Package: make
Version: 4.4.1-1
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 "groff -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?

an.tmac:<stdin>:194: misuse, warning: .BR is for at least 2 arguments, got 1
        Use macro '.B' for one argument or split argument.
an.tmac:<stdin>:196: misuse, warning: .BR is for at least 2 arguments, got 1
        Use macro '.B' for one argument or split argument.
an.tmac:<stdin>:198: misuse, warning: .BR is for at least 2 arguments, got 1
        Use macro '.B' for one argument or split argument.
an.tmac:<stdin>:206: misuse, warning: .BR is for at least 2 arguments, got 1
        Use macro '.B' for one argument or split argument.
an.tmac:<stdin>:376: misuse, warning: .IR is for at least 2 arguments, got 1
        Use macro '.I' for one argument or split argument.
an.tmac:<stdin>:381: misuse, warning: .BR is for at least 2 arguments, got 1
        Use macro '.B' for one argument or split argument.
an.tmac:<stdin>:388: misuse, warning: .BR is for at least 2 arguments, got 1
        Use macro '.B' for one argument or split argument.
an.tmac:<stdin>:390: misuse, warning: .BR is for at least 2 arguments, got 1
        Use macro '.B' for one argument or split argument.
an.tmac:<stdin>:394: misuse, warning: .BR is for at least 2 arguments, got 1
        Use macro '.B' for one argument or split argument.
an.tmac:<stdin>:398: misuse, warning: .BR is for at least 2 arguments, got 1
        Use macro '.B' for one argument or split argument.
an.tmac:<stdin>:400: misuse, warning: .BR is for at least 2 arguments, got 1
        Use macro '.B' for one argument or split argument.
an.tmac:<stdin>:406: misuse, warning: .BR is for at least 2 arguments, got 1
        Use macro '.B' for one argument or split argument.
an.tmac:<stdin>:414: misuse, warning: .BR is for at least 2 arguments, got 1
        Use macro '.B' for one argument or split argument.
an.tmac:<stdin>:416: misuse, warning: .BR is for at least 2 arguments, got 1
        Use macro '.B' for one argument or split argument.
an.tmac:<stdin>:422: misuse, warning: .BR is for at least 2 arguments, got 1
        Use macro '.B' for one argument or split argument.
an.tmac:<stdin>:425: misuse, warning: .BR is for at least 2 arguments, got 1
        Use macro '.B' for one argument or split argument.
an.tmac:<stdin>:433: misuse, warning: .BR is for at least 2 arguments, got 1
        Use macro '.B' for one argument or split argument.
an.tmac:<stdin>:435: misuse, warning: .BR is for at least 2 arguments, got 1
        Use macro '.B' for one argument or split argument.


   * 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 6.12.17-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)

Versions of packages make depends on:
ii  libc6  2.41-4

make recommends no packages.

Versions of packages make suggests:
pn  make-doc  <none>

-- no debconf information
Input file is make.1

Output from "mandoc -T lint  make.1": (shortened list)

      1 skipping paragraph macro: PP after SH
      1 skipping paragraph macro: sp after SH

-.-.

Output from "test-nroff -mandoc -t -ww -z make.1": (shortened list)

     17         Use macro '.B' for one argument or split argument.
      1         Use macro '.I' for one argument or split argument.
     17 .BR is for at least 2 arguments, got 1
      1 .IR is for at least 2 arguments, got 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.

make.1:448:Copyright \(co 1992-1993, 1996-2016 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

-.-.

Change two HYPHEN-MINUSES (code 0x2D) to an em-dash (\(em),
if one is intended.
  " \(em " creates a too big gap in the text (in "troff").

An en-dash is usually surrounded by a space,
while an em-dash is used without spaces.
"man" (1 byte characters in input) transforms an en-dash (\(en) to one
HYPHEN-MINUS,
and an em-dash to two HYPHEN-MINUSES without considering the space
around it.
If "--" are two single "-"
(begin of an option or end of options)
then use "\-\-".

make.1:121:considered and which are applied---everything interesting about how
make.1:204:\fB\--jobserver-fds\fR [\fIR,W\fR]

-.-.

