From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Path: news.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: "Drew Adams" Newsgroups: gmane.emacs.bugs Subject: bug#4654: 23.1; Elisp manual doc of abbreviate-file-name Date: Wed, 7 Oct 2009 08:21:44 -0700 Message-ID: <17D6D2FB21064E7C9178477A0ECEA571@us.oracle.com> References: <2C5117E03B57417289F8B3E16B1B8B61@us.oracle.com><0F408BF94DA24CFCB960917D03E903BA@us.oracle.com> Reply-To: Drew Adams , 4654@emacsbugs.donarmstrong.com NNTP-Posting-Host: lo.gmane.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Trace: ger.gmane.org 1254930561 1194 80.91.229.12 (7 Oct 2009 15:49:21 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@ger.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 7 Oct 2009 15:49:21 +0000 (UTC) Cc: 4654@emacsbugs.donarmstrong.com To: "'Stefan Monnier'" Original-X-From: bug-gnu-emacs-bounces+geb-bug-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Wed Oct 07 17:49:10 2009 Return-path: Envelope-to: geb-bug-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org Original-Received: from lists.gnu.org ([199.232.76.165]) by lo.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 4.50) id 1MvYl9-0001ar-Cb for geb-bug-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org; Wed, 07 Oct 2009 17:48:59 +0200 Original-Received: from localhost ([127.0.0.1]:44539 helo=lists.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.43) id 1MvYl8-0000Zs-Hh for geb-bug-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org; Wed, 07 Oct 2009 11:48:58 -0400 Original-Received: from mailman by lists.gnu.org with tmda-scanned (Exim 4.43) id 1MvYjX-00070t-12 for bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org; Wed, 07 Oct 2009 11:47:19 -0400 Original-Received: from exim by lists.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.43) id 1MvYjS-0006tk-K4 for bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org; Wed, 07 Oct 2009 11:47:18 -0400 Original-Received: from [199.232.76.173] (port=44571 helo=monty-python.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.43) id 1MvYjS-0006tV-B7 for bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org; Wed, 07 Oct 2009 11:47:14 -0400 Original-Received: from rzlab.ucr.edu ([138.23.92.77]:40800) by monty-python.gnu.org with esmtps (TLS-1.0:DHE_RSA_AES_256_CBC_SHA1:32) (Exim 4.60) (envelope-from ) id 1MvYjR-0004MV-Q4 for bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org; Wed, 07 Oct 2009 11:47:14 -0400 Original-Received: from rzlab.ucr.edu (rzlab.ucr.edu [127.0.0.1]) by rzlab.ucr.edu (8.14.3/8.14.3/Debian-5) with ESMTP id n97Fl97S007408; Wed, 7 Oct 2009 08:47:09 -0700 Original-Received: (from debbugs@localhost) by rzlab.ucr.edu (8.14.3/8.14.3/Submit) id n97FU4oX004818; Wed, 7 Oct 2009 08:30:04 -0700 Resent-Date: Wed, 7 Oct 2009 08:30:04 -0700 X-Loop: owner@emacsbugs.donarmstrong.com Resent-From: "Drew Adams" Resent-To: bug-submit-list@donarmstrong.com Resent-CC: Emacs Bugs 2Resent-Date: Wed, 07 Oct 2009 15:30:04 +0000 Resent-Message-ID: Resent-Sender: owner@emacsbugs.donarmstrong.com X-Emacs-PR-Message: followup 4654 X-Emacs-PR-Package: emacs X-Emacs-PR-Keywords: Original-Received: via spool by 4654-submit@emacsbugs.donarmstrong.com id=B4654.12549288943953 (code B ref 4654); Wed, 07 Oct 2009 15:30:04 +0000 Original-Received: (at 4654) by emacsbugs.donarmstrong.com; 7 Oct 2009 15:21:34 +0000 X-Spam-Bayes: score:0.5 Bayes not run. spammytokens:Tokens not available. hammytokens:Tokens not available. Original-Received: from acsinet11.oracle.com (acsinet11.oracle.com [141.146.126.233]) by rzlab.ucr.edu (8.14.3/8.14.3/Debian-5) with ESMTP id n97FLXA1003949 for <4654@emacsbugs.donarmstrong.com>; Wed, 7 Oct 2009 08:21:34 -0700 Original-Received: from rgminet13.oracle.com (rcsinet13.oracle.com [148.87.113.125]) by acsinet11.oracle.com (Switch-3.3.1/Switch-3.3.1) with ESMTP id n97FLbiX023623 (version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA bits=256 verify=OK); Wed, 7 Oct 2009 15:21:39 GMT Original-Received: from acsmt354.oracle.com (acsmt354.oracle.com [141.146.40.154]) by rgminet13.oracle.com (Switch-3.3.1/Switch-3.3.1) with ESMTP id n97FLsN5032334; Wed, 7 Oct 2009 15:21:55 GMT Original-Received: from abhmt015.oracle.com by acsmt356.oracle.com with ESMTP id 20260278691254928878; Wed, 07 Oct 2009 08:21:18 -0700 Original-Received: from dradamslap1 (/141.144.224.222) by default (Oracle Beehive Gateway v4.0) with ESMTP ; Wed, 07 Oct 2009 08:21:18 -0700 X-Mailer: Microsoft Office Outlook 11 In-Reply-To: Thread-Index: AcpHV8LVaSG2rPfBTRK4ZGJgB8VpzAAB24kA X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.5579 X-Source-IP: acsmt354.oracle.com [141.146.40.154] X-Auth-Type: Internal IP X-CT-RefId: str=0001.0A090204.4ACCB1F4.0103:SCFMA4539814,ss=1,fgs=0 X-detected-operating-system: by monty-python.gnu.org: GNU/Linux 2.6 (newer, 2) Resent-Date: Wed, 07 Oct 2009 11:47:18 -0400 X-BeenThere: bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: "Bug reports for GNU Emacs, the Swiss army knife of text editors" List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Original-Sender: bug-gnu-emacs-bounces+geb-bug-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Errors-To: bug-gnu-emacs-bounces+geb-bug-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Xref: news.gmane.org gmane.emacs.bugs:31764 Archived-At: > > The stated feature of "abbreviation" for this function has two > > aspects: (1) substituting a defined "abbreviation" from > > `directory-abbrev-list' - which is _not_ necessarily > > shorter than what it replaces, in fact, and (2) substituting > > `~' for the home dir. > > I think that's the core of the misunderstanding. The purpose of > abbreviate-file-name is not to apply the above two steps. Those steps > are just the current way to reach the real goal, which is to > abbreviate the file name. Do we have a spec declaring the intended purpose, or are we just making it up as we go along? The closest thing we have to a statement of the purpose is the doc, along with the code and its comments, of course. None of those support your claim of the purpose. > Admittedly, "abbreviate" is not exactly meant here as > "shorten" but rather as "make it more concise/easy/pretty for > the user", That's precisely the point. It's not exactly about shortening. The question is whether ~/foo is more useful/pretty/understandable/consistent for the user than (sometimes) c:\\foo and (sometimes) /foo. > but still to a first approximation "not longer" is > a very good design guideline. No, not a very good guideline for usability and understandability. A one-char length difference has no special utility for a user. And that one-character difference is the length argument you are making here. Consistency (always seeing `~' when the home dir is involved) is more important here for users. IMHO.