diff lispref/positions.texi @ 61594:7a990909b5f9

(Positions): Clarify converting marker to integer.
author Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
date Sun, 17 Apr 2005 15:46:33 +0000
parents 951cb9c59174
children 60e0429c79b1
line wrap: on
line diff
--- a/lispref/positions.texi	Sun Apr 17 15:44:33 2005 +0000
+++ b/lispref/positions.texi	Sun Apr 17 15:46:33 2005 +0000
@@ -15,14 +15,16 @@
 often speak of the character ``at'' a position, meaning the character
 after that position.
 
-  Positions are usually represented as integers starting from 1, but can
-also be represented as @dfn{markers}---special objects that relocate
-automatically when text is inserted or deleted so they stay with the
-surrounding characters.  Functions that expect an argument to be a
-position (an integer), but accept a marker as a substitute, normally
-ignore the marker buffer.  Of course, markers used this way usually
-point to a position in the buffer that the function operates on, but
-that is entirely the programmer's responsibility.  @xref{Markers}.
+  Positions are usually represented as integers starting from 1, but
+can also be represented as @dfn{markers}---special objects that
+relocate automatically when text is inserted or deleted so they stay
+with the surrounding characters.  Functions that expect an argument to
+be a position (an integer), but accept a marker as a substitute,
+normally ignore which buffer the marker points into; they convert the
+marker to an integer, and use that integer, exactly as if you had
+passed the integer as the argument.  Markers used this way usually
+point to a position in the buffer that the function will operate on,
+but if not, they are converted to integers anyway.  @xref{Markers}.
 
   See also the ``field'' feature (@pxref{Fields}), which provides
 functions that are used by many cursor-motion commands.