bug#5054: 23.1.50; buffer-menu truncated fields

[martin rudalics <rudalics@gmx.at>]

 > mr> Customizing the group `buffer-menu' gives you a buffer including the
 > mr> option `Buffer-menu-buffer+size-width' which is probably the one you
 > mr> want to tweak here.
 >
 > maybe there should be "you can customize this group" visible to the user so
 > he can learn that.

A pushable button similar to the one you can find for customizable
options.  That would be reasonable I think.  Juri, what do you think?

 > (By the way, I prefer to use setq and hate using the customization
 > interface.)

It's one of the basic problems of the customization interface that many
people hate it and so we don't get many suggestions how to improve it.

 >   Buffer-menu-buffer+size-width is a variable defined in `buff-menu.el'.
 >   Its value is 26
 >
 >   Documentation:
 >   How wide to jointly make the buffer name and size columns.
 >
 > But I want to use the same .emacs file with many different terminal
 > sizes. Why can't there be a setting 'maximum or 'current-window-width or
 > something?

'maximum should be possible without greater problems.

'current-window-width is a wishlist item: We could reserve float values
between 0 and 1 for specifying an appropriate fraction of the window
width for the width of name+size fields.  The program would have to
recalculate the new actual width (in `window-configuration-change-hook')
every time the size of the Buffer Menu window changes.

We could also show the full name of the current entry in a tooltip (when
the mouse is over it) and/or in the echo area.

And finally we could split a window like the Buffer Menu's one into as
many subwindows as there are fields and allow the use to drag vertical
dividers between the various fields in order to reveal hidden
information.  Currently such an approach would work iff all fields used
the same font size.

martin