Re: vc-set-mode-line-busy-indicator

[Dan Nicolaescu]

Richard Stallman <address@hidden> writes:

  >       > What sort of VC commands are asynchronous, other than vc-diff which
  >       > shouldn't be a problem?
  > 
  >     All non-state changing VC commands should be asynchronous. Currently
  >     vc-diff, vc-annotate, vc-log and vc-status are.
  > 
  >     Not sure what you mean above about vc-diff... 
  > 
  > I see no need to inform people in the mode line that vc-diff is
  > running, or that it has stopped. 
  > 
  >  Likewise vc-log.  vc-status must be
  > something new; I don't know what it is.  But any asynch vc command
  > whose purpose is to display something need not put anything in the
  > mode line.  Better to work like vc-diff: make the output buffer
  > appear, and the user will see when it is complete.

vc-diff was one of the reasons for adding the mode-line notification:
the user can't see that the output is complete.  vc-diff operations can
take a long time.  Using CVS with a busy server/slow network tends to
have very non-predictable behavior, one can't see when the diff
operations has finished.  If the user actually wants to use the result
of vc-diff, for example to email it to someone else, then he can get
incomplete results.  The mode-line notification is a very good way to
show that the VC command is still in progress.