[RFA] Add "inf" alias for "info"

[RFA] Add "inf" alias for "info"

[Pierre Muller]

  I was used to use
(gdb) inf reg
to get a listing of registers,
but since the new "inferior" command appeared,
I now get this:
(gdb) inf reg
Ambiguous command "inf reg": inferior, info.

  The proposed patch add "inf" as an alias
of "info", saving the hassle of retyping "info"
after the message above. 
  I think that "inferior" is a far less used command
and it is only useful for targets supporting
multiple inferiors...

  Is this patch OK?


Pierre Muller
Pascal language support maintainer for GDB


2009-07-08  Pierre Muller  <muller@ics.u-strasbg.fr>

        * cli/cli-cmds.c (init_cli_cmds): Add "inf" alias for "info"
command.

Index: cli/cli-cmds.c
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvs/src/src/gdb/cli/cli-cmds.c,v
retrieving revision 1.90
diff -u -p -r1.90 cli-cmds.c
--- cli/cli-cmds.c      2 Jul 2009 21:57:28 -0000       1.90
+++ cli/cli-cmds.c      8 Jul 2009 13:15:11 -0000
@@ -1341,6 +1341,7 @@ Without an argument, history expansion i
 Generic command for showing things about the program being debugged."),
                  &infolist, "info ", 0, &cmdlist);
   add_com_alias ("i", "info", class_info, 1);
+  add_com_alias ("inf", "info", class_info, 1);

   add_com ("complete", class_obscure, complete_command,
           _("List the completions for the rest of the line as a
command."));
~

Re: [RFA] Add "inf" alias for "info"

[Pedro Alves]

On Wednesday 08 July 2009 14:18:12, Pierre Muller wrote:
> 
>   I was used to use
> (gdb) inf reg
> to get a listing of registers,
> but since the new "inferior" command appeared,
> I now get this:
> (gdb) inf reg
> Ambiguous command "inf reg": inferior, info.
> 
>   The proposed patch add "inf" as an alias
> of "info", saving the hassle of retyping "info"
> after the message above. 

Why not type just "i"?  It is already an alias for "info", and,
it's shorter anyway ==> less hassle.

-- 
Pedro Alves

Re: [RFA] Add "inf" alias for "info"

[Daniel Jacobowitz]

On Wed, Jul 08, 2009 at 02:23:13PM +0100, Pedro Alves wrote:
> Why not type just "i"?  It is already an alias for "info", and,
> it's shorter anyway ==> less hassle.

While I agree, I think an "inf" alias is fine too.

-- 
Daniel Jacobowitz
CodeSourcery

Re: [RFA] Add "inf" alias for "info"

[Pedro Alves]

On Wednesday 08 July 2009 14:25:01, Daniel Jacobowitz wrote:
> On Wed, Jul 08, 2009 at 02:23:13PM +0100, Pedro Alves wrote:
> > Why not type just "i"?  It is already an alias for "info", and,
> > it's shorter anyway ==> less hassle.
> 
> While I agree, I think an "inf" alias is fine too.
> 

Can I claim it for "inferior" then? :-P

-- 
Pedro Alves

RE: [RFA] Add "inf" alias for "info"

[Pierre Muller]

> >   The proposed patch add "inf" as an alias
> > of "info", saving the hassle of retyping "info"
> > after the message above.
> 
> Why not type just "i"?  It is already an alias for "info", and,
> it's shorter anyway ==> less hassle.

  No really good reasons but,
I used "inf " for years and didn't know "i " worked,
I discovered it while writing the patch!
  But I am too used to "inf " to be able to switch to "i "
easily!

Pierre

Re: [RFA] Add "inf" alias for "info"

[Daniel Jacobowitz]

On Wed, Jul 08, 2009 at 02:26:30PM +0100, Pedro Alves wrote:
> On Wednesday 08 July 2009 14:25:01, Daniel Jacobowitz wrote:
> > On Wed, Jul 08, 2009 at 02:23:13PM +0100, Pedro Alves wrote:
> > > Why not type just "i"?  It is already an alias for "info", and,
> > > it's shorter anyway ==> less hassle.
> > 
> > While I agree, I think an "inf" alias is fine too.
> > 
> 
> Can I claim it for "inferior" then? :-P

No :-)  We've been through this for other new commands - if people use
a shortcut, I think we're pretty much obliged to preserve it.

