List of supported tags¤

You will find here the list of supported tags and examples of how to use them.

Author¤

The author tag is used to declare authors, usually one per tag.

Syntax:

## \author TEXT...

Example:

## \author Timothée Mazzucotelli / @pawamoy / <pawamoy@pm.me>
## \author Another random author

In templates:

• Reference: {% for author in shellman.doc.author %}
• {{ author.text }}: the text written after the tag.

Bug¤

The bug tag is used to tell about bugs, usually one per tag, on several lines.

Syntax:

## \bug TEXT...

Example:

## \bug Describe a bug.
## This is typically a well-known bug that won't be fixed.

In templates:

• Reference: {% for bug in shellman.doc.bug %}
• {{ bug.text }}: the text written after the tag.

Brief¤

The brief tag is used to briefly tell what the script does.

Syntax:

## \brief TEXT...

Example:

## \brief A brief description of the script or library.
## You can use multiple lines, but usually one is better.

In templates:

• Reference: {% for brief in shellman.doc.brief %}
• {{ brief.text }}: the text written after the tag.

Caveat¤

The caveat tag is used to tell about limitations, usually one per tag, on several lines.

Syntax:

## \caveat TEXT...

Example:

## \caveat A limitation in your code.
## Use as many lines as you want.

In templates:

• Reference: {% for caveat in shellman.doc.caveat %}
• {{ caveat.text }}: the text written after the tag.

Copyright¤

The copyright tag is used to declare some copyright on the file.

Syntax:

## \copyright TEXT...

Example:

## \copyright Copyright 2018 Timothée Mazzucotelli.
## You could also include the text of the license.

In templates:

• Reference: {% for copyright in shellman.doc.copyright %}
• {{ copyright.text }}: the text written after the tag.

Date¤

The date tag is used to declare the date of the last update/version.

Syntax:

## \date TEXT...

Example:

## \date 2018-08-31. Or 31 Août 2018.
## It's just text, it will not be parsed as a date object. Prefer one line.

In templates:

• Reference: {% for date in shellman.doc.date %}
• {{ date.text }}: the text written after the tag.

Description¤

The description tag is used to write the description of the script.

Syntax:

## \desc TEXT...

Example:

## \desc The big description.
## Usually takes many lines.

• Reference: {% for desc in shellman.doc.desc %}
• {{ desc.text }}: the text written after the tag.

Environment variable¤

The environment variable tag is used to declare the environment variables used in the script.

Syntax:

## \env NAME DESCRIPTION...

Example:

## \env MY_VARIABLE And a short description. Or...

## \env MY_VARIABLE
## A longer
## description.

## \env MY_VARIABLE Actually you can mix both styles,
## as each new line of documentation will be appended to the description
## of the given environment variable.
## The first word will be the variable name (everything before the first space).

In templates:

• Reference: {% for env in shellman.doc.env %}
• {{ env.name }}: the name of the environment variable (MY_VARIABLE).
• {{ env.description }}: the description of the environment variable.

Error¤

The error tag is used to write about typical errors when using the script.

Syntax:

## \error TEXT...

Example:

## \error Just like bugs, notes, caveats...
## An error is something the user should not do,
## something that is considered wrong or bad practice when using your script.

## If you want to document the standard error messages, or the exit status,
## see \stderr and \exit.

In templates:

• Reference: {% for error in shellman.doc.error %}
• {{ error.text }}: the text written after the tag.

Example¤

The example tag is used to add examples of usage.

Syntax:

## \example BRIEF...
[## \example-code [LANG]
 ##   CODE...
]
[## \example-description DESCRIPTION...]

Example:

## \example The first line is the brief description.
## Can span multiple lines.
## \example-code bash
##   # Note the "bash" keyword on the previous line.
##   # It will be used, for example, in Markdown templates, for code syntax highlighting.
##   if this_condition; then
##     cd this_dir && do_that_thing
##   fi
## \example-description Now we describe the example more seriously.
## But you can simply skip the description if it easy enough to understand.

In templates:

• Reference: {% for example in shellman.doc.example %}
• {{ example.brief }}: the brief explanation / title of the example.
• {{ example.code }}: the code of the example.
• {{ example.code_lang }}: the language specified after \example-code if any.
• {{ example.description }}: the description of what the example does.

Exit status¤

The exit status tag is used to declare what exit codes are returned, and when/why.

Syntax:

## \exit CODE DESCRIPTION...

Example:

## \exit 0 Everything went fine.

## \exit 1 Something went wrong.
## I don't know why, really.

## \exit 73
## I had never encounter this exit code before!

## \exit NO_INTERNET
## The code can also be a string.

In templates:

• Reference: {% for exit in shellman.doc.exit %}
• {{ exit.code }}: the exit code.
• {{ exit.description }}: the description of the event (when the script exits with this code).

File¤

The file tag is used to tell about the files used by the script.

Syntax:

## \file NAME DESCRIPTION...

Example:

## \file /etc/super_script/default_conf.rc The default configuration file for my super script.

## \file /dev/null
## I think you got it.

In templates:

• Reference: {% for file in shellman.doc.file %}
• {{ file.name }}: the name of the file, usually its absolute path.
• {{ file.description }}: the description of how the file is used.

Function¤

The function tag is used to document a function.

