Bug#1120446: IPC::Run.3pm: Some remarks and a patch with editorial changes for this man page
Bjarni Ingi Gislason
bjarniig at simnet.is
Sun Nov 9 23:22:42 GMT 2025
Package: libipc-run-perl
Version: 20250809.0-1
Severity: minor
Tags: patch
>From "/usr/share/doc/debian/bug-reporting.txt.gz":
Don't file bugs upstream
If you file a bug in Debian, don't send a copy to the upstream software
maintainers yourself, as it is possible that the bug exists only in
Debian. If necessary, the maintainer of the package will forward the
bug upstream.
-.-
I do not send reports upstream if I have to get an account there.
The Debian maintainers have one already.
If I get a negative (or no) response from upstream, I send henceforth
bugs to Debian.
-.-
* 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=0 -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?
Output from "test-groff -mandoc -t -K utf8 -rF0 -rHY=0 -rCHECKSTYLE=0 -ww -z ":
troff:<stdin>:88: warning: trailing space in the line
troff:<stdin>:104: warning: trailing space in the line
troff:<stdin>:135: warning: trailing space in the line
troff:<stdin>:712: warning: trailing space in the line
troff:<stdin>:744: warning: trailing space in the line
troff:<stdin>:937: warning: trailing space in the line
troff:<stdin>:1030: warning: trailing space in the line
troff:<stdin>:1033: warning: trailing space in the line
troff:<stdin>:1226: warning: trailing space in the line
troff:<stdin>:1272: warning: trailing space in the line
troff:<stdin>:1326: warning: trailing space in the line
troff:<stdin>:1499: warning: trailing space in the line
troff:<stdin>:1530: warning: trailing space in the line
troff:<stdin>:1747: warning: trailing space in the line
troff:<stdin>:1961: 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: forky/sid
APT prefers testing
APT policy: (500, 'testing')
Architecture: amd64 (x86_64)
Kernel: Linux 6.16.12+deb14+1-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 libipc-run-perl depends on:
ii libio-pty-perl 1:1.20-1+b3
ii perl 5.40.1-6
libipc-run-perl recommends no packages.
libipc-run-perl suggests no packages.
-- no debconf information
-------------- next part --------------
Input file is IPC::Run.3pm
Output from "mandoc -T lint IPC::Run.3pm": (shortened list)
76 STYLE: input text line longer than 80 bytes:
8 STYLE: whitespace at end of input line
1 WARNING: empty block: RS
Find most trailing spaces with:
grep -n -e ' $' -e ' \\f.$' -e ' \\"' <man page>
-.-.
Output from
test-nroff -mandoc -t -ww -z IPC::Run.3pm: (shortened list)
15 line(s) with a trailing space
Find most trailing spaces with:
grep -n -e ' $' -e ' \\f.$' -e ' \\"' <man page>
-.-.
Show if Pod::Man generated this.
2:.\" Automatically generated by Pod::Man 5.0102 (Pod::Simple 3.45)
Latest version in Debian testing:
This is perl 5, version 40, subversion 1 (v5.40.1) built for x86_64-linux-gnu-thread-multi
(with 48 registered patches, see perl -V for more detail)
-.-.
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
15
-.-.
Move a full stop (period) and a comma outside of a quoted text, if it is
at the end of the quote and does not end a quoted sentence.
505:useful for detecting stalled I/O or printing a soothing message or "."
-.-.
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.
1829 rules <https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/cpp/main-function-command-line-args#parsing-c-command-line-arguments>
-.-.
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.
133:\& \*(Aq<pipe\*(Aq, \e*IN, # may also be a lexical filehandle e.g. \emy $infh
1820:Ability to add timeouts and timing generators (i.e. repeating timeouts).
-.-.
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 (fill completly
an A4 sized page line on a terminal)
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 1649 with 202 characters
This is a filter which is exportable. Returns a sub which appends the data passed in to the output buffer and returns 1 if data was appended. 0 if it was an empty string and undef if no data was passed.
-.-.
Do not use more than two space characters between sentences or (better)
only a new line character.
838:IPC::ChildSafe does. There are two filters included with IPC::Run that
-.-.
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 "\(en" (en-dash) to indicate a range, not a minus (\-);
this is not a substraction
2085:Some parts copyright 2008 \- 2009 Adam Kennedy.
-.-.
Use a character "\(->" instead of plain "->" or "\->".
