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Parsing Command Line Arguments

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26 Apr 2009CPOL2 min read 61.8K   494   83  
The CommandLineParser library provides a simple way to define command line arguments and parse them in your application.
For applications that have one or two arguments, you could probably manage with some switches and ifs, but when there are more arguments, you could use a CommandLineParser library and thus make your code cleaner and more elegant.
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;
using CommandLineParser.Arguments;

namespace CommandLineParser.Arguments
{
    /// <summary>
    /// CertifiedValueArgument is a base class for all arguments that have other limitations and restrictions (defined
    /// int <see cref="Certify"/> function) on their values apart from the value 
    /// being of a certain type (<typeparamref name="TValue"/>).
    /// </summary>
    /// <typeparam name="TValue">Type of the value</typeparam>
    /// <seealso cref="BoundedValueArgument{TValue}"/>
    /// <seealso cref="EnumeratedValueArgument{TValue}"/>
    /// <include file='Doc\CommandLineParser.xml' path='CommandLineParser/Arguments/CertifiedValueArgument/*'/>
    public abstract class CertifiedValueArgument<TValue>: ValueArgument<TValue>
    {
        #region constructor

        /// <summary>
        /// Creates new certified value argument with a <see cref="Argument.ShortName">short name</see>.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="shortName">Short name of the argument</param>
        protected CertifiedValueArgument(char shortName)
            : base(shortName)
        {
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Creates new certified value argument with a <see cref="Argument.ShortName">short name</see>and <see cref="Argument.LongName">long name</see>.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="shortName">Short name of the argument</param>
        /// <param name="longName">Long name of the argument </param>
        protected CertifiedValueArgument(char shortName, string longName)
            : base(shortName, longName)
        {
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Creates new certified value argument with a <see cref="Argument.ShortName">short name</see>,
        /// <see cref="Argument.LongName">long name</see> and <see cref="Argument.Description">description</see>
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="shortName">Short name of the argument</param>
        /// <param name="longName">Long name of the argument </param>
        /// <param name="description">description of the argument</param>
        protected CertifiedValueArgument(char shortName, string longName, string description)
            : base(shortName, longName, description)
        {
        }

        #endregion

        /// <summary>
        /// This method reads the argument and the following string representing the value of the argument. 
        /// This string is then converted to <typeparamref name="TValue"/> (using built-in <typeparamref name="TValue"/>.Parse
        /// method for built-in types or using <see cref="ValueArgument{TValue}.ConvertValueHandler"/> for user types).
        /// After successful conversion, validation <see cref="Certify"/> method is called
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="args">command line arguments</param>
        /// <param name="i">index to the args array, where this argument occured. The index to the next argument 
        /// after the argument is processed. </param>
        /// <seealso cref="ValueArgument{TValue}.ConvertValueHandler"/>
        internal override void Parse(IList<string> args, ref int i)
        {
            base.Parse(args, ref i);
            Certify(Value);
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Checks for argument specifick restriction and limitations. Exceptions are thrown when these are not met.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="value">value to certify</param>
        internal abstract void Certify(TValue value);
    }
}

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This article, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)


Written By
Software Developer (Junior)
Czech Republic Czech Republic
I am a computer science student at Charles University in Prague. I work as a developer of CRM and informational systems.

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