Documentation for ido-mode is not very enlightening

[era]

Binary package hint: emacs22-gtk

Here's the documentation string for the function "ido-mode":

ido-mode is a variable defined in `ido.el'.
Its value is nil

Documentation:
Determines for which functional group (buffer and files) ido behavior
should be enabled. The following values are possible:
- `buffer': Turn only on ido buffer behavior (switching, killing,
  displaying...)
- `file': Turn only on ido file behavior (finding, writing, inserting...)
- `both': Turn on ido buffer and file behavior.
- `nil': Turn off any ido switching.

Setting this variable directly does not take effect;
use either M-x customize or the function `ido-mode'.

You can customize this variable.

[back]

Browsing the source file ido.el (provided you have the elisp source package installed) reveals a lengthy commentary about what this mode does and how to invoke it .... in comments. It would be beneficial if this description could be available directly or indirectly as user-accessible documentation.

(I bumped into it by reading bug 95232 but vaguely recall having wondered about this mode before.)

[Michael Olson (mwolson)]

Please report this using M-x report-emacs-bug RET. It isn't something that I would want to make a patch against emacs22 for, but it definitely is something that upstream should know about.

[era (era)]

In case somebody wants to follow that, it's at http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.emacs.bugs/17585 (is it possible to add this as an upstream tracker? Is that even useful?)