Bug#1095186: sd_bus_message_append_basic.3: Some remarks and a patch with editorial changes for this man page
Bjarni Ingi Gislason
bjarniig at simnet.is
Tue Feb 4 22:09:52 GMT 2025
Package: libsystemd-dev
Version: 257.2-3
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?
Output from "test-groff -mandoc -t -K utf8 -rF0 -rHY=0 -rCHECKSTYLE=10 -ww -z ":
an.tmac:<stdin>:2: style: .TH missing third argument; consider document modification date in ISO 8601 format (YYYY-MM-DD)
troff:<stdin>:83: warning: [page 1, 3.1i (diversion '3tbd1,1', 0.0i)]: cannot break line
troff:<stdin>:94: warning: [page 1, 3.1i (diversion '3tbd2,1', 0.0i)]: cannot break line
troff:<stdin>:193: warning: [page 1, 3.1i (diversion '3tbd11,1', 0.0i)]: cannot break line
Output from "test-nroff -mandoc -t -K utf8 -rF0 -rHY=0 -rCHECKSTYLE=10 -ww -z ":
an.tmac:<stdin>:2: style: .TH missing third argument; consider document modification date in ISO 8601 format (YYYY-MM-DD)
troff:<stdin>:83: warning [page 1, line 19, diversion '3tbd1,1', line 1]: cannot break line
troff:<stdin>:94: warning [page 1, line 19, diversion '3tbd2,1', line 1]: cannot break line
troff:<stdin>:173: warning [page 1, line 19, diversion '3tbd9,2', line 1]: cannot break line
troff:<stdin>:193: warning [page 1, line 19, diversion '3tbd11,1', line 1]: cannot break line
<stdin>:56: warning: table wider than line length minus indentation
an.tmac:<stdin>:223: warning: .l = 1920u = 80n = 80m, .i = 120u, TW (table width) = 1896u = 79n = 79m
* 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 6.12.11-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 libsystemd-dev depends on:
ii libcap-dev 1:2.66-5+b1
ii libsystemd0 257.2-3
libsystemd-dev recommends no packages.
libsystemd-dev suggests no packages.
-- no debconf information
-------------- next part --------------
Input file is sd_bus_message_append_basic.3
Output from "mandoc -T lint sd_bus_message_append_basic.3": (shortened list)
1 input text line longer than 80 bytes: (UNIX file descripto...
1 input text line longer than 80 bytes: Functions described ...
1 input text line longer than 80 bytes: On success, this cal...
1 input text line longer than 80 bytes: The value of the par...
1 input text line longer than 80 bytes: pointer is interpret...
1 missing date, using "": TH
4 skipping paragraph macro: PP after SH
1 skipping paragraph macro: PP after SS
1 skipping paragraph macro: br after sp
1 skipping paragraph macro: sp after SH
-.-.
Output from "test-groff -mandoc -t -ww -z sd_bus_message_append_basic.3": (shortened list)
3 cannot break line
-.-.
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.
Mark a final abbreviation point as such by suffixing it with "\&".
37:\fIm\fR\&. The parameter
226:The value of the parameter is copied into a memory area held by the message object, stays in the possession of the caller and may hence be freely changed after this call without affecting the bus message it has been added to\&. If
238:\fBNUL\fR\-terminated character sequence\&. As a special case, a
240:pointer is interpreted as an empty string\&. The string should be valid Unicode string encoded as UTF\-8\&. In case of the two latter types, the additional requirements for a D\-Bus object path or type signature should be satisfied\&. Those requirements should be verified by the recipient of the message\&.
243:On success, this call returns 0 or a positive integer\&. On failure, it returns a negative errno\-style error code\&.
279:\fBgetenv\fR(3), which is declared to be not multi\-thread\-safe\&. This means that the code calling the functions described here must not call
281:from a parallel thread\&. It is recommended to only do calls to
-.-.
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.
