glenn Morris <rgm@gnu.org> writes:

  > Dan Nicolaescu wrote:
  > 
  > >   > I'm not sure whether one should go further and define a new command
  > >   > linked to the toggle, that if needed makes
  > >   > truncate-partial-width-windows buffer-local and sets it to nil, before
  > >   > setting truncate-lines appropriately.
  > >
  > > IMO, that would be TRTD, it would make the menu keep its promise to
  > > toggle truncating long lines in the buffer.
  > 
  > I don't think a menu toggle can ever work right. The problem is
  > controlled by two variables, and you would never be able to get back
  > to the initial state, unless you made it rather complex.

Is getting back to the initial state important?  Just toggling correctly
seems more important, as long as the menu entry is a toggle.  From the
user point of view there are 2 visible states: lines are / are not
truncated.  The fact that emacs has more complexity than that underneath
is just an unfortunate detail... (Obviously this is all IMO)

bug#123: marked as done (the menu Options / Truncate Long Lines in This Buffer not working correctly)

[Emacs bug Tracking System]

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Your message dated Thu, 29 May 2008 19:07:02 -0400
with message-id <18495.14102.57759.187120@fencepost.gnu.org>
and subject line Re: the menu Options / Truncate Long Lines in This Buffer not working correctly 
has caused the Emacs bug report #123,
regarding the menu Options / Truncate Long Lines in This Buffer not working correctly
to be marked as done.

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If this is not the case it is now your responsibility to reopen the
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From: Dan Nicolaescu <dann@ics.uci.edu>
To: bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org
Subject: the menu Options / Truncate Long Lines in This Buffer not working correctly
Date: Sun, 06 Apr 2008 22:11:57 -0700
Message-ID: <200804070511.m375BvoX011974@sallyv1.ics.uci.edu>


Run:
emacs -Q 

After that:
C-x 3

now select the menu 
"Options / Truncate Long Lines in This Buffer"
the toggle in the menu it is turning on and off, but the truncation mode
does not toggle the way the menu entry describes it.

This is quite confusing for people that are not very familiar with emacs.




[-- Attachment #3: Type: message/rfc822, Size: 1291 bytes --]

From: Glenn Morris <rgm@gnu.org>
To: 123-done@emacsbugs.donarmstrong.com
Subject: Re: the menu Options / Truncate Long Lines in This Buffer not working correctly
Date: Thu, 29 May 2008 19:07:02 -0400
Message-ID: <18495.14102.57759.187120@fencepost.gnu.org>


I think this has been fixed as well as it can be.