class KCmdLineArgs

A class for command-line argument handling. More...

List of all Methods
Definition	`#include <kcmdlineargs.h>`

Annotated List

Files

Globals

Hierarchy

Index

Public Methods

QCString getOption (const char *option) const
QCStringList getOptionList (const char *option) const
bool isSet (const char *option) const
int count () const
const char * arg (int n) const
KURL url (int n) const
void clear ()

Public Static Methods

static void init (int _argc, char **_argv, const char *_appname, const char *_description, const char *_version, bool noKApp = false)
static void init (int _argc, char **_argv, const KAboutData *about, bool noKApp = false)
static void init (const KAboutData *about)
static void addCmdLineOptions ( const KCmdLineOptions *options, const char *name=0, const char *id = 0, const char *afterId=0)
static KCmdLineArgs * parsedArgs (const char *id=0)
static QString cwd ()
static const char * appName ()
static void usage (const char *id = 0)
static void usage (const QString &error)
static void enable_i18n ()
static KURL makeURL ( const char * urlArg )
static void setCwd ( char * cwd )

Protected Methods

KCmdLineArgs ( const KCmdLineOptions *_options, const char *_id, const char *_name)
~KCmdLineArgs ()

Detailed Description

Simple access to the command-line arguments.

It takes into account Qt-specific options, KDE-specific options and application specific options.

This class is used in main() via the static method init().

A typical KDE application should look like this:


  int main(int argc, char *argv[])
  {
     // Initialize command line args
     KCmdLineArgs::init(argc, argv, appName, description, version);

     // Tell which options are supported
     KCmdLineArgs::addCmdLineOptions( options );

     // Add options from other components
     KUniqueApplication::addCmdLineOptions();

     ....

     // Create application object without passing 'argc' and 'argv' again.
     KUniqueApplication app;

     ....

     // Handle our own options/argments
     // A KApplication will usually do this in main but this is not
     // necassery.
     // A KUniqueApplication might want to handle it in newInstance().

     KCmdLineArgs *args = KCmdLineArgs::parsedArgs();

     // A binary option (on / off)
     if (args->isSet("some-option"))
        ....

     // An option which takes an additional argument
     QCString anotherOptionArg = args->getOption("another-option");

     // Arguments (e.g. files to open)
     for(int i = 0; i < args->count(); i++) // Counting start at 0! 
     {
        // don't forget to convert to Unicode!        
        openFile( QFile::decodeName( args->arg(i)));
        // Or more convenient:
        // openURL( args->url(i));

     }

     args->clear(); // Free up some memory. 
     ....
  }

options are defined as follow


  static KCmdLineOptions options[] = 
  {
     { "a", I18N_NOOP("A short binary option."), 0 },
     { "b ", I18N_NOOP("A short option which takes an argument."), 0 },
     { "c ", I18N_NOOP("As above but with a default value."), "9600" },
     { "option1", I18N_NOOP("A long binary option, off by default."), 0 },
     { "nooption2", I18N_NOOP("A long binary option, on by default."), 0 },
     { "option3 ", I18N_NOOP("A long option which takes an argument."), 0 },
     { "option3 ", I18N_NOOP("As above with 9600 as default."), "9600" },
     { "d", 0, 0 },
     { "option4", I18N_NOOP("A long option which has a short option as alias."), 0 }, 
     { "e", 0, 0 },
     { "nooption5", I18N_NOOP("Another long option with an alias."), 0 },
     { "f", 0, 0 },
     { "option6 ", I18N_NOOP("'--option6 speed' is same a '-f speed'"), 0 },
     { "!option7 ", I18N_NOOP("All options following this one will be treated as arguments", 0 },
     { "+file", I18N_NOOP("A required argument 'file'.), 0 },
     { "+[arg1]", I18N_NOOP("An optional argument 'arg1'."), 0 },
     { "!+command", I18N_NOOP("A required argument 'command', that can contain multiple words, even starting with '-'.), 0 },
     { 0, 0, 0 } // End of options.
  };

The I18N_NOOP macro is used to indicate that these strings should be marked for translation. The actual translation is done by KCmdLineArgs. You can't use i18n() here because we are setting up a static data structure and can't do translations at compile time.

Note that a program should define the options before any arguments.

When a long option has a short option as alias. A program should only check for the long option.

With the above options a command line could look like:


     myapp -a -c 4800 --display localhost:0.0 --nooption5 -d /tmp/file

Long binary options can be in the form 'option' and 'nooption'. A command line may contain the same binary option multiple times, the last option determines the outcome:


     myapp --nooption4 --option4 --nooption4

is the same as:


     myapp --nooption4

Normally if an option value is provided multiple times only the last value is used:


     myapp -c 1200 -c 2400 -c 4800

is usually the same as:


     myapp -c 4800

However, an application can choose to use all values specified as well. E.g. to specify a number of directories to use:


     myapp -I /usr/include -I /opt/kde/include -I /usr/X11/include

When an application does this it should mention this in the description of the option. getOptionList()

Tips for end-users:

Single char options like "-a -b -c" may be combined into "-abc"
The option "--foo bar" may also be written "--foo=bar"
The option "-P lp1" may also be written "-P=lp1" or "-Plp1"
The option "--foo bar" may also be written "-foo bar"

void init (int _argc, char **_argv, const char *_appname, const char *_description, const char *_version, bool noKApp = false)

init

[static]

Initialize class.

This function should be called as the very first thing in your application.

