Subject: bug#16740: 24.2; Please allow C-p and C-n in minibuffer

From: Dani Moncayo <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2014 12:26:43 +0100

> Do C-x C-f f o o RET.  This opens a file called foo.
> Now C-x k, to close that buffer.
> Now we attempt to open the file again: C-x C-f C-p.
> That doesn't work; C-p was intended to get the previous filename
> but gives 'beginning of buffer'.  You need to type M-p instead.
>
> However, in GNU bash, the situation is reversed.  To get the previous
> command line you have to hit C-p, and M-p just enters a control
> sequence.  So there is a user interface inconsistency between
> bash and Emacs.

Indeed.  I also noticed this inconsistency time ago.

> I think the best way to resolve it is to make C-p and C-n work in
> the Emacs minibuffer to get the previous and next lines from the
> history, just as M-p and M-n do.  Since the minibuffer is almost
> always a single line of text, the bindings to previous-line and
> next-line aren't helpful in the minibuffer.

I wonder why bash uses C-p/C-n instead of M-p/M-n for browsing the
command history.

Indeed Minibuffers have usually a single line of text, but not always.
  So, I think that the standard meaning of C-p/C-n (previous/next
line) is sometimes useful also in the minibuffer.

IOW, I'd rather change bash behavior to match the Emacs one, instead
of the other way around.

-- 
Dani Moncayo