Region-highlighting has disappeared.

Region-highlighting has disappeared.

[Adam Funk]

I just upgraded a computer from Ubuntu Feisty to Gutsy but (as far as
I'm aware) changed nothing else in the configuration; now the region
is no longer highlighted.  (I already have '(transient-mark-mode t) in
the custom-set-variables section of my ~/.emacs, but I can't figure
out what else to do.)  How can I force this back on?

(Strangely, this did not happen with the other Ubuntu machine I
upgraded a month or so ago.)

Thanks,
Adam

RE: Region-highlighting has disappeared.

[Drew Adams]

> I just upgraded a computer from Ubuntu Feisty to Gutsy but (as far as
> I'm aware) changed nothing else in the configuration; now the region
> is no longer highlighted.  (I already have '(transient-mark-mode t) in
> the custom-set-variables section of my ~/.emacs, but I can't figure
> out what else to do.)  How can I force this back on?
>
> (Strangely, this did not happen with the other Ubuntu machine I
> upgraded a month or so ago.)

What is the current value of `transient-mark-mode' - not just the setting in
your .emacs?

If transient-mark mode is active and you have an active region, and it
doesn't appear highlighted, then check (via `list-faces-display') to see if
face `region' is actually something noticeable.

What do you see when you try emacs -Q? That will tell you whether the
problem is from Emacs itself or from your .emacs.

Re: Region-highlighting has disappeared.

[Adam Funk]

On 2007-12-19, Drew Adams wrote:

>> I just upgraded a computer from Ubuntu Feisty to Gutsy but (as far as
>> I'm aware) changed nothing else in the configuration; now the region
>> is no longer highlighted.  (I already have '(transient-mark-mode t) in
>> the custom-set-variables section of my ~/.emacs, but I can't figure
>> out what else to do.)  How can I force this back on?
>>
>> (Strangely, this did not happen with the other Ubuntu machine I
>> upgraded a month or so ago.)
>
> What is the current value of `transient-mark-mode' - not just the setting in
> your .emacs?

--begin copy & paste
transient-mark-mode is a variable defined in `simple.el'.
Its value is t
--end copy & paste

I just got that from C-h v transient-mark-mode, and using M-space M-w
and C-y to paste it there.  So the region definitely exists.


> If transient-mark mode is active and you have an active region, and it
> doesn't appear highlighted, then check (via `list-faces-display') to see if
> face `region' is actually something noticeable.
>
> What do you see when you try emacs -Q? That will tell you whether the
> problem is from Emacs itself or from your .emacs.

With the -q option, transient-mark-mode is nil until I set it, then
the region appears highlighted (as it always used to be).  In *both*
cases (with and without -q), list-faces-display gives the same output
for region:

Region face: (sample) [Hide Face]
   [State]: STANDARD.
Basic face for highlighting the region.
Parent groups: [Basic Faces]
Choice: [Value Menu] 
 Attributes: [ ] Font Family: *
             [ ] Width: *
             [ ] Height: *
             [ ] Weight: *
             [ ] Slant: *
             [ ] Underline: *
             [ ] Overline: *
             [ ] Strike-through: *
             [ ] Box around text: *
             [ ] Inverse-video: *
             [X] Foreground: white      (sample)
             [X] Background: blue       (sample)
             [ ] Stipple: *
             [ ] Inherit: *

But emacs seems to ignore this without -q!

I'd like to stress that I haven't changed anything in ~/.emacs; I've
just done an ubuntu upgrade and switched from emacs21 to emacs22.

RE: Region-highlighting has disappeared.

[Drew Adams]

> Region face:
>              [X] Foreground: white      (sample)
>              [X] Background: blue       (sample)
> But emacs seems to ignore this without -q!

I assume you mean that you see that when you use your .emacs also, so we
know the region face is something noticeable.

So, using your .emacs, the region was active (in the buffer in question),
transient-mark mode was enabled, and the region face is something
noticeable. That's all as it should be.

