Re:Techniques I Use to Create a Great User Experience for Sh...
by latexr on Saturday September 14, 2024 @07:38AM
(#41539142)
> if [ -z "$1" ]
I also recommend you catch if the argument is `-h` or `--help`. A careful user won’t just run a script with no arguments in the hopes it does nothing but print the help.¹
if [[ "${1}" =~ ^(-h|--help)$ ]]
Strictly speaking, your first command should indeed `exit 1`, but that request for help should `exit 0`.
¹ For that reason, I never make a script which runs without an argument. Except if it only prints information without doing anything destructive or that the user might want to undo. Everything else must be called with an argument, even if a dummy one, to ensure intentionality.
I also recommend you catch if the argument is `-h` or `--help`. A careful user won’t just run a script with no arguments in the hopes it does nothing but print the help.¹
Strictly speaking, your first command should indeed `exit 1`, but that request for help should `exit 0`.¹ For that reason, I never make a script which runs without an argument. Except if it only prints information without doing anything destructive or that the user might want to undo. Everything else must be called with an argument, even if a dummy one, to ensure intentionality.