darktable-org / darktable-org/darktable

Make darktable executables handle --help option consistently

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Dominant language
C
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Description

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

This is a minor irritation.

There are a number of darktable executables, and they don't all handle --version and --help the same way. For instance I have

  1. darktable - both options behave well
  2. darktable-chart: --help is doesn't say what the executable actually does, just what the options are, --version complains there is no such file
  3. darktable-cli - both options behave well
  4. darktable-cltest - both options behave well
  5. darktable-cmstest - options appear to be ignored (same output with or without any options)
  6. darktable-generate-cache - both options behave well
  7. darktable-mcp - options are ignored and executable sits waiting for input (at least, that is what I guess it is doing)
  8. darktable-rs-identify - both options result in an error about not finding the file

Describe the solution you'd like

Consistent handling of --help and --version.

Alternatives

Additional context

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by running each listed executable with --help and --version, comparing the current output and behavior, especially darktable-chart, darktable-cmstest, darktable-mcp, and darktable-rs-identify. Trace the executable entry points for these tools and make their option handling consistent with the working examples; done means both options produce appropriate output without treating them as input files or waiting for input.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
c
Domain
cli
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
48/100

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