1 # GetOpt::Long.pm -- Universal options parsing
5 # RCS Status : $Id: GetoptLong.pl,v 2.24 2000-03-14 21:28:52+01 jv Exp $
6 # Author : Johan Vromans
7 # Created On : Tue Sep 11 15:00:12 1990
8 # Last Modified By: Johan Vromans
9 # Last Modified On: Tue Mar 14 21:28:40 2000
13 ################ Copyright ################
15 # This program is Copyright 1990,2000 by Johan Vromans.
16 # This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
17 # modify it under the terms of the Perl Artistic License or the
18 # GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software
19 # Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any
22 # This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
23 # but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
24 # MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
25 # GNU General Public License for more details.
27 # If you do not have a copy of the GNU General Public License write to
28 # the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge,
31 ################ Module Preamble ################
38 use vars qw($VERSION @ISA @EXPORT @EXPORT_OK %EXPORT_TAGS);
42 @EXPORT = qw(&GetOptions $REQUIRE_ORDER $PERMUTE $RETURN_IN_ORDER);
45 use AutoLoader qw(AUTOLOAD);
48 # User visible variables.
49 use vars @EXPORT, @EXPORT_OK;
50 use vars qw($error $debug $major_version $minor_version);
51 # Deprecated visible variables.
52 use vars qw($autoabbrev $getopt_compat $ignorecase $bundling $order
54 # Official invisible variables.
55 use vars qw($genprefix $caller);
59 sub config (@); # deprecated name
62 # Private subroutines.
63 sub ConfigDefaults ();
64 sub FindOption ($$$$$$$);
65 sub Croak (@); # demand loading the real Croak
67 ################ Local Variables ################
69 ################ Resident subroutines ################
71 sub ConfigDefaults () {
72 # Handle POSIX compliancy.
73 if ( defined $ENV{"POSIXLY_CORRECT"} ) {
74 $genprefix = "(--|-)";
75 $autoabbrev = 0; # no automatic abbrev of options
76 $bundling = 0; # no bundling of single letter switches
77 $getopt_compat = 0; # disallow '+' to start options
78 $order = $REQUIRE_ORDER;
81 $genprefix = "(--|-|\\+)";
82 $autoabbrev = 1; # automatic abbrev of options
83 $bundling = 0; # bundling off by default
84 $getopt_compat = 1; # allow '+' to start options
87 # Other configurable settings.
88 $debug = 0; # for debugging
89 $error = 0; # error tally
90 $ignorecase = 1; # ignore case when matching options
91 $passthrough = 0; # leave unrecognized options alone
94 ################ Initialization ################
96 # Values for $order. See GNU getopt.c for details.
97 ($REQUIRE_ORDER, $PERMUTE, $RETURN_IN_ORDER) = (0..2);
98 # Version major/minor numbers.
99 ($major_version, $minor_version) = $VERSION =~ /^(\d+)\.(\d+)/;
103 ################ Package return ################
109 ################ AutoLoading subroutines ################
111 # RCS Status : $Id: GetoptLongAl.pl,v 2.26 2000-03-14 21:32:05+01 jv Exp $
112 # Author : Johan Vromans
113 # Created On : Fri Mar 27 11:50:30 1998
114 # Last Modified By: Johan Vromans
115 # Last Modified On: Tue Mar 14 21:09:46 2000
121 my @optionlist = @_; # local copy of the option descriptions
122 my $argend = '--'; # option list terminator
123 my %opctl = (); # table of arg.specs (long and abbrevs)
124 my %bopctl = (); # table of arg.specs (bundles)
125 my $pkg = $caller || (caller)[0]; # current context
126 # Needed if linkage is omitted.
127 my %aliases= (); # alias table
128 my @ret = (); # accum for non-options
129 my %linkage; # linkage
130 my $userlinkage; # user supplied HASH
131 my $opt; # current option
132 my $genprefix = $genprefix; # so we can call the same module many times
133 my @opctl; # the possible long option names
137 print STDERR ("GetOpt::Long $Getopt::Long::VERSION ",
138 "called from package \"$pkg\".",
140 'GetOptionsAl $Revision: 2.26 $ ',
144 "autoabbrev=$autoabbrev,".
145 "bundling=$bundling,",
146 "getopt_compat=$getopt_compat,",
149 "ignorecase=$ignorecase,",
150 "passthrough=$passthrough,",
151 "genprefix=\"$genprefix\".",
155 # Check for ref HASH as first argument.
156 # First argument may be an object. It's OK to use this as long
157 # as it is really a hash underneath.
158 $userlinkage = undef;
159 if ( ref($optionlist[0]) and
160 "$optionlist[0]" =~ /^(?:.*\=)?HASH\([^\(]*\)$/ ) {
161 $userlinkage = shift (@optionlist);
162 print STDERR ("=> user linkage: $userlinkage\n") if $debug;
165 # See if the first element of the optionlist contains option
166 # starter characters.
167 # Be careful not to interpret '<>' as option starters.
168 if ( $optionlist[0] =~ /^\W+$/
169 && !($optionlist[0] eq '<>'
171 && ref($optionlist[1])) ) {
172 $genprefix = shift (@optionlist);
173 # Turn into regexp. Needs to be parenthesized!
174 $genprefix =~ s/(\W)/\\$1/g;
175 $genprefix = "([" . $genprefix . "])";
178 # Verify correctness of optionlist.
181 while ( @optionlist > 0 ) {
182 my $opt = shift (@optionlist);
184 # Strip leading prefix so people can specify "--foo=i" if they like.
185 $opt = $+ if $opt =~ /^$genprefix+(.*)$/s;
187 if ( $opt eq '<>' ) {
188 if ( (defined $userlinkage)
189 && !(@optionlist > 0 && ref($optionlist[0]))
190 && (exists $userlinkage->{$opt})
191 && ref($userlinkage->{$opt}) ) {
192 unshift (@optionlist, $userlinkage->{$opt});
194 unless ( @optionlist > 0
195 && ref($optionlist[0]) && ref($optionlist[0]) eq 'CODE' ) {
196 $error .= "Option spec <> requires a reference to a subroutine\n";
199 $linkage{'<>'} = shift (@optionlist);
203 # Match option spec. Allow '?' as an alias.
