helpless

function helpless() {
    # ______________________________________________________________________
    # /\                                                                     \
    # \_|  some commands don't support --help nor -h flags                  |
    #   |  and so command --help or command -h results in a error exit code |
    #   |  and a display of the "usage" on stderr.                          |
    #   |                                                                   |
    #   |  some other commands will tell you that --help isn't supported    |
    #   |  and print an error message that asks you to use -h instead       |
    #   |                                                                   |
    #   |  some other commands use -h but not for help                      |
    #   |  and to get help you need --help                                  |
    #   |  so they'll either print an error message                         |
    #   |  or print something that is neither an error message              |
    #   |  nor a help message                                               |
    #   |  processing -h as any random flag                                 |
    #   |  (grep for example)                                               |
    #   |   _________________________________________________________________|_
    #    \_/___________________________________________________________________/

    tmp=$(mktemp)
    trap "rm -f $tmp;" RETURN
    
    # Check if the command supports --help
    $@ --help > "$tmp" 2>/dev/null && {  less "$tmp";  return; }
    
    # Check if the command supports -h
    $@ -h    > "$tmp" 2>/dev/null && {  less "$tmp";  return; }
    
    # chec if it's a bash builtin
    help "$@" > "$tmp" 2>/dev/null && {  less "$tmp";  return; }
    
    # does this command even exist?
    # if so, see if it's a special case like ifdata 
    # that doesn't support any help option
    # and prints its help message on stderr
    type "$1" >/dev/null 2>&1  && { "$1" 2>&1 | less;  return; }
    
    # if we're still here,
    # it means the command doesn't exist.
    echo "no help for $@ or command not found"
}