From: F. Jason Park Date: Sat, 10 Dec 2022 06:00:59 +0000 (-0800) Subject: * etc/ERC-NEWS: Add section for ERC 5.6. X-Git-Url: http://git.eshelyaron.com/gitweb/?a=commitdiff_plain;h=52c8d537;p=emacs.git * etc/ERC-NEWS: Add section for ERC 5.6. --- diff --git a/etc/ERC-NEWS b/etc/ERC-NEWS index 434bfab94e9..8f1b89f268b 100644 --- a/etc/ERC-NEWS +++ b/etc/ERC-NEWS @@ -11,6 +11,183 @@ This file is about changes in ERC, the powerful, modular, and extensible IRC (Internet Relay Chat) client distributed with GNU Emacs since Emacs version 22.1. + +* Changes in ERC 5.6 + +** Module 'keep-place' now offers a visual indicator. +Remember your place in ERC buffers a bit more easily while retaining +the freedom to look around. Optionally sync the indicator to any +progress made when you haven't yet caught up to the live stream. See +options 'erc-keep-place-indicator-style' and friends and new module +'keep-place-indicator', which for now must be added manually to +'erc-modules'. + +** Module 'fill' now offers a style based on 'visual-line-mode'. +This fill style mimics the "hanging indent" look of 'erc-fill-static' +and provides some movement and editing commands to optionally tame the +less familiar aspects of 'visual-line' behavior. An interactive +helper called 'erc-fill-wrap-nudge' allows for dynamic "refilling" of +buffers on the fly. Set 'erc-fill-function' to 'erc-fill-wrap' to get +started. + +** A unified interactive entry point. +New users are often dismayed to discover that M-x ERC doesn't connect +to its default network, Libera.Chat, over TLS. Though perhaps a +decade overdue, this is no longer the case. Other UX improvements in +this area aim to make the process of connecting interactively slightly +more streamlined and less repetitive, even for veteran users. + +** New buffer-display option 'erc-interactive-display'. +A point of friction for new users and one only just introduced with +ERC 5.5 has been the lack of visual feedback when first connecting via +M-x erc. As explained below in the news for 5.5, the discovery of a +security issue led to new ERC buffers being "buried" on creation. On +further reflection, this was judged to have been an overcorrection in +the case of interactive invocations, hence the new option +'erc-interactive-display', which is set to 'buffer' (i.e., "take me +there") by default. Accompanying this addition are "display"-suffixed +aliases for related options 'erc-join-buffer' and 'erc-auto-query', +which users have reported as being difficult to discover and remember. + +** Setting a module's mode variable via Customize earns a warning. +Trying and failing to activate a module via its minor mode's Custom +widget has been an age-old annoyance for new users. Previously +ineffective, this method now actually works, but it also admonishes +users to edit the 'erc-modules' widget instead. + +** The option 'erc-timestamp-use-align-to' is more versatile. +While this option has always offered to right-align stamps via the +'display' text property, it's now more effective at doing so when set +to a number indicating an offset from the right edge. And when set to +the symbol 'margin', it displays stamps in the right margin, although, +at the moment, this is mostly intended for use by other modules, such +as 'fill-wrap', described above. For both these variants, users of +the 'log' module may want to customize 'erc-log-filter-function' to +'erc-stamp-prefix-log-filter' to avoid ragged right-hand stamps +appearing in their saved logs. + +** Smarter reconnect handling for users on the move. +ERC now offers a new, experimental reconnect strategy in the function +'erc-server-delayed-check-reconnect', which tests for underlying +connectivity before attempting to reconnect in earnest. See options +'erc-server-reconnect-function' and 'erc-nickname-in-use-functions' to +get started. + +** Easily constrain all ERC-related business to a dedicated frame. +The option 'erc-reuse-frames' can now be set to 'displayed', which +tells ERC to show new buffers in frames already occupied by buffers +from the same connection. This customization depends on the option +'erc-buffer-display' (formerly 'erc-join-buffer') being set to +'frame'. If you find the name 'displayed' unhelpful, please suggest +an alternative by writing to the mailing list. + +** Some keybindings are now set by modules rather than their libraries. +To put it another way, simply loading a built-in module's library no +longer modifies 'erc-mode-map'. Instead, modifications occur during +module setup. This should not impact most user configs since ERC +doesn't bother with keys already taken and only removes bindings it's +previously created. Note that while all affected bindings still +reside in 'erc-mode-map', future built-in modules will use their own +minor-mode maps, and new third-party modules should do the same. + +** The option 'erc-timestamp-format-right' has been deprecated. +Having to account for this option prevented other ERC modules from +easily determining what right-hand stamps would look like before +insertion, which is knowledge needed for certain UI