microsoft / microsoft/winget-cli

Usability clarification for help "?"

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#483 2 comments 2 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

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C++
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Description

winget --version will output the version of the tool
image

Given the logic that you can enter -? at any level reminds me much of Cisco IOS and speaking for Windows

  • fsutil
  • netsh
  • dism

but it is not overly very common in Windows to have the ability to specify /? any time with the previous level of commands. Some have it some have not.

Thanks for giving me the idea winget would favour this. Powershell does not offer a context sensitive help, quite unfortunately.

Before this dupe is entirely wasted time, please let us have a PR to make the winget ? more pointing out to this.

Still I see a inconsistency with the commandline options, we might discuss this in a new bug / feature request:

example

winget ? = help (fallback)
winget /? = help (fallback)
winget -? = help
winget --? = help

next level:
winget install ? or winget install /?
"no matching criteria"

winget install --? works
winget install -? works

Albeit help says:
Wenn Sie weitere Details zu einem bestimmten Befehl erfahren möchten, übergeben Sie ihm das Hilfe-Argument. [-?]

I would rather see it here

Die folgenden Optionen stehen zur Verfügung:
-v,--version Version des Tools anzeigen
--info Allgemeine Informationen zum Tool anzeigen
-?, --? kontextsensitive Hilfe.
Wenn Sie weitere Details zu einem bestimmten Befehl erfahren möchten,
übergeben Sie ihm das Hilfe-Argument

Mind we are still on Windows, and -- commandlines are not common here. For a new tool like winget, which I see a bright future and major positive impact, we should not be dev-oriented but user oriented striving for consistency and clear and concise UX without reading docs, eventually with command lines everything should to work /? or ? see also, I refrain, microsoft/terminal#4632 (comment)
Otherwise winget is a Linux User friendly command line tool, but not so Windows user friendly.

IF we want to drop /? in favour for -? or --? or even ? I am absolutely ok with that

Then please leave a remark when winget /? is issued "please use -? or --? for help"

Originally posted by @Karl-WE in https://github.com/microsoft/winget-cli/issues/478#issuecomment-654490794

Contributor guide

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First steps

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  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 reproducing the listed help forms at the winget, install, and nested-command entry points, including ?, /?, -?, and --?. Review the command-line help handling to decide and document one consistent behavior; done means the selected forms produce contextual help or the requested guidance consistently.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
cpp
Domain
cli
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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