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Re: [PATCH] *.man: Break URIs at points specified by the Chicago Style
From: |
Ralph Corderoy |
Subject: |
Re: [PATCH] *.man: Break URIs at points specified by the Chicago Style |
Date: |
Sat, 23 Oct 2021 10:46:32 +0100 |
Hi Branden,
> 2. URIs can validly, and in fact commonly do, end with single slashes.
...
> But in fact, trailing slashes on URIs are semantically
> significant[1]
...
> [1]
> https://stackoverflow.com/questions/5948659/when-should-i-use-a-trailing-slash-in-my-url/
StackOverflow isn't an authority. Trailing slashes are not always
significant. There is no semantic difference between these two.
https://example.com
https://example.com/
The difference comes if the slash is at the end of the path component,
so these two are different.
https://example.com/foo
https://example.com/foo/
When just the domain name is needed, I omit the needless slash as it's
clutter.
> URIs can be lengthy; rendering them can result in jarring adjust‐
> ment or variations in line length, or troff warnings when a hy‐
> perlink is longer than an output line. The application of non-
> printing break point escape sequences \: after each slash (or se‐
> ries thereof), and before each dot (or series thereof) is recom‐
> mended. The former practice avoids forcing a trailing slash in a
> URI onto a separate output line, and the latter helps the reader
> to avoid mistakenly interpreting dot(s) at the end of a line as
> periods or ellipses. Thus,
> .UR http://\:example\:.com/\:fb8afcfbaebc74e\:.cc
> has several potential break points in the URI shown. The \: es‐
> cape sequences are ignored when supplied to device control com‐
> mands for embedding in hyperlink-aware output drivers.
(Please consider turning off hyphenation and justification when
producing text to paste; I like MANOPT='--nh --nj'.)
URIs can be lengthy; rendering them can result in jarring adjustment
or variations in line length, or troff warnings when a hyperlink is
longer than an output line. The application of non-printing break
point escape sequences \: after each slash (or series thereof), and
before each dot (or series thereof) is recommended. The former
practice avoids forcing a trailing slash in a URI onto a separate
output line, and the latter helps the reader to avoid mistakenly
interpreting dot(s) at the end of a line as periods or ellipses.
Thus,
.UR http://\:example\:.com/\:fb8afcfbaebc74e\:.cc
has several potential break points in the URI shown. The \: escape
sequences are ignored when supplied to device control commands for
embedding in hyperlink-aware output drivers.
I think that's too prescriptive. The example may split at
http://
example.com/fb8afcfbaebc74e.cc
http://example
.com/fb8afcfbaebc74e.cc
http://example.com/
fb8afcfbaebc74e.cc
http://example.com/fb8afcfbaebc74e
.cc
A small suffix probably shouldn't be marked as a place to split.
I think there's judgement by the author and the text should just advise.
Also, can I repeat my old plea for the single writer to the list to
consider the many possible readers and cut their word count; I've
largely given up reading the list because I know some posts will consume
too much of the time I didn't have to begin with. :-)
--
Cheers, Ralph.