arduino / arduino/Arduino

IDE lacks "--help", "--version", man page

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#5,098 7 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub
Component: CLI feature request
Dominant language
Java
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Description

I don't know how recently the ability to use the Arduino IDE from the command line with arguments like `--upload` and `--port` was introduced, but this is very helpful. I think the next step is to document these arguments in a `--help` message and/or in a manual page. The ability to get the IDE version with a `--version` command would also be useful.

P.S. I can find no documentation which tells me how to specify the board on the command line. It would be nice to have such documentation. Somewhere it says I should specify "--board package:arch:board" but I don't know where to get "package", "arch", and "board" for a given selection in the "Boards Manager". At least an example would help.

P.P.S. See also http://arduino.stackexchange.com/questions/15893/how-to-compile-upload-and-monitor-via-the-linux-command-line/24802#24802

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

Start by locating the Arduino IDE command-line argument handling for --upload and --port, then review how board identifiers are currently documented. Done means the IDE exposes --help and --version, has a man page or equivalent documentation, and includes an example explaining package, arch, and board values.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
java
Domain
cli, documentation
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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