[MacPorts] #59381: Do something better when no ports are specified (was: port clean: do something better when no ports are specified)

[MacPorts]

#59381: Do something better when no ports are specified
--------------------------+--------------------
  Reporter:  6aKa         |      Owner:  (none)
      Type:  enhancement  |     Status:  new
  Priority:  Normal       |  Milestone:
 Component:  base         |    Version:
Resolution:               |   Keywords:
      Port:               |
--------------------------+--------------------

Comment (by ryandesign):

 Replying to [ticket:59381 6aKa]:
 >
 > {{{
 > zeus local # port -d clean
 > DEBUG: Copying /Users/baka/Library/Preferences/com.apple.dt.Xcode.plist
 to /opt/local/var/macports/home/Library/Preferences
 > DEBUG: Using normalized porturl file:///opt/local
 > DEBUG: Changing to port directory: /opt/local
 > DEBUG: Could not find Portfile in /opt/local
 >     while executing
 > "mportopen $url"
 > Can't map the URL 'file://.' to a port description file ("Could not find
 Portfile in /opt/local").
 > Please verify that the directory and portfile syntax are correct.
 > To use the current port, you must be in a port's directory.
 > }}}

 It's behaving as designed. When you don't specify a port name, it uses the
 portfile in the current directory. You were in a directory that didn't
 have a portfile in it, hence the error. I agree we could improve the error
 message to make it clearer to new users who are not familiar with this
 feature and may not have intended to invoke this feature.


 Replying to [comment:1 6aKa]:
 > may be when `port clean` execute without portname, need clean all in
 /opt/local/var/macports/{build,logs} or print good help

 MacPorts developers use this feature—invoking MacPorts commands without
 specifying the port name—all the time while developing their ports, so
 changing it would break their existing workflows.


 Replying to [comment:2 6aKa]:
 > or add `failed` set for `port echo failed` and `port clean failed`

 All of the existing pseudoports can be computed from the portindex or
 registry. "failed" cannot so we would need to invent new capabilities for
 the pseudoport feature to be able to scan the disk and find the failed
 build directories. Even so, finding a build directory does not necessarily
 indicate that a build failed. The user could have stopped the build
 intentionally, or could have invoked a MacPorts command that leaves behind
 a build directory, such as `sudo port extract`. So maybe "dirty" is a
 better name for such a pseudoport than "failed".

-- 
Ticket URL: <https://trac.macports.org/ticket/59381#comment:5>
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