[MPlayer-dev-eng] [PATCH] "staying" and "aletrnating" input prefixes

[The Wanderer]

On 12/25/2005 01:52 AM, Oded Shimon wrote:

> along with "pausing", this patch bring 2 new input prefixes,
> "staying" and "alternating". "staying" causes mplayer to pause if it
> was already paused when command was given, and not otherwise.
> "alternating" does the exact opposite. Addmittedly, "alternating" is
> rather odd, but believe it or not I actually do have a use for it...
> And it's not a big deal to implement, so why not. :)
> 
> If noone objects I'll commit tommorrow. Documenters, you might want
> to improove what I wrote in slave.txt ...

Agreed, but easier said than done. (Not entirely your fault - trying to
extend what was there before without causing problems is a little
tricky.) I hope I'm awake enough to have done it without introducing
problems I haven't noticed... I got about three and a half hours of
sleep this morning (merry Christmas!).

> Index: DOCS/tech/slave.txt
> ===================================================================
> RCS file: /cvsroot/mplayer/main/DOCS/tech/slave.txt,v
> retrieving revision 1.50
> diff -u -r1.50 slave.txt
> --- DOCS/tech/slave.txt	12 Dec 2005 01:34:41 -0000	1.50
> +++ DOCS/tech/slave.txt	25 Dec 2005 06:46:47 -0000
> @@ -15,9 +15,11 @@
>  necessarily under the same name. Detailed descriptions can be found in the
>  man page.
>  
> -All commands can be prefixed with "pausing ", causing MPlayer to pause as soon
> -as possible after processing the command. Please note that this can be before
> -the command is fully executed.

The comma in the first sentence was there intentionally, for grammatical
pausing issues. With your new sentence structure it causes problems, but
cannot cleanly be omitted; rephrasing is needed.

> +All commands can be prefixed with "pausing ", "staying ", or "alternating "
> +causing MPlayer to pause as soon as possible after processing the command,
> +or only if player was already in paused mode, or only if MPlayer was not in
> +paused mode, respectively. Please note that this can be before the command
> +is fully executed.

Something like

==
All commands can be prefixed with one of "pausing ", "staying ", or
"alternating ". "pausing " tells MPlayer to pause as soon as possible
after processing the command. "staying " tells MPlayer to do so only if
it was already in paused mode. "alternating " tells MPlayer to do so
only if it was not already in paused mode. Please note that "as soon as
possible" can be before the command is fully executed.
==

In the three explanatory sentences, phrases like "The first of these"
instead of "pausing " could be used if desired. With or without that,
this isn't ideal, but avoids flow issues introduced by having multiple
separate clauses separated only by commas. The structure you used is
fine when speaking aloud, but awkward when reading or writing.

Also, it might be worth noting that a command without a prefix provides
functionality equivalent to a hypothetical "unpausing " prefix. That
would be good from a "cover the full spectrum" viewpoint, but might be
confusing if said prefix were not actually implemented as ignored.

-- 
       The Wanderer

Warning: Simply because I argue an issue does not mean I agree with any
side of it.

Secrecy is the beginning of tyranny.