[bug #54894] doc/groff.texi: clarify \p escape

[Dave]

URL:
  <https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?54894>

                 Summary: doc/groff.texi: clarify \p escape
                 Project: GNU troff
            Submitted by: barx
            Submitted on: Thu 25 Oct 2018 07:34:00 AM CDT
                Category: None
                Severity: 3 - Normal
              Item Group: Documentation
                  Status: None
                 Privacy: Public
             Assigned to: None
             Open/Closed: Open
         Discussion Lock: Any
         Planned Release: None

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Details:

In doc/groff.texi, .brp and \p are documented together, but the text as
written really only applies to .brp.

It says that either one will "cause a break."  For \p, the most
straightforward reading of this phrase would mean the \p itself becomes a
breakpoint.

But this is not what it does in practice.  I presume groff's behavior is
correct, and the documentation in error (or, at least, not very clear),
because groff's behavior matches the documentation (and behavior) of Heirloom
troff, which states that a \p "imbedded or attached to a word" will "cause a
break at the end of the word."  doc/groff.texi should also spell this out
clearly.

Thus I propose adding the following two sentences to clarify \p's behavior:
"With \p, this break will happen at the next word boundary.  The \p itself is
removed entirely, adding neither a break nor a space where it appears in
input; it can thus be placed in the middle of a word to cause a break at the
end of that word."

If no one has comments or improvements on this wording, I'll create a patch to
make this change.




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