Line 2, length 86
.TH "SD_BUS_MESSAGE_APPEND_BASIC" "3" "" "systemd 257.2" "sd_bus_message_append_basic"
Line 32, length 105
.BI "int sd_bus_message_append_basic(sd_bus_message\ *" "m" ", char\ " "type" ", const\ void\ *" "p" ");"
Line 226, length 230
The value of the parameter is copied into a memory area held by the message object, stays in the possession of the caller and may hence be freely changed after this call without affecting the bus message it has been added to\&. If
Line 230, length 128
(UNIX file descriptor), the descriptor is duplicated by this call and the passed descriptor stays in possession of the caller\&.
Line 240, length 307
pointer is interpreted as an empty string\&. The string should be valid Unicode string encoded as UTF\-8\&. In case of the two latter types, the additional requirements for a D\-Bus object path or type signature should be satisfied\&. Those requirements should be verified by the recipient of the message\&.
Line 243, length 117
On success, this call returns 0 or a positive integer\&. On failure, it returns a negative errno\-style error code\&.
Line 274, length 112
Functions described here are available as a shared library, which can be compiled against and linked to with the
Line 279, length 143
\fBgetenv\fR(3), which is declared to be not multi\-thread\-safe\&. This means that the code calling the functions described here must not call
Line 286, length 162
\fBsystemd\fR(1), \fBsd-bus\fR(3), \fBsd_bus_message_read_basic\fR(3), \fBsd_bus_message_append\fR(3), \m[blue]\fBThe D\-Bus specification\fR\m[]\&\s-2\u[2]\d\s+2
-.-.
No need for "\&" to be in front of a period (.),
if there is a character in front of it
28:#include <systemd/sd\-bus\&.h>
37:\fIm\fR\&. The parameter
41:is interpreted\&.
45:section of the D\-Bus specification, and listed in the table below\&.
226:The value of the parameter is copied into a memory area held by the message object, stays in the possession of the caller and may hence be freely changed after this call without affecting the bus message it has been added to\&. If
230:(UNIX file descriptor), the descriptor is duplicated by this call and the passed descriptor stays in possession of the caller\&.
238:\fBNUL\fR\-terminated character sequence\&. As a special case, a
240:pointer is interpreted as an empty string\&. The string should be valid Unicode string encoded as UTF\-8\&. In case of the two latter types, the additional requirements for a D\-Bus object path or type signature should be satisfied\&. Those requirements should be verified by the recipient of the message\&.
243:On success, this call returns 0 or a positive integer\&. On failure, it returns a negative errno\-style error code\&.
250:Specified parameter is invalid\&.
255:Message has been sealed\&.
260:Message is in invalid state\&.
265:Message cannot be appended to\&.
270:Memory allocation failed\&.
276:file\&.
279:\fBgetenv\fR(3), which is declared to be not multi\-thread\-safe\&. This means that the code calling the functions described here must not call
281:from a parallel thread\&. It is recommended to only do calls to
283:from an early phase of the program when no other threads have been started\&.
-.-.
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.
2:.TH "SD_BUS_MESSAGE_APPEND_BASIC" "3" "" "systemd 257.2" "sd_bus_message_append_basic"
22:.SH "NAME"
24:.SH "SYNOPSIS"
32:.BI "int sd_bus_message_append_basic(sd_bus_message\ *" "m" ", char\ " "type" ", const\ void\ *" "p" ");"
33:.SH "DESCRIPTION"
244:.SS "Errors"
272:.SH "NOTES"
287:.SH "NOTES"
-.-.
Use ".na" (no adjustment) instead of ".ad l" and then ".ad" to begin the
same adjustment again as before
18:.ad l
-.-.
