GNU bug report logs - #47533
bug in dejagnu 1.6.3-rc2

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Message #5 received at submit <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Tom Tromey <tromey <at> adacore.com>
To: bug-dejagnu <at> gnu.org
Subject: bug in dejagnu 1.6.3-rc2
Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2021 14:37:16 -0600

I tried dejagnu 1.6.3-rc2.  I ran "runtest" on a subset of the gdb test
suite, and this worked well.  Thank you.

I tried the new "dejagnu" command but noticed two things.

First in --help:

Usage: dejagnu <command> [--help|options...]
Usage: dejagnu --help
Usage: dejagnu --version
        --help			Print help text
        --version		Print DejaGnu version

The GNU norm is to use upper-case for "metasyntactic variables", so
normally it would say "dejagnu COMMAND [...]"

Second, either --help or running it without options should probably show
the available commands.

Third, the use of tabs in the output makes it a bit weird to quote.

thanks,
Tom

Message #8 received at 47533 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Jacob Bachmeyer <jcb62281 <at> gmail.com>
To: Tom Tromey <tromey <at> adacore.com>
Cc: 47533 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#47533: bug in dejagnu 1.6.3-rc2
Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2021 20:23:15 -0500

Tom Tromey wrote:
> I tried dejagnu 1.6.3-rc2.  I ran "runtest" on a subset of the gdb test
> suite, and this worked well.  Thank you.
>
> I tried the new "dejagnu" command but noticed two things.
>
> First in --help:
>
> Usage: dejagnu <command> [--help|options...]
> Usage: dejagnu --help
> Usage: dejagnu --version
>         --help			Print help text
>         --version		Print DejaGnu version
>
> The GNU norm is to use upper-case for "metasyntactic variables", so
> normally it would say "dejagnu COMMAND [...]"
>   

So how should that be written in GNU convention?
"dejagnu COMMAND [ --help | OPTIONS... ]"?
Is there a description of these conventions somewhere that I have missed 
or overlooked?

> Second, either --help or running it without options should probably show
> the available commands.
>   

This issue is PR33821.   It has not been implemented yet because we do 
not have enough commands to make evaluating an implementation practical.

> Third, the use of tabs in the output makes it a bit weird to quote.
>   

This was done for convenience, including that the help texts are 
actually read from the script files where they are "inset" using tabs.  
(The line "# ##help" in the dejagnu launcher script introduces its own 
help text.)  What problems does this cause?


-- Jacob

Message #11 received at 47533 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Tom Tromey <tromey <at> adacore.com>
To: Jacob Bachmeyer <jcb62281 <at> gmail.com>
Cc: 47533 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, Tom Tromey <tromey <at> adacore.com>
Subject: Re: bug#47533: bug in dejagnu 1.6.3-rc2
Date: Thu, 01 Apr 2021 07:30:53 -0600

>> Usage: dejagnu <command> [--help|options...]

Jacob> So how should that be written in GNU convention?
Jacob> "dejagnu COMMAND [ --help | OPTIONS... ]"?

Yeah.

Jacob> Is there a description of these conventions somewhere that I have
Jacob> missed or overlooked?

I think it's a convention based on the commenting convention:

https://www.gnu.org/prep/standards/html_node/Comments.html#Comments

>> Third, the use of tabs in the output makes it a bit weird to quote.

Jacob> This was done for convenience, including that the help texts are
Jacob> actually read from the script files where they are "inset" using tabs.  
Jacob> (The line "# ##help" in the dejagnu launcher script introduces its own
Jacob> help text.)  What problems does this cause?

None, it just looks unusual and then when I pasted it into the email, it
indented very weirdly as well.

Tom

Message #16 received at 47533-done <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Jacob Bachmeyer <jcb62281 <at> gmail.com>
To: Tom Tromey <tromey <at> adacore.com>
Cc: 47533-done <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#47533: bug in dejagnu 1.6.3-rc2
Date: Thu, 01 Apr 2021 18:14:05 -0500

Tom Tromey wrote:
>>> Usage: dejagnu <command> [--help|options...]
>>>       
>
> Jacob> So how should that be written in GNU convention?
> Jacob> "dejagnu COMMAND [ --help | OPTIONS... ]"?
>
> Yeah.
>   

Fixed in commit ea9642561c3f410dfb9f1362bc61fdf4e499b7f4 on the 
dejagnu-1.6.3 branch.

>>> Third, the use of tabs in the output makes it a bit weird to quote.
>>>       
>
> Jacob> This was done for convenience, including that the help texts are
> Jacob> actually read from the script files where they are "inset" using tabs.  
> Jacob> (The line "# ##help" in the dejagnu launcher script introduces its own
> Jacob> help text.)  What problems does this cause?
>
> None, it just looks unusual and then when I pasted it into the email, it
> indented very weirdly as well.

The "weird" indentation (unaffected by a small bit of left-edge text) is 
intentional in the script files, since the help messages are embedded in 
comments there.  I will consider possibly expanding tabs on output in a 
future version but this is not really a bug right now.


-- Jacob

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