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RE: display.texi: (<line>,<col>) isn't documented.


From: Drew Adams
Subject: RE: display.texi: (<line>,<col>) isn't documented.
Date: Sun, 10 Jun 2007 08:15:07 -0700

>     Yes, but its size is not obvious, especially if part of it is
>     off-screen.
>
>     The size indication can be helpful when coding, to see how
>     long a given string of characters is. It can also be useful
>     as a sanity check when you use C-w.
>
> When the region is that large, would you really know the right length
> well enough to recognize a wrong length?
>
> Can you tell me how, in practice, you recognize from the displayed
> length that the region is wrong?

1. Small region of expected length: Equivalent of M-=. Check the length of a
string of chars. Maybe select with the mouse - no need to hit the keyboard
for M-=.

2. Empty region: Be aware when the region is active but empty (transient
mark mode), when operations limited to the region, such as query-replace, do
nothing.

3. Large region: Be aware when the region is humongous (e.g. before you kill
it), without the intrusion of a warning message when a threshold is passed.

#3 is a qualitative comparison. The idea is not to "recognize from the
displayed length that the region is wrong" - in terms of exact length, but
just to tell that the region is enormous - a sanity check.

It's only a minor feature. It's really not a big deal either way: no great
loss if it is not made available, no great convenience if it is. If added,
it should be optional, of course, and perhaps limited to use with transient
mark mode. I find it handy; you might not. Do you use transient mark mode?
Did you try it?





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