Re: pr -S option arg

[Jim Meyering]

Pádraig Brady wrote:
> I notice that `pr -S` takes an optional arg,
> but the docs say it's required.
> Should I fix the docs or the code?

Thanks for checking, and good point.
The "Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too."
statement doesn't apply to optional arguments.

--help implies it's optional with the long-named option,
"--sep-string[=STRING]":

  -SSTRING, --sep-string[=STRING]
                    separate columns by STRING,
                    without -S: Default separator <TAB> with -J and <space>
                    otherwise (same as -S" "), no effect on column options

coreutils.texi says this:

  `-SSTRING'
  `--sep-string[=STRING]'
       Use STRING to separate output columns.  The `-S' option doesn't
       affect the `-W/-w' option, unlike the `-s' option which does.  It
       does not affect line truncation or column alignment.  Without
       `-S', and with `-J', `pr' uses the default output separator, TAB.
       Without `-S' or `-J', `pr' uses a `space' (same as `-S" "').
       `--sep-string' with no `=STRING' is equivalent to
       `--sep-string=""'.

You're welcome to make it clearer that the -S option arg is also optional.