> Cc: [email protected] > From: Per Bothner <[email protected]> > Date: Wed, 1 Nov 2017 13:07:10 -0700 > > > Perhaps there's a misunderstanding. I was talking about a command > > which would _establish_ an anchor, and be used instead of @defun. > > @dref is a fine name for a command that _goes_ to that anchor, which > > should be placed where you want a link to where the function was > > described, and where the command I was talking about was supposed to > > be used. > > I don't see any need to add new @defun commands. Doing so would add > extra complication to an already complicated family of commands. > > Instead I propose a @dref command: > > @dref{[CATEGORY] NAME [NUMBER][,ONLINE LABEL]} > > The default for ONLINE LABEL is NAME. > NUMBER may be omitted if it is unambiguous. > CATEGORY may be omitted if it is unambiguous and NUMBER is omitted. > > This displays as ONLINE LABEL and acts like a cross references to the > NUMBER'th @defxxx for the given CATEGORY and NAME. It uses the same > "hidden" anchor as the index uses.
That's unlike any other command in Texinfo, and confusingly so. Using NUMBER is IMO a problem, because (1) the author need to count them, and (2) it needs to be updated when text changes. I thought more along the lines of @ftable and its relation to @table. IOW, introduce a new command that does the same as @defun and also produces an anchor that could then be referenced via @xref and friends. > > Users of Info should know. > > "Should" is meaningless. People "should" be using texinfo for their technical > documentation - but they don't (and won't as long as we keep focusing on > info). The GNU project uses Texinfo all the time, and our users use the Info manuals produced from that. > I use info but I am not fluent in many of its commands and features. (Same > with lots of > other tools I use.) I have not been in the habit of using the 'i' command > (though I will probably use it more in the future now that it has brought to > my attention). The index-search is a very central feature in Info; people who don't know about it or don't use it much don't know what they are losing, IMO.
