bug#65386: [PATCH] ; Refine some 'package-vc' docstrings

[Eshel Yaron via "Bug reports for GNU Emacs, the Swiss army knife of text editors" <bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org>]

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Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> writes:

>> Cc: Philip Kaludercic <philipk@posteo.net>
>> Date: Sat, 19 Aug 2023 20:07:07 +0200
>> From:  Eshel Yaron via "Bug reports for GNU Emacs,
>>  the Swiss army knife of text editors" <bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org>
>> 
>> This patch includes improvement suggestions for the docstrings of some
>> of the functions and user options in package-vc.el.
>
> Thanks.  Allow me a few comments:
>

Thank you, I've attached an updated patch below.

>> @@ -94,7 +94,10 @@ package-vc-heuristic-alist
>>                   (+ (or alnum "-" "." "_")) (? "/")))
>>            eos)
>>       . Bzr))
>> -  "Heuristic mapping URL regular expressions to VC backends."
>> +  "Alist mapping regular expressions to VC backends.
>
> The first line loses information by omitting the "URL" part, which I
> think is important, more important than the "regular expressions"
> part.  How about
>
>   Alist mapping repository URLs to VC backends.
>

Sure, done.

>> +`package-vc-install' tries to match each regular expression in
>> +this alist to the repository URL you give it, and uses the VC
>> +backend corresponding to the first matching regular expression."
>
> This tends to describe the implementation, not the purpose.  I would
> rephrase
>
>   `package-vc-install' consults this alist to determine the VC backend
>   from the repository URL.  Each element of the alist has the form
>   (URL-REGEXP . BACKEND).  `package-vc-install' will use BACKEND of
>   the first association for which the URL of the repository matches
>   the URL-REGEXP of the association.
>

Done.

>>  (defcustom package-vc-default-backend 'Git
>> -  "Default VC backend used when cloning a package repository.
>> -If no repository type was specified or could be guessed by
>> -`package-vc-heuristic-alist', this is the default VC backend
>> -used as fallback.  The value must be a member of
>> -`vc-handled-backends' and the named backend must implement
>> -the `clone' function."
>> -  :type `(choice ,@(mapcar (lambda (b) (list 'const b))
>> -                           vc-handled-backends))
>> +  "Default VC backend to use for cloning package repositories.
>> +`package-vc-install' uses this backend when you don't specify a
>> +backend and give it a URL that doesn't match any regular
>> +expression in `package-vc-heuristic-alist'.
>
> I guess you mean
>
>   `package-vc-install' uses this backend when you specify neither the
>   backend nor a repository URL to map via `package-vc-heuristic-alist'.
>

I went with a variation of your phrasing that I think is a little more
precise.  LMK what you think.

>> +
>> +The value must be a member of `vc-handled-backends' that supports
>> +the `clone' VC function."
>> +  :type `(choice ,@(seq-keep
>> +                    (lambda (be)
>> +                      (when (or (vc-find-backend-function be 'clone)
>> +                                (alist-get 'clone (get be 'vc-functions)))
>> +                        (list 'const be)))
>> +                    vc-handled-backends))
>>    :version "29.1")
>>  
>>  (defcustom package-vc-register-as-project t
>> @@ -140,20 +148,21 @@ package-vc-install-selected-packages
>>                 (package-desc-create :name name :kind 'vc))
>>             spec)))))))
>>  
>> -(defcustom package-vc-selected-packages '()
>> -  "List of packages that must be installed.
>> -Each member of the list is of the form (NAME . SPEC), where NAME
>> -is a symbol designating the package and SPEC is one of:
>> +
>> +(defcustom package-vc-selected-packages nil
>> +  "List of packages to install from source.
>
> What is the significance of "from source" here?
>

It's just for indicating that we're talking about VC packages
specifically.  Does that make sense?

>> +The command `package-vc-install' updates the value of this user
>> +option to store package specifications for packages that are not
>> +specified in any archive."
>
> I question the wisdom of having commands modify values of user
> options.  I think it is better to have a separate variable whose
> initial value is taken from the user option, and then have the
> commands add to that separate variable, leaving the user option
> intact.
>

Yes, this patch only updates the documentation, but I agree that this
behavior may deserve another look as well.

>>  (defcustom package-vc-allow-side-effects nil
>> -  "Whether to process :make and :shell-command spec arguments.
>> +  "Whether to run extra build commands when installing VC packages.
>
> The name of this variable is very far from what it means.  Running
> commands and "side effects" are barely related to each other.  Please
> consider renaming the variable.  How about
> package-vc-allow-build-commands?
>

I agree.  Philip, any objections to renaming this variable?  I don't
know if people already use it.

