Re: Trying to find the status of auto-fill-mode in a buffer

[Alexandros Prekates <aprekates@posteo.net>]

Regarding the discussion about the naming, i dont have the experience
in lisp and elisp but i think i can try to convey what perhaps is
the difficulty here for me as a newbie.

the C-h f auto-fill-mode says 
  To check whether the minor mode is enabled in the current buffer,
     ^^^^^                           ^^^^^^^        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
   evaluate (the variable) ‘auto-fill-function’
   ^^^^^^^^   (+master)          ^^^^^^^^

So on one hand i think it would be reasonable my mind to think of a
state-like variable (not a function) . In that state i think
a boolean variable auto-fill-mode-activation-state would make more
sense to me. 

But then i think i step into a possible semanticaly foggy area. Emacs
tells  me that to find the state of a minor mode lets:
'evaluate' sth called 'auto-fill-function'
Reading the current discussion and reading more carefully :
C-h f auto-fill-mode 
C-h v auto-fill-function
       auto-fill-function is a variable defined in ‘C source code’.
C-v f auto-fill-function 
      auto-fill-function is a native-compiled Lisp function in
    ‘simple.el’. 
and do-auto-fill is a native-compiled Lisp function in ‘simple.el’


What i understand vaguely is that emacs uses the value of a variable
that holds or points to the function that does the actual auto-fill
and if it has nil value that means that the mode is not active in the
current buffer.(i wonder if that is an idiosyncratic way to tell if 
a mode is active or used often). 
But i get the feeling (a hunch) that we are in a borderline world
where C land semantics mix with the Lisp land ones. 
For example i dont see the word 'symbol'.


----------
Thanks to Marcin for bringing to my attention the coding convention
regarding 'auto-fill-function'.

Thanks to Arsen for bringing to my attention C-j.

As for M-: that Michael suggested i have currently a keyboard
conflict that wont allow me to enter that key.