NConsole.Options

NConsole.Options is a command line arguments parser for C#. See ndesk.org for background reading informing this project.

Overview

Regardless of which language features you decide to support, your option callbacks are invoked when the parser encounters those pattern matches.

Let's assume you have the following application bits you intend to support:

var verbose = 0;
var showHelp = false;
var debugMode = false;
var names = new List<string>();
var pairs = new Dictionary<Guid, int>();

NConsole.Options makes it possible to leverage C# version 3.0, such as initializer lists as well as lambda expressions in order to furnish short, concise option specifications.

var p = new OptionSet {
    {"v|verbose",  v => verbose += (v == null ? 0 : 1)
    , {"h|?|help", v => showHelp = v != null}
    , {"n|name=",  v => names.Add(v)},
};

C# version 2.0 is also fully supported:

var p = new OptionSet()
    .Add("v|verbose", delegate (string v) { verbose += (v == null ? 0 : 1); })
    .Add("h|?|help",  delegate (string v) { showHelp = v != null; })
    .Add("n|name=",   delegate (string v) { names.Add(v); })
    ;

Additional Features

For brevity, from now on, we will illustrate the initializer list examples.

Valueless Option Specifications

In addition to value oriented option patterns, we also provide support for valueless matches. In this case, you simply provide a parameterless callback.

var p = new OptionSet {{"d|debug", () => debugMode = true}};

Key/Value Pair Option Specifications

Last but not least, we provide support for key/value pair matches. In this case, you provide the key and value oriented callback.

var p = new OptionSet {{"p|pair", (Guid key, int value) => pairs[key] = value}};

Invoking the Parser

Assuming you have string[] args

To invoke the parser, simply:

IEnumerable<string> unprocessedArgs = p.Parse(args);

Parsing will incrementally invoke your option specifications as they are encountered. It will also yield a collection of unprocessed arguments which failed to match either the specified option prototypes or be consumed as option parameters.

Value and Key/Value Paired Arguments

You may specify value and key/value paired arguments in several ways.

--myarg:value
--myarg=value
--myarg value
--myarg:key,value
--myarg=key,value
--myarg:key value
--myarg=key value
--myarg key value

Boolean Flag Considerations

Boolean flags may be specially described in your arguments in several ways.

--myflag=true
--myflag=false
--myflag:true
--myflag:false
--myflag true
--myflag false

Additionally, you may specify a Boolean shorthand.

--myflag+
--myflag-

Use the + marker to indicate true, and the - marker to indicate false.

Boolean Flags in Key Value Pairs

Shorthand may also be used to inform key/value paired Boolean values. We make the assumption that the shorthand always informs the value side of the pair.

--myflag=key+
--myflag=key-
--myflag:key+
--myflag:key-
--myflag+ key
--myflag- key

The last couple of arguments may look a little strange, but we are assuming that the shorthand marker informs the value.