CodingGuidelines: Add a section on writing documentation
Provide a few examples on argument and option notation in usage strings and command synopses. Signed-off-by: Štěpán Němec <stepnem@gmail.com> Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>maint
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				|  | @ -139,3 +139,55 @@ For C programs: | |||
|  | ||||
|  - When we pass <string, length> pair to functions, we should try to | ||||
|    pass them in that order. | ||||
|  | ||||
| Writing Documentation: | ||||
|  | ||||
|  Every user-visible change should be reflected in the documentation. | ||||
|  The same general rule as for code applies -- imitate the existing | ||||
|  conventions.  A few commented examples follow to provide reference | ||||
|  when writing or modifying command usage strings and synopsis sections | ||||
|  in the manual pages: | ||||
|  | ||||
|  Placeholders are enclosed in angle brackets: | ||||
|    <file> | ||||
|    --sort=<key> | ||||
|    --abbrev[=<n>] | ||||
|  | ||||
|  Possibility of multiple occurences is indicated by three dots: | ||||
|    <file>... | ||||
|    (One or more of <file>.) | ||||
|  | ||||
|  Optional parts are enclosed in square brackets: | ||||
|    [<extra>] | ||||
|    (Zero or one <extra>.) | ||||
|  | ||||
|    --exec-path[=<path>] | ||||
|    (Option with an optional argument.  Note that the "=" is inside the | ||||
|    brackets.) | ||||
|  | ||||
|    [<patch>...] | ||||
|    (Zero or more of <patch>.  Note that the dots are inside, not | ||||
|    outside the brackets.) | ||||
|  | ||||
|  Multiple alternatives are indicated with vertical bar: | ||||
|    [-q | --quiet] | ||||
|    [--utf8 | --no-utf8] | ||||
|  | ||||
|  Parentheses are used for grouping: | ||||
|    [(<rev>|<range>)...] | ||||
|    (Any number of either <rev> or <range>.  Parens are needed to make | ||||
|    it clear that "..." pertains to both <rev> and <range>.) | ||||
|  | ||||
|    [(-p <parent>)...] | ||||
|    (Any number of option -p, each with one <parent> argument.) | ||||
|  | ||||
|    git remote set-head <name> (-a | -d | <branch>) | ||||
|    (One and only one of "-a", "-d" or "<branch>" _must_ (no square | ||||
|    brackets) be provided.) | ||||
|  | ||||
|  And a somewhat more contrived example: | ||||
|    --diff-filter=[(A|C|D|M|R|T|U|X|B)...[*]] | ||||
|    Here "=" is outside the brackets, because "--diff-filter=" is a | ||||
|    valid usage.  "*" has its own pair of brackets, because it can | ||||
|    (optionally) be specified only when one or more of the letters is | ||||
|    also provided. | ||||
|  |  | |||
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