>> +                                                          When
>> +this option is nil, Emacs ignores these keywords when installing
>> +and upgrading VC packages.  If it's a list of package
>> +names (symbols), Emacs only runs these extra build commands for
>> +those packages.
>
> "By default, Emacs ignores these keywords [...], but if the value is a
> list of package names (symbols), the build commands will be run for
> those packages."
>

Done.

>>  (defun package-vc-install-dependencies (requirements)
>> -  "Install missing dependencies, and return missing ones.
>> -The return value will be nil if everything was found, or a list
>> -of (NAME VERSION) pairs of all packages that couldn't be found.
>> -
>> -REQUIREMENTS should be a list of additional requirements; each
>> -element in this list should have the form (PACKAGE VERSION-LIST),
>> -where PACKAGE is a package name and VERSION-LIST is the required
>> -version of that package."
>> +  "Install missing dependencies according to REQUIREMENTS.
>> +
>> +REQUIREMENTS is a list of elements (PACKAGE VERSION-LIST), where
>> +PACKAGE is a package name and VERSION-LIST is the required
>> +version of that package.
>
> This seems to indicate that REQUIREMENTS should be renamed to
> DEPENDENCIES.
>

Alright, I went with DEPS for brevity.

>> +Return a list of requirements that couldn't be met (or nil, when
>> +this function successfully installs all given requirements)."
>                               ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> "Installs requirements"? that's why "dependencies" would be better.
>

Updated.

>>  (defun package-vc-upgrade (pkg-desc)
>> -  "Attempt to upgrade the package PKG-DESC."
>> +  "Upgrade the VC package that PKG-DESC describes."
>
> "Upgrade the package described by PKG-DESC from the package's VC repository."
>

Done.

>>  (defun package-vc-install (package &optional rev backend name)
>>    "Fetch a PACKAGE and set it up for using with Emacs.
>
> "Fetch a package described by PACKAGE and set it up for use with Emacs."
>
> (The point being that PACKAGE is not just a name, it's a description
> that can have several forms.)
>

Updated.

>> -If PACKAGE is a string containing an URL, download the package
>> -from the repository at that URL; the function will try to guess
>> -the name of the package from the URL.  This can be overridden by
>> -passing the optional argument NAME.  If PACKAGE is a cons-cell,
>> -it should have the form (NAME . SPEC), where NAME is a symbol
>> -indicating the package name and SPEC is a plist as described in
>> -`package-vc-selected-packages'.  Otherwise PACKAGE should be a
>> -symbol whose name is the package name, and the URL for the
>> -package will be taken from the package's metadata.
>> +PACKAGE specifies which package to install, where to find its
>> +source repository and how to build it.
>>  
>>  By default, this function installs the last revision of the
>>  package available from its repository.  If REV is a string, it
>> -describes the revision to install, as interpreted by the VC
>> -backend.  The special value `:last-release' (interactively, the
>> -prefix argument), will use the commit of the latest release, if
>> -it exists.  The last release is the latest revision which changed
>> -the \"Version:\" header of the package's main Lisp file.
>> -
>> -Optional argument BACKEND specifies the VC backend to use for cloning
>> -the package's repository; this is only possible if NAME-OR-URL is a URL,
>> -a string.  If BACKEND is omitted or nil, the function
>> -uses `package-vc-heuristic-alist' to guess the backend.
>> -Note that by default, a VC package will be prioritized over a
>> -regular package, but it will not remove a VC package.
>> -
>> -\(fn PACKAGE &optional REV BACKEND)"
>> +describes the revision to install, as interpreted by the relevant
>> +VC backend.  The special value `:last-release' (interactively,
>> +the prefix argument), says to use the commit of the latest
>> +release, if it exists.  The last release is the latest revision
>> +which changed the \"Version:\" header of the package's main Lisp
>> +file.
>> +
>> +If PACKAGE is a symbol, install the package with that name
>> +according to metadata that package archives provide for it.  This
>> +is the simplest way to call this function, but it only works if
>> +the package you want to install is listed in a package archive
>> +you have configured.
>> +
>> +If PACKAGE is a string, it specifies the URL of the package
>> +repository.  In this case, optional argument BACKEND specifies
>> +the VC backend to use for cloning the repository; if it's nil,
>> +this function tries to infer which backend to use according to
>> +the value of `package-vc-heuristic-alist' and if that fails it
>> +uses `package-vc-default-backend'.  Optional argument NAME
>> +specifies the package name in this case; if it's nil, this
>> +package uses `file-name-base' on the URL to obtain the package
>> +name, otherwise NAME is the package name as a symbol.
>> +
>> +PACKAGE can also be a cons cell (PNAME . SPEC) where PNAME is the
>> +package name as a symbol, and SPEC is a plist that specifes how
>> +to fetch and build the package.  For possible values, see the
>> +subsection \"Specifying Package Sources\" in the Info
>> +node `(emacs)Fetching Package Sources'.
>
> I think the doc string should describe PACKAGE before REV.
>

Sure, done.

