On Mon, Jul 15, 2013 at 07:53:04PM +0200, Jan Stary wrote:
> Some of the manpages, e.g. crontab(1),
> markup the folklore phrase
>
> named file, or standard input
> if the pseudo-filename `-' is given
>
> as
>
> named file, or standard input
> if the pseudo-filename
> .Sq Fl
> is given.
>
> Is this correct semantic markup? IMHO not:
> it just abuses the fact that the flags (Fl)
> happen to start with a dash; but that's not
> what is meant here; this is not a flag;
> it is the literal dash that is recognized
> in place of a filename.
>
> So I believe it should be simply
>
> .Sq -
>
> Right?
>
> The diff below replaces those occurences
> that a grep revealed for me in /usr/share/man;
> Another grep reveals that most other manpages
> actually use ".Sq -".
>
> I left out oldrdist(1) and shutdown(8)
> where it _is_ actually a flag
> and the code processes it as such.
>
> Jan
>
ok, i agree with this. Fl seems wrong. however there's some ambiguity,
for me anyway - do oldrdist and shutdown actually process "-"
differently, or do the manuals talk about them differently?
for oldrdist, "-" is actually the argument to -f. so it's not an option,
as far as i can see. just the manual seems to blur things by documenting
"If either the -f or `-' option is not specified", whereas above, the
text suggests "-f-" or "-f -" is how it would work.
similarly, look at cat(1):
If file is a single dash (`-') or absent, cat reads from the
standard input.
no mention of "-" in SYNOPSIS. but shutdown(8), which lists "-" in
SYNOPSIS:
If `-' is supplied as an option, the warning message is read
from standard input.
so, it looks like oldrdist and shutdown are just talking about "-"
differently to other manuals, but not behaving differently to other
apps. i.e. we should tweak oldrdist and shutdown too.
can anyone confirm if there is a technical difference (and, if there is,
does it translate into practical difference for users)?
jmc
>
> Index: src/libexec/getty/getty.8
> ===================================================================
> RCS file: /cvs/src/libexec/getty/getty.8,v
> retrieving revision 1.13
> diff -u -p -u -p -r1.13 getty.8
> --- src/libexec/getty/getty.8 31 May 2007 19:19:39 -0000 1.13
> +++ src/libexec/getty/getty.8 15 Jul 2013 17:42:42 -0000
> @@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ is the special device file in
> .Pa /dev
> to open for the terminal (for example, ``ttyh0'').
> If there is no argument or the argument is
> -.Sq Fl ,
> +.Sq - ,
> the tty line is assumed to be open as file descriptor 0.
> .Pp
> The
> Index: src/usr.bin/diff/diff.1
> ===================================================================
> RCS file: /cvs/src/usr.bin/diff/diff.1,v
> retrieving revision 1.41
> diff -u -p -u -p -r1.41 diff.1
> --- src/usr.bin/diff/diff.1 20 Jan 2013 11:19:12 -0000 1.41
> +++ src/usr.bin/diff/diff.1 15 Jul 2013 17:42:53 -0000
> @@ -331,7 +331,7 @@ If either
> or
> .Ar file2
> is
> -.Sq Fl ,
> +.Sq - ,
> the standard input is
> used in its place.
> .Ss Output Style
> Index: src/usr.sbin/cron/crontab.1
> ===================================================================
> RCS file: /cvs/src/usr.sbin/cron/crontab.1,v
> retrieving revision 1.28
> diff -u -p -u -p -r1.28 crontab.1
> --- src/usr.sbin/cron/crontab.1 31 Jan 2011 19:13:31 -0000 1.28
> +++ src/usr.sbin/cron/crontab.1 15 Jul 2013 17:42:57 -0000
> @@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ they are not intended to be edited direc
> .Pp
> The first form of this command is used to install a new crontab from some
> named file, or standard input if the pseudo-filename
> -.Sq Fl
> +.Sq -
> is given.
> .Pp
> If the