Change a HYPHEN-MINUS (code 0x2D) to a minus(-dash) (\-),
if it
is in front of a name for an option,
is a symbol for standard input,
is a single character used to indicate an option,
or is in the NAME section (man-pages(7)).
N.B. - (0x2D), processed as a UTF-8 file, is changed to a hyphen
(0x2010, groff \[u2010] or \[hy]) in the output.

121:considered and which are applied---everything interesting about how
204:\fB\--jobserver-fds\fR [\fIR,W\fR]
243:When running multiple jobs in parallel with \fB-j\fR, ensure the output of
379:.I -j
383:.I -j

-.-.

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)

376 .IR https://www.gnu.org/software/make/manual/html_node/index.html

-.-.

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"

6:[\fIOPTION\fR]... [\fITARGET\fR]...
195:will not limit the number of jobs that can run simultaneously. When
374:should give you access to the complete manual. Additionally, the
382:to execute tasks in parallel. By specifying a numeric argument to
399:instances running. While solutions like having the top level
415:is assumed to reserve one token for itself). Whenever any of the
419:needs to run a new task, it reads a byte from the shared pipe. If
421:to the pipe. Once the task is completed, the

-.-.

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 234, length 86

\fB\-o\fR \fIfile\fR, \fB\-\-old\-file\fR=\fIfile\fR, 
\fB\-\-assume\-old\fR=\fIfile\fR

Line 334, length 117

\fB\-W\fR \fIfile\fR, \fB\-\-what\-if\fR=\fIfile\fR, 
\fB\-\-new\-file\fR=\fIfile\fR, \fB\-\-assume\-new\fR=\fIfile\fR

Longest line is: 117 characters.

-.-.

Split a punctuation mark from a single argument for a two-font macro

198:.BR sub-make,

-.-.

Put a parenthetical sentence, phrase on a separate line,
if not part of a code.
See man-pages(7), item "semantic newline".

make.1:265:Print the data base (rules and variable values) that results from
make.1:270:switch (see below).
make.1:305:Touch files (mark them up to date without really changing them)
make.1:454:Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any 
later

-.-.

Only one space character after a possible end of sentence
(after a punctuation, that can end a sentence).

make.1:6:[\fIOPTION\fR]... [\fITARGET\fR]...
make.1:195:will not limit the number of jobs that can run simultaneously. When
make.1:374:should give you access to the complete manual. Additionally, the
make.1:382:to execute tasks in parallel. By specifying a numeric argument to
make.1:399:instances running. While solutions like having the top level
make.1:415:is assumed to reserve one token for itself). Whenever any of the
make.1:419:needs to run a new task, it reads a byte from the shared pipe. If
make.1:421:to the pipe. Once the task is completed, the

-.-.

Change "---" to an em dash

121:considered and which are applied---everything interesting about how

-.-.

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.

make.1:1:.TH MAKE 1 "28 February 2016" "GNU" "User Commands"
make.1:125:.BI \-\-debug "[=FLAGS]"
make.1:447:.SH "COPYRIGHT"

-.-.

Section headings (.SH and .SS) do not need quoting their arguments.

352:.SH "EXIT STATUS"
363:.SH "SEE ALSO"
377:.SH "PARALLEL MAKE AND THE JOBSERVER"
447:.SH "COPYRIGHT"

-.-.

Put a (long) web address on a new line to reduce the posibility of
splitting the address between two output lines.
Or inhibit hyphenation with "\%" in front of the name.


376:.IR https://www.gnu.org/software/make/manual/html_node/index.html
463:.IR http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ .

-.-.

