bug#4902: 23.1; directory-abbrev-alist is not handled early enough

["David J. Biesack" <David.Biesack@sas.com>]

> From: Stefan Monnier <monnier@IRO.UMontreal.CA>
> CC: <4902@emacsbugs.donarmstrong.com>
> Date: Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:35:54 -0500
> 
> > (setq directory-abbrev-alist '(("^/mount/" . "//uncpath/mount/")))
> 
> > Even after setting this value, it is not honored on Windows.
> > Lower level functions appear to ignore directory-abbrev-alist,
> > so find-file and find-file-noselect etc. end up with "true" filenames that
> > contain drive letters:
> 
> > (file-truename "/mount/somefile.x")
> > => "c:/mount/somefile.x"
> 
> file-truename does not use directory-abbrev-alist.
> Only abbreviate-file-name does.

Perhaps that is why it is a bug :-)

For example, if the path /mount/somefile.x shows up in RMAIL
or in a source file, I want to do find-file-at-point 
on that path. When I do, Emacs tries to open c:/mount/somefile.x
instead. 

In other words, I does not matter what low level function
uses directory-abbrev-alist and which don't, but the net
effect is find-file-at-point and other functions
(filemenu http://www.eskimo.com/~seldon/filemenu.el)
which use find-file or find-file-noselect do *not*
use directory-abbrev-alist when the doc string
implies (to me) that they should.

My hack workaround is to add a new hook to
find-file-not-found-hooks which should not be necessary.

-- 
David J. Biesack, SAS
SAS Campus Dr. Cary, NC 27513
www.sas.com    (919) 531-7771