Re: A TAB operation reform question.

[Thibaut Verron <thibaut.verron@gmail.com>]

On 11/10/2022 02:01, Emanuel Berg wrote:
> Vladimir Nikishkin wrote:
>
>> In particular, could it be possible to make a "hard-switch"
>> variable "tab-always-inserts-tab", which would be the
>> opposite of "tab-always-indent", but simpler, and it would
>> be possible to override it in the major modes
> Not following 100% what you intend to happen but you can write
> a function and bind it to some keystroke (start with some
> other key than TAB perhaps) and when it works the way you want
> bind it to TAB globally or locally.
If I understand correctly, the point of the suggested change is to give 
a straightforward way for packages to implement their wanted behavior at 
the tab key, all while making it easy for users to prevent a complete 
hijack of the key.

A user-side configuration, or even a third-party package (there are 
several) don't really help with that: packages cannot be build on that 
facility, and for the user, the effort has to be repeated for each 
hijacking package.


> The challenge will be to make it transparently always fall
> back to the original bahvior when your special behavior isn't
> desired ...

That part is actually easier with your suggestion: just don't bind the 
function when the default behavior is what is wanted.

If you mean falling back to the original behavior when the special 
behavior is not possible, that is a bit more tricky but still not 
impossible.

It seems that a "run-hook-until-success" kind of function like the OP 
suggests is a straightforward solution to both cases.

Best wishes,

Thibaut