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authorPaul Eggert <eggert@cs.ucla.edu>2004-09-09 00:29:09 +0000
committerPaul Eggert <eggert@cs.ucla.edu>2004-09-09 00:29:09 +0000
commit88fde700e1097120f01858b350862eb80a19b4e0 (patch)
treed280fbf50048629d7ac60e665b064546d2e9b4e7 /doc
parent66942e36a8b988edc2b7f7284e694de2768c4ef8 (diff)
downloadcoreutils-88fde700e1097120f01858b350862eb80a19b4e0.tar.xz
(Common options): Some programs don't reorder
options. (tr invocation, echo invocation, printf invocation, test invocation, expr invocation, basename invocation, chroot invocation, nice invocation, nohup invocation, seq invocation): This program doesn't reorder options. (tr invocation): Mention --help, --version, --. (echo invocation): Mention that -- isn't special. (test invocation): Mention that the expression is optional, and that test ! EXPR is like ! test EXPR. (expr invocation): Mention --help, --version.
Diffstat (limited to 'doc')
-rw-r--r--doc/coreutils.texi44
1 files changed, 39 insertions, 5 deletions
diff --git a/doc/coreutils.texi b/doc/coreutils.texi
index a71a3fe39..b1e6abbcb 100644
--- a/doc/coreutils.texi
+++ b/doc/coreutils.texi
@@ -600,6 +600,13 @@ as if all the options appear before any operands. For example,
@env{POSIXLY_CORRECT} environment variable is set, options must appear
before operands, unless otherwise specified for a particular command.
+A few programs can usefully have trailing operands with leading
+@samp{-}. With such a program, options must precede operands even if
+@env{POSIXLY_CORRECT} is not set, and this fact is noted in the
+program description. For example, the @command{env} command's options
+must appear before its operands, since in some cases the operands
+specify a command that itself contains options.
+
Some of these programs recognize the @option{--help} and @option{--version}
options only when one of them is the sole command line argument.
@@ -4749,6 +4756,9 @@ This distinction will matter only when some values are not characters,
and this is possible only in locales using multibyte encodings when
the input contains encoding errors.
+The program accepts the @option{--help} and @option{--version}
+options. @xref{Common options}. Options must precede operands.
+
@exitstatus
@menu
@@ -5060,6 +5070,12 @@ of characters:
tr -d axM-
@end example
+Or you can use @samp{--} to terminate option processing:
+
+@example
+tr -d -- -axM
+@end example
+
More generally, use the character class notation @code{[=c=]}
with @samp{-} (or any other character) in place of the @samp{c}:
@@ -9052,6 +9068,9 @@ echo [@var{option}]@dots{} [@var{string}]@dots{}
@end example
The program accepts the following options. Also see @ref{Common options}.
+Options must precede operands, and the normally-special argument
+@samp{--} has no special meaning and is treated like any other
+@var{string}.
@table @samp
@item -n
@@ -9217,6 +9236,7 @@ use of @samp{\u} and @samp{\U} will give an error message.
The only options are a lone @option{--help} or
@option{--version}. @xref{Common options}.
+Options must precede operands.
The Unicode character syntaxes are useful for writing strings in a locale
independent way. For example, a string containing the Euro currency symbol
@@ -9378,14 +9398,22 @@ not have the desired effect. Since @samp{test @var{expr}} and @samp{[
@var{expr} ]} have the same meaning, only the former form is discussed
below.
+Synopses:
+
+@example
+test [@var{expression}]
+[ [@var{expression}] ]
+@end example
+
@cindex conflicts with shell built-ins
@cindex built-in shell commands, conflicts with
Because most shells have a built-in command by the same name, using the
unadorned command name in a script or interactively may get you
different functionality than that described here.
-Besides the options below, a single argument is also allowed:
-@command{test} returns true if the argument is not null. The argument
+If @var{expression} is omitted, @command{test} returns false.
+If @var{expression} is a single argument,
+@command{test} returns false if the argument is null and true otherwise. The argument
can be any string, including strings like @samp{-d}, @samp{-1},
@samp{--}, @samp{--help}, and @samp{--version} that most other
programs would treat as options. To get help and version information,
@@ -9712,6 +9740,9 @@ may be used for grouping in the usual manner. You must quote
parentheses and many operators to avoid the shell evaluating them,
however.
+The only options are @option{--help} and @option{--version}. @xref{Common
+options}. Options must precede operands.
+
@cindex exit status of @command{expr}
Exit status:
@@ -10028,7 +10059,7 @@ it is removed from @var{name} as well. @command{basename} prints the
result on standard output.
The only options are @option{--help} and @option{--version}. @xref{Common
-options}.
+options}. Options must precede operands.
@exitstatus
@@ -11961,7 +11992,7 @@ specified, the default is the value of the @env{SHELL} environment
variable or @command{/bin/sh} if not set, invoked with the @option{-i} option.
The only options are @option{--help} and @option{--version}. @xref{Common
-options}.
+options}. Options must precede operands.
Here are a few tips to help avoid common problems in using chroot.
To start with a simple example, make @var{command} refer to a statically
@@ -12035,6 +12066,7 @@ specifications, the resulting environment is printed. This is like
specifying a command name of @command{printenv}.
The program accepts the following options. Also see @ref{Common options}.
+Options must precede operands.
@table @samp
@@ -12104,6 +12136,7 @@ unadorned command name in a script or interactively may get you
different functionality than that described here.
The program accepts the following option. Also see @ref{Common options}.
+Options must precede operands.
@table @samp
@item -n @var{adjustment}
@@ -12222,7 +12255,7 @@ scheduling priority of @var{command}; use @command{nice} for that,
e.g., @samp{nohup nice @var{command}}.
The only options are @option{--help} and @option{--version}. @xref{Common
-options}.
+options}. Options must precede operands.
@cindex exit status of @command{nohup}
Exit status:
@@ -12691,6 +12724,7 @@ Floating-point numbers
may be specified (using a period before any fractional digits).
The program accepts the following options. Also see @ref{Common options}.
+Options must precede operands.
@table @samp
@item -f @var{format}