Re: pr -S option arg

[Pádraig Brady]

On 01/31/2012 11:16 AM, Jim Meyering wrote:
> 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.
> 

Cool.
I'm pushing the attached.

cheers,
Pádraig.

optional-args--help.diff
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