[O] [RFC] Org Minor Mode?

[Thorsten Jolitz]

Hi List, 

I cite from a recent thread on Emacs Help:

#+begin_quote
Right, I'm very much convinced that the power of Org-mode could be
unleashed in a true org-minor-mode that works in the comment-sections of
programming major-modes.

[...]

The major "flaw" of Org-mode that inhibits its use as minor-mode is the
wide-spread use of hard-coded regexps, i.e. regexps of this form

,--------------
| "^\\*+ ... $"
`--------------

in many many variants all over the place. Those three elements "^"
(bol), "$" (eol) and "*" (star) are not portable, since in
comment-sections of programming major-modes the above should look
like:

PicoLisp  (comment-start repeated with padding)
,--------------
| "^## *+ ... $" 
`--------------

Elisp outshine-style (comment-start repeated with padding)
,--------------
| "^;; *+ ... $" 
`--------------

old-school Elisp (comment-start repeated no padding, different star)
,--------------
| "^;;;+ ... $" 
`--------------
#+end_quote

Now I just announced [[https://github.com/tj64/drx][drx.el]] on Emacs
Help, I cite again:

#+begin_quote
Its main purpose is to abstract from hardcoded  "^", "$" and "\\*" in
regexps. Here are a few examples:

# basic usage
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
 (drx "foo" t nil t)
#+end_src

#+results:
: ^foo$

# org-mode version
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
 (drx " foo" t '(t "+") t)
#+end_src

#+results:
: ^\(\*+\) foo$

# css-mode version with # as star 
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
  (let ((drx-BOL "^/* ")
        (drx-EOL "*/$")
        (drx-STAR "#"))
    (drx " foo" t '(t "+") t))
#+end_src

#+results:
: ^/* \(#+\) foo*/$

Many more things are possible, the more than 80 ERT tests in drx.el give
many examples with expected output.
#+end_quote

What do you think - is there any chance that Org-mode switches from
static hardcoded regexp strings (all over the place) to dynamic
regexps calculated at runtime (using libraries like drx.el or rx.el)?

There would be a cost definitely, but then a true org-minor-mode could
become reality that offers the full power of Org-mode in programming
mode's comment section (I'm actually working on it by merging outshine
with orgstruct: [[https://github.com/tj64/omm][omm.el]]).

-- 
cheers,
Thorsten