From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.0 (2014-02-07) on dcvr.yhbt.net X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-ASN: AS31976 209.132.180.0/23 X-Spam-Status: No, score=-3.2 required=3.0 tests=AWL,BAYES_00, HEADER_FROM_DIFFERENT_DOMAINS,RCVD_IN_DNSWL_HI,RP_MATCHES_RCVD shortcircuit=no autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.0 Received: from vger.kernel.org (vger.kernel.org [209.132.180.67]) by dcvr.yhbt.net (Postfix) with ESMTP id 1750C1F43C for ; Mon, 13 Nov 2017 09:22:54 +0000 (UTC) Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S1751210AbdKMJWv (ORCPT ); Mon, 13 Nov 2017 04:22:51 -0500 Received: from cpanel2.indieserve.net ([199.212.143.6]:38073 "EHLO cpanel2.indieserve.net" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1751012AbdKMJWu (ORCPT ); Mon, 13 Nov 2017 04:22:50 -0500 Received: from cpec03f0ed08c7f-cm68b6fcf980b0.cpe.net.cable.rogers.com ([174.118.92.171]:60392 helo=localhost.localdomain) by cpanel2.indieserve.net with esmtpsa (TLSv1.2:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:256) (Exim 4.89) (envelope-from ) id 1eEAx7-00043b-4L; Mon, 13 Nov 2017 04:22:49 -0500 Date: Mon, 13 Nov 2017 04:22:22 -0500 (EST) From: "Robert P. J. Day" X-X-Sender: rpjday@localhost.localdomain To: Junio C Hamano cc: Git Mailing list Subject: Re: [PATCH] doc: Remove explanation of "--" from several man pages In-Reply-To: Message-ID: References: User-Agent: Alpine 2.21 (LFD 202 2017-01-01) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII X-AntiAbuse: This header was added to track abuse, please include it with any abuse report X-AntiAbuse: Primary Hostname - cpanel2.indieserve.net X-AntiAbuse: Original Domain - vger.kernel.org X-AntiAbuse: Originator/Caller UID/GID - [47 12] / [47 12] X-AntiAbuse: Sender Address Domain - crashcourse.ca X-Get-Message-Sender-Via: cpanel2.indieserve.net: authenticated_id: rpjday+crashcourse.ca/only user confirmed/virtual account not confirmed X-Authenticated-Sender: cpanel2.indieserve.net: rpjday@crashcourse.ca X-Source: X-Source-Args: X-Source-Dir: Sender: git-owner@vger.kernel.org Precedence: bulk List-ID: X-Mailing-List: git@vger.kernel.org On Mon, 13 Nov 2017, Junio C Hamano wrote: > "Robert P. J. Day" writes: > > > There is no value in individual man pages explaining the purpose > > of the "--" separator. > > > > Signed-off-by: Robert P. J. Day > > > > --- > > > > unless every man page explains that option, it's pointless to > > have just *some* man pages explaining it, so might as well remove > > it from all of them. > > Please do not remove diffstat that format-patch gave you at this > point. While commenting on the hunk on "git add", I wanted to see > if you touched "git rm", and the diffstat at front _is_ the go-to > place to do so for reviewers. apologies, won't happen again. > > diff --git a/Documentation/git-add.txt b/Documentation/git-add.txt > > index b700beaff..69d625285 100644 > > --- a/Documentation/git-add.txt > > +++ b/Documentation/git-add.txt > > @@ -180,11 +180,6 @@ for "git add --no-all ...", i.e. ignored removed files. > > bit is only changed in the index, the files on disk are left > > unchanged. > > > > -\--:: > > - This option can be used to separate command-line options from > > - the list of files, (useful when filenames might be mistaken > > - for command-line options). > > - > > I do not think if this removal alone is a good idea. > > Before this can happen, the description for "--" in other pages, > (like gitcli(7), may need to be extended. Right now, gitcli's > mention of "--" is only about turning off disambiguation between > revs and pathspecs, and it does not cover this case > > $ >./--foo-bar > $ git add -- --foo-bar > > even though the description you are removing would have helped the > reader to understand why "--" is there. The hunk on "git rm" shares > the same issue. i don't see the problem here ... in the above, "--foobar" is clearly a pathspec. and if you think that's a special case that needs special explanation, then that argument surely applies to several other commands and their man pages. the main point here is that it's inconsistent to have *some* man pages explicitly explain "--" and not have *all* of them explain it. either they all should, or none of them should, and there's little value in suggesting that the occasional man page somehow deserves special treatment. > > Configuration > > ------------- > > diff --git a/Documentation/git-check-attr.txt b/Documentation/git-check-attr.txt > > index aa3b2bf2f..0ae2523e0 100644 > > --- a/Documentation/git-check-attr.txt > > +++ b/Documentation/git-check-attr.txt > > @@ -36,10 +36,6 @@ OPTIONS > > If `--stdin` is also given, input paths are separated > > with a NUL character instead of a linefeed character. > > > > -\--:: > > - Interpret all preceding arguments as attributes and all following > > - arguments as path names. > > - > > This also has a similar issue. "--" here is not between revs and > pathspecs but is between attributes and pathspecs. that can already be seen in the SYNOPSIS for that command, it does not require further explanation: SYNOPSIS git check-attr [-a | --all | attr...] [--] pathname... > > diff --git a/Documentation/git-ls-files.txt b/Documentation/git-ls-files.txt > > index d153c17e0..93ebb020c 100644 > > --- a/Documentation/git-ls-files.txt > > +++ b/Documentation/git-ls-files.txt > > @@ -171,9 +171,6 @@ Both the in the index ("i/") > > and in the working tree ("w/") are shown for regular files, > > followed by the ("attr/"). > > > > -\--:: > > - Do not interpret any more arguments as options. > > These removals would become a good idea, once we say that we would > use "--" to mean "you will not see any --flags after this point" (as > commonly seen in programs that are not Git) somewhere central like > gitcli(7). if you want to suggest some wording to make that happen, that would be great, but i'm standing by my opinion that there is no rationale for *any* man page explaining what "--" means when, as far as i can tell, it always means the same thing. rday -- ======================================================================== Robert P. J. Day Ottawa, Ontario, CANADA http://crashcourse.ca Twitter: http://twitter.com/rpjday LinkedIn: http://ca.linkedin.com/in/rpjday ========================================================================