Re: recenter-top-bottom

[Bastien]

"Drew Adams" <address@hidden> writes:

>> I often type C-l when to point is *near* the middle of the buffer, just
>> to slightly adjust the display.
>
> Just out of curiosity, why?

No specific reason, it just appears I took this habit.  It's just a way
to tell myself: okay, now concentrate on what you read.

> Except for refreshing the display, why anyone would use `C-l' with point
> already at or near the center - and want it to stay there - is beyond me.
> But people are different.

Moving the point to the center when the point is *near* the center
sounds okay to me.  

But moving the point from the center to the top when the point is *at*
the center *and* when the last command was not 'recenter-top-bottom is
awkward.  Because it is very likely that I wasn't aware the point was
already at the center and that I just wanted to move it to the center.

You can call this "refreshing", but 80% of the times I'm really trying
to recenter (not refresh) when the point is already at the center.  

Relying on people's ability to *know* that the point is at the center to
move it without surprise sounds a bit risky to me.

> You could of course still do the same thing, but you would need to hit
> `C-l' three times, not one. If you make such minor display adjustments
> with `C-l' frequently, then, yes, this is not optimal for you.

If point is at the center and the last command was 'recenter-top-bottom
then I think it's ok to move the point to the top.  But maybe the first
call should reach the center, even if it's already at the center.

But sure, I could also use `recenter' instead.

> FWIW - I find remarkable the language some people are using. I'm
> impressed that anyone finds such a proposal "disturbing" or "an
> irritation" (and screams "PLEASE DON'T DO THIS!!!!" for setting
> `last-command' to an undefined command name). I'm truly amazed that
> this is so critical.

I guess this is because C-l is a fundamuntal command.  Every little
change to it strikes the imagination quite easily.  Hence people are
shouting, crying, etc. but everyone's trying to be helpful here, no?

Anyway, I hope I was.

-- 
Bastien