Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!think!ames!pacbell!pbhyf!rob
From: rob@pbhyf.PacBell.COM (Rob Bernardo)
Newsgroups: comp.mail.elm
Subject: -a option (was: Memory fault -- screen problem)
Message-ID: <4232@pbhyf.PacBell.COM>
Date: 14 Nov 88 20:52:22 GMT
References: <999@raspail.UUCP> <1034@raspail.UUCP>
Reply-To: rob@pbhyf.PacBell.COM (Rob Bernardo)
Organization: Pacific * Bell, San Ramon, CA
Lines: 53

In article <1034@raspail.UUCP> steve@raspail.UUCP (Steve Schonberger) writes:
+I posted this without adequate experimentation, and I find that the "-a"
+(force arrow mode) option does not work in the 2.1 I have (X-Mailer:
+Elm [version 2.1 PL0]).  It uses the setting in the options file, with
+no regard for the "-a" option.

This is has been fixed in elm 2.2 (the current development version).

There is one unusual "feature" of the fact that the cursor style (arrow vs.
highlight) can be set on the command line, on the options screen
and in the elmrc file. I ran into this when I fixed the "-a" command
line argument bug mentioned above.

Let's say you normally use the highlight style of cursor (as set in
your elmrc), but on a particular invocation, you use the "-a" option
to use the arrow style of cursor.

Then you use the options screen to change some other option, and you
want to store the change in your elmrc. The way elm currently works,
the arrow style of cursor will also be established in your elmrc. And
that's a little weird, because the "-a" command line option is
a sort of "use the arrow cursor but just for this invocation" flag.

Let's suppose then, we decide to change how elm works: this new elm now
keeps track of whether the arrow cursor is being used because of
the "-a" command  line option or because of the setting in the elmrc.
Also let's suppose my elmrc specifies the highlight type cursor,
but on a particular invocation I use the "-a" option to override this.
Now suppose I go to the options screen. Which value for arrow style
should be listed for changing?

	- Well, if my intent was to change options in my elmrc,
	I'd probably want to see the one currently in the elmrc.

	- But if my intent was to change options simply for the current
	invocation, I'd probably want to see the one currently
	being used.

But since the options screen can't tell ahead of time whether you're
just going to write out your current option settings to your elmrc,
it's not possible to accomodate both.

There is really no good, nice, consistent way to handle this that I can see.

Since only a number of the elmrc options are settable on the options screen,
we probably need a somewhat different method of handling setting of options
for both the current invocation and also in your elmrc file than the current
one.
-- 
Rob Bernardo, Pacific Bell UNIX/C Reusable Code Library
Email:     ...![backbone]!pacbell!pbhyf!rob   OR  rob@pbhyf.PacBell.COM
Office:    (415) 823-2417  Room 4E750A, San Ramon Valley Administrative Center
Residence: (415) 827-4301  R Bar JB, Concord, California