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<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /><title>Templatized C++ Command Line Parser Manual</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="style.css" type="text/css" /><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.71.1" /></head><body><div class="book" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h1 class="title"><a id="id400620"></a>Templatized C++ Command Line Parser Manual</h1></div><div><div class="author"><h3 class="author"><span class="firstname">Michael</span> <span class="othername">E</span> <span class="surname">Smoot</span></h3></div></div><div><p class="copyright">Copyright © 2003,2004,2005,2006,2009,2011 Michael E. Smoot</p></div></div><hr /></div><div class="toc"><p><b>Table of Contents</b></p><dl><dt><span class="chapter"><a href="#BASIC_USAGE">1. Basic Usage</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#OVERVIEW">Overview</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#EXAMPLE">Example</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#LIBRARY_PROPERTIES">Library Properties</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#ARG_PROPERTIES">Common Argument Properties</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#COMPILING">Compiling</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="chapter"><a href="#FUNDAMENTAL_CLASSES">2. Fundamental Classes</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#COMMAND_LINE"><code class="classname">CmdLine</code></a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#SWITCH_ARG"><code class="classname">SwitchArg</code></a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#VALUE_ARG"><code class="classname">ValueArg</code></a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#MULTI_ARG"><code class="classname">MultiArg</code></a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#MULTI_SWITCH_ARG"><code class="classname">MultiSwitchArg</code></a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#UNLABELED_VALUE_ARG"><code class="classname">UnlabeledValueArg</code></a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#UNLABELED_MULTI_ARG"><code class="classname">UnlabeledMultiArg</code></a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="chapter"><a href="#COMPLICATIONS">3. Complications</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#COMBINE_SWITCHES">I want to combine multiple switches into one argument...</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#XOR">I want one argument or the other, but not both...</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#NO_FLAG">I have more arguments than single flags make sense for...</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#CONSTRAINT">I want to constrain the values allowed for a particular
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argument...</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#ARG_ADD_CMDLINE">I want the Args to add themselves to the CmdLine...</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#CHANGE_OUTPUT">I want different output than what is provided...</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#NO_HELP_VERSION">I don't want the --help and --version switches to be created automatically...</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#IGNORE_ARGS">I want to ignore certain arguments...</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#READING_HEX_INTEGERS">I want to read hex integers as arguments...</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#USING_ARGTRAITS">I want to use different types...</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#CHANGING_STARTSTRINGS">I want to use Windows-style flags like "/x" and "/y"...</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="chapter"><a href="#NOTES">4. Notes</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#DESCRIPTION_EXCEPTIONS">Type Descriptions</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#VISITORS">Visitors</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#MORE_INFO">More Information</a></span></dt></dl></dd></dl></div><div class="chapter" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title"><a id="BASIC_USAGE"></a>Chapter 1. Basic Usage</h2></div></div></div><div class="toc"><p><b>Table of Contents</b></p><dl><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#OVERVIEW">Overview</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#EXAMPLE">Example</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#LIBRARY_PROPERTIES">Library Properties</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#ARG_PROPERTIES">Common Argument Properties</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#COMPILING">Compiling</a></span></dt></dl></div><div class="sect1" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="OVERVIEW"></a>Overview</h2></div></div></div><p>
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<span class="emphasis"><em>TCLAP</em></span> has a few key classes to be aware of.
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The first is the
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<code class="classname">CmdLine</code> (command line) class. This class parses
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the command line passed to it according to the arguments that it
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contains. Arguments are separate objects that are added to the
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<code class="classname">CmdLine</code> object one at a time. The six
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argument classes are: <code class="classname">ValueArg</code>,
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<code class="classname">UnlabeledValueArg</code>,
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<code class="classname">SwitchArg</code>, <code class="classname">MultiSwitchArg</code>,
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<code class="classname">MultiArg</code> and
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<code class="classname">UnlabeledMultiArg</code>.
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These classes are templatized, which means they can be defined to parse
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a value of any <a href="#USING_ARGTRAITS" title="I want to use different types..."> type</a>. Once you add the
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arguments to the <code class="classname">CmdLine</code> object, it parses the
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command line
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and assigns the data it finds to the specific argument objects it
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contains. Your program accesses the values parsed by
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calls to the <code class="methodname">getValue()</code> methods of the
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argument objects.
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</p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="EXAMPLE"></a>Example</h2></div></div></div><p>
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Here is a simple <a href="test1.cpp" target="_top"> example</a> ...
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</p><pre class="programlisting">
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#include <string>
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#include <iostream>
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#include <algorithm>
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#include <tclap/CmdLine.h>
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int main(int argc, char** argv)
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{
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// Wrap everything in a try block. Do this every time,
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// because exceptions will be thrown for problems.
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try {
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// Define the command line object, and insert a message
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// that describes the program. The "Command description message"
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// is printed last in the help text. The second argument is the
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// delimiter (usually space) and the last one is the version number.
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// The CmdLine object parses the argv array based on the Arg objects
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// that it contains.
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TCLAP::CmdLine cmd("Command description message", ' ', "0.9");
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// Define a value argument and add it to the command line.
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// A value arg defines a flag and a type of value that it expects,
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// such as "-n Bishop".
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TCLAP::ValueArg<std::string> nameArg("n","name","Name to print",true,"homer","string");
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// Add the argument nameArg to the CmdLine object. The CmdLine object
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// uses this Arg to parse the command line.
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cmd.add( nameArg );
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// Define a switch and add it to the command line.
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// A switch arg is a boolean argument and only defines a flag that
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// indicates true or false. In this example the SwitchArg adds itself
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// to the CmdLine object as part of the constructor. This eliminates
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// the need to call the cmd.add() method. All args have support in
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// their constructors to add themselves directly to the CmdLine object.
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// It doesn't matter which idiom you choose, they accomplish the same thing.
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TCLAP::SwitchArg reverseSwitch("r","reverse","Print name backwards", cmd, false);
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// Parse the argv array.
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cmd.parse( argc, argv );
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// Get the value parsed by each arg.
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std::string name = nameArg.getValue();
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bool reverseName = reverseSwitch.getValue();
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// Do what you intend.
