Subject: bug#13602: 24.3.50; remove bindings for `icomplete-minibuffer-map' - make a separate mode

From: Stefan Monnier <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 07 Feb 2013 09:17:31 -0500

> Does this mean that other users of `icomplete-mode' like me disabled
> `icomplete-mode' in their .emacs after it began overriding Isearch keys,
> so this feature remained untested and the bug remained unnoticed
> for the long time (2 months)?

I don't think so: the commands work(ed) in "most" cases.

> I won't be surprised if this is the real reason, because traditional
> Isearch C-s and C-r is useful in the minibuffer.

I suspect most users of icomplete who didn't follow the emacs-devel list
just didn't notice the change because they never/rarely use C-s and C-r in
the minibuffer.

> Let's face the root of the problem: abusing C-s and C-r keys in ido was
> a poor choice in the first place that paved the road to future conflicts.

I don't know if it was a poor choice, given that IDO tends to move away
from the idea that the minibuffer is just a normal buffer with normal
editing commands.

> I see that ido.el mentions the right and left arrow keys.
> Could they be used with some modifiers?

I think it's a good idea to try and use something else than C-s C-r,
since admittedly they collide with existing usage.  But the problem is
indeed to find other bindings.

We could use arrows with modifiers: by default, M-left and C-left do the
same thing, so we could use either C-left/C-right or M-left/M-right.

Another option that stays closer to IDO (and to home row) is M-s and M-r
(M-r's move-to-window-line-top-bottom is fairly useless in the
minibuffer, but M-s is normally a prefix key for search commands, so
it's not ideal, tho it's less severe than overriding C-s).

        Stefan