Bug#1099832: fixnt.1: Some remarks and a patch with editorial changes for this man page
Package: a2ps
Version: 1:4.15.6-1+b1
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?
troff:<stdin>:6: warning: trailing space in the line
troff:<stdin>:8: warning: trailing space in the line
troff:<stdin>:12: warning: trailing space in the line
troff:<stdin>:17: warning: trailing space in the line
troff:<stdin>:19: warning: trailing space in the line
* 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 a2ps depends on:
ii file 1:5.45-3+b1
ii libc6 2.40-7
ii libgc1 1:8.2.8-1
ii libpaper2 2.2.5-0.3+b1
ii psutils 3.3.8-1
Versions of packages a2ps recommends:
ii bzip2 1.0.8-6
pn lpr | rlpr | cups-client <none>
ii wdiff 1.2.2-7
Versions of packages a2ps suggests:
ii emacsen-common 3.0.5
ii ghostscript 10.04.0~dfsg-2+b1
ii groff 1.23.0-7
ii gv 1:3.7.4-2+b2
pn html2ps <none>
ii imagemagick 8:7.1.1.43+dfsg1-1
ii imagemagick-7.q16 [imagemagick] 8:7.1.1.43+dfsg1-1
pn t1-cyrillic <none>
ii texlive-binaries [texlive-base-bin] 2024.20240313.70630+ds-5+b1
-- no debconf information
Input file is fixnt.1
Output from "mandoc -T lint fixnt.1": (shortened list)
8 whitespace at end of input line
Remove trailing space with: sed -e 's/ *$//'
-.-.
Output from "test-nroff -mandoc -t -ww -z fixnt.1": (shortened list)
5 trailing space in the line
Remove trailing space with: sed -e 's/ *$//'
-.-.
Remove space characters (whitespace) at the end of lines.
Use "git apply ... --whitespace=fix" to fix extra space issues, or use
global configuration "core.whitespace".
Number of lines affected is
8
-.-.
Put a subordinate sentence (after a comma) on a new line.
fixnt.1:12:files, that are incompatible with psutils.
fixnt.1:14:is a filter that fixes these problems, allowing the use of
fixnt.1:28:does not check for NTPSOct94. For a workaround, use a
fixnt.1:31:to replace 'NTPSOct94' with 'NTPSOct95', like so:
fixnt.1:42:Report bugs to the Authors, but avoid sending large postscript files.
-.-.
Remove quotes when there is a printable
but no space character between them
and the quotes are not for emphasis (markup),
for example as an argument to a macro.
fixnt.1:1:.TH "fixnt" 1 "February 2003" "a2ps" "Debian"
-.-.
Space character after a macro call.
43:.P
-.-.
Trailing space in a macro call.
Remove with "sed -i -e 's/ *$//'"
5:.B fixnt
7:.I BADFILE.ps
-.-.
Section headings (.SH and .SS) do not need quoting their arguments.
45:.SH "SEE ALSO"
-.-.
Output from "test-groff -mandoc -t -K utf8 -rF0 -rHY=0 -rCHECKSTYLE=10 -ww -z ":
troff:<stdin>:6: warning: trailing space in the line
troff:<stdin>:8: warning: trailing space in the line
troff:<stdin>:12: warning: trailing space in the line
troff:<stdin>:17: warning: trailing space in the line
troff:<stdin>:19: warning: trailing space in the line
-.-.
Generally:
Split (sometimes) lines after a punctuation mark; before a conjunction.
--- fixnt.1 2025-03-08 15:57:23.131841621 +0000
+++ fixnt.1.new 2025-03-08 16:11:45.151423256 +0000
@@ -1,22 +1,24 @@
-.TH "fixnt" 1 "February 2003" "a2ps" "Debian"
+.TH fixnt 1 "February 2003" a2ps Debian
.SH NAME
fixnt \- Filter for the Windows NT postscript printer driver.
.SH SYNOPSIS
-.B fixnt
-<
-.I BADFILE.ps
->
+.B fixnt
+<
+.I BADFILE.ps
+>
.I GOODFILE.ps
.SH DESCRIPTION
The Windows NT postscript driver has a tendency to make broken postscript
-files, that are incompatible with psutils.
+files,
+that are incompatible with psutils.
.B fixnt
-is a filter that fixes these problems, allowing the use of
+is a filter that fixes these problems,
+allowing the use of
.BR psnup (1).
.PP
-The filter takes the broken postscript file on
+The filter takes the broken postscript file on
.BR stdin ,
-and outputs a fixed postscript file on
+and outputs a fixed postscript file on
.BR stdout .
It has no other form for invocation and takes no options on the command-line.
.SH OPTIONS
@@ -25,10 +27,13 @@ It has no other form for invocation and
takes no options.
.SH BUGS
.B fixnt
-does not check for NTPSOct94. For a workaround, use a
+does not check for NTPSOct94.
+For a workaround,
+use a
.BR sed (1)
command
-to replace 'NTPSOct94' with 'NTPSOct95', like so:
+to replace 'NTPSOct94' with 'NTPSOct95',
+like so:
.RS
sed 's/NTPSOct94/NTPSOct95/g'
.RE
@@ -39,9 +44,11 @@ was written by Holger Bauer <Holger.Baue
Michael Rath <rath@itsm.uni-stuttgart.de>,
and Akim Demaille <demaille@inf.enst.fr>.
.SH REPORTING BUGS
-Report bugs to the Authors, but avoid sending large postscript files.
-.P
-Patches are always welcome; send to <bauer@itsm.uni-stuttgart.de>.
-.SH "SEE ALSO"
+Report bugs to the Authors,
+but avoid sending large postscript files.
+.P
+Patches are always welcome;
+send to <bauer@itsm.uni-stuttgart.de>.
+.SH SEE ALSO
.BR psnup (1),
.BR sed (1)
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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