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RE: Using Emacs' help system


From: Drew Adams
Subject: RE: Using Emacs' help system
Date: Mon, 11 Feb 2013 07:51:37 -0800

> >> > (And Icomplete does not show completions for `I count'.)
> >>
> >> It does.
> >
> > Not with emacs -Q and no other configuring, at least not in 
> > the latest MS Windows build I have, from 2013-02-08.
> >
> > Likewise for Emacs 24.2 and 23.4.  Likewise for Emacs 22.3 
> > for `i' (there is no `I' for Emacs 22).
> >
> > emacs -Q
> > C-h r
> > M-x icomplete-mode RET ; turn it on
> > I count
> >
> > No icompletions shown.
> > None shown no matter what input you type to `I'.
> 
> The magic is in this snippet.
>     (eval-after-load 'icomplete
>       (setq icomplete-with-completion-tables t))
> The option is so useful, it should be `t' by default.

1. Yes, I know about `icomplete-with-completion-tables', which is why I
mentioned "emacs -Q and no other configuring".  You mentioned no settings,
perhaps misleading folks who might otherwise be interested in your suggestion.

2. That "so useful option" is not an option (defcustom).  It is a defvar (a
supposedly "internal" variable).  (A nitpick, but someone might try `M-x
customize-option', so we might as well be accurate.)

3. As you know, I happen to agree that `t' should be the default value for
`icomplete-with-completion-tables'.  And it should be a user option.  At a
minimum, value `t' should be documented.  I filed an enhancement request/bug
report about it - so far, no response.
http://debbugs.gnu.org/cgi/bugreport.cgi?bug=11654
http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2008-05/msg01841.html

4. All of this said, `M-x count TAB' shows you the same thing Icomplete shows
you.  Nothing magical here.  At best, after some configuration, Icomplete just
shows you the (same) available completions.  It simply shows them in the
minibuffer instead of the `*Completions*' window.

5. Being able to complete a command-name prefix is helpful only when the keyword
you try happens to be the prefix.  If the command were named `word-count-region'
instead of `count-words-region' and you tried `count' then you would be out of
luck.

Yes, there are some configurations (e.g. option `completion-styles') you can use
to get around that limitation too.  But it is a limitation all the same.  And if
you do work around it then it is not so quick to get back to only prefix
completion.

6. Apropos completion, and progressively narrowing the completion set, can help.
Not magic either, but useful.
http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/EmacsNewbieWithIcicles#FindCommands




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