bzr <cmd> help -- Synopsis syntax should follow de facto conventions
Jari Aalto
jari.aalto at cante.net
Wed Sep 20 12:25:21 BST 2006
Please take a moment to review all help texts to next release. Take
for an example:
$ bzr help checkout
usage: bzr checkout [BRANCH_LOCATION] [TO_LOCATION]
aliases: co
Create a new checkout of an existing branch.
If BRANCH_LOCATION is omitted, checkout will reconstitute a working tree for
the branch found in '.'. This is useful if you have removed the working tree
or if it was never created - i.e. if you pushed the branch to its current
location using SFTP.
While the text explains it, the Synopsis reads:
usage: bzr checkout [BRANCH_LOCATION] [TO_LOCATION]
which would suggest that both parameters are optional. In Unix manul
page parlance (de facto) it is customary to use syntax:
<required>
{required}
REQUIRED
[optional]
So I'd write the above like:
usage: bzr checkout <BRANCH_LOCATION> [TO_LOCATION]
Or by using {BRANCH_LOCATION} if that is more to one's style.
Jari
More information about the bazaar
mailing list