> I haven't changed anything in ~/.emacs; I've
> just done an ubuntu upgrade and switched from emacs21 to emacs22.

Dunno. Maybe someone else has a suggestion.

Re: Region-highlighting has disappeared.

[Adam Funk]

On 2007-12-19, Drew Adams wrote:

>> Region face:
>>              [X] Foreground: white      (sample)
>>              [X] Background: blue       (sample)
>> But emacs seems to ignore this without -q!
>
> I assume you mean that you see that when you use your .emacs also, so we
> know the region face is something noticeable.
>
> So, using your .emacs, the region was active (in the buffer in question),
> transient-mark mode was enabled, and the region face is something
> noticeable. That's all as it should be.

Sorry I wasn't clear!

With my .emacs:
  * the region face definition (above) looks right
  * transient-mark-mode is on
  * the region is active
  * I *cannot* see the region!

With -q:
  * the region face definition (above) looks right
  * transient-mark-mode is on
  * the region is active
  * I *can* see the region.


>> I haven't changed anything in ~/.emacs; I've
>> just done an ubuntu upgrade and switched from emacs21 to emacs22.
>
> Dunno. Maybe someone else has a suggestion.

I should also point out that I had this problem with emacs21
immediately after upgrading Ubuntu to gutsy, and then upgraded to
emacs22 in the (mistaken) hope of fixing it.

Re: Region-highlighting has disappeared.

[Adam Funk]

On 2007-12-19, Adam Funk wrote:

>>> Region face:
>>>              [X] Foreground: white      (sample)
>>>              [X] Background: blue       (sample)
>>> But emacs seems to ignore this without -q!
...

On further investigation, this is weirder than I thought.  It seems to
make a difference whether I'm physically typing at that computer or
using ssh:

With my .emacs, either sitting at the problematic computer, by ssh
from another Linux box, or by ssh from a Mac terminal:

   * the region face definition (above) looks right
   * transient-mark-mode is on
   * the region is active
   * I *cannot* see the region!

With -q, sitting at the problematic computer:

   * the region face definition (above) looks right
   * transient-mark-mode is on
   * the region is active
   * I *cannot* see the region!

With -q, by ssh:

   * the region face definition (above) looks right
   * transient-mark-mode is on
   * the region is active
   * I *can* see the region.

Is it possible that this is an X configuration issue?

Re: Region-highlighting has disappeared.

[Adam Funk]

On 2007-12-19, Adam Funk wrote:

>>>> Region face:
>>>>              [X] Foreground: white      (sample)
>>>>              [X] Background: blue       (sample)
>>>> But emacs seems to ignore this without -q!

Further investigation: by commenting and uncommenting various bits of
my .emacs file, I have found the culprit:

(custom-set-variables
...
  '(pc-select-meta-moves-sexps t)
  '(pc-select-selection-keys-only t)
; '(pc-selection-mode t nil (pc-select))   ; this was screwing up the region-highlighting
...
)

Commenting out the pc-selection-mode line (but not the two pc-select-*
lines) fixes the problem.  I don't even remember what that stuff
means!

Of course I'll look it up, but it must have been there for a long time
and not caused any trouble until it interacted with something else
that came with Gutsy (same problem using either emacs 21.4 or 22.1).

Re: Region-highlighting has disappeared.

[yjgzhang]

On Dec 20 2007, 11:31 am, Adam Funk <a24...@ducksburg.com> wrote:
> On 2007-12-19, Adam Funk wrote:
>
> >>>> Region face:
> >>>>              [X] Foreground: white      (sample)
> >>>>              [X] Background: blue       (sample)
> >>>> But emacs seems to ignore this without -q!
>
> Further investigation: by commenting and uncommenting various bits of
> my .emacs file, I have found the culprit:
>
> (custom-set-variables
> ...
>   '(pc-select-meta-moves-sexps t)
>   '(pc-select-selection-keys-only t)
> ; '(pc-selection-mode t nil (pc-select))   ; this was screwing up the region-highlighting
> ...
> )
>
> Commenting out the pc-selection-mode line (but not the two pc-select-*
> lines) fixes the problem.  I don't even remember what that stuff
> means!
>
> Of course I'll look it up, but it must have been there for a long time
> and not caused any trouble until it interacted with something else
> that came with Gutsy (same problem using either emacs 21.4 or 22.1).

