Re: [PATCH] Documentation: checkpatch: add description if no filenames are given

[Lukas Bulwahn]

On Mon, May 17, 2021 at 8:21 AM Dwaipayan Ray <dwaipayanray1@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> Hey,
>
> On Mon, May 17, 2021 at 9:30 AM Tiezhu Yang <yangtiezhu@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >
> > After commit 45107ff6d526 ("checkpatch: if no filenames then read stdin"),
> > if no filenames are given, it will read patch from stdin rather than exit
> > directly, it is a bit confusing whether the script hangs, I do not quite
> > know what to do next util I understand the code logic.
>
> util -> until

s/I understand/I understood/

> >
> > At the beginning, I want to print some info if no filenames are given [1],
> > but as Joe Perches said, this is unnecessary. It's like trying to make cat
> > without command line arguments emit something.
> >
> > So as Lukas Bulwahn suggested, add description for somebody that actually
> > reads the available kernel documentation on checkpatch.
> >
> > [1] https://lore.kernel.org/patchwork/patch/1429026/
> >

Generally, I think this commit message is a bit "too much the personal
experience report" rather than focussing on the technical motivation.
I prefer the same content with less "I" and more focus on the
technically valid arguments rather than people (your experience,
Joe's, Lukas' opinion etc.).

> > Signed-off-by: Tiezhu Yang <yangtiezhu@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> > ---
> >  Documentation/dev-tools/checkpatch.rst | 2 ++
> >  1 file changed, 2 insertions(+)
> >
> > diff --git a/Documentation/dev-tools/checkpatch.rst b/Documentation/dev-tools/checkpatch.rst
> > index 51fed1b..181b95e 100644
> > --- a/Documentation/dev-tools/checkpatch.rst
> > +++ b/Documentation/dev-tools/checkpatch.rst
> > @@ -210,6 +210,8 @@ Available options:
> >
> >     Display the help text.
> >
> > +When FILE is -, or no filenames are given, read standard input.
> > +
>
> The addition is reasonable but the position of the text is a bit weird.
> Let's have it after the Usage:: text:
>
> -----------
> diff --git a/Documentation/dev-tools/checkpatch.rst
> b/Documentation/dev-tools/checkpatch.rst
> index d4bb55723a86..7bf1e48207ce 100644
> --- a/Documentation/dev-tools/checkpatch.rst
> +++ b/Documentation/dev-tools/checkpatch.rst
> @@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ Usage::
>
>   ./scripts/checkpatch.pl [OPTION]... [FILE]...
>
> +When FILE is -, or absent, checkpatch reads from standard input.
> +
> Available options:
>
>  - -q,  --quiet
> @@ -210,7 +212,6 @@ Available options:
>
>    Display the help text.
>
> -When FILE is -, or no filenames are given, read standard input.
>
> Message Levels
> ==============
> -------------
>

Fully agree with Dwaipayan here. This is the better place this
sentence should be added. Please send a patch v2.

And if you want to contribute more, please add some typical example
how to invoke checkpatch with a filename and a good example how
checkpatch could be used reading from stdin (e.g., by piping in some
suitable git log or git show output).

Lukas