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if ( reverseName )
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{
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std::reverse(name.begin(),name.end());
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std::cout << "My name (spelled backwards) is: " << name << std::endl;
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}
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else
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std::cout << "My name is: " << name << std::endl;
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} catch (TCLAP::ArgException &e) // catch any exceptions
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{ std::cerr << "error: " << e.error() << " for arg " << e.argId() << std::endl; }
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}
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</pre><p>
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The output should look like:
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</p><pre class="programlisting">
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% test1 -n mike
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My name is: mike
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% test1 -n mike -r
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My name (spelled backwards) is: ekim
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% test1 -r -n mike
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My name (spelled backwards) is: ekim
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% test1 -r
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PARSE ERROR:
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One or more required arguments missing!
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Brief USAGE:
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test1 [-r] -n <string> [--] [-v] [-h]
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For complete USAGE and HELP type:
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test1 --help
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% test1 --help
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USAGE:
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test1 [-r] -n <string> [--] [-v] [-h]
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Where:
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-r, --reverse
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Print name backwards
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-n <string> --name <string>
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(required) (value required) Name to print
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--, --ignore_rest
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Ignores the rest of the labeled arguments following this flag.
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-v, --version
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Displays version information and exits.
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-h, --help
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Displays usage information and exits.
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Command description message
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</pre><p>
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</p><div class="sect2" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="LIBRARY_PROPERTIES"></a>Library Properties</h3></div></div></div><p>
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This example shows a number of different properties of the
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library...
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</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul type="disc"><li>Arguments can appear in any order (...mostly,
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<a href="#COMPLICATIONS" title="Chapter 3. Complications"> more</a> on this later).</li><li>The <em class="parameter"><code>help</code></em>, <em class="parameter"><code>version</code></em>
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and <em class="parameter"><code>--</code></em><code class="classname">SwitchArg</code>s
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are specified automatically. Using either the <em class="parameter"><code>-h</code></em> or
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<em class="parameter"><code>--help</code></em> flag will cause the USAGE message to be displayed,
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<em class="parameter"><code>-v</code></em> or <em class="parameter"><code>--version</code></em> will cause
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any version information to
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be displayed, and <em class="parameter"><code>--</code></em> or
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<em class="parameter"><code>--ignore_rest</code></em> will cause the
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remaining labeled arguments to be ignored. These switches are
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included by default on every command line. You can <a href="#">disable this functionality</a> if desired (although we don't recommend it).
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How we generate the behavior behind these flags is described
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<a href="#VISITORS" title="Visitors"> later</a>.
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</li><li>If there is an error parsing the command line (e.g. a required
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argument isn't provided), the program exits and displays a brief
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USAGE and an error message.</li><li>The program name is assumed to always be argv[0], so it isn't
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specified directly.</li><li>A value delimiter character can be specified. This means that if you
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prefer arguments of the style <em class="parameter"><code>-s=asdf</code></em> instead of
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<em class="parameter"><code>-s asdf</code></em>, you can do so.</li><li><span class="emphasis"><em>Always wrap everything in a try block that catches
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ArgExceptions!</em></span> Any problems found in constructing the
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<code class="classname">CmdLine</code>, constructing the <code class="classname">Arg</code>s,
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or parsing the command line will throw an
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<code class="classname">ArgException</code>.</li></ul></div><p>
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</p></div><div class="sect2" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="ARG_PROPERTIES"></a>Common Argument Properties</h3></div></div></div><p>
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Arguments, whatever their type, have a few common properties.
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These properties are set in the constructors of the arguments.
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</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul type="disc"><li>First is the flag or the character preceded by a dash(-) that
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signals the beginning of the argument on the command line.</li><li>Arguments also have names, which can also be used
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as an alternative flag on the command line, this time preceded by two dashes
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(--) [like the familiar <code class="function">getopt_long()</code>].</li><li>Next is the description of the argument. This is a short
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description of the argument displayed in the help/usage message
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when needed.</li><li>The following parameters in the constructors vary depending on
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the type of argument. Some possible values include:
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<div class="itemizedlist"><ul type="circle"><li>A boolean value indicating whether the Arg is required or not. </li><li>A default value.</li><li>A <a href="#DESCRIPTION_EXCEPTIONS" title="Type Descriptions">description</a> of the type of value expected.</li><li>A <a href="#CONSTRAINT" title="I want to constrain the values allowed for a particular argument...">constraint</a> on the value expected.</li><li>The CmdLine instance that the Arg should be added to.</li><li>A <a href="#VISITORS" title="Visitors">Visitor</a>.</li></ul></div></li><li>See the <a href="html/index.html" target="_top">API Documentation</a> for more detail.</li></ul></div><p>
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</p></div></div><div class="sect1" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="COMPILING"></a>Compiling</h2></div></div></div><p>
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<span class="emphasis"><em>TCLAP</em></span> is implemented entirely in header files
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which means you only need to include CmdLine.h to use the library.
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</p><pre class="programlisting">
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#include <tclap/CmdLine.h>
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</pre><p>
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You'll need to make sure that your compiler can see the header
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files. If you do the usual "make install" then your compiler should
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see the files by default. Alternatively, you can use the -I
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complier argument to specify the exact location of the libraries.
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</p><pre class="programlisting">
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c++ -o my_program -I /some/place/tclap-1.X/include my_program.cpp
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</pre><p>
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Where /some/place/tclap-1.X is the place you have unpacked the
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distribution.
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</p><p>
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Finally, if you want to include <span class="emphasis"><em>TCLAP</em></span> as part of
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your software
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(which is perfectly OK, even encouraged) then simply copy the
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contents of /some/place/tclap-1.X/include (the tclap directory and
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all of the header files it contains) into your include
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directory. The necessary m4 macros for proper configuration are included
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in the config directory.
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</p><p>
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<span class="emphasis"><em>TCLAP</em></span> was developed on Linux and MacOSX systems.
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It is also known
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to work on Windows, Sun and Alpha platforms. We've made every
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effort to keep the library compliant with the ANSI C++ standard so
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if your compiler meets the standard, then this library should work
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for you. Please let us know if this is not the case!
