Re: [help-gv] Command-line options for gv 3.6.x

[John Collins]

On Mon, 14 Feb 2005, Karl Berry wrote:

>     Legacy support for old 3.5.8 command line options is a
>     planned item for 3.6.2.
>
> Good to know.

Good.  Thanks.

> If you use getopt_long_only, GNU getopt will parse both -foo and --foo
> as long options.  I think that might work out ok for gv.

That looks appropriate.  There are two different worlds: (a) standard UNIX
utilities, which allow one to stack lots of single letter flags in a
single argument introduced by a single, and (b) others.  The GNU approach
of a double hyphen to introduce multiletter options is only needed for the
first class of program.  There are many programs in the second class of
program, e.g., typical X11 programs and much TeX related software, not to
mention graphics viewers including gv and acroread.

As a user, I find the getopt_long_only behavior, however implemented, to
be the least bothersome, since then I don't have to remember exactly which
programs use double hyphens and which single.

John