xref: /dragonfly/lib/libc/stdlib/getopt_long.3 (revision 9348a738)
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2.\"	$NetBSD: getopt_long.3,v 1.14 2003/08/07 16:43:40 agc Exp $
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31.\"     @(#)getopt.3	8.5 (Berkeley) 4/27/95
32.\" $FreeBSD: src/lib/libc/stdlib/getopt_long.3,v 1.13 2005/01/20 09:17:04 ru Exp $
33.\" $DragonFly: src/lib/libc/stdlib/getopt_long.3,v 1.7 2008/11/23 21:55:52 swildner Exp $
34.\"
35.Dd April 1, 2000
36.Dt GETOPT_LONG 3
37.Os
38.Sh NAME
39.Nm getopt_long ,
40.Nm getopt_long_only
41.Nd get long options from command line argument list
42.Sh LIBRARY
43.Lb libc
44.Sh SYNOPSIS
45.In getopt.h
46.Vt extern char *optarg ;
47.Vt extern int optind ;
48.Vt extern int optopt ;
49.Vt extern int opterr ;
50.Vt extern int optreset ;
51.Ft int
52.Fo getopt_long
53.Fa "int argc" "char * const *argv" "const char *optstring"
54.Fa "const struct option *longopts" "int *longindex"
55.Fc
56.Ft int
57.Fo getopt_long_only
58.Fa "int argc" "char * const *argv" "const char *optstring"
59.Fa "const struct option *longopts" "int *longindex"
60.Fc
61.Sh DESCRIPTION
62The
63.Fn getopt_long
64function is similar to
65.Xr getopt 3
66but it accepts options in two forms: words and characters.
67The
68.Fn getopt_long
69function provides a superset of the functionality of
70.Xr getopt 3 .
71The
72.Fn getopt_long
73function
74can be used in two ways.
75In the first way, every long option understood
76by the program has a corresponding short option, and the option
77structure is only used to translate from long options to short
78options.
79When used in this fashion,
80.Fn getopt_long
81behaves identically to
82.Xr getopt 3 .
83This is a good way to add long option processing to an existing program
84with the minimum of rewriting.
85.Pp
86In the second mechanism, a long option sets a flag in the
87.Vt option
88structure passed, or will store a pointer to the command line argument
89in the
90.Vt option
91structure passed to it for options that take arguments.
92Additionally,
93the long option's argument may be specified as a single argument with
94an equal sign, e.g.,
95.Pp
96.Dl "myprogram --myoption=somevalue"
97.Pp
98When a long option is processed, the call to
99.Fn getopt_long
100will return 0.
101For this reason, long option processing without
102shortcuts is not backwards compatible with
103.Xr getopt 3 .
104.Pp
105It is possible to combine these methods, providing for long options
106processing with short option equivalents for some options.
107Less
108frequently used options would be processed as long options only.
109.Pp
110The
111.Fn getopt_long
112call requires a structure to be initialized describing the long
113options.
114The structure is:
115.Bd -literal -offset indent
116struct option {
117	char *name;
118	int has_arg;
119	int *flag;
120	int val;
121};
122.Ed
123.Pp
124The
125.Va name
126field should contain the option name without the leading double dash.
127.Pp
128The
129.Va has_arg
130field should be one of:
131.Pp
132.Bl -tag -width ".Dv optional_argument" -offset indent -compact
133.It Dv no_argument
134no argument to the option is expect
135.It Dv required_argument
136an argument to the option is required
137.It Dv optional_argument
138an argument to the option may be presented.
139.El
140.Pp
141If
142.Va flag
143is not
144.Dv NULL ,
145then the integer pointed to by it will be set to the
146value in the
147.Va val
148field.
149If the
150.Va flag
151field is
152.Dv NULL ,
153then the
154.Va val
155field will be returned.
156Setting
157.Va flag
158to
159.Dv NULL
160and setting
161.Va val
162to the corresponding short option will make this function act just
163like
164.Xr getopt 3 .
165.Pp
166If the
167.Fa longindex
168field is not
169.Dv NULL ,
170then the integer pointed to by it will be set to the index of the long
171option relative to
172.Fa longopts .
173.Pp
174The last element of the
175.Fa longopts
176array has to be filled with zeroes.
