Subject: automake.texi: colon in @pxref

From: Дилян Палаузов<[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 14 Oct 2011 10:27:37 +0200

Hello,

doc/automake.texi contains colon in @pxref, at line 879, @node VPATH Builds:

... these builds @pxref{General Search, , @code{VPATH}: Search Path for 
All Prerequisites, make, The GNU Make Manual}).

Please remove the colon, see the attachments for the motivation (texinfo 
documentation shall be extended to state that colons must be avoided in 
@pxref).

Със здраве
   Дилян

Subject: Colon in @pxref, automake.texi
From: Дилян Палаузов<[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 13 Oct 2011 19:57:57 +0200

Hello,

automake-1.11.1 contains in doc/automake.texi, line 879, @node VPATH Builds:

... these builds @pxref{General Search, , @code{VPATH}: Search Path for 
All Prerequisites, make, The GNU Make Manual}).

This leads to automake.info-1 containing

.. these builds (*note `VPATH': Search Path for All Prerequisites: 
(make)General Search.).

If one tries to follow this link, an error message appears
from emacs:
   No such node or anchor: Search Path for All Prerequisites: 
(make)General Search
from info:
   Cannot find node `Search Path for All Prerequisites: (make)General 
Search'.

Okay, apparently there shall be no colon after VPATH in the generated 
automake.info-1 file.  Now where is the problem:
- the documentation of texinfo does not state to avoid colon in the 
third parameter of @pxref (or automake authors and me have not seen that 
it is written there), or
- texinfo forgets to escape the colon?

Със здраве
   Дилян

Subject: Re: Colon in @pxref, automake.texi
From: [email-masked] (Karl Berry)
To: [email-masked]
Cc: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 13 Oct 2011 22:13:06 GMT

    - the documentation of texinfo does not state to avoid colon in the 
    third parameter of @pxref

You're right that there is nothing about that particular case in the doc
(that I could find either).  I'll add something.

    - texinfo forgets to escape the colon?

Unfortunately there is no escape mechanism for special chars in
node/xref/anchor/etc. names.  A design flaw since day 1 of Texinfo, that
perhaps we will fix one of these years, but not this one.

Thanks,
karl