[plt-dev] `rico' and ".rkt"

On Mon, Feb 15, 2010 at 10:34 PM, Philippe Meunier <meunier at ccs.neu.edu> wrote:
> Matthew Flatt wrote:
>> * Some of us have discussed collapsing `setup-plt', `mzc', `planet',
>>   `plt-help' and (in case I've overlooked any) other miscellaneous
>>   programming tools into a single `rico' executable.
>
> I see that as mixing apples and oranges.  Then there's a strong risk
> of it ending up like cvs, where I could never remember which
> '-something' options I could use or not use in combination with which
> 'update', 'log', etc. sub-command, and where the same obscure
> '-something' option had a different meaning depending on which
> 'update', 'log', etc. sub-command I was in the middle of using (or was
> it that the same option had a different meaning depending on whether
> it appeared before the sub-command name or after?  I can't remember
> now, nor do I want to...)
>
> Robby Findler wrote:
>>FWIW, part of this is motivated from the fact that we're coming from a
>>situation where the dev tools are spread out among a bunch of
>>executables and you'd never really guess where some of the
>>functionality is (quick: where is zo-file decompilation?).
>
> But it's only going to move the problem by one word to the right by
> adding the word 'rico' in front (quick: which combination of rico
> sub-command and option does zo-file decompilation?)

rico decompile <filename>

:)

> I think it would be more useful to keep separate commands and just
> have them all start with the same prefix to make them easier to find.
> This is is fact what svn does for all its svnadmin, svnsync, etc.,
> commands.  I type 'svn' in my shell followed by two tabs and I get:
>
> svn                              svnlook
> svn-populate-node-origins-index  svnmucc
> svnadmin                         svnserve
> svnauthz-validate                svnsync
> svndumpfilter                    svnversion
>
> Well chosen names with a common prefix go a long way (I wouldn't call
> some of the svn-related programs listed just above "well named" but
> you get the idea).

I think the advantage of having a separate "rico" command gives us a
place to put a help message (when no arguments are passed) which seems
like it can be more informative than just getting a list of names, but
this is definitely a minor point.

The larger point, where we are definitely in agreement, is about the
confusing nature of cvs commands and a desire to rearrange things to
stop us from going to far down that path (we are more than a few steps
down it now, with the current setup).

Robby