Package: exim4-base
Version: 4.99.1-1
Severity: minor
Tags: patch
Dear Maintainer,
>From "/usr/share/doc/debian/bug-reporting.txt.gz":
Don't file bugs upstream
If you file a bug in Debian, don't send a copy to the upstream software
maintainers yourself, as it is possible that the bug exists only in
Debian. If necessary, the maintainer of the package will forward the
bug upstream.
-.-
I do not send reports upstream if I have to get an account there.
The Debian maintainers have one already.
If I get a negative (or no) response from upstream, I send henceforth
bugs to Debian.
-.-
* What led up to the situation?
Checking for defects with a new version
test-[g|n]roff -mandoc -t -K utf8 -rF0 -rHY=0 -rCHECKSTYLE=0 -ww -z < "man page"
[Use
grep -n -e ' $' -e '\\~$' -e ' \\f.$' -e ' \\"' <file>
to find (most) trailing spaces.]
["test-groff" is a script in the repository for "groff"; is not shipped]
(local copy and "troff" slightly changed by me).
[The fate of "test-nroff" was decided in groff bug #55941.]
* What was the outcome of this action?
Output from "test-nroff -mandoc -t -K utf8 -rF0 -rHY=0 -rCHECKSTYLE=0 -ww -z ":
troff:<stdin>:1050: warning [page 1, line 1048]: cannot break line in l adjust
mode; overset by 1n
* What outcome did you expect instead?
No output (no warnings).
-.-
General remarks and further material, if a diff-file exist, are in the
attachments.
-- System Information:
Debian Release: forky/sid
APT prefers testing
APT policy: (500, 'testing')
Architecture: amd64 (x86_64)
Kernel: Linux 6.18.9+deb14-amd64 (SMP w/2 CPU threads; PREEMPT)
Locale: LANG=is_IS.iso88591, LC_CTYPE=is_IS.iso88591 (charmap=ISO-8859-1),
LANGUAGE not set
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /usr/bin/dash
Init: sysvinit (via /sbin/init)
Versions of packages exim4-base depends on:
ii adduser 3.154
ii anacron 2.3-47
ii cron [cron-daemon] 3.0pl1-206
ii debconf [debconf-2.0] 1.5.91
ii exim4-config [exim4-config-2] 4.99.1-1
ii libc6 2.42-11+b1
ii libfile-fcntllock-perl 0.22-4+b4
ii libsqlite3-0 3.46.1-9
ii netbase 6.5
ii perl 5.40.1-7
Versions of packages exim4-base recommends:
pn bsd-mailx | mailx <none>
ii psmisc 23.7-2
Versions of packages exim4-base suggests:
pn exim4-doc-html | exim4-doc-info <none>
pn eximon4 <none>
ii file 1:5.46-5+b1
ii mutt [mail-reader] 2.2.13-1+b1
ii neomutt [mail-reader] 20260105+dfsg-1
ii openssl 3.5.5-1
pn spf-tools-perl <none>
pn swaks <none>
-- debconf information excluded
Input file is exim.8
Output from "mandoc -T lint exim.8": (shortened list)
104 STYLE: input text line longer than 80 bytes:
1 WARNING: missing date, using "": TH
-.-.
Output from
test-nroff -mandoc -t -Kutf8 -ww -z exim.8: (shortened list)
1 cannot break line in l adjust mode; overset by 1n
-.-.
Input file is exim.8
Strings longer than 3/4 of a standard line length (80).
Use "\:" to split the string at the end of an output line, for example a
long URL (web address).
This is a groff extension.
1050
(\fBhttps://docs.oracle.com/cd/E19457\-01/801\-6680\-1M/801\-6680\-1M.pdf\fP,
1275
(\fBhttps://docs.oracle.com/cd/E19457\-01/801\-6680\-1M/801\-6680\-1M.pdf\fP
-.-.
Wrong distance (not two spaces) between sentences in the input file.
Separate the sentences and subordinate clauses; each begins on a new
line. See man-pages(7) ("Conventions for source file layout") and
"info groff" ("Input Conventions").
The best procedure is to always start a new sentence on a new line,
at least, if you are typing on a computer.
Remember coding: Only one command ("sentence") on each (logical) line.
E-mail: Easier to quote exactly the relevant lines.
Generally: Easier to edit the sentence.
Patches: Less unaffected text.
Search for two adjacent words is easier, when they belong to the same line,
and the same phrase.
The amount of space between sentences in the output can then be
controlled with the ".ss" request.
Mark a final abbreviation point as such by suffixing it with "\&".
Some sentences (etc.) do not begin on a new line.
Split (sometimes) lines after a punctuation mark; before a conjunction.
Lines with only one (or two) space(s) between sentences could be split,
so latter sentences begin on a new line.
Use
#!/usr/bin/sh
sed -e '/^\./n' \
-e 's/\([[:alpha:]]\)\. */\1.\n/g' $1
to split lines after a sentence period.
Check result with the difference between the formatted outputs.
See also the attachment "general.bugs"
[List of affected lines removed.]
-.-.
Split lines longer than 80 characters (fill completely
an A4 sized page line on a terminal)
into two or more lines.
Appropriate break points are the end of a sentence and a subordinate
clause; after punctuation marks.
Add "\:" to split the string for the output, "\<newline>" in the source.
[List of affected lines removed.]
Longest line is number 1562 with 126 characters
This option applies when an embedded Perl interpreter is linked with Exim. It
overrides the setting of the \fBperl_at_start\fP
-.-.
Split a punctuation from a single argument, if a two-font macro is meant.
6:.B exim4 [options] arguments ...
7:.B mailq [options] arguments ...
8:.B rsmtp [options] arguments ...
9:.B rmail [options] arguments ...
10:.B runq [options] arguments ...
