Took a look at the output of Heirloom troff and Plan9 troff in Plan9port <https://9fans.github.io/plan9port/>, and *they* both have the 11/12 ratio. In both, the IZ initialization macro does
.if !\\n(FL .nr FL \\n(LLu*11u/12u And the MC macro (2C just calls MC) sets FL to 11/12 of the width of the column. Any idea where I could find the source for earlier versions of the ms macros? On Sun, Dec 6, 2020 at 10:49 PM Dorai Sitaram via <groff@gnu.org> wrote: > The 5/6 may be a relatively recent consensus based on peer monitoring. > UTP doesn't mention 5/6, for instance. It has its own (slightly less) > strange fraction though: 11/12 (see p. 606). When it came to FL, it was a > Wild West out there back then, I tell ya. > > > --d > On Sunday, November 15, 2020, 06:58:34 AM EST, G. Branden Robinson < > g.branden.robin...@gmail.com> wrote: > > At 2020-11-13T13:59:27-0500, T. Kurt Bond wrote: > > Is there any chance of the footnote ratio change I discuss getting in > > the upcoming groff release? Should I add it as a bug at > > savannah.gnu.org? > > Probably a good idea. As you may be aware, I am updating and expanding > Larry Kollar's ms.ms document with an eye to its inclusion in groff > 1.23.0. > > Due to the way I work, this has involved me learning a lot about ms and > its history. > > > On Thu, Aug 6, 2020 at 11:53 AM T. Kurt Bond <tkurtb...@gmail.com> > wrote: > > > > > groff_ms(7) says that changing the number register FL is effective > > > at the next footnote. That seems to be true only for one column > > > text. > > This behavior is worth trying to reproduce in Heirloom Doctools troff. > > > > In multicolumn text you have to change the undocumented fn:MCLL > > > after calling .MC. fn:MCLL is an alias for the number register > > > pg@fn-colw, which is set when .MC is called. (.2C calls .MC to do > > > the work, so we only have to worry about .MC.) > > > > > > Is fn:MCLL intended to be ms internal use only, or is intended to be > > > available to users? > > Definitely internal. This is clearly documented in the in-progress > rewrite (alas, it's not committed yet). I'm attaching it, and let's see > if I remember to actually do so before sending. > > > > I don't like having the line length of the footnotes only 5/6 the > > > width of the columns: I like them to be the full width of the > > > current line, whether that is in one column mode or multicolumn > > > mode. I'd like to be able to change that default, to avoid having > > > to change the footnote line length in multicolumn mode using the > > > undocumented fn:MCLL. > > I think the reason for this 5/6 ratio is because that's what AT&T ms did > in the 1970s, and possibly every ms implementation ever since. > > > > I propose adding a string variable, FR (footnote ratio), that > > > defaults to to 5/6 for compatibility and replaces the uses of the > > > literal 5/6 for setting footnote line length. You can set this at > > > the beginning of your document, or before each .MC or .2C. For my > > > use I'd always set it to 1, making the footnote line length the same > > > as the line length. > > > > > > (I think making setting FR effective before the next footnote, like > > > setting FL in one column mode, would take rewriting par@reset to > > > recalculate fn:MCLL every time, instead of just after a .MC.) > > I'm not entirely sure what to do about this. How much fidelity to AT&T > ms behavior do people expect from ms? I've begun to surmise that the > answer is "a lot less than they expect from man(7) documents". > > Regards, > Branden > -- T. Kurt Bond, tkurtb...@gmail.com, https://tkurtbond.github.io
