GNU bug report logs - #46979
Allow setting Man-default-entry via Local Variables

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From: Daniel Martín <mardani29 <at> yahoo.es>
To: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
Cc: 46979 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, 積丹尼 Dan Jacobson <jidanni <at> jidanni.org>
Subject: bug#46979: Allow setting Man-default-entry via Local Variables
Date: Mon, 08 Mar 2021 16:48:52 +0100

Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org> writes:

>
> Our solution to this is "C-h S".  Did you try it?  You can extend its
> database if the default lacks something you need.

C-h S only searches Info pages.  I think this feature request is more
about improving the default that M-x man offers, to consider more things
than just the text around point.

I can see its usefulness, as a lot of Unix tools provide special man
pages for its configuration files.  Another potential use case is a user
visiting a .gitconfig file, where M-x man could suggest "git-config(1)"
by default.  Similarly for .gitattributes and "gitattributes(5)".

As it's almost impossible to have all that knowledge in Emacs core, I
see it as a new extensibilty point for users.  What are the downsides
you see in the local variable approach?

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