Win32 API command line arguments parsing

Question

I\'m writing Win32 console application, which can be started with optional arguments like this:

app.exe /argName1:\"argValue\" /argName2:\"argValue\"


        

Answer 1

I have been developing and using libparamset that is written in plain C. It is really powerful and works well on Windows. It provides:

• Is cross-platform.
• Wildcard support for file input on Windows!
• Powerful features. See libparamset.

Answer 2

Not sure about existence of such a win32 api function(s), but Boost.Program_Options library could help you.

Answer 3

You could mess around with various libraries and stuff... But sometimes all you require is something simple, practical and quick:

int i;
char *key, *value;

for( i = 1; i <= argc; i++ ) {
    if( *argv[i] == '/' ) {
        key = argv[i] + 1;
        value = strchr(key, ':');
        if( value != NULL ) *value++ = 0;
        process_option( key, value );
    } else {
        process_value( argv[i] );
    }
}

You get the idea...

This is assuming a normal Win32 console app as you have implied (which has a traditional main function). For Win32 apps you come in at WinMain instead, as another person has already commented.

Answer 4

Just for the record, if you use MinGW's GCC, rather than Microsoft's MSVC, you get GNU getopt, (which also includes getopt_long and getopt_long_only variants), included within the standard runtime library.

Answer 5

I don't believe that there is a Win32 API available. You can look for a Windows implementation of getopt or another library.

Answer 6

You can parse the arguments by using GetCommandLine, PathRemoveArgs, PathGetArgs in a loop

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/bb773742(v=vs.85).aspx