204 if ( $opt !~ /^((\w+[-\w]*)(\|(\?|\w[-\w]*)?)*)?([!~+]|[=:][infse][@%]?)?$/ ) {
205 $error .= "Error in option spec: \"$opt\"\n";
208 my ($o, $c, $a) = ($1, $5);
209 $c = '' unless defined $c;
211 if ( ! defined $o ) {
212 # empty -> '-' option
213 $opctl{$o = ''} = $c;
217 my @o = split (/\|/, $o);
218 my $linko = $o = $o[0];
219 # Force an alias if the option name is not locase.
220 $a = $o unless $o eq lc($o);
224 && ($bundling ? length($o) > 1 : 1));
227 if ( $bundling && length($_) == 1 ) {
228 $_ = lc ($_) if $ignorecase > 1;
231 warn ("Ignoring '!' modifier for short option $_\n");
232 $opctl{$_} = $bopctl{$_} = '';
235 $opctl{$_} = $bopctl{$_} = $c;
239 $_ = lc ($_) if $ignorecase;
260 # If no linkage is supplied in the @optionlist, copy it from
261 # the userlinkage if available.
262 if ( defined $userlinkage ) {
263 unless ( @optionlist > 0 && ref($optionlist[0]) ) {
264 if ( exists $userlinkage->{$o} && ref($userlinkage->{$o}) ) {
265 print STDERR ("=> found userlinkage for \"$o\": ",
266 "$userlinkage->{$o}\n")
268 unshift (@optionlist, $userlinkage->{$o});
271 # Do nothing. Being undefined will be handled later.
277 # Copy the linkage. If omitted, link to global variable.
278 if ( @optionlist > 0 && ref($optionlist[0]) ) {
279 print STDERR ("=> link \"$o\" to $optionlist[0]\n")
281 if ( ref($optionlist[0]) =~ /^(SCALAR|CODE)$/ ) {
282 $linkage{$o} = shift (@optionlist);
284 elsif ( ref($optionlist[0]) =~ /^(ARRAY)$/ ) {
285 $linkage{$o} = shift (@optionlist);
287 if $opctl{$o} ne '' and $opctl{$o} !~ /\@$/;
289 if $bundling and defined $bopctl{$o} and
290 $bopctl{$o} ne '' and $bopctl{$o} !~ /\@$/;
292 elsif ( ref($optionlist[0]) =~ /^(HASH)$/ ) {
293 $linkage{$o} = shift (@optionlist);
295 if $opctl{$o} ne '' and $opctl{$o} !~ /\%$/;
297 if $bundling and defined $bopctl{$o} and
298 $bopctl{$o} ne '' and $bopctl{$o} !~ /\%$/;
301 $error .= "Invalid option linkage for \"$opt\"\n";
305 # Link to global $opt_XXX variable.
306 # Make sure a valid perl identifier results.
310 print STDERR ("=> link \"$o\" to \@$pkg","::opt_$ov\n")
312 eval ("\$linkage{\$o} = \\\@".$pkg."::opt_$ov;");
314 elsif ( $c =~ /%/ ) {
315 print STDERR ("=> link \"$o\" to \%$pkg","::opt_$ov\n")
317 eval ("\$linkage{\$o} = \\\%".$pkg."::opt_$ov;");
320 print STDERR ("=> link \"$o\" to \$$pkg","::opt_$ov\n")
322 eval ("\$linkage{\$o} = \\\$".$pkg."::opt_$ov;");
327 # Bail out if errors found.
328 die ($error) if $error;
331 # Sort the possible long option names.
332 @opctl = sort(keys (%opctl)) if $autoabbrev;
334 # Show the options tables if debugging.
338 while ( ($k,$v) = each(%opctl) ) {
339 print STDERR ($arrow, "\$opctl{\"$k\"} = \"$v\"\n");
343 while ( ($k,$v) = each(%bopctl) ) {
344 print STDERR ($arrow, "\$bopctl{\"$k\"} = \"$v\"\n");
349 # Process argument list
351 while ( $goon && @ARGV > 0 ) {
353 #### Get next argument ####
355 $opt = shift (@ARGV);
356 print STDERR ("=> option \"", $opt, "\"\n") if $debug;
358 #### Determine what we have ####
360 # Double dash is option list terminator.
361 if ( $opt eq $argend ) {
362 # Finish. Push back accumulated arguments and return.
363 unshift (@ARGV, @ret)
364 if $order == $PERMUTE;
365 return ($error == 0);
369 my $found; # success status
370 my $dsttype; # destination type ('@' or '%')
371 my $incr; # destination increment
372 my $key; # key (if hash type)
373 my $arg; # option argument
375 ($found, $opt, $arg, $dsttype, $incr, $key) =
376 FindOption ($genprefix, $argend, $opt,
377 \%opctl, \%bopctl, \@opctl, \%aliases);
381 # FindOption undefines $opt in case of errors.
382 next unless defined $opt;
384 if ( defined $arg ) {
385 $opt = $aliases{$opt} if defined $aliases{$opt};
387 if ( defined $linkage{$opt} ) {
388 print STDERR ("=> ref(\$L{$opt}) -> ",
389 ref($linkage{$opt}), "\n") if $debug;
391 if ( ref($linkage{$opt}) eq 'SCALAR' ) {
393 print STDERR ("=> \$\$L{$opt} += \"$arg\"\n")
395 if ( defined ${$linkage{$opt}} ) {
396 ${$linkage{$opt}} += $arg;
399 ${$linkage{$opt}} = $arg;
403 print STDERR ("=> \$\$L{$opt} = \"$arg\"\n")
405 ${$linkage{$opt}} = $arg;
408 elsif ( ref($linkage{$opt}) eq 'ARRAY' ) {
409 print STDERR ("=> push(\@{\$L{$opt}, \"$arg\")\n")
411 push (@{$linkage{$opt}}, $arg);
413 elsif ( ref($linkage{$opt}) eq 'HASH' ) {
414 print STDERR ("=> \$\$L{$opt}->{$key} = \"$arg\"\n")
416 $linkage{$opt}->{$key} = $arg;
418 elsif ( ref($linkage{$opt}) eq 'CODE' ) {
419 print STDERR ("=> &L{$opt}(\"$opt\", \"$arg\")\n")
423 &{$linkage{$opt}}($opt, $arg);
425 print STDERR ("=> die($@)\n") if $debug && $@ ne '';
426 if ( $@ =~ /^FINISH\b/ ) {
435 print STDERR ("Invalid REF type \"", ref($linkage{$opt}),
437 Croak ("Getopt::Long -- internal error!\n");
440 # No entry in linkage means entry in userlinkage.
