GNU bug report logs - #1164
23.0.60; Doc strings of mode-name, mode-line-format and format-mode-line

Package: emacs;

Reported by: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>

Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2008 12:25:03 UTC

Severity: normal

Done: Glenn Morris <rgm <at> gnu.org>

Bug is archived. No further changes may be made.

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Acknowledgement sent to Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>:
New bug report received and forwarded. Copy sent to Emacs Bugs <bug-gnu-emacs <at> gnu.org>. Full text and rfc822 format available.

Message #5 received at submit <at> emacsbugs.donarmstrong.com (full text, mbox):

From: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
To: emacs-pretest-bug <at> gnu.org
Subject: 23.0.60; Doc strings of mode-name, mode-line-format and format-mode-line
Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2008 14:19:53 +0200

Please write in English if possible, because the Emacs maintainers
usually do not have translators to read other languages for them.

Your bug report will be posted to the emacs-pretest-bug <at> gnu.org mailing list.

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

"C-h v mode-name RET" produces:

    mode-name is a variable defined in `buffer.c'.
    Its value is "Emacs-Lisp"
    Local in buffer bindings.el; global value is 0

      Automatically becomes buffer-local when set in any fashion.

    Documentation:
    Pretty name of current buffer's major mode.
    Usually a string.  See `mode-line-format' for other possible forms.
    Use the function `format-mode-line' to get the value as a string.

The line before the last refers to mode-line-format for possible forms
of mode-name.  However, nothing in the doc string of mode-line-format
says anything specific about the form of mode-name, and neither does
the doc string of format-mode-line say anything about how to produce a
string out of mode-name.

In general, I loathe references to other doc strings for important
information: it's a nuisance to chase multiple links when you need to
do a simple job such as displaying the mode name.  Unless the
information is large and complex, it is better to reproduce it where
it is needed, even if that requires some duplication.

If Emacs crashed, and you have the Emacs process in the gdb debugger,
please include the output from the following gdb commands:
    `bt full' and `xbacktrace'.
If you would like to further debug the crash, please read the file
d:/gnu/emacs/etc/DEBUG for instructions.


In GNU Emacs 23.0.60.1 (i386-mingw-nt5.1.2600)
 of 2008-10-14 on HOME-C4E4A596F7
Windowing system distributor `Microsoft Corp.', version 5.1.2600
configured using `configure --with-gcc (3.4)'

Important settings:
  value of $LC_ALL: nil
  value of $LC_COLLATE: nil
  value of $LC_CTYPE: nil
  value of $LC_MESSAGES: nil
  value of $LC_MONETARY: nil
  value of $LC_NUMERIC: nil
  value of $LC_TIME: nil
  value of $LANG: ENU
  value of $XMODIFIERS: nil
  locale-coding-system: cp1255
  default-enable-multibyte-characters: t

Major mode: Emacs-Lisp

Minor modes in effect:
  show-paren-mode: t
  tooltip-mode: t
  tool-bar-mode: t
  mouse-wheel-mode: t
  menu-bar-mode: t
  file-name-shadow-mode: t
  global-font-lock-mode: t
  font-lock-mode: t
  blink-cursor-mode: t
  global-auto-composition-mode: t
  auto-composition-mode: t
  auto-encryption-mode: t
  auto-compression-mode: t
  line-number-mode: t
  transient-mark-mode: t

Recent input:
<down> <down> <down> <down> <down> <down> <down> <down> 
<down> <down> <down> <down> <up> <up> <up> <up> <up> 
<up> <up> <up> <up> <up> <up> <up> <up> <up> <prior> 
C-x C-f <M-backspace> <M-backspace> l i s <tab> / b 
i n d <tab> <return> C-s m o d e <M-left> <next> <next> 
C-s m a j <up> <down> <down> <down> <down> <down> <down> 
<down> <down> <down> <down> <down> <down> <down> <down> 
<down> <down> <down> <down> <down> <down> <down> <down> 
<down> <down> <down> <next> C-s C-s <up> <down> <down> 
<down> <down> <down> <down> <down> <down> <down> <down> 
<down> <down> <down> <up> <up> <up> <up> <up> <up> 
<up> <up> <up> <up> <up> <up> <up> <up> <down> <down> 
<down> <down> <down> <down> <down> <down> <down> <down> 
<down> <down> <down> <prior> <prior> <prior> <next> 
<next> <down> <down> <down> <down> <down> <down> <down> 
<down> <down> <down> <down> <down> <down> <down> <down> 
<down> <down> <down> <down> <up> <up> <up> <up> <up> 
<up> <down> <down> <down> <down> <down> <down> <down> 
<down> <down> <down> <down> <down> <down> <down> <down> 
<down> <down> <down> <down> <down> <down> <down> <down> 
<down> <down> <down> <next> <next> <next> <up> <down> 
<down> <C-right> <C-right> <C-right> C-h v <return> 
C-x o <down> <down> <left> <left> <down> <down> <down> 
<down> <down> <down> <down> <down> <down> <down> <down> 
<down> <down> <down> <down> <down> <down> <down> <up> 
<up> <up> <up> <up> <up> <up> <down> <down> <down> 
<down> <down> <down> <down> <down> <down> <down> <down> 
<down> <down> <down> <down> <next> <next> <prior> <prior> 
<next> <next> <next> <next> <prior> <next> <next> <next> 
<next> <next> <next> <next> C-x o <up> <up> C-h v m 
o d e - n a e <backspace> m e <return> <help-echo> 
<help-echo> <help-echo> <help-echo> <help-echo> <help-echo> 
M-x e m a c s - r e p o <tab> <M-backspace> <M-backspace> 
r e p o r t <tab> <return>

Recent messages:
Making completion list...
Quit
call-interactively: End of buffer
Mark set
Quit [2 times]
call-interactively: End of buffer
Mark saved where search started [3 times]
Mark set [3 times]
Mark saved where search started [3 times]
Type C-x 4 C-o RET to restore the other window, C-M-v to scroll help.