GNU bug report logs - #51927
27.2; Rename `highlight-nonselected-windows'

Previous Next

Full log

View this message in rfc822 format

From: Drew Adams <drew.adams <at> oracle.com>
To: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
Cc: "51927 <at> debbugs.gnu.org" <51927 <at> debbugs.gnu.org>
Subject: bug#51927: [External] : Re: bug#51927: 27.2; Rename `highlight-nonselected-windows'
Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2021 17:28:35 +0000

> > > > 1. This var has no effect if `transient-mark-mode' is disabled.
> > >
> > > That is inaccurate: it has no effect if the region is inactive (you
> > > can have an active region even with transient-mark-mode disabled).  I
> > > added the caveat to the doc string.
> >
> > I disagree.  The notion of "active" mark
> > or region has no meaning outside of
> > transient-mark-mode.
> 
> Not true:
> 
>   emacs -Q
>   M-x transient-mark-mode RET
>   M-<
>   C-SPC C-SPC
> 
> Observe the message "Mark activated" in the echo area.
> 
>   C-u 20 C-f
> 
> Observe active region highlighted.

You're just confirming what I've said.
`C-h f C-SPC' tells you:

"When Transient Mark Mode is off, immediately repeating this
command activates 'transient-mark-mode' temporarily."
        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

When t-m-mode is enabled, the notion of an
"active" mark/region has a meaning/effect.

When it's disabled, it has no meaning/effect.
The echoes you mention don't change this fact
(unless you consider those echoes to be the
only "meaning/effect).  Those echoes didn't
exist before we added t-m-mode, and in the
case you cite they're just useless, at best,
or at worst (a wee bit) misleading.

T-m-mode is the default now (and that's a
good thing).  And all of Emacs has pretty
much taken its behavior aboard, as a given.
That includes the echoing you cite, about
activation of the mark.

There was no such talk of mark activation
before t-m-mode was added.  (There was only
setting the mark.)  Why?  Because there was
no difference in behavior active/inactive.
There was just no such thing as being
"active".  And the same is true still, when
t-m-mode is disabled.

We can agree to disagree about this.  (Or we
can just disagree without agreement that we
disagree.)

Previous Next

GNU bug tracking system
Copyright (C) 1999 Darren O. Benham, 1997,2003 nCipher Corporation Ltd, 1994-97 Ian Jackson.