Should org-narrow-to-subtree be disabled by default?

Should org-narrow-to-subtree be disabled by default?

[Jisang Yoo]

There are some Emacs commands that come disabled by default.
narrow-to-region and narrow-to-page are examples. Emacs manual says
"The purpose of disabling a command is to prevent users from executing
it by accident; we do this for commands that might be confusing to the
uninitiated."

80% of my mind says org-narrow-to-subtree should be disabled by
default, which is not the case as of now. On the other hand, no policy
says that every narrowing commands need be disabled. One knows that
there is no such policy by seeing that narrow-to-defun is not
disabled. That is why 20% of my mind says org-narrow-to-subtree need
not come disabled.

What do you think? If the overall consensus is that the command should
be disabled, then incorporating that in org.el would be as simple as
including:

(put 'org-narrow-to-subtree 'disabled t)

Re: Should org-narrow-to-subtree be disabled by default?

[Bastien]

Hi Jisang,

one good way to decide could be to ask people here if they ever
accidentally narrowed the view to a subtree -- I never did.

Also, I tend to think Emacs is on the paranoid side here, I don't
think newbies can hit C-x n n accidentally...

Let me know what you think,

-- 
 Bastien

Re: Should org-narrow-to-subtree be disabled by default?

[Rasmus]

Bastien <bzg@gnu.org> writes:

> one good way to decide could be to ask people here if they ever
> accidentally narrowed the view to a subtree -- I never did.

No.  But I know the concept of narrowing, which may be unfamiliar to
some.  I find narrowing super useful, especially when writing longer
documents.

> Also, I tend to think Emacs is on the paranoid side here, I don't
> think newbies can hit C-x n n accidentally...

Perhaps an easier way to narrow by accident is through
org-speed-commands-default, i.e. speedkey "s".

–Rasmus

-- 
Need more coffee. . .

Re: Should org-narrow-to-subtree be disabled by default?

[Bastien]

Rasmus <rasmus@gmx.us> writes:

> Bastien <bzg@gnu.org> writes:
>
>> one good way to decide could be to ask people here if they ever
>> accidentally narrowed the view to a subtree -- I never did.
>
> No.  But I know the concept of narrowing, which may be unfamiliar to
> some.  I find narrowing super useful, especially when writing longer
> documents.

I checked narrow-to-defun, and it is not disabled by default, only
narrow-to-region and narrow-to-page, which are both accessible in any
mode.

As org-narrow-to-* functions are only accessible from org-mode buffers
and not that easily called by accident (I haven't seen any report like
this in years), I suggest we stick to the current setup.

>> Also, I tend to think Emacs is on the paranoid side here, I don't
>> think newbies can hit C-x n n accidentally...
>
> Perhaps an easier way to narrow by accident is through
> org-speed-commands-default, i.e. speedkey "s".

Yes, but newbies don't use speed commands without knowing what they
do, do they?

-- 
 Bastien

Re: Should org-narrow-to-subtree be disabled by default?

[Rasmus]

Bastien <bzg@gnu.org> writes:

> Rasmus <rasmus@gmx.us> writes:
>
>> Bastien <bzg@gnu.org> writes:
>>
>>> one good way to decide could be to ask people here if they ever
>>> accidentally narrowed the view to a subtree -- I never did.
>>
>> No.  But I know the concept of narrowing, which may be unfamiliar to
>> some.  I find narrowing super useful, especially when writing longer
>> documents.
>
> I checked narrow-to-defun, and it is not disabled by default, only
> narrow-to-region and narrow-to-page, which are both accessible in any
> mode.
>
> As org-narrow-to-* functions are only accessible from org-mode buffers
> and not that easily called by accident (I haven't seen any report like
> this in years), I suggest we stick to the current setup.

Fine with me.

>>> Also, I tend to think Emacs is on the paranoid side here, I don't
>>> think newbies can hit C-x n n accidentally...
>>
>> Perhaps an easier way to narrow by accident is through
>> org-speed-commands-default, i.e. speedkey "s".
>
> Yes, but newbies don't use speed commands without knowing what they
> do, do they?

Probably not since org-use-speed-commands is nil by default.

-- 
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