2007-05-07 19:54:45

by Robert P. J. Day

[permalink] [raw]
Subject: why don't top-level menu entries have help info?


i'd be surprised if this hasn't come up before, but would it be hard
to add a facility to Kconfig so that "menu" entries have some help
info?

after i run "make menuconfig" and i'm sitting at the main menu,
there's nothing to help me out in understanding what any of those
choices might mean.

i might see "Instrumentation Support" and wonder just what that is,
but if i ask for help (which is, as you can see, clearly available
at the bottom of the config screen), i get nothing meaningful, just
the generic README.

i think it would be helpful if those entries also supported help
info. just my $0.02.

rday

--
========================================================================
Robert P. J. Day
Linux Consulting, Training and Annoying Kernel Pedantry
Waterloo, Ontario, CANADA

http://fsdev.net/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page
========================================================================


2007-05-07 20:27:24

by Sam Ravnborg

[permalink] [raw]
Subject: Re: why don't top-level menu entries have help info?

Added Roman Zippel to cc - he is kconfig maintainer,

Sam

On Mon, May 07, 2007 at 03:54:13PM -0400, Robert P. J. Day wrote:
>
> i'd be surprised if this hasn't come up before, but would it be hard
> to add a facility to Kconfig so that "menu" entries have some help
> info?
>
> after i run "make menuconfig" and i'm sitting at the main menu,
> there's nothing to help me out in understanding what any of those
> choices might mean.
>
> i might see "Instrumentation Support" and wonder just what that is,
> but if i ask for help (which is, as you can see, clearly available
> at the bottom of the config screen), i get nothing meaningful, just
> the generic README.
>
> i think it would be helpful if those entries also supported help
> info. just my $0.02.
>
> rday
>
> --
> ========================================================================
> Robert P. J. Day
> Linux Consulting, Training and Annoying Kernel Pedantry
> Waterloo, Ontario, CANADA
>
> http://fsdev.net/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page
> ========================================================================
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2007-05-08 08:51:43

by Jan Engelhardt

[permalink] [raw]
Subject: Re: why don't top-level menu entries have help info?


>On Mon, May 07, 2007 at 03:54:13PM -0400, Robert P. J. Day wrote:
>>
>> i'd be surprised if this hasn't come up before, but would it be hard
>> to add a facility to Kconfig so that "menu" entries have some help
>> info?

Currently, you have to (needlessy) enter the MD menu for example and
*in there* read the help text of CONFIG_MD, then decide if you want
it or not. I hope my use-menuconfig-objects patches help this issue
a bit ... not only avoiding to enter it, but also making the help
text available in the upper level. Take CONFIG_EMBEDDED, it DTRTs.

I do not think it will be too helpful to have help texts on menu, for
the "important" Kconfig objects (config, choice, menuconfig) should
have it - and they have it.

>> after i run "make menuconfig" and i'm sitting at the main menu,
>> there's nothing to help me out in understanding what any of those
>> choices might mean.
>>
>> i might see "Instrumentation Support" and wonder just what that is,
>> but if i ask for help (which is, as you can see, clearly available
>> at the bottom of the config screen), i get nothing meaningful, just
>> the generic README.
>>
>> i think it would be helpful if those entries also supported help
>> info. just my $0.02.

Jan
--