[RFC] lei: rename proposed "query" command to "q", add JSON output

[Eric Wong <e@80x24.org>]

Kyle Meyer <kyle@kyleam.com> wrote:
> I also use notmuch (via its Emacs interface).  As someone that will
> probably write an Emacs interface for lei (as part of piem), an aspect
> of notmuch that I'd be grateful to see in lei is a structured output
> format for easier parsing and for conveying the thread layout.  `notmuch
> show' and `notmuch search' have json and S-expressions.  I wouldn't
> expect to see S-expressions coming out of lei :), but perhaps json would
> be on the table for `lei show' and `lei query' given that it's planned
> for $ls_format.

OK, before I forget, JSON is added.
And an extremely long message on why I want to type less :x
----------8<---------
Subject: [PATCH] lei: rename proposed "query" command to "q", add JSON output

Using "query" as a verb may be confusing when we'll also refer to
them as nouns with the "<ls|rm|mv>-query" sub commands.  "query"
is also many characters to type without tab-completion on what I
expect to be one of the most commonly used sub-commands

Furthermore, "q" is also the common query parameter name used by
our PSGI interface, as is the case with several major web search
engines; so there's an element of familiarity there.

The name "search" was disregarded because "show" could be a
commonly used lei sub-command, too, and typing "se" for
tab-completion may be slow since two-handed typists on QWERTY
keyboards won't be able to use alternating hands.

"f" or "find" could be a possibility here, too; but we're
currently using the term "forget" as a weaker version of
"remove" or "rm", though "ignore" could be substituted for
"forget", perhaps...

Kyle Meyer noted the lack of (proposed) JSON output support
so that's been added to the proposed UI.
---
 lib/PublicInbox/LEI.pm | 8 ++++----
 1 file changed, 4 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/lib/PublicInbox/LEI.pm b/lib/PublicInbox/LEI.pm
index b254e2c5..7002a1f7 100644
--- a/lib/PublicInbox/LEI.pm
+++ b/lib/PublicInbox/LEI.pm
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ sub _config_path ($) {
 # TODO: generate shell completion + help using %CMD and %OPTDESC
 # command => [ positional_args, 1-line description, Getopt::Long option spec ]
 our %CMD = ( # sorted in order of importance/use:
-'query' => [ 'SEARCH_TERMS...', 'search for messages matching terms', qw(
+'q' => [ 'SEARCH_TERMS...', 'search for messages matching terms', qw(
 	save-as=s output|o=s format|f=s dedupe|d=s thread|t augment|a
 	sort|s=s@ reverse|r offset=i remote local! extinbox!
 	since|after=s until|before=s), opt_dash('limit|n=i', '[0-9]+') ],
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ our %CMD = ( # sorted in order of importance/use:
 	'set/unset flags on message(s) from stdin',
 	qw(stdin| oid=s exact by-mid|mid:s) ],
 'forget' => [ '[--stdin|--oid=OID|--by-mid=MID]',
-	'exclude message(s) on stdin from query results',
+	"exclude message(s) on stdin from `q' search results",
 	qw(stdin| oid=s exact by-mid|mid:s quiet|q) ],
 
 'purge-mailsource' => [ '{URL_OR_PATHNAME|--all}',
@@ -175,7 +175,7 @@ my %OPTDESC = (
 'dedupe|d=s' => ['STRAT|content|oid|mid',
 		'deduplication strategy'],
 'show	thread|t' => 'display entire thread a message belongs to',
-'query	thread|t' =>
+'q	thread|t' =>
 	'return all messages in the same thread as the actual match(es)',
 'augment|a' => 'augment --output destination instead of clobbering',
 
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ my %OPTDESC = (
 			'message/object output format' ],
 'mark	format|f=s' => $stdin_formats,
 'forget	format|f=s' => $stdin_formats,
-'query	format|f=s' => [ 'OUT|maildir|mboxrd|mboxcl2|mboxcl|html|oid',
+'q	format|f=s' => [ 'OUT|maildir|mboxrd|mboxcl2|mboxcl|html|oid|json',
 		'specify output format, default depends on --output'],
 'ls-query	format|f=s' => $ls_format,
 'ls-extinbox	format|f=s' => $ls_format,