Subject: bug#6591: 24.0.50; incorrect doc for `catch'

From: "Drew Adams" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2010 09:01:25 -0700

> There are multiple arguments all matched by the parameter.

Yes, so?  It is a &rest parameter.
How shall we convey that in the doc?
That is the question.

`...' typically signifies repetition of what it follows.  If `...' follows BODY,
then that (normally) means repetition of BODY - which is not what we mean in
Emacs (there is only one body).

Repetition of arguments, yes.  And those arguments are sexps, not BODYs.  A
single &rest parameter BODY, yes.  And that BODY is not a sexp - it is a list of
sexps that is spliced in.

It's not about actual args vs parameters.  It's about describing the syntax
unambiguously, whether you describe args or parameters.

But you and Eli do not agree about `...' apparently.  For him `...' does not
signify repetition; it means that BODY is a &rest parameter - hence we can
legitimately speak of only a single BODY.

You cannot have it both ways.  Either BODY is the list of what follows TAG,
spliced in, or BODY represents a single sexp (Lisp form) and is repeatable.  In
the latter case, BODY should be called FORM or SEXP, because the word "body"
suggests there is only one.

In the former case, `...' coincides with common practice.  In the latter choice
it does not.  In either case we need to spell out the syntax convention that we
use, somewhere in the doc - that is missing AFAICT.  In the latter choice it is
especially important to do that, since our convention does not fit what readers
see elsewhere.