GNU bug report logs - #17671
24.3.91; RET on a link in *Help* buffer resizes *Help*

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From: martin rudalics <rudalics <at> gmx.at>
To: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>, 17671 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: bug#17671: 24.3.91; RET on a link in *Help* buffer resizes *Help*
Date: Tue, 03 Jun 2014 09:21:56 +0200

>    C-h f line-move-visual RET
>    C-x o
>    move to the link under "simple.el" and type RET
>    drag the mode line so that the lower window showing *Help* becomes
>     smaller

`temp-buffer-resize-mode' would do that automatically.

>    move cursor to the first call to vertical-motion
>    C-h f RET
>    C-x o
>    move to the link under "C source code" and type RET
>    the window showing *Help* is resized back to half the frame

It's due to this code in `display-buffer-use-some-window':

      ;; If the window was used by `display-buffer' before, try to
      ;; resize it to its old height but don't signal an error.
      (when (and (listp quad)
		 (integerp (nth 3 quad))
		 (/= (nth 3 quad) (window-total-height window)))
	(condition-case nil
	    (window-resize window (- (nth 3 quad) (window-total-height window)))
	  (error nil)))

> This is annoying.  I like my *Help* windows to be small, but many
> times (but not always) they are resized when I need to request
> documentation of something else.

In the case at hand the *Help* window gets resized _implicitly_ because
the _other_ window is resized so the behavior is not tied to using help.

> Why cannot Emacs keep the size of that window?

I can't remember.  Maybe to assure that the window used for displaying
`vertical-motion' is reasonably large (after all you could have dragged
the mode line to make the window showing *Help* larger).  Maybe simply
to assure that when the same or a similar buffer is displayed in that
window again, one can continue to work with its previous size (I vaguely
remember that you requested something similar once wrt the position of
`point' in such case).  Maybe it was also completlely unmotivated.

We can either remove that part or make it customizable.  Since I never
use `display-buffer-use-some-window' I can't judge how offending the
behavior is.

martin

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