changeset 51991:7c793b188969

(Character Type): Don't use space as example for \. Make list of char names and \-sequences correspond. Explain that \s is not used in strings. `\ ' needs space after.

--- a/lispref/objects.texi	Tue Jul 22 15:15:20 2003 +0000
+++ b/lispref/objects.texi	Tue Jul 22 15:17:28 2003 +0000
@@ -258,9 +258,9 @@
 
   You can use the same syntax for punctuation characters, but it is
 often a good idea to add a @samp{\} so that the Emacs commands for
-editing Lisp code don't get confused.  For example, @samp{?\ } is the
-way to write the space character.  If the character is @samp{\}, you
-@emph{must} use a second @samp{\} to quote it: @samp{?\\}.
+editing Lisp code don't get confused.  For example, @samp{?\(} is the
+way to write the open-paren character.  If the character is @samp{\},
+you @emph{must} use a second @samp{\} to quote it: @samp{?\\}.
 
 @cindex whitespace
 @cindex bell character
@@ -281,13 +281,14 @@
 @cindex @samp{\e}
 @cindex space
 @cindex @samp{\s}
-  You can express the characters Control-g, backspace, tab, newline,
+  You can express the characters control-g, backspace, tab, newline,
 vertical tab, formfeed, space, return, del, and escape as @samp{?\a},
 @samp{?\b}, @samp{?\t}, @samp{?\n}, @samp{?\v}, @samp{?\f},
-@samp{?\r}, @samp{?\d}, @samp{?\e}, and @samp{?\s}, respectively.  Thus,
+@samp{?\s}, @samp{?\r}, @samp{?\d}, and @samp{?\e}, respectively.
+Thus,
 
 @example
-?\a @result{} 7                 ; @r{@kbd{C-g}}
+?\a @result{} 7                 ; @r{control-g, @kbd{C-g}}
 ?\b @result{} 8                 ; @r{backspace, @key{BS}, @kbd{C-h}}
 ?\t @result{} 9                 ; @r{tab, @key{TAB}, @kbd{C-i}}
 ?\n @result{} 10                ; @r{newline, @kbd{C-j}}
@@ -302,8 +303,10 @@
 
 @cindex escape sequence
   These sequences which start with backslash are also known as
-@dfn{escape sequences}, because backslash plays the role of an escape
-character; this usage has nothing to do with the character @key{ESC}.
+@dfn{escape sequences}, because backslash plays the role of an
+``escape character''; this terminology has nothing to do with the
+character @key{ESC}.  @samp{\s} is meant for use only in character
+constants; in string constants, just write the space.
 
 @cindex control characters
   Control characters may be represented using yet another read syntax.
@@ -410,8 +413,8 @@
 in a character: @dfn{hyper}, @dfn{super} and @dfn{alt}.  The syntaxes
 for these bits are @samp{\H-}, @samp{\s-} and @samp{\A-}.  (Case is
 significant in these prefixes.)  Thus, @samp{?\H-\M-\A-x} represents
-@kbd{Alt-Hyper-Meta-x}.  Note that @samp{\s} (without the @samp{-})
-represents the space character.
+@kbd{Alt-Hyper-Meta-x}.  (Note that @samp{\s} with no following @samp{-}
+represents the space character.)
 @tex
 Numerically, the
 bit values are @math{2^{22}} for alt, @math{2^{23}} for super and @math{2^{24}} for hyper.
@@ -457,10 +460,13 @@
 There is no reason to add a backslash before most characters.  However,
 you should add a backslash before any of the characters
 @samp{()\|;'`"#.,} to avoid confusing the Emacs commands for editing
-Lisp code.  Also add a backslash before whitespace characters such as
+Lisp code.  You can also add a backslash before whitespace characters such as
 space, tab, newline and formfeed.  However, it is cleaner to use one of
 the easily readable escape sequences, such as @samp{\t} or @samp{\s},
 instead of an actual whitespace character such as a tab or a space.
+(If you do write backslash followed by a space, you should write
+an extra space after the character constant to separate it from the
+following text.)
 
 @node Symbol Type
 @subsection Symbol Type