bug#24577: 25.1; Proposal to improve C-u C-h c behavior

[Dmitri Paduchikh]

Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> wrote:

>> From: Ivan Shmakov <ivan@siamics.net>
>> Date: Sat, 01 Oct 2016 05:40:40 +0000
>> Cc: Dmitri Paduchikh <dpaduchikh@gmail.com>
>> 
>> >>>>> Dmitri Paduchikh <dpaduchikh@gmail.com> writes:
>> 
>>  > C-u C-h c does not work in read-only buffers.  And even if the buffer
>>  > is writable it's rarely an appropriate place to insert info about key
>>  > bindings.  I think it would be better if C-u C-h c placed its output
>>  > into kill ring and printed it in the echo area instead of the current
>>  > behavior.
>> 
>>       I believe that this behavior is a common idiom in Emacs.
>>       For example, M-! date RET shows the current date and time in
>>       echo area, while C-u M-! date RET inserts it at point – with
>>       both actions making sense depending on the situation.

There is a difference here. You are calling C-u M-! at the place where
you want its output, whereas C-u C-h c has to be called at the place
when the key is defined, and that place is rarely the same where you
want to insert the key description.

>>       I guess C-u C-h c behavior is mainly useful when writing about
>>       Emacs itself (including writing bug reports, or conversing on
>>       IRC, etc.), but I can easily see it being handy nevertheless.

I agree that main use of C-u C-h c is when writing about Emacs itself,
but the part about being handy nevertheless I didn't understand. I
didn't propose to remove it, just make it more handy.

>>       Also, for read-only buffers, one can use C-h c without C-u, and
>>       then copy the result from the *Messages* buffer.

In other words, you are suggesting not to use C-u C-h c and simply work
around the issue. But since you prefer not to use it, then you won't
suffer from the behavior change.

>>       On the other hand, I’m not aware of any of Emacs commands adding
>>       the result of some operation directly to the kill ring.

I have seen the proposed behavior in emacs-w3m where w3m-print-this-url
behaves in this manner. It is convenient. Please note that message in
the echo area may contain the indication that the description has been
copied into kill ring. I think this would remove any possible confusion.

EZ> 100% agreement.

Regards,
Dmitri Paduchikh