Re: [ELPA] New package: inform

[dieter@duenenhof-wilhelm.de (H. Dieter Wilhelm)]

Drew Adams <drew.adams@oracle.com> writes:

>> I assume it would be easier to create a collection of all
>> (important?)  Elisp related documents than the opposite.  Is it
>> possible to ask Emacs package archives programmatically which texinfo
>> docs are included?
>
> In `help-fns+.el' I do something similar: providing links to manual
> sections in `*Help*' output.  I handle the question of which manuals
> to treat with this user option:

I downloaded help-fns+.el and it provides, among other things, the
inverse functionality of inform: It is putting Info links in *Help*
buffers. :-) Which is a georgeous idea because herewith the
documentation loop between Help and Info documentation seems to be
closed, at least for many, many symbols! :-)

> ___
>
> help-cross-reference-manuals is a variable defined in `help-fns+.el'.
> Its value is (("emacs" "elisp"))

Oh, that means (("emacs" "elisp") nil), OK further

> Documentation: Manuals to search, for a `*Help*' buffer link to the
> manuals.  A cons.
>
>  The car is a list of manuals to search, or the symbol `all', to
>   search all.  If nil, then do not create a cross-reference link.
>
>  The cdr is a boolean:
>
>   Non-`nil' means search the manuals, then create a cross-ref link:
>         create it only if some search hits are found.
>
>   `nil' means create a cross-ref link without searching manuals
>         first (but only if there are some manuals to search).
    :set #'(lambda (sym defs) (custom-set-default sym defs) (setq Info-indexed-nodes ()))

Hmm, a setter function, why, that's over my horizon...

    :type '(cons
            (choice :tag "Which Manuals"
             (repeat :tag "Specific Manuals (files)" string) (const :tag
             "All Manuals" all))
            (boolean :tag "Search Before Creating Button?"))

Aha, I learned how to influence `customize' in a non trivial way, thank
you Drew.

> IOW, the car of the value is a whitelist of manuals to handle in this
> regard.
>
> The default value corresponds to what Stefan suggested for inform.el's
> links in Info: the manuals known to always be appropriate for such
> handling: Emacs, Elisp.
>
> Different users have different sets of Info manuals.  It's quite
> possible that some will have manuals that are similar to the Emacs and
> Elisp manuals in this regard.  They can just add them to the list of
> manuals to handle.  (And they can remove manuals from the list, of
> course.)

I agree that white- or blacklists should be customisable.

> You might want to have a user option for what you're considering wrt
> Info links: a whitelist of the manuals to treat.

Are you telling me that I can use, in these situtations, one variable
for two purposes?  1) For specifying and changing the list and 2)
switching a linking for lists off and on?

  '((list members) t) ; only these
  '((other members) nil) ; none of these
  '('all nil) ; no links
  '('all t) ; link everything?

Thanks
        Dieter

-- 
Best wishes
H. Dieter Wilhelm
Zwingenberg, Germany