-- 
Daniel Jacobowitz
CodeSourcery

Re: [RFA] Add "inf" alias for "info"

[Pedro Alves]

On Wednesday 08 July 2009 14:28:05, Pierre Muller wrote:
> > >   The proposed patch add "inf" as an alias
> > > of "info", saving the hassle of retyping "info"
> > > after the message above.
> > 
> > Why not type just "i"?  It is already an alias for "info", and,
> > it's shorter anyway ==> less hassle.
> 
>   No really good reasons but,
> I used "inf " for years and didn't know "i " worked,
> I discovered it while writing the patch!
>   But I am too used to "inf " to be able to switch to "i "
> easily!

I'm sure that you'll now get used to "i" in no time, now
that you know it.

This revealed an interesting issue.  The

 'Ambiguous command "inf reg": inferior, info.'

... message doesn't indicate the aliases of each alternative
command.  Neither does "help info" mention "i".  Maybe it should.

(btw, "i" + "inf" would leave "in" in a weird spot)

-- 
Pedro Alves

RE: [RFA] Add "inf" alias for "info"

[Pierre Muller]

> I'm sure that you'll now get used to "i" in no time, now
> that you know it.

  Not that sure...
But I still think that the patch will be useful to others..
 
> This revealed an interesting issue.  The
> 
>  'Ambiguous command "inf reg": inferior, info.'
> 
> ... message doesn't indicate the aliases of each alternative
> command.  Neither does "help info" mention "i".  Maybe it should.
> 
> (btw, "i" + "inf" would leave "in" in a weird spot)
  But "in " was ambiguous before you added
"inferior", that is why I did not add it to the patch.
  Nobody using a recent gdb could have used
"in " like she/he could have used "inf ".

Pierre

Re: [RFA] Add "inf" alias for "info"

[Pedro Alves]

On Wednesday 08 July 2009 14:41:03, Pierre Muller wrote:
> > I'm sure that you'll now get used to "i" in no time, now
> > that you know it.
> 
>   Not that sure...
> But I still think that the patch will be useful to others..

Sure, I'm not really objecting.  "inf " as is currently
isn't useful for anything anyway.

> > This revealed an interesting issue.  The
> > 
> >  'Ambiguous command "inf reg": inferior, info.'
> > 
> > ... message doesn't indicate the aliases of each alternative
> > command.  Neither does "help info" mention "i".  Maybe it should.
> > 
> > (btw, "i" + "inf" would leave "in" in a weird spot)
>
>   But "in " was ambiguous before you added
> "inferior", that is why I did not add it to the patch.
>   Nobody using a recent gdb could have used
> "in " like she/he could have used "inf ".

Yes.

-- 
Pedro Alves

Re: [RFA] Add "inf" alias for "info"

[Pedro Alves]

On Wednesday 08 July 2009 14:35:38, Daniel Jacobowitz wrote:

> > Can I claim it for "inferior" then? :-P
> 
> No :-)  We've been through this for other new commands - if people use
> a shortcut, I think we're pretty much obliged to preserve it.

Yeah, I know...  I had a wild dream where I'd get "inf" just for
me, but well, I can do "infe".  :-)

BTW, *does* the user have a way to know the aliases of a given
command?  (reading the manual doesn't count)  Not event
"help aliases" seems to show "i".

-- 
Pedro Alves

Re: [RFA] Add "inf" alias for "info"

[Daniel Jacobowitz]

On Wed, Jul 08, 2009 at 02:48:13PM +0100, Pedro Alves wrote:
> BTW, *does* the user have a way to know the aliases of a given
> command?  (reading the manual doesn't count)  Not event
> "help aliases" seems to show "i".

I don't think so :-(

-- 
Daniel Jacobowitz
CodeSourcery

Re: [RFA] Add "inf" alias for "info"

[Michael Snyder]

Pedro Alves wrote:
> On Wednesday 08 July 2009 14:18:12, Pierre Muller wrote:
>>   I was used to use
>> (gdb) inf reg
>> to get a listing of registers,
>> but since the new "inferior" command appeared,
>> I now get this:
>> (gdb) inf reg
>> Ambiguous command "inf reg": inferior, info.
>>
>>   The proposed patch add "inf" as an alias
>> of "info", saving the hassle of retyping "info"
>> after the message above. 
> 
> Why not type just "i"?  It is already an alias for "info", and,
> it's shorter anyway ==> less hassle.

Because his fingers remember typing "inf".  ;-)

I think we've been through this before, and the custom
has generally favored adding the alias.

Re: [RFA] Add "inf" alias for "info"

[Pedro Alves]

On Wednesday 08 July 2009 18:15:44, Michael Snyder wrote:
> I think we've been through this before, and the custom
> has generally favored adding the alias.

Yes, I'd already agreed downthread.

Pierre, I think everyone agrees the patch is good to go.
Please apply.  Thanks.

-- 
Pedro Alves