Hallo again,
according to `info texinfo' I should write @w{ } for non-breakable space,
ie. in the situation where under plain TeX I use `~'.
But @w{ } produces space which is not only non-breakable, but also
non-streachable, ie. with fixed width. This is how Microsoft Word (at least
in version 6.0), for example, treats non-breakable spaces. If you see a line
where all spaces are stretched to almost triple width and the non-breakable
ones are slim, you feel really strange! (I've seen this plenty of times,
since non-breakable spaces have to be used often in Czech language.)
Even though the problem may not be so visible in English Texinfo source
files and Czech ones are rare, I think this should be fixed (ie. not fixed---
a joke, hahaha).
I don't know whether we can find a character to define control character
(or even an active one), perhaps not. If it is control word, I'd suggest
@nbsp{}, as in HTML. (Perhaps we could even have a macro, say @activetildes,
which would define ~ as active char, \let~=\nbsp, \let\tilde=\~,
\let\~=\normaltilde.)
And the difference between @w{ } and, say, @nbsp{} should be explained in
the texinfo manual.
What do you think about it?
I can program all of the things above very easily but I cannot decide what
is `the right way', since I have no experience with Texinfo.
BTW: don't you need a TeX programmer? I think I could volunteer for a smaller
project, like maintaining texinfo.tex file. ;-) Sorry if I am impolite, I
just wanted to let you know that I could donate a bit of work.
My background: I've read TeXbook several times, thus I can read and debug
TeX macros. With this skill, I often help someone with LaTeX problems, even
though I don't know LaTeX from users nor style programmers point.
Have a nice day,
Stepan
