GNU bug report logs - #13228
Request for highlighting back-quote/quote pair notation.

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

From: Oleksandr Gavenko <gavenkoa <at> gmail.com>
To: "Drew Adams" <drew.adams <at> oracle.com>
Cc: bug-gnu-emacs <at> gnu.org
Subject: Request for highlighting back-quote/quote pair notation.
Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2012 19:15:11 +0200

The following message is a courtesy copy of an article
that has been posted to gmane.emacs.help as well.

From:

  Subject: RE: backquote quote pair notation: What does it mean in Emacsdocument?
  Newsgroups: gmane.emacs.help
  Cc: help-gnu-emacs <at> gnu.org
  Date: 2012-12-19 02:40:13+0200 Wed
  Archived-At: <http://permalink.gmane.org/gmane.emacs.help/88208>

On 2012-12-19, Drew Adams wrote:

> >> Compare the two attached screenshots, for instance.  See 
> >> how the quoted text stands out more when it is highlighted,
> >> and how that can help readability.
> >
> > How can I add such highlighting for Info buffers in my config?
> >
> > I think that it is done through some standard configuration...
> > Please share!

> No, there is no standard configuration that does this.  I offered it to Emacs
> Dev several times starting a long time ago (and it is still offered), but there
> has never been insufficient interest.

From "info texinfo":

> 14.2 Inserting Quote Characters
> ===============================

> As explained in the early section on general Texinfo input conventions
> (*note Conventions::), Texinfo source files use the ASCII character ``'
> (96 decimal) to produce a left quote (`), and ASCII `'' (39 decimal) to
> produce a right quote (').  Doubling these input characters (```' and
> `''') produces double quotes (" and ").  These are the conventions used
> by TeX.

So `' quoting style is common for info files. I checked it was used for
function selection in libc and readline info files. Also it was used in GNU
Make, R, Autotool and other manuals.

So having highlighting for `' in info mode is good thing for Emacs user
(compare with emacs-lisp-mode, where it was highlighted).

This is my vote up.

-- 
Best regards!

Message #8 received at submit <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: "Drew Adams" <drew.adams <at> oracle.com>
To: "'Oleksandr Gavenko'" <gavenkoa <at> gmail.com>, <help-gnu-emacs <at> gnu.org>
Cc: bug-gnu-emacs <at> gnu.org
Subject: RE: Request for highlighting back-quote/quote pair notation.
Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2012 09:49:08 -0800

> So `' quoting style is common for info files. I checked it 
> was used for function selection in libc and readline info files.
> Also it was used in GNU Make, R, Autotool and other manuals.
> 
> So having highlighting for `' in info mode is good thing for 
> Emacs user (compare with emacs-lisp-mode, where it was highlighted).
> 
> This is my vote up.

Here is a 2004 thread about this, for reference:
http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2004-10/msg00045.html

Be aware that it is not feasible for such highlighting to be foolproof.  There
are sometimes isolated occurrences of characters such as ` and " that do not
indicate quotation bounds, for instance.  And some nested or overlapping
quotations are not handled correctly, such as this from `(eintr) else':

  `"It's a tiger!"'; but when you evaluate `(type-of-animal 'zebra)',
  you will see `"It's not fierce!"'.

However, last time (2004) I checked in detail, there were "only *4* nodes of the
Elisp Manual that exhibit any highlighting problem at all, and those pbs are
minor.  This is a big manual."  That's not bad.
http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2004-10/msg00197.html

At that time I also checked other manuals, with the findings detailed here:
http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2004-10/msg00206.html
http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2004-10/msg00234.html

A subsequent version of the code fixed some of those problems.
Here is my last message in that thread:
http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2004-10/msg00301.html

Among other things, this highlighting can be helpful in finding certain bugs in
the manuals.  During that thread several such bugs were found and corrected.

Message #11 received at 13228 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi <at> gnus.org>
To: Oleksandr Gavenko <gavenkoa <at> gmail.com>
Cc: 13228 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, Drew Adams <drew.adams <at> oracle.com>
Subject: Re: bug#13228: Request for highlighting back-quote/quote pair
 notation.
Date: Mon, 31 May 2021 09:47:08 +0200

Oleksandr Gavenko <gavenkoa <at> gmail.com> writes:

>>From "info texinfo":
>
>> 14.2 Inserting Quote Characters
>> ===============================
>
>> As explained in the early section on general Texinfo input conventions
>> (*note Conventions::), Texinfo source files use the ASCII character ``'
>> (96 decimal) to produce a left quote (`), and ASCII `'' (39 decimal) to
>> produce a right quote (').  Doubling these input characters (```' and
>> `''') produces double quotes (" and ").  These are the conventions used
>> by TeX.
>
> So `' quoting style is common for info files. I checked it was used for
> function selection in libc and readline info files. Also it was used in GNU
> Make, R, Autotool and other manuals.
>
> So having highlighting for `' in info mode is good thing for Emacs user
> (compare with emacs-lisp-mode, where it was highlighted).

