Re: Customize buttons that change user's customfileshouldaskforconfirmation

[Richard Stallman]

    I don't know if "S =>" imply that we actually read the values from the
    custom-file (e.g. .emacs) or if it just restores the value that was
    initially read from that file, or the last value that was written by
    this emacs to that file.

Until you brought this up, I would probably have used the value that
was initially read from that file, unless some other has since been
saved in it.  However, rereading that part of the file could be
a useful feature as you pointed out:

    If it implies reading from the file, this could be used to load
    values from a diffent custom-file (to see what they are) before
    actually using them.


    Being able to load such values and edit them before saving them
    is very useful.

    I prefer "S => F" with a message in the echo area telling the
    user to use "Set All" to apply the values.

If users often want to examine these values before putting them into
effect, then the split-up could be useful.  But if users nearly always
want to Set these values, it would be just a nuisance to have to do so
with a separate operation.

Can we get any guidance on this question from other applications?