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

    VersionDescription
    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

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