getopt(1)getopt(1)NAMEgetopt - Parses command line flags and arguments
SYNOPSISgetopt format tokens
DESCRIPTION
The getopt command is used to parse a list of tokens using a format
that specifies expected flags and arguments. A flag is a single ASCII
letter and, when followed by a : (colon), is expected to take a modify‐
ing argument that may or may not be separated from it by one or more
tabs or spaces. (You can include multi-byte characters in arguments,
but not as flag letters.)
The getopt command completes processing when it has read all tokens or
when it encounters the special token -- (double dash). It then outputs
the processed flags, a --, and any remaining tokens.
If a token fails to match a flag, getopt writes a message to standard
error.
NOTES
In the csh, use the following command to run getopt:
set argv=`getopt flag_string $*`
EXAMPLES
The following is an example of the use of getopt in a skeleton shell
script to parse options:
#!/bin/sh # parse command line into arguments set -- `getopt a:bc $*` #
check result of parsing if [ $? != 0 ] then
exit 1 fi while [ $1 != -- ] do
case $1 in
-a) # set up the -a flag
AFLG=1
AARG=$2
shift;;
-b) # set up the -b flag
BFLG=1;;
-c) # set up the -c flag
CFLG=1;;
esac
shift # next flag done shift # skip double dash # now do
the work . . .
The following are all equivalent arguments to the script:
-a ARG -b -c -- A B C -a ARG -bc -- A B C -aARG -b -c -- A B C -b -c -a
ARG -- A B C
SEE ALSO
Commands: sh(1)
Functions: getopt(3)getopt(1)