Re: emacs manual

[tyler <tyler.smith@mail.mcgill.ca>]

Sean Sieger <sean.sieger@gmail.com> writes:

> I was just navigating my way back to a point in the Emacs Manual, the
> section, `22 File Handling'.  I did `t', `m' and then typed
>
> file h <TAB>
>
> ``[No Match]'' was the message that I got.
>
> From the top level of the manual, ``Files'' is the name of the section.
> I remembered the last chapter name or section name I'd come across
> (again, `22 File Handling') as I do when I close a book and put it down.
>
> Isn't this a disjunction?
>
> My post may be interpreted as a complaint, but this looked like an
> example of the opacity that I sometimes perceive in the documentation of
> Emacs but don't know how to verbalize.
>
> Just looking for an explanation.
>

In Texinfo, the commands for naming a chapter are different from the
commands used to define a node. So in your case, the chapter is defined
as `File Handling', which applies that title to the top of the page, but
the node is defined as `Files', which is what gets inserted into the
menu, and is what you need to target when you use `m' to pick the page.

At least, that's how I understand it. I don't know why this should be,
because it seems like it would be more intuitive if the chapter and node
names were the same, as you've pointed out. If no-one else has a better
explanation, I'd be tempted to submit this as a documentation bug. It's
not really a bug though, as much as an inconsistency in the way
documents are laid out. I notice that the texinfo manual itself contains
similar problems, with the node `Ending a File' having the chapter title
`Ending a Texinfo File'.

Cheers,

Tyler

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