[gdal-dev] inconsistent naming for the CLI "input" argument

[Andrew C Aitchison]

  On Sun, 5 Apr 2026, Chris Toney via gdal-dev wrote:

> A large majority of the CLI algorithms use `-i, --input 
> <INPUT>` for
> the input arg, and those are the names generally described 
> in
> specifications. There is a lot of variation though. I'm not 
> suggesting
> they should all be made entirely consistent. Various 
> aliases make
> sense to have in some cases. But several cases seem worth 
> considering.
> 
> The main issue is the occasional use of "dataset" as an 
> alias for
> "input". It's inconsistently available as an alias which 
> seems not
> ideal, but it also shows up in unexpected ways.
> 
> "raster edit" has only --dataset with no --input or -i:
> --dataset <DATASET>
> 
> "raster overview add" has:
> -i, --dataset, --input <INPUT>
> 
> But "raster overview delete" and "raster overview refresh" 
> have only:
> --dataset <DATASET>
> 
> A dataset-specific one "dataset check" doesn't use it:
> -i, --input <INPUT>
> 
> Is the "dataset" alias really worth having?

  For 'raster edit' and 'raster delete' I don't see --input as
appropriate (although logically raster delete --input is not 
wrong).

-- 
Andrew C. Aitchison                      Kendal, UK
                    andrew at aitchison.me.uk