Re: Emacs local variables sections in files; time-stamping

[Eric Blake]

On 02/22/2011 04:24 PM, Glenn Morris wrote:
> contain stuff like this:
> 
>     # Local Variables:
>     # mode: shell-script
>     # sh-indentation: 2
>     # eval: (add-hook 'write-file-hooks 'time-stamp)
>     # time-stamp-start: "scriptversion="
>     # time-stamp-format: "%:y-%02m-%02d.%02H"
>     # time-stamp-time-zone: "UTC"
>     # time-stamp-end: "; # UTC"
>     # End:
> 
> Firstly, a minor point. write-file-hooks is obsolete since Emacs 22.1,
> replaced by write-file-functions. (Actually, the Emacs documentation
> suggests using before-save-hook for time-stamping.)

And what's the portable fallback, for files that might be maintained on
older emacs?

> 
> Is it really necessary to have this setting in the files?

Do you have a suggestion for an alternate way to ensure that the
timestamps are consistently updated when edited in their primary
upstream repo, without the use of the eval?  For example, would creating
a .dir-locals.el in the same repository do the trick?  And, showing how
little I know about .dir-locals.el, what would its contents have to be
to take the place of the eval?

I'd welcome such a patch (well, probably multiple patches, since
upstream varies for some of the files in question), since I also don't
like the question every time I open the file, but do want the automatic
timestamp update to work any time I edit one of those files in their
primary upstream location.

-- 
Eric Blake   address@hidden    +1-801-349-2682
Libvirt virtualization library http://libvirt.org

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