How to use command line options in a c command line tool? - c

I am trying to understand how to use command line options with a command line c tool and I came accross this example.Can some one explain how the code flow works,I am not able to understand it,also I understand that it uses a getopt() function which is inbuilt.
The exe called is rocket_to and it has two command line options, e and a. e option takes 4 as an argument and a option takes Brasalia,Tokyo,London as argument.
Can some one explain how the code works?
This is the actual code:
command line:
rocket_to -e 4 -a Brasalia Tokyo London
code:
#include<unistd.h>
..
while((ch=getopt(argc,argv,"ae:"))!=EOF)
switch(ch){
..
case 'e':
engine_count=optarg;
..
}
argc -=optind;
argv +=optind;

There are many manual pages for getopt() including the POSIX specification. They describe what the getopt() function does. You can also read the POSIX Utility Conventions which describes how arguments are handled by most programs (but there are plenty of exceptions to the rules, usually because of historical, pre-POSIX precedent).
In the example outline code, the -e option takes an argument, and that is the 4 in the example command line. You can tell because of the e: in the third argument to getopt() (the colon following the letter indicates that the option takes an argument). The -a option takes no argument; you can tell because it is not followed by a colon in the third argument to getopt(). The names Brasilia, Tokyo, London are non-option arguments after the option processing is complete. They're the values in argv[0] .. argv[argc-1] after the two compound assignments outside the loop.
The use of EOF is incorrect; getopt() returns -1 when there are no more options for it to process. You don't have to include <stdio.h> to be able to use getopt().
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <unistd.h>
int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
int ch;
int aflag = 0;
char *engine_count = "0";
while ((ch = getopt(argc, argv, "ae:")) != -1)
{
switch (ch)
{
case 'a':
aflag = 1;
break;
case 'e':
engine_count = optarg;
break;
default:
fprintf(stderr, "Usage: %s [-a][-e engine] [name ...]\n", argv[0]);
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}
}
argc -= optind;
argv += optind;
printf("A flag = %d\n", aflag);
printf("Engine = %s\n", engine_count);
for (int i = 0; i < argc; i++)
printf("argv[%d] = %s\n", i, argv[i]);
return 0;
}
That is working code which, if compiled to create a program rocket_to, produces:
$ ./rocket_to -e 4 -a Brasilia Tokyo London
A flag = 1
Engine = 4
argv[0] = Brasilia
argv[1] = Tokyo
argv[2] = London
$ ./rocket_to -a -e 4 Brasilia Tokyo London
A flag = 1
Engine = 4
argv[0] = Brasilia
argv[1] = Tokyo
argv[2] = London
$ ./rocket_to -e -a 4 Brasilia Tokyo London
A flag = 0
Engine = -a
argv[0] = 4
argv[1] = Brasilia
argv[2] = Tokyo
argv[3] = London
$

From the getopt man page:
The getopt() function parses the command-line arguments. Its arguments argc and argv are the argument count and array as passed to
the main() function on program invocation. An element of argv that starts with '-' (and is not exactly "-" or "--") is an option element. The characters of this element (aside from the initial '-') are option characters. If getopt() is called repeatedly, it
returns successively each of the option characters from each of the option elements.
The 3rd argument to getopt() are the valid options. If the option is followed by a colon it requires an argument. The argument can be accessed through the optarg variable. So in your example you have two options: 'a' which takes no argument and 'e' which takes an argument.
If getopt() finds an options it returns the character. If all options are parsed it returns -1 and if an unknown option is found it returns -1.
So your code loops through all options and processes them in a switch statement.
Next time when you have trouble understanding something like this try to run man <unknown function> first.

Related

How does "optind" get assigned in C?

