Race condition for '*' command

[Mark Anderson]

On Tue, 28 Jun 2011 08:49:06 +0200, Pieter Praet <pieter at praet.org> wrote:
> On Sun, 26 Jun 2011 10:00:41 +0100, Robin Green <greenrd at greenrd.org> wrote:
> > On Sat, 25 Jun 2011 16:57:50 -0700, Jameson Graef Rollins <jrollins at finestructure.net> wrote:
> > > On Sat, 25 Jun 2011 23:18:52 +0100, Robin Green <greenrd at greenrd.org> wrote:
> > > > A race condition in the '*' command was noted when it was first
> > > > proposed. It looks to me like it still exists - has anything been done
> > > > about it?
> > > 
> > > Hi, Robin.  Can you explain what you mean by the "'*' command"?
> > 
> > Sorry - forgot to say I'm talking about the notmuch emacs mode. In that
> > mode '*' applies tags to all messages matching the current search query,
> > which means that (here's the race condition) new results that have
> > appeared since the last refresh will also be tagged.
> 
> This issue appears to stem from the fact that `notmuch-search-operate-all'
> runs (apply 'notmuch-tag notmuch-search-query-string action-split), in which
> `notmuch-search-query-string' points to a moving target.
> 
> Could be solved by doing it with `notmuch-search', `mark-whole-buffer'
> and `notmuch-search-{add,remove}-tag-region' instead, but I'm sure
> there's a better way (of which I'm as of yet unaware).

I don't think there's a better way, the results which the user is
viewing is the only visual reference for what the action they intend to
apply will use as the object of said action.  I can imagine some people
wanting to have a way to apply an action to a live query string, but I
distinguish between these people and normal humans reading their email.
I expect that when a normal human is reading their email, they do not
intend to apply actions to messages as yet unseen.

I can see some people using the '*' notmuch emacs command as a very
interactive notmuch-poll.sh script.  But I imagine the principle of
least surprise would be to have '*' only apply to visible messages, and
if the buffer is old, the buffer is the only record of what is being
viewed.

-Mark

> 
> > -- 
> > Robin
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> 
> Peace
> 
> -- 
> Pieter
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