Re: [Nano-devel] [patch] allow ^C to exit from Help

[Chris Allegretta]

On Mon, Jan 14, 2013 at 2:29 PM, Benno Schulenberg
<address@hidden> wrote:
>
> On Mon, Jan 14, 2013, at 19:05, Chris Allegretta wrote:
>> There's a consistency problem with using ^C in this way.  ^C is used
>> to abort an action like replacing text or inserting a file.
>
> To me "^C" means "Cancel", and when I can cancel a prompt with it,
> it feels natural to me to also "cancel" the display of a help text,
> or the display of the file list (the browser) with it.
>
>>  ^X is
>> really about exiting from a buffer like an editing session.  The help
>> system really feels more like an editing session than a command.  The
>> fact that you can page through it is really the indication of this.
>
> Not to me -- you can't do anything in it, there is no cursor, the help
> lines change entirely...
>
> Anyone who works on the command line knows that ^C breaks or aborts most
> commands.  When not knowing what to do, my first temptation is to hit ^C.
> (BTW, the ^X exit key for help is listed as the last one in the help lines
> -- it would be clearer if it were the very first.)
>
> (If it were up to me, I would even make also ^G an exit key for help --
> it would then be like a toggle; it might be the first thing I would try
> before hitting ^C.)

That's actually a really good point, and should be a piece of cake to add.

>
>> If we're not being consistent here then I welcome a discussion about
>> it, but there's something about making the help system ^C-able which
>> just seems wrong from a consistency perspective.
>
> Well, the change has been accepted in the past:
>
>     svn diff -r3427:3428
>
> Amongst several other changes, there is the addition of the Cancel key,
> for both help text and file browser.

Never too late to re-assess consistency considerations :) That said
I'm apparently just really bad at being an ideologue after all, so if
people want this functionality I'm fine with it.