bug#6276: Could indent-tabs-mode etc be made minor modes?

bug#6276: Could indent-tabs-mode etc be made minor modes?

[Lennart Borgman]

I just saw on EmacsWiki a list of minor modes that do not have a
command for turning them on, for example indent-tabs-mode. This is
instead a defcustom.

Could this be turned into a global minor mode, for example with something like

(define-minor-mode indent-tabs-mode
  "test"
  :global t
  :variable indent-tabs-mode)

If so then I think it should be done, because the current situation is
a bit confusing.

The minor modes without commands to turn them on that was mentioned was:

  ‘adaptive-fill-mode’
  ‘auto-hscroll-mode’
  ‘indent-tabs-mode’
  ‘shift-select-mode’
  ‘ediff-word-mode’

bug#6276: Could indent-tabs-mode etc be made minor modes?

[Stefan Monnier]

> I just saw on EmacsWiki a list of minor modes that do not have a
> command for turning them on, for example indent-tabs-mode.  This is
> instead a defcustom.

> Could this be turned into a global minor mode, for example with
> something like

Sounds OK to me.

> (define-minor-mode indent-tabs-mode
>   "test"
>   :global t
>   :variable indent-tabs-mode)

I'd rather keep the :variable uses to a minimum.
In the case of indent-tabs-mode, maybe the better course of action is to
move `indent-to' and `indent-tabs-mode' from C to Lisp.


        Stefan

bug#6276: Could indent-tabs-mode etc be made minor modes?

[Drew Adams]

> > (define-minor-mode indent-tabs-mode "test" :global t
> >   :variable indent-tabs-mode)
> 
> I'd rather keep the :variable uses to a minimum.
> In the case of indent-tabs-mode, maybe the better course of 
> action is to move `indent-to' and `indent-tabs-mode' from C to Lisp.

However you decide to do it, please make sure that this, in many people's
.emacs, still works (across versions):

(setq-default indent-tabs-mode nil)

bug#6276: Could indent-tabs-mode etc be made minor modes?

[Lars Ingebrigtsen]

Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca> writes:

>> I just saw on EmacsWiki a list of minor modes that do not have a
>> command for turning them on, for example indent-tabs-mode.  This is
>> instead a defcustom.
>
>> Could this be turned into a global minor mode, for example with
>> something like
>
> Sounds OK to me.
>
>> (define-minor-mode indent-tabs-mode
>>   "test"
>>   :global t
>>   :variable indent-tabs-mode)
>
> I'd rather keep the :variable uses to a minimum.
> In the case of indent-tabs-mode, maybe the better course of action is to
> move `indent-to' and `indent-tabs-mode' from C to Lisp.

I see the charm of moving `indent-to' to Lisp, but it's a function that
used a lot and should remain as quick as possible, I think.

So I just went ahead with Lennart's suggestion to add the trivial minor
mode instead.

-- 
(domestic pets only, the antidote for overdose, milk.)
   bloggy blog: http://lars.ingebrigtsen.no