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List:       bash-bug
Subject:    Re: dabbrev-expand behavior
From:       Bob Proulx <bob () proulx ! com>
Date:       2009-01-20 22:41:59
Message-ID: 20090120224159.GB20740 () discord ! proulx ! com
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Dan Nicolaescu wrote:
> Chet Ramey writes:
>   > Dan Nicolaescu wrote:
>   > > Unfortunately the behavior is not consistent with what dabbrev-expand
>   > > does in Emacs (and tcsh), so it will be quite confusing for users to
>   > > use.
>   > ...
>   > It might not be exactly the way emacs and tcsh do it, but it fits in
>   > with how bash does things.
> 
> dabbrev-expand has been in emacs for probably 20 years, its behavior is
> well defined, and expected by its users.  
> 
> Unfortunately what is now in bash is completely different, so it might
> be a better idea to give it a different name, or even remove it
> completely.  As it is now it is not very useful for dabbrev-expand
> users.

Having been an emacs user for many years I am happy that ksh, bash and
others have an emacs compatible command line interface.  It is so nice
to be able to use the same finger memory in multiple places.

I haven't used this new feature yet but if it is called dabbrev-expand
then I would expect it to behave in a manor similar to emacs
dabbrev-expand because of the name.  From the given description it
reads quite different to me.

> If the current behavior makes it into a release it would be much harder
> to do a proper implementation later.

I agree.  If the behavior is going to be quite a bit different from
the original then it would be much better to name it something
different so that it isn't confused with the original behavior.

Let me add my voice to the request to name it something different to
avoid the confusion.  That would leave the door open in the future for
a true emacs compatible dabbrev-expand implementation when operating
in emacs mode.

Thanks
Bob



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