-f/--funcall and --batch and keyboard macros

-f/--funcall and --batch and keyboard macros

[Kevin Rodgers]

etc/NEWS says:

	* Startup Changes in Emacs 22.1
	...
	** The -f option, used from the command line to call a function,
	now reads arguments for the function interactively if it is
	an interactively callable function.

1. Should a command's arguments be read interactively (presumably from
    standard input) when emacs is invoked with --batch?  That seems to be
    what Emacs does.

2. When the function/command is actually a keyboard macro, the commands
    it runs are called interactively even though the keyboard macro
    specifies its arguments.  For example, evaluating this (via --eval or
    --load)

	(fset 'myfunction (kbd "C-x C-f foo.bar RET"))

    followed by --funcall myfunction causes Emacs to prompt with
    "Find file: " when --batch is also specified (but when --batch
    isn't specified, Emacs visits foo.bar as expected).

Thanks,
-- 
Kevin Rodgers

Re: -f/--funcall and --batch and keyboard macros

[Richard Stallman]

    1. Should a command's arguments be read interactively (presumably from
	standard input) when emacs is invoked with --batch?  That seems to be
	what Emacs does.

It does in fact work to read the arguments from stdin.  And if the
command needs to read arguments, it needs to read them _somehow_ in
this case.

Overall I think that it is correct to read the arguments from stdin.

    2. When the function/command is actually a keyboard macro, the commands
	it runs are called interactively even though the keyboard macro
	specifies its arguments.  For example, evaluating this (via --eval or
	--load)

	    (fset 'myfunction (kbd "C-x C-f foo.bar RET"))

	followed by --funcall myfunction causes Emacs to prompt with
	"Find file: " when --batch is also specified (but when --batch
	isn't specified, Emacs visits foo.bar as expected).

That case is clearly a bug.  I think I have fixed it.