Package: apt-utils
Version: 3.0.0
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>:362: 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 6.12.21-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 apt-utils depends on:
ii apt 3.0.0
ii libapt-pkg7.0 3.0.0
ii libc6 2.41-6
ii libdb5.3t64 5.3.28+dfsg2-9
ii libgcc-s1 14.2.0-19
ii libstdc++6 14.2.0-19
apt-utils recommends no packages.
apt-utils suggests no packages.
-- no debconf information
Input file is apt-ftparchive.1
Output from "mandoc -T lint apt-ftparchive.1": (shortened list)
2 empty block
52 input text line longer than 80 bytes
16 skipping paragraph macro
-.-.
Output from
test-nroff -mandoc -t -ww -z apt-ftparchive.1: (shortened list)
1 line(s) with a trailing space
Find trailing space with:
grep -n -e ' $' -e ' \\f.$' -e ' \\"' <man page>
-.-.
Show if docman-to-man created this.
Who is actually creating this man page? Debian or upstream?
Is the generating software out of date?
4:.\" Generator: DocBook XSL Stylesheets vsnapshot <http://docbook.sf.net/>
-.-.
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
2
-.-.
Change (or include a "FIXME" paragraph about) misused SI (metric)
numeric prefixes (or names) to the binary ones, like Ki (kibi), Mi
(mebi), Gi (gibi), or Ti (tebi), if indicated.
If the metric prefixes are correct, add the definitions or an
explanation to avoid misunderstanding.
229:Specifies the number of kilobytes to delink (and replace with hard links)
per run\&. This is used in conjunction with the per\-section
255:Sets the number of kilobytes of contents files that are generated each
day\&. The contents files are round\-robined so that over several days they
will all be rebuilt\&.
-.-.
Reduce space between words.
apt-ftparchive.1:34:\fBapt\-ftparchive\fR [\fB\-dsq\fR] [\fB\-\-md5\fR]
[\fB\-\-delink\fR] [\fB\-\-readonly\fR] [\fB\-\-contents\fR] [\fB\-\-arch\
\fR\fB\fIarchitecture\fR\fR] [\fB\-o=\fR\fB\fIconfig_string\fR\fR]
[\fB\-c=\fR\fB\fIconfig_file\fR\fR] {packages\ \fIpath\fR\
[\fIoverride\-file\fR\ [\fIpathprefix\fR]] | sources\ \fIpath\fR\
[\fIoverride\-file\fR\ [\fIpathprefix\fR]] | contents\ \fIpath\fR | release\
\fIpath\fR | generate\ \fIconfig_file\fR\ \fIsection\fR... | clean\
\fIconfig_file\fR | {\-v\ |\ \-\-version} | {\-h\ |\ \-\-help}}
-.-.
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 605 with 582 characters
caches as much as possible of metadata in a cachedb\&. If packages are
recompiled and/or republished with the same version again, this will lead to
problems as the now outdated cached metadata like size and checksums will be
used\&. With this option enabled this will no longer happen as it will be
checked if the file was changed\&. Note that this option is set to "false" by
default as it is not recommend to upload multiple versions/builds of a package
with the same version number, so in theory nobody will have these problems and
therefore all these extra checks are useless\&.
-.-.
Remove unnecessary double font change (e.g., \fR\fI) in a row or (better)
use a two-fonts macro.
34:\fBapt\-ftparchive\fR [\fB\-dsq\fR] [\fB\-\-md5\fR] [\fB\-\-delink\fR]
[\fB\-\-readonly\fR] [\fB\-\-contents\fR] [\fB\-\-arch\
\fR\fB\fIarchitecture\fR\fR] [\fB\-o=\fR\fB\fIconfig_string\fR\fR]
[\fB\-c=\fR\fB\fIconfig_file\fR\fR] {packages\ \fIpath\fR\
[\fIoverride\-file\fR\ [\fIpathprefix\fR]] | sources\ \fIpath\fR\
[\fIoverride\-file\fR\ [\fIpathprefix\fR]] | contents\ \fIpath\fR | release\
\fIpath\fR | generate\ \fIconfig_file\fR\ \fIsection\fR... | clean\
\fIconfig_file\fR | {\-v\ |\ \-\-version} | {\-h\ |\ \-\-help}}
-.-.
Put a parenthetical sentence, phrase on a separate line,
if not part of a code.
