bugGNU roff - Bugs: bug #65102, [mdoc] objection to title heading...

 
 

bug #65102: [mdoc] objection to title heading rendering in 1.23.0

Submitter:  None
Submitted:  Sun 31 Dec 2023 10:29:56 PM UTC
   
 
Category:  Macro mdoc Severity:  2 - Minor
Item Group:  Rendering/Cosmetics Status:  Need Info
Privacy:  Public Assigned to:  gbranden
Open/Closed:  Open Planned Release:  None
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Mon 01 Jan 2024 01:35:22 AM UTC, comment #2: 

Here's one more attachment for grins, showing real italics on the terminal.  (I'm using xterm(1).)


G. Branden Robinson <gbranden>
Group administrator
Mon 01 Jan 2024 01:30:27 AM UTC, comment #1: 

I had a lengthy response to this but somehow lost or clobbered in one of my hundreds of browser tabs.  :(

But I did take some screenshots that I can still lay my hands on.

First:

> Dt is misrendered


This is a matter of opinion...

> but only in nroff mode.


...but this is not.  The italics to which you object are applied in both typesetter and terminal output.  See attachments.

> in 1.22.4-10, the top left and right corners were "A_B_C(9)".


Yes.

> In 1.23.0-3 [...] they are "\fIA_B_C\fP(9)",


Yes.

> (a) why would you need this?


For consistency between man(7) and mdoc(7) page renderings, also discussed in bug #65101, and for consistency between mentions of page titles in `MR` and `Xr` cross references and their referents (targets).

> (b) completely breaks manuals with underscores in the name,


Breaks how?  What tool is breaking?  Some output scraper?  There is no specification for such things.

> because "\fIA_B_C\fP(9)" and "A_B_C(9)" and "\fIA B C\fP(9)" are all drawn identically.


This is demonstrably false in both typesetter and terminal output (even without using grotty's `-i` option to obtain "true" italics if the terminal device supports them).  See attachments.

It is possible that your terminal emulator is limited or defective.  In such cases, many elements of the rendered page that should be differentiable will not be.  For instance, on the "ascii" and "latin1" output devices, hyphens and minus signs are visually identical, and on the "utf8", "ps", and "pdf" output devices, they are distinguishable.

> I didn't have the time or the energy to root-cause this.


I know exactly whence it comes, but not what, apart from a reflexive objection to any change, is motivating your bug report.

Setting to "Need Info" status.

Exhibit corresponding to attachments (all font styling is lost in copy-and-paste operations, of course):


##$ cat ATTIC/goofy.mdoc
.Dd 2023-12-31
.Dt A_B_C 9
.Os
.Sh Name
.Nm goofy
.Nd a goofy page
.Sh Description
There is nothing more to say.
##$ ~/groff-stable/bin/groff -rLL=50n -mdoc -Tutf8 ATTIC/goofy.mdoc
A_B_C(9)     Kernel Developer’s Manual    A_B_C(9)

Name
       goofy — a goofy page

Description
       There is nothing more to say.

GNU                 2023‐12‐31            A_B_C(9)
##$ ~/groff-stable/bin/groff -mdoc ATTIC/goofy.mdoc >| goofy.ps
##$ evince goofy.ps





G. Branden Robinson <gbranden>
Group administrator
Sun 31 Dec 2023 10:29:56 PM UTC, original submission:  

Downstream bug: https://bugs.debian.org/1059536, part 2.

Dt is misrendered but only in nroff mode.
Given

  .Dt A_B_C 9

In troff mode, and in 1.22.4-10, the top left and right corners were "A_B_C(9)".
In 1.23.0-3 in nroff they are "\fIA_B_C\fP(9)", which:
(a) why would you need this?
(b) completely breaks manuals with underscores in the name,
    because "\fIA_B_C\fP(9)" and "A_B_C(9)" and "\fIA B C\fP(9)"
    are all drawn identically.
I didn't have the time or the energy to root-cause this.

Anonymous

 

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  • -email is unavailable- added by gbranden (Updated the item)
  • -email is unavailable- added by gbranden (original reporter)
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    Follow 9 latest changes.

    Date Changed by Updated Field Previous Value => Replaced by
    2024-01-01 gbranden Attached File- Added mdoc-page-with-italic-title-terminal-real-italics.png, #55496
    2024-01-01 gbranden Attached File- Added mdoc-page-with-italic-title-terminal.png, #55494
        Attached File- Added mdoc-page-with-italic-title-ps.png, #55495
        Severity3 - Normal 2 - Minor
        Item GroupIncorrect behaviour Rendering/Cosmetics
        StatusNone Need Info
        Assigned toNone gbranden
        Summarymdoc nroff output for Dt broken since 1.23 [mdoc] objection to title heading rendering in 1.23.0
    2023-12-31 gbranden Carbon-Copy- Added -email is unavailable-

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