From: Alan Mackenzie <acm@muc.de>
To: Tassilo Horn <tassilo@member.fsf.org>
Cc: emacs-pretest-bug@gnu.org, 2058@emacsbugs.donarmstrong.com
Subject: bug#2058: 23.0.60; bewildering behavior when visit new file throw.pdf
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2009 14:42:20 +0000 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <20090127144220.GA6134@muc.de> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <87ab9ckjgd.fsf@thinkpad.tsdh.de>
Hi, Tassilo,
On Tue, Jan 27, 2009 at 01:43:46PM +0100, Tassilo Horn wrote:
> Alan Mackenzie <acm@muc.de> writes:
> Hi Alan,
> >> > I did C-x C-f throw.pdf, with no existing file throw.pdf. The
> >> > ensuing messages and interaction were bewildering.
> >> Is that really a use-case?
> > No, it's an error case. The user wanted to visit throw.ldf, which is
> > a text based document format used only in his own company. But he
> > mistyped it. He also knows nothing about png images, and really
> > doesn't want to have to learn.
> But how should I know that. The best I can do is to handle non-existing
> and empty files.
Does an empty/non-existent file have any meaning in this mode? Is
doc-view-mode an editing mode as well as a viewing mode?
> >> > But the new, empty file throw.pdf appeared to be visited with no
> >> > problem. I tried to type into it. That threw me back to the previous
> >> > buffer I had been in (Dired), and crazy error msgs were displayed.
> >> The buffer was in doc-view-mode which has its own keymap, and most
> >> probably you've hit k or q, which kills/buries the buffer.
> > What on earth is doc-view-mode? Hmm. C-h f doc-view-mode <CR>. ;-(
> Emacs 23.
Yes, I know. :-) I was looking at the doc string in doc-view.el from
2009-01-05. Here's the output from that C-h f:
doc-view-mode is an interactive autoloaded Lisp function in
`doc-view.el'.
(doc-view-mode)
Major mode in DocView buffers.
You can use
Uses keymap "doc-view-mode-map", which is not currently defined.
M-x doc-view-toggle-display to
toggle between displaying the document or editing it as text.
Uses keymap "doc-view-mode-map", which is not currently defined.
It doesn't work well before the `doc-view-mode-map' keymap is loaded.
But mainly, it doesn't say at all what doc-view-mode is for. Could you
maybe put something about the mode's purpose into the doc string?
Possibly this comment from doc-view.el:
;; DocView is a document viewer for Emacs. It converts PDF, PS and DVI files
;; to a set of PNG files, one PNG for each page, and displays the PNG images
;; inside an Emacs buffer. This buffer uses `doc-view-mode' which provides
;; convenient key bindings for browsing the document.
, or more succinctly:
Doc View Mode is an Emacs document viewer. It displays PDF, PS and
DVI files (as PNG images) in Emacs buffers.
> >> Sure. So what's your advice how to handle this situation? Check if
> >> the file is existent (and non-empty) and if not, print a message and
> >> fallback to fundamental mode?
> > Whatever is done, don't force the poor bewildered user to make a
> > decision. Perform whatever error handling is appropriate and display
> > a message, and let her get out without further ado.
> The message is no problem, but what to do with the open request. Open
> the (presumably) mistyped file in fundamental-mode?
That's more or less what the .gzip mode (can't remember it's exact name)
does - it displays the raw unintelligible file.
> > "... to switch to an editing mode " is particularly bad. It should be
> > less vague, stating the mode (text mode?).
> Well, it's ps-mode for PostScript files and fundamental-mode for PDF and
> DVI files. Making that explicit would enlarge the message even more...
Er, "... to switch to ps-mode" and "... to switch to fundamental mode"
are shorter. Surely you can determine the exact prompt at run time?
> > "... to open a buffer showing the doc as text" would be better as "to
> > show the doc as text".
> Will be fixed as soon as I come to it.
> Bye,
> Tassilo
Bis später!
--
Alan Mackenzie (Nuremberg, Germany).
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2009-01-27 14:42 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 13+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
[not found] <mailman.5816.1232925816.26697.bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org>
2009-01-27 9:55 ` bug#2058: 23.0.60; bewildering behavior when visit new file throw.pdf Tassilo Horn
2009-01-27 12:02 ` Alan Mackenzie
2009-01-27 12:43 ` Tassilo Horn
2009-01-27 14:42 ` Alan Mackenzie [this message]
2009-01-27 14:46 ` Tassilo Horn
2009-01-27 16:03 ` Tassilo Horn
2009-01-27 16:20 ` Drew Adams
2009-01-28 8:48 ` Kevin Rodgers
[not found] ` <mailman.6064.1233133417.26697.bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org>
2009-01-28 20:28 ` Tassilo Horn
2009-01-27 15:44 ` Drew Adams
2009-01-27 22:58 ` Richard M Stallman
2009-01-28 7:45 ` Tassilo Horn
2009-01-25 23:09 Drew Adams
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