Re: Customize enforcing data relationships?

[Galen Boyer <galenboyer@hotpop.com>]

On 16 Feb 2003, galenboyer@hotpop.com wrote:
> Is there anyway to use customize to enforce that variable B is
> dependent on variable A.

More thoughts are that, of course, it would be the package developer's
responsibility to define the relationships.  He could define through
some custom function, say, "defcustomrel", that B must be set if A is
set.  Then customize could see the user set A and immediately jump the
user to B and the setting of A isn't complete until the user has set B,
thus enforcing the dependency.  Even better would be displaying them
together as well, with the dependency mapped out visually.

> Is there anyway to use customize to enforce an ordering dependency on
> the setting of variables?

Same sort of dependency interface here.

Has this been something already discussed lots and I'm late to the
party?

My main thought is that one of the things that seems to be lacking in
Emacs is the user must read all documentation or at least the user must
find and read the correct documentation all in their quest to gleam the
dependencys of variables and functionality.  Its usually many trial and
errors and rereads of the documentation to get going with particular
packages.  Could customize help by allowing more stringency if the
package developer so deemed?

-- 
Galen deForest Boyer
Sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground.