Re: Specifying mode in file variables trouble

[Richard M. Stallman]

    There are three main scopes (maybe there are more) for minor modes:

    - Global
    - Per buffer

I think I know what those two mean.

    - Per major mode

What does that mean?  I don't know of that.

    Global minor modes are not a problem here.

Usually they are not; but if a minor mode is itself global,
you can make a buffer-local binding for the variable.

Perhaps when you speak of "global" and "per buffer"
you mean how the variable is bound, rather than how the mode
normally works.

    I have suggested long ago using the existing mechanism for
    distinguishing between local variables that are per buffer and those
    that are per major mode.

I don't understand that distinction, but I know that just about any
variable in Emacs _can_ be given a buffer-local binding by a major
mode command.  So is the distinction meaningful?

                             In other words: the minor modes that are per
    buffer should use

       (put 'PER-BUFFER-VARIABLE 'permanent-local t)

    on their buffer local variables. (I do that now in mumamo.el for some of
    the most important.)

I am not sure that change is correct.  When the variable is not marked
as permanent-local, that could mean we want major mode commands to
reset this minor mode.  Of course, moving between chunks in mumamo
should not reset it.

Can you tell us some of the variables for which you added that property?

Perhaps we want to have a different value for the `permanent-local' property
that applies only to mumamo.