Hi!

When apt is printing Suggested Packages section, some entries include an unexpected "|" symbol. This could be due to some mishandling of the
Suggests: field contents.

[...]

Unfortunately reproducing the bug is not that easy as it may require a certain package upgrade combination.

Reproduction may require certain package upgrade combination, and
specific terminal sizes. I managed to reproduce a similar behaviour
in my X terminal emulator. I hope that text in this mail won't be
wrapped...



A. Info about apt/OS

acerion@debian:~$ apt --version
apt 3.0.1 (amd64)
acerion@debian:~$ grep CODENAME /etc/os-release
VERSION_CODENAME=trixie



B. scenario with terminal size #1, where '|' characters are showing "alternatives" in suggested packages' list in unambiguous way.

acerion@debian:~$ stty size
32 146
acerion@debian:~$ sudo apt install ant
Installing:
ant

Installing dependencies:
ant-optional default-jre-headless libavahi-client3 libavahi-common3 libnspr4 libpcsclite1
ca-certificates-java java-common libavahi-common-data libcups2t64 libnss3 openjdk-21-jre-headless

Suggested packages:
ant-doc junit libcommons-logging-java liblog4j1.2-java default-jre fonts-ipafont-mincho
default-jdk junit4 libcommons-net-java liboro-java cups-common fonts-wqy-microhei
| java-compiler jython libmail-java libregexp-java pcscd | fonts-wqy-zenhei
| java-sdk libactivation-java libjaxp1.3-java libxalan2-java libnss-mdns fonts-indic
antlr libbcel-java libjdepend-java libxml-commons-resolver1.1-java fonts-dejavu-extra
javacc libbsf-java libjsch-java libxz-java fonts-ipafont-gothic

Summary:
Upgrading: 0, Installing: 13, Removing: 0, Not Upgrading: 15
Download size: 44.9 MB / 46.4 MB
Space needed: 213 MB / 2,152 MB available

Continue? [Y/n]

In this case it's easy to recognize that fonts-wqy-zenhei is an
alternative to fonts-wqy-microhei because both packages are in a single
column. Alternative of package X is shown directly under X.




C. scenario with terminal size #2, where usage of '|' character may
lead to confusion.

acerion@debian:~$ stty size
40 190
acerion@debian:~$ sudo apt install ant
Installing:
ant

Installing dependencies:
ant-optional default-jre-headless libavahi-client3 libavahi-common3 libnspr4 libpcsclite1
ca-certificates-java java-common libavahi-common-data libcups2t64 libnss3 openjdk-21-jre-headless

Suggested packages:
ant-doc antlr jython libcommons-logging-java libjdepend-java libregexp-java default-jre fonts-dejavu-extra | fonts-wqy-zenhei
default-jdk javacc libactivation-java libcommons-net-java libjsch-java libxalan2-java cups-common fonts-ipafont-gothic fonts-indic
| java-compiler junit libbcel-java libmail-java liblog4j1.2-java libxml-commons-resolver1.1-java pcscd fonts-ipafont-mincho
| java-sdk junit4 libbsf-java libjaxp1.3-java liboro-java libxz-java libnss-mdns fonts-wqy-microhei

Summary:
Upgrading: 0, Installing: 13, Removing: 0, Not Upgrading: 15
Download size: 44.9 MB / 46.4 MB
Space needed: 213 MB / 2,152 MB available

Continue? [Y/n]

Here package fonts-wqy-microhei and its alternative fonts-wqy-zenhei are
shown in two different columns. The '|' character doesn't directly
point to another package *above*, because there is no "above" to speak of.




I can't tell if this behaviour is an error, or just my mis-understanding
of meaning of '|' character.

Kamil

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