RE: [External] : Re: Default custom file was: Re: Propose to add setup-wizard.el to ELPA

[Drew Adams]

> > The "implicitly defined order" would be explicitly
> > defined (doc'd).  And it would only be the default.
> 
> We seem to have different notions of explicit :-)
> 
> I meant specifically explicit in the init file.

As mentioned, you can explicitly load `custom-file'
from your init file.  You control where/when you do
that.  This means you can do it in any order you
like, relative to other code you load or otherwise
evaluate.  IOW, loading `custom-file' is as
"explicit in the init file" as you want it to be.

> > Nothing would prevent you from doing that.
> > That's similar to doing everything in init.el,
> > but at least it has the advantage of not
> > mixing `custom*' code with other code.
> 
> TBH I started off with ~/.emacs (or how it was called back then). I
> hadn't any qualms with customize writing stuff into it -- on the
> contrary, it gave me hints on what I could do myself :-)
> 
> Later, once the init file got more complex, I moved things to ~/.emacs.d
> and separated different parts. That was the moment where custom.el got
> separated out.

What do you mean by the moment of custom.el
separation?

`custom-file' has been Emacs practically forever
(it's in Emacs 20, for instance).

If you meant file `custom.el', that's not a user
file.  It's one of the main standard files for
Customize.

If you meant `~/.emacs-custom.el', which is referred
to in the doc: that's an imaginary/example file name.
That file exists only if a user creates it.  There's
nothing special about its name at all.  There's no
automatic looking for a file of that name, for instance.

The doc just suggests that name as a possible value
for var `custom-file', as seen in `C-h v custom-file'
(the same text is in (emacs) `Saving Customizations'):

 write something like the following in your init file:
       ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 (setq custom-file "~/.emacs-custom.el")
 (load custom-file)

(And yes, it's unfortunate that whoever wrote that
doc chose a file name the ended in "custom.el", as
that invites confusion with the standard file of
that name.)