Ensure inherited flags are captured in generate-docs

Ensure that the inherited flags of each command being cloned for
remapping is captured in the command itself prior to the clone.
This enables the correct generation of the
'### Options inherited from parent commands'
section in the markdown file.

Signed-off-by: Vui Lam <vui.lam@broadcom.com>

plugin/generate_docs.go

@@ -67,17 +67,33 @@ func mapCommand(tanzuCmd, subCommand *cobra.Command, mapEntry *CommandMapEntry)
 	}
 }
 
+func cloneCommand(sourceCommand *cobra.Command) *cobra.Command {
+	// TODO(vuil): before cloning the command, we need the inherited flags
+	// (persistent flags from command's ancestors) to be captured in the
+	// command because once the clone is remapped and has a different
+	// ancestry, some of the inherited flags may not be dynamically
+	// discoverable anymore. Somewhat dubiously, until there is a means to
+	// better dictate what a cobra Command's inherited flags are, we rely
+	// on the side-effect of InheritedFlags() to populate the discovered
+	// inherited flags in Command.iFlags
+	_ = sourceCommand.InheritedFlags()
+
+	clone := *sourceCommand
+	return &clone
+}
+
 func cloneChildCommands(parentCloneCmd *cobra.Command) {
 	childCommands := parentCloneCmd.Commands()
 	for _, child := range childCommands {
-		newChild := *child
-		cloneChildCommands(&newChild)
+		newChild := cloneCommand(child)
+
+		cloneChildCommands(newChild)
 		childParent := child.Parent()
 		// child's parent pointer is wrong (still point to childParent, the
 		// source that parentCloneCmd is cloned from), so remove said child
 		parentCloneCmd.RemoveCommand(child)
 		// and add the properly updated clone of child instead
-		parentCloneCmd.AddCommand(&newChild)
+		parentCloneCmd.AddCommand(newChild)
 		// however, the removal has the side-effect of wiping the child's
 		// parent link, so remove then re-add back as child of the clone source
 		childParent.RemoveCommand(child)
@@ -89,15 +105,15 @@ func cloneChildCommands(parentCloneCmd *cobra.Command) {
 		// generated for the clone (tanzu_xxx_help.md), something that is
 		// extraneous but not incorrect.
 		if child.Use == "help [command]" {
-			parentCloneCmd.SetHelpCommand(&newChild)
+			parentCloneCmd.SetHelpCommand(newChild)
 		}
 	}
 }
 
 func deepCopy(cmd *cobra.Command) *cobra.Command {
-	clone := *cmd
-	cloneChildCommands(&clone)
-	return &clone
+	clone := cloneCommand(cmd)
+	cloneChildCommands(clone)
+	return clone
 }
 
 // rebuildTanzuCommandTree reconstructs the tanzu CLI's placement of the

plugin/generate_docs_test.go

@@ -135,6 +135,7 @@ func genDocsTestPlugin(t *testing.T, mapEntries []CommandMapEntry, hiddenCommand
 
 	var value string
 	var bvalue string
+	var noColor bool
 	fooCmd.Flags().StringVarP(&value, "value", "v", "", "value to pass")
 	bazCmd.Flags().StringVarP(&bvalue, "bvalue", "b", "", "bvalue to pass")
 
@@ -155,6 +156,9 @@ func genDocsTestPlugin(t *testing.T, mapEntries []CommandMapEntry, hiddenCommand
 		cmd.Hidden = true
 	}
 
+	// for testing the effect of inherited flags
+	p.Cmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVar(&noColor, "n", false, "deactivate color, bold")
+
 	return p
 }
 
@@ -294,13 +298,20 @@ func TestGenerateDocsWithPlugin(t *testing.T) {
 						},
 					},
 					"tanzu_foo.md": fileContent{
-						contains: []string{"foo command", "[tanzu](tanzu.md)"},
-						omits:    []string{"tanzu plug foo"},
+						contains: []string{
+							"foo command",
+							"[tanzu](tanzu.md)",
+							// also check that inherited flags are captured
+							"### Options inherited from parent commands",
+							"deactivate color",
+						},
+						omits: []string{"tanzu plug foo"},
 					},
 				},
 			},
 		},
 		{
+			// includes check that global flags are fully propagated
 			test: "command and plugin level mapping",
 			commandMap: []CommandMapEntry{
 				{
@@ -320,15 +331,35 @@ func TestGenerateDocsWithPlugin(t *testing.T) {
 						contains: []string{"tanzu", "[tanzu pi](tanzu_pi.md)", "[tanzu foo](tanzu_foo.md)"},
 					},
 					"tanzu_pi.md": fileContent{
-						contains: []string{"[tanzu pi bar](tanzu_pi_bar.md)"},
+						contains: []string{
+							"[tanzu pi bar](tanzu_pi_bar.md)",
+							"deactivate color",
+						},
 						omits: []string{
 							"tanzu pi deeper",
 							"tanzu pi foo",
+							// this is the command where the nocolor persistent flag is
+							// defined, so flag is show in the regular options
+							// section, not under "Options inherited..."
+							"### Options inherited from parent commands",
+						},
+					},
+					"tanzu_pi_bar.md": fileContent{
+						contains: []string{
+							"[tanzu pi](tanzu_pi.md)",
+							"### Options inherited from parent commands",
+							"deactivate color",
 						},
 					},
 					"tanzu_foo.md": fileContent{
-						contains: []string{"foo command", "[tanzu](tanzu.md)"},
-						omits:    []string{"tanzu pi foo"},
+						contains: []string{
+							"foo command",
+							"[tanzu](tanzu.md)",
+							"### Options inherited from parent commands",
+							"deactivate color"},
+						omits: []string{
+							"tanzu pi foo",
+						},
 					},
 				},
 			},