Re: isearch and region ?

[Yuri Khan]

On Tue, Nov 7, 2017 at 2:39 PM, Jean-Christophe Helary
<address@hidden> wrote:
> I would like to know why isearch has been designed so that it does not create 
> a region with the matching string. The thing that appears in the buffer looks 
> like a region, but it is not, and that keeps the user from immediately 
> interacting with the matching string (deleting, overwriting, killing or 
> yanking, etc.)

isearch is incremental, so most of the region-affecting actions would
conflict with it.

* Deleting with Backspace deletes the last character of the pattern
(conflicts with deleting the region).
* Typing text adds to the pattern (conflicts with overwriting the region).
* Pasting (yanking) adds to the pattern, too.

You would need an isearch command that (1) marks the current
occurrence as a region, and (2) exits isearch mode so you can affect
the region with your next command.

On the other hand, some commands could work right out of isearch mode,
if suitably implemented:

* Deleting with Delete.
* Cutting (killing) and copying.