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diff --git a/manual/getopt.texi b/manual/getopt.texi new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..8e1102f911 --- /dev/null +++ b/manual/getopt.texi @@ -0,0 +1,257 @@ +@node Getopt, Argp, , Parsing Program Arguments +@section Parsing program options using @code{getopt} + +The @code{getopt} and @code{getopt_long} functions automate some of the +chore involved in parsing typical unix command line options. + +@menu +* Using Getopt:: Using the @code{getopt} function. +* Example of Getopt:: An example of parsing options with @code{getopt}. +* Getopt Long Options:: GNU suggests utilities accept long-named + options; here is one way to do. +* Getopt Long Option Example:: An example of using @code{getopt_long}. +@end menu + +@node Using Getopt, Example of Getopt, , Getopt +@subsection Using the @code{getopt} function + +Here are the details about how to call the @code{getopt} function. To +use this facility, your program must include the header file +@file{unistd.h}. +@pindex unistd.h + +@comment unistd.h +@comment POSIX.2 +@deftypevar int opterr +If the value of this variable is nonzero, then @code{getopt} prints an +error message to the standard error stream if it encounters an unknown +option character or an option with a missing required argument. This is +the default behavior. If you set this variable to zero, @code{getopt} +does not print any messages, but it still returns the character @code{?} +to indicate an error. +@end deftypevar + +@comment unistd.h +@comment POSIX.2 +@deftypevar int optopt +When @code{getopt} encounters an unknown option character or an option +with a missing required argument, it stores that option character in +this variable. You can use this for providing your own diagnostic +messages. +@end deftypevar + +@comment unistd.h +@comment POSIX.2 +@deftypevar int optind +This variable is set by @code{getopt} to the index of the next element +of the @var{argv} array to be processed. Once @code{getopt} has found +all of the option arguments, you can use this variable to determine +where the remaining non-option arguments begin. The initial value of +this variable is @code{1}. +@end deftypevar + +@comment unistd.h +@comment POSIX.2 +@deftypevar {char *} optarg +This variable is set by @code{getopt} to point at the value of the +option argument, for those options that accept arguments. +@end deftypevar + +@comment unistd.h +@comment POSIX.2 +@deftypefun int getopt (int @var{argc}, char **@var{argv}, const char *@var{options}) +The @code{getopt} function gets the next option argument from the +argument list specified by the @var{argv} and @var{argc} arguments. +Normally these values come directly from the arguments received by +@code{main}. + +The @var{options} argument is a string that specifies the option +characters that are valid for this program. An option character in this +string can be followed by a colon (@samp{:}) to indicate that it takes a +required argument. + +If the @var{options} argument string begins with a hyphen (@samp{-}), this +is treated specially. It permits arguments that are not options to be +returned as if they were associated with option character @samp{\0}. + +The @code{getopt} function returns the option character for the next +command line option. When no more option arguments are available, it +returns @code{-1}. There may still be more non-option arguments; you +must compare the external variable @code{optind} against the @var{argc} +parameter to check this. + +If the option has an argument, @code{getopt} returns the argument by +storing it in the variable @var{optarg}. You don't ordinarily need to +copy the @code{optarg} string, since it is a pointer into the original +@var{argv} array, not into a static area that might be overwritten. + +If @code{getopt} finds an option character in @var{argv} that was not +included in @var{options}, or a missing option argument, it returns +@samp{?} and sets the external variable @code{optopt} to the actual +option character. If the first character of @var{options} is a colon +(@samp{:}), then @code{getopt} returns @samp{:} instead of @samp{?} to +indicate a missing option argument. In addition, if the external +variable @code{opterr} is nonzero (which is the default), @code{getopt} +prints an error message. +@end deftypefun + +@node Example of Getopt +@subsection Example of Parsing Arguments with @code{getopt} + +Here is an example showing how @code{getopt} is typically used. The +key points to notice are: + +@itemize @bullet +@item +Normally, @code{getopt} is called in a loop. When @code{getopt} returns +@code{-1}, indicating no more options are present, the loop terminates. + +@item +A @code{switch} statement is used to dispatch on the return value from +@code{getopt}. In typical use, each case just sets a variable that +is used later in the program. + +@item +A second loop is used to process the remaining non-option arguments. +@end itemize + +@smallexample +@include testopt.c.texi +@end smallexample + +Here are some examples showing what this