help command: Remove --find flag in favour of find command

[vwkd]

Describe the bug

I'm confused when I should use the find flag instead of piping the output into the find command.

The find flag is present on the help command, I'm not sure if it's present anywhere else too.

IIUC, the find command can do everything the --find flag can, and more. One difference in the help commands --find flag seems that it doesn't search the signatures column. With the find command one can pipe through reject signatures before. In addition, the find command can filter by regex, and works everywhere else already.

Currently, these are two ways of doing the same one thing. This creates more complexity for the implementation and subsequent maintenance, as well as creating more confusion and obstacles for the learning user.

It seems commands are preferable over flags where appropriate because a command is usable for every command in the pipe and doesn't need a separate implementation.

Maybe I’m misremembering buy I believe to recall @jntrnr talking about preferring commands over flags somewhere though I can't find the source right now.

The premise of nushell seemed to be not having to remember different flags for every command anymore which change a command's behavior but to use a more structured pipe instead. It seems this fundamental principle is violated here.

How to reproduce

1. help commands --find select
2. help commands | find select

Expected behavior

A single one preferred way of doing things instead of multiple.

Screenshots

No response

Configuration

key	value
version	0.72.1
branch
commit_hash
build_os	macos-x86_64
build_target	x86_64-apple-darwin
rust_version	rustc 1.65.0
cargo_version	cargo 1.65.0 (4bc8f24d3 2022-10-20)
pkg_version	0.72.1
build_time	2022-12-05 17:17:06 +00:00
build_rust_channel	release
features	database, default, trash, which, zip
installed_plugins

Additional context

No response

[fdncred]

help -f <search term> is a easier to type than help commands | find <search term> which is why it exists.

[vwkd]

What is the reason to not use aliases for faster typing?

Aliases seem to be a more general solution for faster typing without the cost of adding a flag on every command.

I’m case nushell doesn’t support aliases for flags or even a chain of commands in a pipe, this could be added.

[rgwood]

But then even the whole premise of nushell was to not have to remember different flags anymore that change a command's behavior but to use a more structured pipe instead

I would say that we prefer composition using pipes over flags but it's not an absolute rule. We're willing to use redundant flags if they make common use cases easier.

I find help -f useful (very quick to type) and I slightly lean toward keeping it even though it's redundant.

[sholderbach]

help -f <search term> is a easier to type than help commands | find <search term> which is why it exists.

It actually does something slightly different than basic help commands | find ... as it narrows the search to name, usage and search_terms. It thus slightly increases signal to noise.

[vwkd]

@sholderbach

One difference in the help commands --find flag seems that it doesn't search the signatures column. With the find command one can pipe through reject signatures before.

What’s the reason to not use the available pipe filtering commands like select or reject to increase signal to noise which also work in the general case?

[sholderbach]

(I am gonna skip jury duty on this question of dogmatic consistency vs. convenience/muscle memory as I personally mostly use F1 for my command searching needs.)