Osdc Cheatsheet-C Getopt-2021.8.10
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George PillarOsdc Cheatsheet-C Getopt-2021.8.10
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George Pillargetopt() in C Programming Cheat Sheet
To parse command-line short options in C, use getopt() with argc and argv.
#include <unistd.h>
int getopt(int argc, char * const *argv, const char *optstring);
Global variables
extern int opterr If 0, turn off error messages (default is non-zero)
extern int optopt An unrecognized option (if getopt() returns ?)
extern char *optarg Arg to option (if option letter in optstring is followed by :)
extern int optind The next element in argv after getopt() is done
getopt() returns the letter from optstring if found, ? if unrecognized, or -1 if no options left.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <unistd.h>
int main(int argc, char **argv) {
int option, index;
opterr = 0; /* turn off error messages */
while ((option = getopt(argc, argv, "ho:")) != -1) {
switch (option) {
case 'h': /* help */
printf("usage: %s [-h] [-o arg]\n", argv[0]);
break;
case 'o': /* option */
printf("optarg is %s\n", optarg);
break;
default: /* ? */
printf("option not recognized: %c\n", optopt);
}
}
Sample output
for (index = optind; index < argc; index++) {
puts(argv[index]); $ foo -x -h -o hello one two
} option not recognized: x
usage: foo [-h] [-o arg]
return 0; optarg is hello
} one
two
Jim Hall CC BY-SA 4.0 Opensource.com
getopt() in C Programming Cheat Sheet
To parse command-line long options in C, use getopt_long() with argc and argv.
#include <getopt.h>
int getopt_long(int argc, char * const *argv, const char *optstring,
const struct option *longopts, int *longindex);
struct option {
const char *name;
int has_arg;
int *flag;
int val; };
Global variables
longopts.name The name of the long option (such as "help" or "option")
longopts.has_arg If 0, no optarg. If 1, requires an optarg. If 2, optional optarg
longopts.flag Returns val or 0
longopts.val The value returned (such as 'h' or 'o')
longindex Points to a variable to store the index of the long option in longopts
End the longopts array with {0,0,0,0}
#include <stdio.h> printf("usage: %s [-h] [-o arg]\n",
#include <getopt.h> argv[0]);
break;
int main(int argc, char **argv) { case 'o': /* option */
int option, index; printf("optarg is %s\n", optarg);
static struct option long_options[] = { break;
{ "help", 0, NULL, 'h' }, default: /* ? */
{ "option", 1, NULL, 'o' }, printf("option not recognized: %c\n",
{ 0, 0, 0, 0 } }; optopt); }}
opterr = 0; for (index = optind;
while ((option = getopt_long(argc, index < argc; index++) {
argv, "ho:", long_options, NULL)) != -1){ puts(argv[index]);
switch (option) { }
case 'h': /* help */ return 0;
}