Output from "test-groff  -mandoc -t -K utf8 -rF0 -rHY=0 -rCHECKSTYLE=10 -ww -z 
":

an.tmac:<stdin>:194: misuse, warning: .BR is for at least 2 arguments, got 1
        Use macro '.B' for one argument or split argument.
an.tmac:<stdin>:196: misuse, warning: .BR is for at least 2 arguments, got 1
        Use macro '.B' for one argument or split argument.
an.tmac:<stdin>:198: misuse, warning: .BR is for at least 2 arguments, got 1
        Use macro '.B' for one argument or split argument.
an.tmac:<stdin>:206: misuse, warning: .BR is for at least 2 arguments, got 1
        Use macro '.B' for one argument or split argument.
an.tmac:<stdin>:376: misuse, warning: .IR is for at least 2 arguments, got 1
        Use macro '.I' for one argument or split argument.
an.tmac:<stdin>:381: misuse, warning: .BR is for at least 2 arguments, got 1
        Use macro '.B' for one argument or split argument.
an.tmac:<stdin>:388: misuse, warning: .BR is for at least 2 arguments, got 1
        Use macro '.B' for one argument or split argument.
an.tmac:<stdin>:390: misuse, warning: .BR is for at least 2 arguments, got 1
        Use macro '.B' for one argument or split argument.
an.tmac:<stdin>:394: misuse, warning: .BR is for at least 2 arguments, got 1
        Use macro '.B' for one argument or split argument.
an.tmac:<stdin>:398: misuse, warning: .BR is for at least 2 arguments, got 1
        Use macro '.B' for one argument or split argument.
an.tmac:<stdin>:400: misuse, warning: .BR is for at least 2 arguments, got 1
        Use macro '.B' for one argument or split argument.
an.tmac:<stdin>:406: misuse, warning: .BR is for at least 2 arguments, got 1
        Use macro '.B' for one argument or split argument.
an.tmac:<stdin>:414: misuse, warning: .BR is for at least 2 arguments, got 1
        Use macro '.B' for one argument or split argument.
an.tmac:<stdin>:416: misuse, warning: .BR is for at least 2 arguments, got 1
        Use macro '.B' for one argument or split argument.
an.tmac:<stdin>:422: misuse, warning: .BR is for at least 2 arguments, got 1
        Use macro '.B' for one argument or split argument.
an.tmac:<stdin>:425: misuse, warning: .BR is for at least 2 arguments, got 1
        Use macro '.B' for one argument or split argument.
an.tmac:<stdin>:433: misuse, warning: .BR is for at least 2 arguments, got 1
        Use macro '.B' for one argument or split argument.
an.tmac:<stdin>:435: misuse, warning: .BR is for at least 2 arguments, got 1
        Use macro '.B' for one argument or split argument.

-.-.

Generally:

