Re: recover-file warnings too easy to get covered up

[Kevin Rodgers]

Dan Jacobson wrote:
> d>     The vital minibuffer message
> d>        [file] has auto save data; consider M-x recover-file
> d>     gets overwritten before the user has time to notice it, with
>
> r> What command produces that message?
>
> Simple,
> $ emacs x.sh
> Type some stuff, then ^Z suspend, kill -1 %1, leaving a #x.sh# file, then
> $ emacs x.sh #again, and look at the *Messages* buffer.
> You would have to happen to be looking at the minibuffer during the
> vital second the "consider M-x recover-file" message is displayed to
> see it before it gets covered up. I recall this issue is not new.
> So how are you going to make sure the user sees that message before
> blithely editing that file?  Or is e.g., "Indentation setup for shell type
> bash" more important for him to see as he assess the screen once the
> smoke clears?

As this cond clause from after-find-file shows, the maintainers clearly
believe that the message is not vital (it is not-serious):

             ((not buffer-read-only)
              (if (and warn
                       ;; No need to warn if buffer is auto-saved
                       ;; under the name of the visited file.
                       (not (and buffer-file-name
                                 auto-save-visited-file-name))
                       (file-newer-than-file-p (or buffer-auto-save-file-name
                                                   (make-auto-save-file-name))
                                               buffer-file-name))
                  (format "%s has auto save data; consider M-x 
recover-this-file"
                          (file-name-nondirectory buffer-file-name))
                (setq not-serious t)
                (if error "(New file)" nil)))
--
Kevin Rodgers