string-argv

What is string-argv?

The string-argv npm package is used to parse string representations of command-line arguments into an array format, similar to how the arguments would be received in a Node.js script when running from the command line. It can handle quoted arguments, escaped characters, and supports both single and double quotes.

What are string-argv's main functionalities?

Parsing command-line argument strings

This feature allows you to convert a string that represents command-line arguments into an array of arguments, as they would appear in process.argv in a Node.js application.

const parseArgs = require('string-argv');
const args = parseArgs('node app.js --option=value "argument with spaces"');
console.log(args);

Other packages similar to string-argv

yargs-parser

yargs-parser is a powerful argument parsing library that can parse command line arguments and generate an object. It supports various features like boolean flags, number parsing, arrays, and more. It is more feature-rich compared to string-argv, which focuses on converting a string to an argv array.

minimist

minimist is a minimalistic argument parsing library that also converts command line arguments to an object. It is simpler and has fewer features than yargs-parser but is similar to string-argv in its simplicity and direct approach to parsing arguments.

commander

commander is a complete solution for node.js command-line interfaces, which is capable of parsing command line arguments and also includes a variety of other features like subcommands, custom help, auto-version, and more. It is more complex and feature-complete compared to string-argv, which is more focused on argument parsing.

README

What is it?

string-argv parses a string into an argument array to mimic process.argv. This is useful when testing Command Line Utilities that you want to pass arguments to and is the opposite of what the other argv utilities do.

Installation

npm install string-argv --save

Usage

// Typescript
import stringArgv from 'string-argv';

const args = stringArgv(
  '-testing test -valid=true --quotes "test quotes" "nested \'quotes\'" --key="some value" --title="Peter\'s Friends"',
  'node',
  'testing.js'
);

console.log(args);

// Javascript
var { parseArgsStringToArgv } = require('string-argv');

var args = parseArgsStringToArgv(
    '-testing test -valid=true --quotes "test quotes" "nested \'quotes\'" --key="some value" --title="Peter\'s Friends"',
    'node',
    'testing.js'
);

console.log(args);
/** output
[ 'node',
  'testing.js',
  '-testing',
  'test',
  '-valid=true',
  '--quotes',
  'test quotes',
  'nested \'quotes\'',
  '--key="some value"',
  '--title="Peter\'s Friends"' ]
  **/

params

required: arguments String: arguments that you would normally pass to the command line.

optional: environment String: Adds to the environment position in the argv array. If ommitted then there is no need to call argv.split(2) to remove the environment/file values. However if your cli.parse method expects a valid argv value then you should include this value.

optional: file String: file that called the arguments. If omitted then there is no need to call argv.split(2) to remove the environment/file values. However if your cli.parse method expects a valid argv value then you should include this value.