bug#10130: 24.0.91; eldoc error DOC-24.0.91.1 not found

[Thierry Volpiatto <thierry.volpiatto@gmail.com>]

Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> writes:

>> From: Thierry Volpiatto <thierry.volpiatto@gmail.com>
>> Date: Thu, 24 Nov 2011 22:09:59 +0100
>> 
>> --8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
>> eldoc error: (error Cannot open doc string file
>> "/usr/local/share/emacs/24.0.91/etc/DOC-24.0.91.1")
>> --8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---
>> 
>> I have in ../etc a file named DOC-24.0.91.3
>> Creating a symlink to DOC-24.0.91.1 workaround the problem.
>> 
>> What is this file for exactly?
>
> When you build Emacs, the build creates 2 hard links to the same
> binary: `emacs' and `emacs-NN.MM.XX.YY'.  It does the same with the
> DOC file, because, as Glenn explained, each build should have its
> matching DOC file.  Building another binary will break the link of
> `emacs' to the binary and link it to the newer binary, and will also
> make another hard link of the form `emacs-NN.MM.XX.YY' by incrementing
> the YY part.
>
> After rebuilding Emacs several times, you will have several
> `emacs-NN.MM.XX.YY' binaries and `emacs' that is linked to one of
> them, normally the one with the largest YY part.  The same is true for
> the DOC file.
>
> This allows you to run previously built binaries by invoking one of
> the `emacs-NN.MM.XX.YY' programs, and the DOC files that go with each
> one of them will then be available for Emacs to use.
>
> IOW, this is a feature (and quite a useful one, e.g., when you are
> faced with a recently introduced bug and want to know which build
> introduced it).

Thank you very much for this explanation Eli.

-- 
  Thierry
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