From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: (qmail 73735 invoked by alias); 3 May 2019 03:10:59 -0000 Mailing-List: contact gdb-help@sourceware.org; run by ezmlm Precedence: bulk List-Id: List-Subscribe: List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: , Sender: gdb-owner@sourceware.org Received: (qmail 73719 invoked by uid 89); 3 May 2019 03:10:58 -0000 Authentication-Results: sourceware.org; auth=none X-Spam-SWARE-Status: No, score=-3.8 required=5.0 tests=AWL,BAYES_00,SPF_HELO_PASS autolearn=ham version=3.3.1 spammy=colleagues, gdb's, GDB's, gdbs X-HELO: mx1.redhat.com Received: from mx1.redhat.com (HELO mx1.redhat.com) (209.132.183.28) by sourceware.org (qpsmtpd/0.93/v0.84-503-g423c35a) with ESMTP; Fri, 03 May 2019 03:10:57 +0000 Received: from smtp.corp.redhat.com (int-mx08.intmail.prod.int.phx2.redhat.com [10.5.11.23]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher AECDH-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by mx1.redhat.com (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 5D0E83082DDD; Fri, 3 May 2019 03:10:56 +0000 (UTC) Received: from f29-4.lan (ovpn-116-84.phx2.redhat.com [10.3.116.84]) by smtp.corp.redhat.com (Postfix) with ESMTPS id EE2171A265; Fri, 3 May 2019 03:10:55 +0000 (UTC) Date: Fri, 03 May 2019 03:10:00 -0000 From: Kevin Buettner To: gdb@sourceware.org Cc: John Baldwin , Philippe Waroquiers , Pedro Alves Subject: Re: / (slash) command : fast way to temporarily change setting(s) to run a command Message-ID: <20190502201055.04bd9766@f29-4.lan> In-Reply-To: <0b0be35e-eecc-159d-5c39-ad58366be3cc@FreeBSD.org> References: <1555313564.1473.2.camel@skynet.be> <20190417011403.6072c4b3@f29-4.lan> <0b0be35e-eecc-159d-5c39-ad58366be3cc@FreeBSD.org> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-IsSubscribed: yes X-SW-Source: 2019-05/txt/msg00003.txt.bz2 On Fri, 19 Apr 2019 09:52:43 -0700 John Baldwin wrote: > On 4/17/19 1:14 AM, Kevin Buettner wrote: > > My first reaction to this proposal was that '/' is already used in > > some commands to modify their behavior. E.g. "print", "display", and > > "x" all use /FMT to change the way that data is formatted. > > > > That said, '/' seems to be used in only a handful of commands. It > > may be that its use is confined to the ones already mentioned. > > > > I see that the "interrupt" command allows the use of -a to modify > > its behavior. Most commands have no modifiers at all. > > > > I don't have a serious objection to Philippe's proposal, but I do > > think that we ought to consider whether use of '/' in this context > > might be confusing to the user. Might some other character or command > > name be less confusing? I don't know the answer to this, but I do > > think it's something which should be pondered before making this > > proposal a part of GDB's CLI. > > I find using / to make sense actually. A leading / applies "global" > settings to the following command, so you have a general syntax that > is something like: > > [/global settings] [command] [/command-specific settings] [arguments] > > Where moving from left to right consistently "narrows" the scope. > This is not unlike the syntax used in certain command line programs > that reuse getopt-like interfaces for subcommand options while also > supporting "global" options. git is an example of this (you have > global options before the verb and then command-specific options > after the verb both of which use the same getopt syntax) as well as > svn, etc. I like this rationale for the global / command. I'd like to wait a bit longer before reviewing Philippe's patch, however. I know that one of my colleagues has some thoughts on the interface and I'd like to give him a little extra time to express them here... Kevin