fancy splash screen

fancy splash screen

[Matthias Meulien]

In GNU Emacs 21.2.1 (i686-pc-linux-gnu, X toolkit, Xaw3d scroll bars)
 of 2002-06-28 on clarinde
Important settings:
  value of $LC_ALL: nil
  value of $LC_COLLATE: fr_FR.ISO-8859-15
  value of $LC_CTYPE: fr_FR.ISO-8859-15
  value of $LC_MESSAGES: en_US
  value of $LC_MONETARY: fr_FR.ISO-8859-15
  value of $LC_NUMERIC: fr_FR.ISO-8859-15
  value of $LC_TIME: fr_FR.ISO-8859-15
  value of $LANG: fr
  locale-coding-system: iso-latin-9
  default-enable-multibyte-characters: t

Please describe exactly what actions triggered the bug
and the precise symptoms of the bug:

In the X Window environment and with the `minibuffer' resource set to
`none' (or equivalently the `default-frame-alist' variable containing
a (minibuffer . nil) cell), there's no fancy splash screen at startup.

With the default `one minibuffer per frame' setting, there's a fancy
splash screen.

The function `use-fancy-splash-screens-p' test the current window
height to decide if fancy splash sceens should be used.

It looks like the current frame when `use-fancy-splash-screen-p' is
called is the minibuffer-only frame. Most of the time its height is
too small for `use-fancy-screen-p' to return true...

Thanks for your time and congratulations for the emacs software.
-- 
Matthias

fancy splash screen

[martin rudalics]

Thanks for making the fancy splash screen persistent for copying.  I
noticed a couple of minor issues:

(1) The line

"You can do basic editing with the menu bar and scroll bar using the
mouse."

occurs twice.  That seems unprofessional.


(2) The items below do not line up well with proportional font.  I'd use

Important Help menu items:
Emacs Tutorial	Learn how to use Emacs efficiently (Einführung in Emacs)
Emacs FAQ	Frequently asked questions and answers
(Non)Warranty	GNU Emacs comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY
Get New Versions	How to obtain the latest version of Emacs
Copying Conditions	Conditions for redistributing and changing Emacs
Read the Emacs Manual	View the Emacs manual using Info
More Manuals / Ordering Manuals       Buying printed manuals from the FSF

instead (replacing "Getting ..." by "Get ..." in the Help menu as well).


(3) I'd interchange the following two lines

Exit Emacs	(Or type Control-x followed by Control-c)
Recover Crashed Session	Recover files you were editing before a crash

while trying to combine the "Recover ..." line with the closing

"If an Emacs session crashed recently, type M-x recover-session RET
to recover the files you were editing."

provided the auto-save-list directory exists, and write Meta-x instead
of M-x.


(4) On my system the Copyright Notice is hardly visible.  The :height
0.5 option scales very badly and should be removed.


(5) The text of `fancy-splash-help-echo' should appear permanently on
the splash screen and not annoyingly pop up via tooltips (which on some
systems might not even be present).  This holds for the help-echo on the
image as well.

Re: fancy splash screen

[Chong Yidong]

martin rudalics <rudalics@gmx.at> writes:

> (1) The line
>
> "You can do basic editing with the menu bar and scroll bar using the
> mouse."
>
> occurs twice.  That seems unprofessional.

I've fixed this.

Re: fancy splash screen

[Richard Stallman]

I improved the alignment of the items.

    (5) The text of `fancy-splash-help-echo' should appear permanently on
    the splash screen and not annoyingly pop up via tooltips (which on some
    systems might not even be present).  This holds for the help-echo on the
    image as well.

Do you mean the statement about C-h C-p?
I made it display that only in the echo area.

    (4) On my system the Copyright Notice is hardly visible.  The :height
    0.5 option scales very badly and should be removed.

It is quite visible on my system; what makes it so hard to see on your
system?

Re: fancy splash screen

[martin rudalics]

 >     (5) The text of `fancy-splash-help-echo' should appear permanently on
 >     the splash screen and not annoyingly pop up via tooltips (which on some
 >     systems might not even be present).  This holds for the help-echo on the
 >     image as well.
 >
 > Do you mean the statement about C-h C-p?

Yes.

 > I made it display that only in the echo area.

Wouldn't that distract from other messages displayed during startup?
I'd display that at the bottom of the splash screen together with the
URL that pops up when hovering over the image.

 >     (4) On my system the Copyright Notice is hardly visible.  The :height
 >     0.5 option scales very badly and should be removed.
 >
 > It is quite visible on my system; what makes it so hard to see on your
 > system?

Apparently, I don't have the appropriate Arial font installed (I don't
care much about proportional fonts).  With the fonts supplied on my
system it scales to about one fourth of the remaining text.  If the
copyright notice is of any importance here, it should have the same size
as the remainder of the text I think.

