erc-help — Archive of problems, bugs, features, news

Re: [Erc-help] thoughts on customization.

[Mario L. <ml...@ho...>]

sm...@wa... (Tijs van Bakel) writes:

> Another thing that's bothering me is how to make certain format
> strings easier to customize.  For instance, I would like actions to
> look like this
> 
> <12:43> * Harry says she is a woman.
> 
> Currently the action seperator is placed _after_ the nick, whereas I
> would like one _in front_ of the nick.  Adding another action
> seperator defcustom would bloat things, and it wouldn't be flexible
> either.  Any suggestions?
What about erc-action-format?
(setq erc-action-format "* %n %a")
with %n ) nick, %l = login, %h = host, %a = action.. did I forget something?
I discovered function format-spec which could
be nicely used for that.
We could then write erc-make-action like erc-make-notice
and play the search/replace game again.

Comments?

Besides, smoke! Pleae check your code in, I'd like
to do some hacking today, and I dont wanna cleanup conflitcs later on.

-- 
CYa,
   Mario <ml...@de...>

I'm a Lisp variable -- bind me!

Re: [Erc-help] minor change

[Mario L. <ml...@ho...>]

Fabien Penso <pe...@li...> writes:

> Hi,
> 
> Here is a minor change you might want to commit. 
> 
> ------------------------------------------
> --- erc.el.old  Fri Nov  2 22:27:55 2001
> +++ erc.el      Fri Nov  2 22:32:55 2001
> @@ -303,6 +303,9 @@
>    "Send multiple lines from the last `erc-prompt' to the end of buffer
>  as a single message.  Deprecated, do not use it.")
>  
> +(defvar erc-mod-line-separator " "
> +  "The separator used for the mode-line")
> +
>  ;; other tunable parameters
>  
[...]

Hmm, thanks for the suggestion. I have something more
customazable in mind for erc-mode-line. Lets see
if I can write a simple version today...

-- 
CYa,
   Mario <ml...@de...>
Homepage(s): http://delysid.org | http://piss.at/

<igor> Hah! we have 2 Johnie Ingrams in the channel :)
<igor> Hey all btw :)

[Erc-help] minor change

[Fabien P. <pe...@li...>]

Hi,

Here is a minor change you might want to commit. 

------------------------------------------
--- erc.el.old  Fri Nov  2 22:27:55 2001
+++ erc.el      Fri Nov  2 22:32:55 2001
@@ -303,6 +303,9 @@
   "Send multiple lines from the last `erc-prompt' to the end of buffer
 as a single message.  Deprecated, do not use it.")
 
+(defvar erc-mod-line-separator " "
+  "The separator used for the mode-line")
+
 ;; other tunable parameters
 
 (defcustom erc-auto-discard-away t
@@ -5610,7 +5613,7 @@
             (if (boundp 'mode-line-mule-info) mode-line-mule-info "")
             mode-line-modified
             "%b"
-            "/" (erc-port-to-string erc-session-port)
+            "/" (erc-port-to-string erc-session-port) erc-mod-line-separator
             (cond
              ((not (equal (process-status erc-process) 'open))
               " (CLOSED) ")
------------------------------------------


-- 
Fabien Penso <pe...@li...>
http://perso.LinuxFR.org/penso/

Re: [Erc-help] patch for some improvements

[<sm...@wa...>]

Mario Lang <ml...@ho...> writes:

> 1. Making erc-buffer-list global breaks multiple servers. I'd
> suggest introducing a variable named like erc-buffers, and write
> code for this in paralell. When this works, we can remove
> erc-buffer-list altogether.

Could you elaborate a bit on what needs to be implemented for this?

> 2. erc-insert-hook in line 150 of your patch is not quite right.
> erc-insert-hook takes two parameters since 1.73. start and end of
> inserted area. IMHO it should get called with the same values than
> erc-fill-region in that function. Perhaps (let it somewhere...

Ah, I thought that the optional arguments didn't matter.  I'll fix
this tonight.

> 3. I didnt like the name erc-message-notices, but perhaps that's
> just me. We already have erc-minibuffer-privmsgs, so perhaps name
> this erc-minibuffer-notices?

Good suggestion, I'll change it to that.  I love to hear more about
naming issues, even if you think you have a minor improvement for
anything, I think it's worth considering.  erc.el is already horribly
long, and adding more and more features will make the code harder to
read for humans.

