Bug 164281
| Summary: | rpmbuild man page omits --define | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Product: | [Fedora] Fedora | Reporter: | Jeff Stern <jas> |
| Component: | rpm | Assignee: | Panu Matilainen <pmatilai> |
| Status: | CLOSED UPSTREAM | QA Contact: | Mike McLean <mikem> |
| Severity: | medium | Docs Contact: | |
| Priority: | medium | ||
| Version: | 4 | ||
| Target Milestone: | --- | ||
| Target Release: | --- | ||
| Hardware: | i386 | ||
| OS: | Linux | ||
| Whiteboard: | |||
| Fixed In Version: | Doc Type: | Bug Fix | |
| Doc Text: | Story Points: | --- | |
| Clone Of: | Environment: | ||
| Last Closed: | 2007-08-10 09:11:33 UTC | Type: | --- |
| Regression: | --- | Mount Type: | --- |
| Documentation: | --- | CRM: | |
| Verified Versions: | Category: | --- | |
| oVirt Team: | --- | RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host: | |
| Cloudforms Team: | --- | Target Upstream Version: | |
| Embargoed: | |||
|
Description
Jeff Stern
2005-07-26 15:27:37 UTC
rpmbuild --help | grep define -D, --define='MACRO EXPR' define MACRO with value EXPR hmmm good point. so to be more thorough, i suppose we should list them all. the following is a complete list of command paremeters listed by 'rpmbuild --help' but not explained in the man page: -D, --define --nodeps --nodirtokens -E, --eval --macros --nodigest --nosignature --rcfile -r (though its equivalent, '--root', is) --querytags --dbpath --with --without --usage --verbose (though its equivalent, '-v', is) also, conversely, the following are *not* documented in 'rpmbuild --help' but *are* in the man page: -vv -tl --sign --pipe finally, several options appear in the rpmbuild man page *without* the = sign (e.g. '--dbpath DIRECTORY') whereas they appear in the 'rpmbuild --help' *with* the = sign (e.g. '--dbpath=DIRECTORY'), so it is unclear which syntax is correct, or whether they both will work. examples include --macros=, --without=, --buildroot, and others. rpm uses popt - as such some of the options and their help come from /usr/lib/rpm/rpmpopt-VERSION as such they aren't in the man page. Indeed the syntax can vary depending on the specific popt method for the argument. you are making the case for not documenting something based on the *way* that thing is implemented. how is that tenable? The argument is "tenable" because popyt permits option aliasing, i.e. optionsd can be retrofiitted to an application without recompiling. Demanding that all options -- including the aliases -- be documented, and be displayed, is directly at odds with advantage of extending application options through popt aliases. This report targets the FC3 or FC4 products, which have now been EOL'd. Could you please check that it still applies to a current Fedora release, and either update the target product or close it ? Thanks. sure, i can check if it is the same with fc6. by the way, i personally disagree with the reasoning of johnson (i believe he is missing the point entirely). however, i thought that after he posted that in defense of the status quo, that the issue had been closed. indeed, nothing has been done about it since then. it will take me a few days before i can get to this (need to upgrade a server to check it). i will post an update by the end of next week, to let you know whether it applies to fc6. Added <command> --help to SEE ALSO section of the manuals with explanation why it's impossible to guarantee that documented and actually available options match on any given system. |