Best way to parse command line arguments in C#? [c

Question

When building console applications that take parameters, you can use the arguments passed to Main(string[] args).

In the past I've simply indexed/looped that array and done a few regular expressions to extract the values. However, when the commands get more complicated, the parsing can get pretty ugly.

So I'm interested in:

• Libraries that you use
• Patterns that you use

Assume the commands always adhere to common standards such as answered here.

Answer 1

There is a command line argument parser at http://www.codeplex.com/commonlibrarynet

It can parse arguments using
1. attributes
2. explicit calls
3. single line of multiple arguments OR string array

It can handle things like the following:

-config:Qa -startdate:${today} -region:'New York' Settings01

It's very easy to use.

Answer 2

A very simple easy to use ad hoc class for command line parsing, that supports default arguments.

class CommandLineArgs
{
    public static CommandLineArgs I
    {
        get
        {
            return m_instance;
        }
    }

    public  string argAsString( string argName )
    {
        if (m_args.ContainsKey(argName)) {
            return m_args[argName];
        }
        else return "";
    }

    public long argAsLong(string argName)
    {
        if (m_args.ContainsKey(argName))
        {
            return Convert.ToInt64(m_args[argName]);
        }
        else return 0;
    }

    public double argAsDouble(string argName)
    {
        if (m_args.ContainsKey(argName))
        {
            return Convert.ToDouble(m_args[argName]);
        }
        else return 0;
    }

    public void parseArgs(string[] args, string defaultArgs )
    {
        m_args = new Dictionary<string, string>();
        parseDefaults(defaultArgs );

        foreach (string arg in args)
        {
            string[] words = arg.Split('=');
            m_args[words[0]] = words[1];
        }
    }

    private void parseDefaults(string defaultArgs )
    {
        if ( defaultArgs == "" ) return;
        string[] args = defaultArgs.Split(';');

        foreach (string arg in args)
        {
            string[] words = arg.Split('=');
            m_args[words[0]] = words[1];
        }
    }

    private Dictionary<string, string> m_args = null;
    static readonly CommandLineArgs m_instance = new CommandLineArgs();
}

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        CommandLineArgs.I.parseArgs(args, "myStringArg=defaultVal;someLong=12");
        Console.WriteLine("Arg myStringArg  : '{0}' ", CommandLineArgs.I.argAsString("myStringArg"));
        Console.WriteLine("Arg someLong     : '{0}' ", CommandLineArgs.I.argAsLong("someLong"));
    }
}

Answer 3

Look at http://github.com/mono/mono/tree/master/mcs/class/Mono.Options/

Answer 4

I like that one, because you can "define rules" for the arguments, needed or not,...

or if you're a Unix guy, than you might like the GNU Getopt .NET port.

Answer 5

I really like the Command Line Parser Library ( http://commandline.codeplex.com/ ). It has a very simple and elegant way of setting up parameters via attributes:

class Options
{
    [Option("i", "input", Required = true, HelpText = "Input file to read.")]
    public string InputFile { get; set; }

    [Option(null, "length", HelpText = "The maximum number of bytes to process.")]
    public int MaximumLenght { get; set; }

    [Option("v", null, HelpText = "Print details during execution.")]
    public bool Verbose { get; set; }

    [HelpOption(HelpText = "Display this help screen.")]
    public string GetUsage()
    {
        var usage = new StringBuilder();
        usage.AppendLine("Quickstart Application 1.0");
        usage.AppendLine("Read user manual for usage instructions...");
        return usage.ToString();
    }
}

Answer 6

Powershell Commandlets.

Parsing done by powershell based on attributes specified on the commandlets, support for validations, parameter sets, pipelining, error reporting, help, and best of all returning .NET objects for use in other commandlets.

A couple links i found helpful getting started:

• Quickstart Tutorial
• Programming Guide on MSDN
• Namespace Reference on MSDN