Re: Activate an input-method from file-local variables?

[Aidan Kehoe <kehoea@parhasard.net>]

 Ar an séú lá déag de mí Iúil, scríobh Richard Stallman: 

 >     XEmacs lispref that mention the connection to buffer-local variables,
 >     and am
 > 
 > We try to improve GNU Emacs documentation, but we cannot be
 > responsible for deficiencies of forked versions such as GNU XEmacs.

I didn’t suggest that you were; I mentioned the XEmacs documentation because
it was relevant to answering David’s question. 

 >     having trouble finding something that mentions it explicitly in the GNU
 >     Emacs Lisp reference manual. (And since ?coding? is treated specially
 > 
 > File local variables are a user feature, not a Lisp programming
 > feature,

They are both. You need an awareness of programming Lisp to use them,
something not true for most things detailed in the Emacs Manual.

 > so they are documented in the Emacs Manual.
 > 
 >     Ah, here we are; three
 >     throwaway sentences in Local Variables in Files,
 > 
 > I see you found the section in the Emacs Manual which documents them.
 > (There is an xref to it in the Lisp Manual.)
 > 
 > Why do you call that text "throwaway"?  It is right at the start of
 > the section, and states the point explicitly.  It says everything
 > there is to say about the question.

It doesn’t call them buffer-local variables. In GNU Emacs, variables can be
local to a let binding or lambda, local to a buffer, or local to a frame. I
read the first sentence ‘A file can specify local variable values for use
when you edit the file with Emacs.’ as just one more semantic extension of
the word ‘local’; the phrase ‘it automatically makes those variables local
to the buffer’ and a couple of phrases more in that section are what says
that the variables are buffer-local.

I call those three phrases ‘throwaway’ because they don’t arise at the start
of any section, they are mentioned in passing rather than emphasised.

 >     no mention whatsoever in
 >     Creating and Deleting Buffer-Local Bindings.
 > 
 > (When you mention a section title, would you please say which
 > manual you're talking about?  That would help me find it
 > so I can think about your point.)
 > 
 > That section describes Lisp facilities for creating and deleting
 > buffer-local bindings.  File local variable lists don't belong there.

File local variable lists create buffer-local bindings! That’s what David
just explained to me. 

 > Anyway, it seems that I can make the xref in the Lisp Manual clearer,
 > and restate this basic point.  What do you think of this new text?
 > 
 >       A file can specify local variable values; Emacs uses these to create
 >     buffer-local bindings for those variables in the buffer visiting that
 >     file.  @xref{File variables, , Local Variables in Files, emacs, The
 >     GNU Emacs Manual}, for basic information about file local variables.
 >     This section describes the functions and variables that affect
 >     processing of file local variables.

I find it much clearer; thank you for your thought on this. 

-- 
Santa Maradona, priez pour moi!