Re: Can't enter filenames with spaces

[David Reitter]

On 25 Jun 2005, at 14:16, David Reitter wrote:

> As it stands, it seems that one cannot save a buffer to a new file  
> with a name that contains space characters, at least not in a  
> straightforward way.
>
> The reason is that the minibuffer that prompts for input does not  
> accept space as an input character for the string that is read -  
> even though space is a perfectly valid character is modern file  
> systems.

Since I was getting the hint that I can quote the space character  
with C-q, I would like to add:

How is a user supposed to know about C-q? Checking the manual for  
something as simple as entering a file name is ridiculous, and even  
if you do a C-h k C-x C-f (which is probably the obvious place for a  
new user to look).

I mean, you could theoretically assign something like 'view file' to  
'v', even in the minibuffer. The reason it's not done is that it's  
confusing!
Keys need to have predictable functions out of the box, and the only  
predictable function for the space bar is to enter a space character.

Let the user use the manual for advanced things - like completing a  
file name, but only the next word.