Re: Info bug with @xref{Sample .emacs File, , , ccmode, the CC Mode Manual}.

[Alan Mackenzie]

On Sun, 11 Dec 2005, Eli Zaretskii wrote:

>> Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2005 18:37:49 +0000 (GMT)
>> From: Alan Mackenzie <address@hidden>

>> Whilst amending programs.texi (to incorporate changes from CC Mode
>> 5.31), I hit a problem with Info.  I've inserted the cross reference:
>> 
>>     @xref{Sample .emacs File,,, ccmode, the CC Mode Manual}.

>> , and makeinfo'd it.  When I load the info file, this xref fails with
>> the error message "No such node or anchor: Sample".  [BTW: on the same
>> file.info, Emacs 21.3 says much the same: "No such anchor in tag table
>> or node in tag table or file: Sample".]

>The problem here is with your usage of Texinfo: node names cannot
>contain periods.  The Texinfo manual says:
>
>   * Unfortunately, you cannot use periods, commas, colons or
>     parentheses within a node name; these confuse the Texinfo
>     processors.  Perhaps this limitation will be removed some day, too.
>
>So there you are: don't do that ;-)

Hey, that's not fair!  We've had a node called "Sample .emacs File" in
the CC Mode manual since 22nd February 1995, and that was before I could
even spell "Emacs".  ;-(

And, so far as I know, we've _NEVER_ had any problems with it.  It has
simply worked.  More to the point, makeinfo has never given a warning
about it.

Damn!  :-)

By the way, WHY can't we have periods in node names?  OK, we need commas
to separate the arguments of the @xref and info node, we need colons to
delimit the node name, we need parens to give an info filename.  But why
periods?  Over ten years of "@node Sample .emacs File" suggests that the
restriction isn't really necessary.  What would break if the prohibition
on periods were tracked down and removed?

-- 
Alan.