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Fix empty description help section #2814

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Fix empty description help section #2814

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e66a107
Fix empty description help section
marko1olo Jun 5, 2026
7829e69
test: allow help without descriptions
marko1olo Jun 5, 2026
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3 changes: 1 addition & 2 deletions src/System.CommandLine.Tests/Help/HelpBuilderTests.Customization.cs
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -466,7 +466,6 @@ public void Help_default_sections_can_be_wrapped()
command.Parse("test -h").Invoke(new() { Output = output });

output.ToString().Should().Be(
$"Description:{NewLine}{NewLine}" +
$"Usage:{NewLine} test [options]{NewLine}{NewLine}" +
$"Options:{NewLine}" +
$" --option option {NewLine}" +
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -534,4 +533,4 @@ private string GetDefaultHelp(Command command, bool trimOneNewline = true)
return output;
}
}
}
}
14 changes: 14 additions & 0 deletions src/System.CommandLine.Tests/Help/HelpBuilderTests.cs
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Expand Up @@ -74,6 +74,20 @@ public void Synopsis_section_properly_wraps_description()
_console.ToString().Should().Contain(expected);
}

[Theory]
[InlineData(null)]
[InlineData("")]
[InlineData(" ")]
public void Command_description_section_is_not_rendered_when_description_is_empty(string? description)
{
var command = new RootCommand(description);

_helpBuilder.Write(command, _console);

_console.ToString().Should().NotContain("Description:");
_console.ToString().Should().Contain("Usage:");
}

[Fact]
public void Command_name_in_synopsis_can_be_specified()
{
Expand Down
6 changes: 3 additions & 3 deletions src/System.CommandLine.Tests/Utility/AssertionExtensions.cs
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Expand Up @@ -47,8 +47,8 @@ public static AndConstraint<StringCollectionAssertions<IEnumerable<string>>> BeE
}

public static AndConstraint<StringAssertions> ShowHelp(this StringAssertions output) =>
output.Subject.Should().Match("*Description:*Usage:*");
output.Subject.Should().Contain("Usage:");

public static AndConstraint<StringAssertions> NotShowHelp(this StringAssertions output) =>
output.Subject.Should().NotMatch("*Description:*Usage:*");
}
output.Subject.Should().NotContain("Usage:");
}
11 changes: 8 additions & 3 deletions src/System.CommandLine/Help/HelpBuilder.Default.cs
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Expand Up @@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ private static string GetIdentifierSymbolUsageLabel(Symbol symbol, ICollection<s
/// </summary>
public static IEnumerable<Func<HelpContext, bool>> GetLayout()
{
yield return SynopsisSection();
yield return CommandDescriptionSection();
yield return CommandUsageSection();
yield return CommandArgumentsSection();
yield return OptionsSection();
Expand All @@ -180,11 +180,16 @@ public static IEnumerable<Func<HelpContext, bool>> GetLayout()
}

/// <summary>
/// Writes a help section describing a command's synopsis.
/// Writes the command description help section.
/// </summary>
public static Func<HelpContext, bool> SynopsisSection() =>
public static Func<HelpContext, bool> CommandDescriptionSection() =>
ctx =>
{
if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(ctx.Command.Description))

@jonsequitur jonsequitur Jun 5, 2026

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The change is correct but I had to dig a little to see that this method name is wrong. It should be something like CommandDescriptionSection. Would you mind renaming it?

@marko1olo marko1olo Jun 8, 2026

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Renamed in 7829e695 to CommandDescriptionSection() and updated the XML summary as well.

Local checks: git diff --check passed. I couldn't run dotnet test here because this checkout requires SDK 11.0.100-preview.4.26210.111 from global.json, while this machine only has SDK 10.0.202 installed.

{
return false;
}

ctx.HelpBuilder.WriteHeading(LocalizationResources.HelpDescriptionTitle(), ctx.Command.Description, ctx.Output);
return true;
};
Expand Down