Re: @exampleindent macro does not seem to have effect

On Thu, Mar 12, 2026 at 09:06:13PM +0100, Patrice Dumas wrote:
> On Thu, Mar 12, 2026 at 08:42:07AM +0100, Rik wrote:
> > Summary: Using @exampleindent does not change indent of @example blocks for
> > "plain text" and Info output
> 
> Does anyone know what is supposed to be the difference between
> @exampleindent asis and 0?  The manual says:
> 
> ‘asis’
>      Do not change the existing indentation (not implemented in printed
>      output).
> 
> 0
>      Omit all indentation.
> 
> Since in all the @example and similar environments spaces are kept as
> is, I don't understand what could be the difference.

I don't know.  There appears to have been uncertainty of the meaning
of '@exampleindent asis' when the command was first introduced.

Comment in texinfo.tex:

% @exampleindent NCHARS
% We'll use ems for NCHARS like @paragraphindent.
% It seems @exampleindent asis isn't necessary, but
% I preserve it to make it similar to @paragraphindent.

The @paragraphindent command is older.  (I wouldn't know what it did
without looking into it.)  So I suppose that it should be as consistent
with @paragraphindent as possible.

Old email from 1999:

  From: Karl Berry <[email protected]>
  Received: (from karl@localhost)
  	by hub.cs.umb.edu (8.8.8/8.8.8) id HAA25795;
  	Wed, 17 Mar 1999 07:35:03 -0500 (EST)
  Date: Wed, 17 Mar 1999 07:35:03 -0500 (EST)
  Message-Id: <[email protected]>
  To: [email protected]
  Subject: [[email protected]: texinfo v4.0]
  Sender: [email protected]
  Precedence: bulk
  
  Would anyone like to implement this @exampleindent thing?
  (I want to keep working towards the release, not adding still more features.)
  It seems harmless enough.
  
  Thanks,
  
  Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 17:54:02 +0100 (MET)
  From: Olaf Bachmann <[email protected]>
  To: Karl Berry <[email protected]>
  Subject: texinfo v4.0
  
  ...
  
  There is one thing which still is on my wish-list: Have
  something like @exampleindent, which is just like @paragraphindent but 
  controls the identation of examples. Both, texinfo.tex and makeinfo
  should observe it. Would that be possible to implement?
  
  Thanks, 
  Olaf


Reply:

  To: [email protected]
  Cc: Olaf Bachmann <[email protected]>
  Subject: Re: [[email protected]: texinfo v4.0]
  References: <[email protected]>
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  From: Yoshiki Hayashi <[email protected]>
  Date: 18 Mar 1999 12:49:28 +0900
  In-Reply-To: <[email protected]> (Karl Berry's message of "Wed, 17 Mar 1999 07:35:03 -0500 (EST)")
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  Karl Berry <[email protected]> writes:
  
  > Would anyone like to implement this @exampleindent thing?
  > (I want to keep working towards the release, not adding still more features.)
  > It seems harmless enough.
  
  I wrote patch although I'm not sure this is what he wants.
  I made `@exampleindent asis' to do nothing, to make it
  similar to @exampleindent. You may remove it.
  
Yoshiki Hayashi sent a patch to makeinfo as well as the implementation
in texinfo.tex in that email.