How can I obtain the named arguments from a console application in the form of a Dictionary?

Question

I have a console application called MyTool.exe

What is the simplest way to collect the named arguments passed to this console applicaiton and then to put them in a

Answer 1

I don't see why this code is bad? hova?

        var arguments = new Dictionary<string, string>();
        foreach (var item in Environment.GetCommandLineArgs())
        {
            try
            {
                var parts = item.Split('=');
                arguments.Add(parts[0], parts[1]);
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                // your error handling here....
            }

Answer 2

Here's how this can be done in the most simple way:

    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        var arguments = new Dictionary<string, string>();

        foreach (string argument in args)
        {
            string[] splitted = argument.Split('=');

            if (splitted.Length == 2)
            {
                arguments[splitted[0]] = splitted[1];
            }
        }
    }

Note that:

• Argument names are case sensitive
• Providing the same argument name more than once does not produce an error
• No spaces are allowed
• One = sign must be used

Answer 3

if you have a "=" in your parameter values, a safer option would be:

private static Dictionary<string, string> ResolveArguments(string[] args)
{
    if (args == null)
        return null;

    if (args.Length > 1)
    {
        var arguments = new Dictionary<string, string>();
        foreach (string argument in args)
        {
            int idx = argument.IndexOf('=');
            if (idx > 0)
                arguments[argument.Substring(0, idx)] = argument.Substring(idx+1);
        }
        return arguments;
    }

    return null;
}

Answer 4

Use this Nuget package

• V1.9.x - Command Line Parser Library ^{(CodePlex - Going away soon and out of date)}
• V2+ - Command Line Parser ^{(Ongoing support)}

Takes seconds to configure and adds instant professional touch to your application.

// Define a class to receive parsed values
class Options {
  [Option('r', "read", Required = true,
    HelpText = "Input file to be processed.")]
  public string InputFile { get; set; }

  [Option('v', "verbose", DefaultValue = true,
    HelpText = "Prints all messages to standard output.")]
  public bool Verbose { get; set; }

  [ParserState]
  public IParserState LastParserState { get; set; }

  [HelpOption]
  public string GetUsage() {
    return HelpText.AutoBuild(this,
      (HelpText current) => HelpText.DefaultParsingErrorsHandler(this, current));
  }
}

// Consume them
static void Main(string[] args) {
  var options = new Options();
  if (CommandLine.Parser.Default.ParseArguments(args, options)) {
    // Values are available here
    if (options.Verbose) Console.WriteLine("Filename: {0}", options.InputFile);
  }
}