Re: M-x compile should tell its status (a little bit better)..

[David Kastrup]

"Stephan Stahl" <address@hidden> writes:

> David Kastrup said:
> 
> > Richard Stallman <address@hidden> writes:
> >
> >> This would do no harm, but mode-name is always supposed to be a string.
> >
> > Oooh.  I am moping because in AUCTeX, I was thinking of having a few
> > "flags" attached to the mode-name, so that I can have a mode-name
> > something like
> >
> > '((TeX-use-pdftex "PDF") TeX-base-mode-name (TeX-source-specials "^"))
> >
> > where the actual name is automatically composed from a few `lighters'
> > that would look pretty foolish anywhere else.
> >
> > So may be I need to hand-construct mode-name after all.
> 
> I have seen that cc-mode has something similar. (c-toggle-hungry-state and
> c-toggle-auto-state). It adds /h or /a or /ah to the mode name if they are
> activated. It does so by adding
> 
>  (c-auto-hungry-string c-auto-hungry-string)
> 
> to minor-mode-alist. I think AUCTeX could do the same?

The problem is that, say, RefTeX minor mode gets started within
LaTeX-mode-hook (which means at a later time) and adds its " Ref"
lighter to the front of minor-mode-alist, before the "^" lighter.
Which looks stupid.  And anyway, minor-mode-alist will not let me add
a lighter in front, and the "PDFTeX" executable naming would make
that the best choice.

> Well actually the docs to cc-mode are not 100% correct. It says:
> 
>    The state of the minor modes is always reflected in the minor mode
> list on the modeline of the CC Mode buffer.  When auto-newline mode is
> enabled, you will see `C/a' on the mode line(1).  When hungry delete
> mode is enabled you will see `C/h' and if both modes were enabled, you'd
> see `C/ah'.
> 
> I do however NOT see 'C/ah' in the mode line but 'C Outl o^o/ah'. cc-mode
> should maybe append (c-auto-hungry-string c-auto-hungry-string) to the
> front of minor-mode-alist? Then it would look like the docs say..

That's what I mean.  cc-mode _will_ probably add this to the front of
minor-mode-alist, but other modes add to the list afterwards.  One
could reshuffle the list at strategic times, but frankly, it might be
easier just to fiddle with mode-name itself.

-- 
David Kastrup, Kriemhildstr. 15, 44793 Bochum