getopt

(PHP 4 >= 4.3.0, PHP 5, PHP 7, PHP 8)

getopt — Gets options from the command line argument list

Description

getopt(string $short_options, array $long_options = [], int &$rest_index = null): array|false

Parses options passed to the script.

Parameters

short_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.
long_options
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.
rest_index
If the rest_index parameter is present, then the index where argument parsing stopped will be written to this variable.

The short_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. If a value is required, it does not matter whether the value has leading white space or not. See note.

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

The long_options array values may contain:

  • String (parameter does not accept any value)
  • String followed by a colon (parameter requires value)
  • String followed by two colons (optional value)

Note:

The format for the short_options and long_options is almost the same, the only difference is that long_options takes an array of options (where each element is the option) whereas short_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
7.1.0 Added the rest_index parameter.

Examples

Example #1 getopt() example: The basics

<?php
// Script example.php
$options = getopt("f:hp:");
var_dump($options);
?> 
shell> php example.php -fvalue -h

The above example will output:

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

Example #2 getopt() example: Introducing long options

<?php
// Script example.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);
?> 
shell> php example.php -f "value for f" -v -a --required value --optional="optional value" --option

The above example 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: Passing multiple options as one

<?php
// Script example.php
$options = getopt("abc");
var_dump($options);
?> 
shell> php example.php -aaac

The above example will output:

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

Example #4 getopt() example: Using rest_index

<?php
// Script example.php
$rest_index = null;
$opts = getopt('a:b:', [], $rest_index);
$pos_args = array_slice($argv, $rest_index);
var_dump($pos_args); 
shell> php example.php -a 1 -b 2 -- test

The above example will output:

array(1) {
  [0]=>
  string(4) "test"
}

See Also