Re: scroll-lock-mode and goal-column

[David Kastrup <dak@gnu.org>]

Stefan Monnier <monnier@IRO.UMontreal.CA> writes:

> Now that scroll-preserve-screen-position preserves the column position,
> I think that scroll-lock-mode can be simplified to not mess with the
> goal-column any more.  Could someone look into this?

Im not convinced that scroll-preserve-screen-position _can_ preserve the
column position.

In the times where only fixed width characters existed, goal-column
served the function of maintaining a column position even when one was
moving temporarily across lines that had no "point" corresponding to a
previous goal column.

For preserving screen positions in the presence of variable width fonts,
we really need a goal-pixel-position instead in order to have a
comparable preservation of movement.  Otherwise, moving back and forth
"visually" across a line with a larger font, or just moving vertically
across proportionally spaced fonts will make us lose track of the actual
position.

-- 
David Kastrup