Package: binutils-common
Version: 2.44-3
Severity: minor
Tags: patch
* What led up to the situation?
Checking for defects with a new version
test-[g|n]roff -mandoc -t -K utf8 -rF0 -rHY=0 -rCHECKSTYLE=10 -ww -z < "man
page"
[Use "grep -e ' $' -e '\\~$' <file>" to find obvious trailing spaces.]
["test-groff" is a script in the repository for "groff"; is not shipped]
(local copy and "troff" slightly changed by me).
[The fate of "test-nroff" was decided in groff bug #55941.]
* What was the outcome of this action?
Output from "test-groff -mandoc -t -K utf8 -rF0 -rHY=0 -rCHECKSTYLE=10 -ww -z
":
an.tmac:<stdin>:68: style: 8 leading space(s) on input line
an.tmac:<stdin>:69: style: 8 leading space(s) on input line
an.tmac:<stdin>:70: style: 8 leading space(s) on input line
an.tmac:<stdin>:71: style: 8 leading space(s) on input line
an.tmac:<stdin>:72: style: 8 leading space(s) on input line
an.tmac:<stdin>:73: style: 8 leading space(s) on input line
an.tmac:<stdin>:74: style: 8 leading space(s) on input line
an.tmac:<stdin>:75: style: 8 leading space(s) on input line
an.tmac:<stdin>:76: style: 8 leading space(s) on input line
an.tmac:<stdin>:101: style: use of deprecated macro: .PD
an.tmac:<stdin>:106: style: use of deprecated macro: .PD
an.tmac:<stdin>:118: style: use of deprecated macro: .PD
an.tmac:<stdin>:121: style: use of deprecated macro: .PD
an.tmac:<stdin>:131: style: use of deprecated macro: .PD
an.tmac:<stdin>:134: style: use of deprecated macro: .PD
an.tmac:<stdin>:141: style: use of deprecated macro: .PD
an.tmac:<stdin>:146: style: use of deprecated macro: .PD
troff:<stdin>:150: warning: trailing space in the line
an.tmac:<stdin>:161: style: use of deprecated macro: .PD
an.tmac:<stdin>:164: style: use of deprecated macro: .PD
an.tmac:<stdin>:170: style: use of deprecated macro: .PD
an.tmac:<stdin>:173: style: use of deprecated macro: .PD
an.tmac:<stdin>:183: style: use of deprecated macro: .PD
an.tmac:<stdin>:186: style: use of deprecated macro: .PD
an.tmac:<stdin>:208: style: use of deprecated macro: .PD
an.tmac:<stdin>:211: style: use of deprecated macro: .PD
an.tmac:<stdin>:215: style: use of deprecated macro: .PD
an.tmac:<stdin>:220: style: use of deprecated macro: .PD
an.tmac:<stdin>:224: style: use of deprecated macro: .PD
an.tmac:<stdin>:227: style: use of deprecated macro: .PD
an.tmac:<stdin>:234: style: use of deprecated macro: .PD
an.tmac:<stdin>:237: style: use of deprecated macro: .PD
* What outcome did you expect instead?
No output (no warnings).
-.-
General remarks and further material, if a diff-file exist, are in the
attachments.
-- System Information:
Debian Release: trixie/sid
APT prefers testing
APT policy: (500, 'testing')
Architecture: amd64 (x86_64)
Kernel: Linux 6.12.19-amd64 (SMP w/2 CPU threads; PREEMPT)
Locale: LANG=is_IS.iso88591, LC_CTYPE=is_IS.iso88591 (charmap=ISO-8859-1),
LANGUAGE not set
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /usr/bin/dash
Init: sysvinit (via /sbin/init)
-- no debconf information
Input file is strings.1
Output from "mandoc -T lint strings.1": (shortened list)
1 whitespace at end of input line
Remove trailing space with: sed -e 's/ *$//'
-.-.
Output from "test-nroff -mandoc -t -ww -z strings.1": (shortened list)
1 line(s) with a trailing space
Remove trailing space with: sed -e 's/ *$//'
-.-.
Show if Pod::Man generated this.
Who is actually creating this man page? Debian or upstream?
Is the generating software out of date?
2:.\" Automatically generated by Pod::Man 5.0102 (Pod::Simple 3.45)
-.-.