-- 
Tijs van Bakel, <sm...@wa...>

Re: [Erc-help] patch for some improvements

[Mario L. <ml...@ho...>]

Hi smoke.

Cool patch, I only have three point of discussion:

1. Making erc-buffer-list global breaks multiple servers. I'd suggest
introducing a variable named like erc-buffers, and write
code for this in paralell. When this works, we can remove erc-buffer-list
altogether.

2. erc-insert-hook in line 150 of your patch is not quite right.
erc-insert-hook takes two parameters since 1.73. start and end of inserted
area. IMHO it should get called with the same values than erc-fill-region
in that function. Perhaps (let it somewhere...

I can fix this later...

3. I didnt like the name erc-message-notices, but perhaps
that's just me. We already have erc-minibuffer-privmsgs, so
perhaps name this erc-minibuffer-notices?

Otherwise, the patch is really cool and useful. Please check it in!

-- 
CYa,
   Mario <ml...@de...>
Homepage(s): http://delysid.org | http://piss.at/

LILO, you've got me on my knees!
	-- David Black, db...@pi..., with apologies to Derek and the
Dominos, and Werner Almsberger

CYa,
   Mario <ml...@de...>
Homepage(s): http://delysid.org | http://piss.at/

..you could spend *all day* customizing the title bar.  Believe me.  I
speak from experience."
(By Matt Welsh)

[Erc-help] thoughts on customization.

[<sm...@wa...>]

"I hate following up to myself but here goes.."

mhp/#emacs mentioned that he would like to see a defcustom for
/notice's doing an auto-query.  Now, generalizing this concept, it
might be nice to have a defcustom, to control the behaviour of:

- the creation of a new channel
- the info buffer created along with that
- incoming ctcp messages
- incoming server messages
- private messages
- notices
- ...

There already is erc-join-buffer and erc-auto-query.  Is it preferable
to have fifty seperate options, or is it better to have only one?

Another thing that's bothering me is how to make certain format
strings easier to customize.  For instance, I would like actions to
look like this

<12:43> * Harry says she is a woman.

Currently the action seperator is placed _after_ the nick, whereas I
would like one _in front_ of the nick.  Adding another action
seperator defcustom would bloat things, and it wouldn't be flexible
either.  Any suggestions?

-- 
Tijs van Bakel, <sm...@wa...>

[Erc-help] patch for some improvements

[<sm...@wa...>]

Here's the ChangeLog:

2001-10-31  Tijs van Bakel  <sm...@wa...>

	* erc.el (cl): Add requirement for cl package.
	(erc-buffer-list): Make this variable global again.
	(erc-default-face): Fix typo.
	(erc-timestamp-face): Add face for timestamps.
	(erc-join-buffer, erc): Add a 'bury option.
	(erc-send-action): Add timestamp.
	(erc-command-table): Add /CLEAR, /DEOP, /OP, /Q.
	(erc-send-current-line): Add timestamp.
	(erc-send-current-line): Add call to erc-insert-hook.
	(erc-cmd-clear): New command to clear buffer contents.
	(erc-cmd-whois): Fix cut'n'paste-o.
	(erc-cmd-deop): New command to deop a user.
	(erc-cmd-op): New command to op a user.
	(erc-make-notice): Moved a lot of duplicate code here.  Perhaps
	this should also be done for erc-highlight-error.
	(erc-parse-line-from-server): Now NOTICE will also open a new
	query, just as PRIVMSG.
	(erc-parse-line-from-server): Call erc-put-text-property on a
	channel message/notice first, before concatenating nick and
	timestamp &c.
	(erc-message-notices): Add option to display notices in
	minibuffer.

And the patch is (26,112 bytes, too big to post?) at:
http://vengeance.et.tudelft.nl/~smoke/erc-1.78.diff

Most changes should be useful and will not break anything, but perhaps
some of you don't like the big "erc-make-notice" change.  There was a
lot of duplicate code all over erc.el, which I put into this
function.

Personally, I like to see all server messages in the minibuffer, but I
made the default for erc-message-notices NIL, as it generates a LOT of
output when you're on many channels.

If everything is ok, I will add the patch to CVS.

Have a nice day,

-- 
Tijs van Bakel, <sm...@wa...>

[Erc-help] smoke's TODO list

[<sm...@wa...>]

Ok here is my enormous list of bugs and ideas.

