Bug#374513: emacs-snapshot: Info dir hidden words obscure versions

Bug#374513: emacs-snapshot: Info dir hidden words obscure versions

[Dan Jacobson]

Package: emacs-snapshot
Version: 1:20060518-1
Severity: normal
X-debbugs-cc: bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org

Gentlemen, (here on Debian, emacs-version "22.0.50.1") do C-h i M-x occur gnus:
4 matches for "gnus" in buffer: *info*
    242:* Gnus: (emacs-21/gnus).		The newsreader Gnus.
    247:					goes with Gnus.
    302:* Gnus: (emacs-snapshot/gnus).		The newsreader Gnus.
    307:					goes with Gnus.
But that exposes hidden words. What the user actually sees in the *info*
buffer is

* Gnus:  The newsreader Gnus.
* Gnus:  The newsreader Gnus.

I.e., two identical items.

Furthermore, when one hits C-h m, one sees no mention of "Narrow"
mode, even though it is in the modeline.

And further again, though there are two gnuses, when we hit m gnus tab, we get
Menu item: Gnus [Sole completion]
Misleading us again, unless we poke around below by hand.
Hoodwink conspiracy.

P.S., We even try
`C-x n w'
     Widen to make the entire buffer accessible again (`widen').
And indeed the word "Narrow" dissappears from the modeline. However
the hidden text is still hidden.

Re: Bug#374513: emacs-snapshot: Info dir hidden words obscure versions

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: Dan Jacobson <jidanni@jidanni.org>
> Date: Mon, 19 Jun 2006 22:51:17 +0800
> 
> Gentlemen, (here on Debian, emacs-version "22.0.50.1") do C-h i M-x occur gnus:
> 4 matches for "gnus" in buffer: *info*
>     242:* Gnus: (emacs-21/gnus).		The newsreader Gnus.
>     247:					goes with Gnus.
>     302:* Gnus: (emacs-snapshot/gnus).		The newsreader Gnus.
>     307:					goes with Gnus.
> But that exposes hidden words. What the user actually sees in the *info*
> buffer is
> 
> * Gnus:  The newsreader Gnus.
> * Gnus:  The newsreader Gnus.
> 
> I.e., two identical items.

This is a bug in the DIR file(s) distributed by Debian: it is not
allowed to have two or more menu items whose labels (the part between
the * and the first colon) are identical.  The Info format disallows
that, and Info readers generally cannot cope with that.

> And further again, though there are two gnuses, when we hit m gnus tab, we get
> Menu item: Gnus [Sole completion]

That's one of the symptoms of the fact that two such entries cannot
live together.

I urge the Debian maintainers to fix that.

> Furthermore, when one hits C-h m, one sees no mention of "Narrow"
> mode, even though it is in the modeline.

That's because Narrow is not a minor mode.

> P.S., We even try
> `C-x n w'
>      Widen to make the entire buffer accessible again (`widen').
> And indeed the word "Narrow" dissappears from the modeline. However
> the hidden text is still hidden.

The text is hidden by Emacs display magic, not by narrowing.

Re: Bug#374513: emacs-snapshot: Info dir hidden words obscure versions

[Dan Jacobson]

EZ> This is a bug in the DIR file(s) distributed by Debian: it is not
EZ> allowed to have two or more menu items whose labels (the part between
EZ> the * and the first colon) are identical.  The Info format disallows
EZ> that, and Info readers generally cannot cope with that.
Maybe emacs should treat it as an error and make a message.