Output from "test-nroff -mandoc -t -K utf8 -rF0 -rHY=0 -rCHECKSTYLE=10 -ww -z ":
an.tmac:<stdin>:2: style: .TH missing third argument; consider document modification date in ISO 8601 format (YYYY-MM-DD)
troff:<stdin>:83: warning [page 1, line 19, diversion '3tbd1,1', line 1]: cannot break line
troff:<stdin>:94: warning [page 1, line 19, diversion '3tbd2,1', line 1]: cannot break line
troff:<stdin>:173: warning [page 1, line 19, diversion '3tbd9,2', line 1]: cannot break line
troff:<stdin>:193: warning [page 1, line 19, diversion '3tbd11,1', line 1]: cannot break line
<stdin>:56: warning: table wider than line length minus indentation
an.tmac:<stdin>:223: warning: .l = 1920u = 80n = 80m, .i = 120u, TW (table width) = 1896u = 79n = 79m
-------------- next part --------------
--- sd_bus_message_append_basic.3 2025-02-04 21:13:25.543553898 +0000
+++ sd_bus_message_append_basic.3.new 2025-02-04 22:00:48.773637465 +0000
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
'\" t
-.TH "SD_BUS_MESSAGE_APPEND_BASIC" "3" "" "systemd 257.2" "sd_bus_message_append_basic"
+.TH SD_BUS_MESSAGE_APPEND_BASIC 3 "" "systemd 257.2" sd_bus_message_append_basic
.\" -----------------------------------------------------------------
.\" * Define some portability stuff
.\" -----------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -15,43 +15,49 @@
.\" disable hyphenation
.nh
.\" disable justification (adjust text to left margin only)
-.ad l
+.na
.\" -----------------------------------------------------------------
.\" * MAIN CONTENT STARTS HERE *
.\" -----------------------------------------------------------------
-.SH "NAME"
+.SH NAME
sd_bus_message_append_basic \- Attach a single field to a message
-.SH "SYNOPSIS"
-.sp
+.SH SYNOPSIS
.ft B
.nf
-#include <systemd/sd\-bus\&.h>
+#include <systemd/sd\-bus.h>
.fi
.ft
.HP \w'int\ sd_bus_message_append_basic('u
-.BI "int sd_bus_message_append_basic(sd_bus_message\ *" "m" ", char\ " "type" ", const\ void\ *" "p" ");"
-.SH "DESCRIPTION"
-.PP
+.BI "int sd_bus_message_append_basic(sd_bus_message\ *" m ", char\ " type \
+", const\ void\ *" p );
+.SH DESCRIPTION
\fBsd_bus_message_append_basic()\fR
appends a single field to the message
-\fIm\fR\&. The parameter
+\fIm\fR. The parameter
\fItype\fR
determines how the pointer
\fIp\fR
-is interpreted\&.
+is interpreted.
\fItype\fR
must be one of the basic types as defined by the
\m[blue]\fBBasic Types\fR\m[]\&\s-2\u[1]\d\s+2
-section of the D\-Bus specification, and listed in the table below\&.
+section of the D\-Bus specification, and listed in the table below.
.sp
.it 1 an-trap
.nr an-no-space-flag 1
.nr an-break-flag 1
-.br
.B Table\ \&1.\ \&Item type specifiers
+.nr ol \n(.lu
+.if n \{\
+. ll 90m
+.\}
+.nr w2 \w'\fBSD_BUS_TYPE_OBJECT_PATH\fR'u
+.nr w3 \w'unsigned integer'u
+.nr w5 \w'\fBExpected C\fR'u
.TS
allbox tab(:);
-lB lB lB lB lB.
+lB lBw(\n(w2u) lBw(\n(w3u) lB lBw(\n(w5u)
+l l l l l .
T{
Specifier
T}:T{
@@ -63,20 +69,6 @@ Size
T}:T{
Expected C Type
T}
-.T&
-l l l l l
-l l l l l
-l l l l l
-l l l l l
-l l l l l
-l l l l l
-l l l l l
-l l l l l
-l l l l l
-l l l l l
-l l l l l
-l l l l l
-l l l l l.
