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Comment: Use --file as a better example of a required option
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Added mention about the Argbash utility (incorporated feedback from geirha)
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#pragma section-numbers 3 | |
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Manually parsing options without the use of a specialized function is the most flexible approach, and is sufficient for most simple scripts. | |
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This approach handles any arbitrary set of options, because you're writing the parser yourself. For 90% of programs, it may suffice. Here's an example that will handle a combination of short and long options. Notice how the handling of various styles of "--verbose", "--verbose LEVEL" and "--verbose=LEVEL" are handled. |
This example will handle a combination of short (POSIX) and long "GNU style" options with option arguments. Notice how both `--file FILE` and `--file=FILE` are handled. Typical scripts may also use functions and local variables, which can greatly improve your code. This example however illustrates a strictly POSIX conforming script. {{{#!highlight bash #!/bin/sh # POSIX # Reset all variables that might be set file= verbose=0 # Variables to be evaluated as shell arithmetic should be initialized to a default or validated beforehand. while :; do case $1 in -h|-\?|--help) # Call a "show_help" function to display a synopsis, then exit. show_help exit ;; -f|--file) # Takes an option argument, ensuring it has been specified. if [ -n "$2" ]; then file=$2 shift else printf 'ERROR: "--file" requires a non-empty option argument.\n' >&2 exit 1 fi ;; --file=?*) file=${1#*=} # Delete everything up to "=" and assign the remainder. ;; --file=) # Handle the case of an empty --file= printf 'ERROR: "--file" requires a non-empty option argument.\n' >&2 exit 1 ;; -v|--verbose) verbose=$((verbose + 1)) # Each -v argument adds 1 to verbosity. ;; --) # End of all options. shift break ;; -?*) printf 'WARN: Unknown option (ignored): %s\n' "$1" >&2 ;; *) # Default case: If no more options then break out of the loop. break esac shift done # if --file was provided, open it for writing, else duplicate stdout if [ -n "$file" ]; then exec 3> "$file" else exec 3>&1 fi # Rest of the program here. # If there are input files (for example) that follow the options, they # will remain in the "$@" positional parameters. }}} This parser does not handle separate options concatenated together (like `-xvf` being understood as `-x -v -f`). This could be added with effort, but this is left as an exercise for the reader. === getopts === Unless it's the version from util-linux, and you use its advanced mode, '''never use getopt(1).''' Traditional versions of `getopt` cannot handle empty argument strings, or arguments with embedded whitespace. The POSIX shell (and others) offer `getopts` which is safe to use instead. Here is a simplistic `getopts` example: |
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Main () { file="" # Reset all variables that might be set verbose="" verbose_level="" |
# Usage info show_help() { cat << EOF Usage: ${0##*/} [-hv] [-f OUTFILE] [FILE]... Do stuff with FILE and write the result to standard output. With no FILE or when FILE is -, read standard input. |
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while : do case "$1" in -f | --file) file="$2" # You might want to check if you really got FILE shift 2 ;; -h | --help) # Call your Help() function here. exit 0 # This not an error, User asked help. Don't do "exit 1" ;; -v | --verbose) # Support "--verbose" verbose="verbose" verbose_level=1 shift # Support additional "--verbose LEVEL" by reading next argument. case "$1" in [0-9]) verbose_level=$1 shift ;; esac ;; --verbose=*) # Example how to support "--option=VALUE" style verbose="verbose" verbose_level=${1#*=} # Delete everything up till "=" shift ;; --) # End of all options shift break ;; -*) echo "WARN: Unknown option: $1" >&2 shift ;; *) # no more options. Stop while loop break ;; esac done # Suppose, some options are required. Check that we got them. if [ ! "$file" ]; then echo "ERROR: option '--file FILE' not given. See --help" >&2 return 1 fi # <Rest of the program here> |