441 elsif ( $dsttype eq '@' ) {
442 if ( defined $userlinkage->{$opt} ) {
443 print STDERR ("=> push(\@{\$L{$opt}}, \"$arg\")\n")
445 push (@{$userlinkage->{$opt}}, $arg);
448 print STDERR ("=>\$L{$opt} = [\"$arg\"]\n")
450 $userlinkage->{$opt} = [$arg];
453 elsif ( $dsttype eq '%' ) {
454 if ( defined $userlinkage->{$opt} ) {
455 print STDERR ("=> \$L{$opt}->{$key} = \"$arg\"\n")
457 $userlinkage->{$opt}->{$key} = $arg;
460 print STDERR ("=>\$L{$opt} = {$key => \"$arg\"}\n")
462 $userlinkage->{$opt} = {$key => $arg};
467 print STDERR ("=> \$L{$opt} += \"$arg\"\n")
469 if ( defined $userlinkage->{$opt} ) {
470 $userlinkage->{$opt} += $arg;
473 $userlinkage->{$opt} = $arg;
477 print STDERR ("=>\$L{$opt} = \"$arg\"\n") if $debug;
478 $userlinkage->{$opt} = $arg;
484 # Not an option. Save it if we $PERMUTE and don't have a <>.
485 elsif ( $order == $PERMUTE ) {
486 # Try non-options call-back.
488 if ( (defined ($cb = $linkage{'<>'})) ) {
493 print STDERR ("=> die($@)\n") if $debug && $@ ne '';
494 if ( $@ =~ /^FINISH\b/ ) {
503 print STDERR ("=> saving \"$tryopt\" ",
504 "(not an option, may permute)\n") if $debug;
505 push (@ret, $tryopt);
510 # ...otherwise, terminate.
512 # Push this one back and exit.
513 unshift (@ARGV, $tryopt);
514 return ($error == 0);
520 if ( $order == $PERMUTE ) {
521 # Push back accumulated arguments
522 print STDERR ("=> restoring \"", join('" "', @ret), "\"\n")
523 if $debug && @ret > 0;
524 unshift (@ARGV, @ret) if @ret > 0;
527 return ($error == 0);
531 sub FindOption ($$$$$$$) {
533 # returns (1, $opt, $arg, $dsttype, $incr, $key) if okay,
534 # returns (0) otherwise.
536 my ($prefix, $argend, $opt, $opctl, $bopctl, $names, $aliases) = @_;
537 my $key; # hash key for a hash option
540 print STDERR ("=> find \"$opt\", prefix=\"$prefix\"\n") if $debug;
542 return (0) unless $opt =~ /^$prefix(.*)$/s;
547 print STDERR ("=> split \"$starter\"+\"$opt\"\n") if $debug;
549 my $optarg = undef; # value supplied with --opt=value
550 my $rest = undef; # remainder from unbundling
552 # If it is a long option, it may include the value.
553 if (($starter eq "--" || ($getopt_compat && !$bundling))
554 && $opt =~ /^([^=]+)=(.*)$/s ) {
557 print STDERR ("=> option \"", $opt,
558 "\", optarg = \"$optarg\"\n") if $debug;
563 my $tryopt = $opt; # option to try
564 my $optbl = $opctl; # table to look it up (long names)
569 if ( $bundling && $starter eq '-' ) {
570 # Unbundle single letter option.
571 $rest = substr ($tryopt, 1);
572 $tryopt = substr ($tryopt, 0, 1);
573 $tryopt = lc ($tryopt) if $ignorecase > 1;
574 print STDERR ("=> $starter$tryopt unbundled from ",
575 "$starter$tryopt$rest\n") if $debug;
576 $rest = undef unless $rest ne '';
577 $optbl = $bopctl; # look it up in the short names table
579 # If bundling == 2, long options can override bundles.
580 if ( $bundling == 2 and
582 defined ($type = $opctl->{$tryopt.$rest}) ) {
583 print STDERR ("=> $starter$tryopt rebundled to ",
584 "$starter$tryopt$rest\n") if $debug;
590 # Try auto-abbreviation.
591 elsif ( $autoabbrev ) {
592 # Downcase if allowed.
593 $tryopt = $opt = lc ($opt) if $ignorecase;
594 # Turn option name into pattern.
595 my $pat = quotemeta ($opt);
596 # Look up in option names.
597 my @hits = grep (/^$pat/, @{$names});
598 print STDERR ("=> ", scalar(@hits), " hits (@hits) with \"$pat\" ",
599 "out of ", scalar(@{$names}), "\n") if $debug;
601 # Check for ambiguous results.
602 unless ( (@hits <= 1) || (grep ($_ eq $opt, @hits) == 1) ) {
603 # See if all matches are for the same option.
606 $_ = $aliases->{$_} if defined $aliases->{$_};
609 # Now see if it really is ambiguous.
610 unless ( keys(%hit) == 1 ) {
611 return (0) if $passthrough;
612 warn ("Option ", $opt, " is ambiguous (",
613 join(", ", @hits), ")\n");
616 return (1, $opt,$arg,$dsttype,$incr,$key);
621 # Complete the option name, if appropriate.
622 if ( @hits == 1 && $hits[0] ne $opt ) {
624 $tryopt = lc ($tryopt) if $ignorecase;
625 print STDERR ("=> option \"$opt\" -> \"$tryopt\"\n")
630 # Map to all lowercase if ignoring case.
631 elsif ( $ignorecase ) {
635 # Check validity by fetching the info.
