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authorEli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>2022-05-01 10:01:28 +0300
committerEli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>2022-05-01 10:01:28 +0300
commita3024ab4fb6b608d2110aa778c1eadec8113f498 (patch)
tree8ceda8411e32df78c021ba02144264daba589754 /doc/emacs/help.texi
parentd17d9c50c519dfba6b03488e3b702ddba56f54ad (diff)
downloademacs-a3024ab4fb6b608d2110aa778c1eadec8113f498.tar.gz
Document 'help-window-select'
* etc/NEWS: * doc/emacs/help.texi (Apropos, Help): Document 'help-window-select'; improve indexing. (Bug#46034)
Diffstat (limited to 'doc/emacs/help.texi')
-rw-r--r--doc/emacs/help.texi22
1 files changed, 19 insertions, 3 deletions
diff --git a/doc/emacs/help.texi b/doc/emacs/help.texi
index a4b329d0890..3c8f90da102 100644
--- a/doc/emacs/help.texi
+++ b/doc/emacs/help.texi
@@ -20,10 +20,20 @@ commands (@code{help-for-help}). You can scroll the list with
@key{SPC} and @key{DEL}, then type the help command you want. To
cancel, type @kbd{C-g}.
+@cindex help buffer
Many help commands display their information in a special @dfn{help
buffer}. In this buffer, you can type @key{SPC} and @key{DEL} to
scroll and type @key{RET} to follow hyperlinks. @xref{Help Mode}.
+@vindex help-window-select
+ By default, help commands display the help buffer in a separate
+window without selecting that window. The variable
+@code{help-window-select} controls this: its default value is
+@code{nil}; if it's customized to the value @code{t}, the help window
+is unconditionally selected by help commands, and if its value is
+@code{other}, the help window is selected only if there are more than
+two windows on the selected frame.
+
@cindex searching documentation efficiently
@cindex looking for a subject in documentation
If you are looking for a certain feature, but don't know what it is
@@ -335,9 +345,9 @@ are included varies depending on the command used.
@cindex apropos
The @dfn{apropos} commands answer questions like, ``What are the
-commands for working with files?'' More precisely, you specify an
-@dfn{apropos pattern}, which means either a word, a list of words, or
-a regular expression.
+commands for working with files?'' More precisely, you specify your
+query as an @dfn{apropos pattern}, which is either a word, a list of
+words, or a regular expression.
Each of the following apropos commands reads an apropos pattern in
the minibuffer, searches for items that match the pattern, and
@@ -396,6 +406,12 @@ comes with a brief description and a list of keys you can currently
invoke it with. In our example, it would say that you can invoke
@code{find-file} by typing @kbd{C-x C-f}.
+@vindex help-window-select@r{, and apropos commands}
+ By default, the window showing the apropos buffer with the results
+of the query is not selected, but you can cause it to be selected by
+customizing the variable @code{help-window-select} to any
+non-@code{nil} value.
+
For more information about a function definition, variable or symbol
property listed in an apropos buffer, you can click on it with
@kbd{mouse-1} or @kbd{mouse-2}, or move there and type @key{RET}.