bug#9361: 24.0.50; default value of `dired-do-chmod'

[Drew Adams]

> And RMS encouraged to do this for just one marked file:
> 
>   "When there is just one marked file, the feature could 
>    indeed be useful. So I suggest you limit it to that case,
>    and document clearly where the default comes from, so that
>    people will know how they can make use of the feature."

Great minds think alike. ;-)

That was also one of my points: it doesn't make sense to do this when more than
one file is marked.  There is no reason to privilege the "first" of the set of
marked files.

> > In reality, it is an argument for having a separate command 
> > to copy the settings (all of them) from the current line and
> > then having, as default value for each of the `*ch*' commands,
> > the value taken from that copied setting.  And this
> > would apply across Dired buffers, giving you an easy way to 
> > apply a particular set of values (settings).  It could perhaps
> > also apply to other Dired commands, such as `touch' (dunno).
> 
> Isn't what `M-.' you proposed earlier should do, i.e. pull the value
> from the buffer where the command was called?

No, I don't think so.  I don't recall just what I proposed, but `M-.' in Icicles
(on which I no doubt based my proposal) pulls into the minibuffer various things
at/near point.

In this case, that is not what I propose.  The user should not have to move
point to the permissions section to be able to get permissions etc.

More importantly, what I'm proposing here is a _copy_ command, which copies file
information for the file/dir of the current line.  All available and pertinent
file info would be copied.  Then, the individual commands (`chmod' etc.) would
have available, either (a) as default value (mentioned above) or (b) on-demand
via a different minibuffer key from `M-n', the pertinent part of the copied
info.  E.g., for command `chmod', it is the file permissions part of the copied
info that is pertinent, so (only) that would be used.  For command `touch', it
is the mod time of the copied file info that is pertinent, so that would be
used.

(This is akin to what is available in some editors for copying special
properties (e.g. XML attributes, face/font info, conditional text values) and
making them available via a `Paste Special' command.  Whatever the last type of
special copy, the `Paste Special' pastes that to its target.)