GNU bug report logs - #35580
hexl-mode documentation is confusing about insertion

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Message #10 received at 35580-done <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
To: Reuben Thomas <rrt <at> sc3d.org>
Cc: 35580-done <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#35580: hexl-mode documentation is confusing about insertion
Date: Sat, 11 May 2019 15:01:26 +0300

> From: Reuben Thomas <rrt <at> sc3d.org>
> Date: Sun, 5 May 2019 13:53:55 +0100
> 
>   Ordinary text characters overwrite in Hexl mode.  This is to reduce
> the risk of accidentally spoiling the alignment of data in the file.
> There are special commands for insertion.
> 
> (I copied this from git master just to be sure!)
> 
> The list of commands underneath list several commands that have "insert" in their name, leading the naive
> reader (me) to believe they will insert rather than overwrite.
> 
> However, this is not the case: the various keystrokes listed underneath which mention "insert" all overstrike.
> 
> I suspect that my confusion results from guessing (incorrectly) that the sentence "There are special
> commands for insertion" uses the word "insertion" to oppose "overwrite" earlier in the paragraph; but in fact, it
> means "insertion" in the sense of "inserting a character", which happens always to overwrite in hexl-mode.

Thanks, I clarified this text.

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