>> +If you use this function to install a package that you also have
>> +installed from a package archive, the version this function
>> +installs is takes precedence."
>
> "is takes"? something's wrong here.
>

Good catch, thanks.  I've removed the "is" in the updated patch.

>>  (defun package-vc-prepare-patch (pkg-desc subject revisions)
>> -  "Send patch for REVISIONS to maintainer of the package PKG using SUBJECT.
>> +  "Send patch for REVISIONS to maintainer of the package PKG-DESC using SUBJECT.
>
> This should mention email, otherwise SUBJECT is confusing.  Maybe use
> "Email" instead of "Send".

Alright, I made a couple more changes to this one.



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From 213675085fd77246fcbf6ad0cc5134081e4a66d4 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Eshel Yaron <me@eshelyaron.com>
Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2023 21:59:10 +0200
Subject: [PATCH v2] ; Refine some 'package-vc' docstrings

* lisp/emacs-lisp/package-vc.el (package-vc-heuristic-alist)
(package-vc-install-dependencies, package-vc-upgrade)
(package-vc-install, package-vc-install-from-checkout)
(package-vc-prepare-patch, package-vc-upgrade-all)
(package-vc-allow-side-effects): Refine docstrings.
(package-vc-default-backend): Refine docstring and custom type.
---
 lisp/emacs-lisp/package-vc.el | 167 ++++++++++++++++++++--------------
 1 file changed, 100 insertions(+), 67 deletions(-)

diff --git a/lisp/emacs-lisp/package-vc.el b/lisp/emacs-lisp/package-vc.el
index db8b41aee6a..bf0e024ec19 100644
--- a/lisp/emacs-lisp/package-vc.el
+++ b/lisp/emacs-lisp/package-vc.el
@@ -94,7 +94,12 @@ package-vc-heuristic-alist
                  (+ (or alnum "-" "." "_")) (? "/")))
           eos)
      . Bzr))
-  "Heuristic mapping URL regular expressions to VC backends."
+  "Alist mapping repository URLs to VC backends.
+`package-vc-install' consults this alist to determine the VC backend
+from the repository URL.  Each element of the alist has the form
+(URL-REGEXP . BACKEND).  `package-vc-install' will use BACKEND of
+the first association for which the URL of the repository matches
+the URL-REGEXP of the association."
   :type `(alist :key-type (regexp :tag "Regular expression matching URLs")
                 :value-type (choice :tag "VC Backend"
                                     ,@(mapcar (lambda (b) `(const ,b))
@@ -102,14 +107,19 @@ package-vc-heuristic-alist
   :version "29.1")
 
 (defcustom package-vc-default-backend 'Git
-  "Default VC backend used when cloning a package repository.
-If no repository type was specified or could be guessed by
-`package-vc-heuristic-alist', this is the default VC backend
-used as fallback.  The value must be a member of
-`vc-handled-backends' and the named backend must implement
-the `clone' function."
-  :type `(choice ,@(mapcar (lambda (b) (list 'const b))
-                           vc-handled-backends))
+  "Default VC backend to use for cloning package repositories.
+`package-vc-install' uses this backend when you specify neither
+the backend nor a repository URL that's recognized via
+`package-vc-heuristic-alist'.
+
+The value must be a member of `vc-handled-backends' that supports
+the `clone' VC function."
+  :type `(choice ,@(seq-keep
+                    (lambda (be)
+                      (when (or (vc-find-backend-function be 'clone)
+                                (alist-get 'clone (get be 'vc-functions)))
+                        (list 'const be)))
+                    vc-handled-backends))
   :version "29.1")
 
 (defcustom package-vc-register-as-project t
@@ -140,20 +150,21 @@ package-vc-install-selected-packages
                (package-desc-create :name name :kind 'vc))
            spec)))))))
 
-(defcustom package-vc-selected-packages '()
-  "List of packages that must be installed.
-Each member of the list is of the form (NAME . SPEC), where NAME
-is a symbol designating the package and SPEC is one of:
+
+(defcustom package-vc-selected-packages nil
+  "List of packages to install from source.
+Each element is of the form (NAME . SPEC), where NAME is a symbol
+designating the package and SPEC is one of:
 
 - nil, if any package version can be installed;
 - a version string, if that specific revision is to be installed;
-- a property list, describing a package specification.  For more
-  details, please consult the subsection \"Specifying Package
-  Sources\" in the Info node `(emacs)Fetching Package Sources'.
+- a property list, describing a package specification.  For possible
+  values, see the subsection \"Specifying Package Sources\" in the
+  Info node `(emacs)Fetching Package Sources'.
 