Split (sometimes) lines after a punctuation mark; before a conjunction.
--- make.1      2025-03-18 03:31:18.094032403 +0000
+++ make.1.new  2025-03-18 13:07:45.043954229 +0000
@@ -1,11 +1,10 @@
-.TH MAKE 1 "28 February 2016" "GNU" "User Commands"
+.TH MAKE 1 "28 February 2016" GNU "User Commands"
 .SH NAME
 make \- GNU make utility to maintain groups of programs
 .SH SYNOPSIS
 .B make
-[\fIOPTION\fR]... [\fITARGET\fR]...
+[\fIOPTION\fR]...\& [\fITARGET\fR]...
 .SH DESCRIPTION
-.LP
 The
 .I make
 utility will determine automatically which pieces of a large program need to
@@ -89,7 +88,6 @@ updates a target if it depends on prereq
 that have been modified since the target was last modified,
 or if the target does not exist.
 .SH OPTIONS
-.sp 1
 .TP 0.5i
 \fB\-b\fR, \fB\-m\fR
 These options are ignored for compatibility with other versions of
@@ -118,11 +116,11 @@ Print debugging information in addition
 The debugging information says which files are being considered for
 remaking, which file-times are being compared and with what results,
 which files actually need to be remade, which implicit rules are
-considered and which are applied---everything interesting about how
+considered and which are applied\(emeverything interesting about how
 .B make
 decides what to do.
 .TP 0.5i
-.BI \-\-debug "[=FLAGS]"
+.BR \-\-debug [ = \fIFLAGS\fR]
 Print debugging information in addition to normal processing.
 If the
 .I FLAGS
@@ -191,19 +189,20 @@ option, the last one is effective.
 If the
 .B \-j
 option is given without an argument,
-.BR make
-will not limit the number of jobs that can run simultaneously. When
-.BR make
+.B make
+will not limit the number of jobs that can run simultaneously.
+When
+.B make
 invokes a
-.BR sub-make,
+.BR sub-make ,
 all instances of make will coordinate to run the specified number of
 jobs at a time; see the section
 .B PARALLEL MAKE AND THE JOBSERVER
 for details.
 .TP 0.5i
-\fB\--jobserver-fds\fR [\fIR,W\fR]
+\fB\-\-jobserver-fds\fR [\fIR,W\fR]
 Internal option
-.BR make
+.B make
 uses to pass the jobserver pipe read and write file descriptor numbers
 to
 .BR sub-makes ;
@@ -231,7 +230,8 @@ Use the latest mtime between symlinks an
 Print the commands that would be executed, but do not execute them (except in
 certain circumstances).
 .TP 0.5i
-\fB\-o\fR \fIfile\fR, \fB\-\-old\-file\fR=\fIfile\fR, 
\fB\-\-assume\-old\fR=\fIfile\fR
+\fB\-o\fR \fIfile\fR, \fB\-\-old\-file\fR=\fIfile\fR, \
+\fB\-\-assume\-old\fR=\fIfile\fR
 Do not remake the file
 .I file
 even if it is older than its dependencies, and do not remake anything
@@ -240,7 +240,7 @@ on account of changes in
 Essentially the file is treated as very old and its rules are ignored.
 .TP 0.5i
 \fB\-O\fR[\fItype\fR], \fB\-\-output\-sync\fR[=\fItype\fR]
-When running multiple jobs in parallel with \fB-j\fR, ensure the output of
+When running multiple jobs in parallel with \fB\-j\fR, ensure the output of
 each job is collected together rather than interspersed with output from
 other jobs.  If
 .I type
@@ -262,9 +262,11 @@ is
 output synchronization is disabled.
 .TP 0.5i
 \fB\-p\fR, \fB\-\-print\-data\-base\fR
-Print the data base (rules and variable values) that results from
-reading the makefiles; then execute as usual or as otherwise
-specified.
+Print the data base
+(rules and variable values)
+that results from reading the makefiles;
+then execute as usual
+or as otherwise specified.
 This also prints the version information given by the
 .B \-v
 switch (see below).
@@ -302,7 +304,8 @@ via MAKEFLAGS or if you set
 in MAKEFLAGS in your environment.
 .TP 0.5i
 \fB\-t\fR, \fB\-\-touch\fR
-Touch files (mark them up to date without really changing them)
+Touch files
+(mark them up to date without really changing them)
 instead of running their commands.
 This is used to pretend that the commands were done, in order to fool
 future invocations of
@@ -331,7 +334,8 @@ Turn off
 .BR \-w ,
 even if it was turned on implicitly.
 .TP 0.5i
-\fB\-W\fR \fIfile\fR, \fB\-\-what\-if\fR=\fIfile\fR, 
\fB\-\-new\-file\fR=\fIfile\fR, \fB\-\-assume\-new\fR=\fIfile\fR
+\fB\-W\fR \fIfile\fR, \fB\-\-what\-if\fR=\fIfile\fR, \
+\fB\-\-new\-file\fR=\fIfile\fR, \fB\-\-assume\-new\fR=\fIfile\fR
