A minor point of frustration...
Can anyone explain why Check Point changed the command line options of cpview between R80.20 and R80.30 (sk101878)?
Specifically, in R80.30 it is no longer possible to specify the 'start date' when using cpview in historic mode (cpview -t).
In R80.20 you can specify that start date as '-t <timestamp>'. In R80.30, the -t option no longer accepts the <timestamp> and you will have to type (shift?) t to enter that timestamp manually. This change of behaviour breaks my scripts (automatic startup of cpview at a specified time in the past).
As a generic complaint: I have noticed several other command line utilities over time, changing their behaviour in such a way that these options are NOT backward compatible with older versions. In my humble opinion, this is considered bad programming behaviour. Not only do such changes break existing scripts, it also makes it confusing for customers: when you find an example of a utility on the Internet (forum, Check Point documentation, even older sk-articles) it is never clear which version of the utility is being used. That information becomes out of date very soon, if existing behaviour changes.
Newer versions of utilities may introduce NEW command line options, but they should NEVER change existing behaviour, unless backward compatibility is preserved.
Your opinion please...
