[bug#41164] [PATCH 0/3] Add 'guix graph --path'

["Ludovic Courtès" <ludo@gnu.org>]

Hi!

zimoun <zimon.toutoune@gmail.com> skribis:

> I remember discussing such feature at FOSDEM. :-)
> And a couple of days ago (updating with core-updates), I was annoyed
> because a lot of "unexpected" packages were downloaded, I asked myself
> "why".  So you removed one item of my feature wishlist. ;-)

Yeah, I guess we’re all periodically annoyed by that.  :-)

> On Sun, 10 May 2020 at 01:05, Ludovic Courtès <ludo@gnu.org> wrote:
>
>> --8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
>> $ ./pre-inst-env guix graph --path emacs libffi
>> --8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---
>
> Well, the command is obviously not symmetric (oriented).  The path is
> from 'emacs' to 'libffi'.
>
> It appears to me not clear in '--help'.
>
> display the shortest path between the given nodes

‘--help’ is not a substitute for the manual though.  Do you have another
wording proposal in mind that is as concise?

> Well, I am already bikeshedding but the CLI "guix graph emacs
> --path-to libffi" appears to me clearer (or '--why' as "why" is
> mentioned and underlined in the doc :-)).

Actually, as things are, the location of ‘--path’ on the command line
does not matter at all.  I don’t think it’s worth changing.

As for ‘--path-to’ instead of ‘--path’: I think a path in common
language is directed (one follows a path from one place to another).

>> There’s a bikeshedding opportunity in the last patch: should it go
>> in ‘guix graph’ or elsewhere?  I think ‘guix graph’ is a good home
>> for that, and could eventually include more graph queries.  For
>> instance, ‘guix refresh -l’ could very well live in ‘guix graph’.
>
> I do not have a strong opinion.

Good!  I knew there’d be candidates for the bikeshedding opportunity.
:-)

> The "graph" subcommand fits well.  But for example:
>
>   guix show emacs --why libffi
>   guix search emacs --why libffi
>
> make sense too -- at least to me. ;-)

Dunno, I’m not convinced.

> And bikeshedding again, there is a temptation  to pipe the current CLI:
>
>   guix graph --path emacs libffi | guix show

‘guix graph --path emacs libffi | xargs guix show’

Though ‘guix show’ appears to ignore all but one argument, uh.

Thanks!

Ludo’.