GNU bug report logs - #10428
24.0.92; Please remove unnecessary alias `which-func-mode`

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Message #5 received at submit <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: "Drew Adams" <drew.adams <at> oracle.com>
To: <bug-gnu-emacs <at> gnu.org>
Subject: 24.0.92; Please remove unnecessary alias `which-func-mode`
Date: Tue, 3 Jan 2012 14:50:01 -0800

Why was this alias defined?  Is there a good reason for it?  This is a
bad precedent to set.  Unless there is a _particular_ reason to do this
for this command (and not for umpteen other Emacs commands), please
remove this seemingly gratuitous alias.

In GNU Emacs 24.0.92.1 (i386-mingw-nt5.1.2600) of 2011-12-06 on MARVIN
 Windowing system distributor `Microsoft Corp.', version 5.1.2600
 configured using `configure --with-gcc (4.6) --no-opt --cflags
 -ID:/devel/emacs/libs/libXpm-3.5.8/include
 -ID:/devel/emacs/libs/libXpm-3.5.8/src
 -ID:/devel/emacs/libs/libpng-dev_1.4.3-1/include
 -ID:/devel/emacs/libs/zlib-dev_1.2.5-2/include
 -ID:/devel/emacs/libs/giflib-4.1.4-1/include
 -ID:/devel/emacs/libs/jpeg-6b-4/include
 -ID:/devel/emacs/libs/tiff-3.8.2-1/include
 -ID:/devel/emacs/libs/gnutls-2.10.1/include --ldflags
 -LD:/devel/emacs/libs/gnutls-2.10.1/lib'
 

Message #10 received at 10428-done <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Juanma Barranquero <lekktu <at> gmail.com>
To: Drew Adams <drew.adams <at> oracle.com>
Cc: 10428-done <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#10428: 24.0.92;
	Please remove unnecessary alias `which-func-mode`
Date: Wed, 4 Jan 2012 00:42:02 +0100

> Why was this alias defined?  Is there a good reason for it?  This is a
> bad precedent to set.  Unless there is a _particular_ reason to do this
> for this command (and not for umpteen other Emacs commands), please
> remove this seemingly gratuitous alias.

2001-06-26  Richard M. Stallman  <rms <at> gnu.org>

        * which-func.el (which-func-maxout): Increase default to 500000.
        (which-function-mode): This is now the "real" name of the function.
        (which-func-mode): Now an alias.
        (which-func-mode-global): Name deleted.

So the function was called which-func-mode, then renamed to
which-function-mode, and the old name kept for compatibility.

It took me all of a grep in lisp\ChangeLog* to find it ;-)

    Juanma

Message #13 received at 10428 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Daniel Colascione <dancol <at> dancol.org>
To: 10428 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, lekktu <at> gmail.com
Subject: Re: bug#10428: 24.0.92;
	Please remove unnecessary alias `which-func-mode`
Date: Tue, 03 Jan 2012 15:48:34 -0800

On 1/3/2012 3:42 PM, Juanma Barranquero wrote:
>> Why was this alias defined?  Is there a good reason for it?  This is a
>> bad precedent to set.  Unless there is a _particular_ reason to do this
>> for this command (and not for umpteen other Emacs commands), please
>> remove this seemingly gratuitous alias.
> 
> 2001-06-26  Richard M. Stallman  <rms <at> gnu.org>
> 
>         * which-func.el (which-func-maxout): Increase default to 500000.
>         (which-function-mode): This is now the "real" name of the function.
>         (which-func-mode): Now an alias.
>         (which-func-mode-global): Name deleted.
> 
> So the function was called which-func-mode, then renamed to
> which-function-mode, and the old name kept for compatibility.
> 
> It took me all of a grep in lisp\ChangeLog* to find it ;-)

It's still annoying to have which-func-mode show up as an interactive
command.  Is it somehow possible to define an alias to a command that is
not itself a command?

Message #16 received at 10428 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Juanma Barranquero <lekktu <at> gmail.com>
To: Daniel Colascione <dancol <at> dancol.org>
Cc: 10428 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#10428: 24.0.92;
	Please remove unnecessary alias `which-func-mode`
Date: Wed, 4 Jan 2012 00:53:19 +0100

On Wed, Jan 4, 2012 at 00:48, Daniel Colascione <dancol <at> dancol.org> wrote:

> It's still annoying to have which-func-mode show up as an interactive
> command.

Not to the people used to the old name... That's the whole point of
having an obsolete alias, instead of just renaming the function.

> Is it somehow possible to define an alias to a command that is
> not itself a command?

Not currently. The interactivity does not depend of the name. It's a
property of the function itself.

    Juanma

Message #19 received at 10428 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi <at> gnus.org>
To: 10428 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Cc: lekktu <at> gmail.com
Subject: Re: bug#10428: 24.0.92;
	Please remove unnecessary alias `which-func-mode`
Date: Wed, 04 Jan 2012 00:56:34 +0100

Juanma Barranquero <lekktu <at> gmail.com> writes:

> So the function was called which-func-mode, then renamed to
> which-function-mode, and the old name kept for compatibility.

Perhaps `which-func-mode' should be marked as obsolete, so that it can
be removed in Emacs 24.2?

-- 
(domestic pets only, the antidote for overdose, milk.)
  bloggy blog http://lars.ingebrigtsen.no/

Message #22 received at 10428 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Daniel Colascione <dancol <at> dancol.org>
To: Juanma Barranquero <lekktu <at> gmail.com>
Cc: 10428 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#10428: 24.0.92;
	Please remove unnecessary alias `which-func-mode`
Date: Tue, 03 Jan 2012 15:59:24 -0800

On 1/3/2012 3:53 PM, Juanma Barranquero wrote:
> On Wed, Jan 4, 2012 at 00:48, Daniel Colascione <dancol <at> dancol.org> wrote:
> 
>> It's still annoying to have which-func-mode show up as an interactive
>> command.
> 
> Not to the people used to the old name... That's the whole point of
> having an obsolete alias, instead of just renaming the function.

