From unknown Sat Jun 21 10:40:05 2025 Content-Disposition: inline Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer: MIME-tools 5.509 (Entity 5.509) Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 From: bug#8770 <8770@debbugs.gnu.org> To: bug#8770 <8770@debbugs.gnu.org> Subject: Status: 24.0.50; unhelpful use of "unflag" in some Dired doc strings Reply-To: bug#8770 <8770@debbugs.gnu.org> Date: Sat, 21 Jun 2025 17:40:05 +0000 retitle 8770 24.0.50; unhelpful use of "unflag" in some Dired doc strings reassign 8770 emacs submitter 8770 "Drew Adams" severity 8770 minor tag 8770 fixed thanks From debbugs-submit-bounces@debbugs.gnu.org Tue May 31 00:20:32 2011 Received: (at submit) by debbugs.gnu.org; 31 May 2011 04:20:32 +0000 Received: from localhost ([127.0.0.1] helo=debbugs.gnu.org) by debbugs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1QRGRT-0002ck-KA for submit@debbugs.gnu.org; Tue, 31 May 2011 00:20:31 -0400 Received: from eggs.gnu.org ([140.186.70.92]) by debbugs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1QRGRR-0002cY-Rf for submit@debbugs.gnu.org; Tue, 31 May 2011 00:20:30 -0400 Received: from Debian-exim by eggs.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1QRGRL-00025v-Ib for submit@debbugs.gnu.org; Tue, 31 May 2011 00:20:24 -0400 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.3.1 (2010-03-16) on eggs.gnu.org X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.2 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,RCVD_IN_DNSWL_MED, T_RP_MATCHES_RCVD, UNPARSEABLE_RELAY autolearn=unavailable version=3.3.1 Received: from lists.gnu.org ([140.186.70.17]:36548) by eggs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1QRGRL-00025r-Ft for submit@debbugs.gnu.org; Tue, 31 May 2011 00:20:23 -0400 Received: from eggs.gnu.org ([140.186.70.92]:57722) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1QRGRK-0006r3-3H for bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org; Tue, 31 May 2011 00:20:23 -0400 Received: from Debian-exim by eggs.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1QRGRJ-00025U-4P for bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org; Tue, 31 May 2011 00:20:22 -0400 Received: from rcsinet10.oracle.com ([148.87.113.121]:34512) by eggs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1QRGRI-00025Q-Ux for bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org; Tue, 31 May 2011 00:20:21 -0400 Received: from rtcsinet21.oracle.com (rtcsinet21.oracle.com [66.248.204.29]) by rcsinet10.oracle.com (Switch-3.4.2/Switch-3.4.2) with ESMTP id p4V4KIdT022083 (version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA bits=256 verify=OK) for ; Tue, 31 May 2011 04:20:20 GMT Received: from acsmt356.oracle.com (acsmt356.oracle.com [141.146.40.156]) by rtcsinet21.oracle.com (8.14.4+Sun/8.14.4) with ESMTP id p4V4KGV5000531 (version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA bits=256 verify=NO) for ; Tue, 31 May 2011 04:20:17 GMT Received: from abhmt010.oracle.com (abhmt010.oracle.com [141.146.116.19]) by acsmt356.oracle.com (8.12.11.20060308/8.12.11) with ESMTP id p4V4KBgn031172 for ; Mon, 30 May 2011 23:20:11 -0500 Received: from dradamslap1 (/10.159.49.144) by default (Oracle Beehive Gateway v4.0) with ESMTP ; Mon, 30 May 2011 21:20:11 -0700 From: "Drew Adams" To: Subject: 24.0.50; unhelpful use of "unflag" in some Dired doc strings Date: Mon, 30 May 2011 21:20:11 -0700 Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: Microsoft Office Outlook 11 Thread-Index: AcwfSghWl/fG6b7lTm+3gKocanAPnQ== X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.6090 X-Source-IP: rtcsinet21.oracle.com [66.248.204.29] X-CT-RefId: str=0001.0A090201.4DE46C84.0087:SCFSTAT5015188,ss=1,fgs=0 X-detected-operating-system: by eggs.gnu.org: GNU/Linux 2.6 (newer, 3) X-detected-operating-system: by eggs.gnu.org: GNU/Linux 2.6 (newer, 3) X-Received-From: 140.186.70.17 X-Spam-Score: -6.5 (------) X-Debbugs-Envelope-To: submit X-BeenThere: debbugs-submit@debbugs.gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.11 Precedence: list List-Id: