Re: [PATCH] *.man: Break URIs at points specified by the Chicago Style

[Ralph Corderoy]

Hi Branden,

> 2. URIs can validly, and in fact commonly do, end with single slashes.
...
>     But in fact, trailing slashes on URIs are semantically
>     significant[1]
...
> [1] 
> https://stackoverflow.com/questions/5948659/when-should-i-use-a-trailing-slash-in-my-url/

StackOverflow isn't an authority.  Trailing slashes are not always
significant.  There is no semantic difference between these two.

    https://example.com
    https://example.com/

The difference comes if the slash is at the end of the path component,
so these two are different.

    https://example.com/foo
    https://example.com/foo/

When just the domain name is needed, I omit the needless slash as it's
clutter.

>        URIs can be lengthy; rendering them can result in jarring adjust‐
>        ment  or  variations in line length, or troff warnings when a hy‐
>        perlink is longer than an output line.  The application  of  non-
>        printing break point escape sequences \: after each slash (or se‐
>        ries  thereof), and before each dot (or series thereof) is recom‐
>        mended.  The former practice avoids forcing a trailing slash in a
>        URI onto a separate output line, and the latter helps the  reader
>        to  avoid  mistakenly interpreting dot(s) at the end of a line as
>        periods or ellipses.  Thus,
>               .UR http://\:example\:.com/\:fb8afcfbaebc74e\:.cc
>        has several potential break points in the URI shown.  The \:  es‐
>        cape  sequences  are ignored when supplied to device control com‐
>        mands for embedding in hyperlink-aware output drivers.

(Please consider turning off hyphenation and justification when
producing text to paste; I like MANOPT='--nh --nj'.)

    URIs can be lengthy; rendering them can result in jarring adjustment
    or variations in line length, or troff warnings when a hyperlink is
    longer than an output line.  The application of non-printing break
    point escape sequences \: after each slash (or series thereof), and
    before each dot (or series thereof) is recommended.  The former
    practice avoids forcing a trailing slash in a URI onto a separate
    output line, and the latter helps the reader to avoid mistakenly
    interpreting dot(s) at the end of a line as periods or ellipses.
    Thus,
        .UR http://\:example\:.com/\:fb8afcfbaebc74e\:.cc
    has several potential break points in the URI shown.  The \: escape
    sequences are ignored when supplied to device control commands for
    embedding in hyperlink-aware output drivers.

I think that's too prescriptive.  The example may split at

                                     http://
    example.com/fb8afcfbaebc74e.cc
                              http://example
    .com/fb8afcfbaebc74e.cc
                         http://example.com/
    fb8afcfbaebc74e.cc
          http://example.com/fb8afcfbaebc74e
    .cc

A small suffix probably shouldn't be marked as a place to split.
I think there's judgement by the author and the text should just advise.

Also, can I repeat my old plea for the single writer to the list to
consider the many possible readers and cut their word count;  I've
largely given up reading the list because I know some posts will consume
too much of the time I didn't have to begin with.  :-)

-- 
Cheers, Ralph.