dotnet
Updating HelpBuilder.WriteColumns to be easier to extend
While updating ClangSharp to the latest System.CommandLine I ran into the issue of a custom HelpBuilder wanting to leverage the two column layout for some arbitrary items. This required building a HelpContext despite the method only needing a TextWriter to output to.
See: https://github.com/dotnet/ClangSharp/pull/343
I wonder if another helper method like this work:
https://github.com/dotnet/command-line-api/blob/74ae46ea8571269a66945049ce9f134a91d67d1e/src/System.CommandLine/Help/HelpBuilderExtensions.cs#L31-L40
HelpBuilder.Write also takes a HelpContext and keeping things consistent on this type leaves an opening to add things to the HelpContext later.
The only issue with that type of extension is it makes is very difficult for anyone to use the built-in two column layout with arbitrary content. For the PR linked above, there is a large bit of content simply wants to be written out using the two-column layout. To work around the API I did something similar, the suggested extension method still assumes that the input to the function will come from a command. Where in this case what is desired is a way for an option to give "help-like" behavior with a lot of additional details. Really that code path doesn't really need to even go through a help builder, it is only using it to get some of the formatting niceness, but the input is "custom".
I wonder if that suggests that the problem isn't so much the HelpContext as the fact that it's so Command-centric.
I think that is a good summary. Which brings up two questions. 1. Should it be less command centric? 2. Any thoughts on what that should like?
One approach off the top of my head could be to change HelpBuilder.Write to accept Symbol and change HelpContext.Command to HelpContext.Symbol. That might have a bit of a ripple effect, though.