[manpage_begin cmdline n 1.3.1]
[moddesc   {Command line and option processing}]
[titledesc {Procedures to process command lines and options.}]
[category  {Programming tools}]
[keywords  {cmdline processing} {argument processing} argv argv0]
[keywords  {command line processing}]
[require Tcl 8.2]
[require cmdline [opt 1.3.1]]
[description]

This package provides commands to parse command lines and options.

[list_begin definitions]

[call [cmd ::cmdline::getopt] [arg argvVar] [arg optstring] [arg optVar] [arg valVar]]

This command works in a fashion like the standard C based [cmd getopt]
function.  Given an option string and a pointer to an array or args
this command will process the first argument and return info on how to
proceed. The command returns 1 if an option was found, 0 if no more
options were found, and -1 if an error occurred.

[para]

[arg argvVar] contains the name of the list of arguments to
process. If options are found the list is modified and the processed
arguments are removed from the start of the list.

[para]

[arg optstring] contains a list of command options that the
application will accept.  If the option ends in ".arg" the command
will use the next argument as an argument to the option.  Otherwise
the option is a boolean that is set to 1 if present.

[para]

[arg optVar] refers to the variable the command will store the found
option into (without the leading '-' and without the .arg extension).

[para]

[arg valVar] refers to the variable to store either the value for the
specified option into upon success or an error message in the case of
failure. The stored value comes from the command line for .arg
options, otherwise the value is 1.

[call [cmd ::cmdline::getKnownOpt] [arg argvVar] [arg optstring] [arg optVar] [arg valVar]]

Like [cmd ::cmdline::getopt], but ignores any unknown options in the
input.

[call [cmd ::cmdline::getoptions] [arg arglistVar] [arg optlist] [opt [arg usage]]]

Processes the set of command line options found in the list variable
named by [arg arglistVar] and fills in defaults for those not
specified.  This also generates an error message that lists the
allowed flags if an incorrect flag is specified. The optional
[arg usage]-argument contains a string to include in front of the
generated message. If not present it defaults to "options:".

[para]

[arg optlist] contains a list of lists where each element specifies an
option in the form: [arg flag] [arg default] [arg comment].

[para]

If [arg flag] ends in ".arg" then the value is taken from the command
line. Otherwise it is a boolean and appears in the result if present
on the command line. If [arg flag] ends in ".secret", it will not be
displayed in the usage.


[call [cmd ::cmdline::getKnownOptions] [arg arglistVar] [arg optlist] [opt [arg usage]]]

Like [cmd ::cmdline::getoptions], but ignores any unknown options in the
input.


[call [cmd ::cmdline::usage] [arg optlist] [opt [arg usage]]]

Generates and returns an error message that lists the allowed
flags. [arg optlist] is defined as for
[cmd ::cmdline::getoptions]. The optional [arg usage]-argument
contains a string to include in front of the generated message. If not
present it defaults to "options:".

[call [cmd ::cmdline::getfiles] [arg patterns] [arg quiet]]

Given a list of file [arg patterns] this command computes the set of
valid files.  On windows, file globbing is performed on each argument.
On Unix, only file existence is tested.  If a file argument produces
no valid files, a warning is optionally generated (set [arg quiet] to
true).

[para]

This code also uses the full path for each file.  If not given it
prepends the current working directory to the filename. This ensures
that these files will never conflict with files in a wrapped zip
file. The last sentence refers to the pro-tools.

[call [cmd ::cmdline::getArgv0]]

This command returns the "sanitized" version of [arg argv0].  It will
strip off the leading path and removes the extension ".bin". The
latter is used by the pro-apps because they must be wrapped by a shell
script.

[list_end]

[section {EXAMPLES}]

[example {
        set options {
            {a          "set the atime only"}
            {m          "set the mtime only"}
            {c          "do not create non-existent files"}
            {r.arg  ""  "use time from ref_file"}
            {t.arg  -1  "use specified time"}
        }
        set usage ": MyCommandName\
                      \[options] filename ...\noptions:"
        array set params [::cmdline::getoptions argv $options $usage]

        if {  $params(a) } { set set_atime "true" }
        set has_t [expr {$params(t) != -1}]
        set has_r [expr {[string length $params(r)] > 0}]
        if {$has_t && $has_r} {
            return -code error "Cannot specify both -r and -t"
        } elseif {$has_t} {
	    ...
        }
}]

[para]

This example, taken (and slightly modified) from the package
[package fileutil], shows how to use cmdline.  First, a list of
options is created, then the 'args' list is passed to cmdline for
processing.  Subsequently, different options are checked to see if
they have been passed to the script, and what their value is.

[section {BUGS, IDEAS, FEEDBACK}]

This document, and the package it describes, will undoubtedly contain
bugs and other problems.

Please report such in the category [emph cmdline] of the
[uri {http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=12883} {Tcllib SF Trackers}].

Please also report any ideas for enhancements you may have for either
package and/or documentation.

[manpage_end]