List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Sender: debbugs-submit-bounces@debbugs.gnu.org Errors-To: debbugs-submit-bounces@debbugs.gnu.org X-Spam-Score: -6.5 (------) 1. For Dired, Emacs generally has the convention of speaking of "flagging for deletion" when it means adding the mark `D'. See the doc in general, and see for example things like `dired-del-marker', face `dired-flagged', the feedback message from `dired-mark-if', and the doc strings of `dired', `dired-flag-file-deletion', and `dired-mode' (except for a typo - see below). For marks other than `D' Emacs speaks of "marking", but not for `D'. And it generally does not speak of flagging except for marking with `D'. It is true that in some contexts that deal with multiple kinds of marks together, Emacs talks of "marks", including `D' flags with this term. But the verb used for adding `D' marks is always "flag", I believe. Consider, for instance, the :help string for `dired-toggle-marks': "Mark unmarked files, unmark marked ones". Marked files here do not include the flagged files (those marked with `D'). This is the advantage of having introduced a special term ("flag") for just the deletion mark. Apart from the terminology convention introduced by Emacs, the words "mark" and "flag" are general; neither is specific to any kind of mark. IOW, it is only Emacs that associates "flag" with deletion. But this distinction is helpful for communicating, because many Emacs operations act only wrt `D' marks or only wrt non-`D' marks. This bug report is about a few doc strings that use "unflag" to mean unmark in general, that is, removal of marks of all kinds. In these cases, it would be clearer to use "unmark". Search for "[Uu]nflag" in dired.el. The first occurrence, which is for the :help of the `dired-unmark' key binding, is a good guide for what _should_ be done: "Unmark or unflag current line's file". It explicitly distinguishes "unflag" as the removal of `D' marks, even though it did not absolutely need to do so since "unmark" could signify all kinds of marks. What it does is the right thing, as it adds clarity. The same should be done elsewhere as well. Another positive example is the doc string of `dired-revert', which refers to "marks/flags". Even some comments in dired.el make the distinction - e.g. ";; Commands to mark or flag certain categories of files" and ";; Commands to mark or flag file(s) at or near current line." Here are the problematic doc strings, where "unflag" should be changed to "unmark", or to "unmark or unflag" if `D' is also affected: a. `dired-mode': "Type \\[dired-unmark-backward] to back up one line and unflag." b. `dired-unmark-backward' "In Dired, move up lines and remove deletion flag there. Optional prefix ARG says how many lines to unflag; default is one line." This operation affects all marks, including but not only `D'. The doc should say that - it should use "unmark or unflag", not "unflag", and the first line is just incorrect - it does not just remove deletion flags. c. These commands all have this or similar in their doc strings: "With prefix argument, unflag all those files." They should all say "unmark or unflag", because all kinds of marks are removed. `dired-mark-symlinks', `dired-mark-directories', `dired-mark-executables', `dired-mark-sexp' (in dired-x.el), d. `dired-flag-auto-save-files' and `dired-flag-backup-files' correctly say that they flag the files for deletion. But they incorrectly say that with a prefix arg they unflag them. In fact, with a prefix arg they unmark or unflag them. IOW, if you mark a file #foo# with `*' then `C-u #' will unmark it, and likewise for a file foo~. In GNU Emacs 24.0.50.1 (i386-mingw-nt5.1.2600) of 2011-05-23 on 3249CTO Windowing system distributor `Microsoft Corp.', version 5.1.2600 configured using `configure --with-gcc (4.5) --no-opt --cflags -Ic:/build/include' From debbugs-submit-bounces@debbugs.gnu.org Wed Jul 06 13:11:33 2011 Received: (at control) by debbugs.gnu.org; 6 Jul 2011 17:11:34 +0000 Received: from localhost ([127.0.0.1] helo=debbugs.gnu.org) by debbugs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1QeVdN-0005jW-Oa