Re: Patch proposal: display symbol source code in help buffers

[Arthur Miller]

martin rudalics <rudalics@gmx.at> writes:

>>> If you fit the window showing *Help* to its buffer, there is no room
>>> left.
>>
>> It would be nice to make it fit to N lines in height, and C columns in width,
>> i.e. to make it fit to certain size.
>
> Who would specify that "certain size"?
User, of course, who else? We put some default size and a defcuctom for user to
change, as always?

>>>      .  Where to pop up the location of the source and how to get rid of
>>> it is a question we currently discuss in Bug#9054 and Bug#36767.
>>
>> There are so many discussions here so I wasn't following those. I really 
>> don't
>> know what you have discussed there. I come to this from my own needs.
>
> Similar issues like how to navigate to the source of a function or
> variable from the current point of the user's interest.

I have tested yesterday, and it works well as it is in help buffer. It is like a
mini browser. I am sure there are possibly 1001 different ways to do things; but
somewhere we have to make a choice and do something. If the people wish
something different from how it works, we can always build on it later. As I
understand a lot of people use Helpful, and the buil-in help works even better
considering cross linking. I can click in built-in help and get new functions
and vars opened in the help buffer already; I can't do that in Helpful. Let's
have a face lift for built in help for 28. I am sure we could debate for years
and always someone will like it differently. Let's have something that works.

>> This shouldn't be by any mean in collision what you are saying here. What you
>> describe, as I understand it, is to display source on-demand, in help buffer,
>> which would be very nice too. What I have done is to display by global
>> switch. It would be still useful to have on-demand display when global 
>> switch is
>> off, and it would be trivial to re-build the patch to include that. I can
>> rebuild and send new one. I have found a bug and I need to rebuild-it 
>> anyway. I
>> can also refactor it and add an interactive function that can be boudn to a 
>> key
>> to display only sources in help buffer. And if global switch is on, and 
>> sources
>> are requested, it can function as a "narrow" button, i.e. fit only symbol 
>> source
>> to the help buffer. Would that be interesting?
>
> What we should establish first is what users want.  Eli and Lars have
> explained their workflow in the threads I cited including how and why
> they want to go to the source in the first place, where to go from there
> and how to return to the initial state.  Few others have so far.

I  haven't read the other thread, but I have used help and why I think it is
good, and some other have as well.

Can you try what I send in yesterday, with soucre view toggle? I think it works
quite nice (I did a misstake and went 1 row too far when deleting, but that's a
trivial to fix).