a few minor issues with manuals ...

a few minor issues with manuals ...

[martin rudalics]

(1) Elisp manual section 6.1 "Sequences" has in its first paragraph the
following sentence:

      This section describes functions that accept any kind of sequence.

In the same section you find the following description:

  -- Function: string-bytes string
      This function returns the number of bytes in STRING.  If STRING is
      a multibyte string, this is greater than `(length STRING)'.

I consider this contradictory and either the sentence above should be
changed appropriately or `string-bytes' moved to section 4 (where I'd
expect to find it in the first place).


(2) Elisp manual section 16.5 "Evaluation During Compilation" contains
the following sentence:

      They can be defined while compiling, but then not needed when
      executing.

Either the formulation is wrong or I fail to understand this.


(3) Elisp manual section 35.6.5 "Parameters to Control Parsing" has

  -- User Option: parse-sexp-ignore-comments
      If the value is non-`nil', then comments are treated as whitespace
      by the functions in this section and by `forward-sexp'.

which is slightly misleading.  I'd rewrite the last line as

      by `scan-lists', `scan-sexps', and `forward-sexp'.


(4) Elisp manual section 38.9.3 "Searching for Overlays" contains the
following example:

      (defun find-overlay-prop (prop)
        (save-excursion
          (while (and (not (eobp))
                      (not (get-char-property (point) prop)))
            (goto-char (min (next-overlay-change (point))
                            (next-single-property-change (point) prop))))
          (point)))

This example is misleading since to search for the next change of a text
or overlay property `next-single-char-property-change' is far superior.
`find-overlay-prop' may render execution time proportional to two times
the size of the buffer.


(5) Emacs manual section 58.3.4.2 "Safety of File Variables" contains
the sentence:

      The default is `maybe', which is neither `t' nor `nil', so normally
      Emacs does ask for confirmation about processes `eval' variables.

Presumably "processes" should be "processing" here.

Re: a few minor issues with manuals ...

[Richard Stallman]

Thanks for noting these.

    This example is misleading since to search for the next change of a text
    or overlay property `next-single-char-property-change' is far superior.

I think that `next-single-char-property-change' did not exist when that
example was written.