[PATCH] remove incorrect comment in pg_resetwal.c

On Fri, Jan 16, 2026 at 02:45:42PM +0800, Gavin LYU wrote:

In the block handling the -e option, there’s a comment that appears to be a
copy-paste error (line 190 and 191). It references a second %s, but none
exists in that format string. Moreover, similar argument-handling code for
other options doesn’t include such a comment.

I believe it should be removed.

I disagree. This note still looks helpful to me when it comes to
translation even if it is incorrect: the %s markup refers to an option
switch.
--
Michael

On Fri, 16 Jan 2026 at 19:53, Michael Paquier <michael@paquier.xyz> wrote:

On Fri, Jan 16, 2026 at 02:45:42PM +0800, Gavin LYU wrote:

In the block handling the -e option, there’s a comment that appears to be a
copy-paste error (line 190 and 191). It references a second %s, but none
exists in that format string. Moreover, similar argument-handling code for
other options doesn’t include such a comment.

I believe it should be removed.

I disagree. This note still looks helpful to me when it comes to
translation even if it is incorrect: the %s markup refers to an option
switch.

I think fixing it rather than removing it is the way to go. cc8d41511
removed the first va arg and didn't update the comment.

git diff cc8d41511~1..cc8d41511 -- */pg_resetwal.c | grep translator -C 3
@@ -156,13 +157,13 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
                                {
                                        /*------
                                          translator: the second %s is
a command line argument (-e, etc) */
-                                       fprintf(stderr, _("%s: invalid
argument for option %s\n"), progname, "-e");
+                                       pg_log_error("invalid argument
for option %s", "-e");
                                        fprintf(stderr, _("Try \"%s
--help\" for more information.\n"), progname);

We should delete "the second"

David

On 2026-Jan-16, David Rowley wrote:

I think fixing it rather than removing it is the way to go. cc8d41511
removed the first va arg and didn't update the comment.

git diff cc8d41511~1..cc8d41511 -- */pg_resetwal.c | grep translator -C 3
@@ -156,13 +157,13 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
/*------
translator: the second %s is
a command line argument (-e, etc) */
-                                       fprintf(stderr, _("%s: invalid
argument for option %s\n"), progname, "-e");
+                                       pg_log_error("invalid argument
for option %s", "-e");
fprintf(stderr, _("Try \"%s
--help\" for more information.\n"), progname);

Right. So the fix is to remove the word "second". But there are more
mistakes of the same ilk in the same commit, visible if you remove the
"-- */pg_resetwal.c" part of your command line.

So I propose to park the following in Michael's trivial fixes branch.

diff --git a/src/bin/pg_basebackup/pg_receivewal.c b/src/bin/pg_basebackup/pg_receivewal.c
index 4f9a7b076ca..ddfec298fb7 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_basebackup/pg_receivewal.c
+++ b/src/bin/pg_basebackup/pg_receivewal.c
@@ -770,7 +770,7 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)

 	if (replication_slot == NULL && (do_drop_slot || do_create_slot))
 	{
-		/* translator: second %s is an option name */
+		/* translator: %s is an option name */
 		pg_log_error("%s needs a slot to be specified using --slot",
 					 do_drop_slot ? "--drop-slot" : "--create-slot");
 		pg_log_error_hint("Try \"%s --help\" for more information.", progname);
diff --git a/src/bin/pg_resetwal/pg_resetwal.c b/src/bin/pg_resetwal/pg_resetwal.c
index b2c4b9db395..2e3dfd7c94a 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_resetwal/pg_resetwal.c
+++ b/src/bin/pg_resetwal/pg_resetwal.c
@@ -188,7 +188,7 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 				if (endptr == optarg || *endptr != '\0' || errno != 0)
 				{
 					/*------
-					  translator: the second %s is a command line argument (-e, etc) */
+					  translator: %s is a command line argument (-e, etc) */
 					pg_log_error("invalid argument for option %s", "-e");
 					pg_log_error_hint("Try \"%s --help\" for more information.", progname);
 					exit(1);

--
Álvaro Herrera 48°01'N 7°57'E — https://www.EnterpriseDB.com/
"No tengo por qué estar de acuerdo con lo que pienso"
(Carlos Caszeli)

On Fri, Jan 16, 2026 at 7:10 PM David Rowley <dgrowleyml@gmail.com> wrote:

On Fri, 16 Jan 2026 at 19:53, Michael Paquier <michael@paquier.xyz> wrote:

On Fri, Jan 16, 2026 at 02:45:42PM +0800, Gavin LYU wrote:

In the block handling the -e option, there’s a comment that appears to be a
copy-paste error (line 190 and 191). It references a second %s, but none
exists in that format string. Moreover, similar argument-handling code for
other options doesn’t include such a comment.

I believe it should be removed.

I disagree. This note still looks helpful to me when it comes to
translation even if it is incorrect: the %s markup refers to an option
switch.

I think fixing it rather than removing it is the way to go. cc8d41511
removed the first va arg and didn't update the comment.

git diff cc8d41511~1..cc8d41511 -- */pg_resetwal.c | grep translator -C 3
@@ -156,13 +157,13 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
/*------
translator: the second %s is
a command line argument (-e, etc) */
-                                       fprintf(stderr, _("%s: invalid
argument for option %s\n"), progname, "-e");
+                                       pg_log_error("invalid argument
for option %s", "-e");
fprintf(stderr, _("Try \"%s
--help\" for more information.\n"), progname);

We should delete "the second"

+1

Commit cc8d41511 made a similar change in pg_receivewal.c, as follows.
This should be fixed as well.

  /* translator: second %s is an option name */
- fprintf(stderr, _("%s: %s needs a slot to be specified using
--slot\n"), progname,
+ pg_log_error("%s needs a slot to be specified using --slot",

Regards,

--
Fujii Masao

On Fri, Jan 16, 2026 at 11:41:58AM +0100, Alvaro Herrera wrote:

Right. So the fix is to remove the word "second". But there are more
mistakes of the same ilk in the same commit, visible if you remove the
"-- */pg_resetwal.c" part of your command line.

So I propose to park the following in Michael's trivial fixes
branch.

Sounds about right to me. Integrated now.
--
Michael