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  • [parent not found: <<E1aFVL3-0000Fj-8h@fencepost.gnu.org>]
  • * Please post older versions of GNU Emacs manuals on the web
    @ 2016-01-02 16:46 Drew Adams
      2016-01-02 17:01 ` Eli Zaretskii
                       ` (5 more replies)
      0 siblings, 6 replies; 18+ messages in thread
    From: Drew Adams @ 2016-01-02 16:46 UTC (permalink / raw)
      To: emacs-devel
    
    If you have a version of GNU Emacs older than 24.4 then you are
    lucky to still have `defadvice' documented in the Elisp manual.
    
    (This useful doc _never_ should have been removed from the manual.
    But that is not the point of this post.)
    
    Suppose you are using Emacs 24.3 (or Emacs 23 or...).  You visit
    the Elisp manual and you use `i defadvice' to visit the advice doc.
    
    You want to visit the same manual section on line (HTTP).  Perhaps
    you want to bookmark it for use when you do not have Emacs available.
    Or maybe you want to send the URL to someone or post it in online
    Emacs help.  Or maybe you want to print some of the HTML pages.
    
    Here's the rub.  Only the manuals for the latest Emacs release
    are available on line.  And because Emacs (unwisely) removed the
    doc for `defadvice', you are out of luck.  There is no online doc
    for you.
    
    Can GNU Emacs not provide its users with the doc for more
    than one release on line?  How hard and how costly is that?
    
    In many cases providing this service is maybe not so important,
    because Emacs tends to add more than it subtracts (mostly
    monotonic).  But in a case such as the wholesale decapitation
    of `defadvice' doc you are really out of luck on the web.
    
    Wrt `defadvice', the big concession that was made was to
    keep the doc in the Lisp source code, as comments.  That's
    piss-poor IMHO, but at least it shows some contrition for
    the sin of removing useful doc from users.
    
    How about posting multiple versions of the Emacs doc on line?
    
    ---
    
    FWIW, I use a simple command, bound to `G' in Info, to
    visit the current Info node on the web.  Sounds silly, but
    I use it several times a day, to provide links in answers
    I give to online Emacs questions.  (Of course, I also tell
    users the preferred method of accessing the doc, `C-h i'.)
    
    (defun Info-goto-node-web (node &optional flip-new-win)
      "Use `browse-url' to go to Info node NODE using a Web browser.
    With a prefix arg, reverse the effect of option
    option`browse-url-new-window-flag'.
    
    NODE is the name of a node in the GNU Emacs or Elisp manual.
    Alternatively, NODE can have the form (MANUAL)NODE, where MANUAL is
    \"emacs\" or \"elisp\" and NODE is the name of the node in that
    manual.  Empty NODE in (MANUAL) defaults to the `Top' node."
      (interactive
        (list (Info-read-node-name "Go to node: " Info-current-node)
              current-prefix-arg))
      (require 'browse-url)
      (unless Info-current-file
        (error "This command must be invoked from Info"))
      (browse-url (Info-url-for-node node)
                  (list (if flip-new-win
                            (not browse-url-new-window-flag)
                          browse-url-new-window-flag))))
    
    
    
    ^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 18+ messages in thread

    end of thread, other threads:[~2016-01-04  3:15 UTC | newest]
    
    Thread overview: 18+ messages (download: mbox.gz follow: Atom feed
    -- links below jump to the message on this page --
         [not found] <<1e249214-6831-4c2b-98a4-d16a6d1d7048@default>
         [not found] ` <<83a8onc3vc.fsf@gnu.org>
    2016-01-02 17:19   ` Please post older versions of GNU Emacs manuals on the web Drew Adams
    2016-01-03  6:33     ` Ivan Shmakov
         [not found] ` <<E1aFVL3-0000Fj-8h@fencepost.gnu.org>
    2016-01-02 23:16   ` Drew Adams
    2016-01-02 16:46 Drew Adams
    2016-01-02 17:01 ` Eli Zaretskii
    2016-01-02 17:11 ` John Wiegley
    2016-01-02 17:19   ` Drew Adams
    2016-01-04  3:15     ` Richard Stallman
    2016-01-02 23:11 ` Richard Stallman
    2016-01-03  3:57   ` John Wiegley
    2016-01-03  4:09     ` Drew Adams
    2016-01-03  4:18     ` raman
    2016-01-03 10:55     ` David Kastrup
    2016-01-03 16:34       ` Drew Adams
    2016-01-03  2:07 ` Xue Fuqiao
    2016-01-03  3:14 ` raman
    2016-01-03  3:32   ` Drew Adams
    2016-01-03  7:08 ` Teemu Likonen
    

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