From: Alan Mackenzie <acm@muc.de>
To: Dani Moncayo <dmoncayo@gmail.com>
Cc: Michael Welsh Duggan <md5i@md5i.com>,
dan.colascione@gmail.com, rms@gnu.org, emacs-devel@gnu.org,
juri@jurta.org, chad <yandros@mit.edu>,
drew.adams@oracle.com
Subject: Re: `isearch-allow-scroll' - a misnomer and a bad design
Date: Wed, 21 Sep 2011 09:04:06 +0000 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <20110921090406.GA2537@acm.acm> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <CAH8Pv0iiQAq6Jotv8ihN5Q6b00EX9JkuVW6nrW2Mf6OqJy8XEw@mail.gmail.com>
Hi, everybody.
On Tue, Sep 20, 2011 at 09:59:22PM +0200, Dani Moncayo wrote:
> > Since C-u is always a prefix character, would it make sense to you for
> > it not to quit isearch if the character that follows a C-u opt/number
> > prefix is a key sequence that is currently in use by isearch, and for it
> > to quit Isearch and pass the prefix on to the non-isearch command
> > otherwise?
> > In this case, `C-u C-n' would exit isearch and move down 4 lines, whereas
> > `C-u n' would add four "n"s to the current search string.
Since when has adding four identical characters into a search string been
useful? Maybe "))))" whilst programming elisp, and there is a (long)
place name in Wales with four consecutive 'l's. But really? :-)
> FWIW: Several people have expressed this idea, with which I agree.
> C-u should do nothing by itself (and that includes not exiting
> Isearch, of course).
C-u is bound to a command, namely `universal-argument', and we do our
users a disservice if we try to pretend otherwise.
> Its only effect should be to provide a prefix argument to the next
> command, to extend its behavior.
No. When in isearch, it first exits isearch and then generates the
prefix argument (4). It exits isearch like (almost) any other
non-character keysequence does.
What is now going down is that C-u will _sometimes_ exit isearch,
sometimes not. This is going to leave a squidgy uncomfortable feeling
in the stomach of anybody who thinks about it, yet hasn't explicitly
enabled this behaviour.
isearch-allow-scroll isn't enabled by default, so why should
isearch-enable-prefix, which is almost (but not quite) as radical a
departure from classical Emacs, be?
The anomaly we're stumbling over here is the (almost?) unique status of
isearch as a modal (in the vi sense) behaviour in Emacs.
> I hope it helps.
> --
> Dani Moncayo
--
Alan Mackenzie (Nuremberg, Germany).
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2011-09-21 9:04 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 59+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2011-09-09 20:38 `isearch-allow-scroll' - a misnomer and a bad design Drew Adams
2011-09-09 21:52 ` Alan Mackenzie
2011-09-09 23:07 ` Drew Adams
2011-09-10 0:58 ` Stefan Monnier
2011-09-10 7:48 ` Drew Adams
2011-09-10 11:28 ` Alan Mackenzie
2011-09-10 16:44 ` Drew Adams
2011-09-10 11:47 ` Juri Linkov
2011-09-10 12:13 ` Alan Mackenzie
2011-09-10 2:03 ` Stephen J. Turnbull
2011-09-10 11:10 ` Alan Mackenzie
2011-09-10 16:43 ` Drew Adams
2011-09-10 19:04 ` Alan Mackenzie
2011-09-10 20:22 ` PJ Weisberg
2011-09-10 23:06 ` Stephen J. Turnbull
2011-09-11 0:47 ` Drew Adams
2011-09-11 10:39 ` Alan Mackenzie
2011-09-11 16:54 ` Drew Adams
2011-09-11 17:30 ` Alan Mackenzie
2011-09-11 18:53 ` Drew Adams
2011-09-12 2:46 ` Richard Stallman
2011-09-12 9:36 ` Alan Mackenzie
2011-09-13 1:39 ` Richard Stallman
2011-09-13 14:27 ` Alan Mackenzie
2011-09-13 20:05 ` Richard Stallman
2011-09-13 21:04 ` Drew Adams
2011-09-13 22:52 ` Juri Linkov
2011-09-14 0:32 ` Daniel Colascione
2011-09-14 0:41 ` Drew Adams
2011-09-14 14:10 ` Richard Stallman
2011-09-14 14:35 ` PJ Weisberg
2011-09-15 4:11 ` Richard Stallman
2011-09-14 14:44 ` Drew Adams
2011-09-18 2:52 ` Richard Stallman
2011-09-19 19:08 ` chad
2011-09-20 15:16 ` Richard Stallman
2011-09-20 19:17 ` Michael Welsh Duggan
2011-09-20 19:59 ` Dani Moncayo
2011-09-21 1:22 ` Stefan Monnier
2011-09-21 14:51 ` Richard Stallman
2011-09-21 15:01 ` Dani Moncayo
2011-09-21 15:10 ` Drew Adams
2011-09-21 16:35 ` Stephen J. Turnbull
[not found] ` <E1R6Tii-0000zy-Jw@f!! encepost.gnu.org>
2011-09-21 20:48 ` Richard Stallman
2011-09-21 21:13 ` Drew Adams
2011-09-22 13:58 ` Richard Stallman
2011-10-08 21:13 ` Drew Adams
2011-09-22 5:33 ` Stephen J. Turnbull
2011-09-22 13:59 ` Richard Stallman
2011-09-22 10:35 ` Alan Mackenzie
2011-09-22 21:44 ` Richard Stallman
2011-09-22 22:23 ` PJ Weisberg
2011-09-23 12:30 ` Richard Stallman
2011-09-21 9:04 ` Alan Mackenzie [this message]
2011-09-21 9:27 ` Dani Moncayo
2011-09-21 9:29 ` chad
2011-09-21 13:22 ` Drew Adams
2011-09-21 14:50 ` Richard Stallman
2011-09-12 14:59 ` Drew Adams
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