Re: Strange behavior of word isearch

[Stefan Monnier]

> word forms and not plurals ("default" vs "defaults" etc.)  And typing
> additional whitespace at the end is both inconvenient and not self-apparent
> especially when there is only one word and not a list of words separated
> by whitespace.  However, there exists a good solution.

I disagree with SPC being inconvenient, but I agree that it's not
self-evident.

> Index: lisp/isearch.el
> ===================================================================
> RCS file: /sources/emacs/emacs/lisp/isearch.el,v
> retrieving revision 1.331
> diff -c -r1.331 isearch.el
> *** lisp/isearch.el   19 Oct 2008 22:33:17 -0000      1.331
> --- lisp/isearch.el   8 Nov 2008 22:54:14 -0000
> ***************
> *** 2178,2184 ****
>         (funcall isearch-search-fun-function)
>       (cond
>        (isearch-word
> !       (if isearch-forward 'word-search-forward-lax 
> 'word-search-backward-lax))
>        (isearch-regexp
>         (if isearch-forward 're-search-forward 're-search-backward))
>        (t
> --- 2182,2193 ----
>         (funcall isearch-search-fun-function)
>       (cond
>        (isearch-word
> !       ;; Use lax versions to not fail at the end of the word while the user
> !       ;; adds and removes characters in the search string
> !       (if (not (eq (length isearch-string)
> !                (length (isearch-string-state (car isearch-cmds)))))
> !       (if isearch-forward 'word-search-forward-lax 
> 'word-search-backward-lax)
> !     (if isearch-forward 'word-search-forward 'word-search-backward)))
>        (isearch-regexp
>         (if isearch-forward 're-search-forward 're-search-backward))
>        (t

Looks good.  Can people try it out and see if they are surprised?

I know a case where it won't work as nicely as just SPC for me:
I often use C-w to fill the search, but I often don't start at the right
position, so I type in the beginning of the word I want, then maybe hit
C-s a few times to jump to the right occurrence (when it's easier than
to keep on typing), then C-w.  But with your change, the C-s will skip
the right occurrence.


        Stefan