[RFC] Remove automatic redirects from clang-tidy documentation

[zeyi2]

This RFC proposes removing all automatic HTML meta-refresh redirects from clang-tidy alias documentation pages.

Motivation

1. Alias pages may contain useful information/context

An Example here:

• clang-tidy - cert-err33-c — Extra Clang Tools 23.0.0git documentation

Users will not have enough time to read the entire page before they get redirected.

Related discussion in PRs:

• [clang-tidy][NFC] Fix list.rst and improve alias detection of `add_new_check.py` by zeyi2 · Pull Request #192228 · llvm/llvm-project · GitHub
• [clang-tidy][NFC] Remove guidelines in documentation of misc-multiple-inheritance by zeyi2 · Pull Request #186657 · llvm/llvm-project · GitHub

2. Manual navigation cost is minimal

Replacing an automatic redirect with a normal link introduces only one click. For documentation readers, this is an acceptable cost compared with the clarity gained.

Historical blocker and current status

Previously, add_new_check.py used redirect metadata as a heuristic to recognize alias documentation pages.

That blocker has now been removed:

• add_new_check.py has been updated to recognize aliases without relying on meta-refresh redirects: [clang-tidy][NFC] Fix list.rst and improve alias detection of `add_new_check.py` by zeyi2 · Pull Request #192228 · llvm/llvm-project · GitHub
• unit tests were added to prevent future regressions: [clang-tidy][NFC] Add a unittest for checking list.rst by zeyi2 · Pull Request #193134 · llvm/llvm-project · GitHub

Therefore, redirects are no longer required for tooling purposes. So I think it is time to propose we remove all automatic redirects from clang-tidy documentation pages

A similar RFC ~4 years ago: RFC: Clang-tidy check documentation for aliases shouldn't redirect when additional information is given

PR for this RFC here: [clang-tidy][Docs] Remove all auto-redirects in documentation. NFC. by zeyi2 · Pull Request #193408 · llvm/llvm-project · GitHub

[carlosgalvezp]

Sounds good to me, like you say, the original link is just one click away, I think there’s a net benefit in this change.

[vbvictor]

I support this change.
From user perspective, 5 seconds is too slow for automatic redirect and too fast if one actually want to read text on the page. Have +1 is a small difference but a big step in UX
I personally was surprised (and little annoyed) with these automatic redirects.

[LegalizeAdulthood]

Yes, I welcome this change.

The ad-hoc nature of check aliases has been bugging me for some time :)