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Tk_ParseArgv(3)                             Tk Library Procedures                            Tk_ParseArgv(3)



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NAME
       Tk_ParseArgv - process command-line options

SYNOPSIS
       #include <tk.h>

       int
       Tk_ParseArgv(interp, tkwin, argcPtr, argv, argTable, flags)

ARGUMENTS
       Tcl_Interp    *interp     (in)      Interpreter to use for returning error messages.

       Tk_Window     tkwin       (in)      Window  to  use when arguments specify Tk options.  If NULL, then
                                           no Tk options will be processed.

       int           argcPtr     (in/out)  Pointer to number of arguments in argv;  gets  modified  to  hold
                                           number of unprocessed arguments that remain after the call.

       CONST char    **argv      (in/out)  Command  line arguments passed to main program.  Modified to hold
                                           unprocessed arguments that remain after the call.

       Tk_ArgvInfo   *argTable   (in)      Array of argument descriptors, terminated by  element  with  type
                                           TK_ARGV_END.

       int           flags       (in)      If non-zero, then it specifies one or more flags that control the
                                           parsing of arguments.  Different flags  may  be  OR'ed  together.
                                           The  flags  currently  defined  are  TK_ARGV_DONT_SKIP_FIRST_ARG,
                                           TK_ARGV_NO_ABBREV, TK_ARGV_NO_LEFTOVERS, and TK_ARGV_NO_DEFAULTS.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

DESCRIPTION
       Tk_ParseArgv  processes  an array of command-line arguments according to a table describing the kinds
       of arguments that are expected.  Each of the arguments in argv is processed in turn:  if  it  matches
       one of the entries in argTable, the argument is processed according to that entry and discarded.  The
       arguments that do not match anything in argTable are copied down to the beginning of argv  (retaining
       their  original order) and returned to the caller.  At the end of the call Tk_ParseArgv sets *argcPtr
       to hold the number of arguments that are left in argv, and argv[*argcPtr] will hold the  value  NULL.
       Normally, Tk_ParseArgv assumes that argv[0] is a command name, so it is treated like an argument that
       doesn't match argTable and returned to the caller;  however, if the  TK_ARGV_DONT_SKIP_FIRST_ARG  bit
       is set in flags then argv[0] will be processed just like the other elements of argv.

       Tk_ParseArgv normally returns the value TCL_OK.  If an error occurs while parsing the arguments, then
       TCL_ERROR is returned and Tk_ParseArgv will leave an error message in interp->result in the  standard
       Tcl  fashion.   In the event of an error return, *argvPtr will not have been modified, but argv could
       have been partially modified.  The possible causes of errors are explained below.

       The argTable array specifies the kinds of arguments that are expected;  each of its entries  has  the
       following structure:
              typedef struct {
                char *key;
                int type;
                char *src;
                char *dst;
                char *help;
              } Tk_ArgvInfo;
       The  key  field is a string such as ``-display'' or ``-bg'' that is compared with the values in argv.
       Type indicates how to process an argument that matches key (more on this below).   Src  and  dst  are
       additional  values used in processing the argument.  Their exact usage depends on type, but typically
       src indicates a value and dst indicates where to store the value.  The char *  declarations  for  src
       and  dst  are  placeholders:   the  actual types may be different.  Lastly, help is a string giving a
       brief description of this option;  this string is printed when users ask for help about  command-line
       options.

       When  processing  an  argument  in  argv,  Tk_ParseArgv compares the argument to each of the key's in
       argTable.  Tk_ParseArgv selects the first specifier whose key matches the argument exactly, if such a
       specifier  exists.   Otherwise  Tk_ParseArgv  selects  a specifier for which the argument is a unique
       abbreviation.  If the argument is a unique abbreviation for more than one specifier, then an error is
       returned.   If  there  is no matching entry in argTable, then the argument is skipped and returned to
       the caller.

       Once a matching argument specifier is found, Tk_ParseArgv processes the  argument  according  to  the
       type  field  of  the specifier.  The argument that matched key is called ``the matching argument'' in
       the descriptions below.  As part of the processing, Tk_ParseArgv may also use the  next  argument  in
       argv  after  the matching argument, which is called ``the following argument''.  The legal values for
       type, and the processing that they cause, are as follows:

       TK_ARGV_END
              Marks the end of the table.  The last entry in argTable must have this type;  all of its other
              fields are ignored and it will never match any arguments.

       TK_ARGV_CONSTANT
              Src  is treated as an integer and dst is treated as a pointer to an integer.  Src is stored at
              *dst.  The matching argument is discarded.

