GNU bug report logs - #17362
24.4.50; inconsistent key notation: `ESC' vs `<ESC>'

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Message #11 received at 17362 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Drew Adams <drew.adams <at> oracle.com>
To: Dani Moncayo <dmoncayo <at> gmail.com>
Cc: 17362 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: RE: bug#17362: 24.4.50; inconsistent key notation: `ESC' vs `<ESC>'
Date: Mon, 28 Apr 2014 08:25:46 -0700 (PDT)

> > Emacs manual: contrast node `Menu Bar' with node `Quitting'.  The former
> > writes `ESC ESC ESC'; the latter writes `<ESC> <ESC> <ESC>'.
> >
> > IMO, the former is preferable.  (Note that (kbd "ESC") and (kbd "<ESC>")
> > both act the same, however.)
> 
> I'd also prefer "ESC" over "<ESC>" but then other strings like
> "<TAB>", "<SPC>", "<RET>" or "<DEL>" should also be changed
> accordingly.

Yes, FWIW, IMO they should be.  But this bug will be fixed if things are
made consistent either way.

Oh, and BTW there are also inconsistencies for those others, including in
nodes: `CUA Bindings', `Misc File Ops', `File Conveniences', `Filesets',
`Speedbar', `Bidirectional Editing', `Other C Commands', `Image Dired',
`Printing Package', `MS-DOS Printing', `Help Mode', `Rectangles', `Special
Isearch', `Regexp Search', `Keyboard Macro Step-Edit', `Marks vs Flags',
`Counting Days', `General Calendar', `HTML Mode', `Windows Keyboard'.

[A related bug?: `<DELETE>' in nodes `Hungry Delete', `MS-DOS Keyboard',
and `Glossary'.  Is `<delete>' what is meant here?  Likewise, you can
find occurrences of `<BACKSPACE>' instead of `<backspace>'.]

And of course there is the way that Emacs itself writes such keys in its
help.  See, e.g., node `International Chars'.  Sometimes Emacs writes
`<RET>' when it communicates with users; sometimes it writes `RET'.

[IMO - but this has been rejected by Emacs Dev more than once - there is 
NEVER any reason to use the angle-bracket notation - it was misguided to
introduce it at all.  And in my own libraries I make it optional whether
Emacs uses angle brackets or not (as far as Lisp is concerned).  For
example, library `naked.el' provides an alternative to `kbd' that lets
you choose the format.  http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs-en/NaKeD,
http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs-en/naked.el]

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