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</p><div class="sect2" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="WINDOWS_NOTE"></a>Windows Note</h3></div></div></div><p>
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As we understand things, Visual C++ does not have the file
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<code class="filename">config.h</code> which is used to make platform
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specific definitions. In this situation, we assume that you
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have access to <code class="classname">sstream</code>. Our understanding is that
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this should not be a problem for VC++ 7.x. However, if this
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is not the case and you need to use <code class="classname">strstream</code>,
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then simply tell your compiler to define the variable
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<code class="constant">HAVE_STRSTREAM</code> and undefine
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<code class="constant">HAVE_SSTREAM</code> That
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<span class="emphasis"><em>should</em></span> work. We think. Alternatively, just edit
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the files <code class="filename">ValueArg.h</code> and <code class="filename">MultiArg.h</code>.
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</p></div><p>
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</p><div class="sect2" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="RANDOM_NOTE"></a>Random Note</h3></div></div></div><p>
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If your compiler doesn't support the <code class="methodname">using</code> syntax used
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in <code class="classname">UnlabeledValueArg</code> and
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<code class="classname">UnlabeledMultiArg</code> to support two stage name lookup,
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then you have two options. Either comment out the statements if you don't
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need two stage name lookup, or do a bunch of search and replace and use
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the <code class="methodname">this</code> pointer syntax: e.g.
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<code class="methodname">this->_ignoreable</code> instead
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of just <code class="methodname">_ignorable</code> (do this for each variable
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or method referenced by <code class="methodname">using</code>).
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</p></div><p>
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</p></div></div><div class="chapter" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title"><a id="FUNDAMENTAL_CLASSES"></a>Chapter 2. Fundamental Classes</h2></div></div></div><div class="toc"><p><b>Table of Contents</b></p><dl><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#COMMAND_LINE"><code class="classname">CmdLine</code></a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#SWITCH_ARG"><code class="classname">SwitchArg</code></a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#VALUE_ARG"><code class="classname">ValueArg</code></a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#MULTI_ARG"><code class="classname">MultiArg</code></a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#MULTI_SWITCH_ARG"><code class="classname">MultiSwitchArg</code></a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#UNLABELED_VALUE_ARG"><code class="classname">UnlabeledValueArg</code></a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#UNLABELED_MULTI_ARG"><code class="classname">UnlabeledMultiArg</code></a></span></dt></dl></div><div class="sect1" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="COMMAND_LINE"></a><code class="classname">CmdLine</code></h2></div></div></div><p>
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The <code class="classname">CmdLine</code> class contains the arguments that define
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the command line and manages the parsing of the command line. The
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<code class="classname">CmdLine</code> doesn't parse the command line itself it only
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manages the parsing. The actual parsing of individual arguments occurs within
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the arguments themselves. The <code class="classname">CmdLine</code> keeps track of
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of the required arguments, <a href="#XOR" title="I want one argument or the other, but not both...">relationships</a>
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between arguments, and <a href="#CHANGE_OUTPUT" title="I want different output than what is provided...">output</a> generation.
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</p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="SWITCH_ARG"></a><code class="classname">SwitchArg</code></h2></div></div></div><p><code class="classname">SwitchArg</code>s are what the name implies:
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simple, on/off, boolean switches. Use <code class="classname">SwitchArg</code>s
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anytime you want to turn
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some sort of system property on or off. <code class="classname">SwitchArg</code>s
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don't parse a value. They return <code class="constant">TRUE</code> or
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<code class="constant">FALSE</code>, depending on whether the switch has been found
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on the command line and what the default value was defined as.</p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="VALUE_ARG"></a><code class="classname">ValueArg</code></h2></div></div></div><p><code class="classname">ValueArg</code>s are arguments that read a
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value of some type
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from the command line. Any time you need a file name, a number,
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etc. use a <code class="classname">ValueArg</code> or one of its variants.
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All <code class="classname">ValueArg</code>s are
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<a href="#USING_ARGTRAITS" title="I want to use different types..."> templatized</a> and will attempt to parse
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the string its flag matches on the command line as the type it is
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specified as. <code class="classname">ValueArg<int></code>
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will attempt to parse an
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int, <code class="classname">ValueArg<float></code> will attempt to
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parse a float, etc. If <code class="methodname">operator>></code>
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for the specified type doesn't
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recognize the string on the command line as its defined type, then
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an exception will be thrown.
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</p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="MULTI_ARG"></a><code class="classname">MultiArg</code></h2></div></div></div><p>
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A <code class="classname">MultiArg</code> is a <code class="classname">ValueArg</code> that
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can be specified more than once on a command line and instead of returning
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a single value, returns a <code class="classname">vector</code> of values.
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</p><p>
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Imagine a compiler that allows you to specify multiple directories
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to search for libraries...
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</p><pre class="programlisting">
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% fooCompiler -L /dir/num1 -L /dir/num2 file.foo
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</pre><p>
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Exceptions will occur if you try to do this
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with a <code class="classname">ValueArg</code> or a <code class="classname">SwitchArg</code>.
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In situations like this, you will want to use a
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<code class="classname">MultiArg</code>. A
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<code class="classname">MultiArg</code> is essentially a
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<code class="classname">ValueArg</code> that appends any
|
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value that it matches and parses onto a vector of values. When the
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<code class="methodname">getValue()</code> method is called, a vector of
|
||
values, instead of a single value is returned. A
|
||
<code class="classname">MultiArg</code> is declared much like
|
||
a <code class="classname">ValueArg</code>:
|
||
|
||
|
||
</p><pre class="programlisting">
|
||
MultiArg<int> itest("i", "intTest", "multi int test", false,"int" );
|
||
cmd.add( itest );
|
||
</pre><p>
|
||
Note that <code class="classname">MultiArg</code>s can be added to the
|
||
<code class="classname">CmdLine</code> in any order (unlike
|
||
<a href="#UNLABELED_MULTI_ARG" title="UnlabeledMultiArg"> UnlabeledMultiArg</a>).
|
||
</p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="MULTI_SWITCH_ARG"></a><code class="classname">MultiSwitchArg</code></h2></div></div></div><p>
|
||
A <code class="classname">MultiSwitchArg</code> is a <code class="classname">SwitchArg</code>
|
||
that can be specified more than once on a command line.
|
||
This can be useful
|
||
when command lines are constructed automatically from within other applications
|
||
or when a switch occurring
|
||
more than once indicates a value (-V means a little verbose -V -V -V means a lot
|
||
verbose), You can use a <code class="classname">MultiSwitchArg</code>.
|
||
The call
|
||
to <code class="methodname">getValue()</code> for a <code class="classname">MultiSwitchArg</code> returns the number (int) of times
|
||
the switch has been found on the command line in addition to the default value.
