Re: Documenting "--" (was Re: Glob problem)

[Peter Stephenson <p.stephenson@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Wed, 23 Oct 2013 09:01:31 -0700
Bart Schaefer <schaefer@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Redirected to zsh-workers.
> 
> On Oct 23,  2:47pm, Peter Stephenson wrote:
> }
> } Some of the regulars can tell me if the following looks right.
> 
> Apologies if the following is too nit-picky ...
> 
> } +Some shell builtin commands take options as given in invidiual entries.
> 
> Am I correct in understanding "given" here to mean "described"?  If so,
> just say "described".
> 
> } +Some shell builtin commands also take options that begin with `tt(+)'
> } +instead of `tt(-)'.  These commands are indicated in the list below.
> 
> The word "indicated" here makes me expect something similar to the <S>
> and <Z> markings in the options list, which obviously isn't what you
> mean.
> 
> } +Options must appear in a group before any non-option arguments;
> 
> "Options (and their individual arguments, if any) ..." ?  Also the whole
> document could probably use a consistency check, because sometimes we
> use the term "flags" to differentiate command options from setopts, and
> other times we don't.  Maybe it would suffice to point out that "flags"
> and "options" are the same thing and we use flags when there would be
> confusion (such as when describing the "-o option" flag of "emulate").

diff --git a/Doc/Zsh/builtins.yo b/Doc/Zsh/builtins.yo
index 1d9fe68..6f33c02 100644
--- a/Doc/Zsh/builtins.yo
+++ b/Doc/Zsh/builtins.yo
@@ -28,6 +28,40 @@ See ifzman(the section `Zle Builtins' in zmanref(zshzle))\
 ifnzman(noderef(Zle Builtins)).
 )\
 )\
+
+Some shell builtin commands take options as described in individual
+entries; these are often referred to in the list below as `tt(flags)' to
+avoid confusion with shell options, which may also have an effect on the
+behaviour of builtin commands.  In this introductory section,
+`tt(option)' always has the meaning of an option to a command that should
+be familiar to most command line users.
+
+Typically, options are single letters preceded by a hyphen (tt(-)).
+Options that take an argument accept it either immediately following the
+option letter or after white space, for example `tt(print -C3 *)' or
+`tt(print -C 3 *)' are equivalent.  Arguments to options are not the
+same as arguments to the command; the documentation indicates which is
+which.  Options that do not take an argument may be combined in a single
+word, for example `tt(print -ca *)' and `tt(print -c -a *)' are
+equivalent.
+
+Some shell builtin commands also take options that begin with `tt(+)'
+instead of `tt(-)'.  The list below makes clear which commands these
+are.
+
+Options (together with their individual arguments, if any) must appear
+in a group before any non-option arguments; once the first non-option
+argument has been found, option processing is terminated.
+
+All builtin commands other than precommand modifiers, even those that
+have no options, can be given the argument `tt(--)' to terminate option
+processing.  This indicates that the following words are non-option
+arguments, but is otherwise ignored.  This is useful in cases where
+arguments to the command may begin with `tt(-)'.  For historical
+reasons, most builtin commands also recognize a single `tt(-)' in a
+separate word for this purpose; note that this is less standard and
+use of `tt(--) is recommended.
+
 startitem()
 prefix(-)
 findex(.)
@@ -68,7 +102,7 @@ to be checked for alias expansion.  If the tt(-g) flag is present,
 define a global alias; global aliases are expanded even if they do not
 occur in command position.
 
-If the tt(-s) flags is present, define a suffix alias: if the command
+If the tt(-s) flag is present, define a suffix alias: if the command
 word on a command line is in the form `var(text)tt(.)var(name)', where
 var(text) is any non-empty string, it is replaced by the text
 `var(value) var(text)tt(.)var(name)'.  Note that var(name) is treated as