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| 1 Parses raw command-line arguments into a set of options and values. | |
| 2 | |
| 3 This library supports [GNU][] and [POSIX][] style options, and it works | |
| 4 in both server-side and client-side apps. | |
| 5 | |
| 6 ## Defining options | |
| 7 | |
| 8 First create an [ArgParser][]: | |
| 9 | |
| 10 var parser = new ArgParser(); | |
| 11 | |
| 12 Then define a set of options on that parser using [addOption()][addOption] and | |
| 13 [addFlag()][addFlag]. Here's the minimal way to create an option named "name": | |
| 14 | |
| 15 parser.addOption('name'); | |
| 16 | |
| 17 When an option can only be set or unset (as opposed to taking a string value), | |
| 18 use a flag: | |
| 19 | |
| 20 parser.addFlag('name'); | |
| 21 | |
| 22 Flag options, by default, accept a 'no-' prefix to negate the option. You can | |
| 23 disable the 'no-' prefix using the `negatable` parameter: | |
| 24 | |
| 25 parser.addFlag('name', negatable: false); | |
| 26 | |
| 27 *Note:* From here on out, "option" refers to both regular options and flags. In | |
| 28 cases where the distinction matters, we'll use "non-flag option." | |
| 29 | |
| 30 Options can have an optional single-character abbreviation, specified with the | |
| 31 `abbr` parameter: | |
| 32 | |
| 33 parser.addOption('mode', abbr: 'm'); | |
| 34 parser.addFlag('verbose', abbr: 'v'); | |
| 35 | |
| 36 Options can also have a default value, specified with the `defaultsTo` | |
| 37 parameter. The default value is used when arguments don't specify the option. | |
| 38 | |
| 39 parser.addOption('mode', defaultsTo: 'debug'); | |
| 40 parser.addFlag('verbose', defaultsTo: false); | |
| 41 | |
| 42 The default value for non-flag options can be any string. For flags, it must | |
| 43 be a `bool`. | |
| 44 | |
| 45 To validate a non-flag option, you can use the `allowed` parameter to provide an | |
| 46 allowed set of values. When you do, the parser throws a [FormatException] if the | |
| 47 value for an option is not in the allowed set. Here's an example of specifying | |
| 48 allowed values: | |
| 49 | |
| 50 parser.addOption('mode', allowed: ['debug', 'release']); | |
| 51 | |
| 52 You can use the `callback` parameter to associate a function with an option. | |
| 53 Later, when parsing occurs, the callback function is invoked with the value of | |
| 54 the option: | |
| 55 | |
| 56 parser.addOption('mode', callback: (mode) => print('Got mode $mode')); | |
| 57 parser.addFlag('verbose', callback: (verbose) { | |
| 58 if (verbose) print('Verbose'); | |
| 59 }); | |
| 60 | |
| 61 The callbacks for all options are called whenever a set of arguments is parsed. | |
| 62 If an option isn't provided in the args, its callback is passed the default | |
| 63 value, or `null` if no default value is set. | |
| 64 | |
| 65 ## Parsing arguments | |
| 66 | |
| 67 Once you have an [ArgParser][] set up with some options and flags, you use it by | |
| 68 calling [ArgParser.parse()][parse] with a set of arguments: | |
| 69 | |
| 70 var results = parser.parse(['some', 'command', 'line', 'args']); | |
| 71 | |
| 72 These arguments usually come from the arguments to `main()`, but you can pass in | |
| 73 any list of strings. The `parse()` method returns an instance of [ArgResults][], | |
| 74 a map-like object that contains the values of the parsed options. | |
| 75 | |
| 76 var parser = new ArgParser(); | |
| 77 parser.addOption('mode'); | |
| 78 parser.addFlag('verbose', defaultsTo: true); | |
| 79 var results = parser.parse(['--mode', 'debug', 'something', 'else']); | |
| 80 | |