|
||
Here is an example using the default initial value of 0:
|
||
</p><pre class="programlisting">
|
||
MultiSwitchArg quiet("q","quiet","Reduce the volume of output");
|
||
cmd.add( quiet );
|
||
</pre><p>
|
||
Alternatively, you can specify your own initial value:
|
||
</p><pre class="programlisting">
|
||
MultiSwitchArg quiet("q","quiet","Reduce the volume of output",5);
|
||
cmd.add( quiet );
|
||
</pre><p>
|
||
</p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="UNLABELED_VALUE_ARG"></a><code class="classname">UnlabeledValueArg</code></h2></div></div></div><p>
|
||
An <code class="classname">UnlabeledValueArg</code> is a <code class="classname">ValueArg</code> that is not identified by a flag on the command line. Instead
|
||
<code class="classname">UnlabeledValueArg</code>s are identified by their position in
|
||
the argv array.
|
||
</p><p>
|
||
To this point all of our arguments have had labels (flags)
|
||
identifying them on the command line, but there are some
|
||
situations where flags are burdensome and not worth the effort. One
|
||
example might be if you want to implement a magical command we'll
|
||
call <span><strong class="command">copy</strong></span>. All <span><strong class="command">copy</strong></span> does is
|
||
copy the file specified
|
||
in the first argument to the file specified in the second argument.
|
||
We can do this using <code class="classname">UnlabeledValueArg</code>s which are pretty
|
||
much just <code class="classname">ValueArg</code>s without the flag specified,
|
||
which tells
|
||
the <code class="classname">CmdLine</code> object to treat them accordingly.
|
||
The code would look like this:
|
||
|
||
</p><pre class="programlisting">
|
||
|
||
UnlabeledValueArg<float> nolabel( "name", "unlabeled test", 3.14,
|
||
"nameString" );
|
||
cmd.add( nolabel );
|
||
|
||
</pre><p>
|
||
|
||
Everything else is handled identically to what is seen above. The
|
||
only difference to be aware of, and this is important: <span class="emphasis"><em>the order
|
||
that UnlabeledValueArgs are added to the <code class="classname">CmdLine</code>
|
||
is the order that they will be parsed!!!!</em></span>
|
||
This is <span class="emphasis"><em>not</em></span> the case for normal
|
||
<code class="classname">SwitchArg</code>s and <code class="classname">ValueArg</code>s.
|
||
What happens internally is the first argument that the
|
||
<code class="classname">CmdLine</code> doesn't recognize is assumed to be
|
||
the first <code class="classname">UnlabeledValueArg</code> and
|
||
parses it as such. Note that you are allowed to intersperse labeled
|
||
args (SwitchArgs and ValueArgs) in between
|
||
<code class="classname">UnlabeledValueArgs</code> (either on the command line
|
||
or in the declaration), but the <code class="classname">UnlabeledValueArgs</code>
|
||
will still be parsed in the order they are added. Just remember that order is
|
||
important for unlabeled arguments.
|
||
</p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="UNLABELED_MULTI_ARG"></a><code class="classname">UnlabeledMultiArg</code></h2></div></div></div><p>
|
||
An <code class="classname">UnlabeledMultiArg</code> is an <code class="classname">UnlabeledValueArg</code> that allows more than one value to be specified. Only one
|
||
<code class="classname">UnlabeledMultiArg</code> can be specified per command line.
|
||
The <code class="classname">UnlabeledMultiArg</code> simply reads the remaining
|
||
values from argv up until -- or the end of the array is reached.
|
||
</p><p>
|
||
Say you want a strange command
|
||
that searches each file specified for a given string (let's call it
|
||
<span><strong class="command">grep</strong></span>), but you don't want to have to type in all of the file
|
||
names or write a script to do it for you. Say,
|
||
|
||
</p><pre class="programlisting">
|
||
% grep pattern *.txt
|
||
</pre><p>
|
||
|
||
First remember that the <span class="emphasis"><em>*</em></span> is handled by the shell and
|
||
expanded accordingly, so what the program <span><strong class="command">grep</strong></span> sees is
|
||
really something like:
|
||
|
||
</p><pre class="programlisting">
|
||
% grep pattern file1.txt file2.txt fileZ.txt
|
||
</pre><p>
|
||
|
||
To handle situations where multiple, unlabeled arguments are needed,
|
||
we provide the <code class="classname">UnlabeledMultiArg</code>.
|
||
<code class="classname">UnlabeledMultiArg</code>s
|
||
are declared much like everything else, but with only a description
|
||
of the arguments. By default, if an <code class="classname">UnlabeledMultiArg</code>
|
||
is specified, then at least one is required to be present or an
|
||
exception will be thrown. The most important thing to remember is,
|
||
that like <code class="classname">UnlabeledValueArg</code>s: order matters!
|
||
In fact, <span class="emphasis"><em>an UnlabeledMultiArg must be the last argument added to the
|
||
CmdLine!</em></span>. Here is what a declaration looks like:
|
||
|
||
</p><pre class="programlisting">
|
||
|
||
//
|
||
// UnlabeledMultiArg must be the LAST argument added!
|
||
//
|
||
UnlabeledMultiArg<string> multi("file names");
|
||
cmd.add( multi );
|
||
cmd.parse(argc, argv);
|
||
|
||
vector<string> fileNames = multi.getValue();
|
||
|
||
</pre><p>
|
||
|
||
You must only ever specify one (1) <code class="classname">UnlabeledMultiArg</code>.
|
||
One <code class="classname">UnlabeledMultiArg</code> will read every unlabeled
|
||
Arg that wasn't already processed by a
|
||
<code class="classname">UnlabeledValueArg</code> into a
|
||
<code class="classname">vector</code> of type T. Any
|
||
<code class="classname">UnlabeledValueArg</code> or other
|
||
<code class="classname">UnlabeledMultiArg</code> specified after the first
|
||
<code class="classname">UnlabeledMultiArg</code> will be ignored, and if
|
||
they are required,
|
||
exceptions will be thrown. When you call the
|
||
<code class="methodname">getValue()</code>
|
||
method of the <code class="classname">UnlabeledValueArg</code> argument,
|
||
a <code class="classname">vector</code>
|
||
will be returned. If you can imagine a situation where there will
|
||
be multiple args of multiple types (stings, ints, floats, etc.)