decisions. The +way ERC has chosen to address this is imperfect and boils down to +asking users who've customized this option to switch to +'erc-timestamp-format' instead. If you're affected by this and feel +that some other solution, like automatic migration, is justified, +please make that known on the bug list. + +** The 'nicknames' entry in 'erc-button-alist' is officially exceptional. +It's no secret that the 'buttons' module treats potential nicknames +specially. To simplify ERC's move to next-gen "rich UI" extensions, +this special treatment is being canonized. From now on, all values +other than the symbol 'erc-button-buttonize-nicks' appearing in the +"FORM" field (third element) of this entry are considered deprecated +and will incur a warning. + +** Miscellaneous UX changes. +Some minor quality-of-life niceties have finally made their way to +ERC. For example, the function 'erc-echo-timestamp' is now +interactive and can be invoked on any message to view its timestamp in +the echo area. Also, the 'irccontrols' module now supports additional +colors and special handling for "spoilers" (hidden text). And issuing +an "/MOTD" now dispatches a purpose-built command handler. + +** Changes in the library API. + +*** Some top-level dependencies have been removed. +The library 'erc-goodies' is no longer loaded by ERC's main library. +This was done to further cement the move toward a unidirectional +dependency flow begun in 5.5. Additionally, a few barely used and +newly introduced dependencies are now lazily loaded, which may upset +some third-party code. The first of these is 'pp' because its +'pp-to-string' is autoloaded in all supported ERC versions. Also gone +are 'thingatpt', 'time-date', and 'iso8601'. All were used ultra +sparingly, and the latter two have only been around for one minor +release cycle, so their removal hopefully won't cause much churn. + +*** Some ERC-applied text properties have changed. +Chiefly, 'rear-sticky' has been replaced by 'erc-command', which +records the IRC command (or numeric) associated with a message. Less +impactfully, the value of the 'field' property for ERC's prompt has +changed from 't' to the more useful 'erc-prompt', although the +property of the same name has been retained. + +*** ERC now manages timestamp-related properties a bit differently. +For starters, the 'cursor-sensor-functions' property no longer +contains unique closures and thus no longer proves effective for +traversing messages. To compensate, a new property, 'erc-timestamp', +now spans message bodies but not the newlines delimiting them. +Somewhat relatedly, the function 'erc-insert-aligned' has been +deprecated and removed from the primary client code path. + +*** The role of a module's Custom group is now more clearly defined. +Associating built-in modules with Custom groups and provided library +features has improved. More specifically, a module's group now enjoys +the singular purpose of determining where the module's minor mode +variable lives in the Customize interface. And although ERC is now +slightly more adept at linking these entities, third-parties are still +encouraged to keep a module's name aligned with its group's as well as +the provided feature of its containing library, if only for the usual +reasons of namespace hygiene and discoverability. + +*** ERC now supports arbitrary CHANTYPES. +Specifically, channels can be prefixed with any predesignated +character, mainly to afford more flexibility to specialty services, +like bridges to other protocols. + +*** 'erc-cmd-HELP' recognizes subcommands. +Some IRC "slash" commands are hierarchical and require users to +specify a subcommand to actually carry out anything of consequence. +Built-in modules can now provide more detailed help for a particular +subcommand by telling ERC to defer to a specialized handler. + +*** Longtime quasi modules have been made proper. +The 'fill' module is now defined by 'define-erc-module'. The same +goes for ERC's imenu integration, which has 'imenu' now appearing in +the default value of 'erc-modules'. + +*** ERC's prompt survives the insertion of user input and messages. +Previously, ERC's prompt and its input marker disappeared while +running hooks during message insertion, and the position of its +"insert marker" (ERC's per-buffer process mark) was inconsistent +during these spells. To make insertion handling more predictable in +preparation for incorporating various protocol extensions, the prompt +and its bounding markers have become perennial fixtures. In rare +cases, these changes may mean third-party code needs tweaking, for +example, requiring the use of 'insert-before-markers' instead of +'insert'. As always, users feeling unduly inconvenienced by these +changes are encouraged to voice their concerns on the bug list. + +*** Miscellaneous changes +For autoloading purposes, 'Info-goto-node' has been supplanted by +plain old 'info' in 'erc-button-alist', and two helper macros from GNU +ELPA's Compat library are now available to third-party modules as +'erc-compat-call' and 'erc-compat-function'. + * Changes in ERC 5.5