Re: Using several frames on TTYs, switching them, terminology: [Is also: Tabbed buffers]

["David De La Harpe Golden" <david.delaharpe.golden@gmail.com>]

On 28/01/2008, Richard Stallman <rms@gnu.org> wrote:
>     Again, why the word "tab"?
>
> Because that's the word they are generally called, in regard to
> browsers for instance, and what most computer users will know.
>

Heh. Maybe should rename [emacs] frames to windows and [emacs] windows
to panes, too. :-)

>> The display stratagem seems redundant  - we've already got frames
>> and windows - so, would it not be a better idea  to have @def{frame
>> sets}, a collection of frames displayed in the same place, any one of
>> which can be selected by its tab?
>
> That's not what a tab should do.  Tabs should operate within a frame.
>

[using emacs terminology]:

(i) I think by "a collection of frames in the same place" was meant
tabs switching between frame contents i.e. sets of windows?  They'd be
in the one "physical" frame, tabs would select different window
configurations i.e. "virtual" frames.  That sounds a bit like
latter-day-IDE "views" being tabbed.
Of course, winner-mode already exists. Maybe emacs just needs to
expose general tab bar widgets that winner-mode could then use...

(ii) IIRC clicking XEmacs "buffer-tabs"  widgets in its "gutters"
switches between the buffers in the current window of the current
frame though:
http://www.xemacs.org/Documentation/21.5/html/xemacs_4.html#SEC16

While the (i) might be useful I think (ii) is probably what
people would expect  tabs to do if implemented in GNU Emacs
(especially since it's what XEmacs already does...).  Would rapidly
become unwieldy for large buffer counts though.  Then again, the menu
and toolbar are totally unwieldy for large command counts and probably
rapidly get turned off by many advanced emacs users, just as the
buffer-tabs would.

(You _could_ have both (i) and (ii), really.  Would probably look
quite cluttered  though. Of course maybe the GUI clutter of an IDE
with [nonemacs terminology] a zillion tabbed panes holding tabbed
panes of tabbed panes (and let's not forget the customary tabbed panes
that are too big to fit in the enclosing pane and thus induce
horizontal and vertical scrollbars - bleurgh) is what people really
/miss/ in emacs :-) )