[groff] 03/07: doc/groff.texi (Tab Stops): Clarify.

[G. Branden Robinson]

gbranden pushed a commit to branch master
in repository groff.

commit d971f7a39d87fac697d24d068c24f087515f0388
Author: G. Branden Robinson <g.branden.robinson@gmail.com>
AuthorDate: Sun Jun 20 14:48:17 2021 +1000

    doc/groff.texi (Tab Stops): Clarify.
    
    * doc/groff.texi (Tab Stops): Fix erroneous claim; tab stops are not set
      "every half inch across the page".  This is only true in "line tabs
      mode", which is not enabled by default.  The default behavior, to keep
      compatibility with AT&T troff, measures tab stops relative to the
      current position on the input line.
    
    The erroneous language dates back over 20 years.  The default behavior
    is hard to understand and even harder to explain; it resembles neither
    typewriter behavior nor modern word processor behavior.  It would be
    nice to know what the original implementor was thinking.  How did RUNOFF
    handle tabs?
---
 ChangeLog      |  8 ++++++++
 doc/groff.texi | 14 +++++++-------
 2 files changed, 15 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-)

diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 4dbc7d8..608fd44 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,11 @@
+2021-06-20  G. Branden Robinson <g.branden.robinson@gmail.com>
+
+       * doc/groff.texi (Tab Stops): Fix erroneous claim; tab stops are
+       not set "every half inch across the page".  This is only true in
+       "line tabs mode", which is not enabled by default.  The default
+       behavior, to keep compatibility with AT&T troff, measures tab
+       stops relative to the current position on the input line.
+
 2021-06-19  G. Branden Robinson <g.branden.robinson@gmail.com>
 
        * tmac/mdoc/doc-nroff-u: Set the usekeeps register used by tbl
diff --git a/doc/groff.texi b/doc/groff.texi
index 6afc81f..20c6da1 100644
--- a/doc/groff.texi
+++ b/doc/groff.texi
@@ -4821,13 +4821,13 @@ centered; see @ref{Manipulating Filling and Adjustment}.
 @cindex character, horizontal tab
 GNU @code{troff} translates horizontal tab characters, also called
 simply ``tabs'', in the input into movements to the next tab stop.
-These tab stops are by default located every half inch across the page.
-With them, simple tables can be made easily.@footnote{``Tab'' is short
-for ``tabulation'', revealing the term's origin as a spacing mechanism
-for table arrangement.}  However, this method can be deceptive as the
-appearance (and width) of the text in an editor and the results from GNU
-@code{troff} can vary greatly, particularly when proportional typefaces
-are used.
+These tab stops are by default located every half inch measured from the
+current position on the input line.  With them, simple tables can be
+made.@footnote{``Tab'' is short for ``tabulation'', revealing the term's
+origin as a spacing mechanism for table arrangement.}  However, this
+method can be deceptive, as the appearance (and width) of the text in an
+editor and the results from GNU @code{troff} can vary greatly,
+particularly when proportional typefaces are used.
 
 A tab character does not cause a break and therefore does not interrupt
 filling.  We use an arrow @arrow{} below to indicate an input tab