retrieve console input as string array of arguments

Question

I'm trying to create an interactive shell from an existing application that interprets command line arguments like this:

application.exe command subcommand someNumber=1 boolArgument s="string argument with spaces"

When entering the Main, I receive an string array that contains all the arguments provided, and this already treats s="string argument with spaces" as one block. I'd like to handle an interactive Console input the same way, but wasn't able to find an equivalent function...

Do I really have to parse it myself? My straight forward approach would be to read the whole line and splitting at spaces, but then I'd have to handle the case for string arguments in quotes...

EDIT: Maybe some clarification: I'm searching for out-of-the-box string argument parser that respects string literals in quotes, such that I receive the same results as when using the same input as command line arguments. Yes, I can split it myself, e.g. using RegEx, but I was wondering if there isn't something I can use, since I receive the command line arguments that way.

Answer 1

If you want you can make a code that parses the command line. But there are many libraries that you can use for this.

There is a very good command line library: 'https://github.com/commandlineparser/commandline'

It is very easy to use and I hopes this helps.

You must create a 'options' class with all options provided. To declare a option you use the 'option' attribute:

[Option(char shortoption, string longoption, Required = bool,  MetaValue = string, Min = int, Seperator = char, SetName = string)]
public <type> <name> { get; set; }

Then you can parse the string array to your 'options' class and you can read the options from the class variables.

Example:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.IO;
using CommandLine;
namespace ConsoleApp1
{
    //Declare some options
    public class Options
    {
        //Format:
        //[Option(char shortoption, string longoption, Required = bool,  MetaValue = string, Min = int, Seperator = char, SetName = string)]
        //public <type> <name> { get; set; }

        [Option('r', "read", Required = true, HelpText = "Filename", Separator = ' ')]
        public IEnumerable<string> InputFiles { get; set; }

        [Option('e', "echo", Required = true, HelpText = "Echo message")]
        public string echo { get; set; }

    }
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            bool s = true;
            CommandLine.Parser.Default.ParseArguments<Options>(args).WithNotParsed<Options>((errs) => 
            {
                foreach (Error e in errs)
                {
                    Console.WriteLine("ERROR " + e.Tag.ToString());
                    s = e.StopsProcessing ? false : s;
                }
                if(!s)
                {
                    return;
                }
            }).WithParsed<Options>(opts => {
                Console.WriteLine(opts.echo);
                foreach(string filename in opts.InputFiles)
                {
                    Console.WriteLine(File.ReadAllText(filename));
                }
            });

        }
    }
}

Console:

ConsoleApp1\bin\Debug>ConsoleApp1.exe -r helps.txt sayhello.txt -e "Thanks for reading"
Thanks for reading
I hope this helps
Hello world

ConsoleApp1\bin\Debug>ConsoleApp1.exe -r -fds fds fds-f dsf -
ConsoleApp1 1.0.0.0
Copyright ©  2018
ERROR(S):
Option 'f' is unknown.
Required option 'e, echo' is missing.

  -r, --read    Required. Filename

  -e, --echo    Required. Echo message

  --help        Display this help screen.

  --version     Display version information.

ERROR UnknownOptionError
ERROR MissingRequiredOptionError

ConsoleApp1\bin\Debug>ConsoleApp1.exe -e f
ConsoleApp1 1.0.0.0
Copyright ©  2018
ERROR(S):
Required option 'r, read' is missing.

  -r, --read    Required. Filename

  -e, --echo    Required. Echo message

  --help        Display this help screen.

  --version     Display version information.

ERROR MissingRequiredOptionError

ConsoleApp1\bin\Debug>ConsoleApp1.exe -r helps.txt sayhello.txt -e ":)"
:)
I hope this helps
Hello world

ConsoleApp1\bin\Debug>

How do I install it?

Go to View -> Other windows -> Package Manager Console

Enter the command:

Install-Package CommandLineParser -Version 2.2.1 -ProjectName <yourprojectname>

Github:

https://github.com/commandlineparser/commandline

I hope this helps.

Read this: Split string containing command-line parameters into string[] in C#. Windows already import that function. (split command args)

But you can also make your own (simple function that not split between "):

static string[] ParseArguments(string commandLine)
    {
        char[] parmChars = commandLine.ToCharArray();
        bool inQuote = false;
        for (int index = 0; index < parmChars.Length; index++)
        {
            if (parmChars[index] == '"')
                inQuote = !inQuote;
            if (!inQuote && parmChars[index] == ' ')
                parmChars[index] = '\n';
        }
        return (new string(parmChars)).Split('\n');
    }