Thread: doc cleanup: proper emdashes

This patch replaces "---" with "—" in the documentation, which is
the proper SGML character entity for an emdash.

Barring any objections, I'll apply this to HEAD before the end of the
day.

-Neil

On Mon, Nov 15, 2004 at 11:27:39AM +1100, Neil Conway wrote:

> --- doc/src/sgml/dfunc.sgml
> +++ doc/src/sgml/dfunc.sgml
> @@ -38,7 +38,7 @@
>    in memory when they are loaded by the executable.  (Object files
>    intended for executables are usually not compiled that way.)  The
>    command to link a shared library contains special flags to
> -  distinguish it from linking an executable. --- At least this is the
> +  distinguish it from linking an executable. — At least this is the
>    theory.  On some systems the practice is much uglier.
>   </para>

Is ". ---" really correct?  I think there should be no period there.

--
Alvaro Herrera (<alvherre[@]dcc.uchile.cl>)
"When the proper man does nothing (wu-wei),
his thought is felt ten thousand miles." (Lao Tse)

On Mon, 2004-11-15 at 01:35 -0300, Alvaro Herrera wrote:
> Is ". ---" really correct?  I think there should be no period there.

Good catch -- I'll rephrase that text.

-Neil

On Mon, Nov 15, 2004 at 03:39:00PM +1100, Neil Conway wrote:
> On Mon, 2004-11-15 at 01:35 -0300, Alvaro Herrera wrote:
> > Is ". ---" really correct?  I think there should be no period there.
>
> Good catch -- I'll rephrase that text.
             ^^

Hey, this should have been a proper em-dash too (yours is an en-dash AFAIK)
:-D

(Though with a monospaced font it doesn't seem to make a lot of
difference ... oh well)

--
Alvaro Herrera (<alvherre[@]dcc.uchile.cl>)
"La rebeldía es la virtud original del hombre" (Arthur Schopenhauer)

On Mon, 2004-11-15 at 11:27 +1100, Neil Conway wrote:
> This patch replaces "---" with "—" in the documentation, which is
> the proper SGML character entity for an emdash.

Patch applied. I also fixed up cases where "--" was used in a similar
fashion ("--" might be considered an en dash, but AFAIK it is incorrect
to use an en dash to designate a parenthetical comment anyway).

-Neil

On Nov 15, 2004, at 3:35 PM, Neil Conway wrote:

> ("--" might be considered an en dash, but AFAIK it is incorrect
> to use an en dash to designate a parenthetical comment anyway).

Then again, wouldn't parentheses be the appropriate punctuation for a
parenthetical comment? :P

Michael Glaesemann
grzm myrealbox com

PS. I think the phrasing you're looking for is amplifying or
explanatory text. Em dashes, commas, or parentheses can all serve this
purpose.