636 $type = $optbl->{$tryopt} unless defined $type;
637 unless ( defined $type ) {
638 return (0) if $passthrough;
639 warn ("Unknown option: ", $opt, "\n");
641 return (1, $opt,$arg,$dsttype,$incr,$key);
645 print STDERR ("=> found \"$type\" for ", $opt, "\n") if $debug;
647 #### Determine argument status ####
649 # If it is an option w/o argument, we're almost finished with it.
650 if ( $type eq '' || $type eq '!' || $type eq '+' ) {
651 if ( defined $optarg ) {
652 return (0) if $passthrough;
653 warn ("Option ", $opt, " does not take an argument\n");
657 elsif ( $type eq '' || $type eq '+' ) {
658 $arg = 1; # supply explicit value
659 $incr = $type eq '+';
662 substr ($opt, 0, 2) = ''; # strip NO prefix
663 $arg = 0; # supply explicit value
665 unshift (@ARGV, $starter.$rest) if defined $rest;
666 return (1, $opt,$arg,$dsttype,$incr,$key);
669 # Get mandatory status and type info.
671 ($mand, $type, $dsttype, $key) = $type =~ /^(.)(.)([@%]?)$/;
673 # Check if there is an option argument available.
674 if ( defined $optarg ? ($optarg eq '')
675 : !(defined $rest || @ARGV > 0) ) {
676 # Complain if this option needs an argument.
677 if ( $mand eq "=" ) {
678 return (0) if $passthrough;
679 warn ("Option ", $opt, " requires an argument\n");
683 if ( $mand eq ":" ) {
684 $arg = $type eq "s" ? '' : 0;
686 return (1, $opt,$arg,$dsttype,$incr,$key);
689 # Get (possibly optional) argument.
690 $arg = (defined $rest ? $rest
691 : (defined $optarg ? $optarg : shift (@ARGV)));
693 # Get key if this is a "name=value" pair for a hash option.
695 if ($dsttype eq '%' && defined $arg) {
696 ($key, $arg) = ($arg =~ /^([^=]*)=(.*)$/s) ? ($1, $2) : ($arg, 1);
699 #### Check if the argument is valid for this option ####
701 if ( $type eq "s" ) { # string
702 # A mandatory string takes anything.
703 return (1, $opt,$arg,$dsttype,$incr,$key) if $mand eq "=";
705 # An optional string takes almost anything.
706 return (1, $opt,$arg,$dsttype,$incr,$key)
707 if defined $optarg || defined $rest;
708 return (1, $opt,$arg,$dsttype,$incr,$key) if $arg eq "-"; # ??
710 # Check for option or option list terminator.
711 if ($arg eq $argend ||
712 $arg =~ /^$prefix.+/) {
714 unshift (@ARGV, $arg);
715 # Supply empty value.
720 elsif ( $type eq "n" || $type eq "i" ) { # numeric/integer
721 if ( $bundling && defined $rest && $rest =~ /^([-+]?[0-9]+)(.*)$/s ) {
724 unshift (@ARGV, $starter.$rest) if defined $rest && $rest ne '';
726 elsif ( $arg !~ /^[-+]?[0-9]+$/ ) {
727 if ( defined $optarg || $mand eq "=" ) {
728 if ( $passthrough ) {
729 unshift (@ARGV, defined $rest ? $starter.$rest : $arg)
730 unless defined $optarg;
733 warn ("Value \"", $arg, "\" invalid for option ",
734 $opt, " (number expected)\n");
738 unshift (@ARGV, $starter.$rest) if defined $rest;
742 unshift (@ARGV, defined $rest ? $starter.$rest : $arg);
743 # Supply default value.
749 elsif ( $type eq "f" ) { # real number, int is also ok
750 # We require at least one digit before a point or 'e',
751 # and at least one digit following the point and 'e'.
753 if ( $bundling && defined $rest &&
754 $rest =~ /^([-+]?[0-9]+(\.[0-9]+)?([eE][-+]?[0-9]+)?)(.*)$/s ) {
757 unshift (@ARGV, $starter.$rest) if defined $rest && $rest ne '';
759 elsif ( $arg !~ /^[-+]?[0-9.]+(\.[0-9]+)?([eE][-+]?[0-9]+)?$/ ) {
760 if ( defined $optarg || $mand eq "=" ) {
761 if ( $passthrough ) {
762 unshift (@ARGV, defined $rest ? $starter.$rest : $arg)
763 unless defined $optarg;
766 warn ("Value \"", $arg, "\" invalid for option ",
767 $opt, " (real number expected)\n");
771 unshift (@ARGV, $starter.$rest) if defined $rest;
775 unshift (@ARGV, defined $rest ? $starter.$rest : $arg);
776 # Supply default value.
782 Croak ("GetOpt::Long internal error (Can't happen)\n");
784 return (1, $opt, $arg, $dsttype, $incr, $key);
787 # Getopt::Long Configuration.
792 [ $error, $debug, $major_version, $minor_version,
793 $autoabbrev, $getopt_compat, $ignorecase, $bundling, $order,
794 $passthrough, $genprefix ];
796 if ( ref($options[0]) eq 'ARRAY' ) {
797 ( $error, $debug, $major_version, $minor_version,
798 $autoabbrev, $getopt_compat, $ignorecase, $bundling, $order,
799 $passthrough, $genprefix ) = @{shift(@options)};
803 foreach $opt ( @options ) {
806 if ( $try =~ /^no_?(.*)$/s ) {
810 if ( $try eq 'default' or $try eq 'defaults' ) {
811 ConfigDefaults () if $action;
813 elsif ( $try eq 'auto_abbrev' or $try eq 'autoabbrev' ) {
814 $autoabbrev = $action;
816 elsif ( $try eq 'getopt_compat' ) {
817 $getopt_compat = $action;
819 elsif ( $try eq 'ignorecase' or $try eq 'ignore_case' ) {
820 $ignorecase = $action;
822 elsif ( $try eq 'ignore_case_always' ) {
823 $ignorecase = $action ? 2 : 0;
825 elsif ( $try eq 'bundling' ) {
828 elsif ( $try eq 'bundling_override' ) {
829 $bundling = $action ? 2 : 0;
831 elsif ( $try eq 'require_order' ) {
832 $order = $action ? $REQUIRE_ORDER : $PERMUTE;
834 elsif ( $try eq 'permute' ) {
835 $order = $action ? $PERMUTE : $REQUIRE_ORDER;
837 elsif ( $try eq 'pass_through' or $try eq 'passthrough' ) {
838 $passthrough = $action;
840 elsif ( $try =~ /^prefix=(.+)$/ ) {
842 # Turn into regexp. Needs to be parenthesized!
