bug#35287: dired-do-copy English beef-up

[Drew Adams]

> >> > Copy: 11 files
> >> > Actually "Copied 11 files" is proper English and doesn't leave us
> >> > somewhat worrying...
> >>
> >> Other messages that use the same operation name:
> >>
> >>   "Copy: 2 of 3 files skipped"
> >>   "Copy failed for 2 of 3 files"
> >>
> >> Shouldn't the latter be "Copying failed"?
> >> So for every operation three verb forms are needed:
> >> "Copy", "Copying", "Copied", correct?
> >
> > My own advice is to leave it alone.
> 
> This is important in light of our efforts for i18n.
> 
> > If you want, for "Copy" read "Copy operation" or
> > "Operation Copy".
> 
> "Operation Copy" is a catchy name.

If you want to play with this then perhaps try to
keep the operation name as is (e.g. "copy") - don't
conjugate it or try to make a sentence/phrase.

What we have traditionally done with messages is this:

  Copying...
  Copying...done

But the `dired-do-*' framework really calls always for
an operation name (e.g. "copy", not "copying").  You
could perhaps use this:

  Copy * [2 files] to: ~/foobar/
  Copy: 2 files done

And in case of a failure, what we have now is fine:

  Copy: 1 of 2
  Copy ‘d:/foo/a.el’ to ‘d:/foo/b.el’ failed:
  (file-already-exists File already exists d:/foo/a.el)

Yes, the first line can be confusing on its own, but it's
OK with the second line.  And we definitely don't want
to say "Copy: 1 of 2 done" - the entire attempt to copy
is done, not just the attempt of one file.  We could
alternatively say "Copy: 1 of 2 succeeded".

IOW, just add "done" or "failed" or whatever to the
operation name to make clear: (1) that the operation
attempt is finished and (2) what the status of the
attempt is.

The point is to stick with "copy".  Dunno what that
would mean for translation, e.g. using the (translated)
operation name and trying to tack on a (translated)
status word like "succeeded"/"failed".

I really wouldn't mess with the `dired-do-*' framework.
And I wouldn't worry too much about translation here.

I do agree with Dan that the way it is now (without a
"done" or "succeeded") it might be a bit confusing.
But I don't think the answer is to try using "Copying"
- conjugating etc.

Keep it simple and standard (in the sense of what Emacs
has long used).  Try to fix any real ambiguity that
could be harmful, but don't go beyond that.

Just one opinion.