shArg

argument parsing library for .sh files.

Simple Example:

# load shArg
source shArg.sh

declare MESSAGE
declare DEBUG

# register arguments
shArgs.arg "MESSAGE" -m --message PARAMETER true
shArgs.arg "DEBUG" -d --debug FLAG true

# parse inputs
shArgs.parse $@

echo "The message is $MESSAGE"

if [ "$DEBUG" == true ]; then
  echo "DEBUG is true!"
else
  echo "DEBUG is false"
fi

# Run from the command line via
# ./example.sh -m "TEST" -d
# ./example.sh --message "hello" -d

Getting Started

Copy shArg.sh to your project.
source shArg in your bash script. source shArg.sh
Register arguments shArgs.arg "<key: string>" "<short flag name: -string>" "<long flag name: --string>" "<type: PARAMETER | FLAG>" "<auto export: true | false"

example: shArgs.arg "MESSAGE" -m --message PARAMETER true
Parse inputs: shArgs.parse $@
If arguments are autoexported they will be accessible via global variables.
If not autoexported (default) then you can explicility read the values using either of these mechanisms:
- using shArg.val
  
  declare message=`shArgs.val "MESSAGE"` echo $message
- using the _SH_ARGUMENTS array echo "MESSAGE = ${_SH_ARGUMENTS["MESSAGE"]}"

shArgs.arg reference

shArgs.arg is the method used to register commnd line parameters or flags.

shArgs.arg "<key> <short name> <long name> <type> <auto export>"

parameter	descriptions	example
key	unique name for your variable. Note if auto export is true ,then this is the variable name that will set in the global scope	"MESSAGE"
short name	the short command line flag and should start with one single dash.	-m
long name	the long version command line flag and should start with two dashes	--messages
type	either PARAMETER (for inputs with values) or FLAG (for boolean inputs which do not require a value)	-d
auto export	either true or false . If true, then the key is exported to the global scope as a variable with the input value.	true
hook method name	Name of a method to invoke when the argument is found (see hooks section below)	"hookMethod"

Hook methods

shArg support hook functions, which are bash functions that get invoked when the parse method finds an input that matches an argument. Hook method binding are useful for setting other values or side effects when an input is found.

examle:

source ../scripts/shArg.sh

declare AZURE_DEVOPS_ORG
declare AZURE_DEVOPS_URL

orgHook() {
  local org=$1

  # Build url from bound value
  AZURE_DEVOPS_URL="https://dev.azure.com/$org"

  echo "Azure DevOps Url      : $AZURE_DEVOPS_URL"
  echo "Azure DevOps Org Name : $AZURE_DEVOPS_ORG"

}

# register arguments
shArgs.arg "AZURE_DEVOPS_ORG" -o --orgName PARAMETER true orgHook

# parse inputs
shArgs.parse $@

Running the tests