[AUCTeX-devel] Re: Could TeX-auto-save be marked as safe?

[Christian Schlauer]

Ralf Angeli <address@hidden> writes:

> * Christian Schlauer (2007-06-19) writes:
>
>> Emacs 22, however, warns that this valuable `may not be safe'. Could
>> this variable be marked as safe?
>
> Hm, setting this variable file-locally might not be dangerous, but it
> might be nice if the user is made aware that it will be set.  There
> might be other people like you who normally don't want to have auto
> directories created and who would dislike receiving a file prepared by
> somebody else which leads to such directories being created without
> further notice.  So I have a tendency to keep things as they are.  Other
> opinions?

I can understand your argument, but

- the safe variable dialogue only allows to apply or ignore the local
  variable /list/ -- a single un-safe variable cannot be ignored, it's
  all or nothing (at least that is what the safe variable dialogue
  seems to do according to the wording used), which means that a
  master file in a multifile document won't be known to AUCTeX either
  and compiling will fail if the user opens a non-master file and does
  not apply the local variable list? (I haven't tested this.)

- I think the user should see the safe variable dialogue only if there
  is a really un-safe setting in the local variables. For example, the
  `version-control' variable is safe (if it is boolean etc.), so the
  following

\documentclass{article}

\begin{document}
Foo.
\end{document}

%%% Local Variables:
%%% mode: latex
%%% TeX-master: t
%%% version-control: t
%%% End:

  will not trigger the safe variable dialogue, but it will clutter the
  directory `more than usually' with numbered backups like ~1~, ~2~,
  and so on. I think the `auto/'-directory caused by TeX-auto-save
  isn't worse than the clutter that `version-control' causes.

  I agree that it might be nice if the user was made aware that
  TeX-auto-save is set in case he/she hasn't set it to t in .emacs,
  but a minibuffer message is much more appropriate than the safe
  variable dialogue, which is somewhat scary when one sees it the
  first time.

-- 
Christian