PHP Options/Info Functions
PHP Manual

getopt

Gets options from the command line argument list

Description

array getopt ( string $options [, array $longopts ] )

Parses options passed to the script.

Parameters

options
Each character in this string will be used as option characters and matched against options passed to the script starting with a single hyphen (-). For example, an option string "x" recognizes an option -x. Only a-z, A-Z and 0-9 are allowed.
longopts
An array of options. Each element in this array will be used as option strings and matched against options passed to the script starting with two hyphens (--). For example, an longopts element "opt" recognizes an option --opt.

The options parameter may contain the following elements:

  • Individual characters (do not accept values)
  • Characters followed by a colon (parameter requires value)
  • Characters followed by two colons (optional value)
Option values are the first argument after the string. It does not matter if a value has leading white space or not.

Note: Optional values do not accept " " (space) as a separator.

Note:

The format for the options and longopts is almost the same, the only difference is that longopts takes an array of options (where each element is the option) whereas options takes a string (where each character is the option).

Return Values

This function will return an array of option / argument pairs or FALSE on failure.

Note:

The parsing of options will end at the first non-option found, anything that follows is discarded.

Changelog

Version Description
5.3.0 Added support for "=" as argument/value separator.
5.3.0 Added support for optional values (specified with "::").
5.3.0 Parameter longopts is available on all systems.
5.3.0 This function is no longer system dependent, and now works on Windows, too.

Examples

Example #1 getopt example

<?php
$options = getopt("f:hp:");
var_dump($options);
?>

Running the above script with php script.php -fvalue -h will output: 

array(2) {
  ["f"]=>
  string(5) "value"
  ["h"]=>
  bool(false)
}

Example #2 getopt example#2

<?php
$shortopts  = "";
$shortopts .= "f:";  // Required value
$shortopts .= "v::"; // Optional value
$shortopts .= "abc"; // These options do not accept values

$longopts  = array(
    "required:",     // Required value
    "optional::",    // Optional value
    "option",        // No value
    "opt",           // No value
);
$options = getopt($shortopts, $longopts);
var_dump($options);
?>

Running the above script with php script.php -f "value for f" -v -a --required value --optional="optional value" --option will output: 

array(6) {
  ["f"]=>
  string(11) "value for f"
  ["v"]=>
  bool(false)
  ["a"]=>
  bool(false)
  ["required"]=>
  string(5) "value"
  ["optional"]=>
  string(14) "optional value"
  ["option"]=>
  bool(false)
}

Example #3 getopt example#3

Passing multiple options as one

<?php
$options = getopt("abc");
var_dump($options);
?>

Running the above script with php script.php -aaac will output: 

array(2) {
  ["a"]=>
  array(3) {
    [0]=>
    bool(false)
    [1]=>
    bool(false)
    [2]=>
    bool(false)
  }
  ["c"]=>
  bool(false)
}

See Also