Syntax:

## \function PROTOTYPE
[## DESCRIPTION...]
[## \function-brief BRIEF]
[## \function-argument NAME DESCRIPTION]...
[## \function-precondition DESCRIPTION]...
[## \function-return CODE DESCRIPTION]...
[## \function-seealso TEXT]...
[## \function-stdin TEXT]...
[## \function-stderr TEXT]...
[## \function-stdout TEXT]...

For now, shellman does not support too much verbosity for the attributes: only one line can be used for each.

Each line without a tag will be appended to the description.

Example:

## \function say_hello(person, hello='bonjour')
## \function-brief Say hello (in French by default) to the given person.
## \function-precondition The person you say hello to must be a human or a dog.
## \function-argument hello How to say hello. Default is "bonjour".
## \function-return 0 The person was not authorized to answer back.
## \function-return 1 The person was human.
## \function-return 17 The person was a good boy.
## \function-stdout The person's answer will be printed on standard output.

In templates:

• Reference: {% for function in shellman.doc.function %}
• {{ function.prototype }}: the function prototype.
• {{ function.brief }}: a brief explanation.
• {{ function.description }}: a longer explanation.
• {{ function.arguments }}: the list of arguments.
• {{ function.preconditions }}: the list of preconditions.
• {{ function.return_codes }}: the list of return codes.
• {{ function.seealso }}: the list of "see also".
• {{ function.stderr }}: the list of standard error messages.
• {{ function.stdin }}: the list of standard input messages.
• {{ function.stdout }}: the list of standard output messages.

History¤

The history tag is used to write about the history of the project. Interesing dates, change of maintainer, etc.

Syntax:

## \history TEXT...

Example:

## \history 2018-08-31: this example was written.

## \history Far future:
## 2K stars on GitHub!

In templates:

• Reference: {% for history in shellman.doc.history %}
• {{ history.text }}: the text written after the tag.

License¤

The license tag is used to write licensing information.

Syntax:

## \license TEXT...

Example:

## \license ISC License
##
## Copyright (c) 2018, Timothée Mazzucotelli
##
## Permission to use, copy, modify, and/or distribute this software for any
## purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above
## copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all copies.
##
## THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES
## WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
## MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR
## ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES
## WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN
## ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF
## OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.

In templates:

• Reference: {% for license in shellman.doc.license %}
• {{ license.text }}: the text written after the tag.

Note¤

The note tag is used to write a note about something.

Syntax:

## \note TEXT...

Example:

## \note If shellman does not work as expected, please file a bug on GitHub.
## Here is the URL: https://github.com/pawamoy/shellman.

In templates:

• Reference: {% for note in shellman.doc.note %}
• {{ note.text }}: the text written after the tag.

Option¤

The option tag is used to document one of your script options.

Syntax:

## \option SIGNATURE
## DESCRIPTION...
[## \option-default DEFAULT]
[## \option-group GROUP]

SIGNATURE being [short option, ][long option ][positional arguments].

Example:

## \option -h, --help
## Print this help and exit.
## \option-group General options

## \option -c, --context CONTEXT...
## Inject specified context into the template.
## Context can be a KEY=VALUE string or a JSON string.

## \option --easter-egg
## \option-default False
## \option-group Experimental options
## Activate the easter-egg.

In templates:

• Reference: {% for option in shellman.doc.option %}
• {{ option.short }}: the short option if any.
• {{ option.long }}: the long option if any.
• {{ option.positional }}: the option's positional arguments if any.
• {{ option.default }}: the default value of the option.
• {{ option.group }}: the option's group.
• {{ option.description }}: the option's description.
• {{ option.signature }}: the option's signature.

See also¤

The see also tag is used to mention other related things (websites, tools, etc.).

Syntax:

## \seealso TEXT...

Example:

## \seealso A note about something else to look at.

In templates:

• Reference: {% for seealso in shellman.doc.seealso %}
• {{ seealso.text }}: the text written after the tag.

Standard Error¤

The standard error tag is used to tell what is written on the standard error, and when/why.

Syntax:

## \stderr TEXT...

Example:

## \stderr The download progression is printed on standard error.

In templates:

• Reference: {% for stderr in shellman.doc.stderr %}
• {{ stderr.text }}: the text written after the tag.

Standard Input¤

The standard input tag is used to tell what is expected on the standard input, and when/why.

Syntax:

## \stdin TEXT...

Example:

## \stdin Standard input expects JSON formatted text.

In templates:

• Reference: {% for stdin in shellman.doc.stdin %}
• {{ stdin.text }}: the text written after the tag.

Standard Output¤

The standard output tag is used to tell what is written on the standard output, and when/why.

Syntax:

## \stdout TEXT...

Example:

## \stdout This script prints your geolocation on standard output.

In templates:

• Reference: {% for stdout in shellman.doc.stdout %}
• {{ stdout.text }}: the text written after the tag.

Usage¤

The usage tag is used to show how to use the script.

Syntax:

## \usage PROGRAM [COMMAND...]

Example:

## \usage shellman [-h] [-c CONTEXT...] [--context-file FILE] [-t TEMPLATE] [-m] [-o OUTPUT] [FILE [FILE ...]]

## \usage my_script on
## \usage my_script off

In templates:

• Reference: {% for usage in shellman.doc.usage %}
• {{ usage.program }}: the program name (name of the executable).
• {{ usage.command }}: the command string.

Version¤

The version tag is used to denotate the current version of the script.

Syntax:

## \version TEXT...

Example:

## \version 1.3.0

In templates:

• Reference: {% for version in shellman.doc.version %}
• {{ version.text }}: the text written after the tag.