Bug#1099449: c89-gcc.1: Some remarks and a patch with editorial changes for this man page
Package: gcc
Version: 14.2.0-16
Severity: minor
Tags: patch
* 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=10 -ww -z < "man page"
[Use "groff -e ' $' -e '\\~$' <file>" to find obvious 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?
an.tmac:<stdin>:34: style: .TH missing third argument; consider document modification date in ISO 8601 format (YYYY-MM-DD)
an.tmac:<stdin>:34: style: .TH missing fourth argument; consider package/project name and version (e.g., "groff 1.23.0")
an.tmac:<stdin>:40: misuse, warning: .RB is for at least 2 arguments, got 1
Use macro '.B' for one argument or split argument.
an.tmac:<stdin>:41: misuse, warning: .RB is for at least 2 arguments, got 1
Use macro '.B' for one argument or split argument.
an.tmac:<stdin>:42: misuse, warning: .RB is for at least 2 arguments, got 1
Use macro '.B' for one argument or split argument.
* 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: trixie/sid
APT prefers testing
APT policy: (500, 'testing')
Architecture: amd64 (x86_64)
Kernel: Linux 6.12.12-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 gcc-14 depends on:
ii binutils 2.44-2
ii cpp-14 14.2.0-16
ii gcc-14-base 14.2.0-16
ii gcc-14-x86-64-linux-gnu 14.2.0-16
Versions of packages gcc-14 recommends:
ii libc6-dev 2.40-7
Versions of packages gcc-14 suggests:
ii gcc-14-doc 14.2.0-1
pn gcc-14-locales <none>
pn gcc-14-multilib <none>
-- no debconf information
Input file is c89-gcc.1
Output from "mandoc -T lint c89-gcc.1": (shortened list)
1 line scope broken: RB breaks I
1 missing date, using "": TH
-.-.
Output from "test-groff -mandoc -t -ww -z c89-gcc.1": (shortened list)
3 Use macro '.B' for one argument or split argument.
3 .RB is for at least 2 arguments, got 1
-.-.
Use the correct macro for the font change of a single argument or
split the argument into two.
40:.RB "[\-pedantic]"
41:.RB "[\-pedantic-errors]"
42:.RB "[\-D_ANSI_SOURCE]"
-.-.
Name of a manual is set in bold, the section in roman.
See man-pages(7).
59:cc(1) for a description of all options.
-.-.
Output from "test-groff -mandoc -t -K utf8 -rF0 -rHY=0 -rCHECKSTYLE=10 -ww -z ":
an.tmac:<stdin>:34: style: .TH missing third argument; consider document modification date in ISO 8601 format (YYYY-MM-DD)
an.tmac:<stdin>:34: style: .TH missing fourth argument; consider package/project name and version (e.g., "groff 1.23.0")
an.tmac:<stdin>:40: misuse, warning: .RB is for at least 2 arguments, got 1
Use macro '.B' for one argument or split argument.
an.tmac:<stdin>:41: misuse, warning: .RB is for at least 2 arguments, got 1
Use macro '.B' for one argument or split argument.
an.tmac:<stdin>:42: misuse, warning: .RB is for at least 2 arguments, got 1
Use macro '.B' for one argument or split argument.
-.-.
Generally:
Split (sometimes) lines after a punctuation mark; before a conjunction.
--- c89-gcc.1 2025-03-03 15:34:35.142121174 +0000
+++ c89-gcc.1.new 2025-03-03 15:41:25.454690618 +0000
@@ -36,10 +36,9 @@
c89 \- ANSI (1989) C compiler
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B c89
-.I
-.RB "[\-pedantic]"
-.RB "[\-pedantic-errors]"
-.RB "[\-D_ANSI_SOURCE]"
+.RB [ \-pedantic ]
+.RB [ \-pedantic-errors ]
+.RB [ \-D_ANSI_SOURCE ]
options ...
.SH DESCRIPTION
Calls the C compiler (cc) with the given
@@ -49,14 +48,15 @@ using a C language environment compatibl
.PP
This includes proper handling of trigraphs,
disabling non-ANSI compiler features (such as
-.B asm ,
-.B inline ,
-.B typeof ,
+.BR asm ,
+.BR inline ,
+.BR typeof ,
and the $ character in identifiers),
and definition of the preprocessor symbol
__STRICT_ANSI__ .
.SH SEE ALSO
-cc(1) for a description of all options.
+.BR cc (1)
+for a description of all options.
.SH HISTORY
Appeared in
NetBSD 1.4 .
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>
The same goes for man pages that are used as an input.
For a style guide use
mandoc -T lint
-.-
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.
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)
-.-
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