mangen: verbatim_doc_comment has no effect

[WhyNotHugo]

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Rust Version

rustc 1.70.0 (90c541806 2023-05-31) (Alpine Linux 1.70.0-r4)

Clap Version

version = "4.1.4"

Minimal reproducible code

use std::io::Write;

use clap::{Parser, CommandFactory};

/// *shotman* takes a screenshot and shows it in a small floating thumbnail window.
///
/// Screenshots are saved immediately. The first of the following locations that is
/// defined is used (i.e.: if the environment variable is undefined, the next one on
/// the list is used).
///
/// - _$XDG_SCREENSHOTS_DIR/_
/// - _$XDG_PICTURES_DIR/screenshots/_
/// - _$HOME/screenshots/_
/// - The current directory.
///
/// *shotman* requires a compositor that supports *wlr_screencopy* and
/// *wlr_layer_shell*.
#[derive(Parser)]
#[clap(author, about, long_about, verbatim_doc_comment)]
pub struct Cli {
}

fn main() {
            let man = clap_mangen::Man::new(Cli::command());
            let mut buffer: Vec<u8> = Default::default();
            man.render_title(&mut buffer).expect("Render man page to buffer");
            man.render_name_section(&mut buffer).expect("Render man page to buffer");
            man.render_synopsis_section(&mut buffer).expect("Render man page to buffer");
            man.render_description_section (&mut buffer).expect("Render man page to buffer");

            let stdout = std::io::stdout();
            stdout
                .lock()
                .write_all(&buffer)
                .expect("Write buffer with rendered manpage to stdout");
}

Steps to reproduce the bug with the above code

cargo add clap --features=derive
cargo run > tmp.man && man ./tmp.man

Actual Behaviour

Text is mangled up due to pre-processing.

Expected Behaviour

verbatim_doc_comment should minimise pre-processing when converting doc comments.

Additional Context

The --help output of this example prints fine:

*shotman* takes a screenshot and shows it in a small floating thumbnail window.

Screenshots are saved immediately. The first of the following locations that is
defined is used (i.e.: if the environment variable is undefined, the next one on
the list is used).

- _$XDG_SCREENSHOTS_DIR/_
- _$XDG_PICTURES_DIR/screenshots/_
- _$HOME/screenshots/_
- The current directory.

*shotman* requires a compositor that supports *wlr_screencopy* and
*wlr_layer_shell*.

https://github.com/clap-rs/clap/pull/4444 seems remotely related, but not quite the same.

Debug Output

[clap_builder::builder::command]Command::_build: name="ma"
[clap_builder::builder::command]Command::_propagate:ma
[clap_builder::builder::command]Command::_check_help_and_version:ma expand_help_tree=true
[clap_builder::builder::command]Command::long_help_exists
[clap_builder::builder::command]Command::_check_help_and_version: Building default --help
[clap_builder::builder::command]Command::_propagate_global_args:ma
[clap_builder::builder::debug_asserts]Command::_debug_asserts
[clap_builder::builder::debug_asserts]Arg::_debug_asserts:help
[clap_builder::builder::debug_asserts]Command::_verify_positionals
[clap_builder::builder::command]Command::_build_bin_names
[ clap_builder::output::usage]Usage::get_required_usage_from: incls=[], matcher=false, incl_last=true
[ clap_builder::output::usage]Usage::get_required_usage_from: unrolled_reqs=[]
[ clap_builder::output::usage]Usage::get_required_usage_from: ret_val=[]

[epage]

For easier reproduction with cargo-script (with nargo being a wrapper around env -S cargo -Zscript

#!/usr/bin/env nargo
/*!
```cargo
[dependencies]
clap = { version = "4", features = ["derive"] }
clap_mangen = "0.2"
```
*/

use std::io::Write;

use clap::{CommandFactory, Parser};

