gbranden pushed a commit to branch master
in repository groff.
commit 24a25623ce52cc3d8f2f02723bbd9486e10341c0
Author: G. Branden Robinson <[email protected]>
AuthorDate: Sat Apr 25 08:40:09 2026 -0500
[doc,man]: Revise recursive user-def char stuff.
* Clarify (seemingly) self-referential user-defined character behavior.
* Speak of "GNU troff", not "the formatter", when describing the
behavior of GNU/groff extensions to the AT&T troff language.
* Kick notation of warning scenario into footnote.
---
doc/groff.texi.in | 16 ++++++++++------
man/groff_diff.7.man | 12 +++++++++---
2 files changed, 19 insertions(+), 9 deletions(-)
diff --git a/doc/groff.texi.in b/doc/groff.texi.in
index 63dba0151..c1d9799a5 100644
--- a/doc/groff.texi.in
+++ b/doc/groff.texi.in
@@ -13740,15 +13740,19 @@ a user-defined character
does not participate at its boundaries
in kerning adjustments or italic corrections.
-The formatter prevents infinite recursion
+GNU
+@command{troff} @c GNU
+prevents infinite recursion
by treating an occurrence
of a character in its own definition
-as if it were undefined;
-when interpolating such a character,
-GNU
+as if it had no user-directed definition;
+if a component character remains undefined at the time
+it is interpolated,
+it does not format.@footnote{GNU
@command{troff} @c GNU
-emits a warning in category @samp{char}.@footnote{Mutually recursive
-character definitions are handled similarly.}
+emits a warning in category @samp{char}.
+@xref{Warnings}.} @c omit footnote from man page
+Mutually recursive character definitions are handled similarly.
The @code{tr} and @code{trin} requests take precedence if @code{char}
accesses the same symbol.
diff --git a/man/groff_diff.7.man b/man/groff_diff.7.man
index 314787c37..73a6402a9 100644
--- a/man/groff_diff.7.man
+++ b/man/groff_diff.7.man
@@ -2662,11 +2662,17 @@ in kerning adjustments or italic corrections.
.
.
.IP
-The formatter prevents infinite recursion
+GNU
+.I troff \" GNU
+prevents infinite recursion
by treating an occurrence
of a character in its own definition
-as if it were undefined.
-(Mutually recursive character definitions are handled similarly.)
+as if it had no user-directed definition;
+if a component character remains undefined at the time
+it is interpolated,
+it does not format.
+.
+Mutually recursive character definitions are handled similarly.
.
.
.IP
_______________________________________________
groff-commit mailing list
[email protected]
https://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/groff-commit
