Re: Tramp 2.0 -> 2.1 migration woes

[Michael Albinus <michael.albinus@gmx.de>]

"Trent W. Buck" <trentbuck@gmail.com> writes:

>> I also remember some problems in implementation of all these Tramp
>> 2.1 optimizations for the Tramp 2.0 multi-hop paths.
>
> Would it be correct to say that the explicit multi: method was removed
> because other TRAMP changes broke it, and that it will be brought back
> once it's fixed?  Or is it gone for good?  I would (obviously) prefer
> the former.

Nope. The internal data structures have changed significantly, there
is no easy way to get this syntax back. And I'm also not convinced
that this shall be the way to go.

>> On the Tramp todo list, there is the item
>>
>> ;; * WIBNI there was an interactive command prompting for Tramp
>> ;;   method, hostname, username and filename and translates the user
>> ;;   input into the correct filename syntax (depending on the Emacs
>> ;;   flavor) (Reiner Steib)
>>
>> This could be expanded to multi-hops, where it seems to be even more
>> useful. I'll try to find the time to work on it (Threat: I will exploit
>> *you* as tester for this functionality!)
>
> Well, personally I prefer a single complex prompt like
>
>     What path?  /multi:ssh:foo:sudo::
>
> to a long series of simple prompts
>
>     What method? ssh
>     What user [twb]?  RET
>     What host? foo
>     Done [Y/n]? n
>     What method? sudo
>     What user [root]?  RET
>     Done [Y/n]?  RET
>     Filename? /etc/ssh/sshd_config
>
> mainly because I find it easier to copy/paste or M-p
> (previous-history-element) a single prompt than to do it repeatedly
> for several prompts.

Hmm. Then we have conflicting requirements. Reiner's intention was to
guide the novice user ... maybe we need indeed two kinds of interactive
guidance. In your case, something like this could be done:

  Where do you want to go? /sudo:leek: RET
  Which proxy is in front of it? /ssh:twb@leek: RET
  Which proxy is in front of it? /ssh:twb@foo: RET
  Which proxy is in front of it? RET
  Do you want to add it permanently [Y/n]? n RET

  => Added to `tramp-default-proxies-alist' temporarily:
     (("leek" "root" "/ssh:twb@leek:")
      ("leek" "twb"  "/ssh:twb@foo:"))

Best regards, Michael.