Arguments

Todo

Naming convention

Basic classes → Argument
Named arguments → Flag
Character prefixes → Short, Long, Windows

Overview

        graph LR;
  CLA[CommandLineArgument]
  style CLA stroke-dasharray: 5 5

  EA[ExecutableArgument]

  NA[NamedArgument]
  style NA stroke-dasharray: 5 5

  VA[ValuedArgument]
  style VA stroke-dasharray: 5 5

  NVA[NamedAndValuedArgument]
  style NVA stroke-dasharray: 5 5

  BF[BooleanFlag]
  style NVA stroke-dasharray: 5 5

  NTA[NamedTupledArgument]
  style NTA stroke-dasharray: 5 5

  NKVPA[NamedKeyValuePairsArgument]
  style NKVPA stroke-dasharray: 5 5

  CLA ----> EA
  CLA --> NA
  CLA --> VA
  NA --> NVA
  VA --> NVA
  NA --> BF
  VA --> BF
  NA --> NTA
  VA --> NTA
  NA --> NKVPA
  VA --> NKVPA

  CA["<b>CommandArgument</b><br/><div style='font-family: monospace'>command</div>"]
  FA[FlagArgument]
  style FA stroke-dasharray: 5 5

  NA ---> CA
  NA ---> FA

  SA["<b>StringArgument</b><br/><div style='font-family: monospace'>value</div>"]
  SLA["<b>StringListArgument</b><br/><div style='font-family: monospace'>value1 value2</div>"]
  PA["<b>PathArgument</b><br/><div style='font-family: monospace'>file1.txt</div>"]
  PLA["<b>PathListArgument</b><br/><div style='font-family: monospace'>file1.txt file2.txt</div>"]

  VA ---> SA
  VA ---> SLA
  VA ---> PA
  VA ---> PLA

  NVFA["<b>NamedAndValuedFlagArgument</b><br/><div style='font-family: monospace'>output=file.txt</div>"]
  style NVFA stroke-dasharray: 5 5
  NOVFA["<b>NamedAndOptionalValuedFlagArgument</b><br/><div style='font-family: monospace'>output=file.txt</div>"]
  style NOVFA stroke-dasharray: 5 5

  NVA --> NVFA
  NVA --> NOVFA

Without Prefix Character(s)

RAW Format	Examples	Argument Class
`executable`	`prog`	`ExecutableArgument`
`--`	`prog -option -- file1.txt`	`DelimiterArgument`
`command`	`prog help`	`CommandArgument`
`string`	`prog value`	`StringArgument`
`string1` `string2`	`prog value1 value2`	`StringListArgument`
`path`	`prog file1.txt`	`PathArgument`
`path1` `path2`	`prog File1.log File1.log`	`PathListArgument`

Executable

An executable argument represents a program/executable. The internal value is a Path object.

Command

Commands are (usually) mutually exclusive arguments and the first argument in a list of arguments to a program. They are used to logically group arguments.

While commands can or cannot have prefix characters, they shouldn’t be confused with flag arguments or string arguments.

Example:

prog command -arg1 --argument2

String

A simple argument accepting any string value. If a string has a predefined format, more specific argument classes should be used like Command, Flag or PathArgument.

List of Strings

Like StringArgument but supporting a list of strings.

Path

An argument accepting a Path object.

List of Paths

Like PathArgument but supporting a list of paths.

With Prefix Character(s)

Commonly used prefix characters are: single and double dash, single slash, or plus character(s).

Single Dash Argument Format	Double Dash Argument Format	Single Slash Argument Format	Argument Class
`-command`	`--command`	`/command`	`ShortCommand` `LongCommand` `WindowsCommand`
`-flag`	`--flag`	`/flag`	`ShortFlag` `LongFlag` `WindowsFlag`
`-flag` `-no-flag`	`--flag` `--no-flag`	`/flag` `/no-flag`	`ShortBooleanFlag` `LongBooleanFlag` `WindowsBooleanFlag`
`-flag` `-flag=value`	`--flag` `--flag=value`	`/flag` `/flag=value`	`ShortOptionalValuedFlag` `LongOptionalValuedFlag` `WindowsOptionalValuedFlag`
`-flag=value`	`--flag=value`	`/flag=value`	`ShortValuedFlag` `LongValuedFlag` `WindowsValuedFlag`
`-flag=value1 -flag=value2`	`--flag=value1 --flag=value2`	`/flag=value1 /flag=value2`	`ShortValuedFlagList` `LongValuedFlagList` `WindowsValuedFlagList`
`-flag value`	`--flag value`	`/flag value`	`ShortTupleFlag` `LongTupleFlag` `WindowsTupleFlag`
`-gKey1=value1 -gKey2=value2`	`--gKey1=value1 --gKey2=value2`	`/g:Key1=value1 /g:Key2=value2`	`ShortKeyValueFlag` `LongKeyValueFlag` `WindowsKeyValueFlag`

Command

Todo

Write documentation.

        graph LR;
  CLA[CommandLineArgument]
  style CLA stroke-dasharray: 5 5
  CLA --> NA[NamedArgument]
  style NA stroke-dasharray: 5 5
  NA --> CA["<b>CommandArgument</b><br/><div style='font-family: monospace'>command</div>"];
  CA --> SCA["<b>ShortCommand</b><br/><div style='font-family: monospace'>-command</div>"];
  CA --> LCA["<b>LongCommand</b><br/><div style='font-family: monospace'>--command</div>"];
  CA --> WCA["<b>WindowsCommand</b><br/><div style='font-family: monospace'>/command</div>"];

Flag

A flag is a command line argument that is either present or not. If present that argument is said to be activated or true.

3 variants are predefined with prefixes -, -- and /.

Variants

        graph LR;
  CLA[CommandLineArgument]
  style CLA stroke-dasharray: 5 5
  CLA --> NA[NamedArgument]
  style NA stroke-dasharray: 5 5
  NA --> FA[FlagArgument]
  style FA stroke-dasharray: 5 5
  FA --> SFA["<b>ShortFlag</b><br/><div style='font-family: monospace'>-flag</div>"]
  FA --> LFA["<b>LongFlag</b><br/><div style='font-family: monospace'>--flag</div>"]
  FA --> WFA["<b>WindowsFlag</b><br/><div style='font-family: monospace'>/flag</div>"]

Flag with Value

Todo

Write documentation.

Boolean Flag

Todo

Write documentation.

Flag with Optional Value

Todo

Write documentation.

List of Flags with Value

Todo

Write documentation.

Flag with Value as a Tuple

Todo

Write documentation.