>On Wed, Mar 31, 2004 at 09:59:50AM -0600, Ken Fuchs wrote:
>> >$ screen /dev/ttyS0 9600 vt100
>> 
>> This works great too!  However, this command line is inconsistent with
>> the man page.  I shouldn't be surprised by man page bugs in open
>> source software.  Right?

I was refering to the SYNOPSIS portion of the man page

SYNOPSIS
       screen [ -options ] [ cmd [ args ] ]
       screen -r [[pid.]tty[.host]]
       screen -r sessionowner/[[pid.]tty[.host]]

Command form #1 doesn't fit in my opinion.  The man page might consider
/dev/ttyS0 as a cmd, but most people consider it a special character
device.

I'd suggest adding another form like

       screen [ -options ] device [ args ]

where one can search for "device" and find the appropriate args.

Command forms #2 and #3 fit even less well than form #1. 

Searching for "cmd" in the man page doesn't seem to turn up anything
useful either.

Chad C. Walstrom wrote:

>You prompted me to read the manpage more thoroughly.  It's very long,
>and I tend only to look for what I need.  Perhaps I should take up
>pleasure reading of random manpages. ;-)
>
>Here's the excerpt that describes this functionality for screen:
>
>WINDOW TYPE
>
>   ...
>
>   The normal window contains a shell (default, if no parameter is
>   given) or any other  sys­ tem command that could be executed from a
>   shell (e.g.  slogin, etc...)
>
>   If  a  tty  (character  special device) name (e.g.  "/dev/ttya") is
>   specified as the first parameter, then the window is directly
>   connected to this device.   This  window  type  is similar  to
>   "screen  cu  -l /dev/ttya".  Read and write access is required on the
>   device node, an exclusive open is attempted on the node to mark the
>   connection line as busy.  An optional  parameter is allowed
>   consisting of a comma separated list of flags in the nota­ tion used
>   by stty(1):
>
>      <baud_rate>
>         Usually 300, 1200, 9600 or 19200. This affects transmission as
>         well  as  receive speed.
>
>      cs8 or cs7
>         Specify the transmission of eight (or seven) bits per byte.
>
>      ixon or -ixon
>         Enables (or disables) software flow-control (CTRL-S/CTRL-Q) for
>         sending data.
>
>      ixoff or -ixon
>         Enables (or disables) software flow-control for receiving data.
>
>      istrip or -istrip
>         Clear (or keep) the eight bit in each received byte.
>
>    ...

As Chad was kind enough to point out, the required information is in
the screen man page, but I still think the SYNOPSIS of the screen man
page is too vague and it doesn't lead one to the appropriate section of
the man page via searching for "cmd".

The screen man page is 3500 lines long.  The cu man page is 267 lines.
The minicom man page is 808 lines.  For something as simple as
connecting to a serial console, one should only have to look at the
synopsis of a man page for a few seconds to determine what parameters
to use and in what form to provide them.  Plus maybe a few minutes to
get the options right.

Sometimes man page writers are too close to the program to write a
logically structured, easy to search man page that concisely describes
program function and how to activate each function.  It's much easier to
test a program on a machine than to test a man page on intelligent
people that happen to know nothing about that particular program.

Sincerely,

Ken Fuchs <kfuchs at winternet.com>

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