Referencing variables beginning with an asterisk in docstrings broken?

Referencing variables beginning with an asterisk in docstrings broken?

[Nathanael Schweers]

I wanted to include a reference to a global (dynamic) variable in one of
my docstrings.  According to the info page “(elisp) Documentation Tips”
one merely has to reference the variable in question between the
quotation marks ‘ and ’.

As far as I can tell so far, this works, as long as the variable does
not start with an asterisk.  I.e. ‘varname’ works, so does ‘varname*’,
yet not ‘*varname’.  Hence, ‘*varname*’ also does not work.

I’d like to adhere to the Common Lisp convention of naming special
variables in my elisp code, yet if I do so, I cannot seem to reference
them in docstrings.

Is this behaviour a bug?

Best Regards,
Nathanael Schweers
-- 

Referencing variables beginning with an asterisk in docstrings broken?

[Nathanael Schweers]

I wanted to include a reference to a global (dynamic) variable in one of
my docstrings.  According to the info page “(elisp) Documentation Tips”
one merely has to reference the variable in question between the
quotation marks ‘ and ’.

As far as I can tell so far, this works, as long as the variable does
not start with an asterisk.  I.e. ‘varname’ works, so does ‘varname*’,
yet not ‘*varname’.  Hence, ‘*varname*’ also does not work.

I’d like to adhere to the Common Lisp convention of naming special
variables in my elisp code, yet if I do so, I cannot seem to reference
them in docstrings.

Is this behaviour a bug?

Best Regards,
Nathanael Schweers
-- 

RE: Referencing variables beginning with an asterisk in docstrings broken?

[Drew Adams]

> I wanted to include a reference to a global (dynamic) variable in one of
> my docstrings.  According to the info page “(elisp) Documentation Tips”
> one merely has to reference the variable in question between the
> quotation marks ‘ and ’.
> 
> As far as I can tell so far, this works, as long as the variable does
> not start with an asterisk.  I.e. ‘varname’ works, so does ‘varname*’,
> yet not ‘*varname’.  Hence, ‘*varname*’ also does not work.
> 
> I’d like to adhere to the Common Lisp convention of naming special
> variables in my elisp code, yet if I do so, I cannot seem to reference
> them in docstrings.
> 
> Is this behaviour a bug?

Sure sounds like a bug to me.

Re: Referencing variables beginning with an asterisk in docstrings broken?

[Stefan Monnier]

> I’d like to adhere to the Common Lisp convention of naming special
> variables in my elisp code, yet if I do so, I cannot seem to reference
> them in docstrings.
> Is this behaviour a bug?

Probably a bug, but do note that Elisp is not Common-Lisp, so I strongly
recommend you follow the Elisp convention of using a "<pkg>-" prefix
instead of using asterisks for global variables.


        Stefan

GDB GUD Variable Buffer

[Augusto Fraga Giachero]

Hello,

I'm using the gdb debugger through the Emacs GUD interface and I've 
thought that would be better to have a dedicated buffer just to display 
all local and global variables. I known that I can use the "display" 
command on the gdb shell, but I think a separated buffer would be way 
better.

Someone has already done it? If not, can someone please point to where 
to tinker with the GUD source code? I have a basic understanding of elisp.

Thanks,
Augusto Fraga Giachero.

Re: GDB GUD Variable Buffer

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: Augusto Fraga Giachero <augustofg96@gmail.com>
> Date: Sun, 28 Aug 2016 12:18:32 -0300
> 
> I'm using the gdb debugger through the Emacs GUD interface and I've 
> thought that would be better to have a dedicated buffer just to display 
> all local and global variables. I known that I can use the "display" 
> command on the gdb shell, but I think a separated buffer would be way 
> better.
> 
> Someone has already done it? If not, can someone please point to where 
> to tinker with the GUD source code? I have a basic understanding of elisp.

Did you try the alternative front-end in gdb-mi.el?  It can display
the local variables of the current stack frame in a separate window
(you might need to invoke "M-x gdb-many-windows RET" for it to show).

Re: GDB GUD Variable Buffer

[Augusto Fraga Giachero]

Oh, I've forgotten the gdb-many-windows mode. Yes, it does show a 
variable buffer as I wanted, but it displays too many windows, I'll try 
to customize it.

Another question, do you know how to automatically execute an elisp 
function right after I close the GUD session? That's because now I need 
to kill a gdb server process each time I exit gdb.

Thanks,
Augusto Fraga Giachero.


On 28-08-2016 12:53, Eli Zaretskii wrote:
>> From: Augusto Fraga Giachero <augustofg96@gmail.com>
>> Date: Sun, 28 Aug 2016 12:18:32 -0300
>>
>> I'm using the gdb debugger through the Emacs GUD interface and I've
>> thought that would be better to have a dedicated buffer just to display
>> all local and global variables. I known that I can use the "display"
>> command on the gdb shell, but I think a separated buffer would be way
>> better.
>>
>> Someone has already done it? If not, can someone please point to where
>> to tinker with the GUD source code? I have a basic understanding of elisp.
> Did you try the alternative front-end in gdb-mi.el?  It can display
> the local variables of the current stack frame in a separate window
> (you might need to invoke "M-x gdb-many-windows RET" for it to show).
>

Re: GDB GUD Variable Buffer

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: Augusto Fraga Giachero <augustofg96@gmail.com>
> Date: Sun, 28 Aug 2016 13:35:51 -0300
> 
> Another question, do you know how to automatically execute an elisp 
> function right after I close the GUD session? That's because now I need 
> to kill a gdb server process each time I exit gdb.

You could put your function on the gdb-stopped-functions list.

Re: Referencing variables beginning with an asterisk in docstrings broken?

[Nathanael Schweers]

Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca> writes:

>> I’d like to adhere to the Common Lisp convention of naming special
>> variables in my elisp code, yet if I do so, I cannot seem to reference
>> them in docstrings.
>> Is this behaviour a bug?
>
> Probably a bug, but do note that Elisp is not Common-Lisp, so I strongly
> recommend you follow the Elisp convention of using a "<pkg>-" prefix
> instead of using asterisks for global variables.
>
>
>         Stefan
>
>

I did both.  I also filed a bug, but it seems that this is because of
some heuristic to prevent too many false positives.  I guess I’ll either
change my naming, or just live with it.  Currently I use
*prefix/public-var*, but I guess prefix/*public-var* might be even
better.

Nathanael

-- 

Re: Referencing variables beginning with an asterisk in docstrings broken?

[Stefan Monnier]

> I did both.  I also filed a bug, but it seems that this is because of
> some heuristic to prevent too many false positives.  I guess I’ll either
> change my naming, or just live with it.  Currently I use
> *prefix/public-var*, but I guess prefix/*public-var* might be even
> better.

the prefix/ already says that it's a global/dynamic var, so the
asterisks are just added noise at that point.


        Stefan