From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Path: news.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: Alan Mackenzie Newsgroups: gmane.emacs.devel Subject: Re: display.texi: (,) isn't documented. Date: Thu, 7 Jun 2007 21:26:24 +0100 Message-ID: <20070607202624.GA1264@muc.de> References: <87y7ivkago.fsf@debby.local.net> NNTP-Posting-Host: lo.gmane.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Trace: sea.gmane.org 1181242922 17290 80.91.229.12 (7 Jun 2007 19:02:02 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@sea.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Thu, 7 Jun 2007 19:02:02 +0000 (UTC) Cc: emacs-devel@gnu.org To: Drew Adams Original-X-From: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Thu Jun 07 21:02:01 2007 Return-path: Envelope-to: ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane.org Original-Received: from lists.gnu.org ([199.232.76.165]) by lo.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 4.50) id 1HwNEt-0001gd-Jw for ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane.org; Thu, 07 Jun 2007 21:01:43 +0200 Original-Received: from localhost ([127.0.0.1] helo=lists.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.43) id 1HwNEt-0003RU-7u for ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane.org; Thu, 07 Jun 2007 15:01:43 -0400 Original-Received: from mailman by lists.gnu.org with tmda-scanned (Exim 4.43) id 1HwNEY-0003I9-8y for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Thu, 07 Jun 2007 15:01:22 -0400 Original-Received: from exim by lists.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.43) id 1HwNEW-0003HT-T3 for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Thu, 07 Jun 2007 15:01:22 -0400 Original-Received: from [199.232.76.173] (helo=monty-python.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.43) id 1HwNEW-0003HN-MR for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Thu, 07 Jun 2007 15:01:20 -0400 Original-Received: from colin.muc.de ([193.149.48.1] helo=mail.muc.de) by monty-python.gnu.org with esmtps (TLS-1.0:DHE_RSA_AES_256_CBC_SHA1:32) (Exim 4.60) (envelope-from ) id 1HwNEV-0005aX-TO for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Thu, 07 Jun 2007 15:01:20 -0400 Original-Received: (qmail 88114 invoked by uid 3782); 7 Jun 2007 19:01:16 -0000 Original-Received: from acm.muc.de (p54A3E72D.dip.t-dialin.net [84.163.231.45]) by colin2.muc.de (tmda-ofmipd) with ESMTP; Thu, 07 Jun 2007 21:01:14 +0200 Original-Received: (qmail 1684 invoked by uid 1000); 7 Jun 2007 20:26:24 -0000 Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.9i X-Delivery-Agent: TMDA/1.1.5 (Fettercairn) X-Primary-Address: acm@muc.de X-detected-kernel: FreeBSD 4.6-4.9 X-BeenThere: emacs-devel@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: "Emacs development discussions." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Original-Sender: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Errors-To: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Xref: news.gmane.org gmane.emacs.devel:72433 Archived-At: 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: 1225. 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.