Subject: Re: bug#60568: [FR] 30.0.50; Help buffers and function bodies for generated functions

From: Ihor Radchenko <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 07 Jan 2023 15:19:12 +0000

Eli Zaretskii <[email-masked]> writes:

>> Then, may "13.4 Defining Functions" be a good place to link to this
>> subtlety?
>> 
>> The documentation for `defalias' is not really very clear, even now,
>> when I am aware about the issue herein:
>> 
>>      The proper place to use ‘defalias’ is where a specific function or
>>      macro name is being defined—especially where that name appears
>>      explicitly in the source file being loaded.  This is because
>>      ‘defalias’ records which file defined the function, just like
>>      ‘defun’ (*note Unloading::).
>> 
>>      By contrast, in programs that manipulate function definitions for
>>      other purposes, it is better to use ‘fset’, which does not keep
>>      such records.  *Note Function Cells::.
>
> FWIW, I don't see anything unclear here.  Moreover, what does defalias
> have to do with the issue of links to code of generated functions?

The above says that `defalias' "records which file defined the
function". It appears to be related to what we are discussing here -
locating the function definition.

However, the present manual description does not talk what "records"
refers to. I presume that the records are to be used by *Help* system.
If so, it also makes sense to elaborate. Either here, or in other node
linked from here.

-- 
Ihor Radchenko // yantar92,
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