|
||
then just declare the <code class="classname">UnlabeledMultiArg</code> as type
|
||
<code class="classname">string</code> and parse the different values yourself or use
|
||
several <code class="classname">UnlabeledValueArg</code>s.
|
||
</p></div></div><div class="chapter" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title"><a id="COMPLICATIONS"></a>Chapter 3. Complications</h2></div></div></div><div class="toc"><p><b>Table of Contents</b></p><dl><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#COMBINE_SWITCHES">I want to combine multiple switches into one argument...</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#XOR">I want one argument or the other, but not both...</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#NO_FLAG">I have more arguments than single flags make sense for...</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#CONSTRAINT">I want to constrain the values allowed for a particular
|
||
argument...</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#ARG_ADD_CMDLINE">I want the Args to add themselves to the CmdLine...</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#CHANGE_OUTPUT">I want different output than what is provided...</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#NO_HELP_VERSION">I don't want the --help and --version switches to be created automatically...</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#IGNORE_ARGS">I want to ignore certain arguments...</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#READING_HEX_INTEGERS">I want to read hex integers as arguments...</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#USING_ARGTRAITS">I want to use different types...</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#CHANGING_STARTSTRINGS">I want to use Windows-style flags like "/x" and "/y"...</a></span></dt></dl></div><p>
|
||
Naturally, what we have seen to this point doesn't satisfy all of
|
||
our needs.
|
||
</p><div class="sect1" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="COMBINE_SWITCHES"></a>I want to combine multiple switches into one argument...</h2></div></div></div><p>
|
||
Multiple <code class="classname">SwitchArg</code>s can be combined into a
|
||
single argument on the command line. If you have switches -a, -b and -c
|
||
it is valid to do either:
|
||
|
||
</p><pre class="programlisting">
|
||
% command -a -b -c
|
||
</pre><p>
|
||
|
||
<span class="emphasis"><em>or</em></span>
|
||
|
||
</p><pre class="programlisting">
|
||
% command -abc
|
||
</pre><p>
|
||
|
||
<span class="emphasis"><em>or</em></span>
|
||
|
||
</p><pre class="programlisting">
|
||
% command -ba -c
|
||
</pre><p>
|
||
|
||
This is to make this library more in line with the POSIX and GNU
|
||
standards (as I understand them).
|
||
</p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="XOR"></a>I want one argument or the other, but not both...</h2></div></div></div><p>
|
||
Suppose you have a command that must read input from one of two
|
||
possible locations, either a local file or a URL. The command
|
||
<span class="emphasis"><em>must</em></span> read something, so <span class="emphasis"><em>one</em></span>
|
||
argument is required, but
|
||
not both, yet neither argument is strictly necessary by itself.
|
||
This is called "exclusive or" or "XOR". To accommodate this
|
||
situation, there is now an option to add two or more
|
||
<code class="classname">Arg</code>s to
|
||
a <code class="classname">CmdLine</code> that are exclusively or'd with one another:
|
||
<code class="methodname">xorAdd()</code>. This means that exactly one of the
|
||
<code class="classname">Arg</code>s must be set and no more.
|
||
</p><p>
|
||
<code class="methodname">xorAdd()</code> comes in two flavors, either
|
||
<code class="methodname">xorAdd(Arg& a, Arg& b)</code>
|
||
to add just two <code class="classname">Arg</code>s to be xor'd and
|
||
<code class="methodname">xorAdd( vector<Arg*> xorList )</code>
|
||
to add more than two <code class="classname">Arg</code>s.
|
||
|
||
</p><pre class="programlisting">
|
||
|
||
|
||
ValueArg<string> fileArg("f","file","File name to read",true,"/dev/null", "filename");
|
||
ValueArg<string> urlArg("u","url","URL to load",true, "http://example.com", "URL");
|
||
|
||
cmd.xorAdd( fileArg, urlArg );
|
||
cmd.parse(argc, argv);
|
||
|
||
</pre><p>
|
||
|
||
Once one <code class="classname">Arg</code> in the xor list is matched on the
|
||
<code class="classname">CmdLine</code> then the others in the xor list will be
|
||
marked as set. The question then, is how to determine which of the
|
||
<code class="classname">Arg</code>s has been set? This is accomplished by calling the
|
||
isSet() method for each <code class="classname">Arg</code>. If the
|
||
<code class="classname">Arg</code> has been
|
||
matched on the command line, the <code class="methodname">isSet()</code> will return
|
||
<code class="constant">TRUE</code>, whereas if the <code class="classname">Arg</code>
|
||
has been set as a result of matching the other <code class="classname">Arg</code>
|
||
that was xor'd <code class="methodname">isSet()</code> will
|
||
return <code class="constant">FALSE</code>.
|
||
(Of course, if the <code class="classname">Arg</code> was not xor'd and
|
||
wasn't matched, it will also return <code class="constant">FALSE</code>.)
|
||
|
||
</p><pre class="programlisting">
|
||
|
||
if ( fileArg.isSet() )
|
||
readFile( fileArg.getValue() );
|
||
else if ( urlArg.isSet() )
|
||
readURL( urlArg.getValue() );
|
||
else
|
||
// Should never get here because TCLAP will note that one of the
|
||
// required args above has not been set.
|
||
throw("Very bad things...");
|
||
|
||
</pre><p>
|
||
|
||
It is helpful to note that <code class="classname">Arg</code>s of any type can be xor'd together.
|
||
This means that you can xor a <code class="classname">SwitchArg</code> with a <code class="classname">ValueArg</code>.
|
||
This is helpful in situations where one of several options is necessary and one of the options
|
||
requires additional information.
|
||
|
||
</p><pre class="programlisting">
|
||
|
||
SwitchArg stdinArg("s", "stdin", "Read from STDIN", false);
|
||
ValueArg<string> fileArg("f","file","File name to read",true,"/dev/null", "filename");
|
||
ValueArg<string> urlArg("u","url","URL to load",true, "http://example.com", "URL");
|
||
|
||
vector<Arg*> xorlist;
|
||
xorlist.push_back(&stdinArg);
|
||
xorlist.push_back(&fileArg);
|
||
xorlist.push_back(&urlArg);
|
||
|
||
cmd.xorAdd( xorlist );
|
||
|
||
</pre><p>
|
||
|
||
|
||
</p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="NO_FLAG"></a>I have more arguments than single flags make sense for...</h2></div></div></div><p>
|
||
Some commands have so many options that single flags no longer map
|
||
sensibly to the available options. In this case, it is desirable to
|
||
specify <code class="classname">Arg</code>s using only long options. This one is easy to
|
||
accomplish, just make the flag value blank in the <code class="classname">Arg</code>
|
||
constructor. This will tell the <code class="classname">Arg</code> that only the long
|
||
option should be matched and will force users to specify the long
|
||
option on the command line. The help output is updated accordingly.
