From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Received: from kerhand.co.uk (_smtpd@82-69-137-214.dsl.in-addr.zen.co.uk [82.69.137.214]) by krisdoz.my.domain (8.14.3/8.14.3) with ESMTP id o63EBTaD013376 for ; Sat, 3 Jul 2010 10:11:29 -0400 (EDT) Received: from localhost (1000@localhost [IPv6:::1]) by kerhand.co.uk (OpenSMTPD) with ESMTP id 1278166286.iLw6s4NM5ref6E64 for ; Sat, 3 Jul 2010 15:11:02 +0100 (BST) Date: Sat, 3 Jul 2010 15:11:02 +0100 From: Jason McIntyre To: discuss@mdocml.bsd.lv Subject: Re: desired .Bk semantics? Message-ID: <20100703141126.GB20174@bramka.kerhand.co.uk> References: <20100702234320.GC6026@iris.usta.de> <20100703065442.GA5970@bramka.kerhand.co.uk> <4C2F2CA9.2030209@bsd.lv> X-Mailinglist: mdocml-discuss Reply-To: discuss@mdocml.bsd.lv Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <4C2F2CA9.2030209@bsd.lv> User-Agent: Mutt/1.4.2.3i On Sat, Jul 03, 2010 at 02:27:21PM +0200, Kristaps Dzonsons wrote: > >>after much headbanging while trying to understand tmac files, > >>i guess i finally figured out what .Bk -words is supposed to do. > >>It seems it has nothing to do with macros, but simply with - > >>lines in the input file! My impression is that .Bk -words > >>avoids line breaks inside the output generated from each input > >>line. Perhaps that's why it is called -words (as opposed to -line). > >>Duh. > >> > > > >according to mdoc.samples(7) it is useful for "preventing line breaks in > >the middle of options", and that is how i've always used it. i just > >realised that the same piece of text notes that the effect was once > >achieved using the Op macro. > > Ingo, if you and Jason think this is worth the effort (and correct), > then by all means. HOWEVER. `Bk' is a turd that should be flushed: it > gives the author unnecessary control over output. This is wrong. > i agree (with kristaps). > What we should do is ignore `Bk' and follow an easy algorithm for > SYNOPSIS mode regarding breaking between children. This, I think, is > easier for us and manual writers alike. > absolutely! SYNOPSIS is a hugely important part of the page - it's the first thing people see. and we don;t want it looking like shit. and we don;t want man page writers fannying around trying to make it look ok. it should just work sanely. > Is `Bk' used often outside of this where .nr nS 1 is otherwise > unacceptable (like those OpenBSD .9 manuals)? > it is a synopsis-only thing. obviously we sometimes have mini synopses outside the main SYNOPSIS section. in those cases we could currently find Bk. i'm not aware of any other places it would normally occur. jmc -- To unsubscribe send an email to discuss+unsubscribe@mdocml.bsd.lv