fmt: Error priorities could be improved #6352
Description
$ fmt -g apple -g7 tests/fixtures/fmt/one-word-per-line.txt
this is a
file with one
word per line
$ fmt -g apple -g7 -w banana tests/fixtures/fmt/one-word-per-line.txt
fmt: invalid width: 'banana'
[$? = 1]
$ fmt -g apple -w banana tests/fixtures/fmt/one-word-per-line.txt
fmt: invalid width: 'banana'
[$? = 1]
$ fmt -w apple -g banana tests/fixtures/fmt/one-word-per-line.txt
fmt: invalid width: 'apple'
[$? = 1]This means:
- A non-numeric value for a numeric argument is okay IF it is later overridden by a numeric argument.
--width-related errors take priority over--goal-related errors, no matter the order.
I have some questions:
- To what extent do we want to be error-message compatible?
- This probably affects other utils, too. What's our standpoint, in general?