I am creating this question because there is not much about how this optind gets assigned for each loop.
Man page says :
The variable optind is the index of the next element to be processed in argv. The system initializes this value to 1.
Below, I have a simple code I got from Head First C and in the code we subtract "optind" from "argc" and we get the number of leftover arguments, which will we use then to print leftover arguments as "Ingredients".
#include <unistd.h>
#include <stdio.h>
int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
char* delivery = "";
int thick = 0 ;
int count = 0;
char ch;,
for(int i = 0; i < argc;i++){
//This is , to show the whole array and their indexes.
printf("Argv[%i] = %s\n", i, argv[i]);
}
while((ch = getopt(argc, argv, "d:t")) != -1 ){
switch(ch) {
case 'd':
printf("Optind in case 'd' : %i\n",optind);
delivery = optarg;
break;
case 't':
printf("Optind in case 't' : %i\n",optind);
thick = 1;
break;
default:
fprintf(stderr,"Unknown option: '%s'\n", optarg); // optional argument.
return 1;
}
}
argc -= optind;
argv += optind;
printf("Optind : %i and Argc after the subctraction : %i\n",optind,argc);
if(thick)
puts("Thick crust");
if(delivery[0]){
printf("To be delivered %s\n", delivery);
}
puts("Ingredients:");
for(count = 0; count < argc ; count ++){
puts(argv[count]);
}
return 0;
}
So at the beginning of the code the for loop writes all the array and its indexes to see the difference.
Then I run the code with :
./pizzaCode -d now Anchovies Pineapple -t //-t is intentionally at the end
I was told that if the flag was at the end it wouldn't get in the 't' case but somehow it works on my ubuntu. That is another thing I wonder but not the main question.
So the output is as follows :
Argv[0] = ./pizzaCode
Argv[1] = -d
Argv[2] = now
Argv[3] = Anchovies
Argv[4] = Pineapple
Argv[5] = -t
Optind in case 'd' : 3
Optind in case 't' : 6
Optind : 4 and Argc after the subctraction : 2
Thick crust
To be delivered now
Ingredients:
Anchovies
Pineapple
1- Everything is fine so far, the problem is how come argv[0] and argv1 became Anchovies and Pineapple ?
2- And another question is how did optind become 3 in case 'd'? Since 'd's index is 1 and the next index is 2.
3- How did optind become 4 after the loop ? It was 6 in the case 't'.
I hope my question is clear for you all, I am just trying to understand the logic instead of having to memorize it.
Thank you in advance!
The manpage for Gnu getopt documents this non-standard implementation:
By default, getopt() permutes the contents of argv as it scans, so that eventually all the nonoptions are at the end.
This is actually not quite true; the permutation occurs after the last option is scanned, as you have seen in your example. But the effect is the same; argv is permuted so that nonoptions are at the end, and optind is modified to index the first nonoption.
If you want to avoid the permutation, so that getopt behaves as per Posix:
If the first character of optstring is '+' or the environment variable POSIXLY_CORRECT is set, then option processing stops as soon as a nonoption argument is encountered.
In this case, no permuting is done and optind's value is preserved.
Setting POSIXLY_CORRECT has other consequences, documented here and there in the manpages for various Gnu utilities. My habit is to use + as the first character of the option string (unless I actually want non-Posix behaviour), but arguably setting the environment variable is more portable.
For your specific questions:
Why are the non-option arguments at argv[0] and argv[1]?
Because you modified argv: argv += optind;
Why is optind 3 in the loop processing option -d?
Because that option takes an argument. So the next argument is the one following the now argument, which has already been processed (by placing a pointer to it into optarg).
How did optind become 4?
As above, it was modified after the argv vector was permuted, in order for optind to be the index of the first "unprocessed" non-option argument.