843 $genprefix = "(" . quotemeta($genprefix) . ")";
844 eval { '' =~ /$genprefix/; };
845 Croak ("Getopt::Long: invalid pattern \"$genprefix\"") if $@;
847 elsif ( $try =~ /^prefix_pattern=(.+)$/ ) {
849 # Parenthesize if needed.
850 $genprefix = "(" . $genprefix . ")"
851 unless $genprefix =~ /^\(.*\)$/;
852 eval { '' =~ /$genprefix/; };
853 Croak ("Getopt::Long: invalid pattern \"$genprefix\"") if $@;
855 elsif ( $try eq 'debug' ) {
859 Croak ("Getopt::Long: unknown config parameter \"$opt\"")
870 # To prevent Carp from being loaded unnecessarily.
873 $Carp::CarpLevel = 1;
877 ################ Documentation ################
881 Getopt::Long - Extended processing of command line options
886 $result = GetOptions (...option-descriptions...);
890 The Getopt::Long module implements an extended getopt function called
891 GetOptions(). This function adheres to the POSIX syntax for command
892 line options, with GNU extensions. In general, this means that options
893 have long names instead of single letters, and are introduced with a
894 double dash "--". Support for bundling of command line options, as was
895 the case with the more traditional single-letter approach, is provided
896 but not enabled by default.
898 =head1 Command Line Options, an Introduction
900 Command line operated programs traditionally take their arguments from
901 the command line, for example filenames or other information that the
902 program needs to know. Besides arguments, these programs often take
903 command line I<options> as well. Options are not necessary for the
904 program to work, hence the name 'option', but are used to modify its
905 default behaviour. For example, a program could do its job quietly,
906 but with a suitable option it could provide verbose information about
909 Command line options come in several flavours. Historically, they are
910 preceded by a single dash C<->, and consist of a single letter.
914 Usually, these single-character options can be bundled:
918 Options can have values, the value is placed after the option
919 character. Sometimes with whitespace in between, sometimes not:
923 Due to the very cryptic nature of these options, another style was
924 developed that used long names. So instead of a cryptic C<-l> one
925 could use the more descriptive C<--long>. To distinguish between a
926 bundle of single-character options and a long one, two dashes are used
927 to precede the option name. Early implementations of long options used
928 a plus C<+> instead. Also, option values could be specified either
937 The C<+> form is now obsolete and strongly deprecated.
939 =head1 Getting Started with Getopt::Long
941 Getopt::Long is the Perl5 successor of C<newgetopt.pl>. This was
942 the firs Perl module that provided support for handling the new style
943 of command line options, hence the name Getopt::Long. This module
944 also supports single-character options and bundling. In this case, the
945 options are restricted to alphabetic characters only, and the
946 characters C<?> and C<->.
948 To use Getopt::Long from a Perl program, you must include the
949 following line in your Perl program:
953 This will load the core of the Getopt::Long module and prepare your
954 program for using it. Most of the actual Getopt::Long code is not
955 loaded until you really call one of its functions.
957 In the default configuration, options names may be abbreviated to
958 uniqueness, case does not matter, and a single dash is sufficient,
959 even for long option names. Also, options may be placed between
960 non-option arguments. See L<Configuring Getopt::Long> for more
961 details on how to configure Getopt::Long.
963 =head2 Simple options
965 The most simple options are the ones that take no values. Their mere
966 presence on the command line enables the option. Popular examples are:
968 --all --verbose --quiet --debug
970 Handling simple options is straightforward:
972 my $verbose = ''; # option variable with default value (false)
973 my $all = ''; # option variable with default value (false)
974 GetOptions ('verbose' => \$verbose, 'all' => \$all);
976 The call to GetOptions() parses the command line arguments that are
977 present in C<@ARGV> and sets the option variable to the value C<1> if
978 the option did occur on the command line. Otherwise, the option
979 variable is not touched. Setting the option value to true is often
980 called I<enabling> the option.
982 The option name as specified to the GetOptions() function is called
983 the option I<specification>. Later we'll see that this specification
984 can contain more than just the option name. The reference to the
985 variable is called the option I<destination>.
987 GetOptions() will return a true value if the command line could be
988 processed successfully. Otherwise, it will write error messages to
989 STDERR, and return a false result.
991 =head2 A little bit less simple options
993 Getopt::Long supports two useful variants of simple options:
994 I<negatable> options and I<incremental> options.
996 A negatable option is specified with a exclamation mark C<!> after the
999 my $verbose = ''; # option variable with default value (false)
1000 GetOptions ('verbose!' => \$verbose);
1002 Now, using C<--verbose> on the command line will enable C<$verbose>,
1003 as expected. But it is also allowed to use C<--noverbose>, which will
1004 disable C<$verbose> by setting its value to C<0>. Using a suitable
1005 default value, the program can find out whether C<$verbose> is false
1006 by default, or disabled by using C<--noverbose>.
1008 An incremental option is specified with a plus C<+> after the
1011 my $verbose = ''; # option variable with default value (false)
1012 GetOptions ('verbose+' => \$verbose);
1014 Using C<--verbose> on the command line will increment the value of
1015 C<$verbose>. This way the program can keep track of how many times the
1016 option occurred on the command line. For example, each occurrence of
1017 C<--verbose> could increase the verbosity level of the program.
1019 =head2 Mixing command line option with other arguments
1021 Usually programs take command line options as well as other arguments,
1022 for example, file names. It is good practice to always specify the
1023 options first, and the other arguments last. Getopt::Long will,
1024 however, allow the options and arguments to be mixed and 'filter out'
1025 all the options before passing the rest of the arguments to the
1026 program. To stop Getopt::Long from processing further arguments,
1027 insert a double dash C<--> on the command line:
1031 In this example, C<--all> will I<not> be treated as an option, but
1032 passed to the program unharmed, in C<@ARGV>.
