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Re: [Groff] Several file arguments to groff
From: |
Werner LEMBERG |
Subject: |
Re: [Groff] Several file arguments to groff |
Date: |
Sun, 20 Oct 2002 11:48:07 +0200 (CEST) |
> If the file arguments use different macro packages, groff usually
> generates many errors. For example, try
>
> groff -man man/groff.man -me doc/meintro.me -ms doc/pic.ms -Tlatin1
>
> in groff's top source directory. This produces many wrong macro
> usages and error reports, being just a bit different if the sequence
> of the arguments is changed.
Indeed, this will fail. But the main reason is not groff but the
function used to parse the command line arguments: GNU's getopt. It
sorts options and non-options (the latter coming first). For the
above command line, groff sees this:
groff -man -me -ms -Tlatin1 man/groff.man doc/meintro.me doc/pic.ms
> This bad concept
Why bad concept?
> should be either fixed or documented in the corresponding man pages
> and the info file. Fixing is easy for `grog',
How shall grog be fixed?
> quite hard for `groff', maybe unnecessary for `troff'. If it is not
> fixed, but only documented, `groffer' needs a major update.
I will document that the selection of a macro package (similar to TeX)
is a global decision, and that multiple main macro packages can't be
used simultaneously. The only useful exception I can see is to
support man and mdoc at the same time; it should not be too hard to
implement this but I currently don't feel like doing this. As usual,
volunteers welcome.
Werner