Bug#1102401: Text::Xslate.3pm: Some remarks and a patch with editorial changes for this man page

Tue Apr 8 18:47:38 BST 2025

Package: libtext-xslate-perl
Version: 3.5.9-2+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 

grep -n -e ' $' -e '\\~$' -e ' \\f.$' -e ' \\"' <file>

  to find (most) 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>:137: warning: [page 2, 1.7i]: cannot break 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 6.12.21-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 libtext-xslate-perl depends on:
ii  libc6                       2.41-6
ii  libdata-messagepack-perl    1.02-1+b4
ii  libmouse-perl               2.5.11-1+b1
ii  perl                        5.40.1-2
ii  perl-base [perlapi-5.40.0]  5.40.1-2

libtext-xslate-perl recommends no packages.

libtext-xslate-perl suggests no packages.

-- no debconf information
-------------- next part --------------
Input file is Text::Xslate.3pm

Output from "mandoc -T lint  Text::Xslate.3pm": (shortened list)

      1 : Text::Xslate.3pm:139:83: STYLE: input text line longer than 80 bytes: There are also bench...
[...]
      1 : Text::Xslate.3pm:679:99: STYLE: input text line longer than 80 bytes: Thanks to clouder fo...

-.-.

Output from
test-nroff -mandoc -t -ww -z Text::Xslate.3pm: (shortened list)

      1 cannot break line

-.-.

Show if Pod::Man generated this.

Who is actually creating this man page?  Debian or upstream?

Is the generating software out of date?

2:.\" Automatically generated by Pod::Man 5.0102 (Pod::Simple 3.45)

-.-.

Change '-' (\-) to '\(en' (en-dash) for a (numeric) range.

GNU gnulib has recently (2023-06-18) updated its
"build_aux/update-copyright" to recognize "\(en" in man pages.

Text::Xslate.3pm:713:Copyright (c) 2010\-2013, Fuji, Goro (gfx). All rights reserved.

-.-.

Strings longer than 3/4 of a standard line length (80).

Use "\:" to split the string at the end of an output line, for example a
long URL (web address).
This is a groff extension.

137 <http://illusori.co.uk/projects/Template\-Roundup/201010/performance_vs_variant_by_feature_for_instance_reuse.html>

-.-.

Add a "\&" (or a comma (Oxford comma)) after an abbreviation
or use English words
(man-pages(7)).
Abbreviation points should be marked as such and protected against being
interpreted as an end of sentence, if they are not, and that independent
of the current place on the line.

131:(i.e. for persistent applications).
178:i.e. HASH references which contain \f(CW\*(C`$file_name => $content\*(C'\fR pairs.
282:If \f(CW\*(C`$level >= 1\*(C'\fR (default), trivial errors (e.g. to print nil) will be ignored,
283:but severe errors (e.g. for a method to throw the error) will be warned.
299:\&\fR\f(CI$name\fR\fI\fR may be a short name (e.g. \f(CW\*(C`Kolon\*(C'\fR), or a fully qualified name
300:(e.g. \f(CW\*(C`Text::Xslate::Syntax::Kolon\*(C'\fR).
563:Note that nil (i.e. \f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR in Perl) handling is different from Perl's.
589:Context controls. e.g. \f(CW\*(C`<: [ $foo\->bar @list ] :>\*(C'\fR.

-.-.

Wrong distance (not two spaces) 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.

Mark a final abbreviation point as such by suffixing it with "\&".

Some sentences (etc.) do not begin on a new line.

Split (sometimes) lines after a punctuation mark; before a conjunction.

  Lines with only one (or two) space(s) between sentences could be split,
so latter sentences begin on a new line.

Use

#!/usr/bin/sh

sed -e '/^\./n' \
-e 's/$[[:alpha:]]$\.  */\1.\n/g' $1

to split lines after a sentence period.
Check result with the difference between the formatted outputs.
See also the attachment "general.bugs"

[List of affected lines removed.]

-.-.

Split lines longer than 80 characters into two or more lines.
Appropriate break points are the end of a sentence and a subordinate
clause; after punctuation marks.
Add "\:" to split the string for the output, "\<newline>" in the source.  

[List of affected lines removed.]

Longest line is number 318 with 173 characters
Specify the token to start line code as a string, which \f(CW\*(C`quotemeta\*(C'\fR will be applied to. If you give \f(CW\*(C`undef\*(C'\fR, the line code style is disabled.

-.-.

The name of a man page is typeset in bold and the section in roman
(see man-pages(7)).

524:The \f(CWxslate(1)\fR command is provided as a CLI to the Text::Xslate module,

-.-.


Remove unnecessary double font change (e.g., \fR\fI) in a row or (better)
use a two-fonts macro.

[List with affected lines removed.]

-.-

Add a zero (0) in front of a decimal fraction that begins with a period
(.)

7:.if t .sp .5v

-.-.

Put a parenthetical sentence, phrase on a separate line,
if not part of a code.
See man-pages(7), item "semantic newline".

[List of affected lines removed.]

-.-

Use a character "\(->" instead of plain "->" or "\->".

[List of affected lines removed.]

-.-.

Only one space character is after a possible end of sentence
(after a punctuation, that can end a sentence).

[List of affected lines removed.]

-.-.

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.

