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From: matt@oddjob.UChicago.EDU (My Name Here)
Newsgroups: comp.emacs
Subject: Re: Appending the new stuff to the auto-mode-alist
Message-ID: <14085@oddjob.UChicago.EDU>
Date: Tue, 24-Nov-87 15:24:02 EST
Article-I.D.: oddjob.14085
Posted: Tue Nov 24 15:24:02 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 28-Nov-87 00:09:27 EST
References: <414@slb-sdr.UUCP> <cVdPfHy00Xo7yGY0JL@andrew.cmu.edu> <3515@xanth.UUCP>
Organization: Just Things `n' Stuff, Et Cetera, Ltd.
Lines: 25

In article <3515@xanth.UUCP> kyle@xanth.UUCP (Kyle Jones) writes:
) > `append' doesn't work because it's non-destructive; it doesn't alter its 
) > arguments.  The destructive version, `nconc', should be used instead.
) 
) Gaa!  Please don't use destructive functions for trivial things like
) this.  Use of the destructive functions invariably leads to disaster
) when their use is not well planned and documented.

This seems a bit paranoid to me, especially as the code will be in
the user's .emacs file, not in a defined function.  I use:

(setq search-exit-char ?\^M
      backup-by-copying-when-linked t
      backup-by-copying-when-mismatch t
      auto-mode-alist (nconc auto-mode-alist
			     '(("draft$" . text-mode)
			       ("rnmail[0-9]+$" . text-mode)
			       ("article[0-9]*$" . text-mode)
			       ("letter[0-9]*$" . text-mode)
			       ("Mail/drafts/[0-9]+$" . text-mode)))
      shell-pushd-regexp "pushd\\|pd")

And have never seen any ill effects.

			Matt Crawfrod