GNU bug report logs - #59248
29.0.50; apropos lists keywords as if they were variables

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Message #17 received at 59248 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Akib Azmain Turja <akib <at> disroot.org>
To: Thibault Polge <thibault <at> thb.lt>
Cc: 59248 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#59248: 29.0.50; apropos lists keywords as if they were
 variables
Date: Mon, 14 Nov 2022 11:21:56 +0600

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Thibault Polge <thibault <at> thb.lt> writes:

> On a very recent (about yesterday) Emacs from HEAD, apropos lists
> interned keywords as undocumented variables.  Eg, the following
> invocation:

This happens to me with a Emacs build from more than two months old
commit.

>
> M-x apropos RET distant-foreground RET
>
> displays the following output:
>
>> Type RET on a type label to view its full documentation.
>>
>> :distant-foreground
>>  Variable: (not documented)
>>  Value: :distant-foreground
>
> This is technically correct --- keywords are variable-ish --- but quite
> useless.  At best, keywords just add noise to `apropos` output.  At
> worst, they may be misleading, since an user may assume they can somehow
> control something by setq'ing a keyword.
>
> Regards,
> Thibault
>
>
>

These symbol (nil, t, keywords) are self-evaluating.  Their value is the
symbol itself.  For example, do the following:

M-x apropos RET ^nil$ RET
M-x apropos RET ^t$ RET

However they are constants, the values can't be changed.

I suggest to remove the "Variable" and "Value" and add something like
"Self-evaluating: yes" and "Constant: yes".

-- 
Akib Azmain Turja, GPG key: 70018CE5819F17A3BBA666AFE74F0EFA922AE7F5
Fediverse: akib <at> hostux.social
Codeberg: akib
emailselfdefense.fsf.org | "Nothing can be secure without encryption."

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