Re: GNU Midnight Commander 4.6.2-pre1

[kilgota banach math auburn edu]

Pavel,

I have tested this release and it does seem to remedy the search bug in 
the internal editor. Thanks.

I do have one other question, though. You noticed, probably, that I tried 
just now to answer someone's question about how to use the extension file 
in MC. I hope I answered his question, but here is one of my own, given 
rise to by what I just sent to the other gentleman.

To write my reply to him I mouse-copied something from another window. 
Here is the actual result of the mouse-copying, which I edited afterward 
to make it look decent.

include/image
#<----->Open=if [ "$DISPLAY" = "" ]; then zgv %f; else (gqview %f &); fi
<------>Open=if [ "$DISPLAY" = "" ]; then zgv %f; else (/usr/bin/display 
%f &);
#<----->Open=display %f.
<------>View=%view{ascii} identify %f
<------>#View=%view{ascii} asciiview %f

Notice the <------> things in what I just copied? Well, I edited them out 
in the other letter, just now.

I can kindof see why this was introduced. Presumably, it is an indication 
that the TAB key has been used while the file from which I copied was 
being written. But I am not sure if this is a desirable feature, or not. I 
can easily think that, if I want to copy a block of C code from one file 
to another using the mouse, I would feel quite frustrated if this is what 
actually happens with every line where the tab key got used.

Another example follows, an excerpt from 
libgphoto2/camlibs/digigr8/library.c opened with F3 (view)

        {"Vivitar Vivicam35",   GP_DRIVER_STATUS_EXPERIMENTAL, 0x2770, 
0x905c},
        {"Praktica Slimpix",    GP_DRIVER_STATUS_EXPERIMENTAL, 0x2770, 
0x905c},
        {"ZINA Mini Digital Keychain Camera", 
GP_DRIVER_STATUS_EXPERIMENTAL,
                                                            0x2770, 
0x905c},

        {"Pixie Princess Jelly-Soft",    GP_DRIVER_STATUS_EXPERIMENTAL,
                                                            0x2770, 
0x905c},
        {"Disney pix micro",    GP_DRIVER_STATUS_EXPERIMENTAL, 0x2770, 
0x9050},
        {"Suprema Digital Keychain Camera", 
GP_DRIVER_STATUS_EXPERIMENTAL,
                                                                0x2770, 
0x913d},

OK, I was viewing the file, not editing it, so it seems that all worked as 
it should. Now I open the same file with F4 and copy approximately the 
same lines...

<------>{"Nexxtech Mini Digital Camera", GP_DRIVER_STATUS_EXPERIMENTAL, 
0x2770,.
<------><------><------><------><------><------><------><------><------>0x905c},
        {"Vivitar Vivicam35",   GP_DRIVER_STATUS_EXPERIMENTAL, 0x2770, 
0x905c},
        {"Praktica Slimpix",    GP_DRIVER_STATUS_EXPERIMENTAL, 0x2770, 
0x905c},
        {"ZINA Mini Digital Keychain Camera", 
GP_DRIVER_STATUS_EXPERIMENTAL,.
    <--><------><------><------><------><------><------>    0x2770, 
0x905c},....
        {"Pixie Princess Jelly-Soft",    GP_DRIVER_STATUS_EXPERIMENTAL,.
    <--><------><------><------><------><------><------>    0x2770, 
0x905c},....
        {"Disney pix micro",    GP_DRIVER_STATUS_EXPERIMENTAL, 0x2770, 
0x9050},.
        {"Suprema Digital Keychain Camera", 
GP_DRIVER_STATUS_EXPERIMENTAL,.
    <--><------><------><------><------><------><------><------>0x2770, 
0x913d},
<------>{NULL,0,0,0}

You see what I mean? Ouch. If this were a real piece of C code I would 
really be having fun now, wouldn't I?

I guess there are times when it might be nice to have this as a feature. I 
can not think of any, but I am sure that somebody thought it is a good 
idea. So it would be really nice if there is a way to turn this on or off 
at will. Or, maybe, it was not such a good idea in the first place. It 
must be in some syntax file, but which and where?

Incidentally, I must also say that I am not sure where this all came from. 
I was previously using the standard Slack 12.0 package called

mc-4.6.1_20070309-i486-2.tgz

which had the search bug in it.

Another place I saw a dramatic difference was in looking at a Makefile. 
One used to see there a bar of red if a line started with a tab. Now, it 
is the <----------> thing again. So it looks weird if one was accustomed 
to the other way. And, again, to copy with the mouse leads to 
funny-looking things happening which it seems to me ought not to happen.

Comments? Suggestions?

Theodore Kilgore