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Re: Browsing the history of commands. Inconsistency between Bash and Ema


From: Dani Moncayo
Subject: Re: Browsing the history of commands. Inconsistency between Bash and Emacs
Date: Fri, 14 Feb 2014 13:46:33 +0100

> This is completely putting the cart before the horse.  And going down
> that road creates a circular line of reasoning which has no end to the
> loop cycle.  Plus it is a radical change in fundamental behavior.
> Please don't.

I disagree with the above, obviously.  See below.

> The entire reason that bash's readline emacs mode uses C-n and C-p is
> that those are the emacs keys for next-line and previous-line.  If
> emacs were using M-p and M-n for previous and next then bash would
> have done so too.  Bash didn't make this up.  It is using the keys
> from emacs for emacs mode and those keys are C-n and C-p.  Editing the
> history is just like editing a file.  C-p takes you to the previous
> line.  C-n takes you to the next line.

Then, that model used in bash is precisely what I think should be
changed (generalized), to match the emacs one:  Emacs' minibuffer
distinguishes between (a) different lines within the current command
and (b) different commands.  And that distinction is good, because it
allows for a richer user interface: you can, on one hand, move across
different commands (with M-p/M-n), and OTOH, move across different
lines in the current selected command (with C-p/C-n).  It is simply a
richer (better) model, IMHO.

> Now enter emacs.  I mean literally.  (I have been using emacs for a
> very long time by the way.  I am using it now.)  Emacs has the feature
> including of being able to edit the minibuffer and also being able to
> run an inferior shell process in a buffer.  Both are very similar
> cases and should be discussed together.

I definitely think they are different scenarios.  But see below.

>  In those buffers if you want
> to go to the previous line or the next line then what keys do you use?
> You use C-p and C-n to go to the previous line or the next line.

Of course: you are in a buffer in Emacs, and the standard commands to
move across lines within a buffer are those (C-p/C-n).

> But that is not editing the history.  That is editing the buffer.

Indeed.

> There the previous and next lines are parts of the visible screen.  It
> isn't a history of the screen.  For using bash in an inferior shell if
> you want to recall shell history you can't use C-p and C-n because
> those are shadowed by the emacs layer of keybindings that move
> previous and next lines.  Therefore M-p and M-n were the natural
> second choice to navigate by adding another mental layer of
> navigation.  (Although emacs itself is keeping the input history.)
> Same thing for the minibuffer.

That is another example of the inconsistency I'd like to remove: In
Emacs, the standard commands for moving across "histories" (commands,
files, buffers, bookmarks, etc) are M-p and M-n.  And for that reason,
you have to use those keys for browsing the command history of the
inferior shell (and C-p/C-n are, as always, employed for moving across
lines in the current buffer).

> So now people say, I am now used to using M-p and M-n in emacs to
> avoid the C-p/C-n.  Let's set that up for bash.  (Of course you can
> easily do this if you desire.  Just do it.  Several people suggested
> it.)

Yes, I can do it in my .bashrc, but the point is to remove this
inconsistency upstream.

>  Well, let's say for discussion that you get used to that
> setting.  The entire argument so far is that people are "used to it".

No.  See above.  The entire argument is that Emacs uses a more general
and richer model, and it would be nice if Bash could adopt that same
model.

> Now people become used to navigating the previous line with M-p and
> the next line with M-n in bash.  Now they go to emacs.  What do they
> do there?  They find that in emacs M-p and M-n *do not navigate* the
> previous line and next line.  They find that bash and emacs are once
> again inconsistent!

Not at all.  They find that in Emacs, M-p and M-n, as always, are for
navigating across consecutive entries (whether multiline or
single-line) in every history of elements (including commands).   And
that would be perfectly consistent with Bash (if it used M-p/M-n for
the same purpose, instead of C-p/C-n).

> In that future time let me file a bug with emacs asking for them to
> change their previous-line and next-line key bindings to be compatible
> with the new bash bindings of M-p and M-n for previous and next line.
> Why?  Because they are "used to it".  That request is just as valid as
> this request to do so with bash.

Not at all.  See above.  Againg: Emacs would not have to change
anything to be consistent with Bash:
* M-p/M-n for browsing the history.
* C-p/C-n for moving across lines within a single entry/buffer.

I think/hope that my point is clear enough already.

-- 
Dani Moncayo



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