> From: Ihor Radchenko <yanta...@posteo.net> > Cc: n142...@gmail.com, emacs-orgmode@gnu.org > Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2024 16:25:10 +0000 > > Eli Zaretskii <e...@gnu.org> writes: > > >> It is impossible. We need to store files like latex previews > >> somewhere. This somewhere is org-persist-directory now. > > > > Sorry, I don't understand: why do you need to store them as files? > > Why not keep the previews in buffer(s)? > > In Org mode, in order to create latex previews, we > (1) run latex to generate the preview image > (2) that image is stored in some directory > (3) we display that image over the corresponding latex fragment in an > overlay > (4) we retain the image on disk, so that we do not need to run latex > many times if the users toggles displaying the previews (this is > very important, because running latex is costly) > > Can we instead store them in memory? Yes, but (1) it will make Emacs RAM > consumption grow constantly and more and more previews are generated; > (2) it will require significant changes in the Org mode codebase.
I understand all that, but if the user wants it, and insist on not caching any data, let them have what they want. My surprise was caused by your "it is impossible"; I now understand that you meant "not reasonable" or perhaps "users will not like that" instead.