See man-pages(7), item "semantic newline".
apt-ftparchive.1:108:file containing (by default) an MD5, SHA1, SHA256 and
SHA512 digest for each file\&.
apt-ftparchive.1:229:Specifies the number of kilobytes to delink (and replace
with hard links) per run\&. This is used in conjunction with the per\-section
apt-ftparchive.1:302:$(DIST)/$(SECTION)/Contents\-$(ARCH)\&. If this setting
causes multiple Packages files to map onto a single Contents file (as is the
default) then
apt-ftparchive.1:633:Show audit (and notice) messages\&. This overrides the
quiet option, but only for notice messages, not progress ones\&.
-.-.
No need for '\&' to be in front of a period (.),
if there is a character in front of it.
Remove with "sed -e 's/\(.\)\\&\./\1./g'".
[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.
apt-ftparchive.1:10:.TH "APT\-FTPARCHIVE" "1" "29\ \&January\ \&2023" "APT
3.0.0" "APT"
apt-ftparchive.1:30:.SH "NAME"
apt-ftparchive.1:32:.SH "SYNOPSIS"
apt-ftparchive.1:35:.SH "DESCRIPTION"
apt-ftparchive.1:515:.SH "OPTIONS"
apt-ftparchive.1:669:.SH "EXAMPLES"
apt-ftparchive.1:685:.SH "DIAGNOSTICS"
apt-ftparchive.1:689:.SH "BUGS"
apt-ftparchive.1:696:.SH "AUTHORS"
apt-ftparchive.1:705:.SH "NOTES"
-.-.
Use ".na" (no adjustment) instead of ".ad l" (and ".ad" to begin the
same adjustment again as before).
26:.ad l
-.-.
Section headings (.SH and .SS) do not need quoting their arguments.
30:.SH "NAME"
32:.SH "SYNOPSIS"
35:.SH "DESCRIPTION"
143:.SH "THE GENERATE CONFIGURATION"
154:.SS "Dir Section"
183:.SS "Default Section"
247:.SS "TreeDefault Section"
330:.SS "Tree Section"
415:.SS "BinDirectory Section"
478:.SH "THE BINARY OVERRIDE FILE"
508:.SH "THE SOURCE OVERRIDE FILE"
512:.SH "THE EXTRA OVERRIDE FILE"
515:.SH "OPTIONS"
669:.SH "EXAMPLES"
682:.SH "SEE ALSO"
685:.SH "DIAGNOSTICS"
689:.SH "BUGS"
696:.SH "AUTHORS"
705:.SH "NOTES"
-.-.
Remove excessive "\&" when it has no functional purpose.
691:\m[blue]\fBAPT bug page\fR\m[]\&\s-2\u[1]\d\s+2\&. If you wish to report a
bug in APT, please see
-.-.
Use "\-" instead of "-" in web addresses.
16:.\" http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/groff/2009-02/msg00013.html
-.-.
Add "\&" after an ellipsis, when it does not end a sentence.
34:\fBapt\-ftparchive\fR [\fB\-dsq\fR] [\fB\-\-md5\fR] [\fB\-\-delink\fR]
[\fB\-\-readonly\fR] [\fB\-\-contents\fR] [\fB\-\-arch\
\fR\fB\fIarchitecture\fR\fR] [\fB\-o=\fR\fB\fIconfig_string\fR\fR]
[\fB\-c=\fR\fB\fIconfig_file\fR\fR] {packages\ \fIpath\fR\
[\fIoverride\-file\fR\ [\fIpathprefix\fR]] | sources\ \fIpath\fR\
[\fIoverride\-file\fR\ [\fIpathprefix\fR]] | contents\ \fIpath\fR | release\
\fIpath\fR | generate\ \fIconfig_file\fR\ \fIsection\fR... | clean\
\fIconfig_file\fR | {\-v\ |\ \-\-version} | {\-h\ |\ \-\-help}}
-.-.
Output from "test-groff -mandoc -t -K utf8 -rF0 -rHY=0 -rCHECKSTYLE=10 -ww -z
":
troff:<stdin>:362: warning: trailing space in the line
-.-.
Generally:
Split (sometimes) lines after a punctuation mark; before a conjunction.
--- apt-ftparchive.1 2025-04-20 19:49:57.258794177 +0000
+++ apt-ftparchive.1.new 2025-04-20 20:00:01.873330426 +0000
@@ -359,7 +359,7 @@ performs an operation similar to:
.RS 4
.\}
.nf
-for i in Sections do
+for i in Sections do
for j in Architectures do
Generate for DIST=scope SECTION=i ARCH=j
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)
-.-
