Re: [Patch] hard-widen-limits [was Re: Syntax tables for multiple modes [was: bug#22983: syntax-ppss returns wrong result.]]

[Stefan Monnier]

> Mixing hard limit into a common user level function is a bad marketing
> strategy.

`narrow-to-region' is not only a user-level command.
It's also a low-level primitive.

The narrow-to-region command can't set the optional argument unless we
take extra steps to let it, so the "hard narrowing" would only be
available from Elisp, not interactively.

> If users and major modes decide to use hard limits we might end up in
> the same situation as now when narrow/widen is not perceived as a good
> tool for multi-modes.

Could be.  Maybe there are more "kinds of narrowing" than just 2, indeed.

But for me, the main consideration is whether the text before/after
point-min can be taken into account as a kind of context, or whether the
text between point-min/max should be treated (even if temporarily) as
being the whole&sole truth.

That's what "hard narrowing" means to me.  I don't think I'd be able to
design something that can take into account finer distinctions of
narrowings right now, for lack of understanding about what those finer
distinctions could be and what kind of problems they lead to.

> limits at the end. Problems will occur if major modes start using hard
> limits in such contexts directly.

I don't see any reason why problems *will* occur in that case (tho, of
course, Murphy could be that reason).  So until such problems do show up,
I wouldn't worry.


        Stefan