Parameters:

argc As passed to main(...).

argv As passed to main(...).

appname The untranslated name of your application. This should match with argv[0].

description A short description of what your application is about.

version A version.

noKApp Don't add commandline options for QApplication/KApplication

void init (int _argc, char **_argv, const KAboutData *about, bool noKApp = false)

init

[static]

Initialize class.

This function should be called as the very first thing in your application.

Parameters:

argc As passed to main(...).

argv As passed to main(...).

about A KAboutData object describing your program.

noKApp Don't add commandline options for QApplication / KApplication

void init (const KAboutData *about)

init

[static]

Initialize Class

This function should be called as the very first thing in your application. This method is exactly the same as calling init(0,0, const KAboutData *about, true) This method will rarely be used

void addCmdLineOptions ( const KCmdLineOptions *options, const char *name=0, const char *id = 0, const char *afterId=0)

addCmdLineOptions

[static]

Add options to your application.

You must make sure that all possible options have been added before any class uses the command line arguments.

The list of options should look like this:

static KCmdLineOptions options[] = { { "option1 ", I18N_NOOP("Description 1"), "default" }, { "o", 0, 0 }, { "option2", I18N_NOOP("Description 2"), 0 }, { "nooption3", I18N_NOOP("Description 3"), 0 }, { 0, 0, 0} }

"option1" is an option that requires an additional argument
"option2" is an option that can be turned on. The default is off.
"option3" is an option that can be turned off. The default is on.
"o" does not have a description. It is an alias for the option that follows. In this case "option2".
"+file" specifies an argument. The '+' is removed. If your program doesn't specify that it can use arguments your program will abort when an argument is passed to it.

Instead of "--option3" one may also use "-option3"

Usage examples:

"myapp --option1 test"
"myapp" (same as "myapp --option1 default")
"myapp --option2"
"myapp --nooption2" (same as "myapp")
"myapp -o" (same as "myapp --option2")
"myapp --nooption3"
"myapp --option3 (same as "myapp")
"myapp --option2 --nooption2" (same as "myapp")
"myapp /tmp/file"

Parameters:

options A list of options thath your code supplies.

id A name with which these options can be identified.

afterId The options are inserted after this set of options.

KCmdLineArgs * parsedArgs (const char *id=0)

parsedArgs

[static]

Access parsed arguments.

This function returns all command line arguments that your code handles. If unknown command-line arguments are encountered the program is aborted and usage information is shown.

Parameters:

id The name of the options you are interested in.

QString cwd ()

cwd

[static]

Get the CWD (Current Working Directory) associated with the current command line arguments.

Typically this is needed in KUniqueApplication::newInstance() since the CWD of the process may be different from the CWD where the user started a second instance.

const char * appName ()

appName

[static]

Get the appname according to argv[0]

void usage (const char *id = 0)

usage

[static]

Print the usage help to stdout and exit.

Parameters:

complete If true, print all available options.

void usage (const QString &error)

usage

[static]

Print an error to stderr and the usage help to stdout and exit.

void enable_i18n ()

enable_i18n

[static]

Enable i18n to be able to print a translated error message.

N.B.: This function leaks memory, therefore you are expected to exit afterwards (e.g., by calling usage()).

QCString getOption (const char *option)

getOption

[const]

Read out a string option.

Parameters:

option The name of the option without '-'.

Returns: The value of the option. If the option was not present on the command line the default is returned. If the option was present more than the value of the last occurence is used.

QCStringList getOptionList (const char *option)

getOptionList

[const]

Read out all occurences of a string option.

Parameters:

option The name of the option without '-'.

Returns: A list of all option values. If no option was present on the command line, an empty list is returned.

bool isSet (const char *option)

isSet

[const]

Read out a boolean option or check for the presence of string option.

If the option is listed as '

Parameters:

option The name of the option without '-' or '-no'.

Returns: The value of the option. If the option was not present on the command line the default is returned. If the option is listed as 'no

int count ()

count

[const]

Read the number of arguments that aren't options (but, for example, filenames).

Returns: The number of arguments that aren't options

const char * arg (int n)

arg

[const]

Read out an argument.

Parameters:

n The argument to read. 0 is the first argument. count()-1 is the last argument.

Returns: A const char @p * pointer to the n'th argument.

KURL url (int n)

url

[const]

Read out an argument representing a URL.

The argument can be

an absolute filename
a relative filename
a URL

Parameters:

n The argument to read. 0 is the first argument. count()-1 is the last argument.

Returns: a URL representing the n'th argument.

KURL makeURL ( const char * urlArg )

makeURL

[static]

Used by url Made public for apps that don't use KCmdLineArgs

Parameters:

urlArgs the argument

void setCwd ( char * cwd )

setCwd

[static]

Made public for apps that don't use KCmdLineArgs To be done before makeURL, to set the current working directory in case makeURL needs it.

void clear ()

clear

Clear all options and arguments.

KCmdLineArgs ( const KCmdLineOptions *_options, const char *_id, const char *_name)

KCmdLineArgs

[protected]

Constructor.

~KCmdLineArgs ()

~KCmdLineArgs

[protected]

Use clear() if you want to free up some memory.

Destructor.

Version: 0.0.4
Author: Waldo Bastian
Generated: dfaure on faure on Tue Apr 16 08:49:00 2002, using kdoc 2.0a53.

argc	As passed to `main`(...).
argv	As passed to `main`(...).
appname	The untranslated name of your application. This should match with `argv`[0].
description	A short description of what your application is about.
version	A version.
noKApp	Don't add commandline options for QApplication/KApplication

options	A list of options thath your code supplies.
id	A name with which these options can be identified.
afterId	The options are inserted after this set of options.