Re: bookmark.el and lisp/gnus/gnus-bookmark.el

[Karl Fogel <kfogel@red-bean.com>]

Bastien <bzg@altern.org> writes:
> Two answers: yes gnus-bookmarks.el should stored Gnus bookmarks in
> ~/.emacs.bmk (as every mode should do), but no we can't get rid of
> gnus-bookmarks.el because it adds some keybindings to Gnus.

Sure -- the existence of the file isn't a problem.  Whatever method we
have of establishing those keybindings in Gnus is fine.  I just meant
that the Gnus keybindings should bind to standard bookmark functions,
and those functions should DTRT for Gnus.  (As you seem to be
proposing below, too.)

> I think we should continue and generalize the work done by Tassilo.
>
> He added the buffer-local variable `bookmark-make-cell-function', which
> lets you define a handler for a mode: when setting a bookmark, a handler
> is added to the record and jumping to the bookmark will use this handler
> instead of `bookmark-jump' (see `bookmark-jump-internal'.)
>
> This is all good, but it only works for buffer visiting files and
> Info-mode. 

Yup.  The idea (as I understand it) was precisely that we could extend
it to handle other things, like Gnus.

> What would be great would be to change `bookmark-set' like this:
>
> - run every function in `bookmark-set-functions' until one returns
>   something useful (those functions returning something similar to
>   ` bookmark-buffer-file-name');
>
> - if nil, then fall back on `bookmark-buffer-file-name' and return 
>   an error if this is nil.
>
>
> If we go for this, then gnus-bookmarks.el would do this:
>
> - add a function to `bookmark-set-functions', so that it return a
>   sensible value (instead of the buffer-file-name)
>
> - locally set `bookmark-make-cell-function' to define the right handler
>   (which should select a group/article in Gnus)
>
> I think this way let's people easily define man-bmk.el, or mew-bmk.el or
> whatever.  
>
> What you think?

It sounds like a good plan to me.

Er, do you have time to do it?  I can add it to my queue, but I'm
behind as it is, and I think it would be some weeks at a minimum
before I could look at it, unfortunately.

-Karl