Bugs item #1560892, was opened at 2006-09-18 13:07 Message generated for change (Comment added) made by rrpollack You can respond by visiting: https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=111005&aid=1560892&group_id=11005
Please note that this message will contain a full copy of the comment thread, including the initial issue submission, for this request, not just the latest update. Category: None Group: None Status: Closed Resolution: Fixed Priority: 5 Private: No Submitted By: Tony Balinski (ajbj) Assigned to: Nobody/Anonymous (nobody) Summary: wrong value for inactive $em_tab_dist Initial Comment: The help information says: === $em_tab_dist If tab emulation is turned on in the Tabs... dialog of the Preferences menu, value is the distance between emulated tab stops. If tab emulation is turned off, value is -1. === This "turned off" value is very badly chosen. Internally, the "turned off" value is 0, and if you give a value of zero to set_em_tab_dist(), you "turn off" emulated tab stops. So why jump through hoops to make the "turned off" value -1? It also makes macro programming clumsy, forcing comparisons against -1, eg if (0 >= $em_tab_dist) rather than allowing the more succinct boolean equivalence of integers, eg if (!$em_tab_dist) (One may or may not like this coding style, but forcing someone into a situation where he can't use it is pedantic bigotry). I propose this "turned off" value should be changed to zero. Since zero is not a valid tab distance, the intention is clear. (This is not the case with things like search(), where zero is a valid return result, so a value like -1 for a failure condition becomes necessary.) I don't know how many people out there use $em_tab_disp in their macros, but I think this change should have little impact. Unless there is a valid objection, I think this particular "feature" should be changed. In general, if zero can be used as a "Failed", "False" or "Inactive" value, it should be (as is the case for rangeset ids and rangeset range indices). cf the thread where I raised this issue: http://www.nedit.org/pipermail/develop/2006-September/012299.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Comment By: Reece Pollack (rrpollack) Date: 2011-04-20 18:48 Message: This commit broke Smart Indent for the 'C' language, and probably others. See tracker #3290514. Using -1 to mean "turned off" is no more "wrong" than using 0. Changing something like this for aesthetic reasons rather than to correct a bug is usually a bad idea, as it tends to break things that didn't need to be broken. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Comment By: Tony Balinski (ajbj) Date: 2007-10-04 12:04 Message: Logged In: YES user_id=618141 Originator: YES Committed this (finally). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Comment By: Tony Balinski (ajbj) Date: 2007-03-01 19:45 Message: Logged In: YES user_id=618141 Originator: YES If no one objects, I'll make this change. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- You can respond by visiting: https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=111005&aid=1560892&group_id=11005 -- NEdit Develop mailing list - [email protected] http://www.nedit.org/mailman/listinfo/develop
