argparser

[Node.js] Parses command line args and options.

Installation

git clone git://github.com/shinout/argparser.git

OR

npm install argparser

Usage

a command

node script.js -r --num 100 file1.txt 11

in script.js

var ap = require('argparser')
         .files(0)
         .nums(1, "num")
         .nonvals('r')
         .parse();

var file = ap.arg(0) // "file1.txt"
var n    = ap.arg(1) // 11
var num  = ap.opt("num") // 100
var r    = ap.opt("r")   // true

API Documentation

• ArgParser.create()
• ap.vals()
• ap.nonvals()
• ap.files()
• ap.dirs()
• ap.nums()
• ap.defaults()
• ap.err()
• ap.arglen()
• ap.parse(arr)
• ap.opt(op1, op2, ...)
• ap.arg()
• ap.stringify()
• ap.invalids()
• ap.emptyValue

ArgParser.create()

Creates an instance of ArgParser.

var ap = ArgParser.create().parse();

This can be omitted using shortcut methods.

Returns an instance of ArgParser.

ap.vals()

Adds options with value.

a command

node script.js --seq ACTG -n 1

in script.js

var ap = require('argparser')
         .vals("n", "seq")
         .parse();

var n   = ap.opt("n")   // "1"
var seq = ap.opt("seq") // "ACTG"

"--" is used for long option name (more than one characters).

"-" is used for short option name (just one character).

node script.js --long long -s short

Returns this.

ap.nonvals()

Adds options without values.

a command

node script.js -t --no-save

in script.js

var ap = require('argparser')
         .nonvals("t", "no-save")
         .parse();

var t      = ap.opt("t")       // true
var nosave = ap.opt("no-save") // true

"--" is used for long option name (more than one characters).

"-" is used for short option name (just one character).

node script.js --long -s

Returns this.

ap.files()

Specifies an argument or an option is a file.

These values are checked in ap.parse().

If there is an invalid filename, an exception is thrown.

a command

node script.js --txt foo.txt bar.txt

in script.js

var ap = require('argparser')
         .files("txt", 0)
         .parse();

var txt    = ap.opt("txt")  // "foo.txt"
var nosave = ap.arg(0)      // "bar.txt"

"0" in the example means the first argument.

"1" will be the second, and so on.

We don't need to call ap.vals() to the option name used in ap.files().

Returns this.

ap.dirs()

Specifies an argument or an option is a directory.

The same specs as ap.files().

Returns this.

ap.nums()

Specifies an argument or an option is a number.

If isNaN, an exception is thrown.

a command

node script.js -n 11 bar.txt 300

in script.js

var ap = require('argparser')
         .files(0)
         .nums("n", 1)
         .parse();

var file   = ap.arg(0)   // "bar.txt"
var n      = ap.opt("n") // 11 
console.log(typeof n) // "number"
var num    = ap.arg(1) // 300
console.log(typeof num) // "number"

The same specs as ap.files().

Returns this.

ap.defaults(obj, noSetNums)

set default values to options with a value.

a command

node script.js

in script.js

var ap = require('argparser')
         .defaults({
           n : 3,
           file : "file1.txt"
          })
         .files("file")
         .parse();

var n = ap.opt("n") // 3
var file = ap.opt("file") // "file1.txt"

If noSetNums is true, ap.nums() is not called to options whose default value is number. By default, ap.nums() are called to these options automatically.

ap.err(fn)

Registers a function called when an error is thrown in parsing.

The argument passed to fn is the thrown error.

Return value of the function is the return value of ap.parse().

By default, it returns false.

var ap = require('argparser')
         .files(0)
         .err(function(e) {
           console.error(e.message)
           console.error("[usage]\n\tnode", __filename, "<file>")
         })
         .parse();

if (!ap) process.exit();

ap.arglen(min, max)

Registers a limit of argument length.

ArgParser throws an error if min is larger than arguments.length.

ArgParser throws an error if max is smaller than arguments.length.

We can set just min like the following sample.

var ap = require('argparser')
         .arglen(3) // three arguments are required
         .parse();

ap.parse(arr)

Parses arguments.

arr is optional.

If arr is not set, parses process.argv (without process.argv[0] and process.argv[1]).

var ap = require('argparser').files(0, "f").parse(["-f", "file1.txt", "file2.txt"]);
var f  = ap.opt("f"); // "file1.txt"
var f2 = ap.arg(0);   // "file2.txt"

ap.arg()

Get arguments.

a command

node script.js arg1 arg2 --opt arg3 --valopt optval

in script.js

var ap = require('argparser')
         .vals("valopt")
         .nonvals("opt")
         .parse();

var a1 = ap.arg(0); // arg1
var a2 = ap.arg(1); // arg2
var a3 = ap.arg(2); // arg3
var a4 = ap.arg(3); // undefined

ap.opt(op1, op2, ...)

Get options value.

a command

node script.js -o --valopt optval arg1 --aaa

in script.js

var ap = require('argparser')
         .vals("valopt", "v2")
         .nonvals("o", "opt")
         .parse();

When registered vals options are passed, returns the value.

var o1 = ap.opt("valopt"); // "optval"

When registered nonvals options are passed, returns true.

var o2 = ap.opt("o");      // true

When registered options are not passed, returns ap.emptyValue.

console.log(ap.emptyValue) // false
var o3 = ap.opt("opt");    // false
var o4 = ap.opt("v2");     // false

ap.emptyValue is writable.

If multiple arguments are passed, the first matched value is returned.

var o3 = ap.opt("opt", "o");    // true
var o4 = ap.opt("valopt", "v2); // "optval"

When not a registered option is passed, it is parsed as an invalid nonval option.

var o5 = ap.opt("aaa");    // true
var o6 = ap.invalids();    // ["aaa"]
var o7 = ap.opt("eee");    // undefined

ap.emptyValue

When a registered options is not set, this value is returned in ap.opt().

ap.emptyValue = null

ap.invalids()

Gets a list of invalid options.

a command

node script.js -a --bcd

in script.js

var ap = require('argparser').parse();
var list = ap.invalid();
console.log(list); // "a", "bcd"

ap.stringify()

Gets canonical format.

a command

node script.js -a 1 arg1 -t --invalid_opt --bcd file.txt arg2 arg3

in script.js

var ap = require('argparser')
         .vals("a", "bcd")
         .nonvals("t")
         .parse();
console.log(ap.stringify()); // -t -a 1 --bcd file.txt arg1 arg2 arg3

Note that invalid options are removed.

shortcut methods

• ArgParser.vals()

• ArgParser.nonvals()

• ArgParser.files()

• ArgParser.dirs()

• ArgParser.nums()

• ArgParser.defaults()

• ArgParser.parse()

  ArgParser.vals("a")

is completely equivalent to

ArgParser.create().vals("a")

licence

(The MIT License)

Copyright (c) 2011-2012 SHIN Suzuki [email protected]

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the 'Software'), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED 'AS IS', WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.