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Re: Question about copy-region-as-kill
From: |
Miles Bader |
Subject: |
Re: Question about copy-region-as-kill |
Date: |
07 Apr 2002 15:53:09 +0900 |
Colin Walters <address@hidden> writes:
> My point is that in this case overlays aren't being used for
> their primary purpose: specificity to the current buffer.
I don't think the concept of a `primary purpose' is all that useful,
since it's rather objective; the original reason may be different that
current thinking, and one person's view may differ from another's.
>From my point of view, the _most_ important thing about overlays is that
they are distinct objects that are distinct from the text, and interact
with text properties and other overlays.
This gives them certain advantages: an overlay can be quickly and
easily be moved or removed as a unit, possibly affecting many individual
properties; you can discover where a certain property came from, and
find other properties in the same overlay (even if they are otherwise
hidden by other overlays); you can have `layers' of properties that
interact.
However most of attributes are _disadvantages_ in many cases, where you
really just want to attach properties to the text; for such cases, text
properties are much more straightforward and easy to understand.
Not surprisingly, the particular advantages of overlays are most useful
for very dynamic properties (e.g. a highlighted region) that (surprise)
`overlay' the text. [for this reason, it doesn't seem particularly
useful to have overlays be copyable like text properties; in my
experience overlays are often referred chiefly by an external reference
(e.g., a buffer-local variable).
> What I am trying to show is that the distinction between text
> properties and overlays is arbitrary. Or at least it certainly has
> been in my experience.
I think you're quite wrong.
-Miles
--
`...the Soviet Union was sliding in to an economic collapse so comprehensive
that in the end its factories produced not goods but bads: finished products
less valuable than the raw materials they were made from.' [The Economist]
- Re: Question about copy-region-as-kill, (continued)
- Re: Question about copy-region-as-kill, Andreas Schwab, 2002/04/06
- Re: Question about copy-region-as-kill, Richard Stallman, 2002/04/06
- Re: Question about copy-region-as-kill, John Wiegley, 2002/04/06
- Re: Question about copy-region-as-kill, Alex Schroeder, 2002/04/06
- Re: Question about copy-region-as-kill, Colin Walters, 2002/04/06
- Re: Question about copy-region-as-kill, Miles Bader, 2002/04/06
- Re: Question about copy-region-as-kill, John Wiegley, 2002/04/06
- Re: Question about copy-region-as-kill, Colin Walters, 2002/04/06
- Re: Question about copy-region-as-kill, Miles Bader, 2002/04/06
- Re: Question about copy-region-as-kill, Colin Walters, 2002/04/07
- Re: Question about copy-region-as-kill,
Miles Bader <=
- Re: Question about copy-region-as-kill, Colin Walters, 2002/04/07
- Re: Question about copy-region-as-kill, Alex Schroeder, 2002/04/07
- Re: Question about copy-region-as-kill, Miles Bader, 2002/04/07
- Re: Question about copy-region-as-kill, Colin Walters, 2002/04/07
- Re: Question about copy-region-as-kill, Miles Bader, 2002/04/08
- Re: Question about copy-region-as-kill, Colin Walters, 2002/04/09
- Re: Question about copy-region-as-kill, Richard Stallman, 2002/04/10
- Re: Question about copy-region-as-kill, Richard Stallman, 2002/04/09
- Re: Question about copy-region-as-kill, Colin Walters, 2002/04/09
- Re: Question about copy-region-as-kill, John Wiegley, 2002/04/07