CParser

A simple command line argument parser for c applications. All resolved arguments can be accessed as a key-value pair and through the functions cparser_hasKey() and cparser_getValue().

How to parse

There are two different options to resolve arguments:

1. cparser_parse()
2. cparser_parseSpace()

Both functions require a key-value-pair cparser_dict to save the resolved arguments to.

How to compile

• Windows:

  1. Download and install(adding the path variable) the most recent WinLibs UCRT runtime and MinGW64(UCRT)
  2. Compile the code statically using gcc:

  gcc.exe -o <filename>.exe <filename>.c -l:libcparser.lib -L<libpath> -I<libpath>

• *nix:

  1. Verify the Dependencies
  2. Compile the code statically using gcc:

  gcc -o <filename>.o <filename>.c -l:libcparser.a -L<libpath> -I<libpath>

Dependencies

unistd.h stdio.h stdlib.h string.h

Structures and Types

struct cparser_kv {
  char *key;  // key string
  char *val;  // value string
};

typedef struct cparser_dict {
  int kvn;                // number of stored kv-pairs
  struct cparser_kv *kv;  // array that holds all kv-pairs
} cparser_dict_t;

Functions

Parsing

• cparser_parse(int argc, char *argv[], cparser_dict_t *input_dict)

  description	Parses key-value-pairs from a given input buffer of strings. Single dashes imply a single character argument. Their key is the first character after the dash, their value all other characters until the next whitespace or line end. Double dashes imply a word argument. Their key is the whole word - all characters until an equals sign or a whitespace or a line end, whichever comes first - after the double dash, their value will be every character after the first equals sign until the next whitespace or line end.
  params	number of buffer elements int argc, pointer to buffer of strings char *argv[], pointer to a cparser dictionary cparser_dict_t *input_dict
  return	int - On success, return 1, otherwise return -1.

• cparser_parseSpace(int argc, char *argv[], cparser_dict_t *input_dict)

  description	Same as cparser_parse(). However, double dash arguments also accept a single space instead of an equals sign.
  params	number of buffer elements int argc, pointer to buffer of strings char *argv[], pointer to a cparser dictionary cparser_dict_t *input_dict
  return	int - On success, return 1, otherwise return -1.

Other

• cparser_free(cparser_dict_t *input_dict)

  description	Frees the cparser dictionary.
  params	pointer to a cparser dictionary cparser_dict_t *input_dict
  return	void

• cparser_print(int fd, cparser_dict_t *input_dict)

  description	Dumps the whole cparser dictionary to a specified file descriptor.
  params	file descriptor int fd, pointer to a cparser dictionary cparser_dict_t *input_dict
  return	void

• cparser_hasKey(char *key, cparser_dict_t *input_dict)

  description	Checks if key has been resolved.
  params	pointer to the requested key char *key, pointer to a cparser dictionary cparser_dict_t *input_dict
  return	int - Return 1 when the requested key is part of the cparser dictionary, otherwise return 0.

• cparser_getValue(char *key, char *dest, cparser_dict_t *input_dict)

  description	Obtains the value of a requested key and copies it to the destination location.
  params	pointer to the requested key char *key, pointer to destination buffer char *dest, pointer to a cparser dictionary cparser_dict_t *input_dict
  return	int - On success, return 1, otherwise return 0.