420:\& $h\->pump until $out =~ /^smb.*> \eZ/m;
425:\& $h\->pump until $out =~ /^smb.*> \eZ/m;
429:\& $h\->finish;
451:\& $h\->pump until $out =~ /^smb.*> \eZ/mgc;
455:\& $h\->pump until $out =~ /^smb.*> \eZ/mgc;
459:\& $h\->finish;
527:\& $t\->start( 5 );
530:\& $t\->start( 10 ); ## Give smbclient a little while to shut down.
531:\& $h\->finish;
535:\& $h\->kill_kill; ## kill it gently, then brutally if need be, or just
1208:\& $h\->start;
1209:\& $h\->pump;
1210:\& $h\->finish;
1213:\& $h\->pump;
1242:\& start( ... )\->finish();
1257:\& $h\->signal ( "USR1" );
1302:\& $h\->kill_kill;
1413:\& $h\->pump;
1432:\& $h\->pump until $out =~ /^smb.*> \eZ/m;
1437:\& $h\->pump until $out =~ /^smb.*> \eZ/m;
1440:\& $h\->finish;
1448:\& $h\->pump_nb;
1491:kill all the children. Call \f(CW\*(C`$h\->kill_kill\*(C'\fR in this case if you care.
1496:\& $h\->result;
1505:\& $h\->result( 0 ); # first child\*(Aqs $? >> 8
1506:\& $h\->result( 1 ); # second child
1512:\& ($h\->results)[0]
1513:\& ($h\->results)[1]
1527:\& $h\->full_result;
1536:\& $h\->full_result( 0 ); # first child\*(Aqs $?
1537:\& $h\->full_result( 1 ); # second child
1543:\& ($h\->full_results)[0]
1544:\& ($h\->full_results)[1]
1669:\& ... IPC::Run::IO\->new(...) ...
1676:\& pump $h until $out =~ /expected stuff/ || $t\->is_expired;
1720:\& $stall_timer\->start;
1724:\& $stall_timer\->start;
1728:\& $stall_timer\->start( 10 );
1731:\& $stall_timer\->start( 5 );
1735:\& $stall_timer\->reset; # Prevent restarting or expirng
1794:\&\f(CW$kid\fR\->\fBabort()\fR, \f(CW$kid\fR\->\fBkill()\fR, \f(CW$kid\fR\->signal( \f(CW$num_or_name\fR ).
1987:\& $pty = IO::Pty\->new();
1988:\& $pty\->blocking(0);
1989:\& $slave = $pty\->slave();
1990:\& while ($pty\->syswrite("\en", 1)) { $ptybuf++ };
2048:\& $h\->adopt( $new_h );
-.-.
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
-.-.
.\" Define a fallback for font CW with
.if \n(.g \{\
. ie t .ftr CW CR
. el .ftr CW R
.\}
[List of affected lines removed.]
-.-.
Use "\-" instead of "-" in web addresses.
1829:rules <https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/cpp/main-function-command-line-args#parsing-c-command-line-arguments>
-.-.
Put a (long) web address on a new output line to reduce the posibility of
splitting the address between two output lines.
Or inhibit hyphenation with "\%" in front of the name.
1829:rules <https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/cpp/main-function-command-line-args#parsing-c-command-line-arguments>
-.-.
Output from "test-groff -mandoc -t -K utf8 -rF0 -rHY=0 -rCHECKSTYLE=0 -ww -z ":
troff:<stdin>:88: warning: trailing space in the line
troff:<stdin>:104: warning: trailing space in the line
troff:<stdin>:135: warning: trailing space in the line
troff:<stdin>:712: warning: trailing space in the line
troff:<stdin>:744: warning: trailing space in the line
troff:<stdin>:937: warning: trailing space in the line
troff:<stdin>:1030: warning: trailing space in the line
troff:<stdin>:1033: warning: trailing space in the line
troff:<stdin>:1226: warning: trailing space in the line
troff:<stdin>:1272: warning: trailing space in the line
troff:<stdin>:1326: warning: trailing space in the line
troff:<stdin>:1499: warning: trailing space in the line
troff:<stdin>:1530: warning: trailing space in the line
troff:<stdin>:1747: warning: trailing space in the line
troff:<stdin>:1961: warning: trailing space in the line
-.-
Generally:
Split (sometimes) lines after a punctuation mark; before a conjunction.
