Re: Patch that adds help to isearch

[Juri Linkov]

>     Some months ago we discussed help for isearch-forward/backward.
>     I tried several alternatives at that time, but did not send in
>     any patch.  The attached patch is a simple way to give help.
>     It simply defines C-h and f1 to call isearch-mode-help
>
> I don't want to make such a change now, and perhaps not ever.  Too
> many control characters are special already in isearch.  (I turned off
> one of them a couple of months ago.)

What about enabling isearch-mode-help only when the search string is empty?

I understand the need to exit the search with C-h when the search
string is not empty like in the case of `C-s some-function-name C-h f RET'
to call `describe-function' on the found function name.  But I don't see
the need to exit the search with C-h just after C-s as in `C-s C-h f'.

OTOH, I can imagine users (especially novices) after typing C-s and seeing
the prompt `I-search: ' wanting the help about what to do next.  It is
natural for them to type C-h in this case to see the Help buffer from
`isearch-mode-help'.

-- 
Juri Linkov
http://www.jurta.org/emacs/