Re: make-progress-reporter suggestions: 'modeline and customizable progress-reporter--pulse-characters

[Chong Yidong]

Michael Albinus <address@hidden> writes:

> I'm waiting, whether there is resistance to that change (Stefan?
> Chong?). If there is no opposition, I'll install the patch next
> weekend in the trunk.

I'm dubious about the idea.  The mode-line is supposed to show
information about one window, while the progress-reporter is a global
indicator, so conceptually it's not a good fit.

What do we do if the user switches windows while the progress reporter
is spinning?  Does the current window take over the spinning?  Or do
inactive mode-lines spin too?  (That would be annoying.)

Global indicators, especially transient ones, ought to use the echo
area.

Using the background of the echo area as a progress bar would be nice,
but that may need some redisplay engine changes.  (It won't be annoying
if the color changes are muted enough, and I believe there are many GUI
applications that do something similar.)

If that's too hard, how about reserving the first character in the echo
area for a spinner instead?