Date: Thu, 21 Dec 2000 15:34:36 +0200 From: Ruslan Ermilov <ru@FreeBSD.org> To: Bruce Evans <bde@zeta.org.au> Cc: doc@FreeBSD.org Subject: mdoc(7) lines with unterminated quotes (was: Re: cvs commit: src/sbin/ffsinfo ffsinfo.8 src/sbin/init init.8 src/sbin/sysctl sysctl.8) Message-ID: <20001221153436.A21411@sunbay.com> In-Reply-To: <Pine.BSF.4.21.0012210150310.2495-100000@besplex.bde.org>; from bde@zeta.org.au on Thu, Dec 21, 2000 at 01:51:35AM %2B1100 References: <20001220152429.A20605@sunbay.com> <Pine.BSF.4.21.0012210150310.2495-100000@besplex.bde.org>
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On Thu, Dec 21, 2000 at 01:51:35AM +1100, Bruce Evans wrote: > > > Some recent changes, especially in sysctl.8, give lines with unterminated > > > quotes. I think this is a style bug at best. > > > > > Groff(1) does not require the closing `"' character for the last argument. > > I think this is a bug in groff, and it is a style bug to depend on it. > I could not remember exactly where I read about this, and Werner was kind enough to point me there: ----- Forwarded message from Werner LEMBERG <wl@gnu.org> ----- Date: Thu, 21 Dec 2000 03:14:17 +0100 (CET) From: Werner LEMBERG <wl@gnu.org> To: ru@sunbay.com Subject: Re: groff argument usage question > I has been asked a question whether it is valid to not supply a > trailing double quote in the macro-type requests, i.e. > > .Ma "argument with spaces > > vs > > .Ma "argument with spaces" > > I know the former works, and I just wanted to know if this a > documented behaviour or just the Groff implementation detail? This is officially documented in the troff manual (file cstr54.ps available from http://www.cs.bell-labs.com/cm/cs/cstr.html), section 7.3, end of first paragraph, thus it is not a groff extension. Nevertheless, I think it is a good idea to not omit the final double quote to avoid trailing spaces (which will become part of the argument otherwise). Werner ----- End forwarded message ----- So, let me quote it here: 7.3. Arguments. When a macro is invoked by name, the remainder of the line is taken to contain up to nine arguments. The argument separator is the space character (not tab), and arguments may be surrounded by double quotes to permit embedded space characters. Pairs of double quotes may be embedded in double-quoted arguments to represent a single double-quote character. The argument "" is explicitly null. If the desired arguments won't fit on a line, a concealed newline may be used to continue on the next line. A trailng double quote may be omitted. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Cheers, -- Ruslan Ermilov Oracle Developer/DBA, ru@sunbay.com Sunbay Software AG, ru@FreeBSD.org FreeBSD committer, +380.652.512.251 Simferopol, Ukraine http://www.FreeBSD.org The Power To Serve http://www.oracle.com Enabling The Information Age -- Ruslan Ermilov Oracle Developer/DBA, ru@sunbay.com Sunbay Software AG, ru@FreeBSD.org FreeBSD committer, +380.652.512.251 Simferopol, Ukraine http://www.FreeBSD.org The Power To Serve http://www.oracle.com Enabling The Information Age To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-doc" in the body of the message
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