[bug #61710] [me] $v and $V are in the wrong namespace

[G. Branden Robinson]

Follow-up Comment #10, bug #61710 (project groff):

[comment #8 comment #8:]
> [comment #4 comment #4:]
> > Yes, and registers `fv`, `pv`, `qv`, `sv`, tv` are not
> > implemented to manage the vertical spacing of the various
> > contextual type faces.
> > 
> > Should they be?  Happily, all five names are available.
> > 
> > This would make me(7)'s design more orthogonal, the cost of
> > five registers that will seldom be used (because having the
> > vertical spacing be proportional to the type size is
> > frequently what is desired), and for the sake of backward
> > compatibility we'll have to retain `sz` own
> > non-orthogonality which will stand out all the more.
> 
> Hold on, let me make sure I understand this proposal.  Are you
> saying the five new \*v registers would be, like their \*p
> counterparts, specified in points (or other size units)?

Yes.

> I ask because, as you note, making vertical spacing
> proportional to the type size is common.

Yes, but the mechanism of getting that proportionality is, in
*roff, typically left up to the user.  In other words, they
specify 10-on-12 with ".ps 10" and ".vs 12".

I'm not saying the 120% proportionality thing isn't a nice
feature--it's just that it's a PITA to integrate, maintain, and
test (nroff and "groff -a" are no help).

> So the user who currently sets $v to, say, 140 (a percentage),
> at the top of a document, can forget about it thereafter, and
> change pp a dozen times over the course of the document,
> knowing that the leading will follow the type size.  If the
> new pv register is also a percentage, then the transition from
> $v to pv is easy.  But if pv is a fixed size, and $v goes
> away, the migration has gotten a lot more complicated for this
> user.

Yes.  The thing is that I have no reason to suspect that all
that many me(7) users mess with setting `$v` or `$V` at all,
ever, in the first place.

Hence my proposal do something radical for 1.23.0-rc2, with
release notes that take notice of the change.  I'm hoping to
flush out people who truly rely on this groffism.


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