cclip - C/C++ Command Line Interface Parser

cclip is a simple C++ library for parsing command line arguments. It allows you to define and parse command-line options and arguments easily in your C++ applications.

Installation

NOTE:

This library is header-only, so you don't need to build or install anything. Just include the cclip.hpp header file in your project.
Also this project requires a C++17 compatible compiler.

Github Clone

git clone https://github.com/Drew-Chase/cclip.git ./vendor/cclip

Github Submodule

git submodule add https://github.com/Drew-Chase/cclip.git ./vendor/cclip

Manual

Download the latest release from the releases page and extract the options_manager.hpp to your project's directory.

Usage

Create an Options Manager

cclip::options_manager manager("cclip test");

You can also include a description of the program.

cclip::options_manager manager("cclip test", "optional description");

Adding Options

const char *short_name = "h";
const char *long_name = "help";
const char *description = "Print this help message";
bool is_required = false;
bool has_argument = false;
    manager.add_option(short_name, long_name, description, is_required, has_argument);

Parsing Command Line Arguments

manager.parse(argc, argv);

Checking if an Option is Present

if (manager.is_present("h")) {
    manager.print_help();
}

Getting an Option

The option represents an individual command-line option. It contains the following fields:

• short_name: The short name of the option (e.g. -h).
• long_name: The long name of the option (e.g. --help).
• description: The description of the option.
• is_required: Whether the option is required.
• has_argument: Whether the option has an argument.
• argument: The argument of the option.

if (manager.is_present("f")) {
    auto option = manager.get_option("f");
    if (option->argument != nullptr) {
        // Do something with the argument
        std::cout << "File: " << option->argument << std::endl;
    }
}

Additional Options

    // Set the version of the application
    manager.set_version("0.0.1");
    // Add example usages
    manager.add_example_usage(R"(-f C:\Users\user\Desktop\file.txt)");
    // ... add more example usages

Example

Here is an example of how to use the cclip library to parse command-line arguments in a C++ program:

#include "cclip/cclip.hpp"
#include <iostream>

int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
    // Create an options manager with the program name
    cclip::options_manager manager("cclip test"); 
    
    // Create an options manager with the program name and description
    cclip::options_manager manager("cclip test", "optional description");
    
    // Add options
    manager.add_option("h", "help", "Print this help message", false, false);
    manager.add_option("v", "version", "Print the version", false, false);
    manager.add_option("V", "verbose", "Print the result verbosely", false, false); // Example of a short option with a capital letter
    manager.add_option("f", "file", "The file to read", true, true);
    
    // Set the version and example usage
    manager.set_version("0.0.1");
    manager.add_example_usage(R"(-f C:\Users\user\Desktop\file.txt)");
    manager.add_example_usage(R"(-f "C:\Users\user with space\Desktop\file.txt")");

    // Parse the command line arguments
    manager.parse(argc, argv);

    if (manager.is_present("h")) {
        manager.print_help();
        return 0;
    }
    
    if (manager.is_present("v")) {
        manager.print_version();
        return 0;
    }

    if (manager.is_present("f") && manager.get_option("f")->argument != nullptr) {
        std::cout << "File: " << manager.get_option("f")->argument << std::endl;
    }

    return 0;
}

Colorful Output

To add a little color to your output, you can use the ANSIConsoleColors library, and add the header above the cclip header.

#include "ANSIConsoleColors/ANSIConsoleColors.h"
#include "cclip/cclip.hpp"

Contributing

If you'd like to contribute to the cclip library, please feel free to submit issues, pull requests, or suggestions on GitHub.

License

This project is licensed under the GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE V3 - see the LICENSE file for details.