I thought the point was to not break existing _code_. Making people
change what they physically type isn't only acceptable, but desired:
this way, we raise awareness of the new name.

>> Is it somehow possible to define an alias to a command that is
>> not itself a command?
> 
> Not currently. The interactivity does not depend of the name. It's a
> property of the function itself.

I thought so. Maybe we should have commandp return nil for obsolete
symbols. (which-func-mode isn't currently marked obsolete, but it can be
easily enough.) make-obsolete already sets the byte-obsolete-info symbol
property, which we could inspect easily enough.

Message #25 received at 10428 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Juanma Barranquero <lekktu <at> gmail.com>
To: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi <at> gnus.org>
Cc: 10428 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#10428: 24.0.92;
	Please remove unnecessary alias `which-func-mode`
Date: Wed, 4 Jan 2012 01:57:24 +0100

On Wed, Jan 4, 2012 at 00:56, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi <at> gnus.org> wrote:

> Perhaps `which-func-mode' should be marked as obsolete

I suppose that'd be OK.

> so that it can be removed in Emacs 24.2?

Too soon after obsoletion, I think.

    Juanma

Message #28 received at 10428 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Juanma Barranquero <lekktu <at> gmail.com>
To: Daniel Colascione <dancol <at> dancol.org>
Cc: 10428 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#10428: 24.0.92;
	Please remove unnecessary alias `which-func-mode`
Date: Wed, 4 Jan 2012 02:03:31 +0100

On Wed, Jan 4, 2012 at 00:59, Daniel Colascione <dancol <at> dancol.org> wrote:

> I thought the point was to not break existing _code_.

That's an interactive command. How it is used in lisp code is somewhat
less relevant.

> Making people
> change what they physically type isn't only acceptable, but desired:
> this way, we raise awareness of the new name.

Sometimes two names are just alternatives. And which-func-mode is shorter.

> I thought so. Maybe we should have commandp return nil for obsolete
> symbols.

I think you're thinking of `command-and-not-obsolete-p'... Which is to
say, I don't think changing the semantics of commandp is a good idea.

> make-obsolete already sets the byte-obsolete-info symbol
> property, which we could inspect easily enough.

And which is already done by the code that needs the info, like
`describe-function-1', `semantic-emacs-lisp-obsoleted-doc' and
`mh-make-local-hook'.

    Juanma

Message #31 received at submit <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Leo <sdl.web <at> gmail.com>
To: bug-gnu-emacs <at> gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#10428: 24.0.92;
	Please remove unnecessary alias `which-func-mode`
Date: Wed, 04 Jan 2012 09:27:32 +0800

On 2012-01-04 09:03 +0800, Juanma Barranquero wrote:
>> change what they physically type isn't only acceptable, but desired:
>> this way, we raise awareness of the new name.
>
> Sometimes two names are just alternatives. And which-func-mode is shorter.

For such a public-facing command, an alias only creates confusion. I
have literally checked out which-func-mode because it showed up in
completion and I was curious how it differs from which-function-mode.

Leo

Message #34 received at 10428 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Juanma Barranquero <lekktu <at> gmail.com>
To: Leo <sdl.web <at> gmail.com>
Cc: 10428 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#10428: 24.0.92;
	Please remove unnecessary alias `which-func-mode`
Date: Wed, 4 Jan 2012 02:31:09 +0100

On Wed, Jan 4, 2012 at 02:27, Leo <sdl.web <at> gmail.com> wrote:

> For such a public-facing command, an alias only creates confusion.

Again: the "alias" was there first.

    Juanma

Message #37 received at submit <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Leo <sdl.web <at> gmail.com>
To: bug-gnu-emacs <at> gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#10428: 24.0.92;
	Please remove unnecessary alias `which-func-mode`
Date: Wed, 04 Jan 2012 09:59:20 +0800

On 2012-01-04 09:31 +0800, Juanma Barranquero wrote:
> Again: the "alias" was there first.

I meant to say it is better to have only one show up in M-x completion.

Leo

Message #40 received at 10428 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Stefan Monnier <monnier <at> iro.umontreal.ca>
To: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi <at> gnus.org>
Cc: 10428 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, lekktu <at> gmail.com
Subject: Re: bug#10428: 24.0.92;
	Please remove unnecessary alias `which-func-mode`
Date: Wed, 04 Jan 2012 23:59:34 -0500

>> So the function was called which-func-mode, then renamed to
>> which-function-mode, and the old name kept for compatibility.
> Perhaps `which-func-mode' should be marked as obsolete, so that it can
> be removed in Emacs 24.2?

It should indeed be marked as obsolete and turned into a non-interactive
function (i.e. not an alias any more).
M-x which-func-mode RET will still work thanks to
partial-completion anyway.


        Stefan

Message #43 received at 10428 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Juanma Barranquero <lekktu <at> gmail.com>
To: Stefan Monnier <monnier <at> iro.umontreal.ca>
Cc: 10428 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi <at> gnus.org>
Subject: Re: bug#10428: 24.0.92;
	Please remove unnecessary alias `which-func-mode`
Date: Sat, 7 Jan 2012 01:26:50 +0100

On Thu, Jan 5, 2012 at 05:59, Stefan Monnier <monnier <at> iro.umontreal.ca> wrote:

> It should indeed be marked as obsolete and turned into a non-interactive
> function (i.e. not an alias any more).

Done.

    Juanma

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