lix/doc/manual/rl-next/short-expr-flag.md

---
synopsis: reintroduce shortened `-E` form for `--expr` to new CLI
cls: 605
credits: Lunaphied
category: Improvements
---

In the old CLI, it was possible to supply a shorter `-E` flag instead of fully
specifying `--expr` every time you wished to provide an expression that would
be evaluated to produce the given command's input. This was retained for the
`--file` flag when the new CLI utilities were written with `-f`, but `-E` was
dropped.

We now restore the `-E` short form for better UX. This is most useful for
`nix eval` but most any command that takes an Installable argument should benefit
from it as well.
Improve new CLI UX by supporting short `-E` flag for `--expr` Change-Id: I55881c846da8416a92a14deedfa5bbbf09a122fb 2024-03-22 03:48:34 +00:00			`---`
			synopsis: reintroduce shortened `-E` form for `--expr` to new CLI
build: replace changelog-d with local script hacking changelog-d to support not just github but also forgejo and gerrit is a lot more complicated than it's worth, even moreso since the entire thing can just as well be done with ~60 lines of python. this new script is also much cheaper to instantiate (being python), so having it enabled in all shells is far less of a hassle. we've also adjusted existing release notes that referenced a gerrit cl to auto-link to the cl in question, making the diff a bit bigger closes https://git.lix.systems/lix-project/lix/issues/176 Change-Id: I8ba7dd0070aad9ba4474401731215fcf5d9d2130 2024-03-26 17:32:25 +00:00			`cls: 605`
doc: add release note credits and categories for all the changes in Lix This does not add missing release notes, and it doesn't do anything about the profiles feature we would really like to have so we can have consistent credit. Change-Id: I72a6f7acfcff85f380be17dac76501a6f4693776 2024-05-15 02:14:58 +00:00			`credits: Lunaphied`
			`category: Improvements`
Improve new CLI UX by supporting short `-E` flag for `--expr` Change-Id: I55881c846da8416a92a14deedfa5bbbf09a122fb 2024-03-22 03:48:34 +00:00			`---`

doc: add release note credits and categories for all the changes in Lix This does not add missing release notes, and it doesn't do anything about the profiles feature we would really like to have so we can have consistent credit. Change-Id: I72a6f7acfcff85f380be17dac76501a6f4693776 2024-05-15 02:14:58 +00:00			In the old CLI, it was possible to supply a shorter `-E` flag instead of fully
Improve new CLI UX by supporting short `-E` flag for `--expr` Change-Id: I55881c846da8416a92a14deedfa5bbbf09a122fb 2024-03-22 03:48:34 +00:00			specifying `--expr` every time you wished to provide an expression that would
			`be evaluated to produce the given command's input. This was retained for the`
			`--file` flag when the new CLI utilities were written with `-f`, but `-E` was
			`dropped.`

			We now restore the `-E` short form for better UX. This is most useful for
			`nix eval` but most any command that takes an Installable argument should benefit
			`from it as well.`