I encountered the same problems here with emacs under ubuntu. I used
to use emacs under Fedora and Mandriva. The emacs under those two
linux distributions has no problem at all. But when i transfered to
ubuntu, I have the same problems, i.e., the selected region using
keyboard can not be highlighted. E.g, when you using \C+space mark a
begining of a region, and then using the left or right arrows to move
the cursor, nothing happened (it supposed to extend the region from
the position where \C + space marked). However, when I reach the end
of the region, and using alt+w to cut it, it still works. This problem
is very annoying when you using the keyboard for editing in Emacs,
because you can not see the selected region, they are in darks.

I also try to emacs -q to ignore my profile, the same thing happened.
Does anyone can tell me how to solve this problem?

Thanks.

Re: Region-highlighting has disappeared.

[Adam Funk]

On 2008-01-10, yjgzhang@gmail.com wrote:

> I encountered the same problems here with emacs under ubuntu. I used
> to use emacs under Fedora and Mandriva. The emacs under those two
> linux distributions has no problem at all. But when i transfered to
> ubuntu, I have the same problems, i.e., the selected region using
> keyboard can not be highlighted. E.g, when you using \C+space mark a
> begining of a region, and then using the left or right arrows to move
> the cursor, nothing happened (it supposed to extend the region from
> the position where \C + space marked). However, when I reach the end
> of the region, and using alt+w to cut it, it still works. This problem
> is very annoying when you using the keyboard for editing in Emacs,
> because you can not see the selected region, they are in darks.
>
> I also try to emacs -q to ignore my profile, the same thing happened.
> Does anyone can tell me how to solve this problem?

When I start it with `emacs -q`, region-highlighting is off; try using

  M-x transient-mark-mode

to switch it on.  If that works, put 

 (setq transient-mark-mode t)

in your .emacs file and try again.  (My problem was that something
mysterious in my .emacs file was interfering with transient-mark-mode,
which was turned on in that file.)

HTH!

Re: Region-highlighting has disappeared.

[Lennart Borgman (gmail)]

> to switch it on.  If that works, put 
> 
>  (setq transient-mark-mode t)
> 
> in your .emacs file and try again.

Maybe that works now, but I believe for the future it is better to use

    (transient-mark-mode 1)

Re: Region-highlighting has disappeared.

[Adam Funk]

On 2008-01-11, Lennart Borgman (gmail) wrote:

>> to switch it on.  If that works, put 
>> 
>>  (setq transient-mark-mode t)
>> 
>> in your .emacs file and try again.
>
> Maybe that works now, but I believe for the future it is better to use
>
>     (transient-mark-mode 1)

Thanks for the pointer, but now I wonder, why would the variable
become obsolete?

Re: Region-highlighting has disappeared.

[Thierry Volpiatto]

Because it's also a function and it seem the variable will disapear
in the future.

-- 
A + Thierry
Pub key: http://pgp.mit.edu

Re: Region-highlighting has disappeared.

[Lennart Borgman (gmail)]

Adam Funk wrote:
> On 2008-01-11, Lennart Borgman (gmail) wrote:
> 
>>> to switch it on.  If that works, put 
>>>
>>>  (setq transient-mark-mode t)
>>>
>>> in your .emacs file and try again.
>> Maybe that works now, but I believe for the future it is better to use
>>
>>     (transient-mark-mode 1)
> 
> Thanks for the pointer, but now I wonder, why would the variable
> become obsolete?