Text::Xslate.3pm:66:.IX Header "VERSION"
Text::Xslate.3pm:69:.IX Header "SYNOPSIS"
Text::Xslate.3pm:103:.IX Header "DESCRIPTION"
Text::Xslate.3pm:120:.IX Subsection "Features"
Text::Xslate.3pm:162:.IX Header "INTERFACE"
Text::Xslate.3pm:164:.IX Subsection "Methods"
Text::Xslate.3pm:166:.IX Subsection "Text::Xslate->new(%options)"
Text::Xslate.3pm:191:.ie n .IP """cache_dir => $dir // ""$ENV{HOME}/.xslate_cache""""" 4
Text::Xslate.3pm:192:.el .IP "\f(CWcache_dir => $dir // ""$ENV{HOME}/.xslate_cache""\fR" 4
Text::Xslate.3pm:534:.IX Header "NOTES"
Text::Xslate.3pm:551:.IX Header "DEPENDENCIES"
Text::Xslate.3pm:557:.IX Header "TODO"
Text::Xslate.3pm:582:.IX Header "RESOURCES"
Text::Xslate.3pm:587:.IX Header "BUGS"
Text::Xslate.3pm:634:.IX Header "ACKNOWLEDGEMENT"
Text::Xslate.3pm:675:.IX Header "AUTHOR"

-.-.

Use ".na" (no adjustment) instead of ".ad l" (and ".ad" to begin the
same adjustment again as before).

61:.if n .ad l

-.-.

Add lines to use the CR font for groff instead of CW.

.if t \{\
.  ie \\n(.g .ft CR
.  el .ft CW
.\}


11:.ft CW

-.-.

Section headings (.SH and .SS) do not need quoting their arguments.

445:.SS "Exportable functions"
522:.SS "Command line interface"
536:.SH "TEMPLATE SYNTAX"
561:.SS "Nil/undef handling"
620:.SH "SEE ALSO"
711:.SH "LICENSE AND COPYRIGHT"

-.-.

.\" Define a fallback for font CW with

.if t \{\
.  ie \n(.g .ds fC \f(CR
.  el .ds fC \f(CW
.\}
.
.if n \{\
.  ds fC \fR
.\}

Change \f(CW to \*(fC

[List of affected lines removed.]

-.-.

Put a (long) web address on a new line to reduce the posibility of
splitting the address between two output lines.
Or inhibit hyphenation with "\%" in front of the name.


134:<http://illusori.co.uk/projects/Template\-Roundup/>
137:<http://illusori.co.uk/projects/Template\-Roundup/201010/performance_vs_variant_by_feature_for_instance_reuse.html>
613:PROJECT HOME: <https://github.com/xslate/>
615:REPOSITORY: <https://github.com/xslate/p5\-Text\-Xslate/>
618:Please report issues at <https://github.com/xslate/p5\-Text\-Xslate/issues>.
662:<http://www.cs.usfca.edu/~parrt/papers/mvc.templates.pdf> \-  Enforcing Strict Model-View Separation in Template Engines

-.-.

Add "\&" after an ellipsis, when it does not end a sentence

80:\&            # ...
84:\&        gadget => mark_raw(\*(Aq<div class="gadget">...</div>\*(Aq),
231:\&        ...,
236:.ie n .IP """module => [$module => ?\e at import_args, ...]""" 4
237:.el .IP "\f(CWmodule => [$module => ?\e at import_args, ...]\fR" 4
238:.IX Item "module => [$module => ?@import_args, ...]"
267:.ie n .IP """html_builder_module => [$module => ?\e at import_args, ...]""" 4
268:.el .IP "\f(CWhtml_builder_module => [$module => ?\e at import_args, ...]\fR" 4
269:.IX Item "html_builder_module => [$module => ?@import_args, ...]"
435:\fR\f(BIText::Xslate\->print(...) :Void\fR\fI\fR
436:.IX Subsection "Text::Xslate->print(...) :Void"
510:\&        # build HTML ...
541:\&\fBKolon\fR is the default syntax, using \f(CW\*(C`<: ... :>\*(C'\fR inline code and
542:\&\f(CW\*(C`: ...\*(C'\fR line code, which is explained in Text::Xslate::Syntax::Kolon.
545:\&\fBMetakolon\fR is the same as Kolon except for using \f(CW\*(C`[% ... %]\*(C'\fR inline code and
546:\&\f(CW\*(C`%% ...\*(C'\fR line code, instead of \f(CW\*(C`<: ... :>\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`: ...\*(C'\fR.
675:Thanks to jjn1056 to the concept of template overlay (now implemented as \f(CW\*(C`cascade with ...\*(C'\fR).

-.-.

Output from "test-groff  -mandoc -t -K utf8 -rF0 -rHY=0 -rCHECKSTYLE=10 -ww -z ":

troff:<stdin>:137: warning: [page 2, 1.7i]: cannot break line

-.-.

Spelling (codespell):

wolrd ==> world

-.- 

Generally:

Split (sometimes) lines after a punctuation mark; before a conjunction.
-------------- next part --------------

--- Text::Xslate.3pm	2025-04-08 17:28:01.784472711 +0000
+++ Text::Xslate.3pm.new	2025-04-08 17:42:13.184038991 +0000
@@ -134,7 +134,8 @@ amazingly high scores in \fIinstance_reu
 <http://illusori.co.uk/projects/Template\-Roundup/>
 .IP "Perl Template Roundup October 2010 Performance vs Variant Report: instance_reuse" 4
 .IX Item "Perl Template Roundup October 2010 Performance vs Variant Report: instance_reuse"
-<http://illusori.co.uk/projects/Template\-Roundup/201010/performance_vs_variant_by_feature_for_instance_reuse.html>
+<http://illusori.co.uk/projects/Template\-Roundup/201010/
+performance_vs_variant_by_feature_for_instance_reuse.html>
 .PP
 There are also benchmarks in \fIbenchmark/\fR directory in the Xslate distribution.
 .PP
-------------- 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>

  To find trailing space use

grep -n -e ' $' -e ' \\f.$' -e ' \\"' <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)

-.-
