bug#6610: scrolling problem of emacs

[Alan Mackenzie]

Hi, Aeron,

On Sat, Jul 10, 2010 at 11:34:44PM -0400, Aeron.E. Wang wrote:
> Hi,

> When scrolling with mouse or C-v or M-v, the cursor is moving. This destroys
> the long highlights and selections etc. and it's confusing users. Most
> editors keep the cursor position fixed even when it's invisible.

The region is bounded by point and mark.  You can remember the current
position of the region with C-<space> before you start scrolling.  A
subsequent C-u C-<space> will restore that region.  I don't actually use
highlighting or selections myself, so this might not be what you want.

> I searched the web for a solution but there is none. Looked the code of
> emacs, looks vertical-motion also will move cursor when scrolling (not sure
> how about vmotion). I believe the next release of emacs should fix this. If
> there is any work-arounds please kindly let me know.

It's not broken, there's nothing to fix.   Think about it - usually, when
people scroll a buffer, they'll be wanting to insert/delete text where
they end up.  If point (Emacs jargon for the cursor) is left behind, they
won't be able to edit at the new position.  How on earth are they going
to indicate to Emacs where point should go.  Yes I know how you'll
counter this.  You'll say that you can click the mouse.  However, not all
systems have mice, and many hackers dislike using them.  Emacs was
designed to be used without mouse ambages.

You say it's confusing when the point moves with the scrolling.  I say
this is nothing compared to the aggravation I used to suffer with lesser
editors when, after scrolling, an accidental keypress would warp back to
the random position where the cursor was.  This destroyed my chain of
thought with 100% reliability.

> Please also let me know how to track the followup(s) of this "bug?" if
> any... I hope so!

You should get cc's of all the followup mail.

> Thanks,
> Aeron

-- 
Alan Mackenzie (Nuremberg, Germany).