Subject: RE: [External] : Re: bug#24510: 25.1; Info: searching for ` does not find what looks like `

From: Drew Adams <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 28 Apr 2022 18:58:13 +0000

> It's possible to enable char-fold search only in Info mode,
> but probably this should be left for user customization,
> because this problem is not Info-specific: most likely the user
> might want ` and ‘ to be treated equivalently pretty much everywhere.
> But still if the user want this only in Info, it's very easy to type
> C-s M-s ' `list.

Yes, `C-s M-s '' is great.  But it requires having
some idea that you want/need to fold chars.

The problem (gotcha) is that a user can easily not
recognize (know) that the char s?he's looking for
is not just ` (backquote).  As I said in the bug
report:

  S?he can easily either think (1) that the text
  s?he (thought s?he was) searching for is not
  present (e.g., if s?he does not see it) or
  (2) that Isearch is not working properly for
  some reason.

We should help users with this problem.  Somehow.

And yes, the problem is more general than just
` (backquote), and it's more general than Info.

It's about searching for something, and not finding
it because you're typing a different char - it's
about (~semi)confusables, I guess.
___

Maybe (?) - dunno whether this would be reasonable -
a minor mode or option whereby search failure, when
the search string involves confusables (where that
set of chars is customizable or bindable in a given
context/mode), lets you know that you might want to
try char-folding.  (At least for literal searches.)