Re: [Groff] Better locale macro file handling?

[Werner LEMBERG]

>> [...] Convert the error message of .mso into a new warning category
>> which is enabled by default.  Then you can easily disable it with
>> using a -W ... command line option.
> 
> Hmm. I thought warning bits were in rather scarcer supply than
> request names; there are only three bits left at the moment, since
> it's a signed int, and I can't think of many other plausible places
> where you'd want the same category of warning as this.

The last category, WARN_COLOR, has been added in 2001...  This is
really no problem.  Additionally, we currently have 19 warning
categories, and groff assumes that integers are 32 bit at least, so we
have actually 12 bits left.

> And, as you say, it is unfortunate from a backward compatibility
> point of view: man-db would probably end up having to detect the
> version of groff, since otherwise it would cause a warning on every
> single manual page unless the macro file is present (which will be
> the clear majority of pages).

Then use the `.warn' request directly.  If the `range' warning
(value 64) isn't set, `.warn' doesn't emit a warning if you supply a
value larger than WARN_TOTAL.

> Are you sure that this is the best approach?

I still think so.

> It seems problematic to me.

Why?

> Nevertheless, here's the necessary patch if you're sure:

Thanks!  I'll incorporate this in case there aren't strong objections.


    Werner