These are all easy to fix, and I volunteer to fix or implement these
myself.  I'm mainly posting this to get some discussion going, and to
get feedback on which features seem useful, and what I should and
should not do to make erc even more useful and amusing than it already
is.

erc-switchb:
- An alternative to iswitchb-buffer for erc buffers only.  The
following snippet shows the basic action, but the buffer names are too
long, and I see no easy way to make iswitchb use shorter alternatives
(iswitchb-read-buffer would return the abbreviated buffername, which
has to be mapped back again; this is A possibility, but perhaps there
are better alternatives?).  See also the next point about buffer
names.

  (defun erc-switch ()
    (interactive)
    (let* ((choices (progn
		    (set-buffer (process-buffer erc-process))
		    erc-buffer-list)))
      (let ((iswitchb-make-buflist-hook
	     (function (lambda ()
			 (setq iswitchb-temp-buflist choices)))))
	(switch-to-buffer (iswitchb-read-buffer "Buffer: ")))))


Buffer names:
- Buffer names could perhaps be abbreviated to "#emacs, #emacs<2>,
#lisp, MisterX" to denote #emacs on 2 different servers, and a query
to MisterX.  This would be useful both for switching and display in
the mode-line.  I have not found a convincing method on how to exactly
name the buffers, though.

Buffer list:
- There is now a list of buffers _per server_.  It seems better to
have one global list for all buffers.  It would be nice to make this a
property or alist, so that more data could be put in there.  Think
about flags like "modified", "someone sent you a personal message
there", ..

Inconsistency in feedback of input text:
- A message makes the entry prompt disappear, but for a /ME command it
doesn't.  Should be easy to fix, but perhaps there's a reason for this
behaviour?

Timestamps:
- The code for adding of timestamps seems a bit messy.  I
found this snippet repeated many times throughout the code:

  (if erc-timestamp-format
      (format-time-string erc-timestamp-format
			  (current-time)) "")

This should obviously be taken into a function.  Perhaps it would be
better to have a hook to reformat a line of text though?  Also, a
timestamp is not prepended to messages sent by yourself, nor for
server messages (topics &c.)  I think other irc clients have a
timestamp-level value to select which messages should get a timestamp,
and which shouldn't.
[Note: I have done a bit of work on this already, but it doesn't
support timestamp levels yet.  A generalization would be nice.]

Scrolling:
- "M-x term" manages to keep the entire window in use, having the
input line near the bottom of the window.  This seems to be
implemented by having a _lot_ of (recenter (1- term-height)) calls all
over term.el.  Not the most elegant method, but it is effective.
Could a somewhat cleaner method be used for erc, or should I just add
recenter calls everywhere where needed?

Pop-up buffers:
- On incoming messages, with auto-query enabled, the query pops up,
and interrupts my typing.  It'd be nice to have these buffers buried
by default (the mode-line change is enough).  Nice customization
option -- seems I could hack this in somewhere.
[Note: Fixed, by adding a "bury" option to erc-join-buffer.  It might
be nice to rename erc-join-buffer to erc-new-buffer.]

Persistent buffers:
- It would be nice to be able to save (C-x C-s) a buffer log, and
continue with it later.  A message like ">> disconnected" could mark
where one picked up again.  Something analogous like (desktop-read)

Nick change tracking in queries:
- Subject says it all :-)  It seems that MIRC and some other irc
clients are capable of doing this, but I don't know the relevant
commands to send to a server in order to be notified of nick changes.
"Someone should research this"

Tracking channels [,#bug]:
- The extra comma is an obvious bug.  It seems better (at least to me)
to have a _list_ of buffers that are changed, instead of using a
_string_ to store the changed buffers.  When updating the modeline,
the list can be processed to produce the string, but the other way
around seems to be cumbersome, the current method is prone to errors.

Misc.:

- When quoting using "\C-RET", leading spaces should not be stripped
(try quoting a lisp function for instance)

- Transform "/join elisp" into "/join #elisp".

- Mimick the /quote feature of TinyFugue.

- Give some feedback when signing off.

- DCC (zenirc seems to support dcc get, and dcc chat for incoming
chats) How would one interface with a subprocess in a compatible
way?

- Unset a topic

- A way to toggle "/" into some other character.  Sometimes one wants
to type text starting with a "/" character.


Of course there are many more ideas, but this seems to be enough for
now :-)

Have a very nice day,

--
Tijs van Bakel, aka smoke, <sm...@wa...>

Re: [Erc-help] scrolling

[<sm...@wa...>]

Fabien Penso <pe...@li...> writes:

> Maybe should we be able to change that and say we want the
> buffer appear in another window (like we would do with C-x 2) or another
> frame ? Just in case lots of people query you, and you still want to see
> the chan buffer.

