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Branden Robinson" To: Alejandro Colomar Cc: Douglas McIlroy , linux-man@vger.kernel.org Subject: Re: syntax of options in man1 Message-ID: <20260716155544.o7fx7ecnpjj5sdai@illithid> References: Precedence: bulk X-Mailing-List: linux-man@vger.kernel.org List-Id: List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/signed; micalg=pgp-sha256; protocol="application/pgp-signature"; boundary="kt7qyvgopv62zwat" Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: --kt7qyvgopv62zwat Content-Type: text/plain; protected-headers=v1; charset=utf-8 Content-Disposition: inline Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Subject: Re: syntax of options in man1 MIME-Version: 1.0 Hi Alex, At 2026-07-16T16:45:16+0200, Alejandro Colomar wrote: > On 2026-07-16T09:46:25-0400, Douglas McIlroy wrote: > > Here's a typical option heading (from tail(1)) > > * -n, --lines=3D[+]NUM* > >=20 > > It is tempting to assume (incorrectly) that the short alternative is > > -n=3D4. As far as I can tell, the convention that "=3D" is part of only > > the long alternative is described nowhere. >=20 > Agree. I've had that concern for a long time. That's why I recommend a somewhat different presentation format. Illustration: $ cat ATTIC/tail.man =2ETH tail 1 2026-07-16 "groff test suite" =2ESH Name tail \- a porcine corkscrew =2ESH Description Print the last 10 lines of each =2EI file to standard output. =2ESH Options =2ETP =2EBR \-\-lines=3D [ + ]\c =2EIR num =2ETQ =2EBR \-n\~ [ + ]\c =2EIR num Print the last =2EI num lines instead. =2E Prefixing =2EI num with =2ERB \[lq] + \[rq] prints all lines from =2EI num forward. Rendering: $ nroff -rLL=3D72n -P -c -man ATTIC/tail.man tail(1) General Commands Manual tail(1) Name tail - a porcine corkscrew Description Print the last 10 lines of each file to standard output. Options --lines=3D[+]num -n [+]num Print the last num lines instead. Prefixing num with =E2=80= =9C+=E2=80=9D prints all lines from num forward. groff test suite 2026=E2=80=9007=E2=80=9016 = tail(1) Regards, Branden --kt7qyvgopv62zwat Content-Type: application/pgp-signature; name="signature.asc" -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- iQIzBAABCAAdFiEEh3PWHWjjDgcrENwa0Z6cfXEmbc4FAmpY/vgACgkQ0Z6cfXEm bc5S2w/+OxKExRDwlrTC0EspLkNy2A9wJoqJinrr+v/PZqehlOWb6GoRwBN/mdpO meK+dOINiuzevg1ntAR9YngYkldPzZpHPVwISHW5jUr+KllPtNJiIQ9eP7XMOebk SpudGClpjjwcoWvU2B9JYKThJisKjg/yppqTn8/+vSSE15sMAOCVb+F6N/9O47Xc WOxbXUaNwvrjgG4HyXpM0lrbH9MbdoYyBNDStELUpxD+Fv9pPTxdc+arYFYaUEhM K8aMmveFdr7sSKtQVJFLW9vC/3Og9a5+GEDjZN1rXWshaG/vNmh8l5RMw65UllSA YdR359Jbw4s3Ip8SdTua5KyzyC04MrFr2w3ZNwDOVAoMdx7/uq4rYDC6lvR1B2Bm 6HeKA4qwZktolmkdLLPgJoBMyuq3giEkUBZ6flWly1z87Us07mEFNKBGb5Z6wzx0 cU8pMdkvN9IxUDe0A011j1HSMmYgzHZa2I4wO0je5XL+OIAKN0gyVytpSbm9ApCf VTSdJ5BgU8Q18BqiDh5xIiouqwvtMy/T8Zxk2yDdVb3NepTeaNl2TNFAg9qTkb5j Q5LAYTiM1N8IL3YwdcnpuvWXJuQD6tEAN9XOPAh7HLTSfyfLZImSjjayVt5Iyqhi 28tm/1PTlBdLIQBq6ZcfFPhq08sD65NVl2Ey0p1AUx2fA2WNL1w= =i6dL -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- --kt7qyvgopv62zwat--