Re: [PATCH] (icomplete-vertical-mode): Add support for affixations and, annotations

[Juri Linkov]

>>> I would also be happy with an extension to the `annotation-function`,
>>> where the returned annotation string is the suffix and can be
>>> propertized with an additional string for the prefix.
>>
>> Either that, or it could return a list instead of a string, and then the
>> list would be interpreted as "affixation function" results.
>
> A list return value is not a good idea since that does not allow to
> write forward and backward compatible code. This is actually an
> advantage of the `affixation-function`. It is a non-intrusive addition.
> The same holds for the recently added `group-function`, which I proposed.

I agree.

> If it is decided to change this, I think it would be best to use text
> properties for this. The `annotation-function` should continue to return
> suffix strings and additionally, each suffix has an `annotation-prefix`
> text property attached. That would be a more minimal API change than the
> addition of the `affixation-function`, while still being fully compatible.

Such ad-hoc thing as attaching an `annotation-prefix` text property on
each suffix doesn't look like a real alternative to the clean API interface
provided by `affixation-function`.