From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: Robert Goldman Subject: Re: question about org-region-active-p Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2008 08:12:21 -0600 Message-ID: <494908C5.5050702@sift.info> References: <494709A4.1000703@sift.info> <9F73C60D-A8B2-4D0B-AFE0-DE210312A021@uva.nl> <4947CC95.60900@sift.info> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Return-path: Received: from mailman by lists.gnu.org with tmda-scanned (Exim 4.43) id 1LCxEo-0007WQ-Tm for emacs-orgmode@gnu.org; Wed, 17 Dec 2008 09:18:58 -0500 Received: from exim by lists.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.43) id 1LCxEn-0007WD-6v for emacs-orgmode@gnu.org; Wed, 17 Dec 2008 09:18:58 -0500 Received: from [199.232.76.173] (port=38209 helo=monty-python.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.43) id 1LCxEn-0007WA-1h for emacs-orgmode@gnu.org; Wed, 17 Dec 2008 09:18:57 -0500 Received: from outbound-mail-38.bluehost.com ([69.89.20.192]:38242) by monty-python.gnu.org with smtp (Exim 4.60) (envelope-from ) id 1LCxEl-0000cv-OR for emacs-orgmode@gnu.org; Wed, 17 Dec 2008 09:18:56 -0500 In-Reply-To: List-Id: "General discussions about Org-mode." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Sender: emacs-orgmode-bounces+geo-emacs-orgmode=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Errors-To: emacs-orgmode-bounces+geo-emacs-orgmode=m.gmane.org@gnu.org To: Carsten Dominik Cc: emacs-orgmode@gnu.org Carsten Dominik wrote: > Hi Robert, > > no, I do not think this would make sense, to step out with > an error, because all the commands that need a region will > also work without one. This is how regions work in Emacs. > > If you find places in the documentation where this could > be made clearer, let me know. Thank you Carsten for the response. I am still inclined to think that this case is one where the user should get some warning because it's in that bad class of bug-like situations where code quietly does something that the user does not expect and that contradicts the documentation. On the other hand, I can't see where one would raise an error. It's not an error to call org-region-active-p without transient-mark-mode; indeed some libraries turn this on and off, and the user is entitled not to use it. The call to export isn't right, because the export command does not give the system any opportunity to infer whether the user intended to operate on a region or on the whole. So there's no way to tell that the user's expectations are going to be violated. The loading of org-mode isn't the right place, either, since the vast majority of org-mode works just fine with t-m-m turned off. I'm inclined to think that the answer is simply that one shouldn't turn transient-mark-mode off, ever. This works for me, but I hate to think of the next person coming along to fall into this same trap, from which the only means of escape is to inspect the source code and use the debugger. I would suggest a modification to the manual and will submit one, but need clarification about one issue: the use of t-m-m seems to be a fallback for older emacsen that don't have region-active-p. I have such an emacs, so I don't know --- does this mean that on newer emacsen org-region-active-p will work even without transient-mark-mode? Best, Robert