Re: Patch: prefer-window-split-horizontally

[Juri Linkov <juri@jurta.org>]

>> What do you think about adding another variable `split-window-function'
>> with the default value `split-window-vertically' or nil with the same
>> meaning, and the possible other value `split-window-horizontally'?
>> This would be like setting `ediff-split-window-function' to
>> `split-window-horizontally'.
>
> Just for the record: we're talking about something used only in
> display-buffer so a name like `split-window-function' doesn't seem right.

display-buffer splits windows, so it could use `split-window-function'
to decide how to split.

> And we already have display-buffer-function, which makes it possible to
> customize the way the windows are split.  Now customizing
> display-buffer-function is not always easy,

There was an idea to rewrite the whole `display-buffer' in Lisp, and make
it more customizable.  But it seems it is impossible to rewrite it
completely, because the current C implementation processes its input
argument `frame' which isn't given to display-buffer-function:

    return call2 (Vdisplay_buffer_function, buffer, not_this_window);

which is called with `buffer' and `not_this_window', but not `frame'.

> so maybe prefer-window-split-horizontally makes sense, or maybe we
> should simply change the default behavior of display-buffer to do the
> suggested "if current window is very wide, split it horizontally rather
> than vertically" and not introduce any new customization (or maybe just
> a "ideal columns" or "ideal aspect-ratio" based on which we decide
> whether to split vertically rather than horizontally).

Maybe, this is possible.  For instance, "ideal columns" could be the same
as `fill-column' or some other number near 80 columns.

-- 
Juri Linkov
http://www.jurta.org/emacs/