Remove space characters (whitespace) at the end of lines.
Use "git apply ... --whitespace=fix" to fix extra space issues, or use
global configuration "core.whitespace".
Number of lines affected is
1
-.-.
Change '-' (\-) to '\(en' (en-dash) for a (numeric) range.
GNU gnulib has recently (2023-06-18) updated its
"build_aux/update-copyright" to recognize "\(en" in man pages.
strings.1:261:Copyright (c) 1991\-2025 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
-.-.
Remove space in the first column, if not indented.
Use ".in +<number>n" and ".in" to end it;
Or use ".nf" and ".fi" to end
it, for an extra indention.
strings.1:68: [\fB\-n\fR \fImin-len\fR] [\fB\-\-bytes=\fR\fImin-len\fR]
strings.1:69: [\fB\-t\fR \fIradix\fR] [\fB\-\-radix=\fR\fIradix\fR]
strings.1:70: [\fB\-e\fR \fIencoding\fR]
[\fB\-\-encoding=\fR\fIencoding\fR]
strings.1:71: [\fB\-U\fR \fImethod\fR] [\fB\-\-unicode=\fR\fImethod\fR]
strings.1:72: [\fB\-\fR] [\fB\-\-all\fR] [\fB\-\-print\-file\-name\fR]
strings.1:73: [\fB\-T\fR \fIbfdname\fR] [\fB\-\-target=\fR\fIbfdname\fR]
strings.1:74: [\fB\-w\fR] [\fB\-\-include\-all\-whitespace\fR]
strings.1:75: [\fB\-s\fR] [\fB\-\-output\-separator\fR \fIsep_string\fR]
strings.1:76: [\fB\-\-help\fR] [\fB\-\-version\fR] \fIfile\fR...
-.-.
Strings longer than 3/4 of a standard line length (80).
Use "\:" to split the string at the end of an output line, for example a
long URL (web address)
184 .IP \fB\-\-unicode=\fR\fI[default|invalid|locale|escape|hex|highlight]\fR 4
-.-.
Wrong distance (not two spaces) between sentences in the input file.
Separate the sentences and subordinate clauses; each begins on a new
line. See man-pages(7) ("Conventions for source file layout") and
"info groff" ("Input Conventions").
The best procedure is to always start a new sentence on a new line,
at least, if you are typing on a computer.
Remember coding: Only one command ("sentence") on each (logical) line.
E-mail: Easier to quote exactly the relevant lines.
Generally: Easier to edit the sentence.
Patches: Less unaffected text.
Search for two adjacent words is easier, when they belong to the same line,
and the same phrase.
The amount of space between sentences in the output can then be
controlled with the ".ss" request.
Mark a final abbreviation point as such by suffixing it with "\&".
Some sentences (etc.) do not begin on a new line.
Split (sometimes) lines after a punctuation mark; before a conjunction.
Lines with only one (or two) space(s) between sentences could be split,
so latter sentences begin on a new line.
Use
#!/usr/bin/sh
sed -e '/^\./n' \
-e 's/\([[:alpha:]]\)\. */\1.\n/g' $1
to split lines after a sentence period.
Check result with the difference between the formatted outputs.
See also the attachment "general.bugs"
179:littleendian. Useful for finding wide character strings. (\fBl\fR
238:By default, output strings are delimited by a new-line. This option
-.-.
Split lines longer than 80 characters into two or more lines.
Appropriate break points are the end of a sentence and a subordinate
clause; after punctuation marks.
Add "\:" to split the string for the output, "\<newline>" in the source.
Line 257, length 89
\&\fBar\fR\|(1), \fBnm\fR\|(1), \fBobjdump\fR\|(1), \fBranlib\fR\|(1),
\fBreadelf\fR\|(1)
Longest line is number 257 with 89 characters
-.-.
Remove unnecessary double font change (e.g., \fR\fI) in a row or (better)
use a two-fonts macro.
