Subject: bug#16815: 24.3.50; Provide completion for `describe-font' (enhancement request)

From: Lars Ingebrigtsen <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 02 Nov 2019 17:23:01 +0100

Eli Zaretskii <[email-masked]> writes:

>> This is what I use, FWIW:
>> 
>> (let ((fonts        (make-hash-table :test #'equal))
>>       (fontset-lst  (fontset-list)))
>>   (setq fontset-lst  (delete "-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-fontset-default"
>>                              fontset-lst))
>>   (dolist (ft  (append fontset-lst (x-list-fonts "*"))  fonts)
>>     (puthash ft t fonts)))
>
> IMO, this is madness: you are bloating the Emacs session with hundreds
> of fonts, most of which Emacs will never need to use, or even know
> about.  We certainly shouldn't do anything like that in Emacs.
>
> The doc string of describe-font clearly says that the font must be one
> which Emacs already loaded, so completing on all the _installed_ fonts
> is definitely not TRT.

I'm not sure I understand the objection here.  The form suggested by
Drew just gets a list of font names -- it doesn't load anything, so it
should be harmless?

And the doc string of describe-font seems to be wrong.  You can ask it
to describe a font that's not loaded.  Or at least it seems that way
when I test it.  

-- 
(domestic pets only, the antidote for overdose, milk.)
   bloggy blog: http://lars.ingebrigtsen.no