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bug#50760: [External] : Re: bug#50760: 26.3; Add `symbol' to the Emacs m
From: |
Drew Adams |
Subject: |
bug#50760: [External] : Re: bug#50760: 26.3; Add `symbol' to the Emacs manul glossary |
Date: |
Thu, 23 Sep 2021 22:14:11 +0000 |
> > "Symbol" is used in many places in the Emacs manual, but it's not
> > defined in the Glossary. Please consider adding its definition
> there.
> >
> > The notion of an Emacs symbol is not obvious from the name.
> >
> > (emacs) `Symbol Completion' is one node that talks about "symbol
> names",
> > without actually saying what's meant. It's probably clear enough,
> from
> > context, but a more definite definition in the Glossary would help.
>
> Makes sense. I've now added an entry in the glossary in Emacs 28 (that
> points to the "Symbol Type" node in the lispref manual.)
Thanks, but I don't think that's sufficient.
There are (at least) two important meanings of "symbol" in Emacs:
1. The usual Lisp meaning, which is meaningful only in Lisp.
2. The Elisp meaning of characters with symbol-constituent syntax. And perhaps
names composed of such chars, possibly combined with chars with other syntax,
e.g., typically word-constituent.
For example, in programming languages (not only Elisp), we have commands such
as `forward-symbol'. They move over or otherwise manipulate names composed of
symbol-constituent chars and sometimes other kinds of chars.
Emacs users deserve to know about these quite different meanings, I think. Each
such meaning is important to using Emacs.