1 Changes in version 2.32
2 -----------------------
4 * Fix a bug where the initial value for a optional numeric argument
5 was not used for value of a hash option.
7 * Remove 5.005 thread safety code. Getopt::Long is completely thread
8 safe when using the 5.8 ithreads.
10 Changes in version 2.29
11 -----------------------
13 * Fix a problem where options were not recognized when both
14 auto_abbrev and ignore_case were disabled. Thanks to Seth Robertson
15 <seth@systemdetection.com>.
19 Changes in version 2.28
20 -----------------------
22 * When an option is specified more than once, a warning is generated
23 if perl is run with -w. This is a correction to 2.27, where it would
26 An example of duplicate specification is GetOptions('foo', 'foo'),
27 but also GetOptions('foo=s', 'foo') and GetOptions('Foo', 'foo')
28 (the latter only when ignore_case is in effect).
30 Changes in version 2.27
31 -----------------------
33 * You can now specify integer options to take an optional argument.
34 that defaults to a specific value. E.g., GetOptions('foo:5' => \$var)
35 will allow $var to get the value 5 when no value was specified with
36 the -foo option on the command line.
38 Instead of a value, a '+' may be specified. E.g.,
39 GetOptions('foo:+' => \$var) will allow $var to be incremented when
40 no value was specified with the -foo option on the command line.
42 * Fix several problems with internal and external use of 'die' and
45 * Fixed some bugs with subtle combinations of bundling_override and
48 * A callback routine that is associated with a hash-valued option will
49 now have both the hask key and the value passed. It used to get only
52 * Eliminated the use of autoloading. Autoloading kept generating
53 problems during development, and when using perlcc.
55 * Avoid errors on references when an option is found in error, e.g.
56 GetOptions('fo$@#' => \$var).
57 Thanks to Wolfgang Laun <Wolfgang.Laun@alcatel.at>.
59 * When an option is specified more than once, an error is now
60 generated. E.g., GetOptions('foo', 'foo').
61 Thanks to Wolfgang Laun <Wolfgang.Laun@alcatel.at>.
63 * Lots of internal restructoring to make room for extensions.
65 * Redesigned the regression tests.
67 * Enhance the documentation to prevent common misunderstandings about
68 single character options.
70 Changes in version 2.26
71 -----------------------
73 * New option type: 'o'. It accepts all kinds of integral numbers in
74 Perl style, including decimal (24), octal (012), hexadecimal (0x2f)
77 * Fix problem with getopt_compat not matching +foo=bar.
79 * Remove $VERSION_STRING for production versions.
81 Changes in version 2.26
82 -----------------------
84 * New option type: 'o'. It accepts all kinds of integral numbers in
85 Perl style, including decimal (24), octal (012), hexadecimal (0x2f)
88 * Fix problem with getopt_compat not matching +foo=bar.
90 * Remove $VERSION_STRING for production versions.
92 Changes in version 2.25
93 -----------------------
95 * Change handling of a lone "-" on the command line. It will now be
96 treated as a non-option unless an explicit specification was passed
97 to GetOptions. See the manual.
98 In the old implementation an error was signalled, so no
99 compatibility breaks are expected from this change.
101 * Add $VERSION_STRING. This is the string form of $VERSION. Usually
102 they are identical, unless it is a pre-release in which case
103 $VERSION will be (e.g.) 2.2403 and $VERSION_STRING will be "2.24_03".
105 Changes in version 2.24
106 -----------------------
108 * Add object oriented interface:
111 $p = new Getopt::Long::Parser;
112 $p->configure(...configuration options...);
113 if ($p->getoptions(...options descriptions...)) ...
115 * Add configuration at 'use' time:
117 use Getopt::Long qw(:config no_ignore_case bundling);
119 * Add configuration options "gnu_getopt" and "gnu_compat".
121 "gnu_compat" controls whether --opt= is allowed, and what it should
122 do. Without "gnu_compat", --opt= gives an error. With "gnu_compat",
123 --opt= will give option "opt" and empty value.
124 This is the way GNU getopt_long does it.
126 "gnu_getopt" is a short way of setting "gnu_compat bundling permute
127 no_getopt_compat. With "gnu_getopt", command line handling should be
128 fully compatible with GNU getopt_long.
130 * Correct warnings when the user specified an array or hash
131 destination using a non-lowercase option, e.g. "I=s@".
133 * Correct ambiguous use of 'set' and 'reset' in the Configuration
134 section of the documentation.
136 * Add configuration option "posix_default" to reset to defaults as if
137 POSIXLY_CORRECT were set.
139 * Disallow "no" prefix on configuration options "default", "prefix" and
142 * Add a section "Trouble Shooting" to the documentation, with
143 frequently asked questions.
145 Changes in version 2.23
146 -----------------------
148 * When a call-back routine issues 'die', messages starting with "!"
149 are treated specially. Currently, only "!FINISH" is recognised (see
150 the next bullet point). Other messages that start with "!" are
153 * Change 'die("FINISH") (see changes in 2.21) to die("!FINISH"). This
154 is an incompatible change, but I guess noone is using this yet.
