Re: Bad moves with xref-find-definitions

[Bozhidar Batsov <bozhidar@batsov.com>]

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On 26 April 2015 at 21:41, Dmitry Gutov <dgutov@yandex.ru> wrote:

> On 04/26/2015 09:38 AM, Bozhidar Batsov wrote:
>
>  * find some suitable place to invoke a command (e.g. move their cursor
>> to a symbol or to an empty place in the buffer)
>> * start wondering what prefix to prepend to the command to alter its
>> behaviour
>>
>
> "Press C-u to explicitly enter something" is a pretty common Emacs
> pattern. If all modes use the xref interface, it'll become even less of a
> problem.
>
> But on the subject of "what prefix", I think you've made a mistake using
> `C-u' for "show in the other window". Emacs normally uses `C-x 4' for that,
> which is only one keypress longer. The users who prefer the "other window"
> behavior can simply switch the bindings.


This was not my doing. I suggested C-x 4, but there was strong opposition
for it.


>
>
>  While I think that for navigating sources acting on the thing at point
>> probably makes more sense,
>>
>
> It can also be beneficial in other ways. Like I've described in another
> thread, if you're reading a function, say, for the first time and are
> trying to trace its control flow, moving point to the symbol before `M-.'
> means you'll immediately know where you "came from" after pressing `M-,'.
>
>  when writing code (meaning you'll need to do
>> some doc lookups) you're often wondering "What was the behavior of this
>> function?" or "What were I supposed to use here?" and it's unlikely that
>> the thing at point will help you much (unless you're simply reading code).
>>
>
> Which function? Where's the set of functions you're choosing from? If the
> function name is not at point, I'm guessing it's just not typed out fully.
> In that case, you'll probably delegate to the "find doc" or the "find
> sources" function of the completion interface you're using.
>

Yep. This makes perfect sense, btw.


>
> In `completion-at-point''s case, you'll probably first complete the name
> fully and then jump to it. However, using xref-find-apropos is not out of
> the question either.
>
>  The global config, as implemented now in CIDER ,has the disadvantage of
>> insufficient granularity - e.g. I'd like to always jump to the source of
>> thing at point, but I wouldn't like for other commands to behave like
>> this.
>>
>
> The settings granularity shouldn't be that much a problem: introduce
> another possible value for cider-prompt-for-symbol, which will be a list of
> commands for which to always prompt.


Sure, that's clearly a possibility. I just didn't want to go overboard with
this. Such a config has pretty much the same complexity as adding a second
set of commands that simply do the different thing.


>
>
>  But as the config option controls all similar commands, all of
>> them behave in the same way - either acting on the thing at point or
>> always prompting for confirmation.
>>
>
> The key question is which set of commands the variable can affect at all.
> For me, "jump to", "show references" and "show doc", all should use the
> contents at point by default.


OK, but this contradicts with the behavior of Emacs's own `find-function`,
`find-variable`, etc.


>
>
>  Maybe two sets of matching commands per each such operation or something
>> (although handy keybindings are always in short supply).
>>
>
> Probably not: being able to press `C-u' together with a per-command user
> option should be enough for everyone.
>

Life has told me that's it's pretty hard to please everyone. :-)

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