Re: tags-loop-continue

[Eli Zaretskii]

> Cc: address@hidden
> From: Dmitry Gutov <address@hidden>
> Date: Sun, 10 Jan 2016 07:00:40 +0300
> 
>     tags-loop-continue is also used by Dired, see 'A' and 'Q' in
>     "Operating on Files".
> 
> I'm fairly sure these commands are more obscure, and used considerably less 
> frequently than find-tag, or xref-find-definitions that's poised to replace 
> it.

I think you've just heard from someone who evidently does use them:

  http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2016-01/msg00627.html

> C-, is too nice a key binding to spend on them.

You mean 'M-,', I presume.

> If we want to retain some global binding for tags-loop-continue, let's move 
> it to C-*.

I'm afraid it won't go down well with the users of those commands.
Besides, 'C-*' is not available on TTYs.

>     Look at this from the user's POV: these two commands, as well as
>     tags-search and tags-query-replace, are still available, so users will
>     expect to be able to continue them as they did before.  How can we
>     explain to them that the keybinding for that command changed?
> 
> In the NEWS file, and in the manual?

I asked "how", not "where".  This command (tags-loop-continue) existed
before and had a keybinding; it will also exist in Emacs 25.1 -- how
do we explain that it now has a different keybinding, or no keybinding
at all?  What good reasons do we give for such a backward-incompatible
change in a veteran command?

>     Other than that, what technical solution is used to keep the command
>     and its keybinding available is unimportant, I think.
> 
> It doesn't seem like tags-search uses any special keymap during its execution.

I didn't talk about tags-search, I'm talking only about
tags-loop-continue.  I think it should remain an interactive command
(so it could be easily rebound and invoked by name), and it should be
bound to 'M-,' as it was before.  We will need to find a new binding
for xref-query-replace, which is unfortunate, but I don't see a better
way forward.