command-line-parser

command-line-parser

This code:

const argsObj = require('command-line-parser')();

invoked with:

node ./myscript.js myfile1 -v -debug -host there.com -port 8081 myfile2

returns this argsObj object:

{
	v: true,
	debug: true,
	host: 'there.com',
	port: '8081',
	_args: [ 'myfile1', 'myfile2' ]
}

This simple lightweight module exports a default function that takes an array of command-line arguments and returns a parsed object (a bit simpler than the venerable minimist).

• Each argument is separate - it does not support combining multiple options (or options with values) into one argument (as in -abc or -n5).
• Only the first character is examined for a dash to see if it should be treated as a key to an option (only the first dash of --debug would be processed).

Any argument with a dash is considered one key and will be in the parsed object with the following value:

• If the key is followed by a non-dash argument, its value will be the non-dash argument (as in -key value).
• If the key is not followed by a non-dash argument, its value will be true (as in -key1 -key2).

Arguments that don't fulfill the role of a key or a value for a key will be added to a field called _args in the parsed object.

If no argument is passed in to the default module function, it defaults to the array process.argv.slice(2).

See test/assert.js for example usage.

Install with npm install command-line-parser.

Test via npm test.

PS. Useful pattern using destructuring assignment, default values, and renaming _args:

const { v, debug = false, host = 'default.com', port = '80', _args: files = [] } = argsObj ;

will assign the locally scoped constant variables v, debug, host, port, and files.