Re: say when comm separator disappears

[Pádraig Brady]

Pádraig Brady wrote:
> address@hidden wrote:
>> In (info "(coreutils)comm invocation"), after:
>>
>>       With no options, `comm' produces three-column output.  Column one
>>    contains lines unique to FILE1, column two contains lines unique to
>>    FILE2, and column three contains lines common to both files.  Columns
>>    are separated by a single TAB character.
>>
>>       The options `-1', `-2', and `-3' suppress printing of the
>>    corresponding columns.  Also see *note Common options::.
>>
>> Please add: If two of them are used, the separator is no longer needed
>> and will not be printed.
> 
> Well if only one of them is used the corresponding separator also suppressed.
> There was also confusion about these parameters in bug 24974.
> So I'll try and kill 2 birds with the 1 stone with:

I'll going to push the updated attached patch soon.

cheers,
Pádraig.

>From 39285f6008a26ff1d5facbffcbf12f57d60564d1 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: =?utf-8?q?P=C3=A1draig=20Brady?= <address@hidden>
Date: Fri, 15 May 2009 17:28:51 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] doc: clarify the operation of the comm -123 parameters

* src/comm.c (usage): give more information on the -123 parameters,
with examples to show that they can be combined.
Addresses <http://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?24974>.
* doc/coreutils.texi (comm invocation): Mention that the
column separators are suppressed along with the column.
Suggestion from Dan Jacobson.
* man/comm.x: Reference other commands that match adjacent lines.
* man/join.x: ditto.
* man/uniq.x: ditto.
---
 doc/coreutils.texi |    2 +-
 man/comm.x         |    2 ++
 man/join.x         |    2 ++
 man/uniq.x         |    2 ++
 src/comm.c         |   13 ++++++++++---
 5 files changed, 17 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/doc/coreutils.texi b/doc/coreutils.texi
index b96fdb2..1a3075f 100644
--- a/doc/coreutils.texi
+++ b/doc/coreutils.texi
@@ -4565,7 +4565,7 @@ Columns are separated by a single TAB character.
 @opindex -2
 @opindex -3
 The options @option{-1}, @option{-2}, and @option{-3} suppress printing of
-the corresponding columns.  Also see @ref{Common options}.
+the corresponding columns (and separators).  Also see @ref{Common options}.
 
 Unlike some other comparison utilities, @command{comm} has an exit
 status that does not depend on the result of the comparison.
diff --git a/man/comm.x b/man/comm.x
index dfc8480..d4d8e00 100644
--- a/man/comm.x
+++ b/man/comm.x
@@ -2,3 +2,5 @@
 comm \- compare two sorted files line by line
 [DESCRIPTION]
 .\" Add any additional description here
+[SEE ALSO]
+join(1), uniq(1)
diff --git a/man/join.x b/man/join.x
index 6f50791..f83e8ce 100644
--- a/man/join.x
+++ b/man/join.x
@@ -2,3 +2,5 @@
 join \- join lines of two files on a common field
 [DESCRIPTION]
 .\" Add any additional description here
+[SEE ALSO]
+comm(1), uniq(1)
diff --git a/man/uniq.x b/man/uniq.x
index 0221d92..98a95f9 100644
--- a/man/uniq.x
+++ b/man/uniq.x
@@ -2,3 +2,5 @@
 uniq \- report or omit repeated lines
 [DESCRIPTION]
 .\" Add any additional description here
+[SEE ALSO]
+comm(1), join(1)
diff --git a/src/comm.c b/src/comm.c
index 3c5b09a..e37cf88 100644
--- a/src/comm.c
+++ b/src/comm.c
@@ -114,9 +114,9 @@ and column three contains lines common to both files.\n\
 "), stdout);
       fputs (_("\
 \n\
-  -1              suppress lines unique to FILE1\n\
-  -2              suppress lines unique to FILE2\n\
-  -3              suppress lines that appear in both files\n\
+  -1              suppress column 1 (lines unique to FILE1)\n\
+  -2              suppress column 2 (lines unique to FILE2)\n\
+  -3              suppress column 3 (lines that appear in both files)\n\
 "), stdout);
       fputs (_("\
 \n\
@@ -133,6 +133,13 @@ and column three contains lines common to both files.\n\
 \n\
 Note, comparisons honor the rules specified by `LC_COLLATE'.\n\
 "), stdout);
+      printf (_("\
+\n\
+Examples:\n\
+  %s -12 file1 file2  Print only lines present in both file1 and file2.\n\
+  %s -3  file1 file2  Print lines in file1 not in file2, and vice versa.\n\
+"),
+             program_name, program_name);
       emit_bug_reporting_address ();
     }
   exit (status);
-- 
1.5.3.6