Subject: RE: [External] : bug#46240: Sorting order of read-char-by-name

From: Drew Adams <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 2 Feb 2021 17:49:13 +0000

> >> More examples with better sorting
> >
> > It's not "better" sorting; it's different sorting.
> >
> > Different sort orders are useful in different ways.
> 
> This means there should be a customizable option?

Not necessarily an option.  But a variable,
yes.

Emacs has a policy (misguided, IMO) that
code should never bind a user option.

Given that policy, making this (only) a
user option means code can't override
the option value.

What's really needed (for this and other
stuff) is BOTH a way for users to express
a general, default, preference (defcustom)
AND a way for user code and other code to
bind a variable for this to any (allowed)
value.

E.g., a user or a library should be able
to create a command that does completion
against ucs-names with a particular sort
order, which might be different from
whatever the user (defcustom) chose as
the option value.
___

(I know that in Isearch you chose to have
both a defcustom and a defvar for some
things, which is fine as one solution.
My own preference would be to relax the
policy of never allowing an option to be
bound.)