for submit@debbugs.gnu.org; Wed, 06 Jul 2011 13:11:33 -0400 Received: from hermes.netfonds.no ([80.91.224.195]) by debbugs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1QeVdM-0005jG-C9 for control@debbugs.gnu.org; Wed, 06 Jul 2011 13:11:33 -0400 Received: from cm-84.215.51.58.getinternet.no ([84.215.51.58] helo=quimbies.gnus.org) by hermes.netfonds.no with esmtpsa (TLS1.0:DHE_RSA_AES_128_CBC_SHA1:16) (Exim 4.72) (envelope-from ) id 1QeVd7-0007Jn-RX for control@debbugs.gnu.org; Wed, 06 Jul 2011 19:11:17 +0200 Date: Wed, 06 Jul 2011 19:11:17 +0200 Message-Id: To: control@debbugs.gnu.org From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen Subject: control message for bug #8770 X-MailScanner-ID: 1QeVd7-0007Jn-RX X-Netfonds-MailScanner: Found to be clean X-Netfonds-MailScanner-From: larsi@gnus.org MailScanner-NULL-Check: 1310577077.91919@MaWZwgMKuSFVRqsDRFPSSw X-Spam-Status: No X-Spam-Score: -2.8 (--) X-Debbugs-Envelope-To: control X-BeenThere: debbugs-submit@debbugs.gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.11 Precedence: list List-Id: List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Sender: debbugs-submit-bounces@debbugs.gnu.org Errors-To: debbugs-submit-bounces@debbugs.gnu.org X-Spam-Score: -2.8 (--) tags 8770 fixed close 8770 24.1 From debbugs-submit-bounces@debbugs.gnu.org Wed Jul 06 13:15:19 2011 Received: (at 8770) by debbugs.gnu.org; 6 Jul 2011 17:15:20 +0000 Received: from localhost ([127.0.0.1] helo=debbugs.gnu.org) by debbugs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1QeVh1-00068f-Gn for submit@debbugs.gnu.org; Wed, 06 Jul 2011 13:15:19 -0400 Received: from hermes.netfonds.no ([80.91.224.195]) by debbugs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1QeVgy-0005wg-Iy for 8770@debbugs.gnu.org; Wed, 06 Jul 2011 13:15:17 -0400 Received: from cm-84.215.51.58.getinternet.no ([84.215.51.58] helo=quimbies.gnus.org) by hermes.netfonds.no with esmtpsa (TLS1.0:DHE_RSA_AES_128_CBC_SHA1:16) (Exim 4.72) (envelope-from ) id 1QeVgn-0007Na-4F; Wed, 06 Jul 2011 19:15:05 +0200 From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen To: "Drew Adams" Subject: Re: 24.0.50; unhelpful use of "unflag" in some Dired doc strings In-Reply-To: (Drew Adams's message of "Mon, 30 May 2011 21:20:11 -0700") Date: Wed, 06 Jul 2011 19:11:14 +0200 Message-ID: References: User-Agent: Gnus/5.110018 (No Gnus v0.18) Emacs/24.0.50 (gnu/linux) X-Now-Playing: Demdike Stare's _Tryptych (3): Voices Of Dust_: "Filtered Through Prejudis" X-Hashcash: 1:23:110706:drew.adams@oracle.com::WYyXdfE/nsFynGZt:0000000000000000000000000000000000000000qqBt X-Hashcash: 1:23:110706:8770@debbugs.gnu.org::+6j+L3ZMBvSpYVAO:00000000000000000000000000000000000000001X0wV MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain X-MailScanner-ID: 1QeVgn-0007Na-4F X-Netfonds-MailScanner: Found to be clean X-Netfonds-MailScanner-From: larsi@gnus.org MailScanner-NULL-Check: 1310577305.21735@OvfJX1ssLz+mnRd21k5FXA X-Spam-Status: No X-Spam-Score: -2.8 (--) X-Debbugs-Envelope-To: 8770 Cc: 8770@debbugs.gnu.org X-BeenThere: debbugs-submit@debbugs.gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.11 Precedence: list List-Id: List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Sender: debbugs-submit-bounces@debbugs.gnu.org Errors-To: debbugs-submit-bounces@debbugs.gnu.org X-Spam-Score: -2.8 (--) "Drew Adams" writes: > Here are the problematic doc strings, where "unflag" should be changed > to "unmark", or to "unmark or unflag" if `D' is also affected: I've now applied your suggested changes. -- (domestic pets only, the antidote for overdose, milk.) bloggy blog http://lars.ingebrigtsen.no/ From unknown Sat Jun 21 10:40:05 2025 Received: (at fakecontrol) by fakecontrolmessage; To: internal_control@debbugs.gnu.org From: Debbugs Internal Request Subject: Internal Control Message-Id: bug archived. Date: Thu, 04 Aug 2011 11:24:04 +0000 User-Agent: Fakemail v42.6.9 # This is a fake control message. # # The action: # bug archived. thanks # This fakemail brought to you by your local debbugs # administrator