bug#19836: Missing partition type in machine parseable output

[Brian C. Lane]

On Wed, Feb 11, 2015 at 05:32:06PM +0100, Johan Oudinet wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I'd like to use parted in a script to list primary and logical
> partitions only (i.e., without extended partitions).
> I do see the partition type if I use the following command:
> # parted -s /dev/sdc print
> Model: Generic STORAGE DEVICE (scsi)
> Disk /dev/sdc: 3965MB
> Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
> Partition Table: msdos
> Disk Flags:
> 
> Number  Start   End     Size    Type      File system  Flags
>  1      4194kB  71,3MB  67,1MB  primary   fat16        boot, lba
>  2      71,3MB  3965MB  3894MB  extended               lba
>  5      75,5MB  344MB   268MB   logical
>  6      344MB   612MB   268MB   logical
>  7      612MB   621MB   8388kB  logical   ext4
>  8      621MB   3965MB  3344MB  logical   ext4
> 
> However, if I run the same command with the --machine option, I get the
> following output:
> # parted -sm /dev/sdc print
> BYT;
> /dev/sdc:3965MB:scsi:512:512:msdos:Generic STORAGE DEVICE:;
> 1:4194kB:71,3MB:67,1MB:fat16::boot, lba;
> 2:71,3MB:3965MB:3894MB:::lba;
> 5:75,5MB:344MB:268MB:::;
> 6:344MB:612MB:268MB:::;
> 7:612MB:621MB:8388kB:ext4::;
> 8:621MB:3965MB:3344MB:ext4::;
> 
> where the partition type is missing. This is unfortunate :-\

Thanks for the report. You're correct, the machine output kinda sucks.

We can fix it, but there are at least 2 issue I see:
 1. confusion for existing machine output users (parted test cases for
    one). When we add a field everyone will have to adjust so we can't
    just toss it in there.
 2. Different disklabels have different info. GPT doesn't have pri/etc.
    for example so the output there will either always be blank or
     different.

It would make sense to hand off display of partition specific details to
the disklabel, but that would also mean users of machine output would
need to switch based on disklabel type in the first line.

-- 
Brian C. Lane | Anaconda Team | IRC: bcl #anaconda | Port Orchard, WA (PST8PDT)