Re: On controlling rectangle-preview

[Stefan Monnier]

> The automatic preview can be pretty jarring, especially when doing
> rectangle-string in one place (some mode, language, what-have-you), then
> going someplace else, doing rectangle-string and seeing the preview when
> the plan is to enter something completely different.

FWIW, I also find it unsatisfactory in some cases.  Which cases annoy me
depends on whether the text I'm about to insert is related to the last
text I inserted via that mechanism, so there's no way Emacs can tell
whether it'll be annoying or not.

> Not sure if there is a better way to control this other than introducing
> a parameter.

Agreed.  I thought about delaying the preview a bit when str is "", but
it's fiddly and not very convincing either.

> For the reasons above I'd prefer this to be nil by default,

I could live with it being nil by default (or even without any option
at all).

> -      (when (equal str "")
> +      (when (and rectangle-preview-default (equal str ""))

But I think the preview should not be inhibited when str is "" *again*
(i.e. when str is "" as a result of minibuffer modifications rather than
as a result of inaction).


        Stefan