Re: { SPAM 2 }::Re: Divergence in menu appearance between Emacs Info and standalone Info

[Luc Teirlinck]

Kim Storm wrote:

   I would simply write -- early in the documentation -- something like
   this:

   ----------------------- snip ------------------------

   Notice that starting with GNU emacs version 21.5, the emacs info
   reader usually replaces the elaborate menu and node references
   desscribed in the following sections by simpler `hyperlinks'.  

   If you prefer to see the elaborate references in emacs info too, you
   need to customize the Info-hide-note-references variable.

   -----------------------------------------------------

   What more do you need to say?

That would depend on the exact reimplementation.  Essentially that the
hiding can lead to surprising results when killing and yanking,
copying parts of the text to file, defaults when using M-x man and
friends and so on.  How you can avoid these surprises by making the
hidden text temporarily visible before killing or copying to
file. (Currently there is no convenient command for that, but it would
be easy to provide one, say `v'.)  Of course, implementation by
deletion would eliminate these subtleties.  Stefan's reimplementation
makes it a lot easier to deal with them, but they are still there.
Actually, in spite of the problems, it has one advantage over
deletion, namely that it would be easy to temporarily show the user
the additional info using `v', which would behave minor mode style.

Essentially, there would be nothing more to say, if your description
were accurate, that is if emacs did "replacing" (buffer editing)
rather than hiding.  That is what I refer to as reimplementation by
deletion.

Sincerely,

Luc.