Re: In an @example, @comment at EOL swallows the following newline.

[Gavin Smith]

On Mon, Jan 01, 2018 at 05:55:52PM +0000, Alan Mackenzie wrote:
> The actual source in cc-mode.texi which showed up the bug was indeed in
> a macro, namely:
> 
>     @macro hereFn{func}
>     <- @address@hidden
>     @end macro
> 
> .  This macro was committed on 2003-05-12.  The @c at EOL2 looks like a
> workaround for some glitch in an earlier version of makeinfo.  (As a
> matter of interest, makeinfo 4.13 builds the source correctly, whether
> or not the "@c" is present.).
> 
> This workaround could be present in a lot of files.texi that were being
> actively modified around 15 years ago.  Again, would it be possible to
> output a warning for this situation, and possibly document it in
> texinfo's own documentation?
> 
> Thanks!

I ran a test with a very old version of texinfo.tex, the version in 
Texinfo 3.0, (texinfo.tex itself reports a version of 2.108) and the 
newline disappears from the end of the comment too:

\input texinfo
@setfilename


@example
@group
main (int,
      char address@hidden some comment
     )
@end group
@end example

@bye

This is somewhat beside the point because the @c is appearing through a 
macro (which wasn't supported in this old version of texinfo.tex). I tried
the following with the texinfo.tex in Texinfo 4.13:

\input texinfo
@setfilename

@macro m
<-- address@hidden somecomment
@end macro

@example
@group
main (int,
      char address@hidden
     )
@end group
@end example

@bye

and the expected output is obtained. Somehow when @c is used directly
in place of @m{} it is joined with the following line.

I tried the same with the most recent version of texinfo.tex 
(2017-12-26.21) and the same happens: with

@example
@group
main (int,
      char address@hidden
      char address@hidden
     )
@end group
@end example

the lines are not joined after the @m{} but they are joined after the 
@c.

There could be a case for changing makeinfo to be consistent with 
texinfo.tex, provided we can work out what texinfo.tex is doing.