[RP] Re: what about... (features)

[Michael Livshin]

Doug Kearns <address@hidden> writes:

> On Tue, Apr 29, 2003 at 06:59:11PM +1000, twb wrote:
>
>> Another idea I toyed with for a while (not under RP, tho) was to use
>> an xterm / xvt instead of a WM-internal ]sh -c[ input
>> 
>>      that is,  run xterm -geom  100x1+700+0 or whatever,  and don't
>>      include it in the window  list -- use it modally (can't change
>>      focus until xterm dies).
>> 
>> , so you automatically get all the xterm & bash functionality.
>
> So have I, but I never got around to finishing it off. I'm thinking of
> writing a nice zsh completion function for RP and that'll probably
> provide the required impetus.

while folks are thinking in this direction, how about writing a
simple (in theory, at least) Emacs <-> ratpoison glue, so that you'd
have a dedicated Emacs instance running all the time, unmapped, and
pop up a special minibuffer-only (or not) frame for RP command input.

pluses:

. no need to spawn a whole new xterm process for each command

. possibility of using the nice Emacs interface features, like a
  completion buffer with all the active windows (just an example).

minuses:

. well, it's more work.

. writing something simple but at the same time accomodating all the
  different Emacs versions out there may prove tricky.

-- 
Business thrives on inefficiency.  Inefficiency makes jobs.  Don't try
to defend technical superiority by showing how many jobs it can make
because that's practically an proof that you're wrong.
                                     -- Kent Pitman, in comp.lang.lisp