-This user option will be automatically updated to store package
-specifications for packages that are not specified in any
-archive."
+The command `package-vc-install' updates the value of this user
+option to store package specifications for packages that are not
+specified in any archive."
   :type '(alist :tag "List of packages you want to be installed"
                 :key-type (symbol :tag "Package")
                 :value-type
@@ -345,19 +356,26 @@ package-vc--generate-description-file
        nil pkg-file nil 'silent))))
 
 (defcustom package-vc-allow-side-effects nil
-  "Whether to process :make and :shell-command spec arguments.
+  "Whether to run extra build commands when installing VC packages.
+
+Some packages specify \"make\" targets or other shell commands
+that should run prior to building the package, by including the
+:make or :shell-command keywords in their specification.  By
+default, Emacs ignores these keywords when installing and
+upgrading VC packages, but if the value is a list of package
+names (symbols), the build commands will be run for those
+packages.  A non-nil non-list value says to always respect :make
+and :shell-command keywords.
 
 It may be necessary to run :make and :shell-command arguments in
 order to initialize a package or build its documentation, but
 please be careful when changing this option, as installing and
 updating a package can run potentially harmful code.
 
-When set to a list of symbols (packages), run commands for only
-packages in the list.  When nil, never run commands.  Otherwise
-when non-nil, run commands for any package with :make or
-:shell-command specified.
-
-Package specs are loaded from trusted package archives."
+This applies to package specifications that come from your
+configured package archives, as well as from entries in
+`package-vc-selected-packages' and specifications that you give
+to `package-vc-install' directly."
   :type '(choice (const :tag "Run for all packages" t)
                  (repeat :tag "Run only for selected packages" (symbol :tag "Package name"))
                  (const :tag "Never run" nil))
@@ -414,15 +432,15 @@ package-vc--build-documentation
     (when clean-up
       (delete-file file))))
 
-(defun package-vc-install-dependencies (requirements)
-  "Install missing dependencies, and return missing ones.
-The return value will be nil if everything was found, or a list
-of (NAME VERSION) pairs of all packages that couldn't be found.
+(defun package-vc-install-dependencies (deps)
+  "Install missing dependencies according to DEPS.
+
+DEPS is a list of elements (PACKAGE VERSION-LIST), where
+PACKAGE is a package name and VERSION-LIST is the required
+version of that package.
 
-REQUIREMENTS should be a list of additional requirements; each
-element in this list should have the form (PACKAGE VERSION-LIST),
-where PACKAGE is a package name and VERSION-LIST is the required
-version of that package."
+Return a list of dependencies that couldn't be met (or nil, when
+this function successfully installs all given dependencies)."
   (let ((to-install '()) (missing '()))
     (cl-labels ((search (pkg)
                   "Attempt to find all dependencies for PKG."
@@ -458,7 +476,7 @@ package-vc-install-dependencies
                     (or (not desc-a) (not desc-b)
                         (not (depends-on-p desc-b desc-a))
                         (depends-on-p desc-a desc-b)))))
-      (mapc #'search requirements)
+      (mapc #'search deps)
       (cl-callf sort to-install #'version-order)
       (cl-callf seq-uniq to-install #'duplicate-p)
       (cl-callf sort to-install #'dependent-order))
@@ -719,7 +737,7 @@ package-vc--read-package-desc
 
 ;;;###autoload
 (defun package-vc-upgrade-all ()
-  "Attempt to upgrade all installed VC packages."
+  "Upgrade all installed VC packages."
   (interactive)
   (dolist (package package-alist)
     (dolist (pkg-desc (cdr package))
@@ -729,7 +747,7 @@ package-vc-upgrade-all
 
 ;;;###autoload
 (defun package-vc-upgrade (pkg-desc)
-  "Attempt to upgrade the package PKG-DESC."
+  "Upgrade the package described by PKG-DESC from package's VC repository."
   (interactive (list (package-vc--read-package-desc "Upgrade VC package: " t)))
   ;; HACK: To run `package-vc--unpack-1' after checking out the new
   ;; revision, we insert a hook into `vc-post-command-functions', and
@@ -792,34 +810,45 @@ package-vc--release-rev
 
