GNU bug report logs - #7700
24.0.50; C-y binding withing Isearch mode

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From: Alan Mackenzie <acm <at> muc.de>
To: Drew Adams <drew.adams <at> oracle.com>
Cc: 7700 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, 'Stefan Monnier' <monnier <at> iro.umontreal.ca>, 'Dani Moncayo' <dmoncayo <at> gmail.com>
Subject: bug#7700: 24.0.50; C-y binding withing Isearch mode
Date: Thu, 23 Dec 2010 19:23:38 +0000

Hi, Drew!

On Thu, Dec 23, 2010 at 09:28:55AM -0800, Drew Adams wrote:
> > > Personally, I find this behavior inconsistent/annoying: I would
> > > expect that C-y within Isearch add text X to the search text,
> > > where X is the text that would be yanked in normal editing.

> > FWIW, I'd agree.  I've always found the C-y binding in isearch
> > "useless" and counter-intuitive.  I'd much rather make C-y and M-y
> > behave like they do in the minibuffer.

What do they do in the minibuffer?  C-h c doesn't seem to work in the
minibuffer (as it doesn't in isearch also).

> 1+

> Why not bring it up in emacs-devel, to see what counter arguments
> there might be?  I'm thinking that Richard, for example, might express
> some good reasons behind the longstanding behavior.

C-y (as it currently is) helps when you're trying to spot the difference
between two sequences of lines.  You do C-s, repeatedly followed by C-y
until the second occurrance is no longer highlit.  This identifies the
differing line, and C-w then helps pin down the difference within the
line.

> ---

> Although I haven't used `C-y' in isearch in a long time, I'm not sure its
> behavior is "useless".  It would probably be good to have some isearch key
> binding for what C-y does now.

How about M-y?

> Juri might mention that there are few keys available. ;-)

> One possibility might be `C-u C-y' (since the C-u behavior for C-y doesn't apply
> during isearch), but that would mean sacrificing C-u's ability to exit isearch.
> Worse, C-u is currently passed to any exiting key (e.g. `C-u C-n'), which can be
> handy.

C-u C-y is too cumbersome for a key sequence you're likely to want to
repeat.

> Personally, I wouldn't mind sacrificing `C-u' for this - I think there are
> plenty of keys to exit a search.  But I know that others do object to losing any
> exit keys, and `C-u' is also a special case wrt exiting.

C-u is potentially useable by an isearch command (including a
"scrolling" command) to enter a repeat count.  When
`isearch-allow-scroll' is enabled, C-u C-l is a useful key sequence -
for example.  Let's not lose this facility.

-- 
Alan Mackenzie (Nuremberg, Germany).

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