Decentralized CLI Argument Framework

Overview

args.h provides a header-only argument manager intended for modular C codebases. Arguments are declared with ARGUMENT in any source file, registered automatically, then processed in three explicit stages: parsing, validation, and actions.

Feature Highlights

• Distributed argument declarations with constructor-based registration.
• Automatic help generation.
• Dependency/conflict/subset relationships between arguments.
• Automatic validation of required arguments and relation rules.
• Typed parsing helpers via ARG_PARSER family.
• Validation and general callbacks with flexible execution policies.
• Deterministic cross-file ordering for help, validate, and action stages.

Quick Start

#define ARGS_IMPLEMENTATION
#include "args.h"
 
// Simple flag argument example
 
static bool my_flag;
 
static void print_my_flag(void)
{
    printf("Hello from my_flag\n");
}
 
ARGUMENT(my_flag) = {
    .set = &my_flag,
    .action_callback = print_my_flag,
    .action_phase = ARG_CALLBACK_IF_SET,
    .help = "Enable my flag",
    .lopt = "my-flag",
    .opt = 'f',
};
 
int main(int argc, char **argv) {
    if (!args_parse(argc, argv) || !args_validate())
        return 1;
    args_actions();
    printf("My flag is %s\n", my_flag ? "enabled!" : "disabled!");
    return 0;
}
 
// Possible outputs:
// 
// $ ./my_program
// My flag is disabled!
// 
// $ ./my_program -f
// Hello from my_flag!
// My flag is enabled!
// 
// $ ./my_program -h
// Usage: ./my_program [ARGUMENTS]
// 
// Optional arguments:
//   -f, --my-flag    Enable my flag
//   -h, --help       Display this help message

Docs Navigation

• Core API
• Parser Helpers
• Callback Phases
• Relationships
• Customization Points