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RE: [External] : Re: finding stuff


From: Drew Adams
Subject: RE: [External] : Re: finding stuff
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 2021 18:43:14 +0000

> But can't you do the same discovery travel with shortcuts,
> with `C-h m' or `describe-mode'?

No, you can't.  (Whatever's not the same is
different - has relative (dis)advantages.)

1. `describe-mode' is limited.  It's limited to
whatever someone wrote for it for the given mode.

2. Menu items generally describe/name commands a
bit differently from their command names.  I cited
the example for the case in question (`C-h d').

And menus group related commands, in a hierachy.
The names of the ancestors and siblings in the
hierarchy also help with discovery.

3. Wrt matching against menu names (items and
their ancestor menus): If you use something like
La Carte together with completion that allows
substring or regexp matching, and progressive
completion, then you can directly match component
bits of a menu item looked at as an absolute name,
i.e., including its entire path from the root.

That lets you discover it based on any/all of its
ancestors, as well as the item name, AND go to it
directly, in one go.

4. All of these are helpful, including for
discovery, and each offers a difference access
approach or entry point:

* key sequence (e.g. mnemonic, similar to keys
  for related behavior)
* command name (e.g. name components that say
  different things about what it means/does
* menu item name
* full menu item name, i.e., including its "path"




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