Make apostrophes invisible in Help buffers

Make apostrophes invisible in Help buffers

[Nick Roberts]

The patch below works just for symbols and is just for demonstration purposes.
It would also be nice to use the same face as Info for links.  After the
release, info-xref-visited face could also be used help topics previously
visited.

Nick


*** help-mode.el	15 Nov 2005 15:48:05 +1300	1.40
--- help-mode.el	19 Dec 2005 01:02:46 +1300	
***************
*** 381,387 ****
                  (while (re-search-forward help-xref-symbol-regexp nil t)
                    (let* ((data (match-string 8))
                           (sym (intern-soft data)))
!                     (if sym
                          (cond
                           ((match-string 3)  ; `variable' &c
                            (and (or (boundp sym) ; `variable' doesn't ensure
--- 381,387 ----
                  (while (re-search-forward help-xref-symbol-regexp nil t)
                    (let* ((data (match-string 8))
                           (sym (intern-soft data)))
!                     (when sym
                          (cond
                           ((match-string 3)  ; `variable' &c
                            (and (or (boundp sym) ; `variable' doesn't ensure
***************
*** 426,432 ****
   			      (cyclic-variable-indirection nil))))
  			  (help-xref-button 8 'help-variable sym))
  			 ((fboundp sym)
! 			  (help-xref-button 8 'help-function sym)))))))
                ;; An obvious case of a key substitution:
                (save-excursion
                  (while (re-search-forward
--- 426,436 ----
   			      (cyclic-variable-indirection nil))))
  			  (help-xref-button 8 'help-variable sym))
  			 ((fboundp sym)
! 			  (help-xref-button 8 'help-function sym)))
! 			(let ((start (match-beginning 8))
! 			      (end (match-end 8)))
! 			(put-text-property start (1- start) 'invisible t)
! 			(put-text-property end (1+ end) 'invisible t))))))
                ;; An obvious case of a key substitution:
                (save-excursion
                  (while (re-search-forward

Re: Make apostrophes invisible in Help buffers

[Richard M. Stallman]

    The patch below works just for symbols and is just for demonstration purposes.

Thanks, but I don't think that is a change for the better.

Re: Make apostrophes invisible in Help buffers

[Nick Roberts]

 >     The patch below works just for symbols and is just for demonstration
 >     purposes.
 > 
 > Thanks, but I don't think that is a change for the better.

The apostrophes are put in the doc string so that links can be parsed in the
Help buffer, not for the end user.  Links are evident by using the appropriate
face and removing the apostrophes makes their appearance consistent with info.

I also have other changes which I think improve linking in the Help buffer.  I
will submit again after the release.

Nick

Re: Make apostrophes invisible in Help buffers

[Richard M. Stallman]

    The apostrophes are put in the doc string so that links can be parsed in the
    Help buffer, not for the end user.

The apostrophes follow a general GNU convention for indicating symbol
names in text.  We have followed that convention for 20 years.
So I am not going to say yes to this change.

Re: Make apostrophes invisible in Help buffers

[Nick Roberts]

 >     The apostrophes are put in the doc string so that links can be parsed
 >     in the Help buffer, not for the end user.
 > 
 > The apostrophes follow a general GNU convention for indicating symbol
 > names in text.  We have followed that convention for 20 years.
 > So I am not going to say yes to this change.

Its a convention that was made when monochrome text-only terminals like
VT100s were the norm.  My guess is that with the underline, mouse-face
highlighting and help echo, the user will guess that he's looking at a
symbol name... but its your choice.

Nick

Re: Make apostrophes invisible in Help buffers

[Richard M. Stallman]

We use this convention in lots of places, not just in Emacs doc strings.

RE: Make apostrophes invisible in Help buffers

[Drew Adams]

_Why_ make apostrophes invisible in Help buffers?