On Tue, Dec 20, 2022 at 09:36:39AM +0000, Klemens Nanni wrote: > Both styles are used, but I argue that the former fails to distinguish > between > $ program 'args in one shell word' > and > $ program one arg per shell word > > It's a minor thing, imho, but perhaps we can decide for one and stick to > it throughout the tree? > > Triple dots also make it immediately clear that many arguments may > follow, no matter what the "arg"ument is named. > > Here's one examplatory diff for timeout(1). > > Feedback? >
i prefer "arg ..." too. by comparison, it would probably look weird to write "files" instead of "file ...". indeed the Ar macro without args outputs exactly that. still it would be good to get an idea of how many pages would be affected by this. if we have only a few pages using "args" it would seem to make sense. if it's 50/50 we might want to look for more complex examples and figure out whether all the change will be worth it. also some things will use argument vs arg. for example ssh(1). do you propose to change those? jmc > Index: timeout.1 > =================================================================== > RCS file: /cvs/src/usr.bin/timeout/timeout.1,v > retrieving revision 1.3 > diff -u -p -r1.3 timeout.1 > --- timeout.1 4 Sep 2021 11:58:31 -0000 1.3 > +++ timeout.1 29 Oct 2022 20:53:05 -0000 > @@ -41,14 +41,14 @@ > .Op Fl -preserve-status > .Ar duration > .Ar command > -.Op Ar args > +.Op Ar arg ... > .Sh DESCRIPTION > The > .Nm > utility executes > .Ar command , > with any > -.Ar args , > +.Ar arg ... , > and kills it if it is still running after the > specified > .Ar duration . > Index: timeout.c > =================================================================== > RCS file: /cvs/src/usr.bin/timeout/timeout.c,v > retrieving revision 1.21 > diff -u -p -r1.21 timeout.c > --- timeout.c 2 Jul 2022 19:00:35 -0000 1.21 > +++ timeout.c 29 Oct 2022 21:08:40 -0000 > @@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ usage(void) > fprintf(stderr, > "usage: timeout [-k time] [-s sig] [--foreground]" > " [--preserve-status] duration\n" > - " command [args]\n"); > + " command [arg ...]\n"); > > exit(1); > } >
