Best way to parse command-line parameters? [closed

Question

What's the best way to parse command-line parameters in Scala? I personally prefer something lightweight that does not require external jar.

Related:

• Java library for parsing command-line parameters?
• What parameter parser libraries are there for C++?
• Best way to parse command line arguments in C#

Answer 1

As everyone posted it's own solution here is mine, cause I wanted something easier to write for the user : https://gist.github.com/gwenzek/78355526e476e08bb34d

The gist contains a code file, plus a test file and a short example copied here:

import ***.ArgsOps._


object Example {
    val parser = ArgsOpsParser("--someInt|-i" -> 4, "--someFlag|-f", "--someWord" -> "hello")

    def main(args: Array[String]){
        val argsOps = parser <<| args
        val someInt : Int = argsOps("--someInt")
        val someFlag : Boolean = argsOps("--someFlag")
        val someWord : String = argsOps("--someWord")
        val otherArgs = argsOps.args

        foo(someWord, someInt, someFlag)
    }
}

There is not fancy options to force a variable to be in some bounds, cause I don't feel that the parser is the best place to do so.

Note : you can have as much alias as you want for a given variable.

Answer 2

scopt/scopt

val parser = new scopt.OptionParser[Config]("scopt") {
  head("scopt", "3.x")

  opt[Int]('f', "foo") action { (x, c) =>
    c.copy(foo = x) } text("foo is an integer property")

  opt[File]('o', "out") required() valueName("<file>") action { (x, c) =>
    c.copy(out = x) } text("out is a required file property")

  opt[(String, Int)]("max") action { case ((k, v), c) =>
    c.copy(libName = k, maxCount = v) } validate { x =>
    if (x._2 > 0) success
    else failure("Value <max> must be >0") 
  } keyValueName("<libname>", "<max>") text("maximum count for <libname>")

  opt[Unit]("verbose") action { (_, c) =>
    c.copy(verbose = true) } text("verbose is a flag")

  note("some notes.\n")

  help("help") text("prints this usage text")

  arg[File]("<file>...") unbounded() optional() action { (x, c) =>
    c.copy(files = c.files :+ x) } text("optional unbounded args")

  cmd("update") action { (_, c) =>
    c.copy(mode = "update") } text("update is a command.") children(
    opt[Unit]("not-keepalive") abbr("nk") action { (_, c) =>
      c.copy(keepalive = false) } text("disable keepalive"),
    opt[Boolean]("xyz") action { (x, c) =>
      c.copy(xyz = x) } text("xyz is a boolean property")
  )
}
// parser.parse returns Option[C]
parser.parse(args, Config()) map { config =>
  // do stuff
} getOrElse {
  // arguments are bad, usage message will have been displayed
}

The above generates the following usage text:

scopt 3.x
Usage: scopt [update] [options] [<file>...]

  -f <value> | --foo <value>
        foo is an integer property
  -o <file> | --out <file>
        out is a required file property
  --max:<libname>=<max>
        maximum count for <libname>
  --verbose
        verbose is a flag
some notes.

  --help
        prints this usage text
  <file>...
        optional unbounded args

Command: update
update is a command.

  -nk | --not-keepalive
        disable keepalive    
  --xyz <value>
        xyz is a boolean property

This is what I currently use. Clean usage without too much baggage. (Disclaimer: I now maintain this project)

Answer 3

I like the clean look of this code... gleaned from a discussion here: http://www.scala-lang.org/old/node/4380

object ArgParser {
  val usage = """
Usage: parser [-v] [-f file] [-s sopt] ...
Where: -v   Run verbosely
       -f F Set input file to F
       -s S Set Show option to S
"""

  var filename: String = ""
  var showme: String = ""
  var debug: Boolean = false
  val unknown = "(^-[^\\s])".r

  val pf: PartialFunction[List[String], List[String]] = {
    case "-v" :: tail => debug = true; tail
    case "-f" :: (arg: String) :: tail => filename = arg; tail
    case "-s" :: (arg: String) :: tail => showme = arg; tail
    case unknown(bad) :: tail => die("unknown argument " + bad + "\n" + usage)
  }

  def main(args: Array[String]) {
    // if there are required args:
    if (args.length == 0) die()
    val arglist = args.toList
    val remainingopts = parseArgs(arglist,pf)

    println("debug=" + debug)
    println("showme=" + showme)
    println("filename=" + filename)
    println("remainingopts=" + remainingopts)
  }

  def parseArgs(args: List[String], pf: PartialFunction[List[String], List[String]]): List[String] = args match {
    case Nil => Nil
    case _ => if (pf isDefinedAt args) parseArgs(pf(args),pf) else args.head :: parseArgs(args.tail,pf)
  }

  def die(msg: String = usage) = {
    println(msg)
    sys.exit(1)
  }

}

Answer 4

I based my approach on the top answer (from dave4420), and tried to improve it by making it more general-purpose.

