Refactor: Removing/updating some filtering options, add quiet, change handling of JSON format and console output

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -8,10 +8,38 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 
 ### Changed
 
+- Add custom `HelpFormatter` to render boolean flags in a compact `--[no-]flag` format instead of the default `--flag, --no-flag`.
+- The following filtering category arguments have been renamed and converted to
+boolean options, all defaulting to `True`:
+  - `--show-packages` to `--[no-]packages`(default: --packages)
+  - `--show-config` to `--[no-]kernel-config`(default: --kernel-config)
+  - `--show-packageconfig` to `--[no-]packageconfig`(default: --packageconfig)
+  - `--ignore-proprietary` to `--[no-]packages-proprietary`(default: --packages-proprietary)
+
+- Console output handling has been updated:
+  - **Structured JSON** output is emitted on **stdout** by default to facilitate seamless
+    integration of the tool into automated pipelines and scripting workflows.
+  - **Human-readable** output is now provided by using --human-readable argument which replace
+    the **Structured JSON** output
+
+- The JSON output file has been updated:
+  - The JSON output file is no longer generated by default.
+  - The `--output <PATH>` option have been renamed to `--json-output <PATH>`
+  - The `--json-output <PATH>` option must now be explicitly specified to enable JSON file generation.
+
 ### Fixed
 
 ### Removed
 
+- Refocused the tool on producing complete and reliable spdx diff:
+  - Removing output filtering options:
+      - `--show-added`
+      - `--show-changed`
+      - `--show-removed`
+  - The default behaviour is to show the full spdx diff, following arguments are removed:
+      - `--full`
+      - `--summary`
+
 ## [1.0.1] - 2026-02-12
 
 ### Added

INSTALL.md

@@ -46,14 +46,14 @@ After installation:
 # Show help
 spdx-diff --help
 
-# Compare two SPDX files
+# Compare two SPDX files, JSON output on stdout by default
 spdx-diff reference.json new.json
 
-# Show summary only
-spdx-diff reference.json new.json --summary
+# Compare two SPDX files, human readable output on stdout
+spdx-diff reference.json new.json --human-readable
 
-# JSON output for automation
-spdx-diff reference.json new.json --format json --output results.json
+# With JSON file output generated
+spdx-diff reference.json new.json --json-output results.json
 ```
 
 See `README.md` for full documentation.

README.md

@@ -8,7 +8,11 @@ This tool compares two SPDX3 JSON documents and reports differences in:
 - Kernel configuration parameters (CONFIG_*)
 - PACKAGECONFIG entries per package
 
-It produces both human-readable output (console) and a structured JSON diff file.
+The application separates human-readable and machine-readable outputs to improve automation and pipeline integration.
+
+- By default, the tool emits structured **JSON output**, making it suitable for consumption by scripts and CI/CD pipelines.
+- The default output format can be changed into a human-readable (text) using --human-readable optional argument.
+- When a JSON filename parameter is provided, the JSON result is also written to the specified file.
 
 Usage
 -----
@@ -21,26 +25,14 @@ Required arguments:
   - `new`: Path to the newer SPDX3 JSON file.
 
 Optional arguments:
-  - `--full`: For console output, always show section names (added, removed,
-    changed) even if there is no difference.
-  - `--output <file>`: Save diff results to the given JSON file.
-    Default: `spdx_diff_<timestamp>.json`
-  - `--ignore-proprietary`: Ignore packages with LicenseRef-Proprietary.
-  - `--summary`: Show only summary statistics without detailed differences.
-  - `--format {text,json,both}`: Control output format:
-    - `text`: Console output only (no JSON file)
-    - `json`: JSON file only (silent mode for automation)
-    - `both`: Both console and JSON output (**default**)
-
-Output filtering - change type:
-  - `--show-added`: Show only added items.
-  - `--show-removed`: Show only removed items.
-  - `--show-changed`: Show only changed items.
-
-Output filtering - category:
-  - `--show-packages`: Show only package differences.
-  - `--show-config`: Show only kernel config differences.
-  - `--show-packageconfig`: Show only PACKAGECONFIG differences.
+  - `--json-output <file>`: Save diff results to the given JSON file.
+  - `--human-readable`: Output results in a human-readable text format.
+
+Text output filtering - category :
+  - `--[no-]packages`: show|hide package differences.
+  - `--[no-]kernel-config`: show|hide kernel config differences.
+  - `--[no-]packageconfig`: show|hide PACKAGECONFIG differences.
+  - `--[no-]packages-proprietary`: show|hide packages with LicenseRef-Proprietary.
 
 Output
 ------
@@ -67,27 +59,6 @@ Symbols:
   - removed
   ~ changed
 
-Summary Mode
-------------
-When using --summary, the tool displays aggregate statistics:
-
-```
-SPDX-Diff Summary:
-
-Packages:
-  Added:   5
-  Removed: 2
-  Changed: 3
-
-Kernel Config:
-  Added:   10
-  Removed: 3
-  Changed: 7
-
-PACKAGECONFIG:
-  Features Added:   12
-  Features Removed: 4
-  Features Changed: 6
 ```
 
 JSON Diff File
@@ -157,37 +128,25 @@ The script uses Python's logging module:
 Examples
 --------
 
-### Basic comparison with both console and JSON output:
+### Basic comparison with default JSON output on stdout:
     ./spdx-diff reference.json new.json
 
 ### Full details with proprietary packages excluded:
-    ./spdx-diff reference.json new.json --ignore-proprietary --full
-
-### Quick summary check:
-    ./spdx-diff reference.json new.json --summary
+    ./spdx-diff reference.json new.json --no-packages-proprietary
 
-### Silent mode for CI/CD (JSON output only):
-    ./spdx-diff reference.json new.json --format json --output results.json
-
-### Console output only (no JSON file):
-    ./spdx-diff reference.json new.json --format text --full
-
-### Show only changed packages:
-    ./spdx-diff reference.json new.json --show-packages --show-changed
-
-### Show only added packages:
-    ./spdx-diff reference.json new.json --show-packages --show-added
+### Console output for CI/CD:
+    ./spdx-diff reference.json new.json
 
-### Show only kernel config changes:
-    ./spdx-diff reference.json new.json --show-config --show-changed
+### Console output human-readable:
+    ./spdx-diff reference.json new.json --human-readable
 
-### Show added and changed items across all categories:
-    ./spdx-diff reference.json new.json --show-added --show-changed
+### Console and JSON output with JSON file generated:
+    ./spdx-diff reference.json new.json --json-output result.json
 
-### Show only PACKAGECONFIG differences:
-    ./spdx-diff reference.json new.json --show-packageconfig
+### Exclude on console PACKAGECONFIG differences:
+    ./spdx-diff reference.json new.json --no-packageconfig
 
-Console output example:
+Human readable console output example:
 ```
 Packages - Added:
  + libfoo: 2.0