class OptionParser

Overview

OptionParser is a class for command-line options processing. It supports:

Run crystal for an example of a CLI built with OptionParser.

Short example:

require "option_parser"

upcase = false
destination = "World"

OptionParser.parse do |parser|
  parser.banner = "Usage: salute [arguments]"
  parser.on("-u", "--upcase", "Upcases the salute") { upcase = true }
  parser.on("-t NAME", "--to=NAME", "Specifies the name to salute") { |name| destination = name }
  parser.on("-h", "--help", "Show this help") { puts parser }
  parser.invalid_option do |flag|
    STDERR.puts "ERROR: #{flag} is not a valid option."
    STDERR.puts parser
    exit(1)
  end
end

destination = destination.upcase if upcase
puts "Hello #{destination}!"

Defined in:

option_parser.cr

Constructors

Instance Method Summary

Instance methods inherited from class Reference

==(other : self)
==(other : JSON::Any)
==(other : YAML::Any)
==(other) ==, dup dup, hash(hasher) hash, inspect(io : IO) : Nil inspect, object_id : UInt64 object_id, pretty_print(pp) : Nil pretty_print, same?(other : Reference)
same?(other : Nil) same?, to_s(io : IO) : Nil to_s

Constructor methods inherited from class Reference

new new

Instance methods inherited from class Object

! : Bool !, !=(other) !=, !~(other) !~, ==(other) ==, ===(other : JSON::Any)
===(other : YAML::Any)
===(other) ===, =~(other) =~, as(type : Class) as, as?(type : Class) as?, class class, dup dup, hash
hash(hasher) hash, inspect(io : IO) : Nil
inspect : String inspect, is_a?(type : Class) : Bool is_a?, itself itself, nil? : Bool nil?, not_nil! not_nil!, pretty_inspect(width = 79, newline = "\n", indent = 0) : String pretty_inspect, pretty_print(pp : PrettyPrint) : Nil pretty_print, responds_to?(name : Symbol) : Bool responds_to?, tap(&) tap, to_json(io : IO)
to_json to_json, to_pretty_json(indent : String = " ")
to_pretty_json(io : IO, indent : String = " ") to_pretty_json, to_s : String
to_s(io : IO) : Nil to_s, to_yaml(io : IO)
to_yaml to_yaml, try(&) try, unsafe_as(type : T.class) forall T unsafe_as

Class methods inherited from class Object

from_json(string_or_io, root : String)
from_json(string_or_io) from_json, from_yaml(string_or_io : String | IO) from_yaml

Constructor Detail

def self.new #

Creates a new parser.


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def self.new(&) #

Creates a new parser, with its configuration specified in the block.


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def self.parse(args = ARGV, &) : self #

Creates a new parser, with its configuration specified in the block, and uses it to parse the passed args (defaults to ARGV).


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def self.parse!(&) : self #

DEPRECATED Use #parse instead.


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Instance Method Detail

def banner=(banner : String?) #

Establishes the initial message for the help printout. Typically, you want to write here the name of your program, and a one-line template of its invocation.

Example:

require "option_parser"

parser = OptionParser.new
parser.banner = "Usage: crystal [command] [switches] [program file] [--] [arguments]"

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def invalid_option(&invalid_option : String -> ) #

Sets a handler for option arguments that didn't match any of the setup options.

You typically use this to display a help message. The default raises InvalidOption.


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def missing_option(&missing_option : String -> ) #

Sets a handler for when a option that expects an argument wasn't given any.

You typically use this to display a help message. The default raises MissingOption.


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def on(short_flag : String, long_flag : String, description : String, &block : String -> ) #

Establishes a handler for a pair of short and long flags.

See the other definition of #on for examples.


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def on(flag : String, description : String, &block : String -> ) #

Establishes a handler for a flag.

Flags must start with a dash or double dash. They can also have an optional argument, which will get passed to the block. Each flag has a description, which will be used for the help message.

Examples of valid flags:

  • -a, -B
  • --something-longer
  • -f FILE, --file FILE, --file=FILE (these will yield the passed value to the block as a string)

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def parse(args = ARGV) #

Parses the passed args (defaults to ARGV), running the handlers associated to each option.


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def parse! #

DEPRECATED Use #parse instead.


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def separator(message = "") #

Adds a separator, with an optional header message, that will be used to print the help.

This way, you can group the different options in an easier to read way.


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def to_s(io : IO) : Nil #

Returns all the setup options, formatted in a help message.


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def unknown_args(&unknown_args : Array(String), Array(String) -> ) #

Sets a handler for regular arguments that didn't match any of the setup options.

You typically use this to get the main arguments (not modifiers) that your program expects (for example, filenames)


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