URL: <https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?67492>
Summary: [troff] make `pchar` request report character
resolution process
Group: GNU roff
Submitter: gbranden
Submitted: Tue 09 Sep 2025 07:41:52 PM GMT
Category: Core
Severity: 1 - Wish
Item Group: Feature change
Status: None
Privacy: Public
Assigned to: None
Open/Closed: Open
Discussion Lock: Any
Planned Release: None
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Follow-up Comments:
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Date: Tue 09 Sep 2025 07:41:52 PM GMT By: G. Branden Robinson <gbranden>
Spawned off of bug #64004.
As the
[https://www.gnu.org/software/groff/manual/groff.html.node/Using-Symbols.html
"Using Symbols" node of our Texinfo manual] explains, character resolution is
a complex process. ("Here are the exact rules how gtroff searches a given
symbol: ...")
I envision `pchar` leading its output with a report of how it finds the
character.
Right now, I imagine reporting every stage in the procedure with a status of
"found", "not found", or "skipped". That will be plenty chatty, especially
for characters that don't exist at all, but we can revise this verbosity in
the future once the _groff_ developers ourselves have become more familiar
with the resolution procedure. Right now, it seems like it's still a bit of a
mystery and I'm not 100% sure that our documentation is 100% correct.
("Skipped" would be reported for all stages after character resolution has
succeeded, and for stages that are inapplicable, like searching a font
designated by `fspecial` when no font-specific special font is designated for
the current font. Since use of `fspecial` is uncommon, I'd expect to see this
"skipped" frequently.)
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