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Re: suggestion: put AC_ at the front of AC_ items in the index


From: Alexandre Duret-Lutz
Subject: Re: suggestion: put AC_ at the front of AC_ items in the index
Date: Sat, 29 Mar 2003 11:33:26 +0100
User-agent: Gnus/5.090016 (Oort Gnus v0.16) Emacs/21.2 (gnu/linux)

>>> "Akim" == Akim Demaille <address@hidden> writes:

 >> Someone who was trying to learn GNU Autoconf wrote:
 >> I couldn't understand the text because I didn't realize that the GNU
 >> autoconf doc's index of the "AC_" macros were listed without that
 >> pesky leading "AC_" in their names.
 >> 
 >> This has been really frustrating.
 >> 
 >> Larry Lindstrom
 >> <http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=3E78D980.A4764091%40aracnet.com>
 >> 
 >> Perhaps we should put the AC_ there.  Its absence really
 >> isn't buying us much.

 Akim> Well, the printed index would be much less elegant, as there would be
 Akim> the letter "A", and that's all.

I second Paul.  I've been confused by these missing prefixes too.
I'm not really concerned by the elegance of the printed index: I
think headings between letters are useless since word are
sorted alphabetically anyway (dictionaries have such headings
too, but nobody use them to look up words.)

 Akim> The index does include the following piece of information:

 Akim> Autoconf Macro Index
 Akim> ====================

 Akim> This is an alphabetical list of the Autoconf macros.  To make the
 Akim> list easier to use, the macros are listed without their preceding `AC_'.

 Akim> * Menu:

 Akim> * AH_BOTTOM:                             Autoheader Macros.
 Akim> * AH_TEMPLATE:                           Autoheader Macros.

As I read it, it means the above lines stand for AC_AH_BOTTOM
and AC_AH_TEMPLATE.

The M4 Macro Index is even more confusing:

| M4 Macro Index
| ==============
| 
|    This is an alphabetical list of the M4, M4sugar, and M4sh macros.  To
| make the list easier to use, the macros are listed without their
| preceding `m4_' or `AS_'.
| 
| * Menu:
|   
| * bpatsubst:                             Redefined M4 Macros.
| * bregexp:                               Redefined M4 Macros.
| * defn:                                  Redefined M4 Macros.
| * DIRNAME:                               Programming in M4sh.
| * dnl:                                   Redefined M4 Macros.
| * dquote:                                Evaluation Macros.
| * m4_exit:                               Redefined M4 Macros.
| * m4_if:                                 Redefined M4 Macros.
| * m4_wrap:                               Redefined M4 Macros.
| * MKDIR_P:                               Programming in M4sh.
| * pattern_allow:                         Forbidden Patterns.
| * pattern_forbid:                        Forbidden Patterns.
| * quote:                                 Evaluation Macros.
| * undefine:                              Redefined M4 Macros.

It's not obvious from this list which are the M4 macros, which are
the M4sugar macros, and which are the AS_macros.  If prefixes were
used systematically, it would be clear that m4_pattern_allow is
a m4sugar thing, and that dnl has *not* been redefined as m4_dnl.

-- 
Alexandre Duret-Lutz





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