177.Pp
178The
179.Fn getopt_long_only
180function behaves identically to
181.Fn getopt_long
182with the exception that long options may start with
183.Ql -
184in addition to
185.Ql -- .
186If an option starting with
187.Ql -
188does not match a long option but does match a single-character option,
189the single-character option is returned.
190.Sh RETURN VALUES
191If the
192.Fa flag
193field in
194.Vt "struct option"
195is
196.Dv NULL ,
197.Fn getopt_long
198and
199.Fn getopt_long_only
200return the value specified in the
201.Fa val
202field, which is usually just the corresponding short option.
203If
204.Fa flag
205is not
206.Dv NULL ,
207these functions return 0 and store
208.Fa val
209in the location pointed to by
210.Fa flag .
211These functions return
212.Ql \&:
213if there was a missing option argument,
214.Ql \&?
215if the user specified an unknown or ambiguous option, and
216\-1 when the argument list has been exhausted.
217.Sh ENVIRONMENT
218.Bl -tag -width ".Ev POSIXLY_CORRECT"
219.It Ev POSIXLY_CORRECT
220If set, option processing stops when the first non-option is found and
221a leading
222.Ql -
223or
224.Ql +
225in the
226.Fa optstring
227is ignored.
228.El
229.Sh EXAMPLES
230.Bd -literal -compact
231int bflag, ch, fd;
232int daggerset;
233
234/* options descriptor */
235static struct option longopts[] = {
236	{ "buffy",	no_argument,		NULL, 		'b' },
237	{ "fluoride",	required_argument,	NULL, 	       	'f' },
238	{ "daggerset",	no_argument,		\*[Am]daggerset,	1 },
239	{ NULL,		0,			NULL, 		0 }
240};
241
242bflag = 0;
243while ((ch = getopt_long(argc, argv, "bf:", longopts, NULL)) != -1)
244	switch (ch) {
245	case 'b':
246		bflag = 1;
247		break;
248	case 'f':
249		if ((fd = open(optarg, O_RDONLY, 0)) == -1)
250			err(1, "unable to open %s", optarg);
251		break;
252	case 0:
253		if (daggerset) {
254			fprintf(stderr,"Buffy will use her dagger to "
255			    "apply fluoride to dracula's teeth\en");
256		}
257		break;
258	default:
259		usage();
260}
261argc -= optind;
262argv += optind;
263.Ed
264.Sh IMPLEMENTATION DIFFERENCES
265This section describes differences to the
266.Tn GNU
267implementation
268found in glibc-2.1.3:
269.Bl -bullet
270.\" .It
271.\" Handling of
272.\" .Ql -
273.\" as first char of option string in presence of
274.\" environment variable
275.\" .Ev POSIXLY_CORRECT :
276.\" .Bl -tag -width ".Bx"
277.\" .It Tn GNU
278.\" ignores
279.\" .Ev POSIXLY_CORRECT
280.\" and returns non-options as
281.\" arguments to option '\e1'.
282.\" .It Bx
283.\" honors
284.\" .Ev POSIXLY_CORRECT
285.\" and stops at the first non-option.
286.\" .El
287.\" .It
288.\" Handling of
289.\" .Ql -
290.\" within the option string (not the first character):
291.\" .Bl -tag -width ".Bx"
292.\" .It Tn GNU
293.\" treats a
294.\" .Ql -
295.\" on the command line as a non-argument.
296.\" .It Bx
297.\" a
298.\" .Ql -
299.\" within the option string matches a
300.\" .Ql -
301.\" (single dash) on the command line.
302.\" This functionality is provided for backward compatibility with
303.\" programs, such as
304.\" .Xr su 1 ,
305.\" that use
306.\" .Ql -
307.\" as an option flag.
308.\" This practice is wrong, and should not be used in any current development.
309.\" .El
310.\" .It
311.\" Handling of
312.\" .Ql ::
313.\" in options string in presence of
314.\" .Ev POSIXLY_CORRECT :
315.\" .Bl -tag -width ".Bx"
316.\" .It Both
317.\" .Tn GNU
318.\" and
319.\" .Bx
320.\" ignore
321.\" .Ev POSIXLY_CORRECT
322.\" here and take
323.\" .Ql ::
324.\" to
325.\" mean the preceding option takes an optional argument.
