net.maizegenetics.util

Class ArgsEngine

java.lang.Object

net.maizegenetics.util.ArgsEngine

public class ArgsEngine
extends Object

A reusable solution for Command Line Arguments Parsing in Java.

The following shows how to use this API.

 // Initiate the arguments engine.
 ArgsEngine engine = new ArgsEngine();

 // Configure the switches/options. Use true for valued options
 engine.add("-q", "--quiet");
 engine.add("-o", "--redirect-output", true);
 engine.add("-h", "--help");

 // Perform the parsing.
 engine.parse(args);

 // Start fetching states of switches
 boolean quiet = engine.getBoolean("-q");

 if(engine.getBoolean("-o"))
 {
     // For valued options, use getString.
     String redir = engine.getString("-o");
 }
 

This has been modified from the original.

Version:

1.0, 12th May 2008

Author:

Adarsh Ramamurthy

Constructor Summary

Constructors

Constructor and Description
ArgsEngine()

Method Summary

Modifier and Type	Method and Description
void	add(String shortForm, String longForm) Configures the engine by adding options.
void	add(String shortForm, String longForm, boolean valued) Configures the engine by adding options.
boolean	getBoolean(String key) Gets the option.
String	getString(String key) Gets the value for a valued option.
void	parse(String[] args) Parses the input command line arguments.

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

equals, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait

Constructor Detail

ArgsEngine

public ArgsEngine()

Method Detail

add

public void add(String shortForm,
                String longForm)

Configures the engine by adding options.

Parameters:

shortForm - the short form of an option. Example: "-h".

longForm - the long form of an option. Example: "--help".

add

public void add(String shortForm,
                String longForm,
                boolean valued)

Configures the engine by adding options.

Parameters:

shortForm - the short form of an option. Example: "-h".

longForm - the long form of an option. Example: "--help".

valued - indicates if the option expects a value. The next argument will be considered as the value for this option.

parse

public void parse(String[] args)

Parses the input command line arguments. The result of parsing will be stored in the current instance of ArgsEngine.

Operations getBoolean(String), #getNonOptions() and getString(String) can be then used to extract the values.

Parameters:

args - the command line arguments.

getString

public String getString(String key)

Gets the value for a valued option.

Parameters:

key - the valued option key. Either short form or long form can be input.

Returns:

the value for the option if it's valued, null otherwise.

getBoolean

public boolean getBoolean(String key)

Gets the option.

Parameters:

key - the option's short form or long form name.

Returns:

true if the option is found in the args parsed, false otherwise.