Parsing optional command line arguments in C

I have a program that takes in optional arguments. The necessary arguments are a file and integers (1 or more). The optional arguments are a mix of strings and integers.
So a correct input on the command line could be:
./main trace_file 8 12 # (only necessary arguments)
./main –n 3000000 –p page.txt trace_file 8 7 4 # (with optional arguments)
I need to get the integers after trace_file into an array. I'm having trouble figuring out how to do this when the optional arguments are enabled, because another integer is on the command line. A push in the right direction would be greatly appreciated, because I cannot figure out how to do this.
EDIT:
so far, all I have for parsing the arguments is this:
for(j=2, k=0; j<argc; j++, k++) {
shift += atoi(argv[j]);
shiftArr[k] = 32 - shift;
bitMaskArr[k] = (int)(pow(2, atoi(argv[j])) - 1) << (shiftArr[k]);
entryCnt[k] = (int)pow(2, atoi(argv[j]));
}
But this will only work when no optional arguments are entered.
I don't see any major problems if you use a reasonably POSIX-compliant version of getopt().
Source code (goo.c)
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <unistd.h>
/*
./main trace_file 8 12 # (only necessary arguments)
./main –n 3000000 –p page.txt trace_file 8 7 4 # (with optional arguments)
*/
static void usage(const char *argv0)
{
fprintf(stderr, "Usage: %s [-n number][-p pagefile] trace n1 n2 ...\n", argv0);
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}
int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
int number = 0;
char *pagefile = "default.txt";
char *tracefile;
int opt;
while ((opt = getopt(argc, argv, "n:p:")) != -1)
{
switch (opt)
{
case 'p':
pagefile = optarg;
break;
case 'n':
number = atoi(optarg);
break;
default:
usage(argv[0]);
}
}
if (argc - optind < 3)
{
fprintf(stderr, "%s: too few arguments\n", argv[0]);
usage(argv[0]);
}
tracefile = argv[optind++];
printf("Trace file: %s\n", tracefile);
printf("Page file: %s\n", pagefile);
printf("Multiplier: %d\n", number);
for (int i = optind; i < argc; i++)
printf("Processing number: %d (%s)\n", atoi(argv[i]), argv[i]);
return 0;
}
Compilation
$ gcc -O3 -g -std=c11 -Wall -Wextra -Wmissing-prototypes -Wstrict-prototypes \
> -Wold-style-definition -Werror goo.c -o goo
Example runs
$ ./goo trace_file 8 12
Trace file: trace_file
Page file: default.txt
Multiplier: 0
Processing number: 8 (8)
Processing number: 12 (12)
$ ./goo -n 3000000 -p page.txt trace_file 8 7 4
Trace file: trace_file
Page file: page.txt
Multiplier: 3000000
Processing number: 8 (8)
Processing number: 7 (7)
Processing number: 4 (4)
$
I've given this a bit of thought and there is no simple way for getopt to return multiple arguments. I did wonder about defining "y::",but have dismissed this. Options are
1) have 2 options y and Y use one for each int and a boolean flag to catch the exception where y is defined, but Y isn't.
2) leave complex options like y out of the getopt cycle. Once getopt has processed options and shuffled arguments. Pre process these arguments to capture the -y operands and code in the process arguments to skip -y and it's operands
3) it's more usual across *nix commands to provide multiple values as a single argument which itself is a comma separated list of values. You achieve this by adding "y:" to your getopt processing. The string it points too needs to be parsed into the 2 tokens A and B from string A,B
If you can't use getopt() or some other function that does the hard work for you, then a possible strategy would be:
Create new variables myargc, myargv, and copy argc and argv into them.
Write functions that deal with paired arguments (like "-n 300000" or "-p page.txt". Pass myargc and myargv into these functions by reference. Each such function returns the value associated with the argument (e.g., 300000 or page.txt) if it was found, or an invalid value (e.g., -1 or "") if it wasn't. And in either case, the function removes both items from myargv and decrements myargc by 2.
If you also have arguments that are just individual flags, write functions for those that return boolean indicating whether the flag was found, remove the flag from myargv, and decrements myargc by 1. (You could deal with trace_file this way, even if it's not optional. I'm assuming that trace_file is just a flag, and not related to the 8 that follows it.)
Call the functions for each of your optional arguments first. The stuff that's left in myargc and myargv after you've called them all should just be your required arguments, and you can process them as you normally would.
If you can't use getopt() or some other function that does the hard work for you, then a possible strategy would be:
Create new variables myargc, myargv, and copy argc and argv into them.
Write functions that deal with paired arguments (like "-n 300000" or "-p page.txt". Pass myargc and myargv into these functions by reference. Each such function returns the value associated with the argument (e.g., 300000 or page.txt) if it was found, or an invalid value (e.g., -1 or "") if it wasn't. And in either case, the function removes both items from myargv and decrements myargc by 2.
If you also have arguments that are just individual flags, write functions for those that return boolean indicating whether the flag was found, remove the flag from myargv, and decrements myargc by 1. (You could deal with trace_file this way, even if it's not optional. I'm assuming that trace_file is just a flag, and not related to the 8 that follows it.)
Call the functions for each of your optional arguments first.

