Re: how-many/count-matches for non-interactive use

[Stefan]

> interactive-p is the wrong function to call here, because it is nil
> when the command is called froma keyboard macro.  The right thing
> to do here is to take an argument saying whether to print the message,
> and use "p" in the interactive spec to set that argument non-nil
> in an interactive call.

Silly me, I never thought of abusing `p' for this purpose.
I always thought (why isn't there a letter for "always t") and the used
(interactive (list t)).

> It seems that interactive-p as currently defined is very rarely useful
> -- perhaps never.  Perhaps we should change interactive-p to ignore
> whether the command is running from a macro and do what most people
> seem to expect.

I think we should declare it obsolete because the alternative (of adding an
argument) is always clearer, less brittle, and allows callers better
control.  I've already been bitten once where I just "reorganized"
a function by moving a large subpart into its own function without noticing
that that subpart used `interactive-p'.


        Stefan