URL: <https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?67769>
Summary: refine groff_mdoc(7)
Group: GNU roff
Submitter: None
Submitted: Fri 05 Dec 2025 09:30:21 AM UTC
Category: Macro package mdoc
Severity: 3 - Normal
Item Group: Documentation
Status: None
Privacy: Public
Assigned to: None
Open/Closed: Open
Discussion Lock: Unlocked
Planned Release: None
_______________________________________________________
Follow-up Comments:
-------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri 05 Dec 2025 09:30:21 AM UTC By: Anonymous
Ingo said this in http://lists.gnu.org/r/groff/2025-10/msg00100.html :
groff_mdoc(7) says:
The '.Op' macro places option brackets around any remaining
arguments on the command line, and places any trailing
punctuation outside the brackets.
There are two problems with the description in groff_mdoc(7): the term
"command line" is completely wrong here, this has nothing to do with the
(groff(1) or troff(1) or nroff(1)) command line, the intended meaning is
"macro line" ("macro input line", "input line", or "logical input line" would
also be correct, but i prefer the term "macro line" because it is concise and
unambigious); and the manual page fails to describe the syntax of the other
block partial-implicit enclosure macros at all - in quoting the description of
.Op here, i'm using the fact that i already know that .Op and .Bq work the
same way, which is not obvious a priori.
groff_mdoc(7) ... could point out that enclosures spanning .Bl -column columns
make no sense from a logical perspective and format inconsistently with
different formatters. I would have to think a bit more about it though as it
seems likely this is not the only case where blocks nested badly in unusual
ways cause subtle issues, and giving undue weight to one particular mini-issue
while glossing over others should probably be avoided.
_______________________________________________________
Reply to this item at:
<https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?67769>
_______________________________________________
Message sent via Savannah
https://savannah.gnu.org/
signature.asc
Description: PGP signature
