bug#42347: Feature request: Visual block attribute for overlays

[Gregory Heytings]

> > The previous behavior can be obtained with the ":extend t" face 
> > attribute.
>
> Only on an individual basis, right?  If you want to get the previous 
> behavior everywhere, do you need to change every overlay?

AFAIK, yes.

> Or is there an option for that?  If not, why not?
>
> And is there a way to get the previous behavior by default, and 
> something that does the opposite of `:extend' for individual cases where 
> you want the new behavior?
>
> If not, why not?

I don't know, but I do not see this as a problem.  After all, if one wants 
the previous behavior, only a handful of faces need to be updated. 
Apparently the new behavior was considered better.  The NEWS item about 
this (in NEWS.27) states:  "This is to make Emacs behave more like other 
GUI applications with respect to displaying faces that cross line 
boundaries."

Gregory