Bug#354946: No manpage and no other kind of help.
Package: libocamlodbc-ocaml-bin
Version: 2.10-4
Severity: normal
Hello,
thanks for bringing on Ocaml in Debian!
I've had however a bit of a frustrating experience with
libocamlodbc-ocaml-bin.
In short:
- libocamlodbc-ocaml-bin contains a biniki executable with no manpage
and no other kind of help
- the package description makes it really hard to understand that this
is an application
- the package description does not say what kind of application it is.
I suggest something like: "graphical application to run SQL queries
on a database over ODBC".
Follows a bit of a longer feedback on my overall experience with biniki.
I've noticed libocamlodbc-ocaml-bin almost by accident when reviewing
some debtags submissions, and I've noticed that it's not a library but
an application, and I decided to give it a try.
First thing to report, is that it's very unlikely that someone would see
the name and description of this package and quickly figure out that it
contains an application. Renaming it to biniki, and/or changing the short
description into something like 'Graphical, multi-database access
application' would probably a good idea.
Also, the description as it is doesn't say what kind of database
application it is. From the description, it could as well be something
like a graphical, multi-database application to corrupt all the data in
the database without asking for confirmation :)
I assumed that it's a database browsing application of some sort.
Then I tried to run it:
$ biniki
Usage : biniki <base> [<user> [<password>]]
$ biniki --help
Fatal error: exception Ocamlodbc.SQL_Error("Error while connecting to
database --help as enrico with password <> : -1")
$ LANG=C man biniki
No manual entry for biniki
See 'man 7 undocumented' for help when manual pages are not available.
I was trying to understand what 'base' really meant. MySQL database
name? ODBC DSN? Type of database (mysql, psql...)?
If it's some sort of database name, 'test' can usually work:
$ biniki test
First it tells me that ~enrico/.biniki does not exist, and asks me to
press ok. I can see no reason for that confirmation, though: the
program can very well create the file by itself, or if it's really
something that is needed, give instructions on how to create it.
Finally, I get to see what seems to be the main window of the program:
an entry box without a label telling what it is, and an 'Execute'
button. Most of the things I type in it give me 'unknown error'.
I tried the "?/About..." menu: it doesn't tell me much about the program
(not even what it is), but at least tells me who I should blame for it :)
Finally, I had a try at a 'show tables' SQL command and I managed to get
a result window out. Enter does not work as I would expected in the
entry field, in that it shows a list of previous commands instead of
executing the command.
That's about all for my usage experience with biniki. As a glance, it
looks more like an example program for libocamlodbc rather than a proper
application, and I'd expect to find it as source code in
libocamlodbc-ocaml-dev rather than as a binary in a package of its own.
But in case you have ambitious plans for it, the previous part of this
mail might provide useful feedback for further improvements :)
Ciao,
Enrico
-- System Information:
Debian Release: testing/unstable
APT prefers unstable
APT policy: (500, 'unstable')
Architecture: i386 (i686)
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/bash
Kernel: Linux 2.6.15-1-686-smp
Locale: LANG=it_IT.UTF-8, LC_CTYPE=it_IT.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8)
Versions of packages libocamlodbc-ocaml-bin depends on:
ii libatk1.0-0 1.10.3-1 The ATK accessibility toolkit
ii libc6 2.3.6-2 GNU C Library: Shared libraries an
ii libcairo2 1.0.2-3 The Cairo 2D vector graphics libra
ii libfontconfig1 2.3.2-2 generic font configuration library
ii libglib2.0-0 2.8.6-1 The GLib library of C routines
ii libgtk2.0-0 2.8.12-1 The GTK+ graphical user interface
ii libpango1.0-0 1.10.4-1 Layout and rendering of internatio
ii libx11-6 6.9.0.dfsg.1-4 X Window System protocol client li
ii libxcursor1 1.1.3-1 X cursor management library
ii libxext6 6.9.0.dfsg.1-4 X Window System miscellaneous exte
ii libxi6 6.9.0.dfsg.1-4 X Window System Input extension li
ii libxinerama1 6.9.0.dfsg.1-4 X Window System multi-head display
ii libxrandr2 6.9.0.dfsg.1-4 X Window System Resize, Rotate and
ii libxrender1 1:0.9.0.2-1 X Rendering Extension client libra
ii unixodbc 2.2.11-9 ODBC tools libraries
libocamlodbc-ocaml-bin recommends no packages.
-- no debconf information
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