1034 =head2 Options with values
1036 For options that take values it must be specified whether the option
1037 value is required or not, and what kind of value the option expects.
1039 Three kinds of values are supported: integer numbers, floating point
1040 numbers, and strings.
1042 If the option value is required, Getopt::Long will take the
1043 command line argument that follows the option and assign this to the
1044 option variable. If, however, the option value is specified as
1045 optional, this will only be done if that value does not look like a
1046 valid command line option itself.
1048 my $tag = ''; # option variable with default value
1049 GetOptions ('tag=s' => \$tag);
1051 In the option specification, the option name is followed by an equals
1052 sign C<=> and the letter C<s>. The equals sign indicates that this
1053 option requires a value. The letter C<s> indicates that this value is
1054 an arbitrary string. Other possible value types are C<i> for integer
1055 values, and C<f> for floating point values. Using a colon C<:> instead
1056 of the equals sign indicates that the option value is optional. In
1057 this case, if no suitable value is supplied, string valued options get
1058 an empty string C<''> assigned, while numeric options are set to C<0>.
1060 =head2 Options with multiple values
1062 Options sometimes take several values. For example, a program could
1063 use multiple directories to search for library files:
1065 --library lib/stdlib --library lib/extlib
1067 To accomplish this behaviour, simply specify an array reference as the
1068 destination for the option:
1071 GetOptions ("library=s" => \@libfiles);
1073 Used with the example above, C<@libfiles> would contain two strings
1074 upon completion: C<"lib/srdlib"> and C<"lib/extlib">, in that order.
1075 It is also possible to specify that only integer or floating point
1076 numbers are acceptible values.
1078 Often it is useful to allow comma-separated lists of values as well as
1079 multiple occurrences of the options. This is easy using Perl's split()
1080 and join() operators:
1083 GetOptions ("library=s" => \@libfiles);
1084 @libfiles = split(/,/,join(',',@libfiles));
1086 Of course, it is important to choose the right separator string for
1089 =head2 Options with hash values
1091 If the option destination is a reference to a hash, the option will
1092 take, as value, strings of the form I<key>C<=>I<value>. The value will
1093 be stored with the specified key in the hash.
1096 GetOptions ("define=s" => \%defines);
1098 When used with command line options:
1100 --define os=linux --define vendor=redhat
1102 the hash C<%defines> will contain two keys, C<"os"> with value
1103 C<"linux> and C<"vendor"> with value C<"redhat">.
1104 It is also possible to specify that only integer or floating point
1105 numbers are acceptible values. The keys are always taken to be strings.
1107 =head2 User-defined subroutines to handle options
1109 Ultimate control over what should be done when (actually: each time)
1110 an option is encountered on the command line can be achieved by
1111 designating a reference to a subroutine (or an anonymous subroutine)
1112 as the option destination. When GetOptions() encounters the option, it
1113 will call the subroutine with two arguments: the name of the option,
1114 and the value to be assigned. It is up to the subroutine to store the
1115 value, or do whatever it thinks is appropriate.
1117 A trivial application of this mechanism is to implement options that
1118 are related to each other. For example:
1120 my $verbose = ''; # option variable with default value (false)
1121 GetOptions ('verbose' => \$verbose,
1122 'quiet' => sub { $verbose = 0 });
1124 Here C<--verbose> and C<--quiet> control the same variable
1125 C<$verbose>, but with opposite values.
1127 If the subroutine needs to signal an error, it should call die() with
1128 the desired error message as its argument. GetOptions() will catch the
1129 die(), issue the error message, and record that an error result must
1130 be returned upon completion.
1132 It is also possible for a user-defined subroutine to preliminary
1133 terminate options processing by calling die() with argument
1134 C<"FINISH">. GetOptions will react as if it encountered a double dash
1137 =head2 Options with multiple names
1139 Often it is user friendly to supply alternate mnemonic names for
1140 options. For example C<--height> could be an alternate name for
1141 C<--length>. Alternate names can be included in the option
1142 specification, separated by vertical bar C<|> characters. To implement
1145 GetOptions ('length|height=f' => \$length);
1147 The first name is called the I<primary> name, the other names are
1150 Multiple alternate names are possible.
1152 =head2 Case and abbreviations
1154 Without additional configuration, GetOptions() will ignore the case of
1155 option names, and allow the options to be abbreviated to uniqueness.
1157 GetOptions ('length|height=f' => \$length, "head" => \$head);
1159 This call will allow C<--l> and C<--L> for the length option, but
1160 requires a least C<--hea> and C<--hei> for the head and height options.
1162 =head2 Summary of Option Specifications
1164 Each option specifier consists of two parts: the name specification
1165 and the argument specification.
1167 The name specification contains the name of the option, optionally
1168 followed by a list of alternative names separated by vertical bar
1171 length option name is "length"
1172 length|size|l name is "length", aliases are "size" and "l"
1174 The argument specification is optional. If omitted, the option is
1175 considered boolean, a value of 1 will be assigned when the option is
1176 used on the command line.
1178 The argument specification can be
1184 The option does not take an argument and may be negated, i.e. prefixed
1185 by "no". E.g. C<"foo!"> will allow C<--foo> (a value of 1 will be
1186 assigned) and C<--nofoo> (a value of 0 will be assigned). If the
1187 option has aliases, this applies to the aliases as well.
1189 Using negation on a single letter option when bundling is in effect is
1190 pointless and will result in a warning.
1194 The option does not take an argument and will be incremented by 1
1195 every time it appears on the command line. E.g. C<"more+">, when used
1196 with C<--more --more --more>, will increment the value three times,
1197 resulting in a value of 3 (provided it was 0 or undefined at first).
1199 The C<+> specifier is ignored if the option destination is not a scalar.
1201 =item = I<type> [ I<desttype> ]
1203 The option requires an argument of the given type. Supported types
1210 String. An arbitrary sequence of characters. It is valid for the
1211 argument to start with C<-> or C<-->.
