Re: [PATCH v2 1/1] Increase default HISTSIZE to 1000

[Mikael Magnusson <mikachu@gmail.com>]

On 9/6/22, Felipe Contreras <felipe.contreras@gmail.com> wrote:
> If the default is sensible then it's not necessary for the user to
> change it.
>
> Moreover, the FAQ is wrong: it says it's necessary to set HISTSIZE for
> the history to saved, but it isn't. HISTSIZE by default is 30 and that's
> enough to save the history, although not very useful. Therefore only
> *two* variables need to be set.
>
> This is even more clear after we remove HISTSIZE from the example, but
> then the text "The simplest possibility is to set it to the same as
> tt($HISTSIZE) as above" becomes problematic as the value of HISTSIZE is
> not readily available.
>
> The user doesn't need to know the value of HISTSIZE though, she can
> simply use $HISTSIZE instead.
>
> This has the advantage that if HISTSIZE is increased again in the future
> (as it probably should because most modern computers can easily afford
> orders of magnitude more), nobody needs to worry about SAVEHIST (neither
> in the FAQ, zsh-newuser-install, or existing zshrc files).
>
> Also, semantically makes more sense and carries less cognitive load.
>
> Signed-off-by: Felipe Contreras <felipe.contreras@gmail.com>
> ---
>  Etc/FAQ.yo                            | 17 +++++++----------
>  Functions/Newuser/zsh-newuser-install |  3 +--
>  StartupFiles/zshrc                    |  2 +-
>  configure.ac                          |  2 +-
>  4 files changed, 10 insertions(+), 14 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/Etc/FAQ.yo b/Etc/FAQ.yo
> index 8c795685a..4c058c363 100644
> --- a/Etc/FAQ.yo
> +++ b/Etc/FAQ.yo
> @@ -1626,19 +1626,16 @@ work?)
>  sect(Why is my history not being saved?)
>  label(321)
>
> -  In zsh, you need to set three variables to make sure your history is
> +  In zsh, you need to set two variables to make sure your history is
>    written out when the shell exits.  For example,
>    verb(
> -    HISTSIZE=200
>      HISTFILE=~/.zsh_history
> -    SAVEHIST=200
> -  )
> -  tt($HISTSIZE) tells the shell how many lines to keep internally,
> -  tt($HISTFILE) tells it where to write the history, and tt($SAVEHIST),
> -  the easiest one to forget, tells it how many to write out.  The
> -  simplest possibility is to set it to the same as tt($HISTSIZE) as
> -  above.  There are also various options affecting history; see the
> -  manual.
> +    SAVEHIST=$HISTSIZE
> +  )
> +  tt($HISTFILE) tells the shell where to write the history, and
> tt($SAVEHIST)
> +  tells it how many lines to write out.  The simplest possibility is to set
> it
> +  to the same as tt($HISTSIZE) as above.  There are also various options
> +  affecting history; see the manual.

NAK on the above hunk from me, making the FAQ less informative is not a goal.

>  sect(How do I get a variable's value to be evaluated as another variable?)
>
> diff --git a/Functions/Newuser/zsh-newuser-install
> b/Functions/Newuser/zsh-newuser-install
> index 9e911d07c..46b1639c5 100644
> --- a/Functions/Newuser/zsh-newuser-install
> +++ b/Functions/Newuser/zsh-newuser-install
> @@ -790,9 +790,8 @@ ${(F)unparsed}
>
>  __zni_history_config() {
>    __zni_apply_defaults -p \
> -    HISTSIZE 1000 "Number of lines of history kept within the shell." \
>      HISTFILE $zdmsg/.histfile "File where history is saved." \
> -    SAVEHIST 1000 "Number of lines of history to save to \$HISTFILE."
> +    SAVEHIST \$HISTSIZE "Number of lines of history to save to
> \$HISTFILE."
>
>    if __zni_display_and_edit "History configuration"; then
>      install_state[history]="Unsaved changes"

Ditto here for the same reason.

> diff --git a/StartupFiles/zshrc b/StartupFiles/zshrc
> index d4e1d03cc..f8a0233bf 100644
> --- a/StartupFiles/zshrc
> +++ b/StartupFiles/zshrc
> @@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ export HELPDIR=/usr/share/zsh/$ZSH_VERSION/help  #
> directory for run-help functi
>  unalias run-help && autoload -Uz run-help
>
>  MAILCHECK=300
> -HISTSIZE=200
> +HISTSIZE=1000
>  DIRSTACKSIZE=20
>
>  # Watch for my friends
> diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
> index 890ef8dd2..6ca5c9189 100644
> --- a/configure.ac
> +++ b/configure.ac
> @@ -3213,7 +3213,7 @@ AH_TOP([/***** begin user configuration section
> *****/
>  #define USE_SUSPENDED 1
>
>  /* The default history buffer size in lines */
> -#define DEFAULT_HISTSIZE 30
> +#define DEFAULT_HISTSIZE 1000
>
>  /* The default editor for the fc builtin */
>  #define DEFAULT_FCEDIT "vi"
> --
> 2.37.2.351.g9bf691b78c.dirty

No opinion either way on the default size.

-- 
Mikael Magnusson