Reading your message for at least the third time, I conclude that: On Mon Dec 2, 2024 at 3:26 AM CET, G. Branden Robinson wrote: > [...] > > $ nroff << EOF | sed -E 's/^/./' > > .pl 3 > > .fi > > One two three > > four five six > > 'bp > > seven eight nine > > .br > > eleven twelve. > > EOF > > output: > > . > > . > > . > > .One two three four five six seven eight nine > > .eleven twelve. > > . > > > > It's obvious here that 'bp breaks page IMMEDIATELY, not when the .br > > Eh? > > If it broke the page "IMMEDIATELY", you'd get this: > > One two three four five six > <page break> > seven eight nine eleven twelve.
page break = end line, end page > [...] > > It's obvious here that 'bp breaks page IMMEDIATELY, > > It doesn't. It _schedules_ (or enqueues) a page break to occur when the > next (line) break does, causing the line to be set on the next page. page break = end page Please correct me if I'm wrong. Consulting the web, a 'page break' is variously defined as one of: start of a new page end of a page end a page without filling it with text end the current page and begin the next I think the core of the problem lies in the fact that neither of us distinguished between a soft and hard page break. I realize my usage hasn't been entirely consistent either, because a "hard" page break (.bp) implies a line break to me, and so I sometimes expected 'page break' to imply a line break and sometimes not, just as you seem to have. Consulting the web, a 'hard page break' is defined as variations on: The hard page break puts the next word at the top of a new page. Whereas a soft page break is described as: "Soft" page breaks are created by word processing and report programs based on the current page length setting. When I read "break page" in the manpage, I expect it to mean a hard page break, because a soft page break is automatically inserted when the text exceeds page length. I expect .ne to emit a hard page break for the same reason. Hopefully we are on the same page now. (Pun somewhat intended.) ~ onf