(I'm going through old bug reports that unfortunately got little response at
the time.)

I'm not sure I quite understand the request here.  Is it to highlight
`foo' in .texinfo files, or in `Info-mode'?  If it's the latter, I think
we've mostly moved to rendering this as ‘foo’.

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

Message #16 received at 13228 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi <at> gnus.org>
To: Oleksandr Gavenko <gavenkoa <at> gmail.com>
Cc: 13228 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, Drew Adams <drew.adams <at> oracle.com>
Subject: Re: bug#13228: Request for highlighting back-quote/quote pair
 notation.
Date: Fri, 02 Jul 2021 13:15:59 +0200

Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi <at> gnus.org> writes:

> I'm not sure I quite understand the request here.  Is it to highlight
> `foo' in .texinfo files, or in `Info-mode'?  If it's the latter, I think
> we've mostly moved to rendering this as ‘foo’.

More information was requested, but no response was given within a
month, so I'm closing this bug report.  If the problem still exists,
please respond to this email and we'll reopen the bug report.

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

Message #21 received at 13228 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Drew Adams <drew.adams <at> oracle.com>
To: Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi <at> gnus.org>, Oleksandr Gavenko <gavenkoa <at> gmail.com>
Cc: "13228 <at> debbugs.gnu.org" <13228 <at> debbugs.gnu.org>
Subject: RE: [External] : Re: bug#13228: Request for highlighting
 back-quote/quote pair notation.
Date: Fri, 2 Jul 2021 15:08:42 +0000

> > I'm not sure I quite understand the request here.  Is it to highlight
> > `foo' in .texinfo files, or in `Info-mode'?  If it's the latter, I think
> > we've mostly moved to rendering this as ‘foo’.
> 
> More information was requested, but no response was given within a
> month, so I'm closing this bug report.  If the problem still exists,
> please respond to this email and we'll reopen the bug report.

What more info were you looking for?

Yes, Emacs now uses ‘foo’, not `foo'.  And?  How
does that change/nullify the enhancement request,
which was to _highlight_ the text that's quoted?

So yes, "the problem still exists".
___

FWIW, my code that supports this has been improved
greatly since this bug was filed in 2012 (and it was
already fine for this).

If you want to see the effect quickly then just load
info+.el and visit a manual such as the Elisp manual.

I won't waste anyone's time with details, as I know
you'll ignore them anyway.  But if anyone (else) is
interested the code is here:

https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/download/info%2b.el

And doc is here:

https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/InfoPlus

The doc about highlighting quoted names etc. is here:

https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/InfoPlus#highlighting

Message #24 received at 13228 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi <at> gnus.org>
To: Drew Adams <drew.adams <at> oracle.com>
Cc: "13228 <at> debbugs.gnu.org" <13228 <at> debbugs.gnu.org>,
 Oleksandr Gavenko <gavenkoa <at> gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [External] : Re: bug#13228: Request for highlighting
 back-quote/quote pair notation.
Date: Fri, 02 Jul 2021 17:19:49 +0200

Drew Adams <drew.adams <at> oracle.com> writes:

>> > I'm not sure I quite understand the request here.  Is it to highlight
>> > `foo' in .texinfo files, or in `Info-mode'?  If it's the latter, I think
>> > we've mostly moved to rendering this as ‘foo’.
>> 
>> More information was requested, but no response was given within a
>> month, so I'm closing this bug report.  If the problem still exists,
>> please respond to this email and we'll reopen the bug report.
>
> What more info were you looking for?

An answer to the first question, for instance?

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

Message #27 received at 13228 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Drew Adams <drew.adams <at> oracle.com>
To: Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi <at> gnus.org>
Cc: "13228 <at> debbugs.gnu.org" <13228 <at> debbugs.gnu.org>,
 Oleksandr Gavenko <gavenkoa <at> gmail.com>
Subject: RE: [External] : Re: bug#13228: Request for highlighting
 back-quote/quote pair notation.
Date: Fri, 2 Jul 2021 16:25:52 +0000

> > What more info were you looking for?
> 
> An answer to the first question, for instance?

It's pretty clear from the OP that this is about
highlighting Info buffers.  What there isn't
clear to you?

   How can I add such highlighting for Info buffers
                      ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
   in my config?

and

   So `' quoting style is common for info files.
   I checked it was used for function selection in
   libc and readline info files. Also it was used
   in GNU Make, R, Autotool and other manuals.

   So having highlighting for `' in info mode is
             ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
   good thing for Emacs user (compare with
   emacs-lisp-mode, where it was highlighted).

The only mention of texinfo was to say that it
uses ` and ' to produce left and right (single)
quote chars in Info output.

The fact that the quote chars produced for Info
changed after the bug was filed, from ` and ' to
curly quotes is irrelevant to the request.  The
request is not about highlighting in .texinfo
buffers or anything of the sort.  It is, as it
says, about highlighting quoted text in Info.

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