Path: usenet.cise.ufl.edu!huron.eel.ufl.edu!usenet.eel.ufl.edu!uky.edu!atl-news-feed1.bbnplanet.com!cpk-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!su-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!news.bbnplanet.com!logbridge.uoregon.edu!hammer.uoregon.edu!nntp.teleport.com!news.teleport.com!not-for-mail
From: Johan Vromans <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: comp.lang.perl.announce,comp.lang.perl.modules
Subject: ANNOUNCE: Getopt::Long version 2.13 released
Followup-To: comp.lang.perl.modules
Date: 29 Dec 1997 14:38:22 GMT
Organization: XS4ALL, networking for the masses
Lines: 219
Sender: [email protected]
Approved: [email protected] (comp.lang.perl.announce)
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
NNTP-Posting-Host: gadget.cscaper.com
X-Disclaimer: The "Approved" header verifies header information for article transmission and does not imply approval of content.
Xref: usenet.cise.ufl.edu comp.lang.perl.announce:28 comp.lang.perl.modules:801

Version 2.13 of module Getopt::Long is now available via CPAN. It
should soon appear in directory authors/Johan_Vromans as file
GetoptLong-2.13.tar.gz. It will be standard part of Perl 5.005 or later.

Module Getopt::Long implements an extended getopt function called
GetOptions(). This function implements the POSIX standard for command
line options, with GNU extensions, while still capable of handling
the traditional one-letter options (including option bundling).

The README document is attached to this message.

The best way to download from CPAN is to use a Web browser and point
it to http://www.perl.com/CPAN/ (include the final slash!). It will
automagically be redirected to a CPAN site in your neighborhood. URL:
http://www.perl.com/CPAN/authors/Johan_Vromans

Changes in version 2.13
-----------------------

* All regexps are changed to avoid the use of $`, $& and $'. Using one
 of these causes all pattern matches in the program to be much slower
 than necessary.

* Configuration errors are signalled using die() and will cause the
 program to be terminated (unless eval{...} or $SIG{__DIE__} is
 used).

* Option parsing errors are now signalled with calls to warn().

* In option bundles, numeric values may be embedded in the bundle
 (e.g. -al24w80).

* More 'perl -w' warnings eliminated for obscure cases of bundling.

* Removed non-standard version number matching. Version 1.121 is now
 more than 1.12 but less than 1.13.

Previous released version was 2.12.

---- README ----

Module Getopt::Long - extended processing of command line options
=================================================================

Module Getopt::Long implements an extended getopt function called
GetOptions(). This function implements the POSIX standard for command
line options, with GNU extensions, while still capable of handling
the traditional one-letter options.
In general, this means that command line options can have long names
instead of single letters, and are introduced with a double dash `--'.

Optionally, Getopt::Long can support the traditional bundling of
single-letter command line options.

Getopt::Long::GetOptions() is part of the Perl 5 distribution. It is
the successor of newgetopt.pl that came with Perl 4. It is fully
upward compatible. In fact, the Perl 5 version of newgetopt.pl is just
a wrapper around the module.

For complete documentation, see the Getopt::Long POD document or use
the command

   perldoc Getopt::Long

FEATURES
========

* Long option names

Major advantage of using long option names is that it is much easier
to memorize the option names. Using single-letter names one quickly
runs into the problem that there is no logical relationship between
the semantics of the selected option and its option letter.
Disadvantage is that it requires more typing. Getopt::Long provides
for option name abbreviation, so option names may be abbreviated to
uniqueness. Also, modern shells like Cornell's tcsh support option
name completion. As a rule of thumb, you can use abbreviations freely
while running commands interactively but always use the full names in
scripts.

Examples (POSIX):

   --long --width=80 --height=24

Extensions:

   -long (convenience) +width=80 (deprecated) -height 24 (traditional)

By default, long option names are case insensitive.

* Single-letter options and bundling

When single-letter options are requested, Getopt::Long allows the
option names to be bundled, e.g. "-abc" is equivalent to "-a -b -c".
In this case, long option names must be introduced with the POSIX "--"
introducer.

Examples:

   -lgAd (bundle) -xw 80 (bundle, w takes a value) -xw80 (same)
   even -l24w80 (l = 24 and w = 80)

By default, single-letter option names are case sensitive.

* Flexibility:

 - options can have alternative names, using an alternative name
   will behave as if the primary name was used;
 - options can be negatable, e.g. "debug" will switch it on, while
   "nodebug" will switch it off.
 - options can set values, but also add values producing an array
   of values instead of a single scalar value, or set values in a hash.

* Options linkage

Using Getopt::Long gives the programmer ultimate control over the
command line options and how they must be handled:

 - by setting a global variable in the calling program;
 - by setting a specified variable;
 - by entering the option name and the value in an associative array
   (hash) or object (if it is a blessed hash);
 - by calling a user-specified subroutine with the option name and
   the value as arguments;
 - combinations of the above.

* Customization:

The module contains a special method, Getopt::Long::config, to control
configuration variables to activate (or de-activate) specific
behavior. It can be called with one or more names of options:

 - default

       Restore default settings.

 - auto_abbrev

       Allow option names to be abbreviated to uniqueness.

 - getopt_compat

       Allow '+' to start options.

 - permute
 - require_order

       Whether non-options are allowed to be mixed with options.

       permute means that

           -foo arg1 -bar arg2 arg3

       is equivalent to

           -foo -bar arg1 arg2 arg3

       (provided -foo does not take an argument value).

       require_order means that options processing
       terminates when the first non-option is encountered.

           -foo arg1 -bar arg2 arg3

       is equivalent to

           -foo -- arg1 -bar arg2 arg3

 - bundling

       Setting this variable to a non-zero value will allow
       single-character options to be bundled. To distinguish bundles
       from long option names, long options must be introduced with
       "--" and single-character options (and bundles) with "-".

 - ignore_case

       Ignore case when matching options.

 - pass_through

       Do not issue error messages for unknown options, but leave
       them (pass-through) in @ARGV.

* Usable variables

 - $Getopt::Long::error

       Internal error flag. May be incremented from a call-back
       routine to cause options parsing to fail.

 - $Getopt::Long::debug

       Enable copious debugging output. Default is 0.

AVAILABILITY
============

The official version for module Getopt::Long comes with the Perl 5
distribution.
Newer versions will be made available on the Comprehensive Perl Archive
Network (CPAN), see "http://www.perl.com/CPAN/authors/Johan_Vromans".

COPYRIGHT AND DISCLAIMER
========================

Module Getopt::Long is Copyright 1990,1997 by Johan Vromans.
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License
as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2
of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Johan Vromans                                  [email protected]
Squirrel Consultancy                       Haarlem, the Netherlands
http://www.squirrel.nl       http://www.squirrel.nl/people/jvromans
------------------ "Arms are made for hugging" --------------------

You are viewing proxied material from ftp.icm.edu.pl. The copyright of proxied material belongs to its original authors. Any comments or complaints in relation to proxied material should be directed to the original authors of the content concerned. Please see the disclaimer for more details.