https://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=122242
Bug ID: 122242
Summary: options should always be documented in positive form
regardless of default setting
Product: gcc
Version: 16.0
Status: UNCONFIRMED
Keywords: documentation
Severity: normal
Priority: P3
Component: other
Assignee: unassigned at gcc dot gnu.org
Reporter: sandra at gcc dot gnu.org
Target Milestone: ---
As discussed in this thread
https://gcc.gnu.org/pipermail/gcc-patches/2025-October/696694.html
the manual claims that for options that have both a positive and negative form,
only the form that is not the default is documented, but in fact we haven't
been doing that consistently. It's also hard to know what the default really
is; in some cases it is target-specific or determined by how GCC is configured,
in others options are enabled by default if some other option is specified and
are meaningless otherwise. Also, in cases where the convention has been
applied and we only document the "no-" form, this often confuses users.
I propose:
(1) doing away with the current convention
(2) documenting only the positive form in the "option summary" section
(3) documenting both positive and negative forms in the detailed option
documentation
(4) listing both positive and negative forms in the index
