RFR: 8332124: Jcmd processing should accept the "help" sub option as command argument [v3]

[Kevin Walls]

On Thu, 27 Jun 2024 18:38:14 GMT, Sonia Zaldana Calles <szaldana at openjdk.org> wrote:

>> Hi all, 
>> 
>> This PR addresses [8332124](https://bugs.openjdk.org/browse/JDK-8332124) enabling jcmd to accept "help" as an argument to subcommands. 
>> 
>> Testing: 
>> - [x] Verified running `jcmd 4711 VM.metaspace help` works along with other subcommands. 
>> - [x] Added test case passes. 
>> 
>> Thanks, 
>> Sonia
>
> Sonia Zaldana Calles has updated the pull request incrementally with three additional commits since the last revision:
> 
>  - Updating copyright header
>  - Modifying usage to --help and -help. Updated ensuing test case to test both
>  - Updating copyright headers

We have a lot of existing options with single - prefixes, so a move to that --option style would have many conflicts.

I think recognising these extra cries for "help" is being suggested as an undocumented feature that could be helpful. (Because you don't want that many documented ways of asking for help, or of doing anything, as it can be confusing to read through, and leave people unsure what the "real" method is.)

I don't feel the need to not recognise --help but if either/any of you think a conflict is possible in future, or that nobody will try it, then yes caution is great. 8-)

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PR Comment: https://git.openjdk.org/jdk/pull/19776#issuecomment-2196845194