NETOBSERV-2617 help improvments

commands/netobserv

@@ -58,18 +58,27 @@ maxTime="5m"
 maxBytes=50000000
 
 # skip dependencies check for help or version
-if [[ ! "$*" =~ ^(.*)help|version(.*) ]]; then
+if [[ ! "$*" =~ (help|version) ]]; then
   check_dependencies "$required_yq_version" "$supported_archs" "$required_bash_version"
 fi
 
 # detect output yaml option before running the script to avoid any apply
-if [[ "$*" =~ ^(.*)yaml=true|(yaml$)|(yaml )(.*) ]]; then
+if [[ "$*" =~ (yaml=true|yaml$|yaml[[:space:]]) ]]; then
   echo "Output YAMLs without applying..."
   outputYAML="true"
 fi
 
+contains_help() {
+  for arg in "$@"; do
+    case "$arg" in
+      *help) return 0 ;;
+    esac
+  done
+  return 1
+}
+
 case "$1" in
-*help)
+""|*help)
   help
   exit 0
   ;;
@@ -78,100 +87,68 @@ case "$1" in
   exit 0
   ;;
 *flows)
-  case "$2" in
-  *help)
-    flows_usage
+  shift
+  if contains_help "$@"; then
+    flows_usage | highlight_keywords flows $(get_help_keywords "$@")
     exit 0
-    ;;
-  *)
-    shift # remove first argument
-    options=("$@")
-    # run flows command
-    command="flows"
-    ;;
-  esac
+  fi
+  options=("$@")
+  command="flows"
   ;;
 *packets)
-  case "$2" in
-  *help)
-    packets_usage
+  shift
+  if contains_help "$@"; then
+    packets_usage | highlight_keywords packets $(get_help_keywords "$@")
     exit 0
-    ;;
-  *)
-    shift # remove first argument
-    options=("$@")
-    # run packets command
-    command="packets"
-    ;;
-  esac
+  fi
+  options=("$@")
+  command="packets"
   ;;
 *metrics)
-  case "$2" in
-  *help)
-    metrics_usage
+  shift
+  if contains_help "$@"; then
+    metrics_usage | highlight_keywords metrics $(get_help_keywords "$@")
     exit 0
-    ;;
-  *)
-    shift # remove first argument
-    options=("$@")
-    # run metrics command
-    command="metrics"
-    # override maxTime default to 1h for metrics only
-    maxTime="1h"
-    ;;
-  esac
+  fi
+  options=("$@")
+  command="metrics"
+  maxTime="1h"
   ;;
 *follow)
-  case "$2" in
-  *help)
-    follow_usage
-    exit 0
-    ;;
-  *)
-    # run follow command
-    follow
+  shift
+  if contains_help "$@"; then
+    follow_usage | highlight_keywords follow $(get_help_keywords "$@")
     exit 0
-    ;;
-  esac
+  fi
+  follow
+  exit 0
   ;;
 *stop)
-  case "$2" in
-  *help)
-    stop_usage
-    exit 0
-    ;;
-  *)
-    # run deleteDaemonset command
-    deleteDaemonset
+  shift
+  if contains_help "$@"; then
+    stop_usage | highlight_keywords stop $(get_help_keywords "$@")
     exit 0
-    ;;
-  esac
+  fi
+  deleteDaemonset
+  exit 0
   ;;
 *copy)
-  case "$2" in
-  *help)
-    copy_usage
-    exit 0
-    ;;
-  *)
-    # run copy output command
-    copyOutput
+  shift
+  if contains_help "$@"; then
+    copy_usage | highlight_keywords copy $(get_help_keywords "$@")
     exit 0
-    ;;
-  esac
+  fi
+  copyOutput
+  exit 0
   ;;
 *cleanup)
-  case "$2" in
-  *help)
-    cleanup_usage
+  shift
+  if contains_help "$@"; then
+    cleanup_usage | highlight_keywords cleanup $(get_help_keywords "$@")
     exit 0
-    ;;
-  *)
-    # run cleanup command
-    cleanup
-    exit 0
-    ;;
-  esac
+  fi
+  cleanup
+  exit 0
   ;;
 *)
   echo "Unknown command $1. Use 'netobserv help' to display options"

e2e/script_test.go

@@ -5,12 +5,15 @@ package e2e
 import (
 	"os"
 	"path"
+	"regexp"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 )
 
