RE: wrapper fn for message and minibuffer-message?

["Drew Adams" <drew.adams@oracle.com>]

    > OK, I understand you now, I think. `message' does this:
    >
    > if `minibufferp',
    >    then if `minibuffer-message-at-end'
    >         then don't erase minibuffer, but append message there
    >         else temporarily replace minibuffer contents with message
    >    else temporarily replace any minibuffer contents with message
    >
    > `minibuffer-message' will just call `message' with non-nil
    > `minibuffer-message-at-end'. (However, to keep the current
    > behavior in all cases, it should not call `message' if the
    > minibuffer is not active, but should instead do nothing.)

    I wonder if this can be used to display the isearch prompt while
    searching the minibuffer contents?  Currently the isearch prompt
    completely overwrites the minibuffer contents.  I imagine using
    `minibuffer-message-at-end' to append the isearch prompt to the
    minibuffer contents.  For example, with the minibuffer:

    Eval: (setq foo 'bar)
    typing `C-s foo' will display:
    Eval: (setq foo 'bar) [I-search backward: foo]
    and `foo' will be highlighted in `isearch' face, as usual.

Not bad (but don't you mean C-r for backward search)? I like it.

Anyway, this seems orthogonal to the discussion of merging message and
minibuffer-message. Couldn't this be done today, just by using
minibuffer-message instead of message?