Subject: RE: [External] : bug#77715: [PATCH] Add ring-bell functions for mode line and header line.

From: Drew Adams <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2025 21:57:37 +0000

I wrote:

> When Emacs dings it's typically due to a user error.
> 
> Where do you see the error message? In the echo area.
> 
> Putting the attention-grabbing "flash" or whatever
> in the echo area draws your attention to it, where
> you see the msg telling you what happened.
> 
> Why draw or keep the user's attention _away_ from
> that message? The user error might have little or
> nothing to do with the text at the cursor of the
> selected window.
> 
> Draw the user's attention _from_ there to the helpful
> message.

`visible-bell' has been around forever. Flashing
the entire frame (or as the Emacs manual says, "the
whole screen") is overkill, and it doesn't direct
your attention to the error message. Similar problem
with the alternatives I think you're considering,
even if they're less overkill than `visible-bell'
behavior.

A modest attention-grabber, out of the way in the 
echo area is better, IMO.