|
||
|
||
</p><pre class="programlisting">
|
||
|
||
ValueArg<string> fileArg("","file","File name",true,"homer","filename");
|
||
|
||
SwitchArg caseSwitch("","upperCase","Print in upper case",false);
|
||
|
||
</pre><p>
|
||
</p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="CONSTRAINT"></a>I want to constrain the values allowed for a particular
|
||
argument...</h2></div></div></div><p>
|
||
<span class="emphasis"><em>Interface Change!!!</em></span> Sorry folks, but we've changed
|
||
the interface since version 1.0.X for constraining <code class="classname">Arg</code>s.
|
||
Constraints are now hidden behind the <code class="classname">Constraint</code>
|
||
interface. To
|
||
constrain an <code class="classname">Arg</code> simply implement the interface
|
||
and specify the new class in the constructor as before.
|
||
</p><p>
|
||
You can still constrain <code class="classname">Arg</code>s based on
|
||
a list of values. Instead of adding a <code class="classname">vector</code> of
|
||
allowed values to the <code class="classname">Arg</code> directly,
|
||
create a <code class="classname">ValuesConstraint</code> object
|
||
with a <code class="classname">vector</code> of values and add that to the
|
||
<code class="classname">Arg</code>. The <code class="classname">Arg</code> constructors
|
||
have been modified accordingly.
|
||
</p><p>
|
||
When the value for the
|
||
<code class="classname">Arg</code> is parsed,
|
||
it is checked against the list of values specified in the
|
||
<code class="classname">ValuesConstraint</code>.
|
||
If the value is in the list then it is accepted. If
|
||
not, then an exception is thrown. Here is a simple example:
|
||
|
||
</p><pre class="programlisting">
|
||
vector<string> allowed;
|
||
allowed.push_back("homer");
|
||
allowed.push_back("marge");
|
||
allowed.push_back("bart");
|
||
allowed.push_back("lisa");
|
||
allowed.push_back("maggie");
|
||
ValuesConstraint<string> allowedVals( allowed );
|
||
|
||
ValueArg<string> nameArg("n","name","Name to print",true,"homer",&allowedVals);
|
||
cmd.add( nameArg );
|
||
</pre><p>
|
||
|
||
When a <code class="classname">ValuesConstraint</code> is specified,
|
||
instead of a type description being specified in the
|
||
<code class="classname">Arg</code>, a
|
||
type description is created by concatenating the values in the
|
||
allowed list using operator<< for the specified type. The
|
||
help/usage for the <code class="classname">Arg</code> therefore lists the
|
||
allowable values. Because of this, you might want to keep the list
|
||
relatively small, however there is no limit on this.
|
||
</p><p>
|
||
Obviously, a list of allowed values isn't always the best way to
|
||
constrain things. For instance, one might wish to allow only
|
||
integers greater than 0. In this case, simply create a class that
|
||
implements the <code class="classname">Constraint<int></code> interface and
|
||
checks whether the value parsed is greater than 0 (done in the
|
||
<code class="methodname">check()</code> method) and create your
|
||
<code class="classname">Arg</code> with your new <code class="classname">Constraint</code>.
|
||
</p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="ARG_ADD_CMDLINE"></a>I want the Args to add themselves to the CmdLine...</h2></div></div></div><p>
|
||
New constructors have been added for each <code class="classname">Arg</code>
|
||
that take a <code class="classname">CmdLine</code> object as an argument.
|
||
Each <code class="classname">Arg</code> then
|
||
<code class="methodname">add</code>s itself to the <code class="classname">CmdLine</code>
|
||
object. There is no difference in how the <code class="classname">Arg</code>
|
||
is handled between this method and calling the
|
||
<code class="methodname">add()</code> method directly. At the moment, there is
|
||
no way to do an <code class="methodname">xorAdd()</code> from the constructor. Here
|
||
is an example:
|
||
|
||
</p><pre class="programlisting">
|
||
|
||
// Create the command line.
|
||
CmdLine cmd("this is a message", '=', "0.99" );
|
||
|
||
// Note that the following args take the "cmd" object as arguments.
|
||
SwitchArg btest("B","existTestB", "exist Test B", cmd, false );
|
||
|
||
ValueArg<string> stest("s", "stringTest", "string test", true, "homer",
|
||
"string", cmd );
|
||
|
||
UnlabeledValueArg<string> utest("unTest1","unlabeled test one",
|
||
"default","string", cmd );
|
||
|
||
// NO add() calls!
|
||
|
||
// Parse the command line.
|
||
cmd.parse(argc,argv);
|
||
|
||
</pre><p>
|
||
</p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="CHANGE_OUTPUT"></a>I want different output than what is provided...</h2></div></div></div><p>
|
||
It is straightforward to change the output generated by
|
||
<span class="emphasis"><em>TCLAP</em></span>. Either subclass the
|
||
<code class="classname">StdOutput</code> class and re-implement the methods you choose,
|
||
or write your own class that implements the
|
||
<code class="classname">CmdLineOutput</code> interface. Once you have done this,
|
||
then use the <code class="classname">CmdLine</code> <code class="methodname">setOutput</code>
|
||
method to tell the <code class="classname">CmdLine</code> to use your new output
|
||
class. Here is a simple example:
|
||
</p><pre class="programlisting">
|
||
class MyOutput : public StdOutput
|
||
{
|
||
public:
|
||
virtual void failure(CmdLineInterface& c, ArgException& e)
|
||
{
|
||
cerr << "My special failure message for: " << endl
|
||
<< e.what() << endl;
|
||
exit(1);
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
virtual void usage(CmdLineInterface& c)
|
||
{
|
||
cout << "my usage message:" << endl;
|
||
list<Arg*> args = c.getArgList();
|
||
for (ArgListIterator it = args.begin(); it != args.end(); it++)
|
||
cout << (*it)->longID()
|
||
<< " (" << (*it)->getDescription() << ")" << endl;
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
virtual void version(CmdLineInterface& c)
|
||
{
|
||
cout << "my version message: 0.1" << endl;
|
||
}
|
||
};
|
||
|
||
int main(int argc, char** argv)
|
||
{
|
||
CmdLine cmd("this is a message", ' ', "0.99" );
|
||
|
||
// set the output
|
||
MyOutput my;
|
||
cmd.setOutput( &my );
|
||
|
||
// proceed normally ...