67:strings [\fB\-afovV\fR] [\fB\-\fR\fImin-len\fR]
68: [\fB\-n\fR \fImin-len\fR] [\fB\-\-bytes=\fR\fImin-len\fR]
69: [\fB\-t\fR \fIradix\fR] [\fB\-\-radix=\fR\fIradix\fR]
70: [\fB\-e\fR \fIencoding\fR] [\fB\-\-encoding=\fR\fIencoding\fR]
71: [\fB\-U\fR \fImethod\fR] [\fB\-\-unicode=\fR\fImethod\fR]
73: [\fB\-T\fR \fIbfdname\fR] [\fB\-\-target=\fR\fIbfdname\fR]
139:.IP \fB\-\fR\fImin-len\fR 4
144:.IP \fB\-\-bytes=\fR\fImin-len\fR 4
162:.IP \fB\-\-radix=\fR\fIradix\fR 4
171:.IP \fB\-\-encoding=\fR\fIencoding\fR 4
184:.IP \fB\-\-unicode=\fR\fI[default|invalid|locale|escape|hex|highlight]\fR 4
209:.IP \fB\-\-target=\fR\fIbfdname\fR 4
242:.IP \fB@\fR\fIfile\fR 4
-.-.
Add a zero (0) in front of a decimal fraction that begins with a period
(.)
7:.if t .sp .5v
-.-.
Put a parenthetical sentence, phrase on a separate line,
if not part of a code.
See man-pages(7), item "semantic newline".
strings.1:203:highlighted in red (if supported by the output device). The
colouring
-.-.
Only one space character is after a possible end of sentence
(after a punctuation, that can end a sentence).
strings.1:179:littleendian. Useful for finding wide character strings. (\fBl\fR
strings.1:238:By default, output strings are delimited by a new-line. This
option
-.-.
Put a subordinate sentence (after a comma) on a new line.
[List of affected lines removed.]
-.-.
Remove quotes when there is a printable
but no space character between them
and the quotes are not for emphasis (markup),
for example as an argument to a macro.
strings.1:46:. tm Index:\\$1\t\\n%\t"\\$2"
strings.1:66:.IX Header "SYNOPSIS"
strings.1:78:.IX Header "DESCRIPTION"
strings.1:98:.IX Header "OPTIONS"
strings.1:232:.IX Header "COPYRIGHT"
-.-.
Use ".na" (no adjustment) instead of ".ad l" (and ".ad" to begin the
same adjustment again as before).
61:.if n .ad l
-.-.
Add lines to use the CR font for groff instead of CW.
.if t \{\
. ie \\n(.g .ft CR
. el .ft CW
.\}
11:.ft CW
-.-.
Section headings (.SH and .SS) do not need quoting their arguments.
255:.SH "SEE ALSO"
-.-.
Output from "test-groff -mandoc -t -K utf8 -rF0 -rHY=0 -rCHECKSTYLE=10 -ww -z
":
an.tmac:<stdin>:68: style: 8 leading space(s) on input line
an.tmac:<stdin>:69: style: 8 leading space(s) on input line
an.tmac:<stdin>:70: style: 8 leading space(s) on input line
an.tmac:<stdin>:71: style: 8 leading space(s) on input line
an.tmac:<stdin>:72: style: 8 leading space(s) on input line
an.tmac:<stdin>:73: style: 8 leading space(s) on input line
an.tmac:<stdin>:74: style: 8 leading space(s) on input line
an.tmac:<stdin>:75: style: 8 leading space(s) on input line
an.tmac:<stdin>:76: style: 8 leading space(s) on input line
an.tmac:<stdin>:101: style: use of deprecated macro: .PD
an.tmac:<stdin>:106: style: use of deprecated macro: .PD
an.tmac:<stdin>:118: style: use of deprecated macro: .PD
an.tmac:<stdin>:121: style: use of deprecated macro: .PD
an.tmac:<stdin>:131: style: use of deprecated macro: .PD
an.tmac:<stdin>:134: style: use of deprecated macro: .PD
an.tmac:<stdin>:141: style: use of deprecated macro: .PD
an.tmac:<stdin>:146: style: use of deprecated macro: .PD
troff:<stdin>:150: warning: trailing space in the line
an.tmac:<stdin>:161: style: use of deprecated macro: .PD
an.tmac:<stdin>:164: style: use of deprecated macro: .PD
an.tmac:<stdin>:170: style: use of deprecated macro: .PD
an.tmac:<stdin>:173: style: use of deprecated macro: .PD
an.tmac:<stdin>:183: style: use of deprecated macro: .PD
an.tmac:<stdin>:186: style: use of deprecated macro: .PD
an.tmac:<stdin>:208: style: use of deprecated macro: .PD
an.tmac:<stdin>:211: style: use of deprecated macro: .PD
an.tmac:<stdin>:215: style: use of deprecated macro: .PD
an.tmac:<stdin>:220: style: use of deprecated macro: .PD
an.tmac:<stdin>:224: style: use of deprecated macro: .PD
an.tmac:<stdin>:227: style: use of deprecated macro: .PD
an.tmac:<stdin>:234: style: use of deprecated macro: .PD
an.tmac:<stdin>:237: style: use of deprecated macro: .PD
-.-.
