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authorRichard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>2002-01-26 22:43:53 +0000
committerRichard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>2002-01-26 22:43:53 +0000
commitb090d7925af7db73444eef735ddf18c907635e75 (patch)
tree3e2abffe026fd34cc53fca5aa0153aafb7f76c47 /lispref/tips.texi
parent8fc7780138c29ea25de148a8592d827d5d4657fd (diff)
downloademacs-b090d7925af7db73444eef735ddf18c907635e75.tar.gz
Minor cleanups.
Diffstat (limited to 'lispref/tips.texi')
-rw-r--r--lispref/tips.texi24
1 files changed, 12 insertions, 12 deletions
diff --git a/lispref/tips.texi b/lispref/tips.texi
index aafd1436c0b..322686d86a9 100644
--- a/lispref/tips.texi
+++ b/lispref/tips.texi
@@ -483,6 +483,17 @@ longer the case---documentation strings now take up very little space in
a running Emacs.
@item
+Format the documentation string so that it fits in an Emacs window on an
+80-column screen. It is a good idea for most lines to be no wider than
+60 characters. The first line should not be wider than 67 characters
+or it will look bad in the output of @code{apropos}.
+
+You can fill the text if that looks good. However, rather than blindly
+filling the entire documentation string, you can often make it much more
+readable by choosing certain line breaks with care. Use blank lines
+between topics if the documentation string is long.
+
+@item
The first line of the documentation string should consist of one or two
complete sentences that stand on their own as a summary. @kbd{M-x
apropos} displays just the first line, and if that line's contents don't
@@ -503,7 +514,7 @@ documentation string as an imperative--for instance, use ``Return the
cons of A and B.'' in preference to ``Returns the cons of A and B@.''
Usually it looks good to do likewise for the rest of the first
paragraph. Subsequent paragraphs usually look better if each sentence
-has a proper subject.
+is indicative and has a proper subject.
@item
Write documentation strings in the active voice, not the passive, and in
@@ -527,17 +538,6 @@ In Dired, visit the file or directory named on this line.
@item
Do not start or end a documentation string with whitespace.
-
-@item
-Format the documentation string so that it fits in an Emacs window on an
-80-column screen. It is a good idea for most lines to be no wider than
-60 characters. The first line should not be wider than 67 characters
-or it will look bad in the output of @code{apropos}.
-
-You can fill the text if that looks good. However, rather than blindly
-filling the entire documentation string, you can often make it much more
-readable by choosing certain line breaks with care. Use blank lines
-between topics if the documentation string is long.
@item
@strong{Do not} indent subsequent lines of a documentation string so