Re: bidi-display-reordering is now non-nil by default

[Štěpán Němec]

On Tue, 02 Aug 2011 09:43:32 +0200
Eli Zaretskii wrote:

>> From: David Kastrup <address@hidden>
>> Date: Tue, 02 Aug 2011 09:20:24 +0200
>> 
>> >     * If this mode is appropriate only for specially-prepared text, then
>> >       the major mode command symbol should have a property named
>> >       `mode-class' with value `special', put on as follows:
>> >
>> >       (put 'funny-mode 'mode-class 'special)
>> >
>> >       This tells Emacs that new buffers created while the current buffer
>> >       is in Funny mode should not inherit Funny mode, in case the
>> >       default value of `major-mode' is `nil'.  Modes such as Dired,
>> >       Rmail, and Buffer List use this feature.
>> >
>> >    Huh?  "New buffers created while the current buffer is in Funny
>> >    mode"?  "Should not inherit Funny mode"?  "In case the default
>> >    value is non-nil"?  I cannot make heads or tails out of this
>> >    description, and saying that a few modes use this feature really
>> >    doesn't help to understand it.
>> 
>> "Funny mode" is a place holder, something like $mode.
>
> Yes, I understood that, but the text still made no sense.
>
>> Anyway, the key point is "specially-prepared", meaning that the skeleton
>> of the text is provided by the mode itself.
>
> Thanks, I begin to see the light now.  But still, what does the manual
> mean by "should not inherit", and what is the importance of the
> default value of major-mode?

What about having a look at the relevant documentation? ;-)

(describe-variable 'major-mode):

Symbol for current buffer's major mode.
The default value (normally `fundamental-mode') affects new buffers.
A value of nil means to use the current buffer's major mode, provided
it is not marked as "special".

-- 
Štěpán