Re: undiagnosed pic error

[G. Branden Robinson]

Hi Doug,

At 2023-06-05T19:48:50-0400, Douglas McIlroy wrote:
> > I understand that groff has the \D escape which
> > allows you, among other things, to draw outline
> > and filled polygons.
> 
> Very helpful. I rely on the old testament book of Ossanna and on
> groff(7), neither of which cover that option for \D. One must look in
> "info groff". I hope Branden's extensive edits to groff(7) for 1.23
> may correct my myopia.

Regrettably, not yet.  I've been kicking that can down the road because
it means rewriting Bernd (his English, like his code, is simultaneously
the most in need of revision, and the most agonizing to revise).  Right
now (and for a long time), groff(7) has simply steered the reader to
groff_out(5) regarding drawing commands.  This makes a sort of sense
since drawing commands _do_ map 1:1 to formatter output commands.  On
the other hand a *roff user should not in general have to understand
_anything_ about the formatter's output language.

So, with demand expressed, and no clear time frame for 1.23.0.rc5 or
final, well, maybe soon...

> I could use \D'P by editing it into the output of pic, which is
> probably easier than what I have done before: Fill a right triangle by
> creating a filled box in pic and delete one corner by editing the
> PostScript. Then a polygon can be filled by decomposing it into right
> triangles and rectangles.

...or Penrose tiles!  :D

> Given groff's \D, it should be easy to add polygon support to pic.
> Only ignorance of git deters me from doing it myself.

There are numerous introductory Git tutorials online, but I'm guessing
you already know that.  You could download the 1.23.0.rc4 archive[1] and
patch it, prepare a diff the old fashioned way, and send it to this
list--or for work of this nature, are you wanting to _acquire_ some
facility with Git?

I'm sure people on this list can help.  Consider me a resource, too.

Regards,
Branden

[1] https://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/groff/

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