CommandLine - Application and OptionParser ========================================== Author: Jim Freeze Copyright 2005 Jim Freeze DOCS: http://rubyforge.org/docman/view.php/632/232/posted-docs.index.html Welcome to CommandLine CommandLine is a library that greatly simplifies the repetitive process of building a command line user interface for your applications. It's 'ruby-like' usage style streamlines application development so that even applications with numerous configuration options can be quickly put together. CommandLine automatically builds friendly usage and help screens that are nicely formatted for the user. No longer is starting an application a pain where you have to copy boiler plate code (or a previous application) and retype repetitive code to get an application started. CommandLine smartly handles the arguments passed on the commandline. For example, if your application accepts arguments, and none are given, it prints a usage statement. But, if your application accepts no arguments, CommandLine will happily run your application. CommandLine also handles a complex set of options through the OptionParser library, which is described below. OptionParser is designed to be a flexible command line parser with a Ruby look and feel to it. OptionParser got its birth from the need for a parser that is standards compliant, yet flexible. OptionParser supports the standard command line styles of Unix, Gnu and X Toolkit, but also lets you break those rules. OptionParser is not a port of a traditional command line parser, but it is written to meet the feature requirements of traditional command line parsers. When using it as a library, you should notice that it is expressive, supports Ruby’s blocks and lambda’s, and is sprinkled with a little bit of magic. While the library can be used by itself, it is also designed to work with the CommandLine::Application class. These tools work together to facilitate the generation of a sophisticated (batch oriented) application user interface in a matter of minutes. If you need a refresher on the traditional option parsing schemes, see "Traditional Option Parsing Schemes" below. EXAMPLES ======== Probably the best way to describe how the tool works is with some examples: % cat app.rb #--------------------------------------------------- #!/usr/bin/env ruby require 'rubygems' require 'commandline' # # A minimum application # class App < CommandLine::Application def main end end#class App #--------------------------------------------------- % app.rb Usage: app.rb % cat app5.rb #--------------------------------------------------- #!/usr/bin/env ruby begin require 'commandline' rescue LoadError require 'rubygems' retry end class App < CommandLine::Application def initialize version "0.0.1" author "Author Name" copyright "2005, Jim Freeze" synopsis "[-dhV] param_file out_file" short_description "A simple app example that takes two arguments." long_description "app5 is a simple application example that supports "+ "three options and two commandline arguments." option :version option :debug option :help expected_args :param_file, :out_file end def main puts "main called" puts "@param_file = #{@param_file}" puts "@out_file = #{@out_file}" end end#class App #--------------------------------------------------- % app5.rb Usage: app5.rb [-dhV] param_file out_file % app5.rb -h NAME app5.rb - A simple app example that takes two arguments. DESCRIPTION app5.rb is a simple application example that supports three options and two commandline arguments. OPTIONS --version,-V Displays application version. --debug,-d Sets debug to true. --help,-h Displays help page. AUTHOR: Author Name Copyright (c) 2005, Jim Freeze % app5.rb f1 f2 main called @param_file = f1 @out_file = f2 % cat app6.rb #--------------------------------------------------- #!/usr/bin/env ruby begin require 'commandline' rescue LoadError require 'rubygems' retry end # # An application demonstrating customizing of canonical options # class App < CommandLine::Application def initialize version "0.0.1" author "Author Name" copyright "2005, Jim Freeze" short_description "A simple app example that takes two arguments." long_description "This app is a simple application example that supports "+ "three options and two commandline arguments." option :version, :names => %w(--version -v --notice-the-change-from-app5) option :debug, :arity => [0,1], :arg_description => "debug_level", :opt_description => "Set debug level from 0 to 9." option :help expected_args :param_file, :out_file end def main puts "main called" puts "@param_file = #{@param_file}" puts "@out_file = #{@out_file}" end end#class App #--------------------------------------------------- % app6.rb -h NAME app6.rb - A simple app example that takes two arguments. DESCRIPTION This app is a simple application example that supports three options and two commandline arguments. OPTIONS --version,-v,--notice-the-change-from-app5 Displays application version. --debug,-d debug_level Set debug level from 0 to 9. --help,-h Displays help page. AUTHOR: Author Name Copyright (c) 2005, Jim Freeze % cat app7.rb #--------------------------------------------------- #!/usr/bin/env ruby begin require 'commandline' rescue LoadError require 'rubygems' retry end # # An application demonstrating customizing of canonical options # class App < CommandLine::Application def initialize version "0.0.1" author "Author Name" copyright "2005, Jim Freeze" short_description "A simple app example that takes two arguments." long_description "This app is a simple application example that supports "+ "three options and two commandline arguments." option :version, :names => %w(--version -v --notice-the-change-from-app5) option :debug, :arity => [0,1], :arg_description => "debug_level", :opt_description => "Set debug level from 0 to 9." option :help expected_args :param_file, :out_file end def main puts "main called" puts "@param_file = #{@param_file}" puts "@out_file = #{@out_file}" end end#class App #--------------------------------------------------- % app7.rb -h NAME app7.rb - A simple app example that takes two arguments. DESCRIPTION This app is a simple application example that supports three options and two commandline arguments. OPTIONS --version,-v,--notice-the-change-from-app5 Displays application version. --debug,-d debug_level Set debug level from 0 to 9. --help,-h Displays help page. AUTHOR: Author Name Copyright (c) 2005, Jim Freeze TESTS ===== Tests: 81 Assertions: 310 Download & Installation ======================= Homepage: http://rubyforge.org/projects/optionparser/ Documentation: http://optionparser.rubyforge.org/ Download: http://rubyforge.org/frs/?group_id=632&release_id=2345 Dependencies: * None Currently optionparser is only available as a rubygem. Via RubyGems $ gem install -r commandline All feedback is appreciated! Installations not yet available =============================== # not in RPA yet Via RPA $ rpa install commandline # this either The do-it-yourself way $ ruby setup.rb config $ ruby setup.rb setup $ ruby setup.rb install # nor this The simplified do-it-yourself way $ rake install RELEASE NOTES ============= == 0.7.9 11/05/2005 === Additions - Renamed gem to lowercase commandline - Added replay command options - Added CommandLine::Application_wo_AutoRun - no auto run set thru at_exit - Added documentation for CommandLine::Application - instead of just README - Changed :arg_arity to :arity in Option - Add :required for use with :opt_found - Added args accessor for @args - suggested by Esteban Manchado Velázquez - Added opt() accessor for @option_data[] HISTORY ======= After poking around in a few corporations, it was evident that option parsing was not well understood. Therefore, many inhouse tools were built that did not conform to any of the POSIX, Gnu or XTools option styles. CommandLine::OptionParser was developed so that new applications could be written that conformed to accepted standards, but non-standard option configurations could be handled as well to support legacy interfaces. Once the option parsing was written, there was a need to streamline the repetitive tasks in setting up an application. The original boilerplate was simple, but after taking a few cues from rails, a significant amount of functionality was added to Application that make it a very useful tool yet simple to use. More information and usage scenarios on OptionParser can be found at: http://rubyforge.org/projects/optionparser/ ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ================ This library contains code from: * Austin Ziegler - Text::Format * Ara - open4.rb - obtained from codeforthepeople