[parted-devel] [PATCH] Document the lack of support for ext3 filesystems.

[Joel Andres Granados]

- doc/C/parted.8: Add a message in the KNOWN ISSUES section that
  describes the lack of support for ext3.  Take out some references
  that were contained in the man page.
- doc/parted.texi: Do the same as above to the info page.
---
 doc/C/parted.8  |   34 +++++++++++++++++++++++-----------
 doc/parted.texi |   18 ++++++++++++++----
 2 files changed, 37 insertions(+), 15 deletions(-)

diff --git a/doc/C/parted.8 b/doc/C/parted.8
index fdf3d04..da98764 100644
--- a/doc/C/parted.8
+++ b/doc/C/parted.8
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ GNU Parted \- a partition manipulation program
 .SH DESCRIPTION
 .B parted
 is a disk partitioning and partition resizing program.  It allows you to
-create, destroy, resize, move and copy ext2, ext3, linux-swap, FAT, FAT32, and reiserfs
+create, destroy, resize, move and copy ext2, linux-swap, FAT, FAT32, and reiserfs
 partitions.  It can create, resize, and move Macintosh HFS partitions, as well as detect jfs,
 ntfs, ufs, and xfs partitions.  It is useful for creating space for new operating systems,
 reorganising disk usage, and copying data to new hard disks.
@@ -68,13 +68,18 @@ Create a new disklabel (partition table) of \fIlabel-type\fP.
 .B mkpart \fIpart-type\fP \fI[fs-type]\fP \fIstart\fP \fIend\fP
 Make a \fIpart-type\fP partition with filesystem \fIfs-type\fP (if specified),
 beginning at \fIstart\fP and ending at \fIend\fP (by default in megabytes).
-\fIfs-type\fP can be one of 
+\fIfs-type\fP can be one of
 "fat16", "fat32", "ext2", "HFS", "linux-swap", "NTFS", "reiserfs", or "ufs".
 \fIpart-type\fP should be one of "primary", "logical", or "extended".
 .TP
 .B mkpartfs \fIpart-type\fP \fIfs-type\fP \fIstart\fP \fIend\fP
 Make a \fIpart-type\fP partition with filesystem \fIfs-type\fP beginning at
-\fIstart\fP and ending at \fIend\fP (by default in megabytes).
+\fIstart\fP and ending at \fIend\fP (by default in megabytes).  Using
+this command is discouraged.  Instead use
+.BR mkpart
+to create an empty partition, and then use external tools like
+.BR mke2fs (8)
+to create the filesystem.
 .TP
 .B move \fIpartition\fP \fIstart\fP \fIend\fP
 Move \fIpartition\fP so that it begins at \fIstart\fP and ends at \fIend\fP.
@@ -125,16 +130,23 @@ and a human-friendly form for output).
 Display version information and a copyright message.
 .RE
 .SH KNOWN ISSUES
-ext3 filesystem resizing does not currently work, please use
+ext3 filesystem functionality does not currently work.  To manage ext3
+type filesystems use tools like
 .BR resize2fs (8)
-instead.
-
-Resizing partitions with an ext3 filesystem will not generally work because
-of the above issue.  Use
+or
+.BR mke2fs (8).
+Note that the currently supported ext2 filesystem will be deprecated
+once ext3 support is finalized.  Further note that ext3 support will
+have limited functionality that is yet to be defined.  Use tools like
 .BR resize2fs (8)
-to resize the filesystem and resize the partition manually using
+and
+.BR mke2fs (8)
+to manage these types of filesystems.
+
+To manually resize an ext3 filesystem and/or a partition use
+.BR resize2fs (8),
 .BR fdisk (8)
-or a similar tool.  For LVM situations, you will need to use the LVM commands
+or similar tools.  For LVM situations, you will need to use the LVM commands
 to resize the LVM elements.
 .SH REPORTING BUGS
 Report bugs to <bug-parted at gnu.org>
@@ -142,7 +154,7 @@ Report bugs to <bug-parted at gnu.org>
 .BR fdisk (8),
 .BR mkfs (8),
 The \fIparted\fP program is fully documented in the
-.BR info(1) 
+.BR info(1)
 format
 .IR "GNU partitioning software"
 manual.
diff --git a/doc/parted.texi b/doc/parted.texi
index 53ac874..3f5275a 100644
--- a/doc/parted.texi
+++ b/doc/parted.texi
@@ -461,6 +461,14 @@ create a partition starting at 10.352Mb, not 10.4Mb)
 If the calculated values differ too much, Parted will ask you for
 confirmation.
 
+Currently ext3 filesystem functionality does not work. To manage ext3 type
+filesystems use tools like resize2fs or mke2fs.  Note that the currently
+supported ext2 filesystem will be deprecated once ext3 support is finalized.
+Further note that ext3 support will have limited functionality that is yet
+to be defined.  Use tools like resize2fs (8) and mke2fs (8) to manage these
+types of filesystems.
+
+
 @node Invoking Parted
 @section Command Line Options
 @cindex options at invocation
@@ -560,7 +568,7 @@ specifies which device the source partition is on.
 
 Supported file systems:
 @itemize @bullet
- at item ext2, ext3
+ at item ext2
 (provided the destination partition is larger than the source partition)
 
 @item fat16, fat32
@@ -717,7 +725,9 @@ Creates a new partition of type @var{part-type} with a new file system
 of type @var{fs-type} on it.  The new partition will start @var{start}
 megabytes, and end @var{end} megabytes from the beginning of the disk.
 Do not use this command to recover a deleted partition (use mkpart
-instead).
+instead).  Using this command is discouraged.  Instead use mkpart
+to create an empty partition, and then use external tools like mke2fs (8)
+to create the filesystem.
 
 @var{part-type} is one of: primary, extended, logical.  Extended and logical
 are only used for msdos and dvh disk labels.
@@ -756,7 +766,7 @@ Move never changes the partition number.
 
 Supported file systems:
 @itemize @bullet
- at item ext2, ext3
+ at item ext2
 (provided the destination partition is larger than the source partition)
 
 @item fat16, fat32
@@ -921,7 +931,7 @@ using Parted.
 
 Supported file systems:
 @itemize @bullet
- at item ext2, ext3 -- restriction: the new @var{start} must be the same as
+ at item ext2 -- restriction: the new @var{start} must be the same as
 the old @var{start}.
 @item fat16, fat32
 @item hfs, hfs+, hfsx -- restriction: the new @var{start} must be the same as
-- 
1.5.4.1