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ActiveLibrary[Utility & Helpers](/categories/utility)

mjackson/optionparser
=====================

306985[2 issues](https://github.com/mjackson/optionparser/issues)PHP

Since Mar 17Pushed 11y ago1 watchersCompare

[ Source](https://github.com/mjackson/optionparser)[ Packagist](https://packagist.org/packages/mjackson/optionparser)[ RSS](/packages/mjackson-optionparser/feed)WikiDiscussions master Synced 1mo ago

READMEChangelogDependenciesVersions (1)Used By (0)

### Overview

[](#overview)

OptionParser is a parser for command-line options for PHP. It supports both short and long options, optional and/or required parameter checking, automatic callback execution, and pretty printing of usage messages.

### Usage

[](#usage)

First create a parser object and then use it to parse your arguments. Examples explain it best:

```
$parser = new OptionParser;
// add a rule that looks for the short "a" flag
$parser->addRule('a');
// add a rule that looks for the long "long-option" flag
$parser->addRule('long-option');
// add a rule that looks for the short "b" flag or long "big" flag
$parser->addRule('b|big');
// to indicate an optional parameter, use a colon after the flag name
$parser->addRule('c:');
// likewise, to indicate a required parameter use two colons
$parser->addRule('d|debug::');
// add a description for a rule that can be used later in a usage message
$parser->addRule('e', 'The description for flag e');
// or use a user-defined callback function that will be called when that
// flag is used. the function will be passed the parameter that was given
// to the flag, or true if the flag is optional and no parameter was used
$parser->addRule('error-reporting', 'set_error_reporting');
```

Next, parse your arguments. This function can be called multiple times with the same parser to parse multiple sets of arguments if desired. Note: This function will throw an exception if the user has specified invalid flags. Also, if no arguments are specified here the global `$argv` argument will be used.

```
try {
    $parser->parse();
} catch (Exception $e) {
    die("Error parsing arguments: " . $e->getMessage());
}
```

A more helpful error message might be to show the user the options that she can use to run your program:

```
$parser->addHead("Usage: myprog [ options ]\n");

try {
    $parser->parse();
} catch (Exception $e) {
    die($parser->getUsage());
}
```

### Examples

[](#examples)

Scripts in the examples directory may be invoked using the PHP interpreter on the command line, like so:

```
$ php echo.php

```

A Unix-style executable is also provided for \*nix users:

```
$ ./echo

```

### Tests

[](#tests)

OptionParser uses the [PHPUnit](http://www.phpunit.de/) unit testing framework to test the code. In order to run the tests, run the following command from the project root directory:

```
$ phpunit tests/OptionParser.php

```

### Credits

[](#credits)

OptionParser draws inspiration from several other option parsers including [GNU getopt](http://www.gnu.org/software/libc/manual/html_node/Getopt.html), Ruby's [OptionParser](http://raa.ruby-lang.org/project/optionparser/), and [Zend\_Console\_Getopt](http://framework.zend.com/manual/en/zend.console.getopt.html).

### Requirements

[](#requirements)

OptionParser requires PHP version 5 or greater.

### License

[](#license)

OptionParser is released under the terms of the MIT license. Please read the LICENSE file for further information.

###  Health Score

27

—

LowBetter than 49% of packages

Maintenance19

Infrequent updates — may be unmaintained

Popularity26

Limited adoption so far

Community13

Small or concentrated contributor base

Maturity41

Maturing project, gaining track record

 Bus Factor1

Top contributor holds 94.4% of commits — single point of failure

How is this calculated?**Maintenance (25%)** — Last commit recency, latest release date, and issue-to-star ratio. Uses a 2-year decay window.

**Popularity (30%)** — Total and monthly downloads, GitHub stars, and forks. Logarithmic scaling prevents top-heavy scores.

**Community (15%)** — Contributors, dependents, forks, watchers, and maintainers. Measures real ecosystem engagement.

**Maturity (30%)** — Project age, version count, PHP version support, and release stability.

### Community

Maintainers

![](https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/6a428291accdf1387e95b4ca75a38bd181078374391ad98571b1bfe2c0927bf1?d=identicon)[mallorydxw](/maintainers/mallorydxw)

---

Top Contributors

[![mjackson](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/92839?v=4)](https://github.com/mjackson "mjackson (34 commits)")[![jsmarkus](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/1039431?v=4)](https://github.com/jsmarkus "jsmarkus (1 commits)")[![mallorydxw](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/2256130?v=4)](https://github.com/mallorydxw "mallorydxw (1 commits)")

### Embed Badge

![Health badge](/badges/mjackson-optionparser/health.svg)

```
[![Health](https://phpackages.com/badges/mjackson-optionparser/health.svg)](https://phpackages.com/packages/mjackson-optionparser)
```

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