T{
"y"
T}:T{
@@ -221,13 +213,20 @@ T}:T{
int
T}
.TE
+.ll \n(olu
.sp 1
.PP
-The value of the parameter is copied into a memory area held by the message object, stays in the possession of the caller and may hence be freely changed after this call without affecting the bus message it has been added to\&. If
+The value of the parameter is copied into a memory area held by the message
+object,
+stays in the possession of the caller
+and may hence be freely changed after this call
+without affecting the bus message it has been added to.
+If
\fItype\fR
-is
-"h"
-(UNIX file descriptor), the descriptor is duplicated by this call and the passed descriptor stays in possession of the caller\&.
+is "h"
+(UNIX file descriptor),
+the descriptor is duplicated by this call
+and the passed descriptor stays in possession of the caller.
.PP
For types
"s",
@@ -235,56 +234,70 @@ For types
"g", the parameter
\fIp\fR
is interpreted as a pointer to a
-\fBNUL\fR\-terminated character sequence\&. As a special case, a
+\fBNUL\fR\-terminated character sequence. As a special case, a
\fBNULL\fR
-pointer is interpreted as an empty string\&. The string should be valid Unicode string encoded as UTF\-8\&. In case of the two latter types, the additional requirements for a D\-Bus object path or type signature should be satisfied\&. Those requirements should be verified by the recipient of the message\&.
+pointer is interpreted as an empty string.
+The string should be valid Unicode string encoded as UTF\-8.
+In case of the two latter types,
+the additional requirements for a D\-Bus object path
+or type signature
+should be satisfied.
+Those requirements should be verified by the recipient of the message.
.SH "RETURN VALUE"
-.PP
-On success, this call returns 0 or a positive integer\&. On failure, it returns a negative errno\-style error code\&.
-.SS "Errors"
-.PP
+On success,
+this call returns 0
+or a positive integer.
+On failure,
+it returns a negative errno\-style error code.
+.SS Errors
Returned errors may indicate the following problems:
.PP
\fB\-EINVAL\fR
.RS 4
-Specified parameter is invalid\&.
+Specified parameter is invalid.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-EPERM\fR
.RS 4
-Message has been sealed\&.
+Message has been sealed.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-ESTALE\fR
.RS 4
-Message is in invalid state\&.
+Message is in invalid state.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-ENXIO\fR
.RS 4
-Message cannot be appended to\&.
+Message cannot be appended to.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-ENOMEM\fR
.RS 4
-Memory allocation failed\&.
+Memory allocation failed.
.RE
-.SH "NOTES"
-.PP
-Functions described here are available as a shared library, which can be compiled against and linked to with the
+.SH NOTES
+Functions described here are available as a shared library,
+which can be compiled against
+and linked to with the
\fBlibsystemd\fR\ \&\fBpkg-config\fR(1)
-file\&.
+file.
.PP
The code described here uses
-\fBgetenv\fR(3), which is declared to be not multi\-thread\-safe\&. This means that the code calling the functions described here must not call
+\fBgetenv\fR(3),
+which is declared to be not multi\-thread\-safe.
+This means that the code calling the functions described here must not call
\fBsetenv\fR(3)
-from a parallel thread\&. It is recommended to only do calls to
+from a parallel thread.
+It is recommended to only do calls to
\fBsetenv()\fR
-from an early phase of the program when no other threads have been started\&.
+from an early phase of the program
+when no other threads have been started.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
-.PP
-\fBsystemd\fR(1), \fBsd-bus\fR(3), \fBsd_bus_message_read_basic\fR(3), \fBsd_bus_message_append\fR(3), \m[blue]\fBThe D\-Bus specification\fR\m[]\&\s-2\u[2]\d\s+2
-.SH "NOTES"
+\fBsystemd\fR(1), \fBsd-bus\fR(3), \fBsd_bus_message_read_basic\fR(3),
+\fBsd_bus_message_append\fR(3), \m[blue]\fBThe D\-Bus
+specification\fR\m[]\&\s-2\u[2]\d\s+2
+.SH NOTES
.IP " 1." 4
Basic Types
.RS 4
-------------- 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
-.-
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.
Not beginning each input sentence on a new line.
Line length 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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