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Re: Texinfo Mode: node-based movement functions.


From: Robert J. Chassell
Subject: Re: Texinfo Mode: node-based movement functions.
Date: Sat, 6 Nov 2004 16:52:08 -0500 (EST)

   In Texinfo Mode we have functions for moving to the beginning and end of
   a "page" (i.e. a @chapter) and for narrowing to a @chapter (together with
   its @sections).

   I think there should also be functions for moving to the beginning and
   end of an individual @node, and for narrowing to it.  ....

Why do you give a _node_ such relevance?  I am curious.  The reason is
that I have written many Texinfo documents over the past 18 years (or
more) and never needed a `goto Texinfo node command'.  If I had to go
to the node in Texinfo mode, I did a `C-s @no' or `C-r @no' and got
there.  (The search also brings up address@hidden' lines, but I ignore
them.  And clearly, most of my node-based movements have been to a
nearby node.)  Mostly, I have had to go to (and sometimes change)
content, which means going to chapters or sections.

Are you thinking of the other surface expressions besides Info that
Texinfo enables?  Certainly, nodes are published in Info, which is one
of the surface expressions.  They may be published in HTML -- I don't
know.  They are not published in a printed copy, whether using DVI,
PDF, XML, or PS.  I know that for sure, since I have to get rid of
nodes==sections that are too close to the first section of a chapter,
but should be in an Info file. (I keep the node but get rid of the
published section.)

However, a surface expression is not relevant to writing the deep
representation.  So perhaps the `goto Texinfo node commands' will be
useful to some writers.  (Fourteen ago, I wrote some
`texinfo-insert-...' commands that too few people cared about so they
were not included in the standard distribution.  However, they have
remained part of my .emacs file ever since.  I found the lack of
inclusion really weird since I use them.  Moreover, I always thought
of myself as an exemplar of the average so others should use them,
too.  Evidentally I am not such an exemplar.  Are your node movement
commands the same or are they useful by many other people?)

In any event, if you continue to develop the commands, please take
account of @ignore and the rest; they are used often by everyone.

Thank you.

-- 
    Robert J. Chassell                         
    address@hidden                         GnuPG Key ID: 004B4AC8
    http://www.rattlesnake.com                  http://www.teak.cc




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