-h display this help and exit -f OUTFILE write the result to OUTFILE instead of standard output. -v verbose mode. Can be used multiple times for increased verbosity. EOF |
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Main "$@" | # Initialize our own variables: output_file="" verbose=0 OPTIND=1 # Resetting OPTIND is necessary if getopts was used previously in the script. # It is a good idea to make OPTIND local if you process options in a function. while getopts "hvf:" opt; do case "$opt" in h) show_help exit 0 ;; v) verbose=$((verbose+1)) ;; f) output_file=$OPTARG ;; '?') show_help >&2 exit 1 ;; esac done shift "$((OPTIND-1))" # Shift off the options and optional --. # Everything that's left in "$@" is a non-option. In our case, a FILE to process. printf 'verbose=<%d>\noutput_file=<%s>\nLeftovers:\n' "$verbose" "$output_file" printf '<%s>\n' "$@" |
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What is ''not possible'' to do with pure shell approach, is to try to parse separate options concatenated together. Like like `-xvf` which would understood as `-x -v -f`. This could be possible with lot of effort, but in practice it wouldn't be worth it. |
There is a [[http://wiki.bash-hackers.org/howto/getopts_tutorial|getopts tutorial]] which explains what all of the syntax and variables mean. In bash, there is also `help getopts`, which might be informative. |
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You may be interested in knowing that some Bash programmers like to write this at the beginning of their scripts to guard against unused variables: |
The advantages of `getopts`: |
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{{{ set -u # or, set -o nounset }}} |
1. It's portable, and will work in any POSIX shell e.g. dash. 1. It can handle things like `-vf filename` in the expected Unix way, automatically. 1. It understands `--` as the option terminator and more generally makes sure, options are parsed like for any standard command. 1. With some implementations, the error messages will be localised in the language of the user. |
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=== getopts === | The disadvantages of `getopts`: 1. (Except for ksh93 `getopts`) it can only handle short options (`-h`, not `--help`) without trickery. 1. It cannot handle options with optional arguments à la GNU. 1. Options are coded in at least 2, probably 3 places -- in the call to `getopts`, in the case statement that processes them, and in the help/usage message that documents them. |
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'''Never use getopt(1).''' `getopt` cannot handle empty arguments strings, or arguments with embedded whitespace. Please forget that it ever existed. |
For other, more complicated ways of option parsing, see ComplexOptionParsing. |
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The POSIX shell (and others) offer `getopts` which is safe to use instead. Here is a simplistic `getopts` example: |
=== Argbash === |
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{{{#!highlight bash #!/bin/sh |
[[https://github.com/matejak/argbash|Argbash]] is a simple-to-use yet feature-rich code generator that can either generate the parsing code for your script, tailor-made. The project features extensive [[http://argbash.readthedocs.io/en/stable/index.html|documentation]]. |
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# A POSIX variable OPTIND=1 # Reset in case getopts has been used previously in the shell. while getopts "h?vf:" opt; do case "$opt" in h|\?) show_help exit 0 ;; v) verbose=1 ;; f) output_file=$OPTARG ;; esac done shift $((OPTIND-1)) [ "$1" = "--" ] && shift echo "verbose=$verbose, output_file='$output_file', Leftovers: $@" # End of file }}} The disadvantage of `getopts` is that it can only handle short options (`-h`) without trickery. It handles `-vf filename` in the expected Unix way, automatically. `getopts` is a good candidate because it is portable and e.g. also works in dash. There is a [[http://wiki.bash-hackers.org/howto/getopts_tutorial|getopts tutorial]] which explains what all of the syntax and variables mean. In bash, there is also `help getopts`, which might be informative. There is also still the disadvantage that options are coded in at least 2, probably 3 