GNU bug report logs - #50272
describe-char and C-u C-x = neglect mentioning anything about width

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

From: 積丹尼 Dan Jacobson <jidanni <at> jidanni.org>
To: bug-gnu-emacs <at> gnu.org
Subject: describe-char and C-u C-x = neglect mentioning anything about width
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2021 21:13:45 +0800

describe-char and C-u C-x = neglect mentioning anything about width. Try
them on
$ unicode --max 0 --brief -r BOX.*X
☒ U+2612 BALLOT BOX WITH X
⮽ U+2BBD BALLOT BOX WITH LIGHT X
🗵 U+1F5F5 BALLOT BOX WITH SCRIPT X
🗷 U+1F5F7 BALLOT BOX WITH BOLD SCRIPT X
They go into great detail, but miss mentioning width.
Some occupy one column, some two, we can see that. But the commands
don't mention it. emacs-version "27.1".

Message #8 received at 50272 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
To: 積丹尼 Dan Jacobson <jidanni <at> jidanni.org>
Cc: 50272 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#50272: describe-char and C-u C-x = neglect mentioning anything
 about width
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2021 19:06:20 +0300

> From: 積丹尼 Dan Jacobson
>  <jidanni <at> jidanni.org>
> Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2021 21:13:45 +0800
> 
> describe-char and C-u C-x = neglect mentioning anything about width. Try
> them on
> $ unicode --max 0 --brief -r BOX.*X
> ☒ U+2612 BALLOT BOX WITH X
> ⮽ U+2BBD BALLOT BOX WITH LIGHT X
> 🗵 U+1F5F5 BALLOT BOX WITH SCRIPT X
> 🗷 U+1F5F7 BALLOT BOX WITH BOLD SCRIPT X
> They go into great detail, but miss mentioning width.

You mean, you'd like to see which characters are "double-width"?  We
could add that, but on GUI frames that would just confuse, because
those "double-width" characters more often than not take less than two
full columns, especially if you happen to use variable-pitch font for
such exotic characters (something that happens quite a lot).

The width information is only more-or-less accurate on text-mode
terminals.  I wonder how to avoid confusing users with this.

Does anyone have ideas?

Message #11 received at 50272 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi <at> gnus.org>
To: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
Cc: 50272 <at> debbugs.gnu.org,
 積丹尼 Dan Jacobson <jidanni <at> jidanni.org>
Subject: Re: bug#50272: describe-char and C-u C-x = neglect mentioning
 anything about width
Date: Tue, 31 Aug 2021 03:20:08 +0200

Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org> writes:

> You mean, you'd like to see which characters are "double-width"?  We
> could add that, but on GUI frames that would just confuse, because
> those "double-width" characters more often than not take less than two
> full columns, especially if you happen to use variable-pitch font for
> such exotic characters (something that happens quite a lot).
>
> The width information is only more-or-less accurate on text-mode
> terminals.  I wonder how to avoid confusing users with this.
>
> Does anyone have ideas?

We could have the command only mention the double-width-ness on
terminals?

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

Message #14 received at 50272 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
To: Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi <at> gnus.org>
Cc: 50272 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, jidanni <at> jidanni.org
Subject: Re: bug#50272: describe-char and C-u C-x = neglect mentioning
 anything about width
Date: Tue, 31 Aug 2021 15:34:26 +0300

> From: Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi <at> gnus.org>
> Cc: 積丹尼 Dan Jacobson <jidanni <at> jidanni.org>,
>   50272 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
> Date: Tue, 31 Aug 2021 03:20:08 +0200
> 
> Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org> writes:
> 
> > You mean, you'd like to see which characters are "double-width"?  We
> > could add that, but on GUI frames that would just confuse, because
> > those "double-width" characters more often than not take less than two
> > full columns, especially if you happen to use variable-pitch font for
> > such exotic characters (something that happens quite a lot).
> >
> > The width information is only more-or-less accurate on text-mode
> > terminals.  I wonder how to avoid confusing users with this.
> >
> > Does anyone have ideas?
> 
> We could have the command only mention the double-width-ness on
> terminals?

I don't think this is what the OP wants.

Message #17 received at 50272 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: 積丹尼 Dan Jacobson <jidanni <at> jidanni.org>
To: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
Cc: Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi <at> gnus.org>, 50272 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#50272: describe-char and C-u C-x = neglect mentioning
 anything about width
Date: Tue, 31 Aug 2021 21:58:43 +0800

>> We could have the command only mention the double-width-ness on
>> terminals?

EZ> I don't think this is what the OP wants.

All I know is in my world, everything is only one or two columns wide.

And even if in some worlds it isn't, it would always be good to know
how wide it is in other worlds. Therefore always show it. Please.

Message #20 received at 50272 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi <at> gnus.org>
To: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
Cc: 50272 <at> debbugs.gnu.org,
 積丹尼 Dan Jacobson <jidanni <at> jidanni.org>
Subject: Re: bug#50272: describe-char and C-u C-x = neglect mentioning
 anything about width
Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2022 18:52:04 +0200

Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org> writes:

>> describe-char and C-u C-x = neglect mentioning anything about width. Try
>> them on
>> $ unicode --max 0 --brief -r BOX.*X
>> ☒ U+2612 BALLOT BOX WITH X
>> ⮽ U+2BBD BALLOT BOX WITH LIGHT X
>> 🗵 U+1F5F5 BALLOT BOX WITH SCRIPT X
>> 🗷 U+1F5F7 BALLOT BOX WITH BOLD SCRIPT X
>> They go into great detail, but miss mentioning width.
>
> You mean, you'd like to see which characters are "double-width"?

All of these are "single-width", as far as I can tell?

(elt char-width-table ?⮽)
=> 1

We mostly have the double-widthness for East Asian characters:

(elt char-width-table ?㊟)
=> 2

> We could add that, but on GUI frames that would just confuse, because
> those "double-width" characters more often than not take less than two
> full columns, especially if you happen to use variable-pitch font for
> such exotic characters (something that happens quite a lot).

That, in conjunction with all so many characters being wider visually
than the "double-width" characters makes me thing that displaying this
information would just be confusing all around.  So I'm closing this as
a "wontfix".

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