BTW, I'd prefer calling the "GNU Emacs" buffer either "*splash-screen*"
or " *splash-screen*".

Re: fancy splash screen

[Romain Francoise]

martin rudalics <rudalics@gmx.at> writes:

> BTW, I'd prefer calling the "GNU Emacs" buffer either
> "*splash-screen*" or " *splash-screen*".

Or "*About Emacs*"...

-- 
Romain Francoise <romain@orebokech.com> | The sea! the sea! the open
it's a miracle -- http://orebokech.com/ | sea! The blue, the fresh, the
                                        | ever free! --Bryan W. Procter

Re: fancy splash screen

[David Kastrup]

Romain Francoise <romain@orebokech.com> writes:

> martin rudalics <rudalics@gmx.at> writes:
>
>> BTW, I'd prefer calling the "GNU Emacs" buffer either
>> "*splash-screen*" or " *splash-screen*".
>
> Or "*About Emacs*"...

Emacs is somewhat redundant.

*About*

would probably be fine.

-- 
David Kastrup, Kriemhildstr. 15, 44793 Bochum

Re: fancy splash screen

[martin rudalics]

> *About*
> 
> would probably be fine.
> 

*Splash*

RE: fancy splash screen

[Drew Adams]

    >> BTW, I'd prefer calling the "GNU Emacs" buffer either
    >> "*splash-screen*" or " *splash-screen*".
    > Or "*About Emacs*"...

    Emacs is somewhat redundant.
    *About* would probably be fine.

"About Emacs" describes what it is. "About GNU Emacs" would be better,
providing a helpful reminder about GNU (but some will argue that GNU is
never needed in "GNU Emacs").

"Emacs" in "About Emacs" is not redundant in any way. If you have multiple
buffers, there is nothing that implies that one named only "About" has help
about Emacs.

Is it good or bad to use "*...*"? I don't know. I tend to think it's not
needed here.

Re: fancy splash screen

[David Kastrup]

martin rudalics <rudalics@gmx.at> writes:

>> *About*
>>
>> would probably be fine.
>>
>
> *Splash*

We use "About Emacs" in the Help menu, exactly because "About" is
common usage for that functionality.

I don't really think that it makes sense to call this buffer something
which nobody will identify.

-- 
David Kastrup, Kriemhildstr. 15, 44793 Bochum

Re: fancy splash screen

[David Kastrup]

"Drew Adams" <drew.adams@oracle.com> writes:

>     >> BTW, I'd prefer calling the "GNU Emacs" buffer either
>     >> "*splash-screen*" or " *splash-screen*".
>     > Or "*About Emacs*"...
>
>     Emacs is somewhat redundant.
>     *About* would probably be fine.
>
> "About Emacs" describes what it is. "About GNU Emacs" would be
> better, providing a helpful reminder about GNU (but some will argue
> that GNU is never needed in "GNU Emacs").

It is not needed in general.  It can be nice to stress its role in the
GNU project when talking about that, but I think that in purely
technical contexts, just "Emacs" is the more straightforward use.

> "Emacs" in "About Emacs" is not redundant in any way. If you have
> multiple buffers, there is nothing that implies that one named only
> "About" has help about Emacs.

Most applications I know have exactly one "About" menu, and Emacs does
not seem to be different in that respect.

> Is it good or bad to use "*...*"? I don't know. I tend to think it's
> not needed here.

Standard naming convention for buffers without associated files.

-- 
David Kastrup, Kriemhildstr. 15, 44793 Bochum

RE: fancy splash screen

[Drew Adams]

    > "Emacs" in "About Emacs" is not redundant in any way. If you have
    > multiple buffers, there is nothing that implies that one named only
    > "About" has help about Emacs.

    Most applications I know have exactly one "About" menu, and Emacs does
    not seem to be different in that respect.

It's not about the menu; it's about the buffer name. There are lots of
buffers whose content is "about" something, and some Emacs libraries might
use that term in buffer names, for various purposes. You might have buffers
"*About Foo Bar*" and "*About Toto*". The buffer about Emacs should be
called "*About Emacs*" (possibly with "GNU"). A buffer name of just
"*About*" does not clearly indicate what it is.

    > Is it good or bad to use "*...*"? I don't know. I tend to think it's
    > not needed here.

    Standard naming convention for buffers without associated files.

Right. Thx. So "GNU Emacs" was also a poor choice for the buffer name for
that reason.

BTW, I think I've read about that convention explicitly somewhere, but I
can't seem to find it in the Elisp manual. Shouldn't that be mentioned in
node Tips or node Coding Conventions?

Similarly, I don't see it mentioned in the Emacs manual. Shouldn't it be
mentioned along with the use of space as first character for internal
buffers (e.g. in node Select Buffer)? Node Buffers is perhaps a good place
to mention use of both `*' and initial space in buffer names. That node
gives examples of `*' buffers, without ever pointing out that they are
buffers that are not normally visiting files. Another possibility is node
List Buffers, which points out that *Help* is not visiting a file (but does
not make the connection with `*' in the name).