/// *shotman* takes a screenshot and shows it in a small floating thumbnail window.
///
/// Screenshots are saved immediately. The first of the following locations that is
/// defined is used (i.e.: if the environment variable is undefined, the next one on
/// the list is used).
///
/// - _$XDG_SCREENSHOTS_DIR/_
/// - _$XDG_PICTURES_DIR/screenshots/_
/// - _$HOME/screenshots/_
/// - The current directory.
///
/// *shotman* requires a compositor that supports *wlr_screencopy* and
/// *wlr_layer_shell*.
#[derive(Parser)]
#[clap(author, about, long_about, verbatim_doc_comment)]
pub struct Cli {}

fn main() {
    Cli::parse();
    let man = clap_mangen::Man::new(Cli::command());
    let mut buffer: Vec<u8> = Default::default();
    man.render_title(&mut buffer)
        .expect("Render man page to buffer");
    man.render_name_section(&mut buffer)
        .expect("Render man page to buffer");
    man.render_synopsis_section(&mut buffer)
        .expect("Render man page to buffer");
    man.render_description_section(&mut buffer)
        .expect("Render man page to buffer");

    let stdout = std::io::stdout();
    stdout
        .lock()
        .write_all(&buffer)
        .expect("Write buffer with rendered manpage to stdout");
}

[epage]

The --help output

*shotman* takes a screenshot and shows it in a small floating thumbnail window.

Screenshots are saved immediately. The first of the following locations that is
defined is used (i.e.: if the environment variable is undefined, the next one on
the list is used).

- _$XDG_SCREENSHOTS_DIR/_
- _$XDG_PICTURES_DIR/screenshots/_
- _$HOME/screenshots/_
- The current directory.

*shotman* requires a compositor that supports *wlr_screencopy* and
*wlr_layer_shell*.

Usage: clap-5003

Options:
  -h, --help
          Print help (see a summary with '-h')

[epage]

The ROFF

.ie \n(.g .ds Aq \(aq
.el .ds Aq '
.TH clap-5003 1  "clap-5003 "
.ie \n(.g .ds Aq \(aq
.el .ds Aq '
.SH NAME
clap\-5003 \- *shotman* takes a screenshot and shows it in a small floating thumbnail window.
.ie \n(.g .ds Aq \(aq
.el .ds Aq '
.SH SYNOPSIS
\fBclap\-5003\fR [\fB\-h\fR|\fB\-\-help\fR]
.ie \n(.g .ds Aq \(aq
.el .ds Aq '
.SH DESCRIPTION
*shotman* takes a screenshot and shows it in a small floating thumbnail window.
.PP
Screenshots are saved immediately. The first of the following locations that is
defined is used (i.e.: if the environment variable is undefined, the next one on
the list is used).
.PP
\- _$XDG_SCREENSHOTS_DIR/_
\- _$XDG_PICTURES_DIR/screenshots/_
\- _$HOME/screenshots/_
\- The current directory.
.PP
*shotman* requires a compositor that supports *wlr_screencopy* and
*wlr_layer_shell*.

[epage]

An approx of what the man page looks like

  1 clap-5003(1)                                  General Commands Manual                                  clap-5003(>
  2
  3 NAME
  4        clap-5003 - *shotman* takes a screenshot and shows it in a small floating thumbnail window.
  5
  6 SYNOPSIS
  7        clap-5003 [-h|--help]
  8
  9 DESCRIPTION
 10        *shotman* takes a screenshot and shows it in a small floating thumbnail window.
 11
 12        Screenshots  are  saved  immediately. The first of the following locations that is defined is used (i.e.: >
 13        the environment variable is undefined, the next one on the list is used).
 14
 15        - _$XDG_SCREENSHOTS_DIR/_ - _$XDG_PICTURES_DIR/screenshots/_ - _$HOME/screenshots/_ - The current director>
 16
 17        *shotman* requires a compositor that supports *wlr_screencopy* and *wlr_layer_shell*.

[epage]

Based on --help, I feel like verbatim_doc_comment is doing what it says. The only question is about clap_mangens behavior of only inserting paragraph markers on blank lines which is independent of any derive behavior.

The challenge is knowing hard line breaks from soft line breaks

[WhyNotHugo]

I think that you're right; strictly speaking, verbatim_doc_comment is doing what it says.

I expected verbatim_doc_comment to apply for clap_mangen in the same way it applies to --help. It really doesn't make sense that it would apply to one and not the other since that means parsing the exact same text with different rules for both usages.

Do you have any thoughts here? Should verbatim_doc_comment also apply to clap_mangen, or should some new/different flag be used instead?

[epage]

I lean towards keeping verbatim_doc_comment as a derive-only concern.

We could add a clap_mangen setting that is verbatim-ish. This would most likely be blocked on the in-work plugin system being made public so we can add this config to an Arg without clap knowing about clap_mangen-specific behavior.