Re: -column issue

[Kristaps Dzonsons <kristaps@bsd.lv>]

> hi. there's a formatting issue for -column lists. the best example i can
> find is in openbsd's sysctl.3 (it's riddled with these):
> 
> 	.Bl -column "Second level nameXXXXXX" integerXXX -offset indent
> 	.It Sy Second level name	Type	Changeable
> 	.It Dv FS_POSIX_SETUID No "	integer	yes"
> 	.El

UGH.  This is gross.  Why why why didn't they do:

     46  .Bl -column "Second level nameXXXXXX" integerXXX -offset indent
     47  .It Sy Second level name        Type    Changeable
     48  .It Dv FS_POSIX_SETUID No       integer yes

(With tabs between columns.)  It renders just fine in both mandoc and 
new/old groff.

I think this "bug" should be set aside.  It goes like this.  The quoted 
part for FS_POSIX_SETUID is in its own column, as is what follows.  So 
the `No' nixes the space before the entire column, which in turn makes 
it be off by one.  This is intuitive (to me, at least) because what 
follows `No' shouldn't have a leading space.  Throwing in a corner-case 
for columns seems wrong.  However, see below for my musings.

> additionally, only "Second level name" is rendered in Sy font. "Type"
> and "Changeable" are unaffected.
> 
> these -column lists are icky!

Right, this has been fairly extensively discussed.

In groff, tabbed lists are a little magical in that they allow macros to 
extend across the whole line (ONLY if they're specified in the first 
column).  mandoc, on the other hand, treats each column like a fresh new 
context.

I'm still on the fence whether this should be "fixed".

An option is to depend on Ingo's tab-code and simply throw out special 
tab-handling for lists altogether.  I'll look into this in the coming 
weeks.  If it simplifies the code, I'll probably do it.
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