GNU bug report logs - #30978
25.3; Suggestion: define-minor-mode should define mode-lighter variable

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From: Kévin Le Gouguec <kevin.legouguec <at> gmail.com>
To: Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi <at> gnus.org>
Cc: 30978 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, Howard Melman <hmelman <at> gmail.com>
Subject: bug#30978: 25.3; Suggestion: define-minor-mode should define mode-lighter variable
Date: Wed, 28 Jul 2021 22:00:49 +0200

Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi <at> gnus.org> writes:

> It's already pretty easy to just alter the lighters -- just say:
>
> (setcar (cdr (assoc 'foo-mode minor-mode-alist)) "whatever")

Manipulating minor-mode-alist is not that hard indeed; there are some
sources of hassle though:

(1) figuring out the name of the mode variable (e.g. auto-fill-function,
    defining-kbd-macro);

(2) some modes seem not to add their variables to minor-mode-alist for
    some reason (e.g. caps-lock-mode on GNU ELPA), so this recipe does
    not work (neither does delight); one needs to fallback to
    add-to-list.

Nothing too herculean, but I'm sure some users would appreciate a
built-in function to figure out this stuff for them.

(And IIUC, solving this with a function, rather than automatically
creating variables for each minor mode, would address your concern about
bloat, since any added bloat would be opt-in)

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