[Pkg-gnupg-maint] Bug#610336: gnupg: key command has not a clear help message nor a clear output

[xavier renaut]

Package: gnupg
Version: 1.4.10-4
Severity: minor




I wanted to update the expire time of a subkey and i couldn't select it.

in the man page :               
key n  Toggle selection of subkey with index n.  Use 0 to deselect all.

in the help from commandline : 

key         select subkey N


the problem is that the N is not precise enough. One could ask 'Is that the key id ?'


worse, if you enter something like 

key FB32E9CF

it wont print out a message, it will happily display the keys, as if it was working.

the correct command would be 

key 1

if you enter 

key 1A0C62FA

it does the same thing, taking the first 1 only in account.

here is a description i'd like in the man page 

key N  where N is the subkey's index.
e.g. if the subkey whose validity you want to extend is the first listed
subkey, or if it is the only listed subkey, then the  command would be
Command> key 1
this will put a * after the word sub, indicating that this particular
subkey has been selected. 

and the online help :

key         select subkey N (eg: key 1. the selected key will be marked with an *)

thanks 

-- System Information:
Debian Release: squeeze/sid
  APT prefers testing
  APT policy: (900, 'testing'), (600, 'unstable'), (550, 'stable'), (449, 'experimental')
Architecture: amd64 (x86_64)

Kernel: Linux 2.6.35.4.2.6.35.4-3-ws.2010.09.14 (SMP w/4 CPU cores; PREEMPT)
Locale: LANG=en_CA.UTF-8, LC_CTYPE=en_CA.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8)
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/bash

Versions of packages gnupg depends on:
ii  dpkg                    1.15.8.4         Debian package management system
ii  gpgv                    1.4.10-4         GNU privacy guard - signature veri
ii  install-info            4.13a.dfsg.1-5   Manage installed documentation in 
ii  libbz2-1.0              1.0.5-4          high-quality block-sorting file co
ii  libc6                   2.11.2-2         Embedded GNU C Library: Shared lib
ii  libreadline6            6.1-3            GNU readline and history libraries
ii  libusb-0.1-4            2:0.1.12-16      userspace USB programming library
ii  zlib1g                  1:1.2.3.4.dfsg-3 compression library - runtime

Versions of packages gnupg recommends:
pn  gnupg-curl                    <none>     (no description available)
ii  libldap-2.4-2                 2.4.23-4   OpenLDAP libraries

Versions of packages gnupg suggests:
pn  gnupg-doc                  <none>        (no description available)
ii  imagemagick                8:6.6.0.4-2.2 image manipulation programs
ii  libpcsclite1               1.5.5-3       Middleware to access a smart card 

-- no debconf information