Format-alist vs. minor mode

[tomas]

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Hi,

I'm trying to switch on a minor mode via the format-alist feature, like
so:

  (add-to-list 'format-alist
               (list "ZEIT-k4c"
                     "ZEIT k4 cooked XML"
                     "^<\\?xml[^>]*>[^<]*<article>"
                     'am-parse-region
                     'am-unparse-region
                     t
                     'am-mode)
               nil
               (lambda (x y) (equal (car x) (car y))))

It works at first, when the regexp is recognized the mode function is
called... but then "fundamental-mode" sets in, kills all local variables
and reverts the minor mode settings.

What am I doing wrong? Do only major modes work with format-alist?

Thanks
- -- tomás
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