Re: custom-declare-variable

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

Per Abrahamsen wrote:

   Would it be possible to undo the patch that integrated custom themes
   into Emacs cvs?

   It might be easier to redo theme support from scratch, than make the
   current code work...  I mean, if nobody really understand the ideas
   behind the design of custom themes, it is unlikely that stepwise
   refinement of the code will produce something useful.

cus-theme.el is probably usable, even with a completely rewritten
Themes code in custom.el, although it would need bug fixes and
improvements.

In as far as the Themes code in custom.el is concerned, I do not even
understand what it is _trying_ to do and some things about it make me
very wary.  There is the strangeness in `custom-declare-variable'
which I pointed out.  There is `custom-do-theme-reset' whose docstring
describes _twice_ what the function does, giving two completely
contradictory descriptions.  I read the code carefully to see which of
the two was correct.  The actual behavior has nothing to do with
either description.  Things like that make you wonder.

Maybe somebody else can take a look at the Themes code in custom.el
and see whether they understand any of it.  Otherwise, I believe that,
at best, some parts of it maybe could be recycled into the new design
we would come up with, but still it means essentially starting over
from scratch.

Sincerely,

Luc.