/opt/local/bin/port documentation problems

[macosforge.org@…]

there are a number of minor problems with the port command's documentation.

1) the usage text differs between "port help" and the man page. help:

port
        [-bcdfiknopqRstuvx] [-D portdir] [-F cmdfile] action [privopts] [actionflags]
        [[portname|pseudo-portname|port-url] [@version] [+-variant]... [option=value]...]...

man page:

     port [-vdqfonRusbckixpt] [-D portdir] [-F cmdfile] [action] [actionflags]
          [[portname | pseudo-portname | port-url]]
          [[@version] [+/-variant ...] ... [option=value ...]]

2) "actions" aren't consistently referred to as "actions". the help text refers to "commands". the man page talks about "USER TARGETS".

3) the pseudo-portname "outdated" is listed as a command in the help text.

4) the help text lists "work" as a command.

there are likely other inconsistencies, too.

[raimue (Rainer Müller)]

port outdated and port work are actions. outdated is both an action and a pseudo-port, as also is installed.

[sewebster@…]

Cc Me!

[sewebster@…]

1) is a trivial fix... action should be in square braces in the help text and privopts can probably be removed or be added to the man page. 2) I don't see any reference to "commands" in the help text anymore. Targets I guess reflect the internal macports code, but action is more suitable for (at least the beginning of) the man page since it has a more obvious meaning for the average user. I suppose all mention of targets could be removed from the man page, probably a search and replace target->action would even work. Or the current structure could be kept, where action is used initially to provide clarity and eventually the more correct target terminology is used, possibly with an explanatory sentence. 3) and 4) are not issues as explained by raimue above.

[neverpanic (Clemens Lang)]

I think the remaining issues are now obsolete since port help no longer prints messages but opens manpages, which have been re-written from scratch.