Thread: vs
Can someone clarify when we should use <command> and when we should use <application>? I see postmaster used with application, but psql and createdb used with command. Is this correct? -- Bruce Momjian | http://candle.pha.pa.us pgman@candle.pha.pa.us | (610) 853-3000 + If your life is a hard drive, | 830 Blythe Avenue + Christ can be your backup. | Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania 19026
Bruce Momjian <pgman@candle.pha.pa.us> writes:
> Can someone clarify when we should use <command> and when we should use
> <application>?
More generally, what are the standard set of markup tags that should be
used? I know that I tend to overuse <literal>foo</> because I'm not
clear on the alternatives like <type>, <envar>, <option>, yadda yadda.
It'd help if there were a list somewhere.
regards, tom lane
> Bruce Momjian writes: > > > Can someone clarify when we should use <command> and when we should use > > <application>? I see postmaster used with application, but psql and > > createdb used with command. Is this correct? > > >From "DocBook: The Definitive Guide": > > | Command -- The name of an executable program or other software command > | > | This element holds the name of an executable program or the text of a > | command that a user enters to execute a program. > > | Application -- The name of a software program > | > | The appelation "application" is usually reserved for larger software > | packages--WordPerfect, for example, but not grep. In some domains, > | Application may also apply to a piece of hardware. > > One could think of psql as a separate "application", but postmaster is > certainly a command only. > > I'm not sure why, given the definition, <command> is put out in bold. > Monospaced would make more sense to me. <application> could be a remote > candidate for bold. Actually, postmaster seems bigger to me that psql. Are the outputs for the two tags output differently? If so, we better use them consistently. -- Bruce Momjian | http://candle.pha.pa.us pgman@candle.pha.pa.us | (610) 853-3000 + If your life is a hard drive, | 830 Blythe Avenue + Christ can be your backup. | Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania 19026
Bruce Momjian writes: > Can someone clarify when we should use <command> and when we should use > <application>? I see postmaster used with application, but psql and > createdb used with command. Is this correct? From "DocBook: The Definitive Guide": | Command -- The name of an executable program or other software command | | This element holds the name of an executable program or the text of a | command that a user enters to execute a program. | Application -- The name of a software program | | The appelation "application" is usually reserved for larger software | packages--WordPerfect, for example, but not grep. In some domains, | Application may also apply to a piece of hardware. One could think of psql as a separate "application", but postmaster is certainly a command only. I'm not sure why, given the definition, <command> is put out in bold. Monospaced would make more sense to me. <application> could be a remote candidate for bold. -- Peter Eisentraut peter_e@gmx.net
Tom Lane writes: > More generally, what are the standard set of markup tags that should be > used? I know that I tend to overuse <literal>foo</> because I'm not > clear on the alternatives like <type>, <envar>, <option>, yadda yadda. > It'd help if there were a list somewhere. At docbook.org you can download (read online, buy, ...) "DocBook: The Definitive Guide", which contains introductions to SGML, XML, DocBook, stylesheets, plus a complete reference of all elements, what they're for and what can go where. I use it nearly every day. As for what tags to use, it's difficult to keep track of the over a hundred elements that DocBook has, but "when in doubt, use <literal>" seems like a reasonable thing to do and it seems to fit the idea of the element. One day we might want to add some tags that fit our domain better, such as <sqlcode> or <databaseobject>. -- Peter Eisentraut peter_e@gmx.net
> Bruce Momjian writes:
>
> > Can someone clarify when we should use <command> and when we should use
> > <application>? I see postmaster used with application, but psql and
> > createdb used with command. Is this correct?
>
> >From "DocBook: The Definitive Guide":
>
> | Command -- The name of an executable program or other software command
> |
> | This element holds the name of an executable program or the text of a
> | command that a user enters to execute a program.
>
> | Application -- The name of a software program
> |
> | The appelation "application" is usually reserved for larger software
> | packages--WordPerfect, for example, but not grep. In some domains,
> | Application may also apply to a piece of hardware.
>
> One could think of psql as a separate "application", but postmaster is
> certainly a command only.
>
> I'm not sure why, given the definition, <command> is put out in bold.
> Monospaced would make more sense to me. <application> could be a remote
> candidate for bold.
I see both <command> and <application> SGML tags is used for the
following items in our current CVS:
createdb
cvs checkout
ecpg
gcc
gzip
initdb
pg_dumpall
pgtclsh
postmaster
ps
psql
sed
ssh
strace
sysctl
tcsh
--
Bruce Momjian | http://candle.pha.pa.us
pgman@candle.pha.pa.us | (610) 853-3000
+ If your life is a hard drive, | 830 Blythe Avenue
+ Christ can be your backup. | Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania 19026
OK, Peter, can I clean these up? Seems like a quiet time to do that. Are applications things you interact with, like psql, while commands are things like grep and createdb? In reading the definition below, I thought PostgreSQL was an application, while psql and postmaster were both commands. You type psql and postmaster, but not PostgreSQL. That would fit with the WordPerfect comment. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Bruce Momjian writes: > > > Can someone clarify when we should use <command> and when we should use > > <application>? I see postmaster used with application, but psql and > > createdb used with command. Is this correct? > > >From "DocBook: The Definitive Guide": > > | Command -- The name of an executable program or other software command > | > | This element holds the name of an executable program or the text of a > | command that a user enters to execute a program. > > | Application -- The name of a software program > | > | The appelation "application" is usually reserved for larger software > | packages--WordPerfect, for example, but not grep. In some domains, > | Application may also apply to a piece of hardware. > > One could think of psql as a separate "application", but postmaster is > certainly a command only. > > I'm not sure why, given the definition, <command> is put out in bold. > Monospaced would make more sense to me. <application> could be a remote > candidate for bold. > > -- > Peter Eisentraut peter_e@gmx.net > > -- Bruce Momjian | http://candle.pha.pa.us pgman@candle.pha.pa.us | (610) 853-3000 + If your life is a hard drive, | 830 Blythe Avenue + Christ can be your backup. | Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania 19026