Using Command Options describes missing feature

[EdwardIII]

This feature seems to be missing/not working as expected:

It is also possible to make an option optionally accept a value (so that --yell or --yell=loud work). Options can also be configured to accept an array of values.

http://symfony.com/doc/current/components/console/introduction.html#using-command-options

While it's true you can specifiy --yell or yell=loud, it looks like you can't meaningfully distinguish between the two:

symfony/symfony#11572

Over on that issue they seem to think it's not really a symfony bug (or not a fixable one) and that maybe it's a documentation bug?

[stof]

It is indeed a documentation bug: the doc does not documents the actual behavior (which cannot change as lots of code is relying on it).

Actually, the sentence here is not wrong. But it does not explain enough what the behavior is.

[weaverryan]

As I understand it, we cannot "meaningfully distinguish between the two" as @EdwardIII said, and that won't be fixable in the code. So, you can either have -yell, which returns true or false or yell=foo, which returns "foo".

So what should we add/change? Is it that we're not really showing what value will be returned in each case?

[wouterj]

Ping, what is missing?

[xabbuh]

@wouterj Someone needs to create a pull request. :)

[wouterj]

@xabbuh but to do what? I can't see anything wrong (and I understand that @weaverryan doesn't understand it too)

[xabbuh]

@wouterj The issue is that we currently say that you can create options with optional values. However, if you call a command with such an option without a value, you'll retrieve null as the option's value which is the same when you omit the option. So, how would you distinguish these two cases?

[wouterj]

Ah, now I get it. Thanks for clarifying, @xabbuh . Tagging it with actionable and easy pick in that case :)