Getopt::ExPar 0.01

Getopt::ExPar contains extended parameters command line parser.

SYNOPSIS

use Getopt::ExPar;

my(@PDT, @MM, %OPT);
ExPar @PDT, @MM, $OPT;

EXPORT

use Getopt::ExPar exports the sub ExPar into your name space.

ExPar is a perl5 module used to parse command line parameters. This package uses the @PDT, Parameter Description Table, and the @MM, Message Module, to return %OPT which is a hash reference containing the command line option data. The function of Getopt::ExPar is based on Getopt::EvaP, created by Stephen O. Lidie.

Introduction

The ExPar function parses a perl command line. Using the option definitions in the @PDT, argument types are checked and the arguments themselves may be checked against a specified range or pattern. By using both @PDT and @MM, several types of help may be retured to the user. ExPar handles command lines with this format:

command [-parameters] [file_list]

where any parameters and file_list are optional.

Parameter Description Table (PDT) Syntax

Here is the PDT syntax. Optional constructs are enclosed in [], and the | character separates possible values in a list.

PDT [program_name, alias]
[parameter_name[, alias]: type [pattern | range] [ = [default_variable,] default_value]]
PDTEND [flag_list]

flag_list is one or more of the following flags: optional_file_list | required_file_list | no_file_list: specifies condition of list of files at end of command line. (only one of these may be specified) abbreviations: allows for abbreviations of commands or aliases as long as enough of the command is given to make it distinguishable from all others. If not, a message is printed so the user may be more specific. switchglomming: allows for multiple single-letter switch options to be specified as single option (must be first option). pdt_warnings: for debugging a @PDT, it prints out messages that are not necessarily errors, like inconsistent number of default values in a list, etc.
The default_variable is an environment variable - see the section Usage Notes for complete details.

So, the simplest possible PDT would be:

PDT
PDTEND

This PDT would simply define a -help switch for the command, but is rather useless.

A typical PDT would look more like this:

PDT frog
number, n: integer = 1
chars, c: string = "default_string"
PDTEND no_file_list

This PDT, for command frog, defines two parameters, number (or n), of type integer with a default value of 1, and chars (or c), of type string with a default value of "default_string". The PDTEND no_file_list indicator indicates that no trailing file_list can appear on the command line. Of course, the -help switch is defined automatically.

Each of these options may be further refined by using a range and a pattern, respectively:

PDT frog
number, n: integer (((#

Product's homepage