Re: Selection changes in revno 100822

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: Chong Yidong <address@hidden>
> Cc: David De La Harpe Golden <address@hidden>, address@hidden,
>         address@hidden
> Date: Sat, 14 Aug 2010 17:52:22 -0400
> 
> Eli Zaretskii <address@hidden> writes:
> 
> > May I suggest to step back and post a clear set of requirements for
> > when Emacs should and shouldn't put selected text into the primary
> > selection and into the clipboard?  Forget the w32 case for now; let's
> > just spell out the requirements for X.
> 
> Here is a summary of the current scheme:
> 
>   1. Each time the mark is deactivated, the selected text is added to
>   the primary selection.  If deactivation occurs as a result of a buffer
>   modification, the text that is added is the text in the region prior
>   to the modification.
> 
>   2. If the region is temporarily active after a command (e.g. after a
>   mouse drag or shift selection), the selected text is added to the
>   primary selection, even if the mark is not deactivated.
> 
>   3. If you deactivate the mark with C-g, the selected text is not added
>   to the primary selection.

This is not the level on which I wanted to discuss this.  You are
describing the behavior in terms of deactivating the mark, which is an
implementation detail.  I'm sure you have a very clear idea when the
mark gets deactivated, but my idea about that is somewhat vague, and
I'm quite sure many users have no idea at all about that.

>From the user's perspective, there are several ways of selecting text:
with C-SPS (with or without transient-mark-mode), with
shift-selection, and with the mouse.  Let's talk on this level: which
methods should set the primary and which shouldn't, and why?