It returns a Map[String,String] of all command line parameters You can query this for the specific parameters you want (eg using .contains) or convert the values into the types you want (eg using toInt).

def argsToOptionMap(args:Array[String]):Map[String,String]= {
  def nextOption(
      argList:List[String], 
      map:Map[String, String]
    ) : Map[String, String] = {
    val pattern       = "--(\\w+)".r // Selects Arg from --Arg
    val patternSwitch = "-(\\w+)".r  // Selects Arg from -Arg
    argList match {
      case Nil => map
      case pattern(opt)       :: value  :: tail => nextOption( tail, map ++ Map(opt->value) )
      case patternSwitch(opt) :: tail => nextOption( tail, map ++ Map(opt->null) )
      case string             :: Nil  => map ++ Map(string->null)
      case option             :: tail => {
        println("Unknown option:"+option) 
        sys.exit(1)
      }
    }
  }
  nextOption(args.toList,Map())
}

Example:

val args=Array("--testing1","testing1","-a","-b","--c","d","test2")
argsToOptionMap( args  )

Gives:

res0: Map[String,String] = Map(testing1 -> testing1, a -> null, b -> null, c -> d, test2 -> null)

Answer 5

I've attempted generalize @pjotrp's solution by taking in a list of required positional key symbols, a map of flag -> key symbol and default options:

def parseOptions(args: List[String], required: List[Symbol], optional: Map[String, Symbol], options: Map[Symbol, String]): Map[Symbol, String] = {
  args match {
    // Empty list
    case Nil => options

    // Keyword arguments
    case key :: value :: tail if optional.get(key) != None =>
      parseOptions(tail, required, optional, options ++ Map(optional(key) -> value))

    // Positional arguments
    case value :: tail if required != Nil =>
      parseOptions(tail, required.tail, optional, options ++ Map(required.head -> value))

    // Exit if an unknown argument is received
    case _ =>
      printf("unknown argument(s): %s\n", args.mkString(", "))
      sys.exit(1)
  }
}

def main(sysargs Array[String]) {
  // Required positional arguments by key in options
  val required = List('arg1, 'arg2)

  // Optional arguments by flag which map to a key in options
  val optional = Map("--flag1" -> 'flag1, "--flag2" -> 'flag2)

  // Default options that are passed in
  var defaultOptions = Map()

  // Parse options based on the command line args
  val options = parseOptions(sysargs.toList, required, optional, defaultOptions)
}

Answer 6

I am from Java world, I like args4j because its simple, specification is more readable( thanks to annotations) and produces nicely formatted output.

Here is my example snippet:

Specification

import org.kohsuke.args4j.{CmdLineException, CmdLineParser, Option}

object CliArgs {

  @Option(name = "-list", required = true,
    usage = "List of Nutch Segment(s) Part(s)")
  var pathsList: String = null

  @Option(name = "-workdir", required = true,
    usage = "Work directory.")
  var workDir: String = null

  @Option(name = "-master",
    usage = "Spark master url")
  var masterUrl: String = "local[2]"

}

Parse

//var args = "-listt in.txt -workdir out-2".split(" ")
val parser = new CmdLineParser(CliArgs)
try {
  parser.parseArgument(args.toList.asJava)
} catch {
  case e: CmdLineException =>
    print(s"Error:${e.getMessage}\n Usage:\n")
    parser.printUsage(System.out)
    System.exit(1)
}
println("workDir  :" + CliArgs.workDir)
println("listFile :" + CliArgs.pathsList)
println("master   :" + CliArgs.masterUrl)

On invalid arguments

Error:Option "-list" is required
 Usage:
 -list VAL    : List of Nutch Segment(s) Part(s)
 -master VAL  : Spark master url (default: local[2])
 -workdir VAL : Work directory.