From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Path: news.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: Dani Moncayo Newsgroups: gmane.emacs.devel Subject: Proposal to improve the nomenclature of scrolling directions Date: Sun, 4 Nov 2012 15:10:55 +0100 Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: plane.gmane.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 X-Trace: ger.gmane.org 1352038260 25775 80.91.229.3 (4 Nov 2012 14:11:00 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@ger.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Sun, 4 Nov 2012 14:11:00 +0000 (UTC) To: Emacs development discussions Original-X-From: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Sun Nov 04 15:11:10 2012 Return-path: Envelope-to: ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane.org Original-Received: from lists.gnu.org ([208.118.235.17]) by plane.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1TV0ur-0002cw-Cl for ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane.org; Sun, 04 Nov 2012 15:11:09 +0100 Original-Received: from localhost ([::1]:51872 helo=lists.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1TV0ui-0002oN-Jv for ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane.org; Sun, 04 Nov 2012 09:11:00 -0500 Original-Received: from eggs.gnu.org ([208.118.235.92]:47244) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1TV0uf-0002nm-Cv for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Sun, 04 Nov 2012 09:10:59 -0500 Original-Received: from Debian-exim by eggs.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1TV0ue-00080X-9Z for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Sun, 04 Nov 2012 09:10:57 -0500 Original-Received: from mail-ob0-f169.google.com ([209.85.214.169]:41335) by eggs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1TV0ue-00080B-4Z for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Sun, 04 Nov 2012 09:10:56 -0500 Original-Received: by mail-ob0-f169.google.com with SMTP id va7so5453933obc.0 for ; Sun, 04 Nov 2012 06:10:55 -0800 (PST) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=20120113; h=mime-version:date:message-id:subject:from:to:content-type; bh=dr5rTnAC9Wnb6Hy+vn8E3iIfeDeKnDG1F6X2fVkYDxU=; b=MjGTZUdQK2O/IDGiS8QQb2DxshUOJVr5Zu8FXYmsBgppVnM/VoxNDk9rBdod+IOB9+ QmzsfELqg+0cAqTZ8erfx7zoPWvawnUQYXdkvr4NR469Vtqe8ZHLmymfDrE5mAKCLFVG hSIp5LYFBIPDF3Y5WKgf3k2Psi+3H1f/J29SoTLRr32I2lThZCXXFmAySH+vZExdn4HJ k/RizoN0V1Z7fQFkfCn15kwQluX4vnfz2FNC18YUzRQVumChU7pftDVjVs0yXdZo8nfN XAziWa3jwHHlfgvmvBeDs/zxec/EqrI2WX0N+VlC9fx2JQNanGz+9GmaUW4m8HVgfNSl +mnQ== Original-Received: by 10.60.19.202 with SMTP id h10mr5582607oee.99.1352038255251; Sun, 04 Nov 2012 06:10:55 -0800 (PST) Original-Received: by 10.60.131.168 with HTTP; Sun, 4 Nov 2012 06:10:55 -0800 (PST) X-detected-operating-system: by eggs.gnu.org: GNU/Linux 3.x [fuzzy] X-Received-From: 209.85.214.169 X-BeenThere: emacs-devel@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.14 Precedence: list List-Id: "Emacs development discussions." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Original-Sender: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Xref: news.gmane.org gmane.emacs.devel:154658 Archived-At: Hello, After reading (info "(emacs) Scrolling"), I think the Emacs terminology for specifying scrolling directions is pretty confusing: 1. The terms "up" and "down" have the opposite meanings of the ones commonly used in the (non-emacs) world. The info node explains that this is for historical reasons; OK, but then, why don't we try to find a solution? (see below) 2. The terms "forward" and "backward" are used as synonyms for "up" and "down" respectively. I guess this was an attempt to mitigate the previous problem [*], but IMO it worsens it, because: (a) They are ambiguous: here we are talking about _vertical_ scrolling, and "forward"/"backward" could refer to horizontal scrolling too. (b) They take the opposite criterion: while "up"/"down" refer to the movement of the text (relative to the window), "forward"/"backward" refer to the movement of the window (relative to the text). So we end up with a confusing mix of criteria. So here is my proposal for solving these problems: 1. Rename the command `scroll-up' to `scroll-window-down' (an unambiguous name, which uses the standard approach of describing the window movement), and define `scroll-up' as an obsolete alias for `scroll-window-down'. Likewise for the rest of scroll commands with "up"/"down" in their names. 2. Remove the use of "forward" and "backward" to refer to scrolling directions. WDYT --- Footnotes --- [*] http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2011-03/msg01063.html -- Dani Moncayo