places - in the call to `getopts`, in the case statement that processes them and presumably in the help message that you are going to get around to writing one of these days. This is a classic opportunity for errors to creep in as the code is written and maintained - often not discovered till much, much later. This can be avoided by using callback functions, but this approach kind of defeats the purpose of using getopts at all. Here is an example which parses long options with `getopts`. The basic idea is quite simple: just put "-:" into the optstring. This trick requires a shell which permits the option-argument (i.e. the filename in "-f filename") to be concatenated to the option (as in "-ffilename"). The [[http://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/utilities/getopts.html|POSIX standard]] says there must be a space between them; bash and dash permit the "-ffilename" variant, but one should not rely on this leniency if attempting to write a portable script. {{{#!highlight bash #!/bin/bash # Uses bash extensions. Not portable as written. optspec=":h-:" while getopts "$optspec" optchar do case "${optchar}" in -) case "${OPTARG}" in loglevel) eval val="\$${OPTIND}"; OPTIND=$(( $OPTIND + 1 )) echo "Parsing option: '--${OPTARG}', value: '${val}'" >&2 ;; loglevel=*) val=${OPTARG#*=} opt=${OPTARG%=$val} echo "Parsing option: '--${opt}', value: '${val}'" >&2 ;; esac ;; h) echo "usage: $0 [--loglevel[=]<value>]" >&2 exit 2 ;; esac done # End of file }}} === Silly repeated brute-force scanning === Another approach is to check options with `if` statements "on demand". A function like this one may be useful: |
The sample project from above (script accepting a `-f|--file|--verbose|...`) would use the following template: |
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HaveOpt () { local needle=$1 shift |
# ARG_OPTIONAL_SINGLE([file],[f],[input file]) # ARG_VERBOSE() # ARG_POSITIONAL_DOUBLEDASH() # ARG_LEFTOVERS([other args]) # ARGBASH_GO() |
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while [[ $1 == -* ]] do # By convention, "--" means end of options. case "$1" in --) return 1 ;; $needle) return 0 ;; esac |
# [ <-- needed because of Argbash |
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shift done |
if [ "$_arg_verbose" -gt 0 ]; then echo "Input file: $_arg_file" echo "Other args: ${_arg_leftovers[*]}" fi |
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return 1 } HaveOpt --quick "$@" && echo "Option quick is set" # End of file |
# ] <-- needed because of Argbash |
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and it will work if script is run as: * YES: ./script --quick * YES: ./script -other --quick but will stop on first argument with no "-" in front (or on --): * NO: ./script -bar foo --quick * NO: ./script -bar -- --quick Of course, this approach (iterating over the argument list every time you want to check for one) is far less efficient than just iterating once and setting flag variables. It also spreads the options throughout the program. The literal option `--quick` may appear a hundred lines down inside the main body of the program, nowhere near any other option name. This is a nightmare for maintenance. === Complex nonstandard add-on utilities === [[http://bhepple.freeshell.org/oddmuse/wiki.cgi/process-getopt|bhepple]] suggests the use of [[http://sourceforge.net/projects/process-getopt/|process-getopt]] (GPL licensed) and offers this example code: |
Then, executing the result script as `./script.sh -f my-file --verbose -- one two three --file foo` would yield |
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PROG=$(basename $0) VERSION='1.2' USAGE="A tiny example using process-getopt(1)" # call process-getopt functions to define some options: source process-getopt SLOT="" SLOT_func() { [ "${1:-""}" ] && SLOT="yes"; } # callback for SLOT option add_opt SLOT "boolean option" s "" slot TOKEN="" TOKEN_func() { [ "${1:-""}" ] && TOKEN="$2"; } # callback for TOKEN option add_opt TOKEN "this option takes a value" t n token number add_std_opts # define the standard options --help etc: TEMP=$(call_getopt "$@") || exit 1 eval set -- "$TEMP" # just as with getopt(1) # remove the options from the command line process_opts "$@" || shift "$?" echo "SLOT=$SLOT" echo "TOKEN=$TOKEN" echo "args=$@" |
