key description consistency

Our dear user does C-h c space and gets SPC runs the command self-insert-command Then he tries (global-set-key 'SPC 'forward-char) and gets Invalid (FSF Emacs) key format (see doc of define-key): SPC ``WTF?'', he says. XEmacs, to be ``friendly'', uses a short form of the name of the key (SPC instead of space), but then doesn't allow SPC to be used when defining keys. This has bugged me for years. Why not - accept FSF key formats and any formats XEmacs currently prints out for the purposes of define-key and friends - always print out key descriptions in the preferred form that define-key currently accepts. This would mean, for example, that if the user types C-x 4 and pauses, he would see this prompt in the echo area: (control x) ?4 - Admittedly, C-x 4 seems like a friendlier description, but it can't be used to communicate back to Emacs, and it's unambiguous and consistent. It's never been entirely clear to me why the macro `kbd' exists, except perhaps for cross-Emacs portability. Martin