Subject: RE: bug#11364: [debbugs-tracker] Processed: severity 11364 wishlist

From: "Drew Adams" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 7 Jul 2012 22:57:03 -0700

> > This is a regression - loss of a capability that Emacs has had since
> > it supported a mouse.  How can you classify a regression as
> > "wishlist"?
> 
> It is not a regression; 

I beg to differ; it certainly is.

> you are asking for a feature that never existed.

No, I am asking for the restoration of a feature that _always_ existed, before
Emacs 23.  However, it is unlikely that you will find any mention of this loss
in the NEWS...

As I said in the bug report, I use `delete-selection-mode'.
I should no doubt have emphasized that better - mea culpa.

In Emacs 22 (or prior):

emacs -Q

M-x delete-selection-mode ; turn it on

Double click a word, sexp, line, or what have you.  Or select the region some
other way.  The point is to get an active region.

Use `left', `right', `up', or `down' cursor keys (or `C-f' etc. if you prefer).
The region stays active and is extended (or restricted).

This useful, standard Emacs feature was lost starting with Emacs 23.  Now,
moving the cursor deactivates the region.  It should not, at least not in
`delete-selection-mode'.

> > In Emacs versions prior to Emacs 23 an important feature was the
> > ability to extend or reduce the active region by moving the cursor.
> > E.g C-SPC followed by C-f.
>  
> > And it did not matter how the region was activated (how the mark was
> > set).  You could, for example, double-click a word or a 
> > line or a sexp using mouse-1, then use C-f or M-f to extend the region etc.
> 
> I checked in Emacs 22: double clicking with the mouse to 
> select a word, then using C-f, makes the region inactive.
> Emacs 24 behaves similarly.

Turn on `delete-selection-mode' and you will see that Emacs 24 does not behave
similarly to Emacs 22 (or 21 or...).

I wish Emacs acted like it used to wrt this feature.  Does that make fixing this
fodder for the wishlist?  It should not.