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writing out a 'w' output command for unbreakable spaces


From: G. Branden Robinson
Subject: writing out a 'w' output command for unbreakable spaces
Date: Wed, 28 Jun 2023 08:38:31 -0500

This is fairly far down in the weeds as feature changes go, but since it
technically is one, I'm submitting it to the list for comment.

It involves troff's page description language (a.k.a.
"device-independent output format"), so if you don't care about parsing
that, you can skip over this.

o GNU troff output now reports unbreakable spaces (those produced with
  the `\~` escape sequence) as word breaks with the documentary 'w'
  command, just as regular breakable spaces do.

You could be forgiven for not remembering what the 'w' output command
is.  Technically, the answer is "nothing".  Here's what groff_out(5)
says in Git HEAD.

    w   Indicate an inter-word space.  No action is performed; the
        command is present to make the output more easily parsed.  Only
        adjustable, breakable inter-word spaces are thus described;
        those resulting from \~ or horizontal motion escape sequences
        are not.  GNU troff issues this command but groff's output
        driver library ignores it.  See h and H.

(And, hah, I see I need to add a documentation change to my patch.)

Right now this code lives only in a branch in my working copy.  In case
it need be said, I have _zero_ intention of putting it into groff
1.23.0.

Please follow up to <https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?64356> with
comments.

Regards,
Branden

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