URL: <http://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?49640>
Summary: Refer to numeric arguments as n|-n|+n or [-+]n instead of n in the manpages Project: findutils Submitted by: fuujuhi Submitted on: Fri 18 Nov 2016 06:39:15 AM GMT Category: documentation Severity: 3 - Normal Item Group: None Status: None Privacy: Public Assigned to: None Originator Name: Originator Email: Open/Closed: Open Discussion Lock: Any Release: 4.6.0 Fixed Release: None _______________________________________________________ Details: Despites years of usage of find I still choke on the following subtlety of find numerical arguments, that 'n' means 'exactly n', whereas '+n' means 'greater than n' and '-n' means 'less than n'. This is clearly stated at the start of the TESTS section, but for someone that would only cursorily read the manpage, like searching for 'mtime' directly, you might easily miss this information. I suggest then to edit the manpage such that all numerical arguments are listed as n|-n|+n or [-+]n instead of simply n. -amin n File was last accessed n minutes ago. would become -amin n|-n|+n File was last accessed n minutes ago. or alternatively -amin [-+]n File was last accessed n minutes ago. In case of extreme motivation, the text body could also be edited to replace 'n' by '(exactly/at least/at most) n' or something alike. But tmo changing the argument specification is already enough. _______________________________________________________ Reply to this item at: <http://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?49640> _______________________________________________ Message sent via/by Savannah http://savannah.gnu.org/