11:.B newaliases [options] arguments ...
-.-.
Put a parenthetical sentence, phrase on a separate line,
if not part of a code.
See man-pages(7), item "semantic newline".
[List of affected lines removed.]
-.-
Only one space character is after a possible end of sentence
(after a punctuation, that can end a sentence).
[List of affected lines removed.]
-.-.
Put a (long) web address on a new output line to reduce the posibility of
splitting the address between two output lines.
Or inhibit hyphenation with "\%" in front of the name.
1050:(\fBhttps://docs.oracle.com/cd/E19457\-01/801\-6680\-1M/801\-6680\-1M.pdf\fP,
1275:(\fBhttps://docs.oracle.com/cd/E19457\-01/801\-6680\-1M/801\-6680\-1M.pdf\fP
-.-.
Output from "test-nroff -mandoc -t -K utf8 -rF0 -rHY=0 -rCHECKSTYLE=0 -ww -z ":
troff:<stdin>:1050: warning [page 1, line 1048]: cannot break line in l adjust
mode; overset by 1n
-.-
Generally:
Split (sometimes) lines after a punctuation mark; before a conjunction.
-.-
Tables:
Use the preprocessor 'tbl' to make tables.
Put data, that are wider than the header in the (centered) last column,
in a "T{...\nT}" block(, when the table gets wider than the output line).
Table headers, that are wider than any data in the corresponding column,
do not need to be centered, so left adjustment (l, L) is sufficient.
--- exim.8 2026-02-14 18:20:13.125959890 +0000
+++ exim.8.new 2026-02-14 18:54:31.902534131 +0000
@@ -3,12 +3,12 @@
exim4 \- a Mail Transfer Agent
.SH SYNOPSIS
.nf
-.B exim4 [options] arguments ...
-.B mailq [options] arguments ...
-.B rsmtp [options] arguments ...
-.B rmail [options] arguments ...
-.B runq [options] arguments ...
-.B newaliases [options] arguments ...
+.BR exim4 " [" \fIoptions ] " \fIarguments" " ..."
+.BR mailq " [" \fIoptions ] " \fIarguments" " ..."
+.BR rsmtp " [" \fIoptions ] " \fIarguments" " ..."
+.BR rmail " [" \fIoptions ] " \fIarguments" " ..."
+.BR runq " [" \fIoptions ] " \fIarguments" " ..."
+.BR newaliases " [" \fIoptions ] " \fIarguments" " ..."
.fi
.
.SH DESCRIPTION
@@ -1047,7 +1047,13 @@ headers.)
This option, which has the same effect as \fB\-oi\fP, specifies that a dot on a
line by itself should not terminate an incoming, non\-SMTP message.
Solaris 2.4 (SunOS 5.4) Sendmail has a similar \fB\-i\fP processing option
+.br
+.ie \n(.g \{\
+(\fBhttps://docs.oracle.com/\:cd/\:E19457\-01/\:801\-6680\-1M/801\-6680\-1M.pdf\fP,
+.\}
+.el \{\
(\fBhttps://docs.oracle.com/cd/E19457\-01/801\-6680\-1M/801\-6680\-1M.pdf\fP,
+.\}
p.\& 1M\-529), and therefore a \fB\-oi\fP command line option, which both are
used
by its \fImailx\fP command.
.TP 10
@@ -1272,6 +1278,7 @@ the standard output. This option can be
.TP 10
\fB\-m\fP
This is a synonym for \fB\-om\fP that is accepted by Sendmail
+.br
(\fBhttps://docs.oracle.com/cd/E19457\-01/801\-6680\-1M/801\-6680\-1M.pdf\fP
p.\& 1M\-258), so Exim treats it that way too.
.TP 10
Any program (person), that produces man pages, should check the output
for defects by using (both groff and nroff)
[gn]roff -mandoc -t -ww -b -z -K utf8 <man page>
To find trailing space use
grep -n -e ' $' -e ' \\f.$' -e ' \\"' <man page>
The same goes for man pages that are used as an input.
-.-
For a style guide use
mandoc -T lint
-.-
For general input conventions consult the man page "nroff(7)" (item
"Input conventions") or the Texinfo manual about the same item.
-.-
Any "autogenerator" should check its products with the above mentioned
'groff', 'mandoc', and additionally with 'nroff ...'.
It should also check its input files for too long (> 80) lines.
This is just a simple quality control measure.
The "autogenerator" may have to be corrected to get a better man page,
the source file may, and any additional file may.
-.-
Common defects:
Not removing trailing spaces (in in- and output).
The reason for these trailing spaces should be found and eliminated.
"git" has a "tool" to point out whitespace,
see for example "git-apply(1)" and git-config(1)")
-.-
Not beginning each input sentence on a new line.
Line length and patch size should thus be reduced when that has been fixed.
The script "reportbug" uses 'quoted-printable' encoding when a line is
longer than 1024 characters in an 'ascii' file.
See man-pages(7), item "semantic newline".
-.-
The difference between the formatted output of the original
and patched file can be seen with:
nroff -mandoc <file1> > <out1>
nroff -mandoc <file2> > <out2>
diff -d -u <out1> <out2>
and for groff, using
\"printf '%s\n%s\n' '.kern 0' '.ss 12 0' | groff -mandoc -Z - \"
instead of 'nroff -mandoc'
Add the option '-t', if the file contains a table.
Read the output from 'diff -d -u ...' with 'less -R' or similar.
-.-.
If 'man' (man-db) is used to check the manual for warnings,
the following must be set:
The option "-warnings=w"
The environmental variable:
export MAN_KEEP_STDERR=yes (or any non-empty value)
or
(produce only warnings):
export MANROFFOPT="-ww -b -z"
export MAN_KEEP_STDERR=yes (or any non-empty value)
-.-
