Commit 08bcf6449cc0ca37b2223eb8e204eaf5a52fb348

Authored by Jay Berkenbilt
1 parent af2a71aa

Clarify docs around @filename and leading/trailing space

manual/qpdf-manual.xml
@@ -573,12 +573,14 @@ make @@ -573,12 +573,14 @@ make
573 <para> 573 <para>
574 If <option>@filename</option> appears as a word anywhere in the 574 If <option>@filename</option> appears as a word anywhere in the
575 command-line, it will be read line by line, and each line will be 575 command-line, it will be read line by line, and each line will be
576 - treated as a command-line argument. The <option>@-</option> option  
577 - allows arguments to be read from standard input. This allows qpdf  
578 - to be invoked with an arbitrary number of arbitrarily long  
579 - arguments. It is also very useful for avoiding having to pass  
580 - passwords on the command line. Note that the  
581 - <option>@filename</option> can't appear in the middle of an 576 + treated as a command-line argument. Leading and trailing
  577 + whitespace is intentionally not removed from lines, which makes it
  578 + possible to handle arguments that start or end with spaces. The
  579 + <option>@-</option> option allows arguments to be read from
  580 + standard input. This allows qpdf to be invoked with an arbitrary
  581 + number of arbitrarily long arguments. It is also very useful for
  582 + avoiding having to pass passwords on the command line. Note that
  583 + the <option>@filename</option> can't appear in the middle of an
582 argument, so constructs such as <option>--arg=@option</option> 584 argument, so constructs such as <option>--arg=@option</option>
583 will not work. You would have to include the argument and its 585 will not work. You would have to include the argument and its
584 options together in the arguments file. 586 options together in the arguments file.
qpdf/qpdf.cc
@@ -1340,7 +1340,8 @@ ArgParser::argHelp() @@ -1340,7 +1340,8 @@ ArgParser::argHelp()
1340 << "\n" 1340 << "\n"
1341 << "If @filename appears anywhere in the command-line, each line of filename\n" 1341 << "If @filename appears anywhere in the command-line, each line of filename\n"
1342 << "will be interpreted as an argument. No interpolation is done. Line\n" 1342 << "will be interpreted as an argument. No interpolation is done. Line\n"
1343 - << "terminators are stripped. @- can be specified to read from standard input.\n" 1343 + << "terminators are stripped, but leading and trailing whitespace is\n"
  1344 + << "intentionally preserved. @- can be specified to read from standard input.\n"
1344 << "\n" 1345 << "\n"
1345 << "The output file can be - to indicate writing to standard output, or it can\n" 1346 << "The output file can be - to indicate writing to standard output, or it can\n"
1346 << "be --replace-input to cause qpdf to replace the input file with the output.\n" 1347 << "be --replace-input to cause qpdf to replace the input file with the output.\n"