Re: [Groff] ".if '...'...' \# comments ..." Bug?

[Alejandro López-Valencia]

At 09:18 a.m. 11/04/2004, Andrew J. Piziali wrote:
>    I noticed an odd behavior using groff 1.18 with the .if request and
> '...'...' expression.  The following request sequence operates as
> expected:
>
>     .if '\*[FunctionalVerificationAspectsFigure]'' \
>     .  ds FunctionalVerificationAspectsFigure 999
>
> If string register FunctionalVerificationAspectsFigure is null, the .ds
> request initializes it.  However, when the .if request has \# comment
> appended to the line:
>
>     .if '\*[FunctionalVerificationAspectsFigure]'' \# formatting of this
>     .  ds FunctionalVerificationAspectsFigure 999
>
> the .ds request is unconditionally executed, independent of the value of
> FunctionalVerificationAspectsFigure.
>
>    I thought the \#, and everything following it, was supposed to be
> ignored so that groff sees one line:
>
>     .if '\*[FunctionalVerificationAspectsFigure]'' .  ds 
> FunctionalVerificationAspectsFigure 999

There is no bug. You have no line break sign in your second example; just 
an inlined comment. And, if groff worked with the syntax you expect... Now, 
*that* would be a bug [I leave the demonstration to the reader; see groff(7)].

Cheers


--
Alejandro López-Valencia
http://dradul.tripod.com/
The limits of my language are the limits of my world.
                                    (L. Wittgenstein)