Possible, see the variable erc-join-buffer.  I've added a new option
"'bury" which is like "'window", but automatically buries the new
buffer, so that you can continue typing without being interrupted.  I
will send the patch later today.

Please take your time to investigate whether certain features are
already there.

-- 
Tijs van Bakel, <sm...@wa...>

Re: [Erc-help] scrolling

[Fabien P. <pe...@li...>]

 >> Something I dislike with erc, it gets really difficult to make a long
 >> discussion with someone, as your private messages appears in the status
 >> bar for a short time. I had to C-x 4 b *Messages* to not miss any of
 >> them.
 >>=20
 >> Also it would be nice to be cable to use TAB to have erc put /m
 >> <nickname of last query> so you don't have to manually type it.

 > What about using a /query for that?
 > (setq 'erc-auto-query t
 >       'erc-join-buffer 'window
 >       'erc-join-info-buffer 'disable)

Ok I'll do with that for now.

I have written a file ~/.ercrc.el with :

(setq=20
    erc-auto-query t
    erc-join-buffer 'window
    erc-join-info-buffer 'disable
    erc-keywords-highlight-type 'all
    erc-port "6667"
    erc-nick "hap"
    erc-user-full-name "Fabien Penso"
    erc-prompt-interactive-input t
    erc-echo-timestamp t
    erc-email-userid "penso"
    erc-log-channels-directory "~/Irclog/"
    erc-log-channels t
    )
(custom-set-faces
    '(erc-keyword-face ((t (:foreground "red" :weight bold))))
    )
(erc-add-pal '("blitz"))
(erc-add-keyword '("hap"))

but it fails on erc-add-pal and erc-add-keyword, what am I doing wrong ?

Also a /whois hap still gives me "us...@ha...", shouldn't it be
"pe...@ha..." ?

Is it possible to connect to openprojects server as soon as I type M-x
erc-mode ? Also is it possible, when I get disconnected, to reconnect
and reopen all the channels / buffer the way it was before ?

Thanks :)

=2D-=20
Fabien Penso <pe...@li...>
http://perso.LinuxFR.org/penso/

Re: [Erc-help] scrolling

[Fabien P. <pe...@li...>]

You sign failed here. Maybe the list system does change the message ?=20

Tue, 30 Oct 2001 23:18:37 +0100, tu as dit :=20

 >> Something I dislike with erc, it gets really difficult to make a long
 >> discussion with someone, as your private messages appears in the status
 >> bar for a short time. I had to C-x 4 b *Messages* to not miss any of
 >> them.

 > In recent CVS snapshots, there is an auto-query option, which helps a lo=
t.

Great, found it. The bad thing it opens a buffer which replace the
actual one. Maybe should we be able to change that and say we want the
buffer appear in another window (like we would do with C-x 2) or another
frame ? Just in case lots of people query you, and you still want to see
the chan buffer.

 >> Also it would be nice to be cable to use TAB to have erc put /m
 >> <nickname of last query> so you don't have to manually type it.

 > ...and since the mentioned auto-query feature opens a new buffer for
 > each person you query (and each one who queries you), you can easily
 > msg them: just write in that buffer.

Yeah. But sometimes when I query someone, it's just few lines. I don't
want to open a buffer, I just want to see his messages into the actual
buffer I use, and be able to use TAB to have /m <his nick> is a nice
feature. Also using TAB more to automaticly switch between all the
people I did query is cool too.

 >> Also I would prefer to see the lines I type in the chan, appear in the
 >> buffer as it was from someone else, to be sure it has been sent.

 > Erm. Mine looks like this:

 > [2001-10-30 22:26:07] <shorty> mhp: Hehe, I'm just a bit annoyed.
 > <mhp> shorty: aye, then hit my head, so it'll stop shaking
 > [2001-10-30 22:27:56] <shorty> mhp: No, let it shake around, but be
 > sure to put some milk in it before, so that you can create a milk-shake.=
 :-)

 > I don't see what's wrong with that..

Nevermind, it's fine here too. I did drink too much :)

=2D-=20
Fabien Penso <pe...@li...>
http://perso.LinuxFR.org/penso/

Re: [Erc-help] scrolling

[<sm...@wa...>]

Fabien Penso <pe...@li...> writes:

> Something I dislike with erc, it gets really difficult to make a long
> discussion with someone, as your private messages appears in the status
> bar for a short time. I had to C-x 4 b *Messages* to not miss any of
> them.
> 
> Also it would be nice to be cable to use TAB to have erc put /m
> <nickname of last query> so you don't have to manually type it.

