Each command has a similarly-named code module, Somecommand.hs, and
documentation file, Somecommand.md.
The command doc is converted to plain text in Somecommand.txt, and
which is included by Somecommand.hs to form command line help (the
output of hledger COMMAND --help).
After changing md files, regenerating and committing the txt files is
optional. If you don’t do it, it will get done later (before release).
It can be done by:
./Shake commandhelp
Or, by you can regenerate them while also building packages:
./Shake hledger # or, all packages: ./Shake build
Builds made with stack, cabal, etc. won’t notice changes in these md
files, so use the above method if you need that.
The md files are also included by hledger/hledger_commands.m4.md to
form the hledger manual, which can be regenerated with:
./Shake manuals [website]
Here are more special features/conventions of command doc files (see
*.md for examples):
The content is pandoc markdown. m4 macros are not
supported.
In manuals, they are rendered with formatting and hyperlinks when
supported by the various output formats.
In command line help, they are rendered as plain text, with
verbatim blocks unindented, and with lines longer than 78 characters
wrapped (unless they contain no spaces).
To avoid unsightly line wrapping in command line help, try to
keep verbatim examples to at most 78 characters wide. When necessary, we
may be forced to cheat and alter command output slightly, eg reducing
the width of register’s typically 79-wide reports by one.
The first line should specify the command name and any aliases,
as words separated by spaces and/or commas. It should end with a
backslash (to force a line break in the output).
Short help, about one paragraph in length, should begin on the
second line.
If the short help is more than one line, its first line should
end with a single newline, not two (otherwise it will be displayed with
two newlines after each line in command line help).
In command line help, the short help is displayed with blank
lines removed (paragraphs run together). Blank lines can still be used
for markdown formatting though, eg to define a list.
After the short help, there should be a paragraph containing just
_FLAGS. This marks the end of the short help, and it will be replaced in
command line help by the flags list. (Without it, the flags list appears
at the end of command line help.) The flags list will not appear in the
hledger manual.
Long help (as many paragraphs as needed) follows the _FLAGS
marker. This often ends with one or more examples.
XXX Command docs with examples wider than 78: close rewrite