       TK_ARGV_INT
              The following argument must contain an integer string in the format accepted by  strtol  (e.g.
              ``0''  and ``0x'' prefixes may be used to specify octal or hexadecimal numbers, respectively).
              Dst is treated as a pointer to an integer;  the following argument is converted to an  integer
              value and stored at *dst.  Src is ignored.  The matching and following arguments are discarded
              from argv.

       TK_ARGV_FLOAT
              The following argument must contain a floating-point number in the format accepted by  strtol.
              Dst  is  treated  as  the  address of an double-precision floating point value;  the following
              argument is converted to a double-precision value and stored at *dst.  The matching  and  fol-lowing following
              lowing arguments are discarded from argv.

       TK_ARGV_STRING
              In this form, dst is treated as a pointer to a (char *); Tk_ParseArgv stores at *dst a pointer
              to the following argument, and discards the matching and following arguments from  argv.   Src
              is ignored.

       TK_ARGV_UID
              This  form  is  similar to TK_ARGV_STRING, except that the argument is turned into a Tk_Uid by
              calling Tk_GetUid.  Dst is treated as a pointer to a Tk_Uid; Tk_ParseArgv stores at  *dst  the
              Tk_Uid  corresponding to the following argument, and discards the matching and following argu-ments arguments
              ments from argv.  Src is ignored.

       TK_ARGV_CONST_OPTION
              This form causes a Tk option to be set (as if the option command had been invoked).   The  src
              field is treated as a pointer to a string giving the value of an option, and dst is treated as
              a pointer to the name of the option.  The matching argument is discarded.  If tkwin  is  NULL,
              then argument specifiers of this type are ignored (as if they did not exist).

       TK_ARGV_OPTION_VALUE
              This  form  is  similar  to TK_ARGV_CONST_OPTION, except that the value of the option is taken
              from the following argument instead of from src.  Dst is used as the name of the option.   Src
              is ignored.  The matching and following arguments are discarded.  If tkwin is NULL, then argu-ment argument
              ment specifiers of this type are ignored (as if they did not exist).

       TK_ARGV_OPTION_NAME_VALUE
              In this case the following argument is taken as the name of a Tk option and the argument after
              that  is  taken  as the value for that option.  Both src and dst are ignored.  All three argu-ments arguments
              ments are discarded from argv.  If tkwin is NULL, then argument specifiers of  this  type  are
              ignored (as if they did not exist).

       TK_ARGV_HELP
              When this kind of option is encountered, Tk_ParseArgv uses the help fields of argTable to for-mat format
              mat a message describing all the valid arguments.  The message is placed in interp->result and
              Tk_ParseArgv  returns  TCL_ERROR.  When this happens, the caller normally prints the help mes-sage message
              sage and aborts.  If the key field of a TK_ARGV_HELP specifier is  NULL,  then  the  specifier
              will  never  match any arguments;  in this case the specifier simply provides extra documenta-tion, documentation,
              tion, which will be included when some other TK_ARGV_HELP entry causes help information to  be
              returned.

       TK_ARGV_REST
              This option is used by programs or commands that allow the last several of their options to be
              the name and/or options for some other program.  If a TK_ARGV_REST  argument  is  found,  then
              Tk_ParseArgv  doesn't  process  any  of  the  remaining arguments;  it returns them all at the
              beginning of argv (along with any other unprocessed  arguments).   In  addition,  Tk_ParseArgv
              treats  dst  as  the address of an integer value, and stores at *dst the index of the first of
              the TK_ARGV_REST options in the returned argv.  This allows the  program  to  distinguish  the
              TK_ARGV_REST options from other unprocessed options that preceded the TK_ARGV_REST.

       TK_ARGV_FUNC
              For  this  kind of argument, src is treated as the address of a procedure, which is invoked to
              process the following argument.  The procedure should have the following structure:
                     int
                     func(dst, key, nextArg)
                       char *dst;
                       char *key;
                       char *nextArg;
                     {
                     }
              The dst and key parameters will contain the corresponding fields from the argTable entry,  and
              nextArg will point to the following argument from argv (or NULL if there aren't any more argu-ments arguments
              ments left in argv).  If func uses nextArg (so that Tk_ParseArgv should discard it),  then  it
              should  return  1.   Otherwise  it  should return 0 and TkParseArgv will process the following
              argument in the normal fashion.  In either event the matching argument is discarded.

