Re: `align-regexp' fails in Lisp code

[Raffaele Ricciardi <rfflrccrd@gmail.com>]

On 10/07/13 05:14, Michael Heerdegen wrote:
> Leo Liu <sdl.web@gmail.com> writes:
>
>> On 2013-07-10 08:11 +0800, Raffaele Ricciardi wrote:
>>> Marking the whole buffer and calling `align-regexp' interactively does
>>> work
>>
>> Because the function works on a region as stated in its doc-string.
>
> If that's right (it seems so), then the doc-string should clearly say
> that this command is not for non-interactive use, or how it can be
> called from Lisp.

Two positions make a region, hence the call:

     (align-regexp (point-min) (point-max) " hides ")

is correct.

The problem is that - I had to look into Lisp code to understand - the 
regexp that you enter in the mini-buffer is not the regexp that 
`align-regexp' receives, because of a conversion applied by the 
`interactive' form inside the command.  Hence I agree with you - but for 
a different reason - that the documentation should say how the command 
could be called from Lisp.

Here is a wrapper to call `align-regexp' from Lisp with no prefix arg :

(defun align-regexp-function (^start ^end ^regexp)
   "Like `align-regexp' when no prefix arg was specified,
but callable from Lisp."
   ;; Convert arguments like the `interactive' form
   ;; in `align-regexp' does when no prefix arg was specified.
   (align-regexp ^start
                 ^end
                 (concat "\\(\\s-*\\)" ^regexp)
                 1
                 align-default-spacing
                 nil))