I don't think you can unambiguously state the
user's intention there.
It could just as easily be:
;Ratio: 3:1
In that example, there are non-whitespace characters between the two
colons, whereas in my example, it was just whitespace.
So I guess my question is, why should newline be special? That is,
why would these two examples render differently:
;Term: : Definition
;Term:
: Definition
-- Jim
On Jan 30, 2008 8:49 PM, Steve Bennett <stevagewp(a)gmail.com> wrote:
> On 1/31/08, Jim Wilson <wilson.jim.r(a)gmail.com> wrote:
> > Would the change also include something to handle the case where a
> > one-liner definition contains an intended literal colon? For example:
> >
> > ;Term: : Definition
> >
> > In that case, the user really probably intendes a colon to trail
> > "Term" in the resulting <dt>, but today that colon gets
prepended
> > instead as a literal to the Definition underneath.
>
I don't think you can unambiguously state the
user's intention there.
It could just as easily be:
;Ratio: 3:1
>
> or something. If I'm not mistaken, this is the only place in the
> syntax where a single character other than pipe has meaning in the
> middle of plain text like this. Ambiguity is almost unavoidable.
>
> Anyway, I have, as requested, found examples of trailing colons. These
> from Wikiversity:
>
> Bloom Clock_2006 data.txt:;''[[w:Clematis virginiana|Clematis
virginiana]]'' (De
> vil's darning-needle):
> Bloom Clock_2006 data.txt:;''[[w:Rudbeckia fulgida|Rudbeckia
fulgida]]'' (Black-
> eyed Susan, Orange coneflower):
> Help_Wiki markup examples.txt:;[[w:newline|Newline]]:
> Help_Wiki markup examples.txt:;Dates:
> Help_Wiki markup examples.txt:;Example:
> Help_Wiki markup examples.txt:;typewriter font:
> Help_Wiki markup examples.txt:;Show special character codes:
> Wikiversity_Register Language of Interest.txt:;Links to existing Wikiversity Sit
> es:
>
> (underscores in filenames often mean colons, so for example the fourth
> example is the text ";Dates:" in [[Help:Wiki markup examples]])
>
> Searching en wikisource, 460 examples turn up:
>
> ; Article 7 (Education). :
> ; Article 9 (Freedom of association). :
> ; Article 10 (Privacy of letters, posts, and telecommunications
> amended 24 June 1968). :
>
> ...
> ;THE GRAND JURY CHARGES:
> ;Coro:
> ;Chorus:
> ;Estrofa I:
> ...
> ;GOLDBERG, SPECIAL TRIAL JUDGE:
> ;NORMA HOLLOWAY JOHNSON, District Judge:
> ;Epilogue:
> ;Editions:
> ; Speakers:
> ;What Happens if the Three Elements Are Not Received Together:
> ;Renewal Registration:
> ...
>
> In Wikibooks there are 770 examples.
> ;Characteristics of the ''petiole'':
> ;Arrangement of the veins ('''venation'''):
> ;Add:To add two numbers, we take the modulo-2 of the result. Here is a
> truth table for an add operation:
> ;Multiply:Multiplication in modulo 2 happens normally, and no new
> operator needs to be defined. Here is the truth table for a
> multiplication operation:
> ;Target Audience:
> ;Scope:
> ;Prerequisites:
>
>
> IMHO, all of these ought to be rendered with a literal final colon.
> There's no reason to think the author deliberately intended a
> meaningless character to render as ... nothing.
>
>
> Steve
>
> _______________________________________________
> Wikitech-l mailing list
> Wikitech-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
>
http://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l
>