how to parse command line arguments in C?

I am trying to parse command line arguments in C. Currently, I am using getopt do the parse. I have something like this:
#include <unistd.h>
int main(int argc, char ** argv)
{
while((c=getopt(argc, argv, "abf:")) != -1)
{
switch(c)
{
case 'a':
break;
case 'b':
break;
case 'f':
puts(optarg);
break;
case ':':
puts("oops");
break;
case '?'
puts("wrong command");
break;
}
}
}
then need to use ./a.out -fto run the program, and -f is the command element, but looks like -f must start with a '-', if I do not want the command element starts with '-', i.e, using ./a.out f instead of ./a.out -f, how to achieve it?
if getopt does not support parsing a command line in this way, are there any other library to use in C?
The argc and argv variables give you access to what you're looking for. argc is "argument count" and argv is "argument vector" (array of strings).
getopt is a very useful and powerful tool, but if you must not start with a dash, you can just access the argument array directly:
int main( int argc, char** argv) {
if( argc != 1) { /* problem! */ }
char * argument = argv[1]; // a.out f ... argv[1] will be "f"
}
You could use (on Linux with GNU libc) for parsing program arguments:
getopt with getopt_long; you might skip some arguments using tricks around optind
argp which is quite powerful
and of course you could parse program arguments manually, since they are given thru main(int argc, char**argv) on Linux (with the guarantee that argc>0, that argv[0] is "the program name" -e.g. to find it in your $PATH when it contains no / ..., that argv[argc] is the NULL pointer, and that before that every argv[i] with i<argc and i>0 is a zero-terminated string. See execve(2) for more.
GNU coding standards: command line interfaces document quite clearly some conventions. Please, obey at least the --help and --version conventions!
You might also be concerned by customizing the shell auto-completion facilities. GNU bash has programmable completion. zsh has a sophisticated completion system.
Remember that on Posix and Linux the globbing of command words is done by the shell before starting your program. See glob(7).
The getopt library will stop parsing at the first non-option argument. For command-based programs, this will be at the command name. You can then set optind to the index to start at and run getopt again with the command-specific arguments.
For example:
// general getopts
if (optind >= argc) return 0; // error -- no command
if (strcmp(argv[optind], "command") == 0)
{
++optind; // move over the command name
// 'command'-specific getopts
if (optind >= argc) return 0; // error -- no input
}
This should allow git-like command-line parsing.