Input file: foo other args: one two three |
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Here, all information about each option is defined in one place making for much easier authoring and maintenance. A lot of the dirty work is handled automatically and standards are obeyed as in getopt(1) - because it calls getopt for you. |
The project also features a [[http://argbash.readthedocs.io/en/stable/example.html#minimal-example|quickstart utility]] that can generate a minimal template for you like this: `argbash-init --opt file --pos arg-positional | argbash - -o basic_script.sh && ./basic_script.sh -h` |
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. ''Actually, what the author forgot to say was that it's actually using `getopts` semantics, rather than `getopt`. I ran this test:'' {{{ ~/process-getopt-1.6$ set -- one 'rm -rf /' 'foo;bar' "'" ~/process-getopt-1.6$ call_getopt "$@" -- 'rm -rf /' 'foo;bar' ''\''' |
{{{ <The general help message of my script> Usage: ./basic_script.sh [--file <arg>] [-h|--help] <arg-positional> <arg-positional>: <arg-positional's help message goes here> --file: <file's help message goes here> (no default) -h,--help: Prints help |
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. ''It appears to be intelligent enough to handle null options, whitespace-containing options, and single-quote-containing options in a manner that makes the [[BashFAQ/048|eval]] not blow up in your face. But this is not an endorsement of the process-getopt software overall; I don't know it well enough. -GreyCat '' | |
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''It's written and tested on Linux where getopt(1) supports long options. For portability, it tests the local getopt(1) at runtime and if it finds an non-GNU one (ie one that does not return 4 for {{{getopt --test}}}) it only processes short options. It does not use the bash builtin getopts(1) command. -[[http://bhepple.freeshell.org/oddmuse/wiki.cgi/process-getopt|bhepple]] '' |
One can then just fine-tune the template and get a script with argument parsing capabilities with little effort. |
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'' CategoryShell '' | CategoryShell |
How can I handle command-line arguments (options) to my script easily?
Well, that depends a great deal on what you want to do with them. There are several approaches, each with its strengths and weaknesses.
Contents
Manual loop
Manually parsing options without the use of a specialized function is the most flexible approach, and is sufficient for most simple scripts.
This example will handle a combination of short (POSIX) and long "GNU style" options with option arguments. Notice how both --file FILE and --file=FILE are handled. Typical scripts may also use functions and local variables, which can greatly improve your code. This example however illustrates a strictly POSIX conforming script.
1 #!/bin/sh
2 # POSIX
3
4 # Reset all variables that might be set
5 file=
6 verbose=0 # Variables to be evaluated as shell arithmetic should be initialized to a default or validated beforehand.
7
8 while :; do
9 case $1 in
10 -h|-\?|--help) # Call a "show_help" function to display a synopsis, then exit.
11 show_help
12 exit
13 ;;
14 -f|--file) # Takes an option argument, ensuring it has been specified.
15 if [ -n "$2" ]; then
16 file=$2
17 shift
18 else
19 printf 'ERROR: "--file" requires a non-empty option argument.\n' >&2
20 exit 1
21 fi
22 ;;
23 --file=?*)
24 file=${1#*=} # Delete everything up to "=" and assign the remainder.
25 ;;
26 --file=) # Handle the case of an empty --file=
27 printf 'ERROR: "--file" requires a non-empty option argument.\n' >&2
28 exit 1
29 ;;
30 -v|--verbose)
31 verbose=$((verbose + 1)) # Each -v argument adds 1 to verbosity.
32 ;;
33 --) # End of all options.
34 shift
35 break
36 ;;
37 -?*)
38 printf 'WARN: Unknown option (ignored): %s\n' "$1" >&2
39 ;;
40 *) # Default case: If no more options then break out of the loop.
41 break
42 esac
43
44 shift
45 done
46
47 # if --file was provided, open it for writing, else duplicate stdout
48 if [ -n "$file" ]; then
49 exec 3> "$file"
50 else
51 exec 3>&1
52 fi
53
54 # Rest of the program here.
55 # If there are input files (for example) that follow the options, they
56 # will remain in the "$@" positional parameters.
