[Solved] (was: Prefix-Arg (non-interactive!) in Info)

[Memnon Anon]

Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> writes:

>> This did not work, but I was hardly surprised.
>
> You are wrong assuming that the prefix arg is always 4.  Its ``value''
> depends on how the function accesses it; the node in the ELisp manual
> that Drew pointed to spells out the possible ``values''.  In addition,
> it matters how the function tests the possible values of the argument;
> if the function just checks that its argument (in this case, SELECT)
> is non-nil, then '(4) will do, but so will '(foobar).

Yes, now I understand. I thought it would always be an integer and
`C-u' just is default 4 without further ado. I did not expect it 
to be that versatile :).

> It would be better (and more educational) to simply read the code of
> the function (and submit a bug report regarding the unclear doc
> string). 

I usually do, when I investigate for my own purpose.
But here, I wanted to help another person (and investigate a wrong^W not
working answer he got).
So, I went the short route this time.

w.r.t. Bug report, no, I would not do that.
I am no programmer, I hardly ever write anything from scratch; I modify
existing code for my own needs and at best effort. Imho, for reporting
Bugs like this, a more profound level of expertise is needed or you are 
most certainly waisting a developers precious time.

(My area of expertise is latin. So I need a tool that handles text well,
especially latex, but also grep et al. Emacs is just perfect for that.
Of course, orgmode all by itself would be enough. I think this is a 
point that is stressed not enough: Emacs is not only a "a great tool for
programmers. It is an excellent tool for everyone who has to deal with
large amount of text! If you are willing to learn its ways that is :)

> That's because multiply-by-seven uses (interactive "p") -- lowercase
> `p' -- which assigns to NUMBER the numerical value of the prefix arg.
> The meaning of the interactive codes, such as "P" and "p", is
> explained in the node "Interactive Codes" in the ELisp manual.

Thank you *very much* for taking the time to explain.
I really learned a lot today :).

Memnon "Happy" Anon