Optional arguments can save typing. Mandatory arguments are more
easily discoverable: just run the command and answer its prompts.
Empire traditionally uses optional arguments only for expert features.
Consider mission:
[0:640] Command : mission
Ship, plane or land unit (p,sh,la)? s
ship(s)? 0
Mission (int, sup, osup, dsup, esc, res, air, query, clear)? int
operations point? .
frg frigate Early Bird(#0) on an interdiction mission, centered on 21,-3, radius 0
1 ship
Compare retreat:
[0:638] Command : retreat
ship(s)? 0
shp# ship type x,y fl path as flt? flags
0 frg frigate 21,-3
1 ship
Arguments are not discoverable this way.
Change retreat to work like mission: make the second argument
mandatory, and if it's 'q', show retreat orders, else treat it as path
and ask for conditions:
[0:637] Command : retreat
ship(s)? 0
Retreat path, or q to query? jj
Retreat conditions ('?' to list available ones)? i
shp# ship type x,y fl path as flt? flags
0 frg frigate 21,-3 jj i
1 ship
To reduce smart client and script breakage, keep retreat with one
argument working as before, but print a deprecation warning.
Signed-off-by: Markus Armbruster <armbru@pond.sub.org>
Markus Armbruster
482d54c953