[no subject]

[Daniel L. Weinreb <dlw at SCRC-TENEX>]

In ZWEI in Experimental System 202.25, ZMail 40.7, Experimental Tape 7.0,
Experimental LMFS 22.14, Experimental Symbolics 9.3,
Experimental Canon 10.3, microcode 855, on Boxer:

Currently, when c-X c-F (et al) prompts you for a filename, it
lambda-binds the kill ring to a cons of the last-pathname-typed and the
old value of the kill ring.  Sometimes a user puts some text into
the kill ring, say by doing a Meta-W out of a Zwei buffer such
as those in ZMail, and then tries to yank it back into a c-X c-F
prompt.  This is a useful and interesting technique, but it
has two problems.

First, it is confusing that you have to do c-Y m-Y to get the string
you just pushed onto the kill buffer.  You may not think this is
confusing, but I have seen a lot of confused people.  It just isn't
any too obvious.

Second, if you do c-X c-F, go to ZMail, save some text, and return to
Zmacs, you cannot yank in the text because it didn't get onto the kill
ring because the kill ring has been lambda-bound and so cannot be
affected by any other process.

Furthermore, sometimes you want to yank in the printed representation of
the current default pathname, rather than the last pathname typed, and
to lambda-bind two things onto the kill ring (I think Eine used to do
this) is even more obscure.

I propose that c-m-Y and c-U c-m-Y be used to yank the last pathname
typed and the current default pathname, respectively, and that the
kill ring be left alone.