Help Info
Adding --help support to commands
A CLI without help info is not a good CLI.
In Mingling, use the `#[help]` macro to add help text to commands.
## Simplest Help
Write a help function directly for an Entry:
```rust
@@@use mingling::macros::help;
@@@dispatcher!("greet", CMDGreet => EntryGreet);
#[help]
fn help_greet(_entry: EntryGreet) {
r_println!("Usage: greet [name]");
r_println!("Say hello to someone.");
}
```
> [!NOTE]
> Help functions also use `r_println!`, because `#[help]` follows the rendering pipeline — it's a short-circuit render triggered early by the `--help` flag, not logic outside the pipeline.
## Global Help
You can also write help for `ErrorDispatcherNotFound` as the "root help":
```rust
@@@use mingling::macros::help;
// Triggered when user passes --help directly
#[help]
fn help_root(entry: ErrorDispatcherNotFound) {
r_println!("Usage: my-cli ");
r_println!("Commands:");
r_println!(" greet Say hello");
}
```
> [!TIP]
> `ErrorDispatcherNotFound` is a type generated by `gen_program!()`, representing "no matching command found." Writing `#[help]` for it adds help to the program's root command.
## Requires Setup
For `--help` to work properly, add `BasicProgramSetup` in `main`:
```rust
@@@use mingling::macros::help;
@@@use mingling::setup::BasicProgramSetup;
@@@dispatcher!("greet", CMDGreet => EntryGreet);
fn main() {
let mut program = ThisProgram::new();
program.with_setup(BasicProgramSetup);
program.with_dispatcher(CMDGreet);
program.exec_and_exit();
}
```
`BasicProgramSetup` includes `HelpFlagSetup`, which simply sets `program.user_context.help` to `true`.
The actual routing to the `#[help]` function is handled by code generated via `gen_program!()` — it checks this flag during dispatch, and if `true`, goes through the help rendering path, bypassing the Chain.
Without `BasicProgramSetup`, `--help` is treated as a normal argument and passed as input to the Entry's Chain.
Written by @Weicao-CatilGrass