microsoft / microsoft/winget-cli
Usability clarification for help "?"
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Description
winget --version will output the version of the tool

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
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- 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