Re: Changing the no-toolkit scrollbar thumb color. (minor issue)

[Luc Teirlinck]

Robert Chassell wrote:

   But the problem is worse than inadaquate documentation.  The current
   message from `customize-face' is *false*.  The `customize-face' method
   tells you that it has changed the foreground and background faces of
   the scroll bars when it has not.

I do not know exactly what you are referring to.  Is it the "State"
message, like:

 State: you have set this face, but not saved it for future sessions.

Strictly speaking this is accurate and relevant even if it has no
effect on the scroll bar.  It does not say that you have successfully
changed the colors of the scroll bar, it says that you have set the
face.  You can use any face for any purpose whatsoever.  When Emacs
functions prompt for a face, I often use faces that are normally used
for something completely different, as long as I know that there will
be no conflict between the two uses.  Maybe the documentation string
could be improved.

   The `customize-face RET scroll-bar' feature needs to

       * check for the tool kit in use and
         if it is `GTK+' {i.e, if (featurep 'gtk) returns t},

         - either have `customize-face' do the right thing, whatever that
           be, or

         - tell the user that `customize-face' fails with GTK and that
           the user must modify his or her ~/.emacs.d/gtkrc file.  The
           work to be done to the ~/.emacs.d/gtkrc file needs to be
           described in a manner that a novice can understand.

I do not know a lot about GTK.  Somebody who does (Jan?) could tell
you whether your first suggestion is possible at all, as well as
answer your other GTK related questions.  In as far as the second
suggestion is concerned, I believe that this information should be
conveyed in the documentation string, not through an error message.
Somebody may have several builds of Emacs and want to use the same
.emacs for all of them or may want to use the face for his own
purposes.  The information actually is conveyed in the documentation
string, though maybe not clearly enough:

Basic face for the scroll bar colors under X.
                                     ^^^^^^^^
There are some other problems.  I will follow up on them.

Sincerely,

Luc.