Re: visual-region-mode?

[hw <hw@adminart.net>]

charles@aurox.ch (Charles A. Roelli) writes:


> [...]
> The manual tries to explain why ISEARCH sometimes does not push a
> mark:
>
>     When you exit the incremental search, it adds the original value of
>   point to the mark ring, without activating the mark; you can thus use
>   ‘C-u C-<SPC>’ or ‘C-x C-x’ to return to where you were before beginning
>   the search.  *Note Mark Ring::.  (Emacs only does this if the mark was
>   not already active; if the mark was active when you started the search,
>   both 'C-u C-<SPC>' and 'C-x C-x' will go to the mark.)
>
> The wording leaves something to be desired.  The parenthetical could
> maybe say:
>
>   Emacs only pushes the mark if it was not already active; if the mark
>   was active when you started the search, both 'C-u C-<SPC>' and 'C-x
>   C-x' will place point at the other end of the active region, not at
>   the original value of point.

This seems very confusing.  Is the region activated or the mark, or
both?

Isn't the region defined to be the part of the buffer between mark and
point?  If so, then point is always at one end of the region, active or
not, and there is no way to place it somewhere else.  IIUC, you can not
place point at the other end of the region when there is no mark to
exchange it with, and what happens to the mark when you do this when
searching incrementally?