Severity: minor
Tags: patch

Hi, I encountered this while messing with:

  bug#49690: 28.0.50; ERC makes a button of `let' but not `let*'

Whenever text from a received message is inserted into an ERC buffer,
the function `erc-display-line-1' runs four hooks. Two of these,
`erc-insert-modify-hook' and `erc-insert-post-hook' (basically
identical), run with the buffer narrowed to the region surrounding the
newly inserted message. This message features a text property called
`erc-parsed', whose value is the original `erc-response' object used to
represent that message as structured data during processing. Afterwards,
`erc-display-line-1' removes `erc-parsed'.

Question: shouldn't the hook functions being run here take care not to
retain references to these objects unless actually needed? Specifically,
`erc-button-add-buttons-1', which runs on `erc-insert-modify-hook' (via
`erc-button-add-buttons'), saves portions of the text matching non-nick
patterns in a text property called `erc-data'. These are arguments to be
applied to a function stored in another text property, `erc-callback',
which runs on mouse click or RET.

It's obviously too late to change the interface for these hooks (for
example, by adding a new "response object" param). But that doesn't mean
we can't insist that hook functions at least make their intentions
toward these response objects known rather than just stash them away in
case some downstream facility (e.g., third-party code) might need them
(which may have been the motivation here if this stashing was indeed
intentional).

For now, unless I'm way off the mark (wouldn't be the first time), I
propose dropping all properties of all strings stored in `erc-data'.

Of the functions called with `erc-data':

  - erc-browse-emacswiki
  - erc-browse-emacswiki-lisp
  - erc-button-search-url
  - erc-button-rfc-url
  - erc-button-describe-symbol
  - Info-goto-node
  - browse-url
  - browse-url-button-open-url

none, AFAICT, actually uses 'erc-parsed' (or any property, for that matter).

Obviously, this issue is small potatoes relative to ERC's other problems,
so it can probably be put off indefinitely. Thanks.

P.S. See also: `erc-hide-current-message-p'


In GNU Emacs 28.0.50 (build 1, x86_64-redhat-linux-gnu, GTK+ Version 3.24.30, cairo version 1.17.4)
 of 2021-07-20 built on localhost
Repository revision: 1b251ed4e8550c889d17fe7d88f58aa2fbc95fe0
Repository branch: master
Windowing system distributor 'The X.Org Foundation', version 11.0.12011000
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