From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Path: news.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: Chong Yidong Newsgroups: gmane.emacs.devel Subject: Re: Customizing the mode line Date: Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:45:10 -0400 Message-ID: <87k4ycn5cp.fsf@stupidchicken.com> References: <83skd1dta0.fsf@gnu.org> NNTP-Posting-Host: lo.gmane.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Trace: ger.gmane.org 1256924924 18833 80.91.229.12 (30 Oct 2009 17:48:44 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@ger.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:48:44 +0000 (UTC) Cc: emacs-devel@gnu.org To: Eli Zaretskii Original-X-From: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Fri Oct 30 18:48:37 2009 Return-path: Envelope-to: ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane.org Original-Received: from lists.gnu.org ([199.232.76.165]) by lo.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 4.50) id 1N3vaU-0005D1-Iz for ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane.org; Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:48:34 +0100 Original-Received: from localhost ([127.0.0.1]:44538 helo=lists.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.43) id 1N3vaU-0004YY-3F for ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane.org; Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:48:34 -0400 Original-Received: from mailman by lists.gnu.org with tmda-scanned (Exim 4.43) id 1N3vXM-0001Oj-Va for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:45:21 -0400 Original-Received: from exim by lists.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.43) id 1N3vXI-0001Jm-6j for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:45:20 -0400 Original-Received: from [199.232.76.173] (port=46738 helo=monty-python.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.43) id 1N3vXH-0001JW-PM for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:45:15 -0400 Original-Received: from pantheon-po44.its.yale.edu ([130.132.50.78]:50267) by monty-python.gnu.org with esmtps (TLS-1.0:DHE_RSA_AES_256_CBC_SHA1:32) (Exim 4.60) (envelope-from ) id 1N3vXF-0001fH-67; Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:45:13 -0400 Original-Received: from furry (dhcp128036014244.central.yale.edu [128.36.14.244]) (authenticated bits=0) by pantheon-po44.its.yale.edu (8.12.11.20060308/8.12.11) with ESMTP id n9UHjBaZ032581 (version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA bits=256 verify=NOT); Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:45:11 -0400 Original-Received: by furry (Postfix, from userid 1000) id 970ACC070; Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:45:10 -0400 (EDT) In-Reply-To: <83skd1dta0.fsf@gnu.org> (Eli Zaretskii's message of "Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:18:31 +0200") User-Agent: Gnus/5.13 (Gnus v5.13) Emacs/23.1.50 (gnu/linux) X-YaleITSMailFilter: Version 1.2c (attachment(s) not renamed) X-detected-operating-system: by monty-python.gnu.org: GNU/Linux 2.4-2.6 X-BeenThere: emacs-devel@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: "Emacs development discussions." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Original-Sender: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Errors-To: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Xref: news.gmane.org gmane.emacs.devel:116472 Archived-At: Eli Zaretskii writes: > Annoyingly, a large part of the real estate of the mode line is taken > by information that is much less important, like the percentage of the > file before the window start and the list of minor modes in effect. The major and minor mode indicators are important. For instance, there must be a visible indicator of whether overwrite mode is on, because if you toggle it frequently, you may forget whether it's currently on. > And when I read mail, I see something like "RMAIL XXXX/YYYY answered, > deleted"; when replying to mail it's "Mail Fly Abbrev Fill", etc. > These are very long strings that I don't need to see all the time, The gnus and rmail mode line formats definitely need to be improved, I agree. By the way, since we're complaining about the mode-line: I find the sequence of "----" characters at the end of the mode-line hideous. I wouldn't object to removing them for graphical displays (they're probably necessary for terminal displays).