dl-args

Dashless Arguments

I didn't like escaping arguments in a command so I made this parser

This feature can be disabled

Usage

import { getParams } from 'dl-arguments'
let options = {
    caseSensitive: true // By default it is case-insensitive
};
const params = getParams([
    {
        name: 'par',
        type: 'number',
        switchValue: 1
    },
    {
        groupName: 'foo',
        parameters: [
            {
                name: 'bar',
                type: ['boolean', 'string']
            }
        ]
    }
], options);

• par false

  params == {
      par: 1,
      for: {
          bar: false
      }
  }

• 2 foo-bar=lol

  params == {
      par: 2,
      foo: {
          bar: 'lol'
      }
  }

Warning unless options.disableDashedMode = true it does support dashes and will disable dashless mode if any argument starts with a dash

• --par 3 foo-bar=lol

  params == {
      par: 3,
      foo: {
          bar: 'foo-bar=lol'        }
  }

Source

By default it uses process.argv

Optionally it can use options.source

Param Definition

A param definition can be as simple as a string upon which it will be replaced with { name: <value>, type: 'string' }

• name
  • The name of argument
  • Required
• alias
  • Different name or names for the argument
  • accepts string or a string array
• shortName
  • in dashless mode, same as alias
  • in dashed mode, can be used with a single dash
  • Ex: if two switch parameters have a shortName a and b, they can be both set with -ab
• propertyName
  • If set, this will be used as the output object property name instead of name
• switchValue
  • Value to be set if none is passed to the parameter
  • Required if type is not set
• type
  • Type conversion for the parameter
  • Valid are string, number, boolean, an array of the previous, or a function that takes a string and outputs a value
  • If given an array, string will be taken last
  • Required if switchValue is not set
• replace
  • After the value has been converted, it is passed through this function to change it further
  • This can be useful when needing to load a file referenced by the argument
• validateRaw
  • Before a value is converted it can be checked if it is valid
  • Accepts RegExp or a function that takes a string
  • The value will be valid if it passes the RegExp or the function returns undefined or true
  • A passed function can return a string as the reason for the value being invalid
• validate
  • Runs after replace
  • Accepts a function that takes a value
  • The value will be valid if it the function returns undefined or true
  • A passed function can return a string as the reason for the value being invalid
• softValidate
  • If true, validate and validateRaw will console.warn instead of throw
• group
  • To which object should this argument be assigned
  • Accepts string or an Array of string
• multiple
  • Enables multiple values to be set to an argument
  • If set the result will be an array
  • Ex: if name: 'par' it can be used is par=1 par=2 par=3
• catchAll
  • Consumes extra values
  • if true sets multiple: true
• default
  • Value that is set if not set via an argument
• defaultCreateGroup
  • Allows defaults to create groups

Param Group Definition

• groupName
  • The name of the group
• propertyName
  • Property name of the group in the returned object
• parameters
  • Argument definitions
  • All arguments will have their name prefixed with the group name
• finalize
  • function that runs after all arguments have been read if the group has been set
  • The returned value will be set replace the value of the group

Options

• source

  • Will be used instead of process.argv

• defaultSource

  • Will be used if the current source has zero values

• caseSensitive

  • Will make argument names and boolean conversion case sensitive

• disableDashlessMode

  • Requires dashes when specifying a argument

• disableDashedMode

  • Stop parsing dashes

• extraParams

  • Add undefined params to ._extra parameter
  • Setting string to this will overwrite the parameter name
  • The type of the _extra property will be an array of key val objects

• disableHelp

  • The argument help will be treated like any other argument

• continueAfterHelp

  • Don't call process.exit(0) after printing help info
  • Parameter help: true will be added to the returned object if help was called

• commandName

  • Changes the name of command name in usage section of help

Disabling help

1. Setting options.disableHelp: true
2. Setting help to any name or alias in argument config