Re: [help-texinfo] Consecutive spaces in node titles?

[Patrice Dumas]

On Sun, Feb 12, 2012 at 03:50:03PM -0800, Karl Berry wrote:
> Hi Tim (and Juri),
> 
>     | * Secure?  Conform?::           Is Bison POSIX safe?
>     ...
>     | File: bison.info,  Node: Secure? Conform?,  Next: I can't build Bison,  
> Prev: Multiple start-symbols,  Up: FAQ
> 
> 1) It seems wrong to me that makeinfo inserted (or deleted, whichever)
> the extra space from the @node name here, assuming that is what
> happened.  I am pretty sure that the development code does not do this.
> (Patrice, please double check.)

It indeed does.  Now texi2any messes with spaces everywhere now.  And in
some cases it turns multiple spaces to only one, irrespective of
frenchspacing or of the presence of punctuation such as in @node, @item
in @table, @url, @math, @def*, @*index.

There should be ways to force a double space in node, however that
does not work that well.  With


@node Top

@menu
* a.  b::
* c.  d::
* e.  f::
@end menu

@node a.@ @ b

@node address@hidden:  :}d

@node address@hidden  }f
@bye


One get

c.texi:5: Menu reference to nonexistent node `a.  b'
c.texi:10: warning: unreferenced node `a.@ @ b'
c.texi:6: warning: Node expansion `c. d' in menu differs from normal node 
expansion `c.  d'
c.texi:7: warning: Node expansion `e. f' in menu differs from normal node 
expansion `e.  f'


The error for `a.@ @ b' looks wrong.  The other warnings are not clearly
problematic, though.  They are indeed correct, although not useful, and
not in line with the generated info in which there are double spaces
in the generated menus too.

> 2) Regardless, however, I think it is good for the info readers to not
> worry about whitespace.  As this bug shows.  In general, having two node
> names that differ only in whitespace is not likely to work in many
> regards (certainly not in TeX), so it's not like we lose anything by
> treating multiple spaces as equivalent to one.  As far as I can see.

Agreed.

-- 
Pat