removed jq dependency

[ceremcem]

No description provided.

[sysnux]

ceremcem, I appreciate your work, but I'm not sure on this PR.
jq is not a requirement for btrfs-snapshots-diff, just to get a nicer output on the tests. And I don't like adding yet another argument to btrfs-snapshots-diff, I think there are already too many.

[ceremcem]

That's of course your call, no problem.

Please consider that the tests are the mandatory part of "tutorial" for this tool. It was the first thing I took a look at least. As the "default" way of displaying JSON is "Pretty printing", I guess jq can be considered pretty much a requirement. Raw JSON output is useful when there are file size considerations.

In this context, both raw JSON output and jq is a requirement, which makes the --pretty switch mandatory as well.

Regarding to "avoiding one more switch to keep things clean": Consider how many lines we saved from both documentation and the code, by adding one --pretty line into the documentation and a few lines into the code.

Again, it's up to you.

[ceremcem]

I just wonder, if the problem is adding yet another argument, then simply removing this argument from the documentation both

• Satisfies your requirement
• Removes an external dependency

Would that work for you?

[sysnux]

Well, for me the JSON output is useful for other programs (or written to file), not to be displayed, exactly like done in the tests with jq. Same as CSV output.
The point is not to make JSON output nice for human; for this by_path should be used.

[ceremcem]

This doesn't answer my question :) Will undocumenting the --pretty switch satisfy your expectation?

[sysnux]

Sorry, what do you mean by undocumenting --pretty? JSON pretty output would be default?

[ceremcem]

Let me show you:

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 725dbd8..112129f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -26,12 +26,11 @@ Usage
          -a, --by_path         Group commands by path
          -s, --csv             CSV output
          -j, --json            JSON output (commands only)
-         --pretty              Pretty print the JSON output (Requires --json option)
          -b, --bogus           Add bogus renamed_from action (used only when grouping by path)
 
 
 * `--json` (`-j`), available for commands only, will output a list of 
-commands in JSON format. `--pretty` switch requires this option. 
+commands in JSON format.
 
 * `--csv` (`-s`) will produce on line for each modification, instead of 
 formatted output: the first column is the path, then each action taken on the 
diff --git a/btrfs-snapshots-diff.py b/btrfs-snapshots-diff.py
index 5682d07..8cd1ce4 100755
--- a/btrfs-snapshots-diff.py
+++ b/btrfs-snapshots-diff.py
@@ -569,7 +569,7 @@ def main():
         '-j', '--json', action='store_true', help='JSON output (commands only)'
     )
     parser.add_argument(
-        '--pretty', action='store_true', help='Pretty print the JSON output'
+        '--pretty', action='store_true', help=argparse.SUPPRESS
     )
     parser.add_argument(
         '-b',

No one will even know there is a --pretty switch.

[sysnux]

ok, let's do it this way!
Another nit: you changed btrfs to upper case in README (...and BTRFS obviously...): that is wrong, as the requirement is on the btrfs command.
Could you please send an updated PR?

[ceremcem]

Another nit: you changed btrfs to upper case in README

Of course. The idea was it would be either "btrfs" or "BTRFS" (or maybe "Btrfs", as stated here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Btrfs). I offer to change it to btrfs or Btrfs. Which one would you prefer?

[sysnux]

I propose:

and the btrfs command obviously.

[ceremcem]

Okay.

[ceremcem]

Ready.

[sysnux]

Thanks!