Help

Built-in help command, javadoc-driven man pages, and three sources for command and option descriptions.

Crest provides a built-in help command that generates documentation automatically from your command definitions. No configuration is required – help is registered and available out of the box.

The feature

• The Help Command – what myapp help does, command listings, man-page sections, and how output is rendered in the terminal.

Three approaches to writing help

Crest pulls description text from three sources, in priority order. Mix and match across commands – pick the approach that fits each case.

• Javadoc – the richest approach. Method javadoc becomes the DESCRIPTION section, with paragraphs, headings, bullets, and preformatted blocks. @param tags fall back as option descriptions. Best for commands that need real documentation.
• Annotation Descriptions – @Command(description) and @Option(description) for inline, single-line text. Best for short commands and trivial options.
• Resource Bundles – OptionDescriptions.properties for centralized, per-package option text. Best for shared vocabularies and i18n.

Writing good help

• Best Practices – conventions for help text that actually helps the next person to run the command.
• Example – a real command shown end-to-end: source javadoc and rendered terminal output.