[RFC] Standardized code block keywords

[Eric Schulte <schulte.eric@gmail.com>]

> [1] I have the same "annoying" feelings with #+SOURCE, #+SRCNAME, #+FUNCTION,
> #+CALL, #+LOB, and SBE, some of which are interchangeable; some not. I'd prefer
> deprecating an old form when a better one is found.

This point of view has been raised previously both on the mailing list
and in the #org-mode IRC chat room.  I think it is time that we decided
as a community what we want to do about the prevalence of code block
synonyms -- we should make this decision before the release of Emacs24
after which syntax will become harder to change.

There are currently a number of instances of synonymous keywords when
dealing with code blocks, specifically.

         named code blocks [1] -- "source" "srcname" "function"
calling external functions [2] -- "call" "lob"
                named data [3] -- "tblname" "resname" "results" "data"

Ideally if we limit each of the above to only one alternative we could
simplify the specification of code blocks in Org-mode making them easier
to learn and use and removing some of the mystery around their syntax.

What does everyone think?

Are there suggestions for the best names for each code block entity
(either in the list or not in the list)?

Are there cases where we want to continue to allow synonyms (e.g., in
named data so that "results" can be used for code block results but
"data" can be used for hand-written data)?

Thanks -- Eric

Footnotes: 
[1] named code blocks

    #+source: foo
    #+begin_src emacs-lisp
      'foo
    #+end_src

    #+srcname: foo
    #+begin_src emacs-lisp
      'foo
    #+end_src

    #+function: foo
    #+begin_src emacs-lisp
      'foo
    #+end_src

[2]  calling external functions

    #+call: foo()

    #+lob: foo()

[3]  named data

    #+data: something
    : something

    #+results: something
    : something

    etc...

-- 
Eric Schulte
http://cs.unm.edu/~eschulte/