[MPlayer-dev-eng] Re: [PATCH] "frame stepping"

The Wanderer inverseparadox at comcast.net
Sun Oct 31 16:17:54 CET 2004


Reimar Döffinger wrote:

>>> I could now argue that the framestep key will actually unpause
>>> the video as well, although only for one frame. But as you can
>>> see in the manpage, I agreed with you, as I worked your
>>> suggestion into the patch before applying... I actually think
>>> Stefan misunderstood what your nit was about...
>> 
>> ...and I misread the man page. Before making the previous post, I
>> searched for "any key" and found the description of the pause
>> command itself (immediately above) which still uses that phrasing;
>> I assumed that the only place the term would appear was in the
>> patch in question, and thus that my suggested change had not been
>> made.
> 
> Okay, that explains why you couldn't fully enjoy our last mails ;-)

Yep, it does. If I had realized that this was purely facetious, and not
a reflection of actual policy on any level, I probably wouldn't have
made any of my last three or four posts here.

>> The Pause command description should probably be updated to reflect
>> the new reality, but I'm not sure how to express it without being
>> either inaccurate or quite awkward. About the best I've been able
>> to come up with is "(any key not bound to another command
>> unpauses)", but that feels undesirably verbose and while accurate
>> is also imprecise - most keys which *are* bound to other commands
>> will *also* unpause.
> 
> Yes, but now they will also execute the command that was boud to them
> (although that _could_ be "fixed" via a command filter but I don't
> think this is really desired).
> 
> I would suggest "pressing again will unpause", not mentioning the
> other keys at all...

The trouble is that that leaves no documentation for the fact that, when
paused, pressing any key will unpause (in addition to whatever else it
does). Since presumably there are *not* plans to change that, so that
pressing any but the frame-stepping key or the pause key will do
nothing - and because it is not unreasonable to expect that pressing a
random key while paused will do nothing - I think that the behaviour
should at least be mentioned somewhere.

> Also, I would suggest changing the description of the frame stepping
> command to say "pressing the pause key will unpause" (although it
> sounds stupid).

I'd have been opposed to this, if for no other reason than on the same
grounds as I didn't like my own suggestion above for the Pause command,
but since Diego has apparently already accepted it and I'm too tired
recently to argue the issue I'll leave it be.

-- 
       The Wanderer

Warning: Simply because I argue an issue does not mean I agree with any
side of it.

A government exists to serve its citizens, not to control them.




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