Meziantou.Framework

Getting started

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Install the package

Add the Meziantou.Framework.CommandLine package to a project:

dotnet package add Meziantou.Framework.CommandLine

The examples of this documentation omit the using directives: they need using Meziantou.Framework;.

Read the arguments

CommandLineParser.Current holds the arguments of the current process. Parse another array, such as the arguments of a test, with Parse:

// Parse current process arguments
var currentParser = CommandLineParser.Current;
Assert.NotNull(currentParser);

// Or parse custom arguments
var parser = new CommandLineParser();
parser.Parse(["/name=John", "/verbose", "input.txt"]);

// Check if an argument exists
Assert.True(parser.HasArgument("verbose"));

// Get named argument value
Assert.Equal("John", parser.GetArgument("name"));

// Get positional argument (the index in the array of arguments)
Assert.Equal("input.txt", parser.GetArgument(2));

// Check if help was requested: detects -?, /?, -help, /help, --help
Assert.False(parser.HelpRequested);
  • HasArgument tells whether a named argument is present, with or without a value.
  • GetArgument(string) returns the value of a named argument, and GetArgument(int) the argument at a position. Both return null when the argument does not exist.
  • HelpRequested is true when one of -?, /?, -help, /help or --help is present.

CommandLineParser.Current does not include the path of the executable: position 0 is the first argument, as in the args array of the entry point.

Next steps