Re: Emacs completion matches selection UI

[Ted Zlatanov]

On Tue, 19 Nov 2013 16:00:49 +0200 Dmitry Gutov <address@hidden> wrote: 

DG> In graphical mode, I think we can make a more reliable popup by
DG> adapting some code in `tooltip.el'. That would be incompatible with
DG> running in terminal, but there are no proportional fonts in terminal
DG> either (I think...?)

Works for me, as long as it's standard (so we don't have the current
"reinvention of the wheel" everywhere).

On Tue, 19 Nov 2013 09:00:40 -0500 Stefan Monnier <address@hidden> wrote: 

SM> For the "appear" part you could start with the trivial minor-mode below.
SM> But I think what Ted is after is the other part: down/up/...

Yes.  Appearance is not as important as usability to me, except where it
interferes with usability (e.g. lack of highlighting of the currently
selected candidate, etc.).

SM> While there is a risk of conflict in key-bindings, I do think it should
SM> be possible to "keep the best of both worlds" such that it could be
SM> enabled by default.

SM> E.g.: keep the same behavior by default as we have now, except that we
SM> add a new `select-completion-mode'.  In this new mode, cursor keys move
SM> between elements of the completions list, RET selects the completion
SM> element from there, and most other keys just exit the mode.

Sounds good.  For usability, it may be better to lock users into the
mode until they press `RET' or `C-g' or `ESC' (as expected).

SM> The main issue is then to figure out how/when to switch to this
SM> new mode.  E.g. when the user hits `up' right after the *Completions*
SM> buffer got displayed/updated?

Maybe the trigger should be another `TAB'?  That's what I would press,
intuitively.

Do you think this can realistically happen for 24.4?  I would be excited
to help test and give feedback, and maybe even help with the code.

Ted