Re: [CLI] - new FormatHelper produces poorly formatted option groups

Hello Damien and all,

This issue has been fixed with Claude's PR
https://github.com/apache/commons-cli/pull/411

Thank you, Claude!

Damien: Would you please test with a local git master build or a
snapshot dependency from
https://repository.apache.org/content/repositories/snapshots/ ?

Thank you,
Gary

On Thu, Oct 30, 2025 at 3:22=E2=80=AFPM Damien Carbonne
<[email protected]> wrote:
>
> I think that the issue is here, in
> org.apache.commons.cli.help.AbstractHelpFormatter:
>
> public final void printHelp(final String cmdLineSyntax, final String
> header, final Options options, final String footer, final boolean
> autoUsage) throws IOException {
>     printHelp(cmdLineSyntax, header, options.getOptions(), footer,
> autoUsage); // Here groups are lost
> }
>
> Options contains groups, but Iterable<Option> (returned by
> options.getOptions()) does not.
> Therefore, the called printHelp is unable to format options correctly.
>
> One could construct Options from Iterable<Option> and revert the calls.
>
>
> Le 30/10/2025 =C3=A0 16:05, Claude Warren a =C3=A9crit :
> > I was on my phone when I first read this.  But now I wonder how this is
> > wrong.
> >
> > The example adds 2 options o1 and o2 and a group comprising the 2 and t=
he
> > expected output contains o1, o2, and o3.  Where did o3 get its name?  I
> > assume o3 is intended to be the group of 01 and 02, but I don't think t=
hose
> > were ever delineated in the output.  Am I missing something?
> >
> >
> >
> > On Thu, Oct 30, 2025 at 12:47=E2=80=AFPM Claude Warren <[email protected]=
rg> wrote:
> >
> >> Looks likeregression.  I will take a look later today.
> >>
> >> Claude
> >>
> >> LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/claudewarren
> >>
> >> On Thu 30 Oct 2025, 12:12 Gary Gregory, <[email protected]> wrote=
:
> >>
> >>> Claude, any thoughts here? I was just about to push a release candida=
te...
> >>>
> >>> Gary
> >>>
> >>> On Sun, Oct 26, 2025 at 10:38=E2=80=AFAM Damien Carbonne
> >>> <[email protected]> wrote:
> >>>> Hi,
> >>>>
> >>>> When using the new HelpFormatter (commons-cli-1.10.0), option groups=
 are
> >>>> poorly formatted.
> >>>>
> >>>> This looks like a regression.
> >>>> The following code shows the difference between the new HelpFormatte=
r
> >>>> and the deprecated one:
> >>>> -------------------------------------
> >>>> import java.io.IOException;
> >>>>
> >>>> import org.apache.commons.cli.Option;
> >>>> import org.apache.commons.cli.OptionGroup;
> >>>> import org.apache.commons.cli.Options;
> >>>>
> >>>> public class CliTest {
> >>>>       public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
> >>>>           // create options and groups
> >>>>           final Option o1 =3D new Option("o1", "Descr");
> >>>>           final Option o2 =3D new Option("o2", "Descr");
> >>>>
> >>>>           final Options options =3D new Options();
> >>>>           options.addOption(o1);
> >>>>           options.addOption(o2);
> >>>>
> >>>>           final OptionGroup group =3D new OptionGroup();
> >>>>           group.addOption(o1);
> >>>>           group.addOption(o2);
> >>>>           options.addOptionGroup(group);
> >>>>
> >>>>           //format options with new formatter
> >>>>           final org.apache.commons.cli.help.HelpFormatter newFormatt=
er =3D
> >>>>
> >>> org.apache.commons.cli.help.HelpFormatter.builder().setShowSince(fals=
e).get();
> >>>>           newFormatter.printHelp("Command", null, options, null, tru=
e);
> >>>>
> >>>>           // format options with old formatter
> >>>>           final org.apache.commons.cli.HelpFormatter oldFormatter =
=3D
> >>>>                   new org.apache.commons.cli.HelpFormatter();
> >>>>           oldFormatter.printHelp("Command", null, options, null, tru=
e);
> >>>>       }
> >>>> }
> >>>> -------------------------------------
> >>>>
> >>>> The output is:
> >>>> -------------------------------------
> >>>> usage:  Command [-o1] [-o2]
> >>>>    Options     Description
> >>>>    -o1         Descr
> >>>>    -o2         Descr
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> usage: Command [-o1 | -o2]
> >>>>    -o1   Descr
> >>>>    -o2   Descr
> >>>> -------------------------------------
> >>>>
> >>>> Groups are not shown any more.
> >>>> I would expect the new formatter output to look like this:
> >>>> -------------------------------------
> >>>> usage: Command [-o1 | -o2]
> >>>> Options Description
> >>>> -o1 Descr
> >>>> -o2 Descr
> >>>> -o3 Descr
> >>>> -------------------------------------
> >>>>
> >>>> Regards,
> >>>> Damien Carbonne
> >>>>
> >>>> --------------------------------------------------------------------=
-
> >>>> To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected]
> >>>> For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
> >>>>
>
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected]
> For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
>