Info menu item bugs

["Robert J. Chassell" <bob@rattlesnake.com>]

Today's CVS snapshot, Thu, 2003 Mar 20  12:16 UTC
GNU Emacs 21.3.50.233 (i686-pc-linux-gnu)
configured with  --with-x-toolkit=gtk
started with

     /usr/local/bin/emacs -q --no-site-file --eval '(blink-cursor-mode 0)'

An `Info' menu item appears in the menu bar when I start Info.  

First problem:  the only way I found to start Info in its `dir'
directory from the menu bar is to click on the `All Other Manuals
(Info)' subsubentry in the `More Manuals' subentry in the `Help' menu.
This is too far down the hierarchy for a novice.

I.e., the screen looks like this:

    Help
       More Manuals
          All Other Manuals (Info)

There is no entry for `Info' in general in the top level `Help' menu
even though Info is the primary online help mechanism for GNU systems.

The `Help' entry should contain an `Info' command.

Second problem: after starting Info, an `Info' menu item appears on
the main menu bar.

When I click on the `Info' menu item I see, confusingingly, two
identically named subsubsubmenu headers, one of which leads to Info
commands and the other of which leads to Info files.

I.e., the screen looks like this:

   Info
      Info
      Info

The submenus are both named `Info' but should be named differently.

Third problem: when I visit an Info file and then kill it, the Info
file goes away, as it should, but the main `Info' menu item continues
to sit on the top-level menu bar.

The main `Info' menu item should go away; or else it should provide a
way to access Info, but it does not.

Instead, the main `Info' menu item becomes useless.

Interestingly, the titles of the submenus change from both being
`Info' to `Menu Item' and `Reference' respectively, which is good, but
neither is active, which is bad.  I cannot do anything.

The `Reference' item is partially blanked out, indicating it is not
active, which is good, but the `Menu Item' entry leads to a list of
Info files (those at the top of the Info `dir' list) which are not
partially blanked out, but which I cannot access either.  This is bad.

The error message is:

    Info-extract-menu-item: No menu in this node

Fourth problem: when I restart Info, by typing `C-h i' (info) or by
clicking on the `All Other Manuals (Info)' subsub-menu item, the two
differing items on the main menu are replaced, as before, by the
single name `Info'.  This is as confusing as it was initially.

I.e., the screen looks like this when I click on the lower of the two
`Info' submenu entries:

   Info
      Info
      Info
         Menu Item
         Reference


However, `Menu Item' entry now works.  When I click on that subsubmenu
entry, It now will lead me to the nodes which it lists.

Fifth problem:  After restarting Info, the `Reference' item continues
to be partially blanked out, which indicates correctly that it is
inactive.  The correct information is fine, but using Info as I just
did, I cannot find any way to make use of the `Reference' item.  As
is, the entry is useless and superfluous.  It should be removed.

-- 
    Robert J. Chassell                         Rattlesnake Enterprises
    http://www.rattlesnake.com                  GnuPG Key ID: 004B4AC8
    http://www.teak.cc                             bob@rattlesnake.com