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Maniphest T7209

gpgv(1) manpage is ambiguous about argument list
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Description

gpgv(1) says two different things about what it expects of its positional arguments:

SYNOPSIS
       gpgv [options] signed_files

and

EXAMPLES
       gpgv pgpfile
       gpgv sigfile [datafile]

These seem to be mutually exclusive, since the synopsis appears to claim that if multiple files are offered, each one will be a "signed file", while the examples suggest that if there are two files, they will be interpreted as a detached signature and the message being signed.

I'm aware that most tools use gpgv according to the EXAMPLES section. should the SYNOPSIS section be corrected? Or, if the SYNOPSIS is correct, how does gpgv distinguish between consideration of two signed files and a detached signature and its message?

Details

Version
2.2.43

Revisions and Commits

rG GnuPG
rG91532dc3f405 doc: Clarify gpgv man page synopsis.

Event Timeline

dkg created this task.Jul 21 2024, 4:51 PM
• werner closed this task as Resolved.Jul 23 2024, 3:08 PM
• werner claimed this task.
• werner edited projects, added Documentation; removed Bug Report.
• werner added a commit: rG91532dc3f405: doc: Clarify gpgv man page synopsis..Jul 23 2024, 3:08 PM
dkg reopened this task as Open.Jul 25 2024, 1:37 AM

Thanks for this prompt fix! but they're still not aligned. with this fix, the Synopsis is:

SYNOPSIS
    gpgv [options] sigfile [ datafiles ]

while the Examples section uses the singular for the final argument:

EXAMPLES
       gpgv pgpfile
       gpgv sigfile [datafile]

Is it a single data file? or multiple data files? if it's multiple data files, what does that mean?

• werner closed this task as Resolved.Jul 25 2024, 10:56 AM

All given data files are concatenated; not sure whether this is a good feature but iirc pgp 2 did it the same way.

dkg added a comment.Jul 25 2024, 11:23 PM

Interesting. i'm also not sure this is a good feature. I also still don't think the gpgv man page explains this clearly, but if you don't want to clarify it, i won't bother re-opening this issue.