| 81 print(results['mode']); // debug | |
| 82 print(results['verbose']); // true | |
| 83 | |
| 84 By default, the `parse()` method stops as soon as it reaches `--` by itself or | |
| 85 anything that the parser doesn't recognize as an option, flag, or option value. | |
| 86 If arguments still remain, they go into [ArgResults.rest][rest]. | |
| 87 | |
| 88 print(results.rest); // ['something', 'else'] | |
| 89 | |
| 90 To continue to parse options found after non-option arguments, pass | |
| 91 `allowTrailingOptions: true` when creating the [ArgParser][]. | |
| 92 | |
| 93 ## Specifying options | |
| 94 | |
| 95 To actually pass in options and flags on the command line, use GNU or POSIX | |
| 96 style. Consider this option: | |
| 97 | |
| 98 parser.addOption('name', abbr: 'n'); | |
| 99 | |
| 100 You can specify its value on the command line using any of the following: | |
| 101 | |
| 102 --name=somevalue | |
| 103 --name somevalue | |
| 104 -nsomevalue | |
| 105 -n somevalue | |
| 106 | |
| 107 Consider this flag: | |
| 108 | |
| 109 parser.addFlag('name', abbr: 'n'); | |
| 110 | |
| 111 You can set it to true using one of the following: | |
| 112 | |
| 113 --name | |
| 114 -n | |
| 115 | |
| 116 You can set it to false using the following: | |
| 117 | |
| 118 --no-name | |
| 119 | |
| 120 Multiple flag abbreviations can be collapsed into a single argument. Say you | |
| 121 define these flags: | |
| 122 | |
| 123 parser.addFlag('verbose', abbr: 'v'); | |
| 124 parser.addFlag('french', abbr: 'f'); | |
| 125 parser.addFlag('iambic-pentameter', abbr: 'i'); | |
| 126 | |
| 127 You can set all three flags at once: | |
| 128 | |
| 129 -vfi | |
| 130 | |
| 131 By default, an option has only a single value, with later option values | |
| 132 overriding earlier ones; for example: | |
| 133 | |
| 134 var parser = new ArgParser(); | |
| 135 parser.addOption('mode'); | |
| 136 var results = parser.parse(['--mode', 'on', '--mode', 'off']); | |
| 137 print(results['mode']); // prints 'off' | |
| 138 | |
| 139 If you need multiple values, set the `allowMultiple` parameter. In that case the | |
| 140 option can occur multiple times, and the `parse()` method returns a list of | |
| 141 values: | |
| 142 | |
| 143 var parser = new ArgParser(); | |
| 144 parser.addOption('mode', allowMultiple: true); | |
| 145 var results = parser.parse(['--mode', 'on', '--mode', 'off']); | |
| 146 print(results['mode']); // prints '[on, off]' | |
| 147 | |
| 148 ## Defining commands ## | |
| 149 | |
| 150 In addition to *options*, you can also define *commands*. A command is a named | |
| 151 argument that has its own set of options. For example, consider this shell | |
| 152 command: | |
| 153 | |
| 154 $ git commit -a | |
| 155 | |
| 156 The executable is `git`, the command is `commit`, and the `-a` option is an | |
| 157 option passed to the command. You can add a command using the [addCommand][] | |
| 158 method: | |
| 159 | |
| 160 var parser = new ArgParser(); | |
| 161 var command = parser.addCommand('commit'); | |
| 162 | |
| 163 It returns another [ArgParser][], which you can then use to define options | |
| 164 specific to that command. If you already have an [ArgParser][] for the command's | |
| 165 options, you can pass it in: | |
| 166 | |
| 167 var parser = new ArgParser(); | |
| 168 var command = new ArgParser(); | |
| 169 parser.addCommand('commit', command); | |
| 170 | |
| 171 The [ArgParser][] for a command can then define options or flags: | |
| 172 | |
| 173 command.addFlag('all', abbr: 'a'); | |
| 174 | |
| 175 You can add multiple commands to the same parser so that a user can select one | |
