How use info

How use info

[g.castaldi]

Hi,
I like use emacs beacause is really powerful but a weakness I've found
is that the help, the info pages, aren't so easy to use.
For example now I need to find out how I can put a conditon based on
the operating system in my .emacs. I don't know where to look for but I
suppose that if I could search on all the info pages the worlds 'os'
and 'operating system' I found the right pages.
Instead, if I've understood good, with info I can only:
* navigate among the pages
* execute a search by index (i), I've tried several searchs but it
didn't find anything, even if 'emacs', 'command' and 'lisp' (I'm using
emacs 21.3 under windows)
* execute a search with 's', but it searchs only in the current node

I'm right or I haven't find the info command I need?
And if I'm right what do you do when you need to search an info but you
don't know where to search?

Thanks a lot.

Giannandrea

Re: How use info

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: "g.castaldi@gmail.com" <g.castaldi@gmail.com>
> Date: 18 Dec 2004 01:54:48 -0800
> 
> I like use emacs beacause is really powerful but a weakness I've found
> is that the help, the info pages, aren't so easy to use.

Any other complaints except the search capabilities (which I hope I
clarify below)?  I mean, ``info pages aren't so easy to use'' says
something much more general than just search, right?

> For example now I need to find out how I can put a conditon based on
> the operating system in my .emacs. I don't know where to look for but I
> suppose that if I could search on all the info pages the worlds 'os'
> and 'operating system' I found the right pages.
> Instead, if I've understood good, with info I can only:
> * navigate among the pages
> * execute a search by index (i), I've tried several searchs but it
> didn't find anything, even if 'emacs', 'command' and 'lisp' (I'm using
> emacs 21.3 under windows)
> * execute a search with 's', but it searchs only in the current node

First, `s' searches the entire manual, not only the current node.  If
it doesn't work for you, please tell the details: what you typed and
why you decided that it stops at the current node.

And second, using `i' is _precisely_ the right idea.  It's just that
you tried to search a wrong manual.  You should have tried looking
this in the ELisp manual, which is where Lisp programming issues are
documented.  I've just typed `i operating system RET' in the ELisp
manual, and immediately found myself on the very page that documents
the variables that one can use for OS-specific code.

> what do you do when you need to search an info but you don't know
> where to search?

Use the `i' command, of course ;-)