bug#22348: 24.5; Mode hooks doesn't run as expected if the major mode of a new buffer is determined by the default major mode

[Rolf Ade]

Although reported from my all day working emacs version I see the same
behavior with emacs-25.1.50.2.

Recipe to reproduce the problem:

- Prepare a file with a name/suffix, that isn't matched by anything in
  auto-mode-alist (and interpreter-mode-alist and magic-mode-alist),
  with some content in it. From what I see in my tests, the exact name
  and content doesn't matter (as long as it fullfills the above
  condition). To give an exact example recipe I see it with a file named
  test.abc with the content of (exclude the ""):

"
abc abc abc"

  (Nothing in the default value of auto-mode-alist matches this file
  name test.abc.)

- Create a copy of that file from above with the name test.txt.

  Please note, that the suffix .txt is (beside other ones) handled /
  matched by the default value of auto-mode-alist and points to
  text-mode.

- Start emacs -Q

- In the *scratch* buffer evaluate this lisp code:

(setq-default major-mode 'text-mode)
(add-hook 'text-mode-hook 'end-of-buffer)

  Please note that I'm aware that end-of-buffer sets the mark. That's
  irrelevant for what I want to show. I used end-of-buffer just for
  simplicity of the recipe. If I use a lamba with (goto-char
  (point-max)) I see the same mis-behaviour (see below).

- Open the above prepared file test.abc (just a normal C-x C-f ...)

  Emacs presents me a new buffer, showing the content of the file. The
  buffer has major mode text-mode. (Since nothing out of auto-mode-alist
  et. al. matched, the above set default major mode applies. That's
  expected.) But the point is at the beginning of the buffer, not at the
  end. This is not expected.

- To contrast, now open (also just a normal C-x C-f ...) the second file
  from above, test.txt.

  Emacs presents me another new buffer, showing the content of this file
  (since this file is a copy of the first one, it's exactly the same
  content). The buffer is in major mode text-mode. (No surprise here,
  .txt is handled by the default value of auto-mode-alist.) But the
  point is in this case at the end of the buffer (as expected).

Expected behavior: In both buffers the point should be at the end of the
buffer. Or, to put it more general: the mode hooks of the major mode of
a new buffer should have the same effects for both files.

Futher notes:

- This isn't special to text-mode. I see the same mis-behaviour, if I do
  the recipe from above (appropriate applied) with other major modes.

- Initially, from older days, I had (setq default-major-mode 'text-mode)
  in my init.el, just to learn while analysing the problem, that this
  variable is obsolete since 23.2. The documentation of
  default-major-mode points to major-mode. The (mis-)behaviour is the
  same, regardless which of the both variables I use.

- In general, the hooks do run, it isn't that they just not run in the
  above described circumstances. So, e.g. one is able the enable
  auto-fill-mode by hook.

- One may argue this works as documented. The documentation of
  major-mode includes this (not as cristal clear as it could be, I'd
  comment) paragraph:

 "When a mode is used by default, `find-file' switches to it before it
  reads the contents into the buffer and before it finishes setting up
  the buffer. Thus, the mode and its hooks should not expect certain
  variables such as `buffer-read-only' and `buffer-file-coding-system'
  to be set up."

  This seems to suggest, that (in case the default major mode is used,
  because nothing from auto-mode-alist et. al. matches) the mode hooks
  run before the file content is available in the buffer. So it seems it
  is no surprise, that point movements within some hook doesn't work as
  expected, because there isn't some content, to work on.

  But beside the fact, that this paragraph doesn't seem to tell the
  exact truth about what in fact happens (see another to be written bug
  report - I'll use the title "Documentation of variable major-mode does
  not seem to tell the exactly true") I'd call this a mis-feature. It is
  surprising and confusing to open two different files and then have two
  new buffers, both in the same major mode, but some of the hooks of
  that major mode have different results/effects, for (at least at first
  look) no obvious reason.

  In fact, I stubled over this in the wild. A small configuration change
  that I expected to be done in at max minutes took me hours. Well, this
  is of course not the fault of the emacs developers but completely
  mine, to spend so much time on this. I note this just as a random data
  point, that the current behaviour is confusing und surprising at least
  for some users and therefor not providing the best emacs experience.

- As a partly workaround I've added some more suffixes to the
  auto-mode-alist of my configuration. It may seems possible, to specify
  the wished default major mode with a last entry to auto-mode-alist,
  that matches all and use the form (REGEXP FUNCTION NON-NIL). But this
  seems to be fragil (how to ensure, that entry stays the last one in
  auto-mode-alist?) and much more complicated then setting just
  major-mode (and using such a 'magic' auto-mode-alist entry isn't - at
  least, as far as I see - adviced anywhere).




In GNU Emacs 24.5.1 (x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu, GTK+ Version 2.24.10)
 of 2015-04-11 on linux-qg7d
Windowing system distributor `The X.Org Foundation', version 11.0.11203000
System Description:     openSUSE 12.2 (x86_64)

Important settings:
  value of $LANG: en_US.UTF-8
  value of $XMODIFIERS: @im=local
  locale-coding-system: utf-8-unix

Major mode: Outline

Minor modes in effect:
  goto-address-mode: t
  TeX-PDF-mode: t
  diff-auto-refine-mode: t
  shell-dirtrack-mode: t
  desktop-save-mode: t
  show-paren-mode: t
  tooltip-mode: t
  electric-indent-mode: t
  mouse-wheel-mode: t
  menu-bar-mode: t
  file-name-shadow-mode: t
  global-font-lock-mode: t
  font-lock-mode: t
  auto-composition-mode: t
  auto-encryption-mode: t
  auto-compression-mode: t
  buffer-read-only: t
  line-number-mode: t
  transient-mark-mode: t
  view-mode: t

Recent messages:
Quit
C-c C-p is undefined
Mark set
View mode: type C-h for help, h for commands, q to quit.
Mark saved where search started
Quit [2 times]
Mark saved where search started
Type C-x 1 to delete the help window.

Making completion list...

Load-path shadows:
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~/.emacs.d/site-lisp/icicles

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