GNU bug report logs - #4345
Manual suggestions for point and cursor

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From: Gareth Rees <gareth.rees <at> pobox.com>
To: bug-gnu-emacs <at> gnu.org
Subject: bug#4345: Manual suggestions for point and cursor
Date: Sat, 5 Sep 2009 00:28:46 +0100

In GNU Emacs 23.1.1 (powerpc-apple-darwin9.8.0, NS apple- 
appkit-949.54) of 2009-08-18 on Chihiro.local
Windowing system distributor `Apple', version 10.3.949
configured using `configure  '--with-ns''


Some Emacs manual suggestions to do with describing the nature of the  
cursor and point.

1. In the Emacs manual, node "Point", it says "While the cursor  
appears to be _on_ a character, you should think of point as _between_  
two characters; it points _before_ the character that appears under  
the cursor."  The cursor only appears to be on a character if you have  
a block cursor configured. With a vertical bar cursor, the cursor  
appears to be between characters, and with a horizontal bar cursor,  
the cursor appears to be underneath a character. The manual might  
qualify the claim being made here.

2. Later in the "Point" node, it says, "On a graphical display, Emacs  
shows a cursor in each window; the selected window's cursor is solid  
and blinking, and the other cursors are hollow." The manual might note  
that this is the default for how the cursor is displayed and that the  
shape can be configured.

3. In the node "Cursor Display", it is mentioned that you can  
configure the shape of the cursor: "For a box cursor, this is a hollow  
box; for a bar cursor, this is a thinner bar." However, no explanation  
is given for how to do this. The manual might mention the cursor-type  
frame parameter, and link to the elisp manual node "Cursor Parameters".

4. In the node "Table Recognition", the phrase "under point" appears  
four times. Generally the Emacs manual is careful to use the phrase  
"after point" when mentioning a character position, or "at point" when  
mentioning a vaguer location. I suggest that "under point" be changed  
to "at point" in this node.

-- 
Gareth Rees

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