What about using a /query for that?
(setq 'erc-auto-query t
      'erc-join-buffer 'window
      'erc-join-info-buffer 'disable)

> Also I would prefer to see the lines I type in the chan, appear in the
> buffer as it was from someone else, to be sure it has been sent.

That is what happens here.  What version are you using?

-- 
Tijs van Bakel, <sm...@wa...>

Re: [Erc-help] scrolling

[Gergely N. <alg...@de...>]

At Tue, 30 Oct 2001 22:32:15 +0100, Fabien Penso <pe...@li...> wrote:
> Something I dislike with erc, it gets really difficult to make a long
> discussion with someone, as your private messages appears in the status
> bar for a short time. I had to C-x 4 b *Messages* to not miss any of
> them.

In recent CVS snapshots, there is an auto-query option, which helps a lot.

> Also it would be nice to be cable to use TAB to have erc put /m
> <nickname of last query> so you don't have to manually type it.

...and since the mentioned auto-query feature opens a new buffer for
each person you query (and each one who queries you), you can easily
msg them: just write in that buffer.

> Also I would prefer to see the lines I type in the chan, appear in the
> buffer as it was from someone else, to be sure it has been sent.

Erm. Mine looks like this:

[2001-10-30 22:26:07] <shorty> mhp: Hehe, I'm just a bit annoyed.
<mhp> shorty: aye, then hit my head, so it'll stop shaking
[2001-10-30 22:27:56] <shorty> mhp: No, let it shake around, but be
sure to put some milk in it before, so that you can create a milk-shake. :-)

I don't see what's wrong with that..

Cheers,
-- 
Gergely Nagy \ mhp/|8]

Re: [Erc-help] scrolling

[Fabien P. <pe...@li...>]

30 Oct 2001 21:52:36 +0100, tu as dit : 

 > I'll send my big TODO list later, this is a short mail to see who's
 > already subscribed :-)

Hi.

Something I dislike with erc, it gets really difficult to make a long
discussion with someone, as your private messages appears in the status
bar for a short time. I had to C-x 4 b *Messages* to not miss any of
them.

Also it would be nice to be cable to use TAB to have erc put /m
<nickname of last query> so you don't have to manually type it.

Also I would prefer to see the lines I type in the chan, appear in the
buffer as it was from someone else, to be sure it has been sent.

My 2cts (euros) :).

-- 
Fabien Penso <pe...@li...>
http://perso.LinuxFR.org/penso/

[Erc-help] scrolling

[<sm...@wa...>]

I'll send my big TODO list later, this is a short mail to see who's
already subscribed :-)

The following function should make erc's scrolling somewhat more like
that of ordinary irc clients.  I would love to see an elegant
alternative; this is the only solution I could come up with.  The hack
for the minibuffer is there because Emacs can't perform a
switch-to-buffer while in the minibuffer.  Joy.  I haven't tested this
with multiple frames, nor with all too fancy window layouts.

It seems to work pretty well, but when the cursor is NOT at the end of
the buffer, it shouldn't recenter.  Johnw's version for Zenirc
(http://www.gci-net.com/users/j/johnw/Emacs/.zenirc.el) does take care
of this by checking (eobp), but unfortunately the erc hook is called
somewhere where the cursor is not at the end of the buffer :(
Suggestions welcome!

I've only tested this with Emacs 21, please let me know if it works or
breaks in other versions.


(defun erc-scroll-to-bottom (&optional start end)
  "A hook function for erc-insert-hook to recenter the output near the
bottom of the screen."
  ;; it would be nice if this were only run on (eobp), but
  ;; unfortunately (eobp)=nil most of the time when this function is
  ;; called :(
  (let ((minibuffer-hack-p (minibuffer-window-active-p (selected-window)))
	(updated-buffer (current-buffer)))
    (when minibuffer-hack-p
      (other-window 1))
    (let ((visual-buffer (window-buffer (selected-window))))
      (switch-to-buffer updated-buffer)
      (recenter -1)
      (goto-char (point-max))
      (switch-to-buffer visual-buffer)
      (if minibuffer-hack-p
	  (other-window 1)))))

(add-hook erc-insert-hook 'erc-scroll-to-bottom)


Have a nice day,

-- 
Tijs van Bakel, <sm...@wa...>