 ;;;###autoload
 (defun package-vc-install (package &optional rev backend name)
-  "Fetch a PACKAGE and set it up for using with Emacs.
-
-If PACKAGE is a string containing an URL, download the package
-from the repository at that URL; the function will try to guess
-the name of the package from the URL.  This can be overridden by
-passing the optional argument NAME.  If PACKAGE is a cons-cell,
-it should have the form (NAME . SPEC), where NAME is a symbol
-indicating the package name and SPEC is a plist as described in
-`package-vc-selected-packages'.  Otherwise PACKAGE should be a
-symbol whose name is the package name, and the URL for the
-package will be taken from the package's metadata.
+  "Fetch a package described by PACKAGE and set it up for use with Emacs.
+
+PACKAGE specifies which package to install, where to find its
+source repository and how to build it.
+
+If PACKAGE is a symbol, install the package with that name
+according to metadata that package archives provide for it.  This
+is the simplest way to call this function, but it only works if
+the package you want to install is listed in a package archive
+you have configured.
+
+If PACKAGE is a string, it specifies the URL of the package
+repository.  In this case, optional argument BACKEND specifies
+the VC backend to use for cloning the repository; if it's nil,
+this function tries to infer which backend to use according to
+the value of `package-vc-heuristic-alist' and if that fails it
+uses `package-vc-default-backend'.  Optional argument NAME
+specifies the package name in this case; if it's nil, this
+package uses `file-name-base' on the URL to obtain the package
+name, otherwise NAME is the package name as a symbol.
+
+PACKAGE can also be a cons cell (PNAME . SPEC) where PNAME is the
+package name as a symbol, and SPEC is a plist that specifes how
+to fetch and build the package.  For possible values, see the
+subsection \"Specifying Package Sources\" in the Info
+node `(emacs)Fetching Package Sources'.
 
 By default, this function installs the last revision of the
 package available from its repository.  If REV is a string, it
-describes the revision to install, as interpreted by the VC
-backend.  The special value `:last-release' (interactively, the
-prefix argument), will use the commit of the latest release, if
-it exists.  The last release is the latest revision which changed
-the \"Version:\" header of the package's main Lisp file.
-
-Optional argument BACKEND specifies the VC backend to use for cloning
-the package's repository; this is only possible if NAME-OR-URL is a URL,
-a string.  If BACKEND is omitted or nil, the function
-uses `package-vc-heuristic-alist' to guess the backend.
-Note that by default, a VC package will be prioritized over a
-regular package, but it will not remove a VC package.
-
-\(fn PACKAGE &optional REV BACKEND)"
+describes the revision to install, as interpreted by the relevant
+VC backend.  The special value `:last-release' (interactively,
+the prefix argument), says to use the commit of the latest
+release, if it exists.  The last release is the latest revision
+which changed the \"Version:\" header of the package's main Lisp
+file.
+
+If you use this function to install a package that you also have
+installed from a package archive, the version this function
+installs takes precedence."
   (interactive
    (progn
      ;; Initialize the package system to get the list of package
@@ -895,7 +924,7 @@ package-vc-checkout
 
 ;;;###autoload
 (defun package-vc-install-from-checkout (dir name)
-  "Set up the package NAME in DIR by linking it into the ELPA directory.
+  "Install the package NAME from its source directory DIR.
 Interactively, prompt the user for DIR, which should be a directory
 under version control, typically one created by `package-vc-checkout'.
 If invoked interactively with a prefix argument, prompt the user
@@ -937,13 +966,17 @@ package-vc-rebuild
 
 ;;;###autoload
 (defun package-vc-prepare-patch (pkg-desc subject revisions)
-  "Send patch for REVISIONS to maintainer of the package PKG using SUBJECT.
-The function uses `vc-prepare-patch', passing SUBJECT and
-REVISIONS directly.  PKG-DESC must be a package description.
+  "Email patches for REVISIONS to the maintainer of the package PKG-DESC.
+
+PKG-DESC is a package description and SUBJECT is the subject of
+the message.
+
 Interactively, prompt for PKG-DESC, SUBJECT, and REVISIONS.  When
 invoked with a numerical prefix argument, use the last N
 revisions.  When invoked interactively in a Log View buffer with
-marked revisions, use those."
+marked revisions, use those.
+
+See also `vc-prepare-patch'."
   (interactive
    (list (package-vc--read-package-desc "Package to prepare a patch for: " t)
          (and (not vc-prepare-patches-separately)
-- 
2.41.0