On 2023-02-22 13:10, Jon Turney wrote:
On 21/02/2023 09:15, Corinna Vinschen wrote:
Jon,
I'd like your GTG on the patchset before merging it.
Sorry, I don't think this patchset is good as is.
On Feb 20 21:17, Brian Inglis wrote:
Discussion about why newlib man generation by docbook2man is
incompatible with how man is incompatible with groff/tbl/grohtml:
https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-groff/2023-02/msg00118.html
There does not appear to be good way to deal in docbook2man processing
with generation of tables > "page" size, or that may not adversely affect
other [newlib] doc man page tables, as the problem occurs solely on the
strftime.3 man page!
So, this seems to be saying that "strftime manpage misrenders under some
circumstances", but I even after re-reading several times, I have no clear sense
what that circumstance is exactly: generating html output? with current version
of groff? a future one?
(Your answer should be a single sentence)
Current groff tbl pre-/processing generates table images for non-tty
"devices"/file formats where tables > "page" size disappear if it is not handled
appropriately, but the proper solution for tbl preprocessor output from groff
can not be used, as there is a conflict between man requiring macro .TH and tbl
needing command .TH to be passed thru to fix the problem - can't be done!
The imminent groff/tbl release fixes a number of tbl issues, so may
affect man pages with tables differently.
The following groff/grohtml release plans to change grohtml, from
generating tables as PNG graphics, which don't work reliably on some
"devices"/file formats, and are not searchable, to generating tables in
searchable text form on all "devices"/file formats, and fix other
related issues, so may also affect man pages with tables differently.
So for the current release, localize the changes to the man page chew
input embedded in the strftime.c source comments, and the generated
strftime.3 man page table formatting.
Be prepared to tweak formatting if doc generation needs it, and
eventually eliminate custom processing.
I'm not sure "make it look worse in the typical case (someone looking at it in a
terminal with 'man strftime') to make it look better in the atypical case (?)"
is a good trade-off.
We could mess up other tables in other man pages if we tried to change
makedocbook/docbook2man processing to try to split "long" tables as that depends
on the length of the descriptive text column entries in lines and pages, which
depends on the "device"/file format!
It seems easier, given the future changes above with unknown impacts, to handle
the strftime long man page table rendering by splitting the (chew) table about
the middle +/-%Ox, which fixes the table length > page length issue, then
correcting the generated man page markup, which fixes the non-tty table
rendering issue.
We could also do all the work just on the generated man page markup, but that
seems even "hack"ier to me, than the current proposal.
--
Take care. Thanks, Brian Inglis Calgary, Alberta, Canada
La perfection est atteinte Perfection is achieved
non pas lorsqu'il n'y a plus rien à ajouter not when there is no more to add
mais lorsqu'il n'y a plus rien à retirer but when there is no more to cut
-- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
