Re: list values for xfields?

[Sam Steingold]

> * Roland Winkler <jvaxyre@tah.bet> [2022-07-22 10:58:12 -0500]:
>
> On Fri, Jul 22 2022, Sam Steingold wrote:
>> Some xfields (e.g., URL) are best stored as lists.
>> Is there a way to accomplish that?
>
> xfields are strings (for historical reasons), but many of them are
> treated like lists where the string is split into a list of strings
> using bbdb-separator-alist and bbdb-default-separator.

One feature that I had in mind is that when I enter a new value of `url',
I want it to be "normalized" - split on whitespace and then joined on "\n".

The `separator' logic you have is, IIUC, a particular case of having 3
methods for each xfield:
 * internal -> string for presentation
 * string -> internal for storage
 * internal + internal -> internal for merge
it would be nice if the 3 were more explicitly and consistently applied.
Then I would be able to paste "foo \n \t \j; bar" in the minubuffer when
setting an xfield and bbdb will automatically store "foo\nbar" for me
(if you are not willing to depart from xfield being always stored as a
string) or ("foo" "bar") if you are feeling adventurous.

Thank you.

-- 
Sam Steingold (http://sds.podval.org/) on darwin Ns 10.3.2113
http://childpsy.net http://calmchildstories.com http://steingoldpsychology.com
https://ffii.org https://camera.org https://thereligionofpeace.com
MS: Brain off-line, please wait.