Subject: bug#47032: 26.3; doc of `interprogram-paste-function'

From: Drew Adams <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2021 23:46:37 +0000

The doc string and (elisp) `Low-Level Kill Ring' say that the function
value of this var can return a "list of strings", to support window
systems that support multiple selections.

Is this a Lisp list of file-name strings?  What kind of multiselection
in MS Windows would result in such a list being obtained and returned
by the function value of the var?

I tried this in Windows Explorer, thinking that it might give me such a
list:

 1. Select all files in a folder (`C-a').  Or use Control + click to
    select several files.
 2. Shift + right-click and choose `Copy as Path'.

But (funcall interprogram-paste-function) then returns a string that's
the contatenation of the (absolute) file names, with each name enclosed
in " chars and with those double-quoted names separated by newline chars.

Is that what was meant by a "list of strings"?  I'm guessing no, and
that some method of obtaining a Lisp list of strings from multiselection
of file names is intended.  But what method, for example?

And if that really was what was meant by a "list of strings" then maybe
that doc could be clarified, because the way it is now I expected a Lisp
list of strings that are (absolute) file names.

In GNU Emacs 26.3 (build 1, x86_64-w64-mingw32)
 of 2019-08-29
Repository revision: 96dd0196c28bc36779584e47fffcca433c9309cd
Windowing system distributor `Microsoft Corp.', version 10.0.19041
Configured using:
 `configure --without-dbus --host=x86_64-w64-mingw32
 --without-compress-install 'CFLAGS=-O2 -static -g3''