program prints with different +combinations of arguments: + +@smallexample +% testopt +aflag = 0, bflag = 0, cvalue = (null) + +% testopt -a -b +aflag = 1, bflag = 1, cvalue = (null) + +% testopt -ab +aflag = 1, bflag = 1, cvalue = (null) + +% testopt -c foo +aflag = 0, bflag = 0, cvalue = foo + +% testopt -cfoo +aflag = 0, bflag = 0, cvalue = foo + +% testopt arg1 +aflag = 0, bflag = 0, cvalue = (null) +Non-option argument arg1 + +% testopt -a arg1 +aflag = 1, bflag = 0, cvalue = (null) +Non-option argument arg1 + +% testopt -c foo arg1 +aflag = 0, bflag = 0, cvalue = foo +Non-option argument arg1 + +% testopt -a -- -b +aflag = 1, bflag = 0, cvalue = (null) +Non-option argument -b + +% testopt -a - +aflag = 1, bflag = 0, cvalue = (null) +Non-option argument - +@end smallexample + +@node Getopt Long Options +@subsection Parsing Long Options with @code{getopt_long} + +To accept GNU-style long options as well as single-character options, +use @code{getopt_long} instead of @code{getopt}. This function is +declared in @file{getopt.h}, not @file{unistd.h}. You should make every +program accept long options if it uses any options, for this takes +little extra work and helps beginners remember how to use the program. + +@comment getopt.h +@comment GNU +@deftp {Data Type} {struct option} +This structure describes a single long option name for the sake of +@code{getopt_long}. The argument @var{longopts} must be an array of +these structures, one for each long option. Terminate the array with an +element containing all zeros. + +The @code{struct option} structure has these fields: + +@table @code +@item const char *name +This field is the name of the option. It is a string. + +@item int has_arg +This field says whether the option takes an argument. It is an integer, +and there are three legitimate values: @w{@code{no_argument}}, +@code{required_argument} and @code{optional_argument}. + +@item int *flag +@itemx int val +These fields control how to report or act on the option when it occurs. + +If @code{flag} is a null pointer, then the @code{val} is a value which +identifies this option. Often these values are chosen to uniquely +identify particular long options. + +If @code{flag} is not a null pointer, it should be the address of an +@code{int} variable which is the flag for this option. The value in +@code{val} is the value to store in the flag to indicate that the option +was seen. +@end table +@end deftp + +@comment getopt.h +@comment GNU +@deftypefun int getopt_long (int @var{argc}, char **@var{argv}, const char *@var{shortopts}, struct option *@var{longopts}, int *@var{indexptr}) +Decode options from the vector @var{argv} (whose length is @var{argc}). +The argument @var{shortopts} describes the short options to accept, just as +it does in @code{getopt}. The argument @var{longopts} describes the long +options to accept (see above). + +When @code{getopt_long} encounters a short option, it does the same +thing that @code{getopt} would do: it returns the character code for the +option, and stores the options argument (if it has one) in @code{optarg}. + +When @code{getopt_long} encounters a long option, it takes actions based +on the @code{flag} and @code{val} fields of the definition of that +option. + +If @code{flag} is a null pointer, then @code{getopt_long} returns the +contents of @code{val} to indicate which option it found. You should +arrange distinct values in the @code{val} field for options with +different meanings, so you can decode these values after +@code{getopt_long} returns. If the long option is equivalent to a short +option, you can use the short option's character code in @code{val}. + +If @code{flag} is not a null pointer, that means this option should just +set a flag in the program. The flag is a variable of type @code{int} +that you define. Put the address of the flag in the @code{flag} field. +Put in the @code{val} field the value you would like this option to +store in the flag. In this case, @code{getopt_long} returns @code{0}. + +For any long option, @code{getopt_long} tells you the index in the array +@var{longopts} of the options definition, by storing it into +@code{*@var{indexptr}}. You can get the name of the option with +@code{@var{longopts}[*@var{indexptr}].name}. So you can distinguish among +long options either by the values in their @code{val} fields or by their +indices. You can also distinguish in this way among long options that +set flags. + +When a long option has an argument, @code{getopt_long} puts the argument +value in the variable @code{optarg} before returning. When the option +has no argument, the value in @code{optarg} is a null pointer. This is +how you can tell whether an optional argument was supplied. + +When @code{getopt_long} has no more options to handle, it returns +@code{-1}, and leaves in the variable @code{optind} the index in +@var{argv} of the next remaining argument. +@end deftypefun + +@node Getopt Long Option Example +@subsection Example of Parsing Long Options with @code{getopt_long} + +@smallexample +@include longopt.c.texi +@end smallexample |