Re: [PATCH] Allow 'set whitespacedisplay' in .nanorc

Like Ivan, I have defined syntax for coloring whitespace by a light color
so it is not intrusive.

I would like to be able to set whitespace to be displayed in .nanorc so
that it is always on when I start nano. Does making it possible to be
turned on in .nanorc cause a problem?

Peter


On Thu, Apr 24, 2025 at 5:58 AM Ivan Vorontsov <[email protected]> wrote:

> On Thu, Apr 24, 2025 at 10:20:05AM +0200, Benno Schulenberg wrote:
> >
> > Op 23-04-2025 om 20:47 schreef Peter Michaux:
> > > This patch allows users to enable the display of visible whitespace
> > > characters via their .nanorc configuration file by using 'set
> > > whitespacedisplay'.
> >
> > But why?  Who wants to see dots all the time for every file they open?
> > I don't see the point.  So, 'set whitespacedisplay' is not accepted,
> > similar to why 'set view' is not accepted.
> >
> > > Previously, this option could only be activated while editing with M-P.
> > > Making it accessible from the config file improves usability and
> > > consistency with other display-related settings.
> >
> > As said above, I don't see any gain in usability.  And there is no
> > increase in consistency either, because consistent would be that
> > there is also a command-line option to enable whitespace display.
> >
> > What _might_ be somewhat useful is to accept --whitespacedisplay
> > on the command line (just like --view is accepted there), for the
> > two or three people who always want to see dots.  For consistency
> > this would require also a short option.  But I don't want to go
> > there: we're running out of usable characters, and I would rather
> > keep '#' and '=' in reserve.
> >
> > So... a possible compromise is attached.  With that patch, one
> > could alias nano to 'nano --white' and always see dots.
> >
> >
> > Benno
>
> > diff --git a/src/nano.c b/src/nano.c
> > index 39b93523..f61db14e 100644
> > --- a/src/nano.c
> > +++ b/src/nano.c
> > @@ -1832,6 +1832,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
> >               {"indicator", 0, NULL, 'q'},
> >               {"unix", 0, NULL, 'u'},
> >               {"afterends", 0, NULL, 'y'},
> > +             {"whitespacedisplay", 0, NULL, 0xCC},
> >               {"colonparsing", 0, NULL, '@'},
> >               {"stateflags", 0, NULL, '%'},
> >               {"minibar", 0, NULL, '_'},
> > @@ -2128,6 +2129,9 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
> >                               break;
> >  #endif
> >  #ifndef NANO_TINY
> > +                     case 0xCC:
> > +                             SET(WHITESPACE_DISPLAY);
> > +                             break;
> >                       case '@':
> >                               SET(COLON_PARSING);
> >                               break;
>
> I would like to have an option and a command-line flag. All other feature
> toggles have them (Syntax Coloring by defining syntaxes). It's convenient
> to me for editing source files, because after exiting I have to toggle
> Whitespace Display every time.
>
> I defined syntax for coloring dots by vague color (white is not white,
> lightwhite is white :)), so they are visible but not stand out too much.
>
>