Re: .Bl -width (Was: CVS commit: src/sbin/shutdown)

[Steffen Nurpmeso <steffen%sdaoden.eu@localhost>]

Valery Ushakov wrote in
 <Y+y2qhkfyrxnbVUH%pony.stderr.spb.ru@localhost>:
 |On Wed, Feb 15, 2023 at 01:55:17 +0000, Jan Schaumann wrote:
 |> Module Name:        src
 |> Committed By:       jschauma
 |> Date:               Wed Feb 15 01:55:17 UTC 2023
 |> 
 |> Modified Files:
 |>  src/sbin/shutdown: shutdown.8
 |> 
 |> Log Message:
 |> adjust width of flag arg to align more nicely
 |
 |Please, can people at least *skim* through mdoc.samples(7) *once*...
 |
 |It's best to use default width.  Yes, some option .It may require a
 |line break, but it gives consistent formatting across man pages.
 |
 |  .Bl -tag -width Fl
 |
 |If for some reason you absolutely must tailor the formatting for the
 |contents of the list, don't do this cargo cult padding of "-width"
 |that doesn't even work to begin with, b/c PostScript and other
 |backends do exist.
 |
 |What you meant to say was really:
 |
 |  .Bl -tag -width ".Fl b Ar bootstr"
 |  .It Fl b Ar bootstr

It does not really matter, as (1) NetBSD uses mandoc not (g)roff,
and (2) NetBSD is not interested in mdoc references, but i want to
point out nonetheless that doing the above, in the original
mdoc(7) macros, performs a full evaluation of ".Fl b Ar bootstr"; 
that is, the "b" flag is "defined" twice.  (And that is to say
that using "em"-width placeholder(s) may be more advisable.  Like
underscore, or _%_%_% or whatever.  (But beware of plain "%".))

 |That will properly use the width of the specified item *as formatted
 |by the current backend*.

Hmhm.

 |-uwe
 --End of <Y+y2qhkfyrxnbVUH%pony.stderr.spb.ru@localhost>

Warm greetings to Russia.
Ciao,

--steffen
|
|Der Kragenbaer,                The moon bear,
|der holt sich munter           he cheerfully and one by one
|einen nach dem anderen runter  wa.ks himself off
|(By Robert Gernhardt)