Re: RFC: doc: use only @example, not @smallexample

[Paul Eggert]

On 03/15/2012 09:20 AM, Akim Demaille wrote:

> I don't see why we have both @example and @smallexample.

The "@smallexample"s are there for when
the Bison manual is printed in @smallbook format,
which the GNU Press does (see
<http://shop.fsf.org/product/bison-manual/>).
They prevent longer lines in the examples from
overflowing into the margins.

If we replace "@c @smallbook" with "@smallbook" in
bison.texinfo, and generate the PDF file, and the
examples still look good (i.e., lines are not so long
that the examples don't fit in the small book pages),
then it should be OK to replace @smallexample with
@example.  Otherwise it is probably better to leave them
alone.

Another possibility would be to use @smallexample
conditionally, only when @smallbook is in effect.
We'd need to check that the examples fit in ordinary
large printed format if we do that.

Another possibility, and perhaps the best one,
is to redo the examples so their lines are not so
long that they cause problems with smallbook format.
Then we could just use @example everywhere.
Those long lines make the examples hard to read
anyway....