From: Aaron <aaronscohen@gmail.com>
To: tuhs@tuhs.org
Subject: [TUHS] Re: Of flags and keyletters
Date: Sun, 3 Mar 2024 12:38:20 -0500 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <9C2BE9BE-F241-416A-9966-820FB21FD5C0@gmail.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <20240302221426.6DE6818C083@mercury.lcs.mit.edu>
Having written the first versions of getopt(3), getopt(1), and associated man pages around 1979, I do not recall any real orthodoxy in the use of ‘options’ vs ‘flags.’ In general, ‘flags’ seemed to be reserved for single arguments in the form of ‘-x’
I wrote getopt, and rewrote many commands to use it because I got annoyed at trying to remember which commands required “-x -y -z” vs “-xyz”, and which flags required or allowed optional arguments.
Aaron
> On Mar 2, 2024, at 5:22 PM, jnc@mercury.lcs.mit.edu wrote:
>
>
>>
>> From: Bakul Shah
>
>> Use of "flag" for this purpose seems strange. "option" makes more sense.
>
> People on this list seem to forget that there were computers before UNIX.
>
> The _syntax_ of "-f" probably predates any UNIX; Multics used it extensively.
> See the "Introduction to Multics", MAC-TR-123, January 1974 (a little after
> UNIX V1, but I expect I could probably track it back further in time, if I
> cared to put in the effort); pg. 3-24.
>
> Interestingly, I looked though the CTSS manual, and CTSS did not seem to use
> this syntax for flag arguments: see, e.g., the SAVE command (section AH.3.03).
>
>
> The _name_ "flag" came in early on UNIX. (Multics called them "arguments";
> see above, pg. 3-27, top line.) We can see this happen - see:
>
> http://squoze.net/UNIX/v1man/man1/du
>
> which calls the "-a" and "-s" "arguments"; but in:
>
> http://squoze.net/UNIX/v1man/man1/ld
>
> "-s", "-u", etc are called "flag arguments".
>
> Long enough ago that certainty about the etymology/rationale is probably now
> lost.
>
> Noel
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2024-03-03 17:38 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 16+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2024-03-02 22:14 Noel Chiappa
2024-03-03 17:38 ` Aaron [this message]
2024-03-03 17:52 ` Larry McVoy
2024-03-03 19:28 ` Aaron
2024-03-03 18:44 ` [TUHS] Re: getopt Phil Budne
2024-03-03 21:24 ` [TUHS] Re: Of flags and keyletters Rich Salz
-- strict thread matches above, loose matches on Subject: below --
2024-03-01 15:49 [TUHS] " Douglas McIlroy
2024-03-01 16:23 ` [TUHS] " Steve Nickolas
2024-03-01 19:44 ` Paul Winalski
2024-03-01 16:56 ` Bakul Shah via TUHS
2024-03-02 0:33 ` silas poulson via TUHS
2024-03-02 18:53 ` Lars Brinkhoff
2024-03-02 18:24 ` Paul Winalski
2024-03-02 18:35 ` Warner Losh
2024-02-29 17:21 [TUHS] " Dave Horsfall
2024-02-29 17:59 ` [TUHS] " segaloco via TUHS
2024-03-01 5:30 ` Dave Horsfall
2024-03-01 5:44 ` G. Branden Robinson
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