URL: <https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?68502>
Summary: [mom] would like package to not produce output given
empty input
Group: GNU roff
Submitter: gbranden
Submitted: Sun 05 Jul 2026 12:55:52 PM UTC
Category: Macro package mom
Severity: 1 - Wish
Item Group: Feature change
Status: None
Privacy: Public
Assigned to: PTPi
Open/Closed: Open
Discussion Lock: Unlocked
Planned Release: None
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Follow-up Comments:
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Date: Sun 05 Jul 2026 12:55:52 PM UTC By: G. Branden Robinson <gbranden>
Spawned off of bug #68497.
>> The command:
>>
>> $ groff -mom
>>
>> outputs PostScript contents ending with %%EOF.
> That's also as expected...and reminds me that I wanted to file a wishlist bug
> against mom(7) asking that it not generate a document preamble until it's
> seen some input.
Peter,
Would it be tractable to keep _mom_ from generating output until she's seen
formattable input?
The "Other Differences" section of our Texinfo manual makes the following
observation.
GNU 'troff' does not emit output if it has nothing to format. For
example, it treats an input document consisting solely of 'nr' and 'tm'
requests as empty, and produces nothing on its standard output stream.
AT&T 'troff' does, creating a blank page.
All of the other full-service packages _groff_ ships maintain the foregoing
behavior.
Not an urgent matter, of course.
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