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Re: "read" builtin: timeout vs. EOF
From: |
Chet Ramey |
Subject: |
Re: "read" builtin: timeout vs. EOF |
Date: |
Mon, 19 Dec 2011 15:15:59 -0500 |
> > Does it really need to be in the help text, which is
> > just a short reminder reference, as well?
>
> I think info about how "read -t" exits should be _moved_ from under
> the -t discussion to the Exit Status section. Right now there is
> complete documentation in one place and incomplete documentation in
> another place, but if you read the incomplete documentation you don't
> know that it's incomplete and you should keep looking.
It's not a huge deal, and I have to make another change to the help
text to add something about variable assignment failures resulting in
a non-zero exit status anyway. The bigger question is how much
detail can we expect the in-program help text to have? The man page
is what, 70+ pages now, and the info manual is around 100 pages
longer. I know it's convenient to have the information one builtin
away, but there's the question of bloat (not to mention translation)
to consider.
Chet
--
``The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne.'' - Chaucer
``Ars longa, vita brevis'' - Hippocrates
Chet Ramey, ITS, CWRU chet@case.edu http://cnswww.cns.cwru.edu/~chet/