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Tool Tips

Often a program starts out by checking if there are the correct number of parameters, and printing a reminder message if not. Users enter just the name of the program expecting to get a tip about the correct order. Say you had an enciphering program:

C:\Source\>encipher  
encipher key plaintext ciphertext

Now the user knows the parameters.

C:\Source\>encipher 123456 bombSecrets.txt totallySafe.txt

Frequently if the first parameter is --help a program prints a brief usage summary:

PS C:\Programs> gcc --help
Usage: gcc [options] file...
Options:
  -pass-exit-codes         Exit with highest error code from a phase.
  --help                   Display this information.
  . . .
  -E                       Preprocess only; do not compile, assemble or link.
  -S                       Compile only; do not assemble or link.
  -c                       Compile and assemble, but do not link.
  -o <file>                Place the output into <file>.
  . . .