Re: buffer-swap-text and multibyteness

[Stefan Monnier]

>> >> In tar-mode (and the way I imagine buffer-swap-text to be used),
>> >> swapping the buffer is a rare operation that's basically only done
>> >> when the the major mode changes.
>> 
>> > In Rmail, we do it each time a new message is being displayed.
>> 
>> Why???

> Because each message needs to be decoded before it is shown.  The
> decoded text goes to the rmail-view-buffer, and we then call
> rmail-swap-buffers to show the decoded text in the rmail-buffer.  See
> rmail-show-message for the gory details.

It looks problematic indeed.  I'm having trouble understanding how
it works.  Part of it might be due to naming: IIUC rmail-view-buffer
doesn't actually hold the "view" buffer, but instead it holds the
mbox bytes.


        Stefan