`i' in Info: get combo index tailored to input

`i' in Info: get combo index tailored to input

[Drew Adams]

Feature suggestion for `i' in Info - it could be bound to `C-u i':

Display a list (with links) of all index entries that match the user's
input, grouped by index.  This would, in effect, be a combined index
specialized to the user's input.  It would combine the subsets of each
index that match the user input.

For the input `truncate' in the Emacs manual, for instance, you would
see something like this:

 Command Index

 * comint-truncate-buffer
 * toggle-truncate-lines

 Variable Index

 * truncate-lines
 * truncate-partial-width-windows

For some contexts, this would be more convenient than having to cycle
blindly with `,' - seeing only how many other entries there are (not
what they are and what indexes they occur in).

It would also obviate the minor annoyance of sequentially accessing
multiple matching entries that go to the same target, such as the two
entries that match the input `truncate-lines', one from the Variable
Index and the other from the Command Index, and which go to the same
node.  With ordinary `i' and `,', you need to cycle among the matches
to discover this overlap.


[FWIW - In Icicles, you can get this behavior, with the exception that
the entries are not grouped by index.  You use `i' with completion to
get a set of nodes that match your input.  Then you create a virtual
book (a menu) of those nodes.  For the example above, this is what you
get:

 File: toc,  Node: Top,  Up: (dir)

 Virtual Book
 ************

 * Menu:

 * comint-truncate-buffer (emacs)
 * toggle-truncate-lines (emacs)
 * truncate-lines (emacs)
 * truncate-partial-width-windows (emacs)

]

Re: `i' in Info: get combo index tailored to input

[Juri Linkov]

> Feature suggestion for `i' in Info - it could be bound to `C-u i':
>
> Display a list (with links) of all index entries that match the user's
> input, grouped by index.  This would, in effect, be a combined index
> specialized to the user's input.  It would combine the subsets of each
> index that match the user input.

This is implemented by `Info-index-occur':
http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2007-09/msg02065.html
Since the trunk is now opened for development, I'll prepare and submit
a patch soon.

-- 
Juri Linkov
http://www.jurta.org/emacs/

RE: `i' in Info: get combo index tailored to input

[Drew Adams]

> > Feature suggestion for `i' in Info - it could be bound to `C-u i':
> >
> > Display a list (with links) of all index entries that match 
> > the user's input, grouped by index.  This would, in effect,
> > be a combined index specialized to the user's input.  It
> > would combine the subsets of each index that match the user input.
> 
> This is implemented by `Info-index-occur':
> http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2007-09/msg02065.html
> Since the trunk is now opened for development, I'll prepare and submit
> a patch soon.

Oh, right - guess I forgot about it.

How about binding it to `C-u i', as a variant of the normal index search?
Assuming it gets added, that is... Thx.

Re: `i' in Info: get combo index tailored to input

[Juri Linkov]

>> > Feature suggestion for `i' in Info - it could be bound to `C-u i':
>> >
>> > Display a list (with links) of all index entries that match
>> > the user's input, grouped by index.  This would, in effect,
>> > be a combined index specialized to the user's input.  It
>> > would combine the subsets of each index that match the user input.
>>
>> This is implemented by `Info-index-occur':
>> http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2007-09/msg02065.html
>> Since the trunk is now opened for development, I'll prepare and submit
>> a patch soon.
>
> Oh, right - guess I forgot about it.
>
> How about binding it to `C-u i', as a variant of the normal index search?
> Assuming it gets added, that is... Thx.

In http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.emacs.devel/79561 you suggested to bind
it to `I'.  I like your initial suggestion for the same reasons you described:

  1. It would be useful to have an Info command, say bound to `I', that would
  do for index lookup what `L' (Info-history) does for chronological
  navigation. You would type a regexp, and it would show you a buffer similar
  to the `Recently Visited Nodes' buffer of `L'.

-- 
Juri Linkov
http://www.jurta.org/emacs/

RE: `i' in Info: get combo index tailored to input

[Drew Adams]

> > How about binding it to `C-u i', as a variant of the normal 
> > index search? Assuming it gets added, that is... Thx.
> 
> In http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.emacs.devel/79561 you
> suggested to bind it to `I'.  I like your initial
> suggestion for the same reasons you described:
> 
>   1. It would be useful to have an Info command, say bound to 
>   `I', that would do for index lookup what `L' (Info-history)
>   does for chronological navigation. You would type a regexp,
>   and it would show you a buffer similar to the `Recently
>   Visited Nodes' buffer of `L'.

Yes, fine by me.

RE: `i' in Info: get combo index tailored to input

[Drew Adams]

 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: emacs-devel-bounces+drew.adams=oracle.com@gnu.org 
> [mailto:emacs-devel-bounces+drew.adams=oracle.com@gnu.org] On 
> Behalf Of Drew Adams
> Sent: Sunday, June 28, 2009 4:17 PM
> To: 'Juri Linkov'
> Cc: emacs-devel@gnu.org
> Subject: RE: `i' in Info: get combo index tailored to input
> 
> > > How about binding it to `C-u i', as a variant of the normal 
> > > index search? Assuming it gets added, that is... Thx.
> > 
> > In http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.emacs.devel/79561 you
> > suggested to bind it to `I'.  I like your initial
> > suggestion for the same reasons you described:
> > 
> >   1. It would be useful to have an Info command, say bound to 
> >   `I', that would do for index lookup what `L' (Info-history)
> >   does for chronological navigation. You would type a regexp,
> >   and it would show you a buffer similar to the `Recently
> >   Visited Nodes' buffer of `L'.
> 
> Yes, fine by me.

On the other hand, it might be good to mention `I' on the doc string of `i', and
`L' on the doc string of `l' and `r'. Otherwise, users are less likely to
discover these closely related commands. (That's an advantage that C-u has,
otherwise: users can find out about it when they do C-h k i.)