From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Path: news.gmane.io!.POSTED.blaine.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: Eli Zaretskii Newsgroups: gmane.emacs.help Subject: Re: pdf-tools documentation Date: Sun, 20 Jun 2021 09:54:01 +0300 Message-ID: <83im29uiuu.fsf@gnu.org> References: <87wnqp35b8.fsf@fastmail.fm> Injection-Info: ciao.gmane.io; posting-host="blaine.gmane.org:116.202.254.214"; logging-data="28857"; mail-complaints-to="usenet@ciao.gmane.io" To: help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org Original-X-From: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+geh-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane-mx.org@gnu.org Sun Jun 20 08:54:18 2021 Return-path: Envelope-to: geh-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane-mx.org Original-Received: from lists.gnu.org ([209.51.188.17]) by ciao.gmane.io with esmtps (TLS1.2:ECDHE_RSA_AES_256_GCM_SHA384:256) (Exim 4.92) (envelope-from ) id 1lurLV-0007Ha-M1 for geh-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane-mx.org; Sun, 20 Jun 2021 08:54:17 +0200 Original-Received: from localhost ([::1]:57430 helo=lists1p.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.90_1) (envelope-from ) id 1lurLU-0007dj-Dx for geh-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane-mx.org; Sun, 20 Jun 2021 02:54:16 -0400 Original-Received: from eggs.gnu.org ([2001:470:142:3::10]:54394) by lists.gnu.org with esmtps (TLS1.2:ECDHE_RSA_AES_256_GCM_SHA384:256) (Exim 4.90_1) (envelope-from ) id 1lurL3-0007db-JP for help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org; Sun, 20 Jun 2021 02:53:49 -0400 Original-Received: from fencepost.gnu.org ([2001:470:142:3::e]:59566) by eggs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.90_1) (envelope-from ) id 1lurL3-000512-7r for help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org; Sun, 20 Jun 2021 02:53:49 -0400 Original-Received: from 84.94.185.95.cable.012.net.il ([84.94.185.95]:2163 helo=home-c4e4a596f7) by fencepost.gnu.org with esmtpsa (TLS1.2:ECDHE_RSA_AES_256_GCM_SHA384:256) (Exim 4.90_1) (envelope-from ) id 1lurL2-0001u3-QS for help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org; Sun, 20 Jun 2021 02:53:49 -0400 In-Reply-To: <87wnqp35b8.fsf@fastmail.fm> (message from Joost Kremers on Sat, 19 Jun 2021 22:50:32 +0200) X-BeenThere: help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.23 Precedence: list List-Id: Users list for the GNU Emacs text editor List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+geh-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane-mx.org@gnu.org Original-Sender: "help-gnu-emacs" Xref: news.gmane.io gmane.emacs.help:131078 Archived-At: > From: Joost Kremers > Date: Sat, 19 Jun 2021 22:50:32 +0200 > Cc: help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org > > There's a few things you can try, though. `C-h P` (`describe-package`) asks for > a package name and shows you the description that is provided in the package's > source code. Some packages have a lot of info there, some very little. > > Other packages provide an info manual: `C-h i` takes you to the main info node, > there you can check if your package has an info manual. > > In the case of pdf-tools, `C-h P` gives you the same info that is present in > Github, and there is no info manual, so neither method will help you... > > The next thing to do is then to see what key bindings are present. If you do > `C-h m` (`describe-mode`) you'll get a description of the minor modes and the > major mode in the current buffer. There is usually a lot of irrelevant > information there, so you'll need to search a bit for what you are looking for. > The major mode is discussed first, though, and there is a list of keybindings. > > The overview of keybindings only shows the commands that the keys execute, but > often the names are fairly self-explanatory, and clicking on a command usually > shows you a description. > > If you have a completion package that shows you a list of candidates (I use > selectrum myself, but there are several other options), typing `M-x pdf-tools` > will give you a list of commands that have `pdf-tools` in their name, which can > also be a good way to look for something specific. > > Sometimes, the menu-bar menu can be helpful as well. If you've disabled the menu > bar, you can still access the menu with F10. > > Other useful things to know: `C-h c` lets you type a key and tells you which > command is bound to it. More useful perhaps is `C-h k`, which lets you type a > key and displays the documentation of the command that's bound to it. > > In the end, the quality of the documentation really depends on the package > author, however... Excellent and comprehensive advice, but please don't forget that reading the package source, at least some of it, is also a powerful means for learning about a package. That's why Free Software is a win for users: you have all the information before you, whether the author wants that or not.