bug#42776: Obscure documentation of `edebug-form-data' in edebug.el

bug#42776: Obscure documentation of `edebug-form-data' in edebug.el

[Alan Mackenzie]

Hello, Emacs.

In the master branch:

The doc string of edebug-form-data begins thusly:

     "A list of entries associating symbols with buffer regions.
      Each entry is an `edebug--form-data' struct with fields:
      SYMBOL, BEGIN-MARKER, and END-MARKER.  The markers
      are at the beginning and end of an entry level form and SYMBOL is
      a symbol that holds all edebug related information for the form on its
      property list."
 
The following extract from this is obscure: "...the beginning and end of
an entry level form ...."

What in heaven or earth is an "entry level form"?  What is it for?

Less major questions are: What is the nature of the "association" of the
symbols with the buffer regions?  Which buffer gets its regions
associated?

It seems the only way to make sense of this doc string is by reading
edebug.el's source to find out what it means.  This isn't what doc
strings are supposed to be for.

This is a bug.

-- 
Alan Mackenzie (Nuremberg, Germany).

bug#42776: Obscure documentation of `edebug-form-data' in edebug.el

[Lars Ingebrigtsen]

Alan Mackenzie <acm@muc.de> writes:

> The doc string of edebug-form-data begins thusly:
>
>      "A list of entries associating symbols with buffer regions.
>       Each entry is an `edebug--form-data' struct with fields:
>       SYMBOL, BEGIN-MARKER, and END-MARKER.  The markers
>       are at the beginning and end of an entry level form and SYMBOL is
>       a symbol that holds all edebug related information for the form on its
>       property list."
>
> The following extract from this is obscure: "...the beginning and end of
> an entry level form ...."
>
> What in heaven or earth is an "entry level form"?  What is it for?

I'm guessing that's just a typo for "of a form"?

> Less major questions are: What is the nature of the "association" of the
> symbols with the buffer regions?  Which buffer gets its regions
> associated?
>
> It seems the only way to make sense of this doc string is by reading
> edebug.el's source to find out what it means.  This isn't what doc
> strings are supposed to be for.

I'm not extremely familiar with the edebug data structures -- can
somebody clarify this doc string?

-- 
(domestic pets only, the antidote for overdose, milk.)
   bloggy blog: http://lars.ingebrigtsen.no

bug#42776: Obscure documentation of `edebug-form-data' in edebug.el

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi@gnus.org>
> Date: Wed, 09 Dec 2020 14:37:20 +0100
> Cc: 42776@debbugs.gnu.org
> 
> Alan Mackenzie <acm@muc.de> writes:
> 
> > The doc string of edebug-form-data begins thusly:
> >
> >      "A list of entries associating symbols with buffer regions.
> >       Each entry is an `edebug--form-data' struct with fields:
> >       SYMBOL, BEGIN-MARKER, and END-MARKER.  The markers
> >       are at the beginning and end of an entry level form and SYMBOL is
> >       a symbol that holds all edebug related information for the form on its
> >       property list."
> >
> > The following extract from this is obscure: "...the beginning and end of
> > an entry level form ...."
> >
> > What in heaven or earth is an "entry level form"?  What is it for?
> 
> I'm guessing that's just a typo for "of a form"?

"Of an instrumented form", I guess?  Any reason not to modify the doc
string with that?

> > Less major questions are: What is the nature of the "association" of the
> > symbols with the buffer regions?  Which buffer gets its regions
> > associated?

The buffer in which the instrumented form lives.  IOW, the source code
of the form you instrumented.

bug#42776: Obscure documentation of `edebug-form-data' in edebug.el

[Lars Ingebrigtsen]

Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> writes:

> "Of an instrumented form", I guess?  Any reason not to modify the doc
> string with that?

Looking at the code, that does seem to be the intended meaning (I
think), so I've now made that change.

>> > Less major questions are: What is the nature of the "association" of the
>> > symbols with the buffer regions?  Which buffer gets its regions
>> > associated?
>
> The buffer in which the instrumented form lives.  IOW, the source code
> of the form you instrumented.

Yup.  And I think that's everything covered?  So I'm closing this bug report.

-- 
(domestic pets only, the antidote for overdose, milk.)
   bloggy blog: http://lars.ingebrigtsen.no