Is there a “standard” format for command line/shel

问题:

If not, is there a de facto standard? Basically I'm writing a command line help text like so:

usage: app_name [options] required_input required_input2
  options:
    -a, --argument     Does something
    -b required     Does something with "required"
    -c, --command required     Something else
    -d [optlistitem1 optlistitem 2 ... ]     Something with list

I made that from basically just reading the help text of various tools, but is there a list of guidelines or something? For example, do I use square brackets or parentheses? How to use spacing? What if the argument is a list? Thanks!

回答1:

Typically, your help output should include:

• Description of what the app does
• Usage syntax, which:
  • Uses [options] to indicate where the options go
  • arg_name for a required, singular arg
  • [arg_name] for an optional, singular arg
  • arg_name… for a required arg of which there can be many (this is rare)
  • [arg_name…] for an arg for which any number can be supplied
  • note that arg_name should be a descriptive, short name, in lower, snake case
• A nicely-formatted list of options, each:
  • having a short description
  • showing the default value, if there is one
  • showing the possible values, if that applies
  • Note that if an option can accept a short form (e.g. -l) or a long form (e.g. --list), include them together on the same line, as their descriptions will be the same
• Brief indicator of the location of config files or environment variables that might be the source of command line arguments, e.g. GREP_OPTS
• If there is a man page, indicate as such, otherwise, a brief indicator of where more detailed help can be found

Note further that it's good form to accept both -h and --help to trigger this message and that you should show this message if the user messes up the command-line syntax, e.g. omits a required argument.

回答2:

Take a look at docopt. It is a formal standard for documenting (and automatically parsing) command line arguments.

For example...

Usage:
  my_program command --option <argument>
  my_program [<optional-argument>]
  my_program --another-option=<with-argument>
  my_program (--either-that-option | <or-this-argument>)
  my_program <repeating-argument> <repeating-argument>...

回答3:

Microsoft has a Command-Line Syntax

• Text without brackets or braces

  Items you must type as shown
  
  

• <Text inside angle brackets>

  Placeholder for which you must supply a value
  
  

• [Text inside square brackets]

  Optional items
  
  

• {Text inside braces}

  Set of required items; choose one
  
  

• Vertical bar (|)

  Separator for mutually exclusive items; choose one
  
  

• Ellipsis (…)

  Items that can be repeated
  
  

回答4:

We are running Linux, a mostly POSIX-compliant OS. POSIX standards it should be: Utility Argument Syntax.

回答5:

The GNU Coding Standard is a good reference for things like this. This section deals with the output of --help. In this case it is not very specific. You probably can't go wrong with printing a table showing the short and long options and a succinct description. Try to get the spacing between all arguments right for readability. You probably want to provide a man page (and possibly an info manual) for your tool to provide a more elaborate explanation.

回答6:

Microsoft has their own Command Line Standard specification:

This document is focused at developers of command line utilities. Collectively, our goal is to present a consistent, composable command line user experience. Achieving that allows a user to learn a core set of concepts (syntax, naming, behaviors, etc) and then be able to translate that knowledge into working with a large set of commands. Those commands should be able to output standardized streams of data in a standardized format to allow easy composition without the burden of parsing streams of output text. This document is written to be independent of any specific implementation of a shell, set of utilities or command creation technologies; however, Appendix J - Using Windows Powershell to implement the Microsoft Command Line Standard shows how using Windows PowerShell will provide implementation of many of these guidelines for free.

回答7:

yes, you're on the right track.

yes, square brackets are the usual indicator for optional items.

Typically, as you have sketched out, there is a commandline summary at the top, followed by details, ideally with samples for each option. (Your example shows lines in between each option description, but I assume that is an editing issue, and that your real program outputs indented option listings with no blank lines in between. This would be the standard to follow in any case.)

A newer trend, (maybe there is a POSIX specification that addresses this?), is the elimination of the man page system for documentation, and including all information that would be in a manpage as part of the program --help output. This extra will include longer descriptions, concepts explained, usage samples, known limitations and bugs, how to report a bug, and possibly a 'see also' section for related commands.

I hope this helps.

回答8:

I would follow official projects like tar as an example. In my opinion help msg. needs to be simple and descriptive as possible. Examples of use are good too. There is no real need for "standard help".