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RE: Disable menu bar mode


From: Drew Adams
Subject: RE: Disable menu bar mode
Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2017 18:37:43 -0800 (PST)

> IOW the complaint is with the confusing and incomplete
> documentation: «nil = true (turn on)?? So what is false then?»

This question comes up every so often.  It's a natural
one, in part because the doc strings for particular
minor modes sometimes suck, er, are less than perfect.

Doc strings of regular minor-mode commands (e.g., modes
defined with `define-minor-mode') should describe the
behavior, which is essentially the same for all such
modes.  And the doc strings should say clearly that the
command is, in fact, a minor-mode command.

Whether this gets done manually or partly automatically
(e.g. by `define-minor-mode'), it needs to be done.

The doc of macro `define-minor-mode', itself, is quite
good.  Unfortunately, an "end user" of a minor-mode
command is not necessarily going to consult the doc
for the macro that created the command ;-).

The doc string for the command itself needs to have
the info about it. This should be a no-brainer, I
think.  But the fact is that there is a fair amount
to say, and for whatever reasons, sometimes it is
omitted.

There have been a bunch of bugs filed about this
general problem.  Sometimes things do get improved.
Here are a couple such bug reports:

https://debbugs.gnu.org/cgi/bugreport.cgi?bug=25428
https://debbugs.gnu.org/cgi/bugreport.cgi?bug=29497
https://debbugs.gnu.org/cgi/bugreport.cgi?bug=20462



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