Is there a “standard” format for command line/shell help text?

Question

If not, is there a de facto standard? Basically I\'m writing a command line help text like so:

usage: app_name [opti         


        

Answer 1

Take a look at docopt. It is a formal standard for documenting (and automatically parsing) command line arguments.

For example...

Usage:
  my_program command --option 
  my_program []
  my_program --another-option=
  my_program (--either-that-option | )
  my_program  ...