GNU bug report logs - #32212
26; `subword-mode' doc string shows empty key-binding list

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Message #38 received at 32212 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Drew Adams <drew.adams <at> oracle.com>
To: Phil Sainty <psainty <at> orcon.net.nz>
Cc: Stephen Berman <stephen.berman <at> gmx.net>,
 bug-gnu-emacs <bug-gnu-emacs-bounces+psainty=orcon.net.nz <at> gnu.org>,
 Noam Postavsky <npostavs <at> gmail.com>, 32212 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: RE: bug#32212: 26; `subword-mode' doc string shows empty key-binding
 list
Date: Sun, 22 Jul 2018 21:19:55 -0700 (PDT)

> >> Would it be better if the \\{some-keymap} substitution handled the
> >> case where there were no bindings, and printed nothing?
> >
> > No.  A doc string can introduce the list of bindings any
> > way its author wants.  We cannot predict what text might
> > precede or follow the text \\{some-keymap}.
> 
> Ah, yes, agreed -- a search shows quite a variety of such introductory
> phrases:...
> 
> I think there's a lot of unnecessary inconsistency here which would
> probably benefit from a common phrasing.  That could feasibly be
> provided via an alternative variant of the \\{...} syntax (at which
> point it could make more sense to include some automated variations
> for edge cases), but that all sounds like more trouble than it's
> worth, so I'm not really suggesting that this should be done (even
> if it strikes me as a "nice to have").

Agreed on all counts.  Except that before thinking about
variants of \\{...} (YAGNI), I'd say that if you think
such inconsistency is really a problem then the best fix
is to suggest a convention to users in the manual.

(But I don't think such inconsistency is a problem.)

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