Follow-up Comment #3, bug #68284 (group groff):

[comment #2 comment #2:]
> [comment #0 original submission:]
>> Yet the `.O` read-only register
> 
> .O actually isn't currently documented as a read-only register.

It is--at a higher level in the documentation hierarchy.


commit 7b136a482f9471189bf0c2ab4168342c4ba7f13b
Author: G. Branden Robinson <[email protected]>
Date:   Fri Dec 9 08:16:10 2022 -0600

    doc/groff.texi: Update "Built-in Registers".
    
    Recast introduction and sync with register descriptions in groff(7).
...
@@ -7657,26 +7657,38 @@ @node Built-in Registers
 @cindex built-in registers
 @cindex registers, built-in
 
-The following lists some built-in registers that are not described
-elsewhere in this manual.  Any register name that begins with a @samp{.}
-is read-only.  A complete listing of all built-in registers can be found
-in @ref{Register Index}.
+Predefined registers whose identifiers start with a dot are read-only.
+Many are Boolean-valued, interpolating a true or false value testable
+with the @code{if}, @code{ie}, or @code{while} requests.  Some read-only
+registers are string-valued, meaning that they interpolate text.
+
+A register name (without the dot) is often associated with a request of
+the same name.  A complete listing of all built-in registers can be
+found in @ref{Register Index}.
...


> It was when Werner first documented it
> ([http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/groff.git/commit/?id=bc3488198 commit
> bc3488198]), so that does appear to have been its intent.  But
> [http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/groff.git/commit/?id=fdfe1363e commit
> fdfe1363e] (presumably unintentionally) removed the "read-only" modifier from
> the manual.

It was intentional; I was trying to make the manual less wordy.  Might have
won that battle but lost the war.  ;-)


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