Re: Customize buttons that change user's custom fileshouldaskforconfirmation

[Luc Teirlinck <teirllm@dms.auburn.edu>]

Kim Storm wrote:

   The confusion arises when you have the option to "set but not save"
   some options, and later on you do "save" -- that will save all options
   including those you only "set".

No, you completely misunderstand.  Getting rid of the Save-Set
distinction would _in no way whatsoever_ make using whole buffer
buttons safe.  There are _tons_ of problems with them, some of which I
described in my previous posting.

   > But the problem is exactly that he may _not_ be satisfied with all the
   > current "settings" (widget values).  He may just have wanted to set
   > them, or even more likely, just has been looking at them.

   I don't think this is _typical_ usage.

   Suppose the user is playing with some feature, e.g. ido-mode, which
   has many options.  He tries to "Set" some parameters to see the
   effect.

   If he doesn't like the effect, he will "Reset" to set it back to what
   it was.

You completely misunderstand again.  I am talking about just _looking_
at items in a "Value Menu", not about setting anything.  When you
click on a choice of the Value Menu, the default value _for that choice_
appears in the widget and a separate docstring for that choice may
appear, which you may want to read.  You may _only_ have clicked on
that choice for information purposes.  If you are not careful and start
looking at another option, without first resetting the Value Menu to your
actual choice, and use the per buffer buttons, you may accidentally
save the widget value, even though you never wanted to save or even
set it.  The problem is that Custom buffers can be large, so if you want
to save a totally unrelated option, you may have forgotten about the
docs you were reading, which are _out of view_.

The whole buffer buttons make merely *looking* at the choices you
have, or wanting to read their docs, a dangerous activity.

   If customize is so dangerous, it should really be off-limits for
   everybody...

Customize is not too dangerous, the whole buffer buttons are too
dangerous.  They probably should indeed be off limits for everybody.
I suggest getting rid of them.

   > The concept of saving options one by one is not a difficult concept,
   > whether the user is used to it or not.  One should not equate "novice"
   > with "stupid".

   So why do you do that ?

I do _not_ claim that the average user is too stupid to use whole
buffer buttons.  I claim that the whole buffer buttons needlessly
force the user to be careful about the many options in the buffer he
is not interested in.  On the other hand, your main argument against
per option customization appears to be that the average user is too
stupid to grasp the mind-boggling concept of option by option
customization if he is not used to it.

Sincerely,

Luc.