jshell tool: opinions sought -- double-dash long-form command-line options

[Jonathan Gibbons]

Other new tools are using JOptSimple, so that is certainly a reasonable 
route, but that would (probably) imply dropping old-style options like 
-classpath and -cp. For a new tool, that would be very reasonable.

I agree that mixing old-style options and combined single letter options 
is a bad idea.

-- Jon


On 08/16/2016 09:47 AM, Robert Field wrote:
>
>> On Aug 16, 2016, at 8:07 AM, Jonathan Gibbons 
>> <jonathan.gibbons at oracle.com <mailto:jonathan.gibbons at oracle.com>> wrote:
>>
>> Robert,
>>
>> Strong input:  options that are common across tools should be the 
>> same across tools, for example, the set of module options. You're 
>> already suggesting that, so that's good.
>>
>> Additional input: double-dash options are typically a short series of 
>> words separated by hyphens (instead of concatenated words), so that 
>> makes for --no-startup instead of —nostartup.
>
> Ah!  Good point.
>
>>
>> Note that double-dash options should allow '=' as a separator instead 
>> of white-space, as in --class-path=my:class:path
>> This is not typically spelled out in detail in command line help, but 
>> there is typically a footnote to that effect at the end of the help.
>
> Right.  I was pointed at JOpt-Simple since it does option parsing.  I 
> don’t think I’ll use it since error handling seems to lack the control 
> I need.  But, from that, I saw the =arg requirement.  That should be 
> easy to hand-craft.
>
> It also allows combining single-letter single-dash options, like -nq 
> instead of -n -q.  Given the multi-letter single-dash options, I’m not 
> sure that makes sense to do.
>
> (continued)
>
>>
>> -- Jon
>>
>> On 08/15/2016 10:35 PM, Robert Field wrote:
>>> We would like the jshell tool to roll-out using the more modern 
>>> double-dash options.  Note though that it will ship in the jdk/bin 
>>> directory where almost all commands use legacy option formats.
>>>
>>> Below I propose options for jshell, as this is not a black-and-white 
>>> decision, I'd very much like input....
>>>
>>> Current jshell options are --
>>>
>>>    -classpath <path>    Specify where to find user class files
>>>    -cp <path>           Specify where to find user class files
>>>    -startup <file>      One run replacement for the start-up definitions
>>>    -nostartup           Do not run the start-up definitions
>>>    -feedback <mode>     Specify the initial feedback mode. The mode 
>>> may be
>>>                         predefined (silent, concise, normal, or 
>>> verbose) or
>>>                         previously user-defined
>>>    -q                   Quiet feedback.  Same as: -feedback concise
>>>    -qq                  Really quiet feedback.  Same as: -feedback 
>>> silent
>>>    -v                   Verbose feedback.  Same as: -feedback verbose
>>>    -J<flag>             Pass <flag> directly to the runtime system.
>>>                         Use one -J for each runtime flag or flag 
>>> argument
>>>    -R<flag>             Pass <flag> to the remote runtime system.
>>>                         Use one -R for each remote flag or flag argument
>>>    -help                Print this synopsis of standard options
>>>    -version             Version information
>>>    -fullversion         Full Version information
>>>
>>> java options are mostly single-dash options, the current double-dash 
>>> options are --
>>>
>>>    -cp <class search path of directories and zip/jar files>
>>>    -classpath <class search path of directories and zip/jar files>
>>>    --class-path <class search path of directories and zip/jar files>
>>>                  A : separated list of directories, JAR archives,
>>>                  and ZIP archives to search for class files.
>>>    -p <module path>
>>>    --module-path <module path>...
>>>                  A : separated list of directories, each directory
>>>                  is a directory of modules.
>>>    --upgrade-module-path <module path>...
>>>                  A : separated list of directories, each directory
>>>                  is a directory of modules that replace upgradeable
>>>                  modules in the runtime image
>>>    -m <module>[/<mainclass>]
>>>    --module <modulename>[/<mainclass>]
>>>                  the initial module to resolve, and the name of the 
>>> main class
>>>                  to execute if not specified by the module
>>>    --add-modules <modulename>[,<modulename>...]
>>>                  root modules to resolve in addition to the initial 
>>> module.
>>>                  <modulename> can also be ALL-DEFAULT, ALL-SYSTEM,
>>>                  ALL-MODULE-PATH.
>>>    --limit-modules <modulename>[,<modulename>...]
>>>                  limit the universe of observable modules
>>>    --list-modules [<modulename>[,<modulename>...]]
>>>                  list the observable modules and exit
>>>    --dry-run     create VM but do not execute main method.
>>>                  This --dry-run option may be useful for validating the
>>>                  command-line options such as the module system 
>>> configuration.
>>>
>>> Of these, --class-path, --module-path, --add-modules, and maybe 
>>> --upgrade-module-path seem appropriate for jshell.
>>>
>>> Proposed for jshell --
>>>
>>>    -classpath <path>    Specify where to find user class files
>>>    -cp <path>
>>>    --class-path <path>
>>>
>>>    -p <module path>      directory of modules.
>>>    --module-path <module path>...
>>>
>>>    --upgrade-module-path <module path>...   directory of modules 
>>> that replace upgradeable modules
>>>
>>>    --add-modules <modulename>[,<modulename>...] root modules to resolve
>>>
>>>    --startup <file>      One run replacement for the start-up 
>>> definitions
>>>
>>>    --nostartup           Do not run the start-up definitions
>>
>> Would be better as --no-startup
>
> Y
>
>>
>>> -n
>>>
>>>    --feedback <mode>     Specify the initial feedback mode. The mode 
>>> may be
>>>                         predefined (silent, concise, normal, or 
>>> verbose) or
>>>                         previously user-defined
>>>
>>>    -q                   Quiet feedback.  Same as: --feedback concise
>>>
>>>    -qq                  Really quiet feedback.  Same as: --feedback 
>>> silent
>>>
>>>    -v                   Verbose feedback.  Same as: --feedback verbose
>>>
>>>    -J<flag>             Pass <flag> directly to the runtime system.
>>>
>>>    -R<flag>             Pass <flag> to the remote runtime system.
>>>
>>>    --help                Print this synopsis of standard options
>>>    -help
>>>    -h
>>>
>>>    -version             Version information
>>>    --version
>>>
>>>    -fullversion         Full Version information
>>>    --fullversion
>>
>> ?? --full-version ??
>
> Probably, y.
>
> Thanks much,
> Robert
>
>>>
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> Robert
>