bug#43407: 26.3; Please index Escape key (<ESC>) in manuals

bug#43407: 26.3; Please index Escape key (<ESC>) in manuals

[Drew Adams]

Emacs manual index entries that include "escape" all have to do with
escape sequences or escape chars.  A user looking for info about the
"Escape" keyboard key won't find anything using `i' in the Emacs manual.

Please consider adding an index entry for "Escape key" or some such,
which could take you to node `User Input', for example.

Similarly, for the Elisp manual.  Consider adding index entries that
take you to nodes `Functions for Key Lookup' and `Prefix Keys', the
former, in particular.

Here's a user question that's relevant, together with his comment "I
used to think all along that the escape key was meta key because when I
did Escape - x, spacemacs would show M - x. Why is that the case if
Escape isn't the meta key?"

https://emacs.stackexchange.com/q/60645/105

It should be made easy to find info about the relation between the Meta
modifier key and the Escape prefix key.

In GNU Emacs 26.3 (build 1, x86_64-w64-mingw32)
 of 2019-08-29
Repository revision: 96dd0196c28bc36779584e47fffcca433c9309cd
Windowing system distributor `Microsoft Corp.', version 10.0.18362
Configured using:
 `configure --without-dbus --host=x86_64-w64-mingw32
 --without-compress-install 'CFLAGS=-O2 -static -g3''

bug#43407: 26.3; Please index Escape key (<ESC>) in manuals

[Eli Zaretskii]

> Date: Mon, 14 Sep 2020 19:45:18 +0000 (UTC)
> From: Drew Adams <drew.adams@oracle.com>
> 
> https://emacs.stackexchange.com/q/60645/105
> 
> It should be made easy to find info about the relation between the Meta
> modifier key and the Escape prefix key.

My reading of that question is that this user was confused and thought
incorrectly that he needed the Escape key, where he really needed the
Meta key.  So having that key in the index would not have helped him,
perhaps even confuse him more.

I've reviewed the places where we mention the ESC key in the manual,
and I don't see there anything worth indexing under "Escape".  Sorry.

bug#43407: 26.3; Please index Escape key (<ESC>) in manuals

[Drew Adams]

> https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://emacs.stackexchange.com/q/60645/105__;!!G
> qivPVa7Brio!LN2r8M2IuqhOZUpWhWjcCRvPsbHvIkEwniDaMZr5orhuv7dAavkTfqLjbzFkrBKr$
> >
> > It should be made easy to find info about the relation between the Meta
> > modifier key and the Escape prefix key.
> 
> My reading of that question is that this user was confused and thought
> incorrectly that he needed the Escape key, where he really needed the
> Meta key.  So having that key in the index would not have helped him,
> perhaps even confuse him more.

No, I think he was trying to use the Escape key,
but didn't understand that it's a prefix key.

But it's not necessary to refer to that question
or what its correct interpretation is.

The request is to index coverage of the Escape
key, that is, places where we talk about <ESC>.

It's not obvious that you need to ask `i' about
<ESC> and not (alternatively) about the "Escape" key.

There should be an entry "Escape key (<ESC>)"
or similar.

> I've reviewed the places where we mention the ESC key in the manual,
> and I don't see there anything worth indexing under "Escape".  Sorry.

Too bad.  That's what some users (including me, in
this context, even though I know about <ESC>) will
look for, to find info about the key Emacs calls
<ESC>.

bug#43407: 26.3; Please index Escape key (<ESC>) in manuals

[Lars Ingebrigtsen]

Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> writes:

> I've reviewed the places where we mention the ESC key in the manual,
> and I don't see there anything worth indexing under "Escape".  Sorry.

So I'm closing this bug report.

-- 
(domestic pets only, the antidote for overdose, milk.)
   bloggy blog: http://lars.ingebrigtsen.no