Input file is a2ps-lpr-wrapper.1 Any program (person), that produces man pages, should check the output for defects by using (both groff and nroff) [gn]roff -mandoc -t -ww -b -z -K utf8 The same goes for man pages that are used as an input. For a style guide use mandoc -T lint -.- So any 'generator' should check its products with the above mentioned 'groff', 'mandoc', and additionally with 'nroff ...'. This is just a simple quality control measure. The 'generator' may have to be corrected to get a better man page, the source file may, and any additional file may. Common defects: Input text line longer than 80 bytes. Not removing trailing spaces (in in- and output). The reason for these trailing spaces should be found and eliminated. Not beginning each input sentence on a new line. Lines should thus be shorter. See man-pages(7), item 'semantic newline'. -.- The difference between the formatted output of the original and patched file can be seen with: nroff -mandoc > nroff -mandoc > diff -u and for groff, using "printf '%s\n%s\n' '.kern 0' '.ss 12 0' | groff -mandoc -Z - " instead of 'nroff -mandoc' Add the option '-t', if the file contains a table. Read the output of 'diff -u' with 'less -R' or similar. -.-. If 'man' (man-db) is used to check the manual for warnings, the following must be set: The option "-warnings=w" The environmental variable: export MAN_KEEP_STDERR=yes (or any non-empty value) or (produce only warnings): export MANROFFOPT="-ww -b -z" export MAN_KEEP_STDERR=yes (or any non-empty value) -.-. Output from "mandoc -T lint a2ps-lpr-wrapper.1 ": (shortened list) 1 missing date, using "" 4 skipping paragraph macro 38 whitespace at end of input line -.-. Output from "test-groff -mandoc -t -ww -b -z a2ps-lpr-wrapper.1 ": (shortened list) 23 trailing space in the line -.-. Output from "mandoc -T lint a2ps-lpr-wrapper.1 ": mandoc: a2ps-lpr-wrapper.1:1:28: STYLE: whitespace at end of input line mandoc: a2ps-lpr-wrapper.1:1:2: WARNING: missing date, using "": TH mandoc: a2ps-lpr-wrapper.1:2:12: STYLE: whitespace at end of input line mandoc: a2ps-lpr-wrapper.1:3:67: STYLE: whitespace at end of input line mandoc: a2ps-lpr-wrapper.1:4:16: STYLE: whitespace at end of input line mandoc: a2ps-lpr-wrapper.1:5:2: WARNING: skipping paragraph macro: PP after SH mandoc: a2ps-lpr-wrapper.1:5:4: STYLE: whitespace at end of input line mandoc: a2ps-lpr-wrapper.1:6:70: STYLE: whitespace at end of input line mandoc: a2ps-lpr-wrapper.1:7:19: STYLE: whitespace at end of input line mandoc: a2ps-lpr-wrapper.1:8:2: WARNING: skipping paragraph macro: PP after SH mandoc: a2ps-lpr-wrapper.1:8:4: STYLE: whitespace at end of input line mandoc: a2ps-lpr-wrapper.1:9:39: STYLE: whitespace at end of input line mandoc: a2ps-lpr-wrapper.1:10:32: STYLE: whitespace at end of input line mandoc: a2ps-lpr-wrapper.1:11:4: STYLE: whitespace at end of input line mandoc: a2ps-lpr-wrapper.1:12:35: STYLE: whitespace at end of input line mandoc: a2ps-lpr-wrapper.1:13:30: STYLE: whitespace at end of input line mandoc: a2ps-lpr-wrapper.1:14:33: STYLE: whitespace at end of input line mandoc: a2ps-lpr-wrapper.1:15:73: STYLE: whitespace at end of input line mandoc: a2ps-lpr-wrapper.1:16:24: STYLE: whitespace at end of input line mandoc: a2ps-lpr-wrapper.1:17:15: STYLE: whitespace at end of input line mandoc: a2ps-lpr-wrapper.1:18:42: STYLE: whitespace at end of input line mandoc: a2ps-lpr-wrapper.1:19:28: STYLE: whitespace at end of input line mandoc: a2ps-lpr-wrapper.1:20:37: STYLE: whitespace at end of input line mandoc: a2ps-lpr-wrapper.1:21:29: STYLE: whitespace at end of input line mandoc: a2ps-lpr-wrapper.1:22:16: STYLE: whitespace at end of input line mandoc: a2ps-lpr-wrapper.1:23:2: WARNING: skipping paragraph macro: PP after SH mandoc: a2ps-lpr-wrapper.1:23:4: STYLE: whitespace at end of input line mandoc: a2ps-lpr-wrapper.1:24:10: STYLE: whitespace at end of input line mandoc: a2ps-lpr-wrapper.1:25:4: STYLE: whitespace at end of input line mandoc: a2ps-lpr-wrapper.1:26:78: STYLE: whitespace at end of input line mandoc: a2ps-lpr-wrapper.1:27:19: STYLE: whitespace at end of input line mandoc: a2ps-lpr-wrapper.1:28:14: STYLE: whitespace at end of input line mandoc: a2ps-lpr-wrapper.1:29:2: WARNING: skipping paragraph macro: PP after SH mandoc: a2ps-lpr-wrapper.1:29:4: STYLE: whitespace at end of input line mandoc: a2ps-lpr-wrapper.1:30:80: STYLE: whitespace at end of input line mandoc: a2ps-lpr-wrapper.1:31:68: STYLE: whitespace at end of input line mandoc: a2ps-lpr-wrapper.1:32:62: STYLE: whitespace at end of input line mandoc: a2ps-lpr-wrapper.1:33:60: STYLE: whitespace at end of input line mandoc: a2ps-lpr-wrapper.1:34:57: STYLE: whitespace at end of input line mandoc: a2ps-lpr-wrapper.1:36:4: STYLE: whitespace at end of input line mandoc: a2ps-lpr-wrapper.1:37:63: STYLE: whitespace at end of input line mandoc: a2ps-lpr-wrapper.1:38:56: STYLE: whitespace at end of input line mandoc: a2ps-lpr-wrapper.1:40:40: STYLE: whitespace at end of input line -.