gnustandards ChangeLog standards.texi

[Karl Berry]

CVSROOT:        /sources/gnustandards
Module name:    gnustandards
Changes by:     Karl Berry <karl>       11/12/31 23:48:43

Modified files:
        .              : ChangeLog standards.texi 

Log message:
        (Quoting Characters): recommend undirected quotes

CVSWeb URLs:
http://cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewcvs/gnustandards/ChangeLog?cvsroot=gnustandards&r1=1.150&r2=1.151
http://cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewcvs/gnustandards/standards.texi?cvsroot=gnustandards&r1=1.210&r2=1.211

Patches:
Index: ChangeLog
===================================================================
RCS file: /sources/gnustandards/gnustandards/ChangeLog,v
retrieving revision 1.150
retrieving revision 1.151
diff -u -b -r1.150 -r1.151
--- ChangeLog   24 Dec 2011 01:49:09 -0000      1.150
+++ ChangeLog   31 Dec 2011 23:48:43 -0000      1.151
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+2011-12-31  Paul Eggert  <address@hidden>
+
+       * standards.texi (Quote Characters): change to recommending
+       undirected quotes, '...' or "...".
+
 2011-12-23  Alfred M. Szmidt  <address@hidden>
 
        * standards.texi (Standard C and Pre-Standard C, System Functions):

Index: standards.texi
===================================================================
RCS file: /sources/gnustandards/gnustandards/standards.texi,v
retrieving revision 1.210
retrieving revision 1.211
diff -u -b -r1.210 -r1.211
--- standards.texi      23 Dec 2011 00:30:29 -0000      1.210
+++ standards.texi      31 Dec 2011 23:48:43 -0000      1.211
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 @setfilename standards.info
 @settitle GNU Coding Standards
 @c This date is automagically updated when you save this file:
address@hidden lastupdate December 22, 2011
address@hidden lastupdate December 31, 2011
 @c %**end of header
 
 @dircategory GNU organization
@@ -2374,7 +2374,7 @@
 * System Functions::            Portability and ``standard'' library functions.
 * Internationalization::        Techniques for internationalization.
 * Character Set::               Use ASCII by default.
-* Quote Characters::            Use `...' in the C locale.
+* Quote Characters::            Use "..." or '...' in the C locale.
 * Mmap::                        How you can safely use @code{mmap}.
 @end menu
 
@@ -3049,12 +3049,12 @@
 around each string that might need translation---like this:
 
 @example
-printf (gettext ("Processing file `%s'..."));
+printf (gettext ("Processing file '%s'..."), file);
 @end example
 
 @noindent
 This permits GNU gettext to replace the string @code{"Processing file
-`%s'..."} with a translated version.
+'%s'..."} with a translated version.
 
 Once a program uses gettext, please make a point of writing calls to
 @code{gettext} when you add new strings that call for translation.
@@ -3185,34 +3185,50 @@
 @cindex quote characters
 @cindex locale-specific quote characters
 @cindex left quote
address@hidden right quote
address@hidden opening quote
address@hidden single quote
address@hidden double quote
 @cindex grave accent
address@hidden txicodequoteundirected
address@hidden txicodequotebacktick
 
-In the C locale, GNU programs should stick to plain ASCII for quotation
-characters in messages to users: preferably 0x60 (@samp{`}) for left
-quotes and 0x27 (@samp{'}) for right quotes.  It is ok, but not
-required, to use locale-specific quotes in other locales.
-
-The @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gnulib/, Gnulib} @code{quote} and
address@hidden modules provide a reasonably straightforward way to
-support locale-specific quote characters, as well as taking care of
-other issues, such as quoting a filename that itself contains a quote
-character.  See the Gnulib documentation for usage details.
-
-In any case, the documentation for your program should clearly specify
-how it does quoting, if different than the preferred method of @samp{`}
-and @samp{'}.  This is especially important if the output of your
-program is ever likely to be parsed by another program.
-
-Quotation characters are a difficult area in the computing world at
-this time: there are no true left or right quote characters in Latin1;
-the @samp{`} character we use was standardized there as a grave
-accent.  Moreover, Latin1 is still not universally usable.
+In the C locale, the output of GNU programs should stick to plain
+ASCII for quotation characters in messages to users: preferably 0x22
+(@samp{"}) or 0x27 (@samp{'}) for both opening and closing quotes.
+Although GNU programs traditionally used 0x60 (@samp{`}) for opening
+and 0x27 (@samp{'}) for closing quotes, nowadays quotes @samp{`like
+this'} are typically rendered asymmetrically, so quoting @samp{"like
+this"} or @samp{'like this'} typically looks better.
 
-Unicode contains the unambiguous quote characters required.  However,
-Unicode and UTF-8 are not universally well-supported, either.
+It is ok, but not required, for GNU programs to generate
+locale-specific quotes in non-C locales.  For example:
 
-This may change over the next few years, and then we will revisit
-this.
address@hidden
+printf (gettext ("Processing file '%s'..."), file);
address@hidden example
+
address@hidden
+Here, a French translation might cause @code{gettext} to return the
+string @code{"Traitement de fichier
address@hidden@address@hidden@guilsinglright{}..."}, yielding quotes
+more appropriate for a French locale.
+
+Sometimes a program may need to use opening and closing quotes
+directly.  By convention, @code{gettext} translates the string
address@hidden"`"} to the opening quote and the string @samp{"'"} to the
+closing quote, and a program can use these translations.  Generally,
+though, it is better to translate quote characters in the context of
+longer strings.
+
+If the output of your program is ever likely to be parsed by another
+program, it is good to provide an option that makes this parsing
+reliable.  For example, you could escape special characters using
+conventions from the C language or the Bourne shell.  See for example
+the option @option{--quoting-style} of GNU @code{ls}.
+
address@hidden txicodequoteundirected
address@hidden txicodequotebacktick
 
 
 @node Mmap
@@ -3585,7 +3601,7 @@
 
 @example
 * keyboard.c (menu_bar_items, tool_bar_items)
-(Fexecute_extended_command): Deal with `keymap' property.
+(Fexecute_extended_command): Deal with 'keymap' property.
 @end example
 
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