326.\" .El
327.\" .It
328.\" Return value in case of missing argument if first character
329.\" (after
330.\" .Ql +
331.\" or
332.\" .Ql - )
333.\" in option string is not
334.\" .Ql \&: :
335.\" .Bl -tag -width ".Bx"
336.\" .It Tn GNU
337.\" returns
338.\" .Ql \&?
339.\" .It Bx
340.\" returns
341.\" .Ql \&:
342.\" (since
343.\" .Bx Ns 's
344.\" .Fn getopt
345.\" does).
346.\" .El
347.\" .It
348.\" Handling of
349.\" .Ql --a
350.\" in getopt:
351.\" .Bl -tag -width ".Bx"
352.\" .It Tn GNU
353.\" parses this as option
354.\" .Ql - ,
355.\" option
356.\" .Ql a .
357.\" .It Bx
358.\" parses this as
359.\" .Ql -- ,
360.\" and returns \-1 (ignoring the
361.\" .Ql a ) .
362.\" (Because the original
363.\" .Fn getopt
364.\" does.)
365.\" .El
366.It
367Setting of
368.Va optopt
369for long options with
370.Va flag
371!=
372.Dv NULL :
373.Bl -tag -width ".Bx"
374.It Tn GNU
375sets
376.Va optopt
377to
378.Va val .
379.It Bx
380sets
381.Va optopt
382to 0 (since
383.Va val
384would never be returned).
385.El
386.\" .It
387.\" Handling of
388.\" .Ql -W
389.\" with
390.\" .Ql W;
391.\" in option string in
392.\" .Fn getopt
393.\" (not
394.\" .Fn getopt_long ) :
395.\" .Bl -tag -width ".Bx"
396.\" .It Tn GNU
397.\" causes a segfault.
398.\" .It Bx
399.\" no special handling is done;
400.\" .Ql W;
401.\" is interpreted as two separate options, neither of which take an argument.
402.\" .El
403.It
404Setting of
405.Va optarg
406for long options without an argument that are
407invoked via
408.Ql -W
409.Ql ( W;
410in option string):
411.Bl -tag -width ".Bx"
412.It Tn GNU
413sets
414.Va optarg
415to the option name (the argument of
416.Ql -W ) .
417.It Bx
418sets
419.Va optarg
420to
421.Dv NULL
422(the argument of the long option).
423.El
424.It
425Handling of
426.Ql -W
427with an argument that is not (a prefix to) a known
428long option
429.Ql ( W;
430in option string):
431.Bl -tag -width ".Bx"
432.It Tn GNU
433returns
434.Ql -W
435with
436.Va optarg
437set to the unknown option.
438.It Bx
439treats this as an error (unknown option) and returns
440.Ql \&?
441with
442.Va optopt
443set to 0 and
444.Va optarg
445set to
446.Dv NULL
447(as
448.Tn GNU Ns 's
449man page documents).
450.El
451.\" .It
452.\" The error messages are different.
453.It
454.Bx
455does not permute the argument vector at the same points in
456the calling sequence as
457.Tn GNU
458does.
459The aspects normally used by
460the caller (ordering after \-1 is returned, value of
461.Va optind
462relative
463to current positions) are the same, though.
464(We do fewer variable swaps.)
465.El
466.Sh SEE ALSO
467.Xr getopt 3
468.Sh HISTORY
469The
470.Fn getopt_long
471and
472.Fn getopt_long_only
473functions first appeared in
474.Tn GNU
475libiberty.
476The first
477.Bx
478implementation of
479.Fn getopt_long
480appeared in
481.Nx 1.5 ,
482the first
483.Bx
484implementation of
485.Fn getopt_long_only
486in
487.Ox 3.3 .
488.Fx
489first included
490.Fn getopt_long
491in
492.Fx 5.0 ,
493.Fn getopt_long_only
494in
495.Fx 5.2 .
496.Sh BUGS
497The
498.Fa argv
499argument is not really
500.Vt const
501as its elements may be permuted (unless
502.Ev POSIXLY_CORRECT
503is set).
504.Pp
505The implementation can completely replace
506.Xr getopt 3 ,
507but right now we are using separate code.
508