microsoft / microsoft/terminal
Include directory flag -d in Help dialog
- Dominant language
- C++
- Stars
- 105k
- Forks
- 9.6k
- Avg merge
- 3d 17h
- Merged PRs (30d)
- 29
Description
### Description of the new feature
1. Include "-d PATH Specify directory to start in" in the Help dialog
2. (optional) If [SUBCOMMAND] is a path, treat that as a directory argument to start the terminal in
Backstory:
I wanted to create a terminal window from a different cli window (VSCode in this case) starting in the same path. The help dialog did not list anything close to what I wanted, so I had to ask Google (the shame). I often launch gui tools from cli with parameters relative to my present working directory.
### Proposed technical implementation details
At minimum, add the text "-d PATH Specify directory to start in" in the Help dialog somewhere in the Options section.
For the optional part:
Currently returns "[error 2147942405 (0x80070005) when launching `.']" and an otherwise stuck window.
Instead: perform a type check on the object at the path. If it's a directory, treat like a parameter to "-d" and open a window at that path. Otherwise, maintain existing behavior.
Not sure the difficulty of adding an object type check when a Subcommand is passed as a parameter. In the short term, I'm writing a PowerShell shim wt.ps1 that I'll place higher in my PATH.
Contributor guide
Research direction
Start by locating the Help dialog's Options section and the command-line parsing entry point for the -d flag and [SUBCOMMAND]. Add the documented -d PATH text, then investigate how a path-valued subcommand is handled and verify that directory paths start the terminal there while existing non-directory behavior remains unchanged.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- cpp
- Domain
- cli
- Issue type
- Feature
- Difficulty
- 3/5
- Estimated time
- 1-2 days
- Activity status
- Quiet
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 62/100