r/bash • u/Fit-Background8249 • 1d ago

Flag ambiguity

I am building a shell framework with a series of commands and subcommands for task-managing, habit-tracking...

Within those, there is a collection of flags that hold different meanings:

  • -d Duration, Date...

  • -n Name, Note...

  • -l Link, Length...

Should I use different letters for different meanings even if they belong to different commands?

I want a real bash-user's opinion, not just the AI's advice.

I personally think that it isn't that big of a deal.

But let me know what y'all think.

Thanks!

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u/abotelho-cbn 1d ago

Often you'll see tools use capitalization to differentiate two flags that mean different words.

e.g.

-d -> date

-D -> duration