+var ansiRegex = regexp.MustCompile(`\x1b\[[0-9;]*m`)
+
 var (
 	slog = logrus.WithField("component", "script_test")
 )
@@ -40,6 +43,8 @@ func TestHelpCommand(t *testing.T) {
 		assert.Contains(t, output, "follow     Follow collector logs when running in background.")
 		assert.Contains(t, output, "stop       Stop collection by removing agent daemonset.")
 		assert.Contains(t, output, "version    Print software version.")
+		// ensure help to display --help hint
+		assert.Contains(t, output, "Use --help with any command for more details")
 		// ensure help to display examples
 		assert.Contains(t, output, "Flow capture examples:")
 		assert.Contains(t, output, "netobserv flows --drops")
@@ -49,6 +54,52 @@ func TestHelpCommand(t *testing.T) {
 		assert.Contains(t, output, "Capture flows in the background")
 		assert.Contains(t, output, "Capture metrics in the background")
 	})
+
+	t.Run("no argument shows help", func(t *testing.T) {
+		output, err := RunCommand(slog, "commands/oc-netobserv")
+		assert.Nil(t, err)
+		assert.NotEmpty(t, output)
+		assert.Contains(t, output, "Main commands:")
+	})
+}
+
+func TestSubcommandHelp(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Run("flows --help", func(t *testing.T) {
+		output, err := RunCommand(slog, "commands/oc-netobserv", "flows", "--help")
+		assert.Nil(t, err)
+		assert.NotEmpty(t, output)
+		plain := ansiRegex.ReplaceAllString(output, "")
+		assert.Contains(t, plain, "Syntax: netobserv flows [options]")
+		assert.Contains(t, plain, "Features:")
+		assert.Contains(t, plain, "Filters:")
+		assert.Contains(t, plain, "Options:")
+		assert.Contains(t, plain, "Examples:")
+	})
+
+	t.Run("flows --help at any position", func(t *testing.T) {
+		output, err := RunCommand(slog, "commands/oc-netobserv", "flows", "--port=8080", "--help")
+		assert.Nil(t, err)
+		assert.NotEmpty(t, output)
+		plain := ansiRegex.ReplaceAllString(output, "")
+		assert.Contains(t, plain, "Syntax: netobserv flows [options]")
+		assert.Contains(t, plain, "Filters:")
+	})
+
+	t.Run("packets --help", func(t *testing.T) {
+		output, err := RunCommand(slog, "commands/oc-netobserv", "packets", "--help")
+		assert.Nil(t, err)
+		assert.NotEmpty(t, output)
+		plain := ansiRegex.ReplaceAllString(output, "")
+		assert.Contains(t, plain, "Syntax: netobserv packets [options]")
+	})
+
+	t.Run("metrics --help", func(t *testing.T) {
+		output, err := RunCommand(slog, "commands/oc-netobserv", "metrics", "--help")
+		assert.Nil(t, err)
+		assert.NotEmpty(t, output)
+		plain := ansiRegex.ReplaceAllString(output, "")
+		assert.Contains(t, plain, "Syntax: netobserv metrics [options]")
+	})
 }
 
 func TestVersionCommand(t *testing.T) {

scripts/functions.sh

@@ -864,7 +864,12 @@ function check_args_and_apply() {
       fi
       ;;
     *interfaces) # Interfaces
-      edit_manifest "interfaces" "$value"
+      if [[ "$command" == "flows" || "$command" == "metrics" ]]; then
+        edit_manifest "interfaces" "$value"
+      else
+        echo "--interfaces is invalid option for packets"
+        exit 1
+      fi
       ;;
     *enable_pkt_drop) # Enable packet drop
       if [[ "$command" == "flows" || "$command" == "metrics" ]]; then

scripts/help.sh

@@ -3,6 +3,38 @@
 # metrics includeList
 includeList="namespace_flows_total,node_ingress_bytes_total,node_egress_bytes_total,workload_ingress_bytes_total"
 
+_BOLD_CYAN=$(printf '\033[1;36m')
+_RESET=$(printf '\033[0m')
+
+# Extract keywords from args for help highlighting
+# e.g. "--port=8080 --drops --help" → "--port" "--drops"
+get_help_keywords() {
+  for arg in "$@"; do
+    case "$arg" in
+      *help|or) ;;
+      --*=*) printf '%s\n' "${arg%%=*}" ;;
+      *) printf '%s\n' "$arg" ;;
+    esac
+  done
+}
+
+# Pipe help text through this to highlight keywords
+# Usage: some_usage_fn | highlight_keywords --port --drops
+highlight_keywords() {
+  if [ $# -eq 0 ]; then
+    cat
+    return
+  fi
+
+  local sed_args=()
+  for keyword in "$@"; do
+    keyword="${keyword#--}"
+    sed_args+=(-e "s|${keyword}|${_BOLD_CYAN}&${_RESET}|g")
+  done
+
+  sed "${sed_args[@]}"
+}
+
 # display main help
 function help {
   echo
@@ -23,6 +55,8 @@ function help {
   echo "  stop       Stop collection by removing agent daemonset."
   echo "  version    Print software version."
   echo
+  echo "Use --help with any command for more details (e.g. netobserv flows --help)"
+  echo
   echo "Flow capture examples:"
   flows_examples
   echo
@@ -210,7 +244,7 @@ function metrics_usage {
 
 function follow_usage {
   echo
-  echo "NetObserv allows you to capture flows and packets asyncronously using the --background option."
+  echo "NetObserv allows you to capture flows and packets asynchronously using the --background option."
   echo "While the capture is running in background, you can connect to the collector pod to see the progression using the follow command."
   echo "Find more information at: https://github.com/netobserv/network-observability-cli/"
   echo
@@ -220,7 +254,7 @@ function follow_usage {
 
 function stop_usage {
   echo
-  echo "NetObserv allows you stop the collection and keep collector or dashboard for post analysis."
+  echo "NetObserv allows you to stop the collection and keep collector or dashboard for post analysis."
   echo "While the capture is running, use the stop command to remove the eBPF agents."
   echo "Find more information at: https://github.com/netobserv/network-observability-cli/"
   echo
@@ -230,7 +264,7 @@ function stop_usage {
 
 function copy_usage {
   echo
-  echo "NetObserv allows you copy locally the captured flows or packets from the collector pod."
+  echo "NetObserv allows you to copy locally the captured flows or packets from the collector pod."
   echo "While the collector is running, use the copy command to copy the output file(s)."
   echo "To avoid modifications during the copy, it's recommended to stop the capture"
   echo "Find more information at: https://github.com/netobserv/network-observability-cli/"