Re: [Nano-devel] [patch] allow ^C to exit from Help

[Benno Schulenberg]

On Mon, Jan 14, 2013, at 19:05, Chris Allegretta wrote:
> There's a consistency problem with using ^C in this way.  ^C is used
> to abort an action like replacing text or inserting a file.

To me "^C" means "Cancel", and when I can cancel a prompt with it,
it feels natural to me to also "cancel" the display of a help text,
or the display of the file list (the browser) with it.

>  ^X is
> really about exiting from a buffer like an editing session.  The help
> system really feels more like an editing session than a command.  The
> fact that you can page through it is really the indication of this.

Not to me -- you can't do anything in it, there is no cursor, the help
lines change entirely... 

Anyone who works on the command line knows that ^C breaks or aborts most
commands.  When not knowing what to do, my first temptation is to hit ^C.
(BTW, the ^X exit key for help is listed as the last one in the help lines
-- it would be clearer if it were the very first.)

(If it were up to me, I would even make also ^G an exit key for help --
it would then be like a toggle; it might be the first thing I would try
before hitting ^C.)

> If we're not being consistent here then I welcome a discussion about
> it, but there's something about making the help system ^C-able which
> just seems wrong from a consistency perspective.

Well, the change has been accepted in the past:

    svn diff -r3427:3428

Amongst several other changes, there is the addition of the Cancel key,
for both help text and file browser.

Benno

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