Re: Need an enabler for a bad habit.

[martin rudalics <rudalics@gmx.at>]

 > The only drawback I can see with it
 > is that it removes the "pop up the message buffer" function.

(defun mouse-drag-region (start-event)
   "Set the region to the text that the mouse is dragged over.
Highlight the drag area as you move the mouse.
This must be bound to a button-down mouse event.
In Transient Mark mode, the highlighting remains as long as the mark
remains active.  Otherwise, it remains until the next input event.

If the click is in the echo area, pop up the messages buffer and
run a command."
   (interactive "e")
   (let ((w (posn-window (event-start start-event))))
     (if (and (window-minibuffer-p w)
	     (not (minibuffer-window-active-p w)))
	(save-excursion
	  ;; Swallow the up-event.
	  (read-event)
	  (set-buffer (get-buffer-create "*Messages*"))
	  (goto-char (point-max))
	  (display-buffer (current-buffer))
	  (call-interactively 'execute-extended-command))
       ;; Give temporary modes such as isearch a chance to turn off.
       (run-hooks 'mouse-leave-buffer-hook)
       (mouse-drag-track start-event t))))