bug#16767: [External] : bug#16767: 24.3.50; `C-x 5 b' for special-display buffers

[martin rudalics]

> You can say that the `special-display-*' options
> override default behavior, and of course they do.
> But nothing says that they override THAT behavior,
> of using a separate frame.  Nothing in the doc,
> AFAICT.

You've been customizing the option `special-display-regexps' which
specifies a

  List of regexps saying which buffers should be displayed specially.

in a way to display *scratch* specially.  The doc-string of that option
continues saying that

  Displaying a buffer with `display-buffer' or `pop-to-buffer', if
  any regexp in this list matches its name, displays it specially
  using `special-display-function'.  `special-display-popup-frame'
  \(the default for `special-display-function') usually displays
  the buffer in a separate frame made with the parameters specified
  by `special-display-frame-alist'.

and since you have not customized `special-display-function' and the
doc-string of `special-display-popup-frame' tells to

  Pop up a frame displaying BUFFER and return its window.
  If BUFFER is already displayed in a visible or iconified frame,
  raise that frame.

C-x 5 b which runs `switch-to-buffer-other-frame' whose doc-string says

  This uses the function `display-buffer' as a subroutine to
  display the buffer; see its documentation for additional
  customization information.

uses the selected window which displays *scratch* already and makes sure
that its frame is risen.

> All they do is say that the given buffers use
> frames with particular frame parameters.  They
> say nothing at all about the use of a same frame
> or a different frame.  And that means (should
> mean) that the default behavior described for
> the functions cited should remain the case,
> except for the behavior (e.g. frame parameters)
> prescribed by the `special-display-*' options.
> Those options say nothing at all about using
> another or the same frame.

The doc-string of `special-display-popup-frame' says that.

> They say nothing at
> all about `C-x 5' behavior.

The doc-string of `switch-to-buffer-other-frame' says that.

> What's needed is a way to NOT have prefix key
> `C-x 5' use the same window for some specified
> set of buffers.  Or (better) to have `C-x 5'
> keys NOT use the same window for ANY buffers.

The default behavior does that.  You override it with your
customizations.

>    The default behavior for special-display-*
>    is to reuse any window that already
>    displays the buffer, so in order to make
>    C-x 5 2 meaningful we'd clearly want to skip
>    this part of the usual special-display-*
>    behavior.

So you were aware of the fact that C-x 5 2 behaves like that all the
time and yet insisted that our code and/or docs are wrong?  Do you ever
think that going through your bug reports takes peoples' time?

martin