Re: display.texi: (<line>,<col>) isn't documented.

[Alan Mackenzie <acm@muc.de>]

Hi, Drew!

I'd absolutely no idea I was starting a discussion like this.  ;-)

There's something about your post which I think is epistemologically
inexact.  [I've been wanting to get that word into a post for years, now.
:-]

On Thu, Jun 07, 2007 at 10:18:42AM -0700, Drew Adams wrote:

[ .... ]

> I think explicit units help, and are consistent and clear also when only one
> unit is used (25c). I think they should be placed after the numbers, not
> before: 12<line-unit>25<column-unit>. So, 12L25C or 12l25c or 12y25x or some
> such. If we can spare a space, then it is even more readable: 12L 25C.

"Lines" and "Columns" here aren't units - they're identifying
information.  If the cursor is on L168, that's in no way 4 times its
being on L42.  As an analogy, you might live at "flat 15" in a block of
flats.  That's not "15 flats", it's not a unit of measurement; it's
merely a label, and if building work happened, you might suddenly find
yourself living at "flat 30", for which you wouldn't want to pay twice
the rent.  You might tell a visitor to come in through the front door, up
the stairs, then you live at the third flat on the left.  Here, "flat" IS
being used as a unit.

Note the difference in order:  "flat 15" vs. "the third flat".

> Uppercase letters such as L and C are hard to separate visually from the
> digits. Using l and c risks confusion between l and 1.

Think how much worse it would have been for the ancient Romans.  ;-)

[ .... ]

> I prefer 25x 12y (or 12y 25x), personally, but I can live with any of
> the proposals, including what we have now. Let the Grand Gnu choose.

It's also worth stating that sophisticated Emacs users can set these
things up however they like, so it's not that big a deal.  I can also
live with (most of) what's been discussed.

-- 
Alan Mackenzie.