* bug#32389: Default behaviour of xref-find-references is inconsistent with the documentation
@ 2018-08-07 8:55 Shitikanth
2018-08-07 16:20 ` Eli Zaretskii
0 siblings, 1 reply; 3+ messages in thread
From: Shitikanth @ 2018-08-07 8:55 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: 32389
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Related to bug#29619.
The function documentation of xref-find-references says:
Find references to the identifier at point. With prefix argument,
prompt for
the identifier.
The Emacs manual (Node: Identifier Search) says:
‘M-?’ finds all the references for the identifier at point. If there’s
no
identifier at point, or when invoked with a prefix argument, the command
prompts for the identifier, with completion.
Inconsistent to both, the actual behaviour of xref-find-references and M-?
is to
*always* prompt for the identifier from the user (irrespective of whether
it is
invoked with or without the prefix-arg). The only way to get the documented
behaviour is by customizing xref-prompt-for-identifier, and there is no way
of
discovering this without reading the source code.
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^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 3+ messages in thread
* bug#32389: Default behaviour of xref-find-references is inconsistent with the documentation
2018-08-07 8:55 bug#32389: Default behaviour of xref-find-references is inconsistent with the documentation Shitikanth
@ 2018-08-07 16:20 ` Eli Zaretskii
[not found] ` <CALjXJSQ_ns0NN6XeZLswB1NX6tucBM5GtEnVz1voHnOa_iRPhQ@mail.gmail.com>
0 siblings, 1 reply; 3+ messages in thread
From: Eli Zaretskii @ 2018-08-07 16:20 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: Shitikanth; +Cc: 32389-done
> From: Shitikanth <shitikanth1@gmail.com>
> Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2018 14:25:46 +0530
>
> The function documentation of xref-find-references says:
>
> Find references to the identifier at point. With prefix argument, prompt for
> the identifier.
>
> The Emacs manual (Node: Identifier Search) says:
>
> ‘M-?’ finds all the references for the identifier at point. If there’s no
> identifier at point, or when invoked with a prefix argument, the command
> prompts for the identifier, with completion.
>
> Inconsistent to both, the actual behaviour of xref-find-references and M-? is to
> *always* prompt for the identifier from the user (irrespective of whether it is
> invoked with or without the prefix-arg).
That's inaccurate: the actual behavior depends on the Xref backend,
and cannot be predicted in advance for every backend. If the
backend-specific xref-backend-identifier-at-point method returns a
non-nil identifier, the command will not prompt.
However, the current documentation is also clearly inaccurate, so I
made it more so.
> The only way to get the documented
> behaviour is by customizing xref-prompt-for-identifier, and there is no way of
> discovering this without reading the source code.
Good point, I added a reference to the variable to the documentation
of the command.
With that, I'm closing the bug. Thanks for bringing this to our
attention.
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 3+ messages in thread
* bug#32389: Default behaviour of xref-find-references is inconsistent with the documentation
[not found] ` <CALjXJSSu+jXdoMFNqpnOga5BpmGZkzUBNQ2PEnJzqDsWMQN2Rw@mail.gmail.com>
@ 2018-08-07 18:26 ` Eli Zaretskii
0 siblings, 0 replies; 3+ messages in thread
From: Eli Zaretskii @ 2018-08-07 18:26 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: Shitikanth; +Cc: 32389
> From: Shitikanth <shitikanth1@gmail.com>
> Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2018 23:45:42 +0530
>
> I, for one, feel that this has become more complex than it needs to be. Since C-u M-?
> gives the option to force a prompt anyway, the default behaviour should be for M-?
> to not show a prompt unless needed (that is if the xref-backend is not able to find
> an identifier at point).
You are arguing for a change in the default behavior, something that
we don't usually do based on a single opinion. You can always
customize xref-prompt-for-identifier on your system to get this
behavior for yourself; changing that for everyone requires some kind
of user poll, at least.
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 3+ messages in thread
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2018-08-07 8:55 bug#32389: Default behaviour of xref-find-references is inconsistent with the documentation Shitikanth
2018-08-07 16:20 ` Eli Zaretskii
[not found] ` <CALjXJSQ_ns0NN6XeZLswB1NX6tucBM5GtEnVz1voHnOa_iRPhQ@mail.gmail.com>
[not found] ` <83va8mp0hv.fsf@gnu.org>
[not found] ` <CALjXJSSdVW7Z3rbK9v64GLa=Wtv4tvDa0f4f1RTXxuFPFPYQ1A@mail.gmail.com>
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[not found] ` <CALjXJSSu+jXdoMFNqpnOga5BpmGZkzUBNQ2PEnJzqDsWMQN2Rw@mail.gmail.com>
2018-08-07 18:26 ` Eli Zaretskii
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