Commander.js: Allow for multiple aliases

[cbetta]

I'd love for commander allow to allow for multiple aliases. I've found them to be useful for many reasons varying from default subcommands (records:list and records, record:show and record), preventing typos (record:list vs records:list) and just shortcuts (records:list and rl).

Currently I'm resorting to duplicating my command statements which feels far from effective.

[cbetta]

I'd be happy to add this but would love feedback on the syntax.

Some requirements:

• Ability to allow for more than 1 alias
• Allow for selecting what aliases are show in the help screen

Option 1

import commander from 'commander';

commander
  .command('link:create <a> <b>')
  .alias('l', 'lc', 'link')
  .action(...);

Then --help should look something like:

> example --help
   Usage: example [options] [command]

   Commands:

      link:create|l|lc|link <a> <b>                         

Which might get a bit excessive. Instead some aliases might be hidden instead.

Option 2

import commander from 'commander';

commander
  .command('link:create <a> <b>')
  .alias('link')
  .hidden_alias('l', 'lc')
  .action(...);

Which would then result in:

> example --help
   Usage: example [options] [command]

   Commands:
      link:create|link <a> <b>                         

Option 3

The alternative would be to pass an object with the keys of the aliases and the values of the visibility:

import commander from 'commander';

commander
  .command('link:create <a> <b>')
  .alias({ link: true, lc: false, l: false})
  .action(...);

Option 4

Finally the last option would be to define aliases outside of the command scope:

import commander from 'commander';

commander
  .command('link:create <a> <b>')
  .alias('link')
  .action(...);

commander.alias('link:create', {lc: false, l: false}); 

---

I personally prefer option 2 but I'd love some feedback.

[kodie]

Would love to see support for multiple aliases.

I'd personally prefer something like this:

import commander from 'commander';

commander
  .command('list')
  .alias('ls')
  .alias('l', false)
  .action(...);

Where alias() can be used multiple times just like option() and accepts a boolean as a second parameter stating if it's visible or not in help (defaults to true)

[tdreid]

@kodie 's suggestion is what occurred to me to try naturally. That's how I discovered not yet implemented :)

[FireCubez]

Agreed with @tdreid and @kodie , it's the most natural in my opinion

[ioxua]

Well, Commander already has support for a kind of "aliasing" on options:

import commander from 'commander';

commander
  .option('-f, --foo', 'Foo option')
  .parse(process.argv);

Why not reuse the syntax for commands instead? It would look like this:

import commander from 'commander';

commander
  .command('link, link:create <a> <b>')
  .action(...);

[ganobrega]

This is already being supported?

[shadowspawn]

@ganobrega Current status is:

• commands support a single alias
• options do not support an alias as such

[DuckyCrayfish]

Was a consensus ever reached on the option to support? If not I have yet another suggestion that is a bit of a middle-ground.

[shadowspawn]

Not consensus, throw in another idea @DuckyCrayfish

I personally lean towards just repeating .alias or allowing array, and not offering ability to hide. Keep it simple.

For the help, an approach I have used in another product is to list the aliases in a separate help section. This avoids cluttering up the main command help with the variations. e.g.

Aliases:
  i: install
  list: ls
  lsr, list-remote: ls-remote
  remove: rm

(The "real" commands are listed on the right.)

[nrgapple]

Any update on this?

[shadowspawn]

I am interested in the approach of allowing repeated .alias(), as no new syntax.

Hiding some aliases was listed in the original requirements and followed through in the examples. I am reluctant to add a plain boolean parameter for a somewhat uncommon feature, as it is not extensible or self documenting. But just listing all the aliases when there are lots will be a bit messy in the current format in the help!

Would listing just the first alias in the built-in help be a usable compromise?

So for @kodie example: https://github.com/tj/commander.js/issues/531#issuecomment-382184517

  .command('list')
  .alias('ls') // visible
  .alias('l') // hidden
  .action(...);

Usage: index [options] [command]

Options:
  -h, --help      display help for command

Commands:
  list|ls
  help [command]  display help for command

[shadowspawn]

I have written a PR with support for multiple aliases, the first of which is included in the autogenerated help: #1236

Interested readers, is this an adequate implementation for the feature request to allow multiple aliases?

[shadowspawn]

Support for multiple aliases has been released in Command v5.1.

Thank you for your contributions.