Re: Tabs are ready? -> Let us give a definition of tabs.

[martin rudalics <rudalics@gmx.at>]

 >> How do you communicate to the tab what the "something" is?
 >
 >
 >
 > execute 'grep -i foo *' in background , example

I didn't ask "what" the something is.  I asked "how" you want to
communicate that something to the tab.

 >>> 2. The 'show event should commute to the buffer *grep*
 >> This is the standard buffer switching functionality.
 >>
 >>
 > I know how to commute a buffer. In this case of tab, I want the show event
 > to commute to a given buffer.

I meant that this is the standard behavior associated with tabs: Display
something like a file or a webpage in the display area associated with
the tab.

 >>> 3. when grep finds something, and the tab is hidden , the tab widget to
 >>> change the color
 >> What sense does it make to have a hidden tab change color?  And what
 >> kind of event is this in your nomenclature?
 >>
 >>
 > Tabs should register a callback for an event , for example, when i/o
 > arrives in  the given process...

But what do you want to do?  I suppose you want to show the tab that was
hidden before.  OTOH "show" in your nomenclature meant something
different so far: Do some standard action associated with the tab like
switching buffers or restoring a window configuration.

 >>> 4. The 'close event should kill the *grep* buffer, and the process , if
 >> it
 >>> had not finished yet
 >>>  Could you do this using buttons in toolbar or menubar, as you insist ?
 >> So far I'd only insist that saving and restoring window configurations
 >> should be done with the menubar rather than with a tab.  I never ever
 >> use toolbars but I think that mail handling routines using the toolbar
 >> (could) do such things routinely (inform of new mail, kill a buffer and
 >> remove the associated button when mail has been sent , ...).
 >>
 >>
 > Why do you change the subject of discussion ? saving and restoring window
 > configurations concerns other type of tab, not this one I am talking here.

I referred to the window configuration example because so far that was
the only one where I "insisted" on providing a menubar entry rather than
a tab.  You can't accuse me of insistence with an example you didn't
provide before.  My argument was that the "'close event" for the *grep*
buffer is rather similar to a toolbar button provided by an email
problem which, when hit, causes the currently written mail to get sent
and the associated display area where that mail was shown removed.  I
don't know of any MUA that uses tabs for such a purpose but I don't want
to exclude it.

I also agree that the hourglass functionality of a tab you cited earlier
(that is changing the color of a tab while work like grep searching is
in progress) can be useful, for example, when performing a couple of
grep searches or compilations simultaneously.

martin