[spambayes-dev] proposal for more uniform option setting from the command line

[Skip Montanaro]

    >> This could be extended further.  Should the user give an incomplete
    >> -o flag such as "-o Storage" or "-o Storage:spam_cache", help about
    >> that section or variable could be emitted:

    Alex> I would tend to put this in a separate syntax, and have an
    Alex> incomplete specification just emit an error message (possibly
    Alex> saying something like 'use --help=Storage for more information').

I thought about this.  I suppose you're right about the incomplete flags.
It doesn't give you a way to ask about all option file sections either.  I
think it's best to leave --help/-h alone (no args) and have a pair of
standard options used like

    --help-section=Storage
    --help-section=Storage:spam_cache
    --help-all-sections

with obvious semantics.  Or maybe you can glob things:

    --help-section=*            # problematic - * can be special to shells

or

    --help-section=all          # relies on special "section" "all"

Skip