From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Path: quimby.gnus.org!not-for-mail From: "Robert J. Chassell" Newsgroups: gmane.emacs.devel Subject: Re: texinfo-all-menus-update Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2002 15:51:21 +0000 (UTC) Message-ID: References: <20020205.090225.69697435.wl@gnu.org> Reply-To: bob@rattlesnake.com NNTP-Posting-Host: quimby2.netfonds.no X-Trace: quimby2.netfonds.no 1014048469 28739 195.204.10.66 (18 Feb 2002 16:07:49 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@quimby2.netfonds.no NNTP-Posting-Date: 18 Feb 2002 16:07:49 GMT Cc: emacs-devel@gnu.org Original-Received: from fencepost.gnu.org ([199.232.76.164]) by quimby2.netfonds.no with esmtp (Exim 3.12 #1 (Debian)) id 16cqKS-0007TR-00 for ; Mon, 18 Feb 2002 17:07:48 +0100 Original-Received: from localhost ([127.0.0.1] helo=fencepost.gnu.org) by fencepost.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 3.33 #1 (Debian)) id 16cq7M-0001mG-00; Mon, 18 Feb 2002 10:54:16 -0500 Original-Received: from megalith.rattlesnake.com ([140.186.114.245] helo=localhost) by fencepost.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 3.33 #1 (Debian)) id 16cq4Y-0001i1-00; Mon, 18 Feb 2002 10:51:23 -0500 Original-Received: by rattlesnake.com via sendmail from stdin id (Debian Smail3.2.0.114) for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Mon, 18 Feb 2002 15:51:21 +0000 (UTC) Original-To: wl@gnu.org In-reply-to: <20020205.090225.69697435.wl@gnu.org> (message from Werner LEMBERG on Tue, 05 Feb 2002 09:02:25 +0100 (CET)) Errors-To: emacs-devel-admin@gnu.org X-BeenThere: emacs-devel@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.5 Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Emacs development discussions. List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Xref: quimby.gnus.org gmane.emacs.devel:1288 X-Report-Spam: http://spam.gmane.org/gmane.emacs.devel:1288 >> Is there any reason why texinfo-all-menus-update produces >> trailing whitespace after the menu entries? >> >> No reason. It is a bug. I never noticed it doing that, and am >> glad you found it. I dislike trailing whitespace. On looking at it again, I found the reason for the trailing whitespace after the menu entries (or at least one of the reasons). The whitespace is intended as a feature. The whitespace is designed to make it easier to write a descriptive phrase or sentence that explains what the node is about, either directly or with the help of the `texinfo-start-menu-description' command. You start the description after the whitespace, which provides an indent to a specificed column, so all your descriptions are lined up. (See the Texinfo Info File, Node: Menu Parts, and Node: Inserting; or the printed Texinfo Manual Section: `The Parts of a Menu' and `Inserting Frequently Used Commands'.) In general, menus should contain descriptions, even though technically they are optional. This is because node names and section titles are often too short to explain the node well. The whitespace comes from the `texinfo-insert-menu' command which, as its documentation says, Indents the first line of the description, if any, to the value of texinfo-column-for-description. The `texinfo-all-menus-update', `texinfo-master-menu', and `texinfo-make-menu' commands all call the `texinfo-insert-menu' command. Also, they automatically incorporate the descriptions from pre-existing menus, if they exist. The design question is whether `texinfo-all-menus-update' should make it easier to add descriptions to menu entries that lack them; or whether the command should make it easier to avoid adding such descriptions. I favor menu entries with descriptions. Consequently, I have changed my mind and suggest treating the current functionality as a feature rather than as a bug. As you work on a Texinfo document, you can remove all trailing whitespace with the `delete-trailing-whitespace' command. (For convenience I have bound a function key to that command; I use it frequently.) -- Robert J. Chassell bob@rattlesnake.com Rattlesnake Enterprises http://www.rattlesnake.com _______________________________________________ Emacs-devel mailing list Emacs-devel@gnu.org http://mail.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/emacs-devel