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authorRichard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>2005-12-20 15:39:36 +0000
committerRichard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>2005-12-20 15:39:36 +0000
commit6e45aa7c13fe68c64bbdcd0883d36902c242f98c (patch)
tree86a1b886fd8d5ff6a81efa7be2facc1fee1a88b6 /lispref/help.texi
parent36d6f06c1f15ca56c01df23890cba2af88edaf91 (diff)
downloademacs-6e45aa7c13fe68c64bbdcd0883d36902c242f98c.tar.gz
(Help Functions): Update documentation of `apropos'.
Diffstat (limited to 'lispref/help.texi')
-rw-r--r--lispref/help.texi36
1 files changed, 30 insertions, 6 deletions
diff --git a/lispref/help.texi b/lispref/help.texi
index c7c99fa8987..4821478a3ad 100644
--- a/lispref/help.texi
+++ b/lispref/help.texi
@@ -133,11 +133,17 @@ unless @var{verbatim} is non-@code{nil}.
(symbol-plist 'command-line-processed)
@result{} (variable-documentation 188902)
@end group
+@group
+(documentation-property 'emacs 'group-documentation)
+ @result{} "Customization of the One True Editor."
+@end group
@end smallexample
@end defun
@defun documentation function &optional verbatim
This function returns the documentation string of @var{function}.
+@code{documentation} handles macros, named keyboard macros, and
+special forms, as well as ordinary functions.
If @var{function} is a symbol, this function first looks for the
@code{function-documentation} property of that symbol; if that has a
@@ -157,6 +163,11 @@ the function definition has no documentation string. In that case,
@code{documentation} returns @code{nil}.
@end defun
+@defun face-documentation face
+This function returns the documentation string of @var{face} as a
+face.
+@end defun
+
@c Wordy to prevent overfull hboxes. --rjc 15mar92
Here is an example of using the two functions, @code{documentation} and
@code{documentation-property}, to display the documentation strings for
@@ -498,15 +509,28 @@ the user as subcommands of the prefix @kbd{C-h}. For more information
about them, see @ref{Help, , Help, emacs, The GNU Emacs Manual}. Here
we describe some program-level interfaces to the same information.
-@deffn Command apropos regexp &optional do-all
+@deffn Command apropos pattern &optional do-all
This function finds all ``meaningful'' symbols whose names contain a
-match for the regular expression @var{regexp}, and returns a list of
-them, with associated documentation (@pxref{Regular Expressions}). It
-also displays the symbols in a buffer named @samp{*Apropos*}, each
-with a one-line description taken from the beginning of its
-documentation string. A symbol is ``meaningful'' if it has a
+match for the apropos pattern @var{pattern}. An apropos pattern is
+either a word to match, a space-separated list of words of which at
+least two must match, or a regular expression (if any special regular
+expression characters occur). A symbol is ``meaningful'' if it has a
definition as a function, variable, or face, or has properties.
+The function returns a list of elements that look like this:
+
+@example
+(@var{symbol} @var{score} @var{fn-doc} @var{var-doc} @var{plist-doc} @var{widget-doc} @var{face-doc} @var{group-doc})
+@end example
+
+Here, @var{score} is an integer measure of how important the symbol
+seems to be as a match, and the remaining elements are documentation
+strings for @var{symbol}'s various roles (or @code{nil}).
+
+It also displays the symbols in a buffer named @samp{*Apropos*}, each
+with a one-line description taken from the beginning of its
+documentation string.
+
@c Emacs 19 feature
If @var{do-all} is non-@code{nil}, or if the user option
@code{apropos-do-all} is non-@code{nil}, then @code{apropos} also