Subject: Re: bug#17671: 24.3.91; RET on a link in *Help* buffer resizes *Help*

From: martin rudalics <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 03 Jun 2014 11:41:53 +0200

>> `temp-buffer-resize-mode' would do that automatically.
 >
 > Then perhaps we should turn on that mode by default.

ISTR that some people dislike `temp-buffer-resize-mode'.

 > So this means that as long as the links in *Help* point to the same
 > file which is already displayed in the window above *Help*, the size
 > will stick,

... because in that case the window already shows that buffer ...

 > but as soon as another file is displayed in the window
 > above *Help*, we get a resize, is that right?

Only if that window was used by `display-buffer' before.  That window
could have been made very small, for example, when used for displaying
*Help* and in such case people would probably protest that we use a
ridiculously small LRU-window for displaying a buffer.  There was at
least one bug report bemoaning that IIRC.

 > That's a really
 > annoying inconsistency, IMO.

 > Is it possible to do something special for the specific scenario I
 > described, i.e. when a *Help* link causes a buffer to be displayed?

Usually, doing so causes a problem in another area soon.  Maybe we
should not _decrease_ the size of a window when displaying another
buffer in it - this would take care of your use case.

 > Or maybe the window showing *Help* should be small by default; taking
 > half of its frame is really gross, IMO.  It is especially annoying in
 > "emacs -Q", which starts with a small frame.

This is really what `temp-buffer-resize-mode' is for.

martin