Re: how to retrieve doc string for a face...

[Richard M. Stallman]

    It says nothing about retrieving the doc string supplied with `defface' or
    `defgroup' or `defmacro' or ....

    1. How are those doc strings retrieved? (e.g. `face-documentation')

    2. Shouldn't that retrieval be documented too?

I will doc these.

    3. Info mentions the `function-documentation' property, in parallel with the
    `variable-documentation' property. Is there no equivalent shortcut to
    `documentation-property' for retrieving the doc string of a keyboard macro,
    so that you must use `get'?

As far as I know, the only way a keyboard macro can have a doc string
is if it has a function name and that symbol has a
`function-documentation' property.  Is that correct?

*** help.texi   11 Aug 2005 08:30:32 -0400      1.25
--- help.texi   20 Nov 2005 17:28:19 -0500      
***************
*** 133,143 ****
--- 133,149 ----
  (symbol-plist 'command-line-processed)
       @result{} (variable-documentation 188902)
  @end group
+ @group
+ (documentation-property 'emacs 'group-documentation)
+      @result{} "Customization of the One True Editor."
+ @end group
  @end smallexample
  @end defun
  
  @defun documentation function &optional verbatim
  This function returns the documentation string of @var{function}.
+ @code{documentation} handles macros, named keyboard macros, and
+ special forms, as well as ordinary functions.
  
  If @var{function} is a symbol, this function first looks for the
  @code{function-documentation} property of that symbol; if that has a
***************
*** 155,160 ****
--- 161,171 ----
  if @var{function} has no function definition.  However, it is OK if
  the function definition has no documentation string.  In that case,
  @code{documentation} returns @code{nil}.
+ @end defun
+ 
+ @defun face-documentation face
+ This function returns the documentation string of @var{face} as a
+ face.
  @end defun
  
  @c Wordy to prevent overfull hboxes.  --rjc 15mar92


    This business of retrieving doc strings doesn't seem very homogeneous - it
    seems ad hoc. Shouldn't there be a simple, single way to get the doc
    string(s) of an object?

No.  I don't want to make changes in Emacs just to for the sake of
increased consistency in fairly minor areas like this one.