Getopt Php Laravel Package

Getting Started

Start by installing via Composer: composer require ulrichsg/getopt-php. Create a simple Getopt instance and define options using Option objects—short (-v), long (--verbose), with or without values (no_value, required_value, optional_value). Parse arguments with Getopt::parse() and access results via Getopt::getOption(). First use case: building a CLI tool that accepts flags like --config=file.yml and -v for verbosity.

Implementation Patterns

• Use named constants for option names to avoid typos and enable refactoring.
• Group related options with OptionSet (if available in version) or by logical sections in code.
• Leverage Getopt::getNonOptionArgs() for positional arguments (e.g., filenames).
• Validate option combinations post-parse (e.g., ensure --env is not used with --no-env).
• Integrate with PSR-3 logging: log unparsed args for debugging: logger()->debug('CLI args', $argv);.
• Wrap parsing in a try { ... } catch (OptionException $e) { exit($e->getMessage()); } for user-friendly error handling.

Gotchas and Tips

• Getopt::parse() modifies internal state—don’t call it multiple times with different inputs without re-instantiating.
• Short options that accept values must be specified as -vfile.yml, not -v file.yml; the space-separated style only works reliably with long options or when explicitly configured.
• By default, Getopt stops parsing at the first non-option argument (e.g., mytool.php -v script.php parses only -v). Use Getopt::setRestHandled() or Getopt::handleOptions() to change this behavior.
• To support -- (end-of-options) correctly, call Getopt::setRequireEquals(false) if you allow -f=value vs -f value, and set Getopt::setBundling(true) if you want -vxf to bundle short flags.
• Unit-test CLI logic by passing custom $argv to Getopt constructor or mocking the argument source.
• This library doesn’t auto-generate help text—build your own --help handler that prints usage using option definitions.