mention risky local variables "!" choice

mention risky local variables "!" choice

[jidanni]

Info says:
   Otherwise, you can tell Emacs to record all the variable/value pairs in
   this file as safe, by typing `!' at the confirmation prompt.  When
   Emacs encounters these variable/value pairs subsequently, in the same
   file or others, it will assume they are safe.

OK, then the message

   The local variables list in .procmailrc
   contains variables that are risky (**).

   Do you want to apply it?  You can type
   y  -- to apply the local variables list.
   n  -- to ignore the local variables list.

    ** compile-command : (concat "proclint " buffer-file-name)

should mention "!", else one is sure there is no way to stop day in
and day out interrogation.

But wait. Info also says:
       Some variables, such as `load-path', are considered particularly
    "risky": there is seldom any reason to specify them as local variables,
    and changing them can be dangerous.  Even if you enter `!' at the
    confirmation prompt, Emacs will not record any values as safe for these
    variables.  If you really want to record safe values for these
    variables...

So maybe the message should instead just have a "link" to the Info page for
more details.

Also say if "**" means "particularly risky" vs. "*" if any.

Anyway, no fair not telling them about the existence of "!".

By the way, here is a patch about something else, different than the
above problem. I hope I got the link syntax correct.

*** /tmp/emacs-5	2007-07-07 11:55:03.000000000 +0800
--- /tmp/emacs-5.jidanni	2007-08-31 01:09:15.714237156 +0800
***************
*** 4458,4463 ****
--- 4458,4469 ----
       #   -Dmumble=blaah"
       # End:
  
+ You can even mix elisp expressions in:
+ 
+      # compile-command: (concat "proclint " buffer-file-name)
+ 
+ (which will trigger alarms. See *Note Safety of File Variables::.)
+ 
     Some "variable names" have special meanings in a local variables
  list.  Specifying the "variable" `mode' really sets the major mode,
  while any value specified for the "variable" `eval' is simply evaluated

Re: mention risky local variables "!" choice

[Richard Stallman]

       Do you want to apply it?  You can type
       y  -- to apply the local variables list.
       n  -- to ignore the local variables list.

	** compile-command : (concat "proclint " buffer-file-name)

Would someone please do that?

Re: mention risky local variables "!" choice

[Glenn Morris]

Richard Stallman wrote:

>        Do you want to apply it?  You can type
>        y  -- to apply the local variables list.
>        n  -- to ignore the local variables list.
>
> 	** compile-command : (concat "proclint " buffer-file-name)
>
> Would someone please do that?

Do what, exactly?

The `!' option is mentioned only when it has an effect.
compile-command is risky, so `!' has no effect in this particular
case and is not mentioned.

Re: mention risky local variables "!" choice

[jidanni]

GM> The `!' option is mentioned only when it has an effect.
GM> compile-command is risky, so `!' has no effect in this particular
GM> case and is not mentioned.
OK, then please document the **** changes stuff below:

   Some variables, such as `load-path', are considered particularly
"risky": there is seldom any reason to specify them as local
variables, and changing them can be dangerous. ****> Emacs will not
prompt with "!" in this case, and even if you enter it, <**** Emacs
will not record any values as safe for these variables.

And don't forget the other important points of my original important
post. Thanks.

Re: mention risky local variables "!" choice

[Glenn Morris]

jidanni@jidanni.org wrote:

> OK, then please document the **** changes stuff below:
>
>    Some variables, such as `load-path', are considered particularly
> "risky": there is seldom any reason to specify them as local
> variables, and changing them can be dangerous. ****> Emacs will not
> prompt with "!" in this case, and even if you enter it, <**** Emacs
> will not record any values as safe for these variables.

When Emacs does not prompt with !, you can't enter it. This is so
self-explanatory as to not be worth documenting.

If there are both risky and unsafe variables, it does prompt with !,
but that only applies to the unsafe variables. This non-trivial case
is what the current manual refers to, quite clearly I think.

> And don't forget the other important points of my original important
> post.

I must have missed them.

Re: mention risky local variables "!" choice

[Richard Stallman]

    The `!' option is mentioned only when it has an effect.
    compile-command is risky, so `!' has no effect in this particular
    case and is not mentioned.

Ok.

Re: mention risky local variables "!" choice

[Davis Herring]

>>    Some variables, such as `load-path', are considered particularly
>> "risky": there is seldom any reason to specify them as local
>> variables, and changing them can be dangerous. ****> Emacs will not
>> prompt with "!" in this case, and even if you enter it, <**** Emacs
>> will not record any values as safe for these variables.
>
> When Emacs does not prompt with !, you can't enter it. This is so
> self-explanatory as to not be worth documenting.
>
> If there are both risky and unsafe variables, it does prompt with !,
> but that only applies to the unsafe variables. This non-trivial case
> is what the current manual refers to, quite clearly I think.

It seems that the manual should instead say that ! does not apply to such
variables, and that if those variables are the only ones under
consideration (that is, there are no _unsafe_ variables), that ! isn't
even an input option (as it would be, perhaps unexpectedly, equivalent to
"y").  The bit about "even if you enter it" seems to imply that ! is an
undocumented option there, which I don't think is the intent.

Davis

-- 
This product is sold by volume, not by mass.  If it appears too dense or
too sparse, it is because mass-energy conversion has occurred during
shipping.