Bug#1087139: exim_dbmbuild.8: Some remarks and editorial changes for this man page
Bjarni Ingi Gislason
bjarniig at simnet.is
Fri Nov 8 23:05:09 GMT 2024
Package: exim4-base
Version: 4.98-2
Severity: minor
Tags: patch
* What led up to the situation?
Checking for defects with
test-[g|n]roff -mandoc -t -K utf8 -rF0 -rHY=0 -ww -b -z < "man page"
[Use "groff -e ' $' <file>" to find 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: backtrace: file '<stdin>':43
troff:<stdin>:43: warning: trailing space in the line
troff: backtrace: file '<stdin>':47
troff:<stdin>:47: 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 6.11.5-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 exim4-base depends on:
ii adduser 3.137
ii anacron 2.3-40
ii cron [cron-daemon] 3.0pl1-189
ii debconf [debconf-2.0] 1.5.87
ii exim4-config [exim4-config-2] 4.98-2
ii libc6 2.40-3
ii libdb5.3t64 5.3.28+dfsg2-9
ii libfile-fcntllock-perl 0.22-4+b4
ii netbase 6.4
ii perl 5.40.0-6
Versions of packages exim4-base recommends:
pn bsd-mailx | mailx <none>
ii psmisc 23.7-1
Versions of packages exim4-base suggests:
pn exim4-doc-html | exim4-doc-info <none>
pn eximon4 <none>
ii file 1:5.45-3+b1
ii mutt [mail-reader] 2.2.13-1
ii neomutt [mail-reader] 20241002+dfsg-1
ii openssl 3.3.2-2
pn spf-tools-perl <none>
pn swaks <none>
-- debconf information excluded
-------------- next part --------------
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
-.-
So any 'generator' should check its products with the above mentioned
'groff', 'mandoc', and additionally with 'nroff ...'.
This is just a simple quality control measure.
The 'generator' may have to be corrected to get a better man page,
the source file may, and any additional file may.
Common defects:
Input text line longer than 80 bytes.
Not removing trailing spaces (in in- and output).
The reason for these trailing spaces should be found and eliminated.
Not beginning each input sentence on a new line.
Lines should thus be shorter.
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 -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 of 'diff -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)
-.-.
Output from "mandoc -T lint exim_dbmbuild.8": (possibly shortened list)
mandoc: exim_dbmbuild.8:43:10: STYLE: whitespace at end of input line
mandoc: exim_dbmbuild.8:47:4: STYLE: whitespace at end of input line
-.-.
Remove space characters at the end of lines.
Use "git apply ... --whitespace=fix" to fix extra space issues, or use
global configuration "core.whitespace".
43:is given,
47:The
-.-.
Wrong distance between sentences in the input file.
Separate the sentences and subordinate clauses; each begins on a new
line. See man-pages(7) ("Conventions for source file layout") and
"info groff" ("Input Conventions").
The best procedure is to always start a new sentence on a new line,
at least, if you are typing on a computer.
Remember coding: Only one command ("sentence") on each (logical) line.
E-mail: Easier to quote exactly the relevant lines.
Generally: Easier to edit the sentence.
Patches: Less unaffected text.
Search for two adjacent words is easier, when they belong to the same line,
and the same phrase.
The amount of space between sentences in the output can then be
controlled with the ".ss" request.
94:This manual page needs a major re-work. If somebody knows better groff
-.-.
Use \(en (en-dash) for a dash between space characters,
not a minus (\-) or a hyphen (-), except in the NAME section.
exim_dbmbuild.8:57:configuration file - this is common in free versions of Unix) the two file
exim_dbmbuild.8:82:By default, only the first of a set of duplicates is used - this makes it
-.-.
Split a punctuation from a single argument, if a two-font macro is meant
72:.B exim_dbmbuild,
88:.I \-nowarn,
-.-.
Put a parenthetical sentence, phrase on a separate line,
if not part of a code.
