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doc/cli-guideline: Apply suggestions from code review
Thanks Valentin!
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@ -391,45 +391,39 @@ status section, but only print warnings and errors.
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## Returning future proof JSON
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The machine-readable JSON output should be extensible. This means that the
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structure of the JSON should support the addition of extra information in many
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places.
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The schema of JSON output should allow for backwards compatible extension. This section explains how to achieve this.
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Two definitions are helpful here, because while JSON only defines one "key-value"
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object, we use it to cover two use cases:
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object type, we use it to cover two use cases:
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- **dictionary**: a map from names to things that all have the same type. In
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- **dictionary**: a map from names to value that all have the same type. In
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C++ this would be a `std::map` with string keys.
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- **record**: a fixed set of attributes each with their own type. In C++, this
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would be represented by a struct.
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would be represented by a `struct`.
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It is best not to mix these use cases, as that leads to incompatibilities and
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other bugs. For example, adding a record field to a dictionary breaks consumers
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that assume all JSON object fields to have the same meaning and type.
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It is best not to mix these use cases, as that may lead to incompatibilities when the schema changes. For example, adding a record field to a dictionary breaks consumers that assume all JSON object fields to have the same meaning and type.
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This leads to the following guidelines:
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- **The top-level value** (or **root** of the returned data structure) **must be a record**.
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Without this rule, it would be impossible to add per-invocation metadata in
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a manner that doesn't break existing consumers.
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- The top-level (root) value must be a record.
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- **The value of a dictionary item must always be a record**. As an example,
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suppose a command returns a dictionary where each key is the name of a store
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type and each value is itself a dictionary representing settings.
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Otherwise, one can not change the structure of a command's output.
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- **List items should be records**. For example, a list of strings is not an
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extensible type, as any additions will break code that expects a list of
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strings.
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If the list is unordered and it has a unique key that is a string, consider
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a dictionary instead of a list. If the order of the items needs to be
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preserved, return a list of records.
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- The value of a dictionary item must be a record.
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- **Streaming JSON should return records**. An example of a streaming JSON
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format is "JSON lines", where multiple JSON values are streamed by putting
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each on its own line in a text stream. These JSON values can be considered
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top-level values or list items, and they must be records.
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Otherwise, the item type can not be extended.
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Examples:
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- List items should be records.
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Otherwise, one can not change the structure of the list items.
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If the order of the items does not matter, and each item has a unique key that is a string, consider representing the list as a dictionary instead. If the order of the items needs to be preserved, return a list of records.
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- Streaming JSON should return records.
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An example of a streaming JSON format is [JSON lines](https://jsonlines.org/), where each line represents a JSON value. These JSON values can be considered top-level values or list items, and they must be records.
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### Examples
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```javascript
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// bad: all keys must be assumed to be store implementations
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