The variable will not become obsolote. You can always test its value, 
but you should not set its value directly since transient-mark-mode is a 
(global) minor mode. Turning on a minor mode might do more than just set 
the variable.

BTW you can also set the value through

   M-x customize-option RET transient-mark-mode RET

Re: Region-highlighting has disappeared.

[Adam Funk]

On 2008-01-11, Lennart Borgman (gmail) wrote:

>>>>  (setq transient-mark-mode t)
>>>>
>>>> in your .emacs file and try again.

>>> Maybe that works now, but I believe for the future it is better to use
>>>
>>>     (transient-mark-mode 1)
>> 
>> Thanks for the pointer, but now I wonder, why would the variable
>> become obsolete?
>
>
> The variable will not become obsolote. You can always test its value, 
> but you should not set its value directly since transient-mark-mode is a 
> (global) minor mode. Turning on a minor mode might do more than just set 
> the variable.

Aha, that makes sense.  Thanks!

Re: Region-highlighting has disappeared.

[Fabrice Niessen]

Hello Adam,

> I just upgraded a computer from Ubuntu Feisty to Gutsy but (as
> far as I'm aware) changed nothing else in the configuration;
> now the region is no longer highlighted. (I already have
> '(transient-mark-mode t) in the custom-set-variables section
> of my ~/.emacs, but I can't figure out what else to do.)

I've noticed a similar problem on my system, which I've finally
found out as caused by `flyspell-mode' being enabled.

Are you using flyspell?  What happens if you deactivate it?

Fabrice

___________________________________________
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Re: Region-highlighting has disappeared.

[Adam Funk]

On 2008-02-07, Fabrice Niessen wrote:

> Hello Adam,
>
>> I just upgraded a computer from Ubuntu Feisty to Gutsy but (as
>> far as I'm aware) changed nothing else in the configuration;
>> now the region is no longer highlighted. (I already have
>> '(transient-mark-mode t) in the custom-set-variables section
>> of my ~/.emacs, but I can't figure out what else to do.)
>
> I've noticed a similar problem on my system, which I've finally
> found out as caused by `flyspell-mode' being enabled.
>
> Are you using flyspell?  What happens if you deactivate it?

I wasn't using flyspell.  I fixed the problem by eliminating things
from .emacs until it went away; specifically, I discovered these
mysterious lines:


(custom-set-variables
...
; '(pc-select-meta-moves-sexps t)
; '(pc-select-selection-keys-only t)
; '(pc-selection-mode t nil (pc-select))   ; this was screwing up the region-highlighting
...
)

Commenting out those three lines solved my problem.  (I don't know why
they were there in the first place.)

HTH!

Re: Region-highlighting has disappeared.

[kovalsky.jan]

Hi folks,

few days ago I switched from Emacs 21.4 to 22.1 and discovered exactly
the same issue as described above. When region was selected by
keyboard (C-SPC) it was not highlighted. However, when the region was
selected by mouse, highlighting appeared. Since I've got my .emacs
setting for very long time (from Emacs version 20.x) I had also in
there strange pc-select variables setting mentioned above. Workaround
I used to get highlighting working again for region selected by
keyboard was to comment out (remove) the line:

'(pc-selection-mode t nil (pc-select))

After that highlighting is back in operation again. Naturally, I have
'(transient-mark-mode t) in my .emacs config file.

Cheers,
Jan

Re: Region-highlighting has disappeared.

[Sébastien Vauban]

Hello,

> Few days ago I switched from Emacs 21.4 to 22.1 and discovered
> exactly the same issue as described above. When region was
> selected by keyboard (C-SPC) it was not highlighted. However,
> when the region was selected by mouse, highlighting appeared.

I have also the same symptom, but - in my case - the cause is a
bug when `flyspell-mode' is enabled.

Just disabling flyspell makes the selection work again...

Seb

-- 
Sébastien Vauban