Handle segmentation fault accessing non-existent command line argument

I'm making a program in C in linux environment. Now, program runs with arguments which I supply in the command line.
For example:
./programName -a 45 -b 64
I wanted to handle the case when my command line parameters are wrongly supplied. Say, only 'a' and 'b' are valid parameters and character other than that is wrong. I handled this case. But suppose if my command line parameter is like this:
./programName -a 45 -b
It gives segmentation fault(core dumped). I know why it gives because there is no arguments after b. But how can I handle this situation such that when this condition arrives, I can print an error message on screen and exit my program.
As per the main function wiki page:
The parameters argc, argument count, and argv, argument vector, respectively
So you can use your argc parameter to check whether or not you have the right number of arguments. If you don't have 4, handle it and proceed without segfault.
You can, and quite probably should, use getopt() or its GNU brethren getopt_long().
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <unistd.h>
int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
int b = 0;
int a = 0;
int opt;
while ((opt = getopt(argc, argv, "a:b:")) != -1)
{
switch (opt)
{
case 'a':
a = atoi(optarg);
break;
case 'b':
b = atoi(optarg);
break;
default:
fprintf(stderr, "Usage: %s -a num -b num\n", argv[0]);
exit(1);
}
}
if (a == 0 || b == 0)
{
fprintf(stderr, "%s: you did not provide non-zero values for both -a and -b options\n", argv[0]);
exit(1);
}
printf("a = %d, b = %d, sum = %d\n", a, b, a + b);
return(0);
}
You can make the error detection more clever as you wish, not allowing repeats, spotting extra arguments, allowing zeros through, etc. But the key point is that getopt() will outlaw your problematic invocation.
We can't see what went wrong with your code because you didn't show it, but if you go accessing a non-existent argument (like argv[4] when you run ./programName -a 42 -b), then you get core dumps. There are those who write out option parsing code by hand; such code is more vulnerable to such problems than code using getopt() or an equivalent option parsing function.

C getopt multiple value

My argument is like this
./a.out -i file1 file2 file3
How can I utilize getopt() to get 3 (or more) input files?
I'm doing something like this:
while ((opt = getopt(argc, argv, "i:xyz.."))!= -1){
case 'i':
input = optarg;
break;
...
}
I get just the file1; how to get file2, file3?
I know this is quite old but I came across this in my search for a solution.
while((command = getopt(argc, argv, "a:")) != -1){
switch(command){
case 'a':
(...)
optind--;
for( ;optind < argc && *argv[optind] != '-'; optind++){
DoSomething( argv[optind] );
}
break;
}
I found that int optind (extern used by getopt() ) points to next position after the 'current argv' selected by getopt();
That's why I decrease it at the beginning.
First of all for loop checks if the value of current argument is within boundaries of argv (argc is the length of array so last position in array argv is argc-1).
Second part of && compares if the next argument's first char is '-'. If the first char is '-' then we run out of next values for current argument else argv[optind] is our next value. And so on until the argv is over or argument runs out of values.
At the end increment optind to check for the next argv.
Note that because we are checking 'optind < argc' first second part of condition will not be executed unless first part is true so no worries of reading outside of array boundaries.
PS I am a quite new C programmer if someone has an improvements or critique please share it.
If you must, you could start at argv[optind] and increment optind yourself. However, I would recommend against this since I consider that syntax to be poor form. (How would you know when you've reached the end of the list? What if someone has a file named with a - as the first character?)
I think that it would be better yet to change your syntax to either:
/a.out -i file1 -i file2 -i file3
Or to treat the list of files as positional parameters:
/a.out file1 file2 file3
Note that glibc's nonconformant argument permutation extension will break any attempt to use multiple arguments to -i in this manner. And on non-GNU systems, the "second argument to -i" will be interpreted as the first non-option argument, halting any further option parsing. With these issues in mind, I would drop getopt and write your own command line parser if you want to use this syntax, since it's not a syntax supported by getopt.
I looked and tried the code above, but I found my solution a little easier and worked better for me:
The handling I wanted was:
-m mux_i2c_group mux_i2c_out
(2 arguments required).
Here's how it panned out for me:
case 'm':
mux_i2c_group = strtol(optarg, &ch_p, 0);
if (optind < argc && *argv[optind] != '-'){
mux_i2c_out = strtol(argv[optind], NULL, 0);
optind++;
} else {
fprintf(stderr, "\n-m option require TWO arguments <mux_group> "
"<mux_out>\n\n");
usage();
}
use_mux_flag = 1;
break;
This grabbed the first value form me as normal and then just looked for the second, REQUIRED value.
The solution by GoTTimw has proven very useful to me. However, I would like to mention one more idea, that has not been suggested here yet.
Pass arguments as one string in this way.
./a.out -i "file1 file2 file3"
Then you get one string as a single argument and you only need to split it by space.

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