<para>Each command line is split on whitespace, with the first item being the command to
execute, and the subsequent items being the arguments. Double quotes ("…") and single quotes
- ('…') may be used, in which case everything until the next matching quote becomes part of the
- same argument. Quotes themselves are removed. C-style escapes are also supported. The table
- below contains the list of known escape patterns. Only escape patterns which match the syntax in
- the table are allowed; other patterns may be added in the future and unknown patterns will
- result in a warning. In particular, any backslashes should be doubled. Finally, a trailing
- backslash (<literal>\</literal>) may be used to merge lines.</para>
+ ('…') may be used to wrap a whole item (the opening quote may appear only at the beginning or
+ after whitespace that is not quoted, and the closing quote must be followed by whitespace or the
+ end of line), in which case everything until the next matching quote becomes part of the same
+ argument. Quotes themselves are removed. C-style escapes are also supported. The table below
+ contains the list of known escape patterns. Only escape patterns which match the syntax in the
+ table are allowed; other patterns may be added in the future and unknown patterns will result in
+ a warning. In particular, any backslashes should be doubled. Finally, a trailing backslash
+ (<literal>\</literal>) may be used to merge lines.</para>
<para>This syntax is inspired by shell syntax, but only the meta-characters and expansions
described in the following paragraphs are understood, and the expansion of variables is