See man-pages(7), item "semantic newline".
exim_dbmbuild.8:69:routines (mostly proprietary versions of Unix), two files are used, with the
exim_dbmbuild.8:75:compatibility mode (though this is not recommended), because in that case
exim_dbmbuild.8:105:for the Debian GNU/Linux system (but may be used by others).
-.-.
Output from "test-groff -mandoc -t -K utf8 -rF0 -rHY=0 -ww -b -z ":
troff: backtrace: file '<stdin>':43
troff:<stdin>:43: warning: trailing space in the line
troff: backtrace: file '<stdin>':47
troff:<stdin>:47: warning: trailing space in the line
-------------- next part --------------
--- exim_dbmbuild.8 2024-11-08 21:37:58.440069503 +0000
+++ exim_dbmbuild.8.new 2024-11-08 22:52:38.830533711 +0000
@@ -21,7 +21,8 @@
exim_dbmbuild \- Build a DBM file.
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B exim_dbmbuild
-.I [\-nolc] [\-nozero] [\-noduperr] [\-nowarn] inputfile|\- outputfile
+.RB [ \-nolc "] [" \-nozero "] [" \-noduperr "] [" \-nowarn ]
+.RI [ inputfile " | " \fB\-\fR ] " outputfile"
.SH DESCRIPTION
The
@@ -33,18 +34,18 @@ lookup (see section 9.1).
It writes a DBM file using the lower-cased alias names as keys and the
remainder of the information as data.
The lower-casing can be prevented by calling the program with the
-.I \-nolc
+.B \-nolc
option.
A terminating zero is included as part of the key string.
This is expected by the dbm lookup type.
However, if the option
-.I \-nozero
-is given,
+.B \-nozero
+is given,
.B exim_dbmbuild
creates files without terminating zeroes in either the key strings or the
data strings.
-The
+The
.I dbmnz
lookup type can be used with such files.
@@ -54,7 +55,7 @@ output file.
It creates the output under a temporary name, and then renames it if all
went well.
If the native DB interface is in use (USE_DB is set in a compile-time
-configuration file - this is common in free versions of Unix) the two file
+configuration file \(en this is common in free versions of Unix) the two file
names must be different, because in this mode the Berkeley DB functions
create a single output file using exactly the name given.
For example,
@@ -66,34 +67,38 @@ reads the system alias file and creates
In systems that use the
.I ndbm
-routines (mostly proprietary versions of Unix), two files are used, with the
-suffixes .dir and .pag.
-In this environment, the suffixes are added to the second argument of
-.B exim_dbmbuild,
+routines
+(mostly proprietary versions of Unix),
+two files are used, with the suffixes .dir and .pag.
+In this environment,
+the suffixes are added to the second argument of
+.BR exim_dbmbuild ,
so it can be the same as the first.
This is also the case when the Berkeley functions are used in
-compatibility mode (though this is not recommended), because in that case
-it adds a .db suffix to the file name.
+compatibility mode
+(though this is not recommended),
+because in that case it adds a .db suffix to the file name.
If a duplicate key is encountered, the program outputs a warning, and when
it finishes, its return code is 1 rather than zero, unless the
-.I \-noduperr
+.B \-noduperr
option is used.
-By default, only the first of a set of duplicates is used - this makes it
+By default, only the first of a set of duplicates is used \(en this makes it
compatible with lsearch lookups.
There is an option
-.I \-lastdup
+.B \-lastdup
which causes it to use the data for the last duplicate instead.
There is also an option
-.I \-nowarn,
+.BR \-nowarn ,
which stops it listing duplicate keys to \(lqstderr\(rq.
For other errors, where it doesn't actually make a new file, the return
code is 2.
.SH BUGS
-This manual page needs a major re-work. If somebody knows better groff
-than us and has more experience in writing manual pages, any patches
-would be greatly appreciated.
+This manual page needs a major re-work.
+If somebody knows better groff than us and
+has more experience in writing manual pages,
+any patches would be greatly appreciated.
.SH SEE ALSO
.BR exim (8),
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