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From: Grant Edwards <grant.b.edwards@gmail.com>
Newsgroups: comp.lang.python
Subject: Re: What should Python apps do when asked to show help?
Date: Thu, 28 Apr 2016 19:39:19 +0000 (UTC)
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On 2016-04-28, Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> wrote:
> Grant Edwards <grant.b.edwards@gmail.com>:
>
>> On 2016-04-28, Random832 <random832@fastmail.com> wrote:
>>> One disadvantage is that you have to compose two forms of
>>> documentation.
>>
>> Only if you want two forms of documentation.
>>
>> If you add an option to run the help info through a pager, I don't see
>> how that requires you to compose two forms for documentation. If you
>> want both plaintext and video help, then yes you'll have to prepare
>> two forms of documentation.
>
> I wouldn't want --help to output a reference manual.
>
> Consider GNU tar:
>
>   tar --help   ==>   a list of options
>   man tar      ==>   a description of the command and the options
>   info tar     ==>   a user manual

That's fine.  If you want two or three forms of documentation then you
prepare two or three forms of documentation.

Adding an option to run the default 'help' output through a pager or
display it in a web browser doesn't somehow force you "to compose two
forms of documentation" unless you want two forms of documentation.

-- 
Grant Edwards               grant.b.edwards        Yow! A dwarf is passing out
                                  at               somewhere in Detroit!
                              gmail.com