1215 Integer. An optional leading plus or minus sign, followed by a
1220 Real number. For example C<3.14>, C<-6.23E24> and so on.
1224 The I<desttype> can be C<@> or C<%> to specify that the option is
1225 list or a hash valued. This is only needed when the destination for
1226 the option value is not otherwise specified. It should be omitted when
1229 =item : I<type> [ I<desttype> ]
1231 Like C<=>, but designates the argument as optional.
1232 If omitted, an empty string will be assigned to string values options,
1233 and the value zero to numeric options.
1235 Note that if a string argument starts with C<-> or C<-->, it will be
1236 considered an option on itself.
1240 =head1 Advanced Possibilities
1242 =head2 Documentation and help texts
1244 Getopt::Long encourages the use of Pod::Usage to produce help
1245 messages. For example:
1253 GetOptions('help|?' => \$help, man => \$man) or pod2usage(2);
1254 pod2usage(1) if $help;
1255 pod2usage(-exitstatus => 0, -verbose => 2) if $man;
1261 sample - Using GetOpt::Long and Pod::Usage
1265 sample [options] [file ...]
1268 -help brief help message
1269 -man full documentation
1277 Print a brief help message and exits.
1281 Prints the manual page and exits.
1287 B<This program> will read the given input file(s) and do someting
1288 useful with the contents thereof.
1292 See L<Pod::Usage> for details.
1294 =head2 Storing options in a hash
1296 Sometimes, for example when there are a lot of options, having a
1297 separate variable for each of them can be cumbersome. GetOptions()
1298 supports, as an alternative mechanism, storing options in a hash.
1300 To obtain this, a reference to a hash must be passed I<as the first
1301 argument> to GetOptions(). For each option that is specified on the
1302 command line, the option value will be stored in the hash with the
1303 option name as key. Options that are not actually used on the command
1304 line will not be put in the hash, on other words,
1305 C<exists($h{option})> (or defined()) can be used to test if an option
1306 was used. The drawback is that warnings will be issued if the program
1307 runs under C<use strict> and uses C<$h{option}> without testing with
1308 exists() or defined() first.
1311 GetOptions (\%h, 'length=i'); # will store in $h{length}
1313 For options that take list or hash values, it is necessary to indicate
1314 this by appending an C<@> or C<%> sign after the type:
1316 GetOptions (\%h, 'colours=s@'); # will push to @{$h{colours}}
1318 To make things more complicated, the hash may contain references to
1319 the actual destinations, for example:
1322 my %h = ('length' => \$len);
1323 GetOptions (\%h, 'length=i'); # will store in $len
1325 This example is fully equivalent with:
1328 GetOptions ('length=i' => \$len); # will store in $len
1330 Any mixture is possible. For example, the most frequently used options
1331 could be stored in variables while all other options get stored in the
1334 my $verbose = 0; # frequently referred
1335 my $debug = 0; # frequently referred
1336 my %h = ('verbose' => \$verbose, 'debug' => \$debug);
1337 GetOptions (\%h, 'verbose', 'debug', 'filter', 'size=i');
1338 if ( $verbose ) { ... }
1339 if ( exists $h{filter} ) { ... option 'filter' was specified ... }
1343 With bundling it is possible to set several single-character options
1344 at once. For example if C<a>, C<v> and C<x> are all valid options,
1348 would set all three.
1350 Getopt::Long supports two levels of bundling. To enable bundling, a
1351 call to Getopt::Long::Configure is required.
1353 The first level of bundling can be enabled with:
1355 Getopt::Long::Configure ("bundling");
1357 Configured this way, single-character options can be bundled but long
1358 options B<must> always start with a double dash C<--> to avoid
1359 abiguity. For example, when C<vax>, C<a>, C<v> and C<x> are all valid
1364 would set C<a>, C<v> and C<x>, but
1370 The second level of bundling lifts this restriction. It can be enabled
1373 Getopt::Long::Configure ("bundling_override");
1375 Now, C<-vax> would set the option C<vax>.
1377 When any level of bundling is enabled, option values may be inserted
1378 in the bundle. For example:
1386 When configured for bundling, single-character options are matched
1387 case sensitive while long options are matched case insensitive. To
1388 have the single-character options matched case insensitive as well,
1391 Getopt::Long::Configure ("bundling", "ignorecase_always");
1393 It goes without saying that bundling can be quite confusing.
1395 =head2 The lonesome dash
1397 Some applications require the option C<-> (that's a lone dash). This
1398 can be achieved by adding an option specification with an empty name:
1400 GetOptions ('' => \$stdio);
1402 A lone dash on the command line will now be legal, and set options
1405 =head2 Argument call-back
1407 A special option 'name' C<<>> can be used to designate a subroutine
1408 to handle non-option arguments. When GetOptions() encounters an
1409 argument that does not look like an option, it will immediately call this
1410 subroutine and passes it the argument as a parameter.
1416 GetOptions ('width=i' => \$width, '<>' => \&process);
1418 When applied to the following command line:
1420 arg1 --width=72 arg2 --width=60 arg3
1423 C<process("arg1")> while C<$width> is C<80>,
1424 C<process("arg2")> while C<$width> is C<72>, and
1425 C<process("arg3")> while C<$width> is C<60>.
1427 This feature requires configuration option B<permute>, see section
1428 L<Configuring Getopt::Long>.
1431 =head1 Configuring Getopt::Long
1433 Getopt::Long can be configured by calling subroutine
1434 Getopt::Long::Configure(). This subroutine takes a list of quoted
1435 strings, each specifying a configuration option to be set, e.g.
1436 C<ignore_case>, or reset, e.g. C<no_ignore_case>. Case does not
1437 matter. Multiple calls to Configure() are possible.
