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Document textual convention for doc strings of predicates.

Say never to change the case of a symbol.
This commit is contained in:
Richard M. Stallman 2001-10-30 18:26:30 +00:00
parent 2dc96f0f8e
commit 5c5b7d3e7d

View File

@ -561,6 +561,13 @@ start with words such as ``Non-nil means@dots{}'', to make it clear that
all non-@code{nil} values are equivalent and indicate explicitly what
@code{nil} and non-@code{nil} mean.
@item
The documentation string for a function that is a yes-or-no predicate
should start with words such as ``Return t if @dots{}'', to indicate
explicitly what constitutes ``truth''. The word ``return'' avoids
starting the sentence with lower-case ``t'', which is somewhat
distracting.
@item
When a function's documentation string mentions the value of an argument
of the function, use the argument name in capital letters as if it were
@ -582,6 +589,20 @@ The argument TABLE should be an alist whose elements
have the form (KEY . VALUE). Here, KEY is ...
@end example
@item
Never change the case of a Lisp symbol when you mention it in a doc
string. If the symbol's name is @code{foo}, write ``foo'', not
``Foo'' (which is a different symbol).
This might appear to contradict the policy of writing function
argument values, but there is no real contradiction; the argument
@emph{value} is not the same thing as the @emph{symbol} which the
function uses to hold the value.
If this puts a lower-case letter at the beginning of a sentence
and that annoys you, rewrite the sentence so that the symbol
is not at the start of it.
@item
If a line in a documentation string begins with an open-parenthesis,
write a backslash before the open-parenthesis, like this: