[SVN-4828] svn help: hide experimental, deprecated, and global commands and options

• Type: Improvement
• Status: Closed
• Priority: Major
• Resolution: Fixed
• Affects Version/s: trunk
• Component/s: cmdline client
• Assignee: Julian Foad
• Reporter: Julian Foad
• Created: 30/Aug/19 16:55
• Updated: 05/Oct/23 08:17
• Resolved: 02/Sep/19 15:00

Description

Hide experimental features, by default:

• let 'svn help' omit experimental commands and options
• let 'svn help -v' include them

The idea is that users wanting a stable experience should not be distracted by experimental features unless they choose to see them.

Further, I have been thinking for years we should hide by default:

• deprecated commands and options
• the "Global Options" section of "svn help <subcommand>"

The global options are sometimes useful, but really only for power users; take up the last half a screenful of output; are shown even for commands where they are irrelevant (all commands accept them but not all use them).

There are only a few deprecated options, so not such a big distraction, but users don't need to see or learn or care about them at all, except in the most extreme cases like debugging an old script that uses them.

I plan to hide these three categories by default.