 Pretend that the target
 .I file
 has just been modified.
@@ -349,7 +353,7 @@ except that the modification time is cha
 .TP 0.5i
 .B \-\-warn\-undefined\-variables
 Warn when an undefined variable is referenced.
-.SH "EXIT STATUS"
+.SH EXIT STATUS
 GNU
 .B make
 exits with a status of zero if all makefiles were successfully parsed
@@ -360,7 +364,7 @@ flag was used and
 .B make
 determines that a target needs to be rebuilt.  A status of two will be
 returned if any errors were encountered.
-.SH "SEE ALSO"
+.SH SEE ALSO
 The full documentation for
 .B make
 is maintained as a Texinfo manual.  If the
@@ -371,39 +375,42 @@ programs are properly installed at your
 .IP
 .B info make
 .PP
-should give you access to the complete manual. Additionally, the
-manual is also available online at
-.IR https://www.gnu.org/software/make/manual/html_node/index.html
-.SH "PARALLEL MAKE AND THE JOBSERVER"
+should give you access to the complete manual.
+Additionally, the manual is also available online at
+.br
+.I https://www.gnu.org/software/make/manual/html_node/index.html
+.SH PARALLEL MAKE AND THE JOBSERVER
 Using the
-.I -j
+.I \-j
 option, the user can instruct
-.BR make
-to execute tasks in parallel. By specifying a numeric argument to
-.I -j
+.B make
+to execute tasks in parallel.
+By specifying a numeric argument to
+.I \-j
 the user may specify an upper limit of the number of parallel tasks to
 be run.
 .PP
 When the build environment is such that a top level
-.BR make
+.B make
 invokes
-.BR sub-makes
+.B sub-makes
 (for instance, a style in which each sub-directory contains its own
 .IR Makefile ),
 no individual instance of
-.BR make
+.B make
 knows how many tasks are running in parallel, so keeping the number of
 tasks under the upper limit would be impossible without communication
 between all the
-.BR make
-instances running. While solutions like having the top level
-.BR make
+.B make
+instances running.
+While solutions like having the top level
+.B make
 serve as a central controller are feasible, or using other
 synchronization mechanisms like shared memory or sockets can be
 created, the current implementation uses a simple shared pipe.
 .PP
 This pipe is created by the top-level
-.BR make
+.B make
 process, and passed on to all the
 .BR sub-makes .
 The top level
@@ -411,18 +418,20 @@ The top level
 process writes
 .B N-1
 one-byte tokens into the pipe (The top level
-.BR make
-is assumed to reserve one token for itself). Whenever any of the
-.BR make
+.B make
+is assumed to reserve one token for itself).
+Whenever any of the
+.B make
 processes (including the top-level
 .BR make )
-needs to run a new task, it reads a byte from the shared pipe. If
-there are no tokens left, it must wait for a token to be written back
-to the pipe. Once the task is completed, the
-.BR make
+needs to run a new task, it reads a byte from the shared pipe.
+If there are no tokens left,
+it must wait for a token to be written back to the pipe.
+Once the task is completed, the
+.B make
 process writes a token back to the pipe (and thus, if the tokens had
 been exhausted, unblocking the first
-.BR make
+.B make
 process that was waiting to read a token).  Since only
 .B N-1
 tokens were written into the pipe, no more than
@@ -430,9 +439,9 @@ tokens were written into the pipe, no mo
 tasks can be running at any given time.
 .PP
 If the job to be run is not a
-.BR sub-make
+.B sub-make
 then
-.BR make
+.B make
 will close the jobserver pipe file descriptors before invoking the
 commands, so that the command can not interfere with the
 .IR jobserver ,
@@ -444,8 +453,8 @@ See the chapter ``Problems and Bugs'' in
 This manual page contributed by Dennis Morse of Stanford University.
 Further updates contributed by Mike Frysinger.  It has been reworked by Roland
 McGrath.  Maintained by Paul Smith.
-.SH "COPYRIGHT"
-Copyright \(co 1992-1993, 1996-2016 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+.SH COPYRIGHT
+Copyright \(co 1992\(en1993, 1996\(en2016 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
 This file is part of
 .IR "GNU make" .
 .LP
  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)

-.-

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