Re: info: SPACE cycle in texinfo.info

[Ralf Wildenhues]

Hi Eli,

* Eli Zaretskii wrote on Sat, Nov 27, 2010 at 09:30:43PM CET:
> > Date: Sat, 27 Nov 2010 17:15:37 +0100
> > From: Ralf Wildenhues <address@hidden>
> > 
> > `info info' tells me that I can put a brick on SPACE in order to speed
> > through a whole manual, front to back, in the info browser.
> 
> This is only true if the node structure in a manual is a tree.  Most
> manuals are like this, but that's not necessary.

Ah, that's one bit of information I was missing.  I suggest the doc
patch below.

> > I tried
> > that with the texinfo manual itself.  It gets stuck in the middle,
> > jumping from `12.1.3 listoffloats' back to `12.1.1 float'.  Bug in info,
> > texinfo, or subtle hint that I am supposed to read about floating
> > environments a bit more yet?  ;-)
> 
> Looks like some kind of problem in Info, perhaps triggered by the fact
> that "float" and its parent "Floats" both begin with the same string.
> IIRC, when Info looks for a node, it is willing to accept a substring
> as an argument.

And that's the other.  Thanks!

> > The fact that SPACE at the end of the Command and Variable Index gets me
> > back to `14.3.2 Ending a Sentence' seems a bit arbitrary, too.
> 
> SPACE at the end of a node with a menu goes to the first menu item,
> which in "Command and Variable Index" happens to be "Ending a
> Sentence".  It seems arbitrary because the order of menu items in an
> index is alphabetical by the index entry, it lacks any logical order.
> So this is intended behavior.

Good.

Thanks for the help,
Ralf

2010-11-27  Ralf Wildenhues  <address@hidden>

        * doc/info.texi (Help-^L): Spacing through the manual works
        only for tree-structured manuals.

--- doc/info.texi.orig  2010-11-27 21:37:06.000000000 +0100
+++ doc/info.texi       2010-11-27 21:37:09.000000000 +0100
@@ -359,7 +359,8 @@
 commands scroll through all the nodes in an Info file as a single
 logical sequence.  You can read an entire manual top to bottom by just
 typing @key{SPC}, and move backward through the entire manual from
-bottom to top by typing @key{DEL} (or @key{BACKSPACE}).
+bottom to top by typing @key{DEL} (or @key{BACKSPACE})address@hidden
+will not work if there are cycles in the node structure of the manual.}
 
   In this sequence, a node's subnodes appear following their parent.
 If a node has a menu, @key{SPC} takes you into the subnodes listed in