GNU bug report logs - #50146
26.3; Doc of `MODE-' things created by `define-globalized-minor-mode'

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Message #5 received at submit <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Drew Adams <drew.adams <at> oracle.com>
To: "bug-gnu-emacs <at> gnu.org" <bug-gnu-emacs <at> gnu.org>
Subject: 26.3; Doc of `MODE-' things created by `define-globalized-minor-mode'
Date: Sat, 21 Aug 2021 15:46:38 +0000

A user can be puzzled by `C-h v' and `C-h f' completion showing the
names of variables and functions that get created by macro
`define-globalized-minor-mode'.  `C-h v' and `C-h f' are primary means
of discovery.

If a user chooses such a name from completion she's not helped, but
further pushed into puzzlement.  She'll see something like this:

  foo-mode-set-explicitly is a Lisp function in 'foobar.el'.

  (foo-mode-set-explicitly)

And clicking that file-name link won't help at all, but will add to the
confusion.

Can we not fix this somehow?

If nothing really reasonable can be found to fix this, maybe a kludge
improvement would be to at least add a doc string to such a created
thing, which says that the thing was created by
`define-globalized-minor-mode' and perhaps points to that macro.  And
perhaps that doc string could point to the corresponding mode command,
so users can consult its doc (which won't mention the thing created, but
at least might get users closer to what's going on).

In GNU Emacs 26.3 (build 1, x86_64-w64-mingw32)
 of 2019-08-29
Repository revision: 96dd0196c28bc36779584e47fffcca433c9309cd
Windowing system distributor `Microsoft Corp.', version 10.0.19042
Configured using:
 `configure --without-dbus --host=x86_64-w64-mingw32
 --without-compress-install 'CFLAGS=-O2 -static -g3''

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