Bug#1087993: apt: Unexpected symbol "|" appeared in upgrade confirmation prompts

Hi!

> When apt is printing Suggested Packages section, some entries include an
> unexpected "|" symbol. This could be due to some mishandling of the
> Suggests: field contents.
[...]
> Unfortunately reproducing the bug is not that easy as it may require a
> certain package upgrade combination.

Reproduction may require certain package upgrade combination, and
specific terminal sizes. I managed to reproduce a similar behaviour
in my X terminal emulator. I hope that text in this mail won't be
wrapped...



A. Info about apt/OS

acerion@debian:~$ apt --version
apt 3.0.1 (amd64)
acerion@debian:~$ grep CODENAME /etc/os-release
VERSION_CODENAME=trixie



B. scenario with terminal size #1, where '|' characters are showing
"alternatives" in suggested packages' list in unambiguous way.

acerion@debian:~$ stty size
32 146
acerion@debian:~$ sudo apt install ant
Installing:
   ant

Installing dependencies:
   ant-optional          default-jre-headless  libavahi-client3      libavahi-common3  libnspr4  libpcsclite1
   ca-certificates-java  java-common           libavahi-common-data  libcups2t64       libnss3   openjdk-21-jre-headless

Suggested packages:
   ant-doc          junit               libcommons-logging-java  liblog4j1.2-java                 default-jre           fonts-ipafont-mincho
   default-jdk      junit4              libcommons-net-java      liboro-java                      cups-common           fonts-wqy-microhei
   | java-compiler  jython              libmail-java             libregexp-java                   pcscd                 | fonts-wqy-zenhei
   | java-sdk       libactivation-java  libjaxp1.3-java          libxalan2-java                   libnss-mdns           fonts-indic
   antlr            libbcel-java        libjdepend-java          libxml-commons-resolver1.1-java  fonts-dejavu-extra
   javacc           libbsf-java         libjsch-java             libxz-java                       fonts-ipafont-gothic

Summary:
   Upgrading: 0, Installing: 13, Removing: 0, Not Upgrading: 15
   Download size: 44.9 MB / 46.4 MB
   Space needed: 213 MB / 2,152 MB available

Continue? [Y/n]

In this case it's easy to recognize that fonts-wqy-zenhei is an
alternative to fonts-wqy-microhei because both packages are in a single
column. Alternative of package X is shown directly under X.




C. scenario with terminal size #2, where usage of '|' character may
lead to confusion.

acerion@debian:~$ stty size
40 190
acerion@debian:~$ sudo apt install ant
Installing:
   ant

Installing dependencies:
   ant-optional          default-jre-headless  libavahi-client3      libavahi-common3  libnspr4  libpcsclite1
   ca-certificates-java  java-common           libavahi-common-data  libcups2t64       libnss3   openjdk-21-jre-headless

Suggested packages:
   ant-doc          antlr   jython              libcommons-logging-java  libjdepend-java   libregexp-java                   default-jre  fonts-dejavu-extra    | fonts-wqy-zenhei
   default-jdk      javacc  libactivation-java  libcommons-net-java      libjsch-java      libxalan2-java                   cups-common  fonts-ipafont-gothic  fonts-indic
   | java-compiler  junit   libbcel-java        libmail-java             liblog4j1.2-java  libxml-commons-resolver1.1-java  pcscd        fonts-ipafont-mincho
   | java-sdk       junit4  libbsf-java         libjaxp1.3-java          liboro-java       libxz-java                       libnss-mdns  fonts-wqy-microhei

Summary:
   Upgrading: 0, Installing: 13, Removing: 0, Not Upgrading: 15
   Download size: 44.9 MB / 46.4 MB
   Space needed: 213 MB / 2,152 MB available

Continue? [Y/n]

Here package fonts-wqy-microhei and its alternative fonts-wqy-zenhei are
shown in two different columns. The '|' character doesn't directly
point to another package *above*, because there is no "above" to speak of.




I can't tell if this behaviour is an error, or just my mis-understanding
of meaning of '|' character.

Kamil