On Mon, Dec 23, 2024, Deri wrote: > To "debug" a misbehaving roff document the first port of call is to turn > warnings on, then stare at your document for mistakes, use groff debugging > tools (which you have added to), judicious use of .tm to check register > values > are what you expect (and in the correct units), check bracket use in numeric > expressions (groff's arithmetic parser may not behave the way you are used > to). > ... > I would class Peter as an expert in groff language, I wonder how often he > looks at grout to tackle issues with mom. (Of course he might say "all the > time" at which point I would have to concede it may be more prevalent than I > suspect!!).
You'll be happy to know, Deri, that I have only once or twice had recourse to looking at grout. :) My debugging method is exactly as you described. In 99% of cases, it reveals errors in my code, not bugs in the formatter or output driver, hence very little need to pick through reams of grout. That said, the argument for UTF-8 grout is pretty compelling: > x X ps:exec [/Dest /pdf:bm1 /Title (Καλά χριστούγεννα) /Level 1 /OUT pdfmark is by a country mile more scannable/readable than > x X ps:exec [/Dest /pdf:bm1 /View [/FitH 5001 u] /DEST pdfmark > x X ps:exec [/Dest /pdf:bm1 /Title (\[u039A]\[u03B1]\[u03BB]\[u03AC] \[u03C7]\ > [u03C1]\[u03B9]\[u03C3]\[u03C4]\[u03BF]\[u03CD]\[u03B3]\[u03B5]\[u03BD]\ > [u03BD]\[u03B1]) /Level 1 /OUT pdfmark Happy Christmas! -- Peter Schaffter https://www.schaffter.ca
