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elaborate that npm help uses browser #2502

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elaborate that npm help uses browser #2502

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ariccio
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@ariccio ariccio commented Jan 16, 2021

As I mentioned in issue #2501 it is is mildly annoying to me that I forget that the npm help command opens a browser, and probably a few other people.

I have added "(in a browser)" to the npm usage string at the npm help line. Is this a reasonable change? It makes the output slightly more verbose, but reduces the occasional surprise of opening a browser with a saved session of over 900 tabs just to view a single help page. Yes, really, I do have 1004 tabs open currently, and that's an outlier, but I'm sure this impacts other people in less unusual circumstances.

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Fixes #2501

@ariccio
elaborate that npm help uses browser
d386eb8 
As I mentioned in issue npm#2501 this is mildly annoying to me, and probably a few other people. I have added "(in a browser)" to the npm usage string at the npm help line.
@ariccio ariccio requested a review from a team as a code owner January 16, 2021 22:33
@wraithgar
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npm help only opens in a browser (by default) on windows, because there is no man command in windows. This is driven by the config value of viewer which is set to browser in windows, and man in osx and linux.

At the very least we would want to make sure to indicate that this is only the default in windows. Not sure how to do that succinctly off the top of my head.

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ljharb commented Jan 19, 2021

@wraithgar maybe include npm config get viewer dynamically in the help output?

@darcyclarke darcyclarke added Release 7.x work is associated with a specific npm 7 release release: next These items should be addressed in the next release semver:patch semver patch level for changes labels Jan 20, 2021
ruyadorno
ruyadorno suggested changes Jan 21, 2021
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We already have this explained as part of npm help help.

We can not land this as-is for the reasons @wraithgar just mentioned but maybe it's worth exploring the solution from @ljharb, I'm not 100% sure about having a conditional in usage messages but if that's feasible then it may even keep this (in a browser) value in windows-only.

@ruyadorno ruyadorno removed the release: next These items should be addressed in the next release label Jan 21, 2021
@ariccio
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ariccio commented Jan 21, 2021

It might be very reasonable to display this on windows only! I like that idea, but (of course) that makes this a non-trivial change. What's the best way to do that?

@wraithgar
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I believe that when this file is loaded the config is already loaded. You could gate the extra output behind a conditional that checks if viewer is set to browser.

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ljharb commented Jan 21, 2021

This approach has the benefit of matching "the current config", including if a user overrode it.

@ruyadorno ruyadorno added the pr: needs tests requires tests before merging label Feb 1, 2021
isaacs pushed a commit that referenced this pull request Feb 1, 2021
@ariccio @isaacs
elaborate that npm help uses browser
68d5831 
As I mentioned in issue #2501 this is mildly annoying to me, and probably a few other people. I have added "(in a browser)" to the npm usage string at the npm help line.

PR-URL: #2502
Credit: @ariccio
Close: #2502
Reviewed-by: @isaacs
@isaacs isaacs mentioned this pull request Feb 1, 2021
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@isaacs isaacs closed this in 13a5e31 Feb 1, 2021
@ruyadorno ruyadorno mentioned this pull request Feb 1, 2021
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@ruyadorno ruyadorno removed the pr: needs tests requires tests before merging label Feb 2, 2021
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npm usage should explain that it will open in a browser
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@ariccio @wraithgar @ljharb @ruyadorno @darcyclarke