No more "Prefix Command" in C-h m

No more "Prefix Command" in C-h m

[Bob Rogers]

   A while ago, I noticed that C-h m no longer shows keys bound to
keymaps as "Prefix Command" along with their siblings when I almost
clobbered such a prefix when looking for an unused key sequence.  I was
about to submit a bug report when I noticed the comment in the code that
said this was a design choice.  The commit was a5d79fcfe83e by Lars
Ingebrigtsen on 2021-11-01.  Lars, would you please tell us why?

					-- Bob Rogers
					   http://www.rgrjr.com/

Re: No more "Prefix Command" in C-h m

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: Bob Rogers <rogers@rgrjr.com>
> Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2023 10:19:37 -0700
> 
>    A while ago, I noticed that C-h m no longer shows keys bound to

You mean "C-h b", I suppose.

> keymaps as "Prefix Command" along with their siblings when I almost
> clobbered such a prefix when looking for an unused key sequence.  I was
> about to submit a bug report when I noticed the comment in the code that
> said this was a design choice.  The commit was a5d79fcfe83e by Lars
> Ingebrigtsen on 2021-11-01.  Lars, would you please tell us why?

He already did, see

  https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2021-10/msg02399.html
  https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2021-10/msg02402.html

Bottom line: they were deemed unnecessary, since the key bindings that
use the prefix also show the prefix.

We could add a user option to get that back, if we think people will
want that sometimes.

Re: No more "Prefix Command" in C-h m

[Bob Rogers]

   From: Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
   Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2023 19:38:38 +0200

   > From: Bob Rogers <rogers@rgrjr.com>
   > Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2023 10:19:37 -0700
   > 
   >    A while ago, I noticed that C-h m no longer shows keys bound to

   You mean "C-h b", I suppose.

Yes (but I'm used to seeing them in C-h m output).

   > keymaps as "Prefix Command" along with their siblings when I almost
   > clobbered such a prefix when looking for an unused key sequence.  I was
   > about to submit a bug report when I noticed the comment in the code that
   > said this was a design choice.  The commit was a5d79fcfe83e by Lars
   > Ingebrigtsen on 2021-11-01.  Lars, would you please tell us why?

   He already did, see

     https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2021-10/msg02399.html
     https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2021-10/msg02402.html

   Bottom line: they were deemed unnecessary, since the key bindings that
   use the prefix also show the prefix.

Thanks.

   We could add a user option to get that back, if we think people will
   want that sometimes.

I would prefer that, since it's what I'm used to.  I would argue that
the default should be on, since it almost tripped me up once.  But it's
probably more of a legacy thing, and in any case I suppose that ship has
sailed.

   If adding the option is deemed desirable, I'd be happy to code it.

					-- Bob

Re: No more "Prefix Command" in C-h m

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: Bob Rogers <rogers@rgrjr.com>
> Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2023 10:58:40 -0700
> CC: larsi@gnus.org, emacs-devel@gnu.org
> 
>    If adding the option is deemed desirable, I'd be happy to code it.

Please do, and thanks in advance.  It is a standard Emacs way of
making backward-incompatible changes.