Re: Simple isearch concerns

[Eli Zaretskii]

> Date: Fri, 09 Apr 2021 15:25:08 +0000
> From: Gregory Heytings <gregory@heytings.org>
> cc: spacibba@aol.com, juri@linkov.net, emacs-devel@gnu.org
> 
> > After the first "M-s M->", why do you keep pressing "M-x M->"? why not 
> > C-s?
> 
> Why would it not be possible to jump to the last occurrence in the buffer 
> when searching forward?

You've lost me here: I cannot see how your question answers mine.

> Do I understand correctly that what you would have wanted is the 
> following:
> 
> 1. M-s M-< after C-s: point after the first occurrence (search direction 
> forward)
> 2. M-s M-> after C-s: point after the last occurrence (search direction 
> forward)
> 3. M-s M-< after C-r: point before the first occurrence (search direction 
> backward)
> 4. M-s M-> after C-r: point before the last occurrence (search direction 
> backward)

Yes.

> What we have now is 1 and 4, but not 2 and 3, what we have instead is:
> 
> 2. M-s M-> after C-s: point before the last occurrence (search direction 
> backward)
> 3. M-s M-< after C-r: point after the first occurrence (search direction 
> backward)
> 
> Is this subtle nuance really important?

IMO, yes.  I don't think M-s M-> and M-s M-< should change the search
direction.  Doing so second-guesses what the user intends to do, but
we have no business second-guessing that.

> Isn't the most likely search direction one would want to use at BOB
> forward, and at EOB backward?

No, not necessarily.  I frequently have to change direction because I
want to revisit previously found matches, and the direction I want to
use next depends on what I'm looking for.  It doesn't necessarily stay
the same for long.