| 176 from a range of possible commands. When parsing an argument list, you can then | |
| 177 determine which command was entered and what options were provided for it. | |
| 178 | |
| 179 var results = parser.parse(['commit', '-a']); | |
| 180 print(results.command.name); // "commit" | |
| 181 print(results.command['all']); // true | |
| 182 | |
| 183 Options for a command must appear after the command in the argument list. For | |
| 184 example, given the above parser, `"git -a commit"` is *not* valid. The parser | |
| 185 tries to find the right-most command that accepts an option. For example: | |
| 186 | |
| 187 var parser = new ArgParser(); | |
| 188 parser.addFlag('all', abbr: 'a'); | |
| 189 var command = parser.addCommand('commit'); | |
| 190 command.addFlag('all', abbr: 'a'); | |
| 191 | |
| 192 var results = parser.parse(['commit', '-a']); | |
| 193 print(results.command['all']); // true | |
| 194 | |
| 195 Here, both the top-level parser and the `"commit"` command can accept a `"-a"` | |
| 196 (which is probably a bad command line interface, admittedly). In that case, when | |
| 197 `"-a"` appears after `"commit"`, it is applied to that command. If it appears to | |
| 198 the left of `"commit"`, it is given to the top-level parser. | |
| 199 | |
| 200 ## Dispatching Commands | |
| 201 | |
| 202 If you're writing a command-based application, you can use the [CommandRunner][] | |
| 203 and [Command][] classes to help structure it. [CommandRunner][] has built-in | |
| 204 support for dispatching to [Command][]s based on command-line arguments, as well | |
| 205 as handling `--help` flags and invalid arguments. For example: | |
| 206 | |
| 207 var runner = new CommandRunner("git", "Distributed version control."); | |
| 208 runner.addCommand(new CommitCommand()); | |
| 209 runner.addCommand(new StashCommand()); | |
| 210 runner.run(['commit', '-a']); // Calls [CommitCommand.run()] | |
| 211 | |
| 212 Custom commands are defined by extending the [Command][] class. For example: | |
| 213 | |
| 214 class CommitCommand extends Command { | |
| 215 // The [name] and [description] properties must be defined by every | |
| 216 // subclass. | |
| 217 final name = "commit"; | |
| 218 final description = "Record changes to the repository."; | |
| 219 | |
| 220 CommitCommand() { | |
| 221 // [argParser] is automatically created by the parent class. | |
| 222 argParser.addFlag('all', abbr: 'a'); | |
| 223 } | |
| 224 | |
| 225 // [run] may also return a Future. | |
| 226 void run() { | |
| 227 // [options] is set before [run()] is called and contains the options | |
| 228 // passed to this command. | |
| 229 print(options['all']); | |
| 230 } | |
| 231 } | |
| 232 | |
| 233 Commands can also have subcommands, which are added with [addSubcommand][]. A | |
| 234 command with subcommands can't run its own code, so [run][] doesn't need to be | |
| 235 implemented. For example: | |
| 236 | |
| 237 class StashCommand extends Command { | |
| 238 final String name = "stash"; | |
| 239 final String description = "Stash changes in the working directory."; | |
| 240 | |
| 241 StashCommand() { | |
| 242 addSubcommand(new StashSaveCommand()); | |
| 243 addSubcommand(new StashListCommand()); | |
| 244 } | |
| 245 } | |
| 246 | |
| 247 [CommandRunner][] automatically adds a `help` command that displays usage | |
| 248 information for commands, as well as support for the `--help` flag for all | |
| 249 commands. If it encounters an error parsing the arguments or processing a | |
| 250 command, it throws a [UsageError][]; your `main()` method should catch these and | |
