Argtype descriptions name a literal parameter's cost, a phase's error is the phase's report, the ^-code table's grave-accent and dieresis rows (from dev ee86ca467512)

README.md

@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ are regenerated on each release — patches cannot be merged directly.
 Report problems (or send patches) to the author; accepted changes are
 applied to the development tree and appear in a following snapshot.
 
-This snapshot was assembled from development commit `831455f36fcd`.
+This snapshot was assembled from development commit `ee86ca467512`.
 
 ## License
 

mac/argtype_registry.h

@@ -87,7 +87,18 @@ std::vector<std::tuple<std::string, std::string, std::string, std::string, modif
       R"((?:.|\n)*)", R"((lambda s : __import__("kutil").rest_split(s, N)))",
       nullptr },
 
-    { "literal", "literal text passed without interpretation",
+    // A description is Klammertext source (desc.klammertext in
+    // Argtype_registry::parameters()), rendered by ref/ for kdesc --argtypes:
+    // a special it mentions is caret-quoted (^@c), and it is one line, since
+    // the programmer's dump (kdiag --machine) shows the first line only.
+    // kdesc --argtypes is where klammertext_description.md sends a reader
+    // for the argtypes, so the practical consequence of declaring a literal
+    // parameter -- the named close -- is stated here, not only on @c
+    // (TODO 76, 2026-10-13).
+    { "literal", "literal text passed without interpretation; a klammer with a "
+      "literal parameter (always its last positional one) is closed by its "
+      "name, as ^@c ... c^@ is, because the content may hold ^@ and the end "
+      "cannot be found by counting",
       R"((?:.|\n)*)", "str",
       pyformat_string },
 
@@ -97,7 +108,10 @@ std::vector<std::tuple<std::string, std::string, std::string, std::string, modif
     // has its "^" forms processed as the value is built, this keeps them:
     // "^@date" stays "^@date", so it re-reads as the text "@date" rather
     // than as a klammer application.  (2026-09-13)
-    { "klammertext", "Klammertext source, kept exactly as written",
+    { "klammertext", "Klammertext source, kept exactly as written, for a "
+      "description a Machine renders later: unlike literal, the quoting "
+      "carets are kept, so a quoted klammer stays quoted when the text is "
+      "read again, and no named close is required",
       R"((?:.|\n)*)", "str",
       pyformat_string },
 };

mac/character.h

@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ std::map<std::string, std::pair<std::string, std::string>> diacritics {
     {"h", {"0302", "circumflex (hat)"}},
     {"~", {"0303", "tilde"}},
     {"-", {"0304", "macron"}},
-    {"\"", {"0308", "diaresis"}},
+    {"\"", {"0308", "dieresis"}},
 //   {"v", {"0305", "vinculum"}},
     {"b", {"0306", "breve"}},
     {"d", {"0307", "dot above"}},

mac/eval.h

@@ -36,3 +36,12 @@ public:
     Machine m_machine;
     Locator m_loc;
 };
+
+// The Python exception the last fetch saw (Eval_python::fetch_python_exception):
+// its type name and its str().  The Error that fetch produces carries the
+// whole traceback; a caller that wants the exception's OWN words for a
+// headline -- Machine::run_phase_functions, reporting a phase's ValueError
+// as the phase's message about the document -- reads these.  Declared here
+// so machine.cpp needs no Python header.  (TODO 77, 2026-10-13)
+std::string last_python_exception_type();
+std::string last_python_exception_text();

mac/eval_python.cpp

@@ -6,6 +6,12 @@
 std::regex Eval_python::statement_delimiter("\\s*;\\s*");
 PyObject* Eval_python::s_last_exception = nullptr;
 
+// See eval.h.  Set by fetch_python_exception(), beside the object it keeps.
+static std::string s_last_exception_type {};
+static std::string s_last_exception_text {};
+std::string last_python_exception_type() { return s_last_exception_type; }
+std::string last_python_exception_text() { return s_last_exception_text; }
+
 static bool s_python_output_to_log = false;
 
 void set_python_output_to_log(bool on)
@@ -226,6 +232,9 @@ std::string Eval_python::fetch_python_exception()
         detail = PyUnicode_AsUTF8(str);
         Py_DECREF(str);
     }
+    s_last_exception_text = detail;
+    s_last_exception_type =
+        ptype ? reinterpret_cast<PyTypeObject*>(ptype)->tp_name : "";
     PyObject* tb_module = PyImport_ImportModule("traceback");
     if (tb_module) {
         PyObject* format = PyObject_GetAttrString(tb_module, "format_exception");

mac/machine.cpp

@@ -909,7 +909,9 @@ std::string Machine::run_phase_functions()
             // result text. The Eval is constructed per phase so a chained
             // phase sees its predecessor's result in K_result.
             Eval E(*this, Locator());
-            if (!f.empty() && f[0] != ':') {
+            const std::string spec = f;
+            const bool python_phase = !f.empty() && f[0] != ':';
+            if (python_phase) {
                 // K reaches a phase only as a parameter: the state's
                 // "class K" exists in the EVAL's globals (python_code()
                 // defines it), but a phase function's body resolves names in
@@ -929,7 +931,30 @@ std::string Machine::run_phase_functions()
             // Klammertext: take the raw result string.  Re-reading it as
             // Klammertext (Eval::eval) would misparse target characters --
             // e.g. a "@" from a quoted ^@ in justified txt output.
-            m_result = E.eval_command(katoms.begin(), katoms.end() - 2);
+            try {
+                m_result = E.eval_command(katoms.begin(), katoms.end() - 2);
+            } catch (const Parsing_error& e) {
+                // A Python phase's exception is the phase's report about the
+                // document, not a parsing error at "phase, line 1": a phase
+                // raises ValueError to say what is wrong (phases.
+                // check_section_links), and that message is what the user
+                // needs headlined, located nowhere -- the phase ran over the
+                // whole target text, so no line is the place.  Any other
+                // exception type is a fault in the phase itself and keeps
+                // its type name.  The traceback the Parsing_error carried is
+                // the trace, at -v 2.  (TODO 77, 2026-10-13)
+                if (!python_phase) throw;
+                (void)K::log(2, e.m_desc);
+                std::string what = last_python_exception_text();
+                const std::string type = last_python_exception_type();
+                if (what.empty()) throw;
+                if (type != "ValueError") what = type + ": " + what;
+                throw Target_error(
+                    what + "\n\n(Reported by the " + m_state.value("K_target")
+                    + " target's phase " + spec
+                    + "; -v 2 shows the Python traceback.)",
+                    Locator::none());
+            }
         }
     }
     return m_result;

ref/reflect.cpp

@@ -39,6 +39,9 @@ std::string diacritics_examples([[maybe_unused]] Machine& machine)
         if (sym == "~") {
             written = "^" + letter + "^~";
         }
+        if (sym == "`") {
+            written = "^" + letter + "^`";
+        }
         std::string display = "^" + letter + sym;
         kt << display << " | @t ^" << written << " @ | " << name << " ||\n";
     }