bug#19164: 24.3; Feature request: describe-key-briefly with prefix argument

bug#19164: 24.3; Feature request: describe-key-briefly with prefix argument

[Marcin Borkowski]

This is really a feature request.  If I press

C-u C-h c C-h c,

this is what appears at point:

C-h c runs the command describe-key-briefly

(and this behavior is well-documented in the docstring for
describe-key-briefly).  I would suggest that only the command name
should be inserted, and the present behavior (if really needed) be
reserved for e.g. C-u C-u C-h c.  The rationale is that when
e.g. emailing about some Emacs feature, I'd like to be able to insert
some command name conveniently; OTOH, it is difficult for me to come up
with a scenario when the present behavior is needed.

Best regards,

-- 
Marcin Borkowski
http://octd.wmi.amu.edu.pl/en/Marcin_Borkowski
Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science
Adam Mickiewicz University

bug#19164: 24.3; Feature request: describe-key-briefly with prefix argument

[Stefan Kangas]

Marcin Borkowski <mbork@wmi.amu.edu.pl> writes:

> C-u C-h c C-h c,
>
> this is what appears at point:
>
> C-h c runs the command describe-key-briefly
> C-h c runs the command gnus-article-describe-key-briefly
> (and this behavior is well-documented in the docstring for
> describe-key-briefly).  I would suggest that only the command name
> should be inserted, and the present behavior (if really needed) be
> reserved for e.g. C-u C-u C-h c.  The rationale is that when
> e.g. emailing about some Emacs feature, I'd like to be able to insert
> some command name conveniently; OTOH, it is difficult for me to come up
> with a scenario when the present behavior is needed.

Hi Marcin,

I think that it makes more sense to display help as the default behaviour rather
than inserting the help at point.  The use case for this behaviour is when the
user wants to know what a command does in a brief way without showing the
help buffer.

Therefore I'm against making this change.

To get your preferred behaviour, you could advice
describe-key-briefly, for example like this:

(defun my-flip-second-arg (orig-fun &rest args)
  (apply orig-fun (list (car args) (not (cadr args)))))
(add-function :around (symbol-function 'describe-key-briefly)
#'my-flip-second-arg)

If I don't hear any protests, I will close this bug report as wontfix.

Best regards,
Stefan Kangas

bug#19164: 24.3; Feature request: describe-key-briefly with prefix argument

[Noam Postavsky]

Stefan Kangas <stefan@marxist.se> writes:

> I think that it makes more sense to display help as the default behaviour rather
> than inserting the help at point.  The use case for this behaviour is when the
> user wants to know what a command does in a brief way without showing the
> help buffer.

I think you've misunderstood the request.  It's about the behaviour when
describe-key-briefly gets a prefix argument.  *Currently* it inserts
'<key> runs the command <command-name>'.  The request is to insert just
'<command-name>'.

> Therefore I'm against making this change.

That said, I'm not really keen on this request either.

bug#19164: 24.3; Feature request: describe-key-briefly with prefix argument

[Stefan Kangas]

Noam Postavsky <npostavs@gmail.com> writes:
>
> Stefan Kangas <stefan@marxist.se> writes:
>
> > I think that it makes more sense to display help as the default behaviour rather
> > than inserting the help at point.  The use case for this behaviour is when the
> > user wants to know what a command does in a brief way without showing the
> > help buffer.
>
> I think you've misunderstood the request.  It's about the behaviour when
> describe-key-briefly gets a prefix argument.  *Currently* it inserts
> '<key> runs the command <command-name>'.  The request is to insert just
> '<command-name>'.

I see.  That makes a bit more sense, to be honest.

> > Therefore I'm against making this change.
>
> That said, I'm not really keen on this request either.

Me neither.  Anyone else?

Thanks,
Stefan Kangas

bug#19164: 24.3; Feature request: describe-key-briefly with prefix argument

[Stefan Kangas]

tags 19164 + wontfix
close 19164
quit

Stefan Kangas <stefan@marxist.se> writes:
> Noam Postavsky <npostavs@gmail.com> writes:
> > I think you've misunderstood the request.  It's about the behaviour when
> > describe-key-briefly gets a prefix argument.  *Currently* it inserts
> > '<key> runs the command <command-name>'.  The request is to insert just
> > '<command-name>'.
[...]
> > That said, I'm not really keen on this request either.
>
> Me neither.  Anyone else?

It would seem that there is not much enthusiasm for this change.
Therefore, I'm closing this as wontfix.

Thanks,
Stefan Kangas