find-ls-option doc fixes (bug#10262)

* doc/emacs/dired.texi (Dired and Find): Clarify find-ls-options.
* lisp/find-dired.el (find-ls-option): Doc fix.

4 files changed, 25 insertions, 7 deletions

diff --git a/doc/emacs/ChangeLog b/doc/emacs/ChangeLog
index ad49224e0d3..8f7f8ebb220 100644
--- a/doc/emacs/ChangeLog
+++ b/doc/emacs/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+2012-01-13  Glenn Morris  <rgm@gnu.org>
+
+        * dired.texi (Dired and Find): Clarify find-ls-options.
+
 2012-01-09  Chong Yidong  <cyd@gnu.org>
 
         * custom.texi (Custom Themes): Switched custom-safe-themes to use
diff --git a/doc/emacs/dired.texi b/doc/emacs/dired.texi
index 34ec0d2045c..cce440f2bdb 100644
--- a/doc/emacs/dired.texi
+++ b/doc/emacs/dired.texi
@@ -1228,9 +1228,9 @@ need to know how to use @command{find}.
 
 @vindex find-ls-option
   The format of listing produced by these commands is controlled by
-the variable @code{find-ls-option}, whose default value specifies
-using options @samp{-ld} for @command{ls}.  If your listings are
-corrupted, you may need to change the value of this variable.
+the variable @code{find-ls-option}.  This is a pair of options; the
+first specifying how to call @command{find} to produce the file listing,
+and the second telling Dired to parse the output.
 
 @findex locate
 @findex locate-with-filter
diff --git a/lisp/ChangeLog b/lisp/ChangeLog
index f8d8ab379fa..be7c45339fa 100644
--- a/lisp/ChangeLog
+++ b/lisp/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+2012-01-13  Glenn Morris  <rgm@gnu.org>
+
+        * find-dired.el (find-ls-option): Doc fix.  (Bug#10262)
+
 2012-01-12  Glenn Morris  <rgm@gnu.org>
 
         * mail/sendmail.el (mail-mode): Update paragraph-separate for
diff --git a/lisp/find-dired.el b/lisp/find-dired.el
index 3fda2153e09..9c1c8eedffd 100644
--- a/lisp/find-dired.el
+++ b/lisp/find-dired.el
@@ -63,10 +63,20 @@ than the latter."
     (cons
      (format "-exec ls -ld {} %s" find-exec-terminator)
      "-ld"))
-  "Description of the option to `find' to produce an `ls -l'-type listing.
-This is a cons of two strings (FIND-OPTION . LS-SWITCHES).  FIND-OPTION
-gives the option (or options) to `find' that produce the desired output.
-LS-SWITCHES is a list of `ls' switches to tell dired how to parse the output."
+  "A pair of options to produce and parse an `ls -l'-type list from `find'.
+This is a cons of two strings (FIND-OPTION . LS-SWITCHES).
+FIND-OPTION is the option (or options) passed to `find' to produce
+a file listing in the desired format.  LS-SWITCHES is a set of
+`ls' switches that tell dired how to parse the output of `find'.
+
+The two options must be set to compatible values.
+For example, to use human-readable file sizes with GNU ls:
+   \(\"-exec ls -ldh {} +\" . \"-ldh\")
+
+To use GNU find's inbuilt \"-ls\" option to list files:
+   \(\"-ls\" . \"-dilsb\")
+since GNU find's output has the same format as using GNU ls with
+the options \"-dilsb\"."
   :version "24.1"              ; add tests for -ls and -exec + support
   :type '(cons (string :tag "Find Option")
                (string :tag "Ls Switches"))