Improve accessibility of markdown docs generation result

Present available options and commands in tables. Also adds aliases of a command to markdown docs and omits short command description if long description is defined (similarly than in command usage template used for --help output).

doc/md_docs.go

@@ -25,25 +25,60 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+	"github.com/spf13/pflag"
 )
 
-func printOptions(buf *bytes.Buffer, cmd *cobra.Command, name string) error {
+// formatFlags formats options and aliases as list of code elements. E.g., ["--help", "-h"] becomes "`--help`, `-h`".
+func formatFlags(input []string) string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("`%s`", strings.Join(input, "`, `"))
+}
+
+// formatDescription replaces line breaks in descriptions with <br/> elements to avoid breaking table formatting.
+func formatDescription(input string) string {
+	return strings.Replace(input, "\n", "<br/>", -1)
+}
+
+// sprintOptionsTable renders options in table to make them more accessible.
+func sprintOptionsTable(flags *pflag.FlagSet) string {
+	output := "| Option | Description |\n"
+	output += "| ------ | ----------- |\n"
+
+	flags.VisitAll(func(flag *pflag.Flag) {
+		flags := []string{"--" + flag.Name}
+		if flag.Shorthand != "" && flag.ShorthandDeprecated == "" {
+			flags = append(flags, "-"+flag.Shorthand)
+		}
+
+		description := flag.Usage
+		if flag.DefValue != "" {
+			description += fmt.Sprintf("\nDefault: `%s`", flag.DefValue)
+		}
+
+		row := fmt.Sprintf("| %s | %s |\n", formatFlags(flags), formatDescription(description))
+		output += row
+	})
+
+	return output
+}
+
+func sprintOptions(cmd *cobra.Command, name string) string {
+	output := ""
+
 	flags := cmd.NonInheritedFlags()
-	flags.SetOutput(buf)
 	if flags.HasAvailableFlags() {
-		buf.WriteString("### Options\n\n```\n")
-		flags.PrintDefaults()
-		buf.WriteString("```\n\n")
+		output += "### Options\n\n"
+		output += sprintOptionsTable(flags)
+		output += "\n"
 	}
 
 	parentFlags := cmd.InheritedFlags()
-	parentFlags.SetOutput(buf)
 	if parentFlags.HasAvailableFlags() {
-		buf.WriteString("### Options inherited from parent commands\n\n```\n")
-		parentFlags.PrintDefaults()
-		buf.WriteString("```\n\n")
+		output += "### Global options\n\n"
+		output += sprintOptionsTable(parentFlags)
+		output += "\n"
 	}
-	return nil
+
+	return output
 }
 
 // GenMarkdown creates markdown output.
@@ -60,32 +95,39 @@ func GenMarkdownCustom(cmd *cobra.Command, w io.Writer, linkHandler func(string)
 	name := cmd.CommandPath()
 
 	buf.WriteString("## " + name + "\n\n")
-	buf.WriteString(cmd.Short + "\n\n")
 	if len(cmd.Long) > 0 {
-		buf.WriteString("### Synopsis\n\n")
 		buf.WriteString(cmd.Long + "\n\n")
+	} else {
+		buf.WriteString(cmd.Short + "\n\n")
 	}
 
 	if cmd.Runnable() {
 		buf.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("```\n%s\n```\n\n", cmd.UseLine()))
 	}
 
+	if len(cmd.Aliases) > 0 {
+		buf.WriteString("### Aliases\n\n")
+		buf.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("%s\n\n", formatFlags(cmd.Aliases)))
+	}
+
 	if len(cmd.Example) > 0 {
 		buf.WriteString("### Examples\n\n")
 		buf.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("```\n%s\n```\n\n", cmd.Example))
 	}
 
-	if err := printOptions(buf, cmd, name); err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
+	buf.WriteString(sprintOptions(cmd, name))
+
 	if hasSeeAlso(cmd) {
-		buf.WriteString("### SEE ALSO\n\n")
+		buf.WriteString("### Related commands\n\n")
+		buf.WriteString("| Command | Description |\n")
+		buf.WriteString("| ------- | ----------- |\n")
+
 		if cmd.HasParent() {
 			parent := cmd.Parent()
 			pname := parent.CommandPath()
 			link := pname + ".md"
 			link = strings.ReplaceAll(link, " ", "_")
-			buf.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("* [%s](%s)\t - %s\n", pname, linkHandler(link), parent.Short))
+			buf.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("| [%s](%s) | %s |\n", pname, linkHandler(link), formatDescription(parent.Short)))
 			cmd.VisitParents(func(c *cobra.Command) {
 				if c.DisableAutoGenTag {
 					cmd.DisableAutoGenTag = c.DisableAutoGenTag
@@ -103,10 +145,11 @@ func GenMarkdownCustom(cmd *cobra.Command, w io.Writer, linkHandler func(string)
 			cname := name + " " + child.Name()
 			link := cname + ".md"
 			link = strings.ReplaceAll(link, " ", "_")
-			buf.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("* [%s](%s)\t - %s\n", cname, linkHandler(link), child.Short))
+			buf.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("| [%s](%s) | %s |\n", cname, linkHandler(link), formatDescription(child.Short)))
 		}
 		buf.WriteString("\n")
 	}
+
 	if !cmd.DisableAutoGenTag {
 		buf.WriteString("###### Auto generated by spf13/cobra on " + time.Now().Format("2-Jan-2006") + "\n")
 	}

doc/md_docs_test.go

@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ func TestGenMdDoc(t *testing.T) {
 	checkStringContains(t, output, rootCmd.Short)
 	checkStringContains(t, output, echoSubCmd.Short)
 	checkStringOmits(t, output, deprecatedCmd.Short)
-	checkStringContains(t, output, "Options inherited from parent commands")
+	checkStringContains(t, output, "Global options")
 }
 
 func TestGenMdDocWithNoLongOrSynopsis(t *testing.T) {
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ func TestGenMdDocWithNoLongOrSynopsis(t *testing.T) {
 
 	checkStringContains(t, output, dummyCmd.Example)
 	checkStringContains(t, output, dummyCmd.Short)
-	checkStringContains(t, output, "Options inherited from parent commands")
+	checkStringContains(t, output, "Global options")
 	checkStringOmits(t, output, "### Synopsis")
 }
 
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ func TestGenMdNoHiddenParents(t *testing.T) {
 	checkStringContains(t, output, rootCmd.Short)
 	checkStringContains(t, output, echoSubCmd.Short)
 	checkStringOmits(t, output, deprecatedCmd.Short)
-	checkStringOmits(t, output, "Options inherited from parent commands")
+	checkStringOmits(t, output, "Global options")
 }
 
 func TestGenMdNoTag(t *testing.T) {