-------------- next part --------------
--- IPC::Run.3pm 2025-11-09 22:31:36.458209069 +0000
+++ IPC::Run.3pm.new 2025-11-09 23:14:21.256618805 +0000
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
.\" Standard preamble:
.\" ========================================================================
.de Sp \" Vertical space (when we can't use .PP)
-.if t .sp .5v
+.if t .sp 0.5v
.if n .sp
..
.de Vb \" Begin verbatim text
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ IPC::Run \- system() and background proc
\& # Create pipes for you to read / write (like IPC::Open2 & 3).
\& $h = start
\& \e at cat,
-\& \*(Aq<pipe\*(Aq, \e*IN, # may also be a lexical filehandle e.g. \emy $infh
+\& \*(Aq<pipe\*(Aq, \e*IN, # may also be a lexical filehandle e.g.\& \emy $infh
\& \*(Aq>pipe\*(Aq, \e*OUT,
\& \*(Aq2>pipe\*(Aq, \e*ERR
\& or die "cat returned $?";
@@ -502,7 +502,7 @@ routines during the natural course of ev
.PP
Often an exception is too harsh. timer( \f(CW$interval\fR ) creates timer
objects that merely prevent \fBpump()\fR from blocking forever. This can be
-useful for detecting stalled I/O or printing a soothing message or "."
+useful for detecting stalled I/O or printing a soothing message or ".\&"
to pacify an anxious user.
.PP
Timeouts and timers can both be restarted at any time using the timer's
@@ -835,7 +835,7 @@ Not prompting unless connected to a tty.
Some programs don't prompt unless stdin or stdout is a tty. See if you can
turn prompting back on. If not, see if you can come up with a command that
you can issue after every real command and look for its output, as
-IPC::ChildSafe does. There are two filters included with IPC::Run that
+IPC::ChildSafe does. There are two filters included with IPC::Run that
can help with doing this: appender and chunker (see \fBnew_appender()\fR and
\&\fBnew_chunker()\fR).
.IP \(bu 4
@@ -1553,8 +1553,6 @@ if you don't care about coredumps or sig
.Sp
Throws an exception if the harness is not in a finished state.
.RE
-.RS 4
-.RE
.SH FILTERS
.IX Header "FILTERS"
These filters are used to modify input our output between a child
@@ -1817,7 +1815,7 @@ multiple harnesses to be aggregated.
.PP
Ability to add external file descriptors w/ filter chains and endpoints.
.PP
-Ability to add timeouts and timing generators (i.e. repeating timeouts).
+Ability to add timeouts and timing generators (i.e.\& repeating timeouts).
.PP
High resolution timeouts.
.SH "Win32 LIMITATIONS"
@@ -1826,7 +1824,18 @@ High resolution timeouts.
.IX Item "argument-passing rules are program-specific"
Win32 programs receive all arguments in a single "command line" string.
IPC::Run assembles this string so programs using standard command line parsing
-rules <https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/cpp/main-function-command-line-args#parsing-c-command-line-arguments>
+rules
+.\" indent to better see the continuation of the above line
+.in +2m
+.ie \n(.g \{\
+<https://docs.microsoft.com/\:en\-us/\:cpp/\:cpp/\:main\-function\-command\-line\-args#parsing\-c\-command\-line\-arguments>
+.\}
+.el \{\
+<https://docs.microsoft.com/en\-us/cpp/cpp/\e
+.br
+main\-function\-command\-line\-args#parsing\-c\-command\-line\-arguments>
+.\}
+.in
will see an \f(CW\*(C`argv\*(C'\fR that matches the array reference specifying the command.
Some programs use different rules to parse their command line. Notable examples
include \fIcmd.exe\fR, \fIcscript.exe\fR, and Cygwin programs called from non-Cygwin
@@ -2082,7 +2091,7 @@ Adam Kennedy <adamk at cpan.org>
Barrie Slaymaker <barries at slaysys.com>
.SH COPYRIGHT
.IX Header "COPYRIGHT"
-Some parts copyright 2008 \- 2009 Adam Kennedy.
+Some parts copyright 2008\(en2009 Adam Kennedy.
.PP
Copyright 1999 Barrie Slaymaker.
.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
-.-
For general input conventions consult the man page "nroff(7)" (item
"Input conventions") or the Texinfo manual about the same item.
-.-
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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