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bug#33167: 26; Doc string of `region-extract-function'
From: |
Eli Zaretskii |
Subject: |
bug#33167: 26; Doc string of `region-extract-function' |
Date: |
Sat, 27 Oct 2018 19:32:45 +0300 |
> Date: Sat, 27 Oct 2018 08:27:41 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Drew Adams <drew.adams@oracle.com>
> Cc: 33167-done@debbugs.gnu.org
>
> > > 1. What are the BEG and END args passed to `filter-buffer-substring'?
> > > Is BEG the smallest car of any of the zones in the noncontiguous
> > > region, and END the largest cdr of any of the zones?
> >
> > They are the first and the last positions of the region for
> > filter-buffer-substring to act upon. That function is not supposed to
> > process non-contiguous regions.
>
> Yes, but where do they come from, for that call? How do they
> relate to, or how are they derived from, the noncontiguous
> region? Are they point and mark? Something else? That's the
> question.
It's entirely up to the region-extract-function that handles such
regions. The default one doesn't. So I don't see why these questions
need to be answered in the doc string of filter-buffer-substring, they
don't belong there and would only confuse.
> The only arg to the function that is the value of
> `region-extract-function` is METHOD. The "region's content"
> is presumably the content of the noncontiguous region. And
> presumably it is that that is "the content" that is returned
> as a string. How is that string derived from the noncontiguous
> region? That's the question.
It isn't. The region passed to filter-buffer-substring must always be
contiguous.
> > > 2. `filter-buffer-substring' calls the value of
> > > `filter-buffer-substring-function' with the same 3 args. But what
> > > can that function do with BEG and END (which are what?)? It's
> > > presumably a function that expects to use a single stretch of
> > > buffer text from BEG to END. But here we're talking about a
> > > noncontiguous
> >
> > No, we are talking about contiguous regions when this function is
> > concerned.
>
> Sorry, but I don't understand. What contiguous regions
> are we talking about? How/where in this doc did you
> get from a noncontiguous region to contiguous regions?
That depends on the implementation of region-extract-function that
supports non-contiguous regions: it must somehow call
filter-buffer-substring-function in a way that this function gets only
contiguous regions of text. So this question cannot be answered in
the doc string of filter-buffer-substring-function.
> I haven't see your update to the doc string, but so far
> your description here doesn't give the impression that
> these questions have been cleared up.
Well, I suggest to read that first:
http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/emacs.git/commit/?h=emacs-26&id=df64da8eb845c9f07ee93bfbf28af41a01a2e83f
> > > 3. The 3rd arg to `filter-buffer-substring' just deletes the region
> > > from BEG to END if it is non-nil, so it seems like passing that
> > > non-nil 3rd arg is useless, as the region gets deleted anyway, by
> > > `region-extract-function'.
> >
> > Not sure what is the problem here.
>
> Not sure what you're saying.
You say that passing the 3rd arg is "useless", and I don't understand
why.
> Are you saying that I'm wrong that a non-nil 3rd arg just deletes
> the region? Or are you saying that I'm wrong that that non-nil 3rd
> arg is useless because the region is deleted anyway?
I'm saying that I don't understand what you wanted to say here. At
all.
> > > 4. The use of `filter-buffer-substring' is also unclear. It is passed
> > > BEG and END (and METHOD, but see #3, above). And it filters the
> > > buffer text between BEG and END. But see #1 above - are BEG and
> > > END buffer positions that make sense for the whole region text?
> > > Just what happens here?
> >
> > See above. It is not the job of filter-buffer-substring to DTRT when
> > the region is non-contiguous, it is the job of its callers. See
> > rect.el for one example.
>
> See above.
See above.
> What are BEG and END that get passed to it?
The doc string already tells that: the beginning and the end of the
region to be filtered.
> The doc should be able to make clear what the behavior
> is, without someone needing to investigate the code of
> rect.el.
It does. What it does NOT have to do is tell how one would use this
function while implementing a replacement for the default
region-extract-function that can handle non-contiguous regions.
> Plus, noncontiguous regions are more general than rectangles.
Exactly. So each such implementation has to figure out how to call
filter-buffer-substring in a way that makes sense and passes only
contiguous regions to filter-buffer-substring.
> The doc should make clear what happens in the general case.
The doc string of filter-buffer-substring needs to tell what that
function does. And it does precisely that.
> The doc should make clear in general terms what extracting
> a noncontiguous region is about, and just what the value of
> `region-extract-function' does: what its arguments are and
> what its return value is (as a function of those arguments).
It does now, please see the new doc string.
> I did what you suggest before filing the bug report:
> checked all of the existing occurrences. I felt that
> the doc is wrong wrt what really happens, and I feel
> that there's a need for a general description of this
> variable which helps.
The doc string was indeed incomplete before my changes; it is IMO
complete now.
> > > Or is what happens perhaps that EACH element of the noncontiguous
> > > region, that is, each zone (BEG<N> . END<N>) of the list ((BEG1 .
> > > END1) ...) gets filtered by `filter-buffer-substring', passing
> > > its BEG END and METHOD
> >
> > Yes!
>
> Then please say that in the doc.
NO! Because that's just one possible implementation, for one possible
kind of non-contiguous regions.
> > > - so that a mapcar is applied?
> >
> > Not literally, but the result is a list, yes.
>
> If you haven't already done so, please say that in the doc.
If you haven't already done so, please read the new doc string. I
think I covered everything that should be covered.