all messages for Emacs-related lists mirrored at yhetil.org
 help / color / mirror / code / Atom feed
From: "Drew Adams" <drew.adams@oracle.com>
To: "'Stefan Monnier'" <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca>
Cc: 9979@debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: bug#9979: 24.0.91; doc string of `save-window-excursion'
Date: Mon, 7 Nov 2011 08:33:58 -0800	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <E0243693B71E454E96DEA3AE3941A965@us.oracle.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <jwvmxc89h7h.fsf-monnier+emacs@gnu.org>

> > The following point appears to be the _only_ real content
> > in this paragraph: Do not use this to try to prevent opening
> > a new window, since...
> >
> > But that too does not really say what you want (IIUC).  No 
> > one would use this to try to _prevent_ opening a new window.
> 
> This No one seems to write an awful lot of Elisp code, sadly.

If you think that, then it is OK to add that to a list of things you want to
mention that the macro does _not_ do.  But it is not adequate to state _only_
that, as the doc for the macro.  That's pretty much what is happening here.

It is not even adequate to state only a whole list of things that the macro does
_not_ do.  In any case, most important for such a list would be to mention that
the macro has no effect on windows in other frames.

Above all, the doc needs to state what the macro _does_ do.  There, the doc
string falls down.  See the Elisp manual for a better and more succinct
explanation of what the macro does.

The first line of the doc string is also incorrect.  The macro does not
"preserve" window sizes and contents.  Preserving implies that these do not
change at any time during the macro call.  It does not preserve these, but it
_restores_ them, after they have perhaps been changed by the BODY.  And again,
it's important to mention that it is only the windows of the selected frame (not
other frames) that are restored.

A statement that the macro "preserves" a window config is in fact _precisely_
the kind of thing that can lead users to think that it _prevents_ opening a new
window.  Preserving the config would indeed prevent new windows opening.







  reply	other threads:[~2011-11-07 16:33 UTC|newest]

Thread overview: 4+ messages / expand[flat|nested]  mbox.gz  Atom feed  top
2011-11-06 22:59 bug#9979: 24.0.91; doc string of `save-window-excursion' Drew Adams
2011-11-07 13:49 ` Stefan Monnier
2011-11-07 16:33   ` Drew Adams [this message]
2012-03-11 16:16     ` Chong Yidong

Reply instructions:

You may reply publicly to this message via plain-text email
using any one of the following methods:

* Save the following mbox file, import it into your mail client,
  and reply-to-all from there: mbox

  Avoid top-posting and favor interleaved quoting:
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posting_style#Interleaved_style

* Reply using the --to, --cc, and --in-reply-to
  switches of git-send-email(1):

  git send-email \
    --in-reply-to=E0243693B71E454E96DEA3AE3941A965@us.oracle.com \
    --to=drew.adams@oracle.com \
    --cc=9979@debbugs.gnu.org \
    --cc=monnier@iro.umontreal.ca \
    /path/to/YOUR_REPLY

  https://kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/docs/git-send-email.html

* If your mail client supports setting the In-Reply-To header
  via mailto: links, try the mailto: link
Be sure your reply has a Subject: header at the top and a blank line before the message body.
Code repositories for project(s) associated with this external index

	https://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/emacs.git
	https://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/emacs/org-mode.git

This is an external index of several public inboxes,
see mirroring instructions on how to clone and mirror
all data and code used by this external index.