|
||
</pre><p>
|
||
|
||
See <code class="filename">test4.cpp</code> in the examples directory for the full
|
||
example. <span class="emphasis"><em>NOTE</em></span>: if you supply your own Output object, we
|
||
will not delete it in the <code class="classname">CmdLine</code> destructor. This
|
||
could lead to a (very small) memory leak if you don't take care of the object
|
||
yourself. Also note that the <code class="methodname">failure</code> method is
|
||
now responsible for exiting the application (assuming that is the desired
|
||
behavior).
|
||
</p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="NO_HELP_VERSION"></a>I don't want the --help and --version switches to be created automatically...</h2></div></div></div><p>
|
||
Help and version information is useful for nearly all command line applications
|
||
and as such we generate flags that provide those options automatically.
|
||
However, there are situations when these flags are undesirable. For these
|
||
cases we've added we've added a forth parameter to the
|
||
<code class="classname">CmdLine</code> constructor. Making this boolean parameter
|
||
false will disable automatic help and version generation.
|
||
</p><pre class="programlisting">
|
||
CmdLine cmd("this is a message", ' ', "0.99", false );
|
||
</pre><p>
|
||
</p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="IGNORE_ARGS"></a>I want to ignore certain arguments...</h2></div></div></div><p>
|
||
The <em class="parameter"><code>--</code></em> flag is automatically included in the
|
||
<code class="classname">CmdLine</code>.
|
||
As (almost) per POSIX and GNU standards, any argument specified
|
||
after the <em class="parameter"><code>--</code></em> flag is ignored.
|
||
<span class="emphasis"><em>Almost</em></span> because if an
|
||
<code class="classname">UnlabeledValueArg</code> that has not been set or an
|
||
<code class="classname">UnlabeledMultiArg</code> has been specified, by default
|
||
we will assign any arguments beyond the <em class="parameter"><code>--</code></em>
|
||
to the those arguments as
|
||
per the rules above. This is primarily useful if you want to pass
|
||
in arguments with a dash as the first character of the argument. It
|
||
should be noted that even if the <em class="parameter"><code>--</code></em> flag is
|
||
passed on the command line, the <code class="classname">CmdLine</code> will
|
||
<span class="emphasis"><em>still</em></span> test to make sure all of the required
|
||
arguments are present.
|
||
</p><p>
|
||
Of course, this isn't how POSIX/GNU handle things, they explicitly
|
||
ignore arguments after the <em class="parameter"><code>--</code></em>. To accommodate this,
|
||
we can make both <code class="classname">UnlabeledValueArg</code>s and
|
||
<code class="classname">UnlabeledMultiArg</code>s ignoreable in their constructors.
|
||
See the <a href="html/index.html" target="_top"> API Documentation</a> for details.
|
||
</p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="READING_HEX_INTEGERS"></a>I want to read hex integers as arguments...</h2></div></div></div><p>
|
||
Sometimes it's desirable to read integers formatted in decimal, hexadecimal,
|
||
and octal format. This is now possible by #defining the <em class="parameter"><code>TCLAP_SETBASE_ZERO</code></em>
|
||
directive. Simply define this directive in your code and integer arguments will be parsed
|
||
in each base.
|
||
</p><pre class="programlisting">
|
||
|
||
#define TCLAP_SETBASE_ZERO 1
|
||
|
||
#include "tclap/CmdLine.h"
|
||
#include <iostream>
|
||
|
||
using namespace TCLAP;
|
||
using namespace std;
|
||
|
||
int main(int argc, char** argv)
|
||
{
|
||
|
||
try {
|
||
|
||
CmdLine cmd("this is a message", ' ', "0.99" );
|
||
|
||
ValueArg<int> itest("i", "intTest", "integer test", true, 5, "int");
|
||
cmd.add( itest );
|
||
|
||
//
|
||
// Parse the command line.
|
||
//
|
||
cmd.parse(argc,argv);
|
||
|
||
//
|
||
// Set variables
|
||
//
|
||
int _intTest = itest.getValue();
|
||
cout << "found int: " << _intTest << endl;
|
||
|
||
} catch ( ArgException& e )
|
||
{ cout << "ERROR: " << e.error() << " " << e.argId() << endl; }
|
||
}
|
||
</pre><p>
|
||
</p><p>
|
||
The reason that this behavior is not the default behavior for <span class="emphasis"><em>TCLAP</em></span> is that the use of
|
||
<code class="methodname">setbase(0)</code> appears to be something of a side effect and is not necessarily how
|
||
<code class="methodname">setbase()</code> is meant to be used. So while we're making this functionality
|
||
available, we're not turning it on by default for fear of bad things happening in different compilers.
|
||
If you know otherwise, please let us know.
|
||
</p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="USING_ARGTRAITS"></a>I want to use different types...</h2></div></div></div><p>
|
||
The usual C++ types (int, long, bool, etc.) are supported by <span class="emphasis"><em>TCLAP</em></span> out
|
||
of the box. As
|
||
long as operator>> and operator<< are supported, other types should work fine
|
||
too, you'll just need to specify the <code class="classname">ArgTraits</code> which
|
||
tells <span class="emphasis"><em>TCLAP</em></span> how you expect the type to be handled.
|
||
</p><p>
|
||
For example, assume that you'd like to read one argument on the command line in as a
|
||
<code class="classname">std::pair</code> object. All you'll need to do is tell
|
||
<span class="emphasis"><em>TCLAP</em></span> whether to treat <code class="classname">std::pair</code> as a
|
||
String or Value. StringLike means to treat the string on the command line as a string
|
||
and use it directly, whereas ValueLike means that a value object should be extracted from the
|
||
string using operator>>. For <code class="classname">std::pair</code> we'll choose ValueLike.
