Correct the docs of inserting kmacro counter

* doc/emacs/kmacro.texi (Keyboard Macro Counter): Correct the
description of the affect "C-u" has on inserting the macro
counter.  Define "previous counter value".

* lisp/kmacro.el (kmacro-insert-counter)
(kmacro-start-macro-or-insert-counter): Fix the doc strings
regarding the effect of "C-u".  (Bug#34263)

diff --git a/doc/emacs/kmacro.texi b/doc/emacs/kmacro.texi
index a7d849a7f0d7939202707ac45f3ad048fc64db38..65387ae783c0e87a79a5f25fb39de7d1f9b71148 100644 (file)
--- a/doc/emacs/kmacro.texi
+++ b/doc/emacs/kmacro.texi
@@ -241,10 +241,17 @@ determined by the customizable variable @code{kmacro-ring-max}.
 @section The Keyboard Macro Counter
 
   Each keyboard macro has an associated counter, which is initialized
-to 0 when you start defining the macro.  This counter allows you to
-insert a number into the buffer that depends on the number of times
-the macro has been called.  The counter is incremented each time its
-value is inserted into the buffer.
+to 0 when you start defining the macro.  This @dfn{current counter}
+allows you to insert a number into the buffer that depends on the
+number of times the macro has been called.  The counter is normally
+incremented each time its value is inserted into the buffer.
+
+In addition to the current counter, keyboard macros also maintain the
+@dfn{previous counter}, which records the value the current counter
+had last time it was incremented or set.  Note that incrementing the
+current counter by zero, e.g., with @w{@kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-k C-i}}, also
+records the value of the current counter as the previous counter
+value.
 
 @table @kbd
 @item @key{F3}
@@ -270,8 +277,8 @@ value of the keyboard macro's counter into the buffer, and increments
 the counter by 1.  (If you are not defining a macro, @key{F3} begins a
 macro definition instead.  @xref{Basic Keyboard Macro}.)  You can use
 a numeric prefix argument to specify a different increment.  If you
-just specify a @kbd{C-u} prefix, that is the same as an increment of
-zero: it inserts the current counter value without changing it.
+just specify a @kbd{C-u} prefix, that inserts the previous counter
+value, and doesn't change the current value.
 
   As an example, let us show how the keyboard macro counter can be
 used to build a numbered list.  Consider the following key sequence:

diff --git a/lisp/kmacro.el b/lisp/kmacro.el
index f9d00a5603ffefc0a53b85451a2f35654cef30f6..72d7091df1751833ea440eb1efc8f86fd6b33542 100644 (file)
--- a/lisp/kmacro.el
+++ b/lisp/kmacro.el
@@ -263,7 +263,10 @@ Can be set directly via `kmacro-set-format', which see.")
 (defun kmacro-insert-counter (arg)
   "Insert current value of `kmacro-counter', then increment it by ARG.
 Interactively, ARG defaults to 1.  With \\[universal-argument], insert
-current value of `kmacro-counter', but do not increment it."
+the previous value of `kmacro-counter', and do not increment the
+current value.
+The previous value of the counter is the one it had before
+the last increment."
   (interactive "P")
   (if kmacro-initial-counter-value
       (setq kmacro-counter kmacro-initial-counter-value
@@ -692,9 +695,10 @@ the current value of `kmacro-counter').
 
 When used during defining/executing a macro, inserts the current value
 of `kmacro-counter' and increments the counter value by ARG (or by 1 if no
-prefix argument).  With just \\[universal-argument], inserts the current value
-of `kmacro-counter', but does not modify the counter; this is the
-same as incrementing the counter by zero.
+prefix argument).  With just \\[universal-argument], inserts the previous
+value of `kmacro-counter', and does not modify the counter; this is
+different from incrementing the counter by zero.  (The previous value
+of the counter is the one it had before the last increment.)
 
 The macro counter can be set directly via \\[kmacro-set-counter] and \\[kmacro-add-counter].
 The format of the inserted value of the counter can be controlled