bug#40697: 25.3; sort-lines not accepting reverse parameter

[Roland Hughes]

On 4/18/20 2:12 PM, Štěpán Němec wrote:
> On Sat, 18 Apr 2020 13:45:17 -0500
> Roland Hughes wrote:
>
> > Okay, I was not descriptive enough.
> >
> > In interactive mode you cannot enter the argument but according to the
> > documentation I should be able to. To enter an argument I would have
> > to be able to use the space bar after entering sort-lines. When I try
> > using the spacebar I get [SoleCompletion] and no space. Cannot enter
> > argument.
> I think you misunderstand. The command does not read any arguments. The
> "argument" mentioned in the doc string is the interactive _prefix_
> argument.
>
> Please do have a look at the manual section I mentioned:
>
>    (info "(emacs) Arguments")
>
> (you can put point after the closing paren and press C-x C-e)
>
> Or even try the Emacs tutorial (C-h t) if it's still unclear.
>
> Also, Eli has since tried to clarify the doc string on the emacs-27
> branch:
>
> 2020-04-18T19:26:30+03:00!eliz@gnu.org
> 6c187ed6b0 (Improve documentation of 'sort-lines')
> https://git.sv.gnu.org/cgit/emacs.git/commit/?id=6c187ed6b0
The biggest turn-off for most new users, even of GUI Emacs is the 
endless string of C-u M-x C-h letter sequences. EDT mode was a big draw 
because it could eliminate almost all of that. I've been in IT over 30 
years and never found anything more intuitive than keypad navigation.

C-u [GOLD]-7 doesn't reliably work. It works the first time, but if you 
try another sort in the same buffer they don't seem to work. I got 
similar results with C-u M-x in a shiny new buffer with the same data. 
First sort worked, second one didn't.

From the doc I was really hoping they (whoever they are) had made Emacs 
more intuitive with EDT mode.

[GOLD]-7 sort-lines reverse [RETURN]

is much more intuitive IMO, as someone who used EDT for years. I've also 
done Linux and embedded systems work for years too.

The emacswiki site was much more informative than the doc.

https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/Sorting

According to the doc the "sort-lines reverse" should have worked. The 
wiki doesn't even present that as a possibility.

Thanks for the assistance.

--
Roland Hughes, President
Logikal Solutions
(630)-205-1593

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