Re: Interactive hat.

[Alan Mackenzie]

Hi, Stefan!

On Thu, Mar 26, 2009 at 09:48:11AM -0400, Stefan Monnier wrote:
> > If it's possible to code everything we need with a symbol property, I
> > think the interactive hat mechanism should be removed.

> You got things backwards here: the "^" describes the behavior of the
> command, so it should be part of the command, not its name.

NOT SO FAST THERE, BUDDY!!!  Most, possibly nearly all, properties
attached to a symbol describe either the symbol-function or the
symbol-value.  So, whilst I agree you have some sort of point, it would
require a massive change to Emacs Lisp to allow properties to be
attached to a function or value, as opposed to the symbol holding them.

> The ability to use a symbol property for that is a hack that can come
> in handy at times, but it's still just a hack.

I don't think so.  It is the standard canonical use of symbol
properties.  A quick bit of grepping reveals 4278 uses of `put'.  Of the
ones in the first 100 or so, they all look recording properties of the
function rather than the symbol itself.

>         Stefan

-- 
Alan Mackenzie (Nuremberg, Germany).