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Re: [Groff] ".if '...'...' \# comments ..." Bug?


From: Alejandro López-Valencia
Subject: Re: [Groff] ".if '...'...' \# comments ..." Bug?
Date: Sun, 11 Apr 2004 15:51:36 -0500

On Sun, 11 Apr 2004 12:49:43 -0500 (CDT), Andrew J. Piziali wrote in <address@hidden>:

>Why?  Because groff ignores the \#, as well as the rest of the line,
>including the newline.  In the words of the groff info page:
>
>     To avoid all this, `gtroff' has a new comment mechanism using the
>     `\#' escape.  This escape works the same as `\"' except that the
>     newline is also ignored:
>
>
>          Test
>          \# comment
>          Test
>
>     produces
>
>
>          Test Test
>
>     as expected.

1. When you end a line with \ you have for all practical purposes added an unpaddable space at the end of the line, not escaped it.

2. Quoting from groff(7):

"""
The roff language is line-oriented. There are only two kinds of lines, control lines and text lines. The control lines start with a control character, by default a period "." or a single quote "'"; all other lines are text lines.
"""

and

"""
Requests are written on a line of their own starting with a dot `.' or a "'", whereas Escape sequences are in-line functions and in-word formatting elements starting with a backslash `\'.
"""

That is, all requests are of the forms: (a) "<eol>." for line breaking requests and (b) "<eol>'" for non-line breaking requests.


3. ``\#'' eliminates the <eol> and therefore (a) makes your conditional invalid, and (b) of course it works as you show above.

Therefore:

.if '\*[FunctionalVerificationAspectsFigure]'' . ds FunctionalVerificationAspectsFigure 999

is not valid.

Alejo


--
Alejandro López-Valencia
http://dradul.tripod.com/
The limits of my language are the limits of my world.
(L. Wittgenstein)


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