Notation rules

Notation rules for setting command-line options.

• Option order is insignificant. Whether you set --example at the beginning or end of the arg list makes no difference.
• Options with a type of Boolean do not need to supply a value. Setting --flag or -f will set that option's value to true. This is the only type with special behaviour - all other type values act as setter functions.
• Three ways to set an option value
  • --option value
  • --option=value
  • -o value
• Two ways to set a list of values on options with multiple set
  • --list one two three
  • --list one --list two --list three
• One way to set a list of values on options with lazyMultiple set
  • --list one --list two --list three
• Short options (alias) can be set in clusters. The following are equivalent:
  • -a -b -c
  • -abc

Avoiding ambiguous values

Imagine you'd like to use an example app to search for the query -f.

$ example --search -f

We have an ambiguity issue here: command-line-args will assume we are setting two options (--search and -f). In actuality, we are passing one option (--search) and one value (-f). In cases like this, avoid ambiguity by using --option=value notation:

$ example --search=-f

Please note that --option=value notation is available for long options only (e.g. --option), not short options like -o.