NixOS/nix

`nix repl`: Group of `:?` by use case

Open

#7,646 opened on Jan 20, 2023

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Description

Problem

When you type :? in nix repl you are presented with a list of 17 items, mostly sorted alphabetically by command name.

Due to people's limited ability to account more than ~5 objects of interest at a glance, it's improbable for beginners to find what they care about, and it's similarly improbable for most people to read through the list carefully.

Proposal

In order to make the available commands easier to discover and understand how they relate to each other, group the output of :? (source) by use case, for example:

  • evaluate
  • build
  • inspect
  • quit

Checklist

Priorities

Add :+1: to issues you find important.

Contributor guide

Tech stack
cpp
Domain
clideveloper experience
Issue type
feature
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
3
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
half day
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
fresh
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
clear
Prerequisites
knowledge of C++familiarity with Nix REPL
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
65
Research direction
Examine the source file `src/libcmd/repl.cc` lines 486-503 to understand the current list of commands printed by `:?`. The goal is to categorize these commands into use case groups such as 'evaluate', 'build', 'inspect', and 'quit'. The implementation will require modifying the code to output grouped commands instead of a flat alphabetical list. Look for any existing grouping patterns in the codebase and consider how to structure the output for clarity.
`nix repl`: Group of `:?` by use case · NixOS/nix#7646 | Good First Issue