Run shell commands   |   Parse command line arguments | Handle files and directories

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Moderator

Moderator is a simple Swift library for parsing commandline arguments.

Features

• Modular, easy to extend.
• Supports a cross platform syntax.
• Generates help text automatically.
• Handles arguments of the type '--option=value'.
• Optional strict parsing, where an error is thrown if there are any unrecognised arguments.
• Any arguments after an "--" argument are taken literally, they are not parsed as options and any '=' are left untouched.

See also why Moderator was created.

Example

from linuxmain-generator:

import Moderator
import FileSmith

let arguments = Moderator(description: "Automatically add code to Swift Package Manager projects to run unit tests on Linux.")
let overwrite = arguments.add(.option("o","overwrite", description: "Replace <test directory>/LinuxMain.swift if it already exists."))
let testdirarg = arguments.add(Argument<String?>
	.optionWithValue("testdir", name: "test directory", description: "The path to the directory with the unit tests.")
	.default("Tests"))
_ = arguments.add(Argument<String?>
	.singleArgument(name: "directory", description: "The project root directory.")
	.default("./")
	.map { (projectpath: String) in
		let projectdir = try Directory(open: projectpath)
		try projectdir.verifyContains("Package.swift")
		Directory.current = projectdir
	})

do {
	try arguments.parse()

	let testdir = try Directory(open: testdirarg.value)
	if !overwrite.value && testdir.contains("LinuxMain.swift") {
		throw ArgumentError(errormessage: "\(testdir.path)/LinuxMain.swift already exists. Use -o/--overwrite to replace it.")
	}
	...
} catch {
	WritableFile.stderror.print(error)
	exit(Int32(error._code))
}

Automatically generated help text:

Automatically add code to Swift Package Manager projects to run unit tests on Linux.

Usage: linuxmain-generator
  -o,--overwrite:
      Replace <test directory>/LinuxMain.swift if it already exists.
  --testdir <test directory>:
      The path to the directory with the unit tests. Default = 'Tests'.
  <directory>:
      The project root directory. Default = './'.

Introduction

Moderator works by having a single Moderator object which you add individual argument parsers to. When you start parsing it goes through each argument parser in the order they were added. Each parser takes the array of string arguments from the command line, finds the arguments it is responsible for, processes them and throws any errors if anything is wrong, removes the arguments from the array, returns its output (which for some parsers may be nil if the argument was not found) and passes the modified array to the next parser.

This keeps the code simple and each parser only has to take care of its own arguments. The built-in parsers can easily be customised, and you can create your own parsers from scratch.

Built-in parsers

Option

func option(_ names: String..., description: String? = nil) -> Argument<Bool>

Handles option arguments like -h and --help. Returns true if the argument is present and false otherwise.

Option with value

func optionWithValue(_ names: String..., name valuename: String? = nil, description: String? = nil)
-> Argument<String?>

Handles option arguments with a following value, like --help <topic>. It returns the value as a String, or nil if the option is not present.

Single argument

func singleArgument(name: String, description: String? = nil) -> Argument<String?>

Returns the next argument, or nil if there are no more arguments or the next argument is an option. Must be added after any option parsers.

Customise

default

Can be used on parsers returning optionals, to replace nil with a default value.

required

Can be used on parsers returning optionals, to throw an error on nil.

map

Takes the output of any argument parser and converts it to something else.

repeat

Looks for multiple occurrences of an argument, by repeating an optional parser until it returns nil.

let m = Moderator()
let options = m.add(Argument<String?>.optionWithValue("b").repeat())
let multiple = m.add(Argument<String?>.singleArgument(name: "multiple").repeat())

try m.parse(["-b", "b1", "-b", "b2", "-b", "b3", "one", "two", "three"])

options.value is now ["b1", "b2", "b3"] and multiple.value is ["one", "two", "three"]. 

count

Counts the number of times an option argument occurs.

let m = Moderator()
let option = m.add(Argument<Bool>.option("b").count())

try m.parse(["-b", "-b", "some", "other", "-b", "arguments"])

option.value returns 3  

Add new parsers

If the built in parsers and customisations are not enough, you can easily create your own parsers. As an example here is the implementation of the singleArgument parser:

extension Argument {
	public static func singleArgument (name: String, description: String? = nil) -> Argument<String?> {
		return Argument<String?>(usage: description.map { ("<"+name+">", $0) }) { args in
			let index = args.first == "--" ? args.index(after: args.startIndex) : args.startIndex
			guard index != args.endIndex, !isOption(index: index, args: args) else { return (nil, args) }
			var args = args
			return (args.remove(at: index), args)
		}
	}
}

In the Argument initialiser you return a tuple with the output of the parser and the arguments array without the processed argument(s).

Installation

Swift Package Manager

Add .Package(url: "https://github.com/kareman/Moderator", "0.5.0") to your Package.swift:

import PackageDescription

let package = Package(
	name: "somename",
	dependencies: [
		.Package(url: "https://github.com/kareman/Moderator", "0.5.0")
		 ]
	)

and run swift build.

Carthage

Add github "kareman/Moderator" to your Cartfile, then run carthage update and add the resulting framework to the "Embedded Binaries" section of the application. See Carthage's README for further instructions.

CocoaPods

Add Moderator to your Podfile.

pod "Moderator", git: "https://github.com/kareman/Moderator.git"

Then run pod install to install it.

License

Released under the MIT License (MIT), http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT

Kåre Morstøl, NotTooBad Software