>> What am I missing?
>>
>
> The last sentence here was an attempt to work around the limitations
> of Info format. @pxref{foo} and @ref{foo} have identical output in
> Info ("*note foo::"), but in other output formats, @pxref{foo}
> generates "see foo" and @ref generates "foo". Some attempt is made
> in the Info browsers to improve the display of Info files by
> displaying "*node foo::" as "see foo" or "foo". This is done with
> the Info-hide-note-references variable in Emacs or the
> hide-note-references variable in the standalone Info reader.
Thanks for the detailed answer. I haven't heard of the
`hide-note-references` variable before. In German there exists a verb
called 'verschlimmbessern', which probably describes its effect best.
> However there is no way to know by looking at "*note foo::" in an
> Info file whether this originated as "@pxref{foo}" or "@ref{foo}".
I think this is the crucial point for me why I will certainly not use
`hide-note-references` in the future, since it makes the final result
worse in comparison to either the PDF or HTML output.
Too bad that it is apparently not impossible to extend the Info format
in a way that is backwards compatible, and which would allow to
reliably differentiate between `@pxref` and `@ref`...
> Personally, although I implemented the "hide-note-references"
> variable in the stand-alone browser in the hope it would lead to
> making Info easier to use (as I had found the "*note" syntax
> confusing and annoying when using Info), now I don't use it, as I
> find stylistic changes such as underlining sufficient for marking
> such cross-references in Info (formerly, there was no such styling).
I agree.
> The wording in the manual could be improved as the word "see" is not
> inherent to the Info output for these constructs. I've made an
> attempt in the following commit.
Thanks, but I'm not really happy with this change, since it doesn't
refer to the 'hide-note-references' variable – even your improved
version silently relies on the fact that I know that I can hide the
word 'Note' in the Info browser. Without this knowledge, the text is
as cryptic as before.
Werner