Generally:
Split (sometimes) lines after a punctuation mark; before a conjunction.
--- strings.1 2025-03-29 03:11:52.721919827 +0000
+++ strings.1.new 2025-03-29 03:23:12.004544877 +0000
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@
strings \- print the sequences of printable characters in files
.SH SYNOPSIS
.IX Header "SYNOPSIS"
+.nf
strings [\fB\-afovV\fR] [\fB\-\fR\fImin-len\fR]
[\fB\-n\fR \fImin-len\fR] [\fB\-\-bytes=\fR\fImin-len\fR]
[\fB\-t\fR \fIradix\fR] [\fB\-\-radix=\fR\fIradix\fR]
@@ -74,6 +75,7 @@ strings [\fB\-afovV\fR] [\fB\-\fR\fImin-
[\fB\-w\fR] [\fB\-\-include\-all\-whitespace\fR]
[\fB\-s\fR] [\fB\-\-output\-separator\fR \fIsep_string\fR]
[\fB\-\-help\fR] [\fB\-\-version\fR] \fIfile\fR...
+.fi
.SH DESCRIPTION
.IX Header "DESCRIPTION"
For each \fIfile\fR given, GNU \fBstrings\fR prints the
@@ -147,7 +149,7 @@ Print a summary of the program usage on
Print sequences of displayable characters that are at least
\&\fImin-len\fR characters long. If not specified a default minimum
length of 4 is used. The distinction between displayable and
-non-displayable characters depends upon the setting of the
+non-displayable characters depends upon the setting of the
\&\fB\-e\fR and \fB\-U\fR options. Sequences are always terminated
at control characters such as new-line and carriage-return, but not
the tab character.
Any program (person), that produces man pages, should check the output
for defects by using (both groff and nroff)
[gn]roff -mandoc -t -ww -b -z -K utf8 <man page>
The same goes for man pages that are used as an input.
For a style guide use
mandoc -T lint
-.-
Any "autogenerator" should check its products with the above mentioned
'groff', 'mandoc', and additionally with 'nroff ...'.
It should also check its input files for too long (> 80) lines.
This is just a simple quality control measure.
The "autogenerator" may have to be corrected to get a better man page,
the source file may, and any additional file may.
Common defects:
Not removing trailing spaces (in in- and output).
The reason for these trailing spaces should be found and eliminated.
"git" has a "tool" to point out whitespace,
see for example "git-apply(1)" and git-config(1)")
Not beginning each input sentence on a new line.
Line length and patch size should thus be reduced.
The script "reportbug" uses 'quoted-printable' encoding when a line is
longer than 1024 characters in an 'ascii' file.
See man-pages(7), item "semantic newline".
-.-
The difference between the formatted output of the original and patched file
can be seen with:
nroff -mandoc <file1> > <out1>
nroff -mandoc <file2> > <out2>
diff -d -u <out1> <out2>
and for groff, using
\"printf '%s\n%s\n' '.kern 0' '.ss 12 0' | groff -mandoc -Z - \"
instead of 'nroff -mandoc'
Add the option '-t', if the file contains a table.
Read the output from 'diff -d -u ...' with 'less -R' or similar.
-.-.
If 'man' (man-db) is used to check the manual for warnings,
the following must be set:
The option \"-warnings=w\"
The environmental variable:
export MAN_KEEP_STDERR=yes (or any non-empty value)
or
(produce only warnings):
export MANROFFOPT=\"-ww -b -z\"
export MAN_KEEP_STDERR=yes (or any non-empty value)
-.-
