the balloon-help specifier problem.

the balloon-help specifier problem.

[Didier Verna]

        I think I've found why Lars attempted to turn the %< %> format specs
into something else, corrently broken. Indeed, the < and > characters are now
used in the /summary/ line format with the following meaning:

 ,----
| `>'
|      One space for each thread level.
| 
| `<'
|      Twenty minus thread level spaces.
`-----

        I'd prefer to keep them for the balloon-help property as before,
because they constitute an open/close set, like [] () and {}, all already
taken. What do you think ? What could we use instead ? Obviously, keeping the
current ones, which are non ascii (« and ») is out of question.


-- 
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Re: the balloon-help specifier problem.

[Toby Speight]

dv> Didier Verna <URL:mailto:didier@epita.fr>

0> In article <muxpuvqkj63.fsf@uzeb.lrde.epita.fr>, dv wrote:

dv> I think I've found why Lars attempted to turn the %< %> format
dv> specs into something else, corrently broken. Indeed, the < and >
dv> characters are now used in the /summary/ line format with the
dv> following meaning:
dv>
dv>  ,----
dv> | `>'
dv> |      One space for each thread level.
dv> |
dv> | `<'
dv> |      Twenty minus thread level spaces.
dv> `-----
dv>
dv> I'd prefer to keep them for the balloon-help property as before,
dv> because they constitute an open/close set, like [] () and {}, all
dv> already taken.  What do you think?

When they were introduced for the balloon-help, some sort of replacement
for their existing use as thread indentation should have been provided.
Either that, or the balloon-help should have used something not already
taken.

This has bitten me several times, and it doesn't get any less annoying.

BTW, if we're going to change the thread-depth-spaces format specifiers,
can I suggest using some sort of matched pair - e.g. a lowercase/uppercase
pair of letters.  And it will need a NEWS entry as a user-visible change.