Subject: Re: bug#64693: Documentation for the definition of a Menu Item

From: uzibalqa <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2023 11:35:27 +0000

------- Original Message -------
On Tuesday, July 18th, 2023 at 11:03 PM, Eli Zaretskii <[email-masked]> wrote:

> > Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2023 20:44:04 +0000
> > From: uzibalqa via "Bug reports for GNU Emacs,
> > the Swiss army knife of text editors" [email-masked]
> > 
> > Have been looking at the documentation for 'DEF' in 'define-key'.
> > 
> > (define-key KEYMAP KEY DEF &optional REMOVE)
> > 
> > DEF, the definition of a Menu Item is described in form as
> > 
> > (menu-item item-name binding . item-property-list)

Looking at "23.17.1.1 Simple Menu Items" nowhere does it say that
the vector of symbols is equivalent to the sequence of keystrokes 
when using keyboard bindings (key sequences).  
 
> > Note that DEF constitutes a single list. The special
> > dotted notation indicates that 'item-property-list' is not
> > a separate list but rather enables any number of property
> > elements in the form of ':keyword value' within the same
> > list structure.
> > 
> > But such detail is not properly described.
> 
> 
> If you type "i property list RET" in Info, you will land in the
> "Property Lists" node, which starts by saying:
> 
> A “property list” (“plist” for short) is a list of paired elements.
> Each of the pairs associates a property name (usually a symbol) with a
> property or value.

Provide a cross-reference to 'property list' in "23.17.1.2 Extended Menu Items".
 
> So I think when the manual says that item-property-list is a property
> list, it does a good job.
> 
> > Furthermore, a more comprehensive explanation of Cons Cells, Dotted
> > Notation, and Backquote Construct, should be introduced and backed up
> > with real-life syntax such as the one described here.
> 
> 
> This is all properly done elsewhere in the manual; see my response to
> your report in bug#64692.
> 
> So I'm closing this bug.
>