| 251 print them appropriately. For example: | |
| 252 | |
| 253 runner.run(arguments).catchError((error) { | |
| 254 if (error is! UsageError) throw error; | |
| 255 print(error); | |
| 256 exit(64); // Exit code 64 indicates a usage error. | |
| 257 }); | |
| 258 | |
| 259 ## Displaying usage | |
| 260 | |
| 261 You can automatically generate nice help text, suitable for use as the output of | |
| 262 `--help`. To display good usage information, you should provide some help text | |
| 263 when you create your options. | |
| 264 | |
| 265 To define help text for an entire option, use the `help:` parameter: | |
| 266 | |
| 267 parser.addOption('mode', help: 'The compiler configuration', | |
| 268 allowed: ['debug', 'release']); | |
| 269 parser.addFlag('verbose', help: 'Show additional diagnostic info'); | |
| 270 | |
| 271 For non-flag options, you can also provide a help string for the parameter: | |
| 272 | |
| 273 parser.addOption('out', help: 'The output path', valueHelp: 'path', | |
| 274 allowed: ['debug', 'release']); | |
| 275 | |
| 276 For non-flag options, you can also provide detailed help for each expected value | |
| 277 by using the `allowedHelp:` parameter: | |
| 278 | |
| 279 parser.addOption('arch', help: 'The architecture to compile for', | |
| 280 allowedHelp: { | |
| 281 'ia32': 'Intel x86', | |
| 282 'arm': 'ARM Holding 32-bit chip' | |
| 283 }); | |
| 284 | |
| 285 To display the help, use the [getUsage()][getUsage] method: | |
| 286 | |
| 287 print(parser.getUsage()); | |
| 288 | |
| 289 The resulting string looks something like this: | |
| 290 | |
| 291 --mode The compiler configuration | |
| 292 [debug, release] | |
| 293 | |
| 294 --out=<path> The output path | |
| 295 --[no-]verbose Show additional diagnostic info | |
| 296 --arch The architecture to compile for | |
| 297 [arm] ARM Holding 32-bit chip | |
| 298 [ia32] Intel x86 | |
| 299 | |
| 300 [posix]: http://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/009695399/basedefs/xbd_chap12.html
#tag_12_02 | |
| 301 [gnu]: http://www.gnu.org/prep/standards/standards.html#Command_002dLine-Interfa
ces | |
| 302 [ArgParser]: http://www.dartdocs.org/documentation/args/latest/index.html#args/a
rgs.ArgParser | |
| 303 [ArgResults]: http://www.dartdocs.org/documentation/args/latest/index.html#args/
args.ArgResults | |
| 304 [CommandRunner]: http://www.dartdocs.org/documentation/args/latest/index.html#ar
gs/args.CommandRunner | |
| 305 [Command]: http://www.dartdocs.org/documentation/args/latest/index.html#args/arg
s.Command | |
| 306 [UsageError]: http://www.dartdocs.org/documentation/args/latest/index.html#args/
args.UsageError | |
| 307 [addOption]: http://www.dartdocs.org/documentation/args/latest/index.html#args/a
rgs.ArgParser@id_addOption | |
| 308 [addFlag]: http://www.dartdocs.org/documentation/args/latest/index.html#args/arg
s.ArgParser@id_addFlag | |
| 309 [parse]: http://www.dartdocs.org/documentation/args/latest/index.html#args/args.
ArgParser@id_parse | |
| 310 [rest]: http://www.dartdocs.org/documentation/args/latest/index.html#args/args.A
rgResults@id_rest | |
| 311 [addCommand]: http://www.dartdocs.org/documentation/args/latest/index.html#args/
args.ArgParser@id_addCommand | |
| 312 [getUsage]: http://www.dartdocs.org/documentation/args/latest/index.html#args/ar
gs.ArgParser@id_getUsage | |
| 313 [addSubcommand]: http://www.dartdocs.org/documentation/args/latest/index.html#ar
gs/args.Command@id_addSubcommand | |
| 314 [run]: http://www.dartdocs.org/documentation/args/latest/index.html#args/args.Co
mmand@id_run | |
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