Etymology of `visiting' files

[Udyant Wig]

What motivated the choice of the verb `visiting'?

From reading some of the relevant section in the Emacs and Elisp
manuals, I understand the process the verb names. However, I wanted to
find some reasoning or discussion about the choice of verb; my own
expectation would have been something like `edit' or `load', but that
would be looking through the lens provided by recent editing systems.

--
Udyant Wig

[Pascal J. Bourguignon]

When you visit a friend's home, you enter it, you can look around, and
you may touch and change something (move a vase from the table to the
console) or not, and then leave the house.

Same with files.

visit = (or edit load)

edit implies some mutation.
load implies no mutation.

When you visit, you can do either.

--
__Pascal Bourguignon__ http://www.informatimago.com/
“The factory of the future will have only two employees, a man and a
dog. The man will be there to feed the dog. The dog will be there to
keep the man from touching the equipment.” -- Carl Bass CEO Autodesk

[Ted Zlatanov]

On Mon, 08 Aug 2016 15:24:31 +0530 Udyant Wig <udy...@rudiments.goosenet.in> wrote:

UW> What motivated the choice of the verb `visiting'?
UW> From reading some of the relevant section in the Emacs and Elisp
UW> manuals, I understand the process the verb names. However, I wanted to
UW> find some reasoning or discussion about the choice of verb; my own
UW> expectation would have been something like `edit' or `load', but that
UW> would be looking through the lens provided by recent editing systems.

The term "visiting" does not show up in a 1978 guide to Emacs (but maybe
it was already in use):
https://web.archive.org/web/20110723033542/http://www.burlingtontelecom.net/~ashawley/gnu/emacs/doc/emacs-1978.html#Basic-File_002dHandling-Commands

It shows up in 1981, in the RMS paper on Emacs:
http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/emacs-paper.html

Either way, I think it predates modern CUA standards, which emerged in
the late 80's, and which AFAIK set down the File menu (with Quit and
Open items) consistently.

HTH
Ted

[Udyant Wig]

"Pascal J. Bourguignon" <p...@informatimago.com> writes:
> When you visit a friend's home, you enter it, you can look around, and
> you may touch and change something (move a vase from the table to the
> console) or not, and then leave the house.
>
> Same with files.
>
> visit = (or edit load)
>
> edit implies some mutation.
> load implies no mutation.
>
> When you visit, you can do either.

That is a nice and reasonable rationale. Thanks.

--
Udyant Wig

[Udyant Wig]

Ted Zlatanov <t...@lifelogs.com> writes:
> The term "visiting" does not show up in a 1978 guide to Emacs (but
> maybe it was already in use):
> https://web.archive.org/web/20110723033542/http://www.burlingtontelecom.net/~ashawley/gnu/emacs/doc/emacs-1978.html#Basic-File_002dHandling-Commands

Thanks for the link. I was unaware of this one.

> It shows up in 1981, in the RMS paper on Emacs:
> http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/emacs-paper.html

I had checked this paper and also the Emacs manual for TWENEX users
(AIM-555). Both mention `visiting' but include no rationale for the
choice. Perhaps the technical meaning (of `visiting') was sufficiently
similar to regular English usage that it did not seem to need
explanation.

> Either way, I think it predates modern CUA standards, which emerged in
> the late 80's, and which AFAIK set down the File menu (with Quit and
> Open items) consistently.

IIRC, CUA came (long) after various Emacsen were written and in use; it
was mostly an effort to standardize DOS applications. The Wikipedia
article says as much and lists a number of IBM documents beginning 1987.

<URL:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Common_User_Access>

> HTH
> Ted

It did.

--
Udyant Wig

[Barry Margolin]

In article <87lh06b...@rudiments.goosenet.in>,

Udyant Wig <udyan...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Ted Zlatanov <t...@lifelogs.com> writes:
> > The term "visiting" does not show up in a 1978 guide to Emacs (but
> > maybe it was already in use):
> > https://web.archive.org/web/20110723033542/http://www.burlingtontelecom.net/
> > ~ashawley/gnu/emacs/doc/emacs-1978.html#Basic-File_002dHandling-Commands
>
> Thanks for the link. I was unaware of this one.
>
> > It shows up in 1981, in the RMS paper on Emacs:
> > http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/emacs-paper.html
>
> I had checked this paper and also the Emacs manual for TWENEX users
> (AIM-555). Both mention `visiting' but include no rationale for the
> choice. Perhaps the technical meaning (of `visiting') was sufficiently
> similar to regular English usage that it did not seem to need
> explanation.

I think it may also be a bit of a retronym. Emacs has two commands for
opening files: C-x C-f and C-x C-v. They needed mnemonics that
distinguished them, so the first is "Find" and the second is "Visit".

GNU Emacs has abandoned the mnemonic name of C-x C-v.

--
Barry Margolin, bar...@alum.mit.edu
Arlington, MA
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