RE: [h-e-w] EmacsW32 filename completion using space bar

[Drew Adams]

> According to the Emacs 22 News it is a policy decision that space
> no longer
> causes completion but instead appends a space to the filename, thereby
> making it much easier to enter filenames containing spaces.  I think this
> change is a good idea.  Tab still completes, so you just have to
> relearn to
> hit tab instead of space.

Eli has mentioned how you can turn off this new feature, if you wish.

FWIW, here is my story about this feature -

I was very used to using the space bar for completion - very handy,
especially because of its large size. However, based on this change, I made
myself try to get to used to using TAB. I did that because 1) spaces are
more and more common in completion candidates and 2) word completion (what
SPC used to do) is not that useful anyway.

I even changed the Icicles code to allow SPC to act as an ordinary
character - not only for file names but in general (Icicles allows for other
kinds of completion candidates, many of which naturally contain spaces). A
different, customizable key sequence (Meta-SPC, by default) is used in
Icicles for word completion.

IMO, this Emacs 22 change is a good idea, but I recognize that it can be a
PITA to get used to the change. After decades of the habit of hitting the
space bar, it took me at least a couple of weeks to adapt to using TAB. But
I'm glad I did. Word completion is not all that useful, anyway, in most
contexts, and I think using SPC for completion was mainly the result of the
convenience of hitting the space bar. Now that I'm used to the new approach,
I don't miss the old one at all.

HTH. YMMV.