tldr/contributing-guides/style-guide.md

Style Guide

This page lists specific formatting instructions for tldr pages.

Layout

The basic format of each page should match the following template:

# command-name

> Short, snappy description.
> Preferably one line; two are acceptable if necessary.

- Example description:

`command -opt1 -opt2 -arg1 {{arg_value}}`

- Example description:

`command -opt1 -opt2`

There actually is a linter/formatter that enforces the format above. It is run automatically on every pull request, but you may install it to test your contributions locally before submitting them:

npm install tldr-lint
tldrl -f {{page.md}}

For other ways to use tldrl, such as linting an entire directory, check out (what else!) tldr tldrl

If you're using the Node.js client of tldr, you can preview a page locally using the -f flag (aka --render):

tldr -f {{page.md}}

Token syntax

User-provided values should use the {{token}} syntax in order to allow tldr clients to highlight them.

Keep the following guidelines in mind when choosing tokens:

1. Use short but descriptive tokens, ex. {{source_file}} or {{wallet.txt}}.
2. Use snake_case for multi-word tokens.
3. For any reference to paths to files or directories, use the format {{path/to/<placeholder>}}. For example, ln -s {{path/to/file}} {{path/to/symlink}}. In case of a possible reference both to a file or a directory, use {{path/to/file_or_directory}}
4. Follow the {{path/to/<placeholder>}} convention for all path-related commands, except when the file location is implicit.
5. If a command expects the file to have a particular extension, use it. For example, unrar x {{compressed.rar}}. In case a generic extension is needed, use {{.ext}}, but only if an extension is required. For instance, in find.md's example "Find files by extension" (find {{root_path}} -name '{{*.ext}}') using {{*.ext}} explains the command without being unnecessarily specific; But in a command like wc -l {{file}}, using {{file}} (without extension) is sufficient.
6. If the example is clearer with an actual value rather than a generic placeholder, use the actual value. For example, use iostat {{2}} rather than iostat {{interval_in_secs}}.

In general, tokens should make it as intuitive as possible to figure out how to use the command and fill it in with values.