Re: option to let isearch select the search target (in transient mark mode)

[Davis Herring]

> How about adding this to Isearch: Depending on the value of an option,
> `isearch-set-region-flag', Isearch leaves the region active around the
> search target when you stop searching with `RET'.  This is only for
> Transient Mark mode; if that mode is not on, then this does nothing.
>
> This feature makes it easy to delete the found text, copy it, or type
> to replace it in Delete Selection mode.  You can toggle the option at
> any time during searching, with `C-SPC'.

I have a hard time seeing this as useful (although, to state my potential
biases, I use neither Transient Mark nor Delete Selection mode).  The
whole point of the i in isearch is that one very rarely needs to type
"all" of the target string (or the regexp describing it).  Having found my
target with, say, 3 of its 11 characters specified, I would find it much
easier to type something like M-b M-d M-d to kill it (followed by C-y if I
wanted to copy it), perhaps followed by self-inserts to replace it, than
to type the rest of the target (no typos1) and then have isearch drop the
mark usefully.

If you're suggesting instead that one would use this to set the beginning
(for forward searches) of the region at the beginning of the match and
then use other commands to find the end of it, I suppose that's somewhat
more useful, but it seems a lot of complication to save what will most
often be <search...> M-b C-SPC before the M-f that you would use to
terminate the search with this option.  Thinking about this, I realize
that I would get almost all the utility of this idea with just one command
added to isearch which meant "exit and move point to start of match", or
(closer to your idea) a command which meant "exit and drop mark at start
of match" in place of your toggle.  WDOT?

Davis

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