156 Changes in version 2.22
157 -----------------------
159 * Fixes a bug in the combination of aliases and negation.
161 Old: "foo|bar!" allowed negation on foo, but not on bar.
162 New: "foo|bar!" allows negation on foo and bar.
164 Caveat: "foo|f!", with bundling, issues the warning that negation on
165 a short option is ignored. To obtain the desired behaviour, use
167 "foo!" => \$opt_foo, "f" => \$opt_foo
169 "foo|f" => \$opt_foo, "nofoo" => sub { $opt_foo = 0 }
171 Remember that this is _only_ required when bundling is in effect.
173 Changes in version 2.21
174 -----------------------
178 * User defined subroutines should use 'die' to signal errors.
180 * User defined subroutines can preliminary terminate options
181 processing by calling die("FINISH");
183 * Correct erroneous install of Getopt::Long manpage.
184 Previous versions seem to install Getopt::GetoptLong instead of
187 Changes in version 2.20
188 -----------------------
190 * Prevent the magic argument "<>" from being interpreted as option
191 starter characters if it is the first argument passed.
192 To use the characters "<>" as option starters, pass "><" instead.
194 * Changed license: Getopt::Long may now also be used under the Perl
197 * Changed the file name of the distribution kit from "GetoptLong..."
198 to "Getopt-Long-..." to match the standards.
200 Changes in version 2.19
201 -----------------------
203 * Fix a warning bug with bundling_override.
205 There's no version 2.18
206 -----------------------
208 Changes in version 2.17
209 -----------------------
211 * Getopt::Long::config is renamed Getopt::Long::Configure. The old
212 name will remain supported without being documented.
214 * Options can have the specifier '+' to denote that the option value
215 must be incremented each time the option occurs on the command line.
219 Getopt::Long::Configure("bundling");
220 GetOptions ("v+" => \$more);
221 print STDOUT ("more = $more\n");
223 will print "more = 3" when called with "-v", "more = 4" when called
224 with "-vv" (or "-v -v"), and so on.
226 * Getopt::Long now uses autoloading. This substantially reduces the
227 resources required to 'use Getopt::Long' (about 100 lines of over
230 * It is now documented that global option variables like $opt_foo
231 need to be declared using 'use vars ...' when running under 'use
234 * To install, it is now required to use the official procedure:
241 Changes in version 2.16
242 -----------------------
244 * A couple of small additional fixes to the $` $& $' fixes.
246 * The option prefix can be set using config("prefix=...") or, more
247 powerful, with config("prefix_pattern=..."); see the documentation
250 * More 'perl -w' warnings eliminated for obscure cases of bundling.
252 This version is identical to 2.15, which was not released.
254 There's no version 2.14
255 -----------------------
257 Changes in version 2.13
258 -----------------------
260 * All regexps are changed to avoid the use of $`, $& and $'. Using one
261 of these causes all pattern matches in the program to be much slower
264 * Configuration errors are signalled using die() and will cause the
265 program to be terminated (unless eval{...} or $SIG{__DIE__} is
268 * Option parsing errors are now signalled with calls to warn().
270 * In option bundles, numeric values may be embedded in the bundle
273 * More 'perl -w' warnings eliminated for obscure cases of bundling.
275 * Removed non-standard version number matching. Version 1.121 is now
276 more than 1.12 but less than 1.13.
278 Changes in version 2.12
279 -----------------------
281 * A single question mark is allowed as an alias to an option, e.g.
283 GetOptions ("help|?", ...)
285 Changes in version 2.11
286 -----------------------
288 * User linkage may be an object, provided the object is really a hash.
293 sub new () { return bless {}; }
296 my $linkage = Foo->new();
298 GetOptions ($linkage, ... );
300 * Some bug fixes in handling obscure cases of pass-through.
302 Changes in version 2.9
303 ----------------------
305 * A new way to configure Getopt::Long. Instead of setting module local
306 variables, routine Getopt::Long::config can be called with the names
307 of options to be set or reset, e.g.
309 Getopt::Long::config ("no_auto_abbrev", "ignore_case");
311 Configuring by using the module local variables is deprecated, but
312 it will continue to work for backwark compatibility.
314 Changes in version 2.6
315 ----------------------
317 * Handle ignorecase even if autoabbrev is off.
321 Changes in version 2.4
322 ----------------------
324 * Pass-through of unrecognized options. Makes it easy to write wrapper
325 programs that process some of the command line options but pass the
326 others to another program.
328 * Options can be of type HASH, now you can say
332 and have $opt_define{"foo"} set to "bar".
334 * An enhanced skeleton program, skel2.pl, that combines the power of
335 Getopt::Long with Pod::Usage.
336 Module Pod::Usage can be obtained from CPAN,
337 http://www.perl.com/CPAN/authors/Brad_Appleton.
339 Possible incompatibility in version 2.4
340 ---------------------------------------
342 Previous versions of Getopt::Long always downcased the option variable
343 names when ignorecase was in effect. This bug has been corrected. As a
344 consequence, &GetOptions ("Foo") will now set variable $opt_Foo