This parser does not handle separate options concatenated together (like -xvf being understood as -x -v -f). This could be added with effort, but this is left as an exercise for the reader.
getopts
Unless it's the version from util-linux, and you use its advanced mode, never use getopt(1). Traditional versions of getopt cannot handle empty argument strings, or arguments with embedded whitespace.
The POSIX shell (and others) offer getopts which is safe to use instead. Here is a simplistic getopts example:
1 #!/bin/sh
2
3 # Usage info
4 show_help() {
5 cat << EOF
6 Usage: ${0##*/} [-hv] [-f OUTFILE] [FILE]...
7 Do stuff with FILE and write the result to standard output. With no FILE
8 or when FILE is -, read standard input.
9
10 -h display this help and exit
11 -f OUTFILE write the result to OUTFILE instead of standard output.
12 -v verbose mode. Can be used multiple times for increased
13 verbosity.
14 EOF
15 }
16
17 # Initialize our own variables:
18 output_file=""
19 verbose=0
20
21 OPTIND=1
22 # Resetting OPTIND is necessary if getopts was used previously in the script.
23 # It is a good idea to make OPTIND local if you process options in a function.
24
25 while getopts "hvf:" opt; do
26 case "$opt" in
27 h)
28 show_help
29 exit 0
30 ;;
31 v) verbose=$((verbose+1))
32 ;;
33 f) output_file=$OPTARG
34 ;;
35 '?')
36 show_help >&2
37 exit 1
38 ;;
39 esac
40 done
41 shift "$((OPTIND-1))" # Shift off the options and optional --.
42
43 # Everything that's left in "$@" is a non-option. In our case, a FILE to process.
44 printf 'verbose=<%d>\noutput_file=<%s>\nLeftovers:\n' "$verbose" "$output_file"
45 printf '<%s>\n' "$@"
46
47 # End of file
There is a getopts tutorial which explains what all of the syntax and variables mean. In bash, there is also help getopts, which might be informative.
The advantages of getopts:
- It's portable, and will work in any POSIX shell e.g. dash.
It can handle things like -vf filename in the expected Unix way, automatically.
It understands -- as the option terminator and more generally makes sure, options are parsed like for any standard command.
- With some implementations, the error messages will be localised in the language of the user.
The disadvantages of getopts:
(Except for ksh93 getopts) it can only handle short options (-h, not --help) without trickery.
- It cannot handle options with optional arguments à la GNU.
Options are coded in at least 2, probably 3 places -- in the call to getopts, in the case statement that processes them, and in the help/usage message that documents them.
For other, more complicated ways of option parsing, see ComplexOptionParsing.
Argbash
Argbash is a simple-to-use yet feature-rich code generator that can either generate the parsing code for your script, tailor-made. The project features extensive documentation.
The sample project from above (script accepting a -f|--file|--verbose|...) would use the following template:
1 #!/bin/bash
2
3 # ARG_OPTIONAL_SINGLE([file],[f],[input file])
4 # ARG_VERBOSE()
5 # ARG_POSITIONAL_DOUBLEDASH()
6 # ARG_LEFTOVERS([other args])
7 # ARGBASH_GO()
8
9 # [ <-- needed because of Argbash
10
11 if [ "$_arg_verbose" -gt 0 ]; then
12 echo "Input file: $_arg_file"
13 echo "Other args: ${_arg_leftovers[*]}"
14 fi
15
16 # ] <-- needed because of Argbash
Then, executing the result script as ./script.sh -f my-file --verbose -- one two three --file foo would yield
Input file: foo other args: one two three
The project also features a quickstart utility that can generate a minimal template for you like this: argbash-init --opt file --pos arg-positional | argbash - -o basic_script.sh && ./basic_script.sh -h
<The general help message of my script> Usage: ./basic_script.sh [--file <arg>] [-h|--help] <arg-positional> <arg-positional>: <arg-positional's help message goes here> --file: <file's help message goes here> (no default) -h,--help: Prints help
One can then just fine-tune the template and get a script with argument parsing capabilities with little effort.