Re: mentioning variable aliases in `describe-variable'

[John Paul Wallington <jpw@shootybangbang.com>]

> 
> > I think it would be nice to mention when a variable is an alias in
> > `describe-variable'.  What do people think ?
> 
> Go for it, although I'd personally put the info near the
> first line (as is done for function aliases) rather than near
> the bottom.

I like your suggestion.  How about this:

*** help-fns.el	27 Jun 2002 16:10:23 -0000	1.12
--- help-fns.el	12 Jul 2002 00:10:52 -0000
***************
*** 426,431 ****
--- 426,439 ----
  		(save-excursion
  		  (forward-line -1)
  		  (insert "Automatically becomes buffer-local when set in any fashion.\n"))))
+ 	    ;; mention if it's an alias
+ 	    (let ((alias (condition-case nil
+ 			     (indirect-variable variable)
+ 			   (error variable))))
+ 	      (unless (eq alias variable)
+ 		(princ (format "This variable is an alias for `%s'." alias))
+ 		(terpri)
+ 		(terpri)))
  	    (princ "Documentation:")
  	    (terpri)
  	    (let ((obsolete (get variable 'byte-obsolete-variable)))


It could go underneath the Documentation heading, and it could omit an
alias explictly mentioned in the obsolescence note.  Which is what I
did initially; I was keen on it for twenty minutes or so but rejected
it because alias nature isn't really documentation and
`describe-variable' should spell things out rather than silently omit
information.  I thought I would include it so that someone could
reassure me it is wrong :-)

*** help-fns.el	27 Jun 2002 16:10:23 -0000	1.12
--- help-fns.el	11 Jul 2002 23:34:02 -0000
***************
*** 435,444 ****
  		(princ "; ") (terpri)
  		(princ (if (stringp (car obsolete)) (car obsolete)
  			 (format "use `%s' instead." (car obsolete))))
! 		(terpri)))
  	    (let ((doc (documentation-property variable 'variable-documentation)))
  	      (princ (or doc "Not documented as a variable.")))
! 	  
  	    ;; Make a link to customize if this variable can be customized.
  	    ;; Note, it is not reliable to test only for a custom-type property
  	    ;; because those are only present after the var's definition
--- 435,453 ----
  		(princ "; ") (terpri)
  		(princ (if (stringp (car obsolete)) (car obsolete)
  			 (format "use `%s' instead." (car obsolete))))
! 		(terpri))
! 	      ;; mention if it's an alias, unless the variable it is an alias
! 	      ;; for is already mentioned in the obsolescence note
! 	      (let ((alias (condition-case nil
! 			       (indirect-variable variable)
! 			     (error variable))))
! 		(unless (or (eq alias variable)
! 			    (eq alias (car obsolete)))
! 		  (princ (format "This variable is an alias for `%s'." alias))
! 		  (terpri))))
  	    (let ((doc (documentation-property variable 'variable-documentation)))
  	      (princ (or doc "Not documented as a variable.")))
! 
  	    ;; Make a link to customize if this variable can be customized.
  	    ;; Note, it is not reliable to test only for a custom-type property
  	    ;; because those are only present after the var's definition


-- 
John Paul Wallington