getopt()

Process the next command line option.

Syntax

Getopt.getopt( )
  RETURNS INTEGER
  1. The returned status can be one of:
    • getopt.SUCCESS: A command line argument was detected and can be processed.
    • getopt.EOF: No more command line arguments to process, exit the WHILE loop.
    • getopt.BAD_ARGUMENT: An invalid command line argument was detected, exit the WHILE loop and inform the user.

Usage

This is a method for the Getopt type, that processes the next command line option.

Before using the getopt() method, a variable of the type Getopt must be defined and initialized with the initDefault() or initialize() method.

The getopt() method is typically used with a WHILE loop to process all command line arguments, by checking that the method returns getopt.SUCCESS:
    WHILE g.getopt() == getopt.SUCCESS
        ...
    END WHILE
Inside the WHILE loop, check the properties of the Getopt record to identify the current option that has been found. The opt_char member identifies the current option with its single-character short name, and the opt_arg member holds the option argument (--option=value), if one is available:
        CASE g.opt_char
            WHEN 'e'
               CALL extract(g.opt_arg)
            ...
        END CASE

When the WHILE loop ends because getopt() has returned a status different from getopt.SUCCESS, handle errors by checking the status with the invalidOptionSeen() method. If all provided options are correct, process additional command line arguments if needed. For more details, see getMoreArgument().

Example

IMPORT FGL getopt

MAIN
    DEFINE outfile STRING
    DEFINE g getopt.Getopt
    DEFINE _options getopt.GetoptOptions
        = [(name: "version",
            description: "Version information",
            opt_char: 'v',
            arg_type: getopt.NONE),
           (name: "help",
            description: "This help page",
            opt_char: 'h',
            arg_type: getopt.NONE),
           (name: "outfile",
            description: "Output filename",
            opt_char: 'o',
            arg_type: getopt.REQUIRED)]

    CALL g.initDefault(_options)
    WHILE g.getOpt() == getopt.SUCCESS
        CASE g.opt_char
            WHEN 'v'
                DISPLAY "Version 1.50"
                EXIT PROGRAM 0
            WHEN 'h'
                CALL g.displayUsage("file ...")
                EXIT PROGRAM 0
            WHEN 'o'
                LET outfile = g.opt_arg
        END CASE
    END WHILE

    IF g.invalidOptionSeen() THEN
        CALL g.displayUsage("file ...")
        EXIT PROGRAM 1
    END IF

END MAIN