Re: fancy splash screen

[David Kastrup]

"Drew Adams" <drew.adams@oracle.com> writes:

>     > "Emacs" in "About Emacs" is not redundant in any way. If you have
>     > multiple buffers, there is nothing that implies that one named only
>     > "About" has help about Emacs.
>
>     Most applications I know have exactly one "About" menu, and Emacs does
>     not seem to be different in that respect.
>
> It's not about the menu; it's about the buffer name. There are lots
> of buffers whose content is "about" something, and some Emacs
> libraries might use that term in buffer names, for various
> purposes. You might have buffers "*About Foo Bar*" and "*About
> Toto*".

But we don't have any such buffers.  This seems academical.

> The buffer about Emacs should be called "*About Emacs*" (possibly
> with "GNU"). A buffer name of just "*About*" does not clearly
> indicate what it is.

As I said: having a single "About" item is common for applications.
Since the menu entry is called "About Emacs", calling the buffer
"*About Emacs*" seems a suitable choice.  I don't find your arguments
for that name persuasive at all, but since I am fine with that choice,
it seems useless to haggle over just _why_.

> Similarly, I don't see it mentioned in the Emacs manual. Shouldn't
> it be mentioned along with the use of space as first character for
> internal buffers (e.g. in node Select Buffer)? Node Buffers is
> perhaps a good place to mention use of both `*' and initial space in
> buffer names. That node gives examples of `*' buffers, without ever
> pointing out that they are buffers that are not normally visiting
> files.

It is basically only a convention, but it might be worth mentioning
there or somewhere else.

-- 
David Kastrup, Kriemhildstr. 15, 44793 Bochum

RE: fancy splash screen

[Drew Adams]

    >     > "Emacs" in "About Emacs" is not redundant in any way.
    >     > If you have multiple buffers, there is nothing that
    >     > implies that one named only "About" has help about Emacs.
    >
    >     Most applications I know have exactly one "About" menu,
    >     and Emacs does not seem to be different in that respect.
    >
    > It's not about the menu; it's about the buffer name. There are lots
    > of buffers whose content is "about" something, and some Emacs
    > libraries might use that term in buffer names, for various
    > purposes. You might have buffers "*About Foo Bar*" and "*About
    > Toto*".

    But we don't have any such buffers.  This seems academical.

"We" who? Users may use such buffers. Other libraries may use such buffers.

    > The buffer about Emacs should be called "*About Emacs*" (possibly
    > with "GNU"). A buffer name of just "*About*" does not clearly
    > indicate what it is.

    As I said: having a single "About" item is common for applications.

As I said, it's not about the menu-item name, or the number of menu items
per application, or the number of applications; it's about the buffer name.

    Since the menu entry is called "About Emacs", calling the buffer
    "*About Emacs*" seems a suitable choice.

So we agree.

    I don't find your arguments
    for that name persuasive at all, but since I am fine with that choice,
    it seems useless to haggle over just _why_.

Good.

    > Similarly, I don't see it mentioned in the Emacs manual. Shouldn't
    > it be mentioned along with the use of space as first character for
    > internal buffers (e.g. in node Select Buffer)? Node Buffers is
    > perhaps a good place to mention use of both `*' and initial space in
    > buffer names. That node gives examples of `*' buffers, without ever
    > pointing out that they are buffers that are not normally visiting
    > files.

    It is basically only a convention, but it might be worth mentioning
    there or somewhere else.

It should be mentioned in the conventions section of the Elisp manual, if it
is a convention that we would like programmers to use.

If it is useful for users to understand this naming convention (and it must
be; otherwise, why use it for user-visible names?), then it should also be
pointed out in the Emacs manual.

Re: fancy splash screen

[Richard Stallman]

     > I made it display that only in the echo area.

    Wouldn't that distract from other messages displayed during startup?

That doesn't make sense to me; I don't see why text in the echo area
would distract attention from text in the buffer.

Re: fancy splash screen

[Richard Stallman]

    BTW, I'd prefer calling the "GNU Emacs" buffer either "*splash-screen*"
    or " *splash-screen*".

The string appears in the mode line, and "GNU Emacs" seems appropriate
for the string to display there.  Your proposals would be good in a
different context.

Re: fancy splash screen

[martin rudalics]

> The string appears in the mode line, and "GNU Emacs" seems appropriate
> for the string to display there.  Your proposals would be good in a
> different context.

But "GNU Emacs" is distracting in the context of buffer listings.  It does
not visit a file.  Would "*GNU Emacs*" be OK?

Re: fancy splash screen

[Richard Stallman]

The buffer name was chosen to be appropriate in the mode line
at startup.  But now I see the issue is what to call the buffer
when the About menu item is used.  I will change it to *About GNU Emacs*.