|
||
To accomplish this, add the following declaration to your file:
|
||
|
||
</p><pre class="programlisting">
|
||
|
||
template<class T, class U>
|
||
struct ArgTraits<std::pair<T, U>> {
|
||
typedef ValueLike ValueCategory;
|
||
};
|
||
|
||
</pre><p>
|
||
|
||
For complete examples see the files <code class="filename">test11.cpp</code>
|
||
and <code class="filename">test12.cpp</code> in the examples directory.
|
||
</p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="CHANGING_STARTSTRINGS"></a>I want to use Windows-style flags like "/x" and "/y"...</h2></div></div></div><p>
|
||
It is traditional in Posix environments that the "-" and "--" strings are used to signify
|
||
the beginning of argument flags and long argument names. However, other environments,
|
||
namely Windows, use different strings. <span class="emphasis"><em>TCLAP</em></span> allows you to
|
||
control which strings are used with <code class="methodname">#define</code> directives. This allows
|
||
you to use different strings based on your operating environment. Here is an example:
|
||
|
||
</p><pre class="programlisting">
|
||
//
|
||
// This illustrates how to change the flag and name start strings for
|
||
// Windows, otherwise the defaults are used.
|
||
//
|
||
// Note that these defines need to happen *before* tclap is included!
|
||
//
|
||
#ifdef WINDOWS
|
||
#define TCLAP_NAMESTARTSTRING "~~"
|
||
#define TCLAP_FLAGSTARTSTRING "/"
|
||
#endif
|
||
|
||
#include "tclap/CmdLine.h"
|
||
|
||
using namespace TCLAP;
|
||
using namespace std;
|
||
|
||
int main(int argc, char** argv)
|
||
{
|
||
// Everything else is identical!
|
||
...
|
||
</pre><p>
|
||
|
||
|
||
</p></div></div><div class="chapter" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title"><a id="NOTES"></a>Chapter 4. Notes</h2></div></div></div><div class="toc"><p><b>Table of Contents</b></p><dl><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#DESCRIPTION_EXCEPTIONS">Type Descriptions</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#VISITORS">Visitors</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#MORE_INFO">More Information</a></span></dt></dl></div><p>
|
||
Like all good rules, there are many exceptions....
|
||
</p><div class="sect1" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="DESCRIPTION_EXCEPTIONS"></a>Type Descriptions</h2></div></div></div><p>
|
||
Ideally this library would use RTTI to return a human readable name
|
||
of the type declared for a particular argument. Unfortunately, at
|
||
least for <span><strong class="command">g++</strong></span>, the names returned aren't
|
||
particularly useful.
|
||
</p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="VISITORS"></a>Visitors</h2></div></div></div><p>
|
||
Disclaimer: Almost no one will have any use for
|
||
<code class="classname">Visitor</code>s, they were
|
||
added to provide special handling for default arguments. Nothing
|
||
that <code class="classname">Visitor</code>s do couldn't be accomplished
|
||
by the user after the
|
||
command line has been parsed. If you're still interested, keep
|
||
reading...
|
||
</p><p>
|
||
Some of you may be wondering how we get the <em class="parameter"><code>--help</code></em>,
|
||
<em class="parameter"><code>--version</code></em> and <em class="parameter"><code>--</code></em>
|
||
arguments to do their thing without mucking up the
|
||
<code class="classname">CmdLine</code> code with lots of <span class="emphasis"><em>if</em></span>
|
||
statements and type checking. This is accomplished by using a
|
||
variation on the Visitor Pattern. Actually, it may not be a Visitor
|
||
Pattern at all, but that's what inspired me.
|
||
</p><p>
|
||
If we want some argument to do some sort of special handling,
|
||
besides simply parsing a value, then we add a <code class="classname">Visitor</code>
|
||
pointer to the <code class="classname">Arg</code>. More specifically, we add a
|
||
<span class="emphasis"><em>subclass</em></span> of the <code class="classname">Visitor</code>
|
||
class. Once the argument has been successfully parsed, the
|
||
<code class="classname">Visitor</code> for that argument is
|
||
called. Any data that needs to be operated on is declared in the
|
||
<code class="classname">Visitor</code> constructor and then operated on in the
|
||
<code class="methodname">visit()</code> method. A <code class="classname">Visitor</code>
|
||
is added to an <code class="classname">Arg</code> as the last argument in its
|
||
declaration. This may sound
|
||
complicated, but it is pretty straightforward. Let's see an
|
||
example.
|
||
</p><p>
|
||
Say you want to add an <em class="parameter"><code>--authors</code></em> flag to a program that
|
||
prints the names of the authors when present. First subclass
|
||
<code class="classname">Visitor</code>:
|
||
|
||
</p><pre class="programlisting">
|
||
|
||
#include "Visitor.h"
|
||
#include <string>
|
||
#include <iostream>
|
||
|
||
class AuthorVisitor : public Visitor
|
||
{
|
||
protected:
|
||
string _author;
|
||
public:
|
||
AuthorVisitor(const string& name ) : Visitor(), _author(name) {} ;
|
||
void visit() { cout << "AUTHOR: " << _author << endl; exit(0); };
|
||
};
|
||
|
||
</pre><p>
|
||
|
||
Now include this class definition somewhere and go about creating
|
||
your command line. When you create the author switch, add the
|
||
<code class="classname">AuthorVisitor</code> pointer as follows:
|
||
|
||
</p><pre class="programlisting">
|
||
|
||
SwitchArg author("a","author","Prints author name", false,
|
||
new AuthorVisitor("Homer J. Simpson") );
|
||
cmd.add( author );
|
||
|
||
</pre><p>
|
||
|
||
Now, any time the <em class="parameter"><code>-a</code></em> or
|
||
<em class="parameter"><code>--author</code></em> flag is specified,
|
||
the program will print the author name, Homer J. Simpson and exit
|
||
without processing any further (as specified in the
|
||
<code class="methodname">visit()</code> method).
|
||
</p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="MORE_INFO"></a>More Information</h2></div></div></div><p>
|
||
For more information, look at the <a href="html/index.html" target="_top">
|
||
API Documentation</a> and the examples included with the
|
||
distribution.
|
||
</p><p>
|
||
<span class="emphasis"><em>Happy coding!</em></span>
|
||
</p></div></div></div></body></html>
|