Re: LYNX-DEV LYNX reads "off" from .lynxrc set_cursor=on

[pg]

In a recent note, David Combs said:

> Date: Fri, 20 Feb 1998 12:39:44 -0800 (PST)
> 
> RE: Lynx's IMPROPER use of toggles
> 
> I believe that a toggle should exist ONLY for
> INTERACTIVE COMMANDS.
> 
> The things should NOT EXIST for command-line args;
> it is BY NATURE user-antagonistic.
> 
I wouldn't get so dramatic about it (well, sometimes I do :-),
but I sympathize with David's objective.  One of my frequent
reasons for asserting a flag in a .rc file is to put that flag
in a known state, regardless of the variable whims of administrators;
regardless of what platform I copy that .rc file to; regardless
of changes in the opinion of the language developers.

If there _must_ be toggles in the .lynxrc file, I advocate
three values:

    Toggle_name=on      # Really means ON.
    Toggle_name=off     # Really means OFF.
    Toggle_name=invert  # Means complement the default value.

This is apart from any considerations of the semantics of
"ON" and "OFF".  I believe that some languages use "open"
and "close" with respect to an electrical switch in quite
the opposite sense of English.

-- gil