Mode lines and stuff

Mode lines and stuff

[Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen]

I thought I could be a bit naughty and use the minor mode specs to say
whether Gnus is online or not.  So I did this in `gnus-agent-mode',
which is a minor mode installed in all Gnus buffers:

(defvar gnus-agent-mode-status '(gnus-agent-mode " Online"))

(defun gnus-agent-mode ()
  ...
  (unless (assq 'gnus-agent-mode minor-mode-alist)
      (push gnus-agent-mode-status minor-mode-alist))
  ...)

And then to toggle on and off, I use this command:

(defun gnus-agent-toggle-online (online)
  "Toggle whether Gnus is online or not."
  (interactive (list (not gnus-online)))
  (if (setq gnus-online (not gnus-online))
      (setcar (cdr gnus-agent-mode-status) " Online")
    (setcar (cdr gnus-agent-mode-status) " Offline"))
  (set-buffer-modified-p t))

This works.  However, it works badly.  Each time I run this command, a
new " Online" (or " Offline") is added to the mode line, so it grows
rather big.  Not only that, whenever this command is used, *all* the
old " Online"s (or " Offline"s) flip over.

This is all rather strange.  Anyone here familiar with how the mode
bar works?

-- 
(domestic pets only, the antidote for overdose, milk.)
  larsi@ifi.uio.no * Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen

Re: Mode lines and stuff

[Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen]

Stainless Steel Rat <ratinox@peorth.gweep.net> writes:

> Lars> This is all rather strange.  Anyone here familiar with how the mode
> Lars> bar works?
> 
> I suggest mucking around with the value of mode-line-buffer-identification
> instead of the modal alists.  It is intended to be tweaked by modes that
> edit (or whatever) things other than ordinary files.

Yeah, but the Gnus mode lines are customizable, so altering them is
kinda difficult.

-- 
(domestic pets only, the antidote for overdose, milk.)
  larsi@gnus.org * Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen