Proposal: add descriptor for positional arguments

[FObersteiner]

...just for the help message. So that a user knows upfront that they need to provide n arguments which mean x, y, z etc. So this could basically be just another text ([]const u8) field with a specific name I guess.

Here's a crude example, so you get the idea:

Usage: flags_demo <args> [options]

Args: 
    arg1 description
    ...

Options:
  -f, --force Use the force
....

The positional arguments could also be commands, so this might require some more thought.

[n0s4]

This could be addressed by a general purpose "description" declaration, through which you could describe the arguments free-form (as well as other details about the command).

I like the simplicity of that solution but if you want something more structured maybe something like this...?

const MyCommand = struct {
    pub const args_usage = .{
        .{ "file", "file to use" },
        .{ "arg2", "description" },
        // ...
    }
}

[FObersteiner]

I like the simplicity of that solution

That's what I had in mind. As I briefly mentioned, in the case of arguments being commands that in turn take arguments, a more structured approach might be more appropriate. But that might be added later, no?

[n0s4]

Adding a general purpose description to any command is now supported:

// examples/overview.zig
    pub const help =
        \\This is a dummy command for testing purposes.
        \\There are a bunch of options for demonstration purposes.
    ;

$ zig build run-example -- -h
Usage: example [options]

This is a dummy command for testing purposes.
There are a bunch of options for demonstration purposes.

Options:
  -f, --force Use the force
  --optional  You don't need this one
  --override  You can change this if you want
  --required  You have to set this!
  -a, --age   How old?
  -p, --power How strong?
  -s, --size  How big?
    small     The least big
    medium    Not quite small, not quite big
    large     The biggest
  -h, --help  Show this help and exit

I think we agree that this adequately covers your request, so I'll close this for now.

PS: If you want to import from the main branch since I've not made a whole release for this, update your dependency URL like so:

$ zig fetch --save https://github.com/n0s4/flags/archive/refs/heads/main.tar.gz

[FObersteiner]

That'll get me started, thanks a lot for the quick update!