Re: symbol-file

[martin rudalics]

> I think it would be best to return the absolute file name and then have
> a separate function file-name-in-load-path that just gives for example
> "ediff.el". The second function can then be used by the help functions
> to display the file name.

We could use the

  (find-function-search-for-symbol function nil "loaddefs.el")

approach and search for "^;;; Generated autoloads from \\(.*\\)" just as
`describe-function-1' does.  I'm not sure whether this would break other
applications using `symbol-file' though.  WOW, I don't know whether it's
intended to, for example, pass the result of `symbol-file' to `load' and
expect the later to DTRT with it.

BTW, you can see the current approach in action by doing

  (describe-function 'ediff-directories)

which gives

  ediff-directories is an interactive autoloaded Lisp function in `ediff'.

where `ediff' is just the "file name string" `load' would use but
certainly not a file name.

martin