Subject: Re: bug#23478: 25.0.93; Mouse region selection asymmetry

From: Eli Zaretskii <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 07 Jul 2016 18:29:54 +0300

> From: Stephen Berman <[email-masked]>
> Cc: [email-masked],  [email-masked]
> Date: Thu, 07 Jul 2016 14:08:32 +0200
> 
> >> +(defcustom mouse-select-region-backward nil
> >
> > I'd name it mouse-select-region-scroll-backward.
> 
> Using "scroll" in the name suggests that the main purpose of this
> variable is to control scrolling backward, but it only controls the
> final position of point, and scrolling is a by-product of that which
> only happens if necessary.  Given that, do you still prefer to have
> "scroll" in the name?

I'm not great at naming symbols, so I don't insist.  However, the
original name seemed slightly misleading: it could be interpreted as
if the selection will be made backward, which is incorrect.  And since
I know that the "select-region" belongs to "mouse", I'm left wondering
what is "backward" about.

Do you see my problem with the name?  If so, perhaps you can suggest a
better one.

> One somewhat embarassing aspect of describing this option is that is
> makes the default asymmetrical behavior painfully obvious without
> providing a rationale for it (and I don't know of any).  I suppose we
> could add "for historical reasons" after "by default"....

I don't think it's needed: since point doesn't move, no scrolling
should be expected.

Thanks.