       TK_ARGV_GENFUNC
              This form provides a more general procedural escape.  It treats src as the address of a proce-dure, procedure,
              dure, and passes that procedure all of the remaining arguments.  The procedure should have the
              following form:
                     int
                     genfunc(dst, interp, key, argc, argv)
                       char *dst;
                       Tcl_Interp *interp;
                       char *key;
                       int argc;
                       char **argv;
                     {
                     }
              The dst and key parameters will contain the corresponding  fields  from  the  argTable  entry.
              Interp  will  be the same as the interp argument to Tcl_ParseArgv.  Argc and argv refer to all
              of the options after the matching  one.   Genfunc  should  behave  in  a  fashion  similar  to
              Tk_ParseArgv:   parse  as  many of the remaining arguments as it can, then return any that are
              left by compacting them to the beginning of argv (starting at argv[0]).  Genfunc should return
              a  count  of  how many arguments are left in argv; Tk_ParseArgv will process them.  If genfunc
              encounters an error then it should leave an error message in interp->result, in the usual  Tcl
              fashion,  and  return -1;  when this happens Tk_ParseArgv will abort its processing and return
              TCL_ERROR.


FLAGS
       TK_ARGV_DONT_SKIP_FIRST_ARG
              Tk_ParseArgv normally treats argv[0] as a program or command  name,  and  returns  it  to  the
              caller  just  as  if  it  hadn't matched argTable.  If this flag is given, then argv[0] is not
              given special treatment.

       TK_ARGV_NO_ABBREV
              Normally, Tk_ParseArgv accepts unique abbreviations for key values in argTable.  If this  flag
              is given then only exact matches will be acceptable.

       TK_ARGV_NO_LEFTOVERS
              Normally,  Tk_ParseArgv  returns  unrecognized arguments to the caller.  If this bit is set in
              flags then Tk_ParseArgv will return an error if it encounters any argument that doesn't  match
              argTable.   The  only  exception to this rule is argv[0], which will be returned to the caller
              with no errors as long as TK_ARGV_DONT_SKIP_FIRST_ARG isn't specified.

       TK_ARGV_NO_DEFAULTS
              Normally, Tk_ParseArgv searches an internal table of standard argument specifiers in  addition
              to  argTable.   If  this bit is set in flags, then Tk_ParseArgv will use only argTable and not
              its default table.


EXAMPLE
       Here is an example definition of an argTable and some sample command  lines  that  use  the  options.
       Note  the effect on argc and argv;  arguments processed by Tk_ParseArgv are eliminated from argv, and
       argc is updated to reflect reduced number of arguments.
              /*
               * Define and set default values for globals.
               */
              int debugFlag = 0;
              int numReps = 100;
              char defaultFileName[] = "out";
              char *fileName = defaultFileName;
              Boolean exec = FALSE;

              /*
               * Define option descriptions.
               */
              Tk_ArgvInfo argTable[] = {
                {"-X", TK_ARGV_CONSTANT, (char *) 1, (char *) &debugFlag,
                   "Turn on debugging printfs"},
                {"-N", TK_ARGV_INT, (char *) NULL, (char *) &numReps,
                   "Number of repetitions"},
                {"-of", TK_ARGV_STRING, (char *) NULL, (char *) &fileName,
                   "Name of file for output"},
                {"x", TK_ARGV_REST, (char *) NULL, (char *) &exec,
                   "File to exec, followed by any arguments (must be last argument)."},
                {(char *) NULL, TK_ARGV_END, (char *) NULL, (char *) NULL,
                    (char *) NULL}
              };

              main(argc, argv)
                int argc;
                char *argv[];
              {
                ...

                if (Tk_ParseArgv(interp, tkwin, &argc, argv, argTable, 0) != TCL_OK) {
                   fprintf(stderr, "%s\n", interp->result);
                   exit(1);
                }

                /*
                 * Remainder of the program.
                 */
              }

       Note that default values can be assigned to variables named in argTable:  the variables will only  be
       overwritten if the particular arguments are present in argv.  Here are some example command lines and
       their effects.
              prog -N 200 infile# just sets the numReps variable to 200
              prog -of out200 infile # sets fileName to reference "out200"
              prog -XN 10 infile# sets the debug flag, also sets numReps
       In all of the above examples, argc will be set by  Tk_ParseArgv  to  2,  argv[0]  will  be  ``prog'',
       argv[1] will be ``infile'', and argv[2] will be NULL.


KEYWORDS
       arguments, command line, options



Tk                                                                                           Tk_ParseArgv(3)

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