Re: [PATCH] Autoload `message-y-or-n-p' macro in gnus.el at compile

[Simon Josefsson <jas@extundo.com>]

Steve Youngs <sryoungs@bigpond.net.au> writes:

> * Simon Josefsson <jas@extundo.com> writes:
>
>   > Steve Youngs <sryoungs@bigpond.net.au> writes:
>   >> Over at XEmacs.org, they've got a couple of awk scripts to help them
>   >> find mis-compiled macros and stuff.  It turned up this
>   >> one... `message-y-or-n-p', which is defined in message.el isn't
>   >> getting picked up in gnus.el (where it's used in `gnu-read-group').
>
>   > I think gnus-read-group should be fixed.  There is a `gnus-y-or-n-p'.
>
> Who says it's broken?  And besides, `gnus-y-or-n-p' and
> `message-y-or-n-p' are _very_ different animals.  The former is not
> much more that `y-or-no-p' with a different name, but the latter has
> the option of displaying a "help" buffer as well as the prompt.

Ah, sorry.  Then I agree with your patch, but shouldn't there be
another nil in there?  (autoload 'message-y-or-n-p "message" nil
'macro) makes the INTERACTIVE argument 'macro, which seems weird.

(autoload FUNCTION FILE &optional DOCSTRING INTERACTIVE TYPE)
Fifth arg TYPE indicates the type of the object:
   nil or omitted says FUNCTION is a function,
   `keymap' says FUNCTION is really a keymap, and
   `macro' or t says FUNCTION is really a macro.

>   >> Anyway, I was just about to commit this when I had a thought (yep,
>   >> occasionally I do have em).  Should this patch go into gnus.el, or
>   >> into dgnushack.el?
>
>   > If gnus-read-group is fixed, is it still required?
>
> By the time you "fixed" `gnus-read-group', _maintaining it's current
> intended functionality_, you will have re-invented `message-y-or-n-p'.
> So what'd be the point, especially when a quick (eval-when-compile
> (autoload macro)) will do the job just as well?

None, I was mislead by the function names.  I assumed message-y-or-n-p
and gnus-y-or-n-p was yet another duplicated function definition.

OTTH, I guess the functionality provided by message-y-or-n-p might be
a candidate for moving into a "utilities" library, it seems generally
useful.  Especially now that both Message and Gnus use it.