[docutils:bugs] Re: #477 Generated man page leads to groff warning "TE macro called with TW register undefined"
Dmitry Shachnev via Docutils-develop <[email protected]>
| Newsgroups | gmane.text.docutils.devel |
|---|---|
| Message-ID | </p/docutils/bugs/477/f796c5581499ad0a3a9bb54870a00c56f2550a6c.bugs@docutils.p.sourceforge.net> |
Hi @branden!
> You _could_ just include the `'\" t` unconditionally, since tbl(1) will
> not do any damage to a well-formed man page that doesn't use tables, and
> the time tbl(1) takes to run has not been noticeable for decades.
I would just include it unconditionally, because that would not increase the complexity level of docutils codebase.
Of course, Engelbert or Günter may have other opinions, but I don't mind going the other way too.
Thank you!
--
Dmitry Shachnev
---
**[bugs:#477] Generated man page leads to groff warning "TE macro called with TW register undefined"**
**Status:** open
**Labels:** manpage writer
**Created:** Sun Nov 12, 2023 06:15 PM UTC by Dmitry Shachnev
**Last Updated:** Tue Nov 14, 2023 09:16 AM UTC
**Owner:** engelbert gruber
In Debian, we have a `lintian` tool which runs various checks on the built packages. Among other things, it makes sure that man pages explicitly require all preprocessors that they need.
I have received a [bug](https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=1053355) about an error reported by that tool. It looks like that if a document contains a table, `rst2man` generates macros `.TS` and `.TE` which are recognized by [tbl](https://manpages.debian.org/testing/groff-base/tbl.1.en.html) preprocessor, but does not generate a dependency on it.
Here is a minimal reproducing example:
```
$ cat table.rst
.. list-table::
* - Foo
- Bar
$ rst2man table.rst | MANROFFSEQ='' man -l -Z - >/dev/null
an.tmac:<standard input>:43: warning: tbl preprocessor failed, or it or soelim was not run; table(s) likely not rendered (TE macro called with TW register undefined)
```
According to [this email](https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2023/08/msg00220.html), to fix this error, `rst2man` should add this line on top of the generated man page:
'\" t
Cc @branden — I think you are interested in all manpage-related issues.
---
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