1439 The following options are available:
1445 This option causes all configuration options to be reset to their
1450 Allow option names to be abbreviated to uniqueness.
1451 Default is set unless environment variable
1452 POSIXLY_CORRECT has been set, in which case C<auto_abbrev> is reset.
1456 Allow C<+> to start options.
1457 Default is set unless environment variable
1458 POSIXLY_CORRECT has been set, in which case C<getopt_compat> is reset.
1462 Whether command line arguments are allowed to be mixed with options.
1463 Default is set unless environment variable
1464 POSIXLY_CORRECT has been set, in which case C<require_order> is reset.
1466 See also C<permute>, which is the opposite of C<require_order>.
1470 Whether command line arguments are allowed to be mixed with options.
1471 Default is set unless environment variable
1472 POSIXLY_CORRECT has been set, in which case C<permute> is reset.
1473 Note that C<permute> is the opposite of C<require_order>.
1475 If C<permute> is set, this means that
1477 --foo arg1 --bar arg2 arg3
1481 --foo --bar arg1 arg2 arg3
1483 If an argument call-back routine is specified, C<@ARGV> will always be
1484 empty upon succesful return of GetOptions() since all options have been
1485 processed. The only exception is when C<--> is used:
1487 --foo arg1 --bar arg2 -- arg3
1489 will call the call-back routine for arg1 and arg2, and terminate
1490 GetOptions() leaving C<"arg2"> in C<@ARGV>.
1492 If C<require_order> is set, options processing
1493 terminates when the first non-option is encountered.
1495 --foo arg1 --bar arg2 arg3
1499 --foo -- arg1 --bar arg2 arg3
1501 =item bundling (default: reset)
1503 Setting this option will allow single-character options to be bundled.
1504 To distinguish bundles from long option names, long options I<must> be
1505 introduced with C<--> and single-character options (and bundles) with
1508 Note: resetting C<bundling> also resets C<bundling_override>.
1510 =item bundling_override (default: reset)
1512 If C<bundling_override> is set, bundling is enabled as with
1513 C<bundling> but now long option names override option bundles.
1515 Note: resetting C<bundling_override> also resets C<bundling>.
1517 B<Note:> Using option bundling can easily lead to unexpected results,
1518 especially when mixing long options and bundles. Caveat emptor.
1520 =item ignore_case (default: set)
1522 If set, case is ignored when matching long option names. Single
1523 character options will be treated case-sensitive.
1525 Note: resetting C<ignore_case> also resets C<ignore_case_always>.
1527 =item ignore_case_always (default: reset)
1529 When bundling is in effect, case is ignored on single-character
1532 Note: resetting C<ignore_case_always> also resets C<ignore_case>.
1534 =item pass_through (default: reset)
1536 Options that are unknown, ambiguous or supplied with an invalid option
1537 value are passed through in C<@ARGV> instead of being flagged as
1538 errors. This makes it possible to write wrapper scripts that process
1539 only part of the user supplied command line arguments, and pass the
1540 remaining options to some other program.
1542 This can be very confusing, especially when C<permute> is also set.
1546 The string that starts options. If a constant string is not
1547 sufficient, see C<prefix_pattern>.
1549 =item prefix_pattern
1551 A Perl pattern that identifies the strings that introduce options.
1552 Default is C<(--|-|\+)> unless environment variable
1553 POSIXLY_CORRECT has been set, in which case it is C<(--|-)>.
1555 =item debug (default: reset)
1557 Enable copious debugging output.
1561 =head1 Return values and Errors
1563 Configuration errors and errors in the option definitions are
1564 signalled using die() and will terminate the calling program unless
1565 the call to Getopt::Long::GetOptions() was embedded in C<eval { ...
1566 }>, or die() was trapped using C<$SIG{__DIE__}>.
1568 A return value of 1 (true) indicates success.
1570 A return status of 0 (false) indicates that the function detected one
1571 or more errors during option parsing. These errors are signalled using
1572 warn() and can be trapped with C<$SIG{__WARN__}>.
1574 Errors that can't happen are signalled using Carp::croak().
1578 The earliest development of C<newgetopt.pl> started in 1990, with Perl
1579 version 4. As a result, its development, and the development of
1580 Getopt::Long, has gone through several stages. Since backward
1581 compatibility has always been extremely important, the current version
1582 of Getopt::Long still supports a lot of constructs that nowadays are
1583 no longer necessary or otherwise unwanted. This section describes
1584 briefly some of these 'features'.
1586 =head2 Default destinations
1588 When no destination is specified for an option, GetOptions will store
1589 the resultant value in a global variable named C<opt_>I<XXX>, where
1590 I<XXX> is the primary name of this option. When a progam executes
1591 under C<use strict> (recommended), these variables must be
1592 pre-declared with our() or C<use vars>.
1594 our $opt_length = 0;
1595 GetOptions ('length=i'); # will store in $opt_length
1597 To yield a usable Perl variable, characters that are not part of the
1598 syntax for variables are translated to underscores. For example,
1599 C<--fpp-struct-return> will set the variable
1600 C<$opt_fpp_struct_return>. Note that this variable resides in the
1601 namespace of the calling program, not necessarily C<main>. For
1604 GetOptions ("size=i", "sizes=i@");
1606 with command line "-size 10 -sizes 24 -sizes 48" will perform the
1607 equivalent of the assignments
1610 @opt_sizes = (24, 48);
1612 =head2 Alternative option starters
1614 A string of alternative option starter characters may be passed as the
1615 first argument (or the first argument after a leading hash reference
1619 GetOptions ('/', 'length=i' => $len);
1621 Now the command line may look like:
1625 Note that to terminate options processing still requires a double dash
1628 GetOptions() will not interpret a leading C<"<>"> as option starters
1629 if the next argument is a reference. To force C<"<"> and C<">"> as
1630 option starters, use C<"><">. Confusing? Well, B<using a starter
1631 argument is strongly deprecated> anyway.
1633 =head2 Configuration variables
1635 Previous versions of Getopt::Long used variables for the purpose of
1636 configuring. Although manipulating these variables still work, it
1637 is strongly encouraged to use the new C<config> routine. Besides, it
1642 Johan Vromans E<lt>jvromans@squirrel.nlE<gt>
1644 =head1 COPYRIGHT AND DISCLAIMER
1646 This program is Copyright 2000,1990 by Johan Vromans.
1647 This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
1648 modify it under the terms of the Perl Artistic License or the
1649 GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software
1650 Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any
1653 This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
1654 but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
1655 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
1656 GNU General Public License for more details.
1658 If you do not have a copy of the GNU General Public License write to
1659 the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge,
1666 # eval: (load-file "pod.el")