Re: [drew.adams@oracle.com: RE: Customize doc strings and tagstrings do not respect \\<...> and \\[...]]

[Richard Stallman <rms@gnu.org>]

    `checkdoc-minor-mode' is autoloaded, so it's a case like the ones I
    talk above.

Why does it matter whether `checkdoc-minor-mode' is autoloaded?

Oh, now I see why: because Emacs knows the doc string initially,
even though the command has ever been run.

This leads me to reconsider part of my previous conclusion.  It is
useful for modes to show their keymaps, and it is useful to autoload
modes.  Would be rather inconvenient to insist on preloading all files
that define modes that show their keymaps.

Therefore, the case of an autoload mode's doc string that refers to
the not-yet-loaded keymap is legitimate, so it ought to produce
nice-looking output.  So now I agree a change is called for -- similar
to the one you proposed, but with slightly different details.

I think a good solution would be to make \\<some-mode-map> generate
something friendly but clear, such as a note at the end rather than at
the beginning, saying that the keymap couldn't be displayed because
it isn't loaded yet.