-. Remove space characters at the end of lines. Use "git apply ... --whitespace=fix" to fix extra space issues, or use global configuration "core.whitespace". 3:a2ps-lpr-wrapper \(em lp/lpr wrapper script for GNU a2ps on Debian 5:.PP 6:\fBa2ps-lpr-wrapper\fR [\fB-d \fIprinter\fR\fP] [\fB\fIfiles\fR\fP] 8:.PP 9:This manual page documents briefly the 10:\fBa2ps-lpr-wrapper\fR command. 11:.PP 12:\fBa2ps-lpr-wrapper\fR uses either 13:\fBlp\fP or \fBlpr\fP to send 14:\fIfiles\fR to \fIprinter\fR. It 15:determines which of the two programs is currently installed and adds the 16:appropriate parameters. 18:.IP "\fB-d \fIprinter\fR\fP " 10 19:Destination system printer. 20:.IP "\fB\fIfiles\fR\fP " 10 21:List of files to be printed. 23:.PP 24:a2ps (1). 25:.PP 26:The programs are documented fully by the a2ps documentation available via the 27:\fBInfo\fP system. 29:.PP 30:This manual page was written by Michael Tautschnig tautschn@model.in.tum.de for 31:the \fBDebian\fP system (but may be used by others). Permission is 32:granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under 33:the terms of the GNU General Public License, Version 2 any 34:later version published by the Free Software Foundation. 36:.PP 37:On Debian systems, the complete text of the GNU General Public 38:License can be found in /usr/share/common-licenses/GPL. 40:.\" created by instant / docbook-to-man -.-. Wrong distance between sentences in the input file. Separate the sentences and subordinate clauses; each begins on a new line. See man-pages(7) ("Conventions for source file layout") and "info groff" ("Input Conventions"). The best procedure is to always start a new sentence on a new line, at least, if you are typing on a computer. Remember coding: Only one command ("sentence") on each (logical) line. E-mail: Easier to quote exactly the relevant lines. Generally: Easier to edit the sentence. Patches: Less unaffected text. Search for two adjacent words is easier, when they belong to the same line, and the same phrase. The amount of space between sentences in the output can then be controlled with the ".ss" request. 14:\fIfiles\fR to \fIprinter\fR. It -.-. Show if docman-to-man created this 40:.\" created by instant / docbook-to-man -.-. Put a parenthetical sentence, phrase on a separate line, if not part of a code. See man-pages(7), item "semantic newline". a2ps-lpr-wrapper.1:31:the \fBDebian\fP system (but may be used by others). Permission is -.-. Two or more space charaters between printable characters. When the distance is between sentences, start the beginning of the second one on a separate line ("semantic newline"). 6:\fBa2ps-lpr-wrapper\fR [\fB-d \fIprinter\fR\fP] [\fB\fIfiles\fR\fP] 18:.IP "\fB-d \fIprinter\fR\fP " 10 20:.IP "\fB\fIfiles\fR\fP " 10 31:the \fBDebian\fP system (but may be used by others). Permission is -.-. Output from "test-groff -mandoc -t -K utf8 -rF0 -rHY=0 -ww -b -z ": troff: backtrace: file '':3 troff::3: warning: trailing space in the line troff: backtrace: file '':6 troff::6: warning: trailing space in the line troff: backtrace: file '':9 troff::9: warning: trailing space in the line troff: backtrace: file '':10 troff::10: warning: trailing space in the line troff: backtrace: file '':12 troff::12: warning: trailing space in the line troff: backtrace: file '':13 troff::13: warning: trailing space in the line troff: backtrace: file '':14 troff::14: warning: trailing space in the line troff: backtrace: file '':15 troff::15: warning: trailing space in the line troff: backtrace: file '':16 troff::16: warning: trailing space in the line troff: backtrace: 'an.tmac':606: macro 'IP' troff: backtrace: file '':18 troff::18: warning: trailing space in the line troff: backtrace: file '':19 troff::19: warning: trailing space in the line troff: backtrace: 'an.tmac':606: macro 'IP' troff: backtrace: file '':20 troff::20: warning: trailing space in the line troff: backtrace: file '':21 troff::21: warning: trailing space in the line troff: backtrace: file '':24 troff::24: warning: trailing space in the line troff: backtrace: file '':26 troff::26: warning: trailing space in the line troff: backtrace: file '':27 troff::27: warning: trailing space in the line troff: backtrace: file '':30 troff::30: warning: trailing space in the line troff: backtrace: file '':31 troff::31: warning: trailing space in the line troff: backtrace: file '':32 troff::32: warning: trailing space in the line troff: backtrace: file '':33 troff::33: warning: trailing space in the line troff: backtrace: file '':34 troff::34: warning: trailing space in the line troff: backtrace: file '':37 troff::37: warning: trailing space in the line troff: backtrace: file '':38 troff::38: warning: trailing space in the line