Autah-cs.163
net.unix-wizards
utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!ihnss!cbosg!harpo!utah-cs!lepreau
Sat Jan 16 12:12:48 1982
getopt(3) & scanargs(3): arg line scanners
Apologies to those in Arpa land who see this twice.

Sometime ago I sent this to unix-wizards via the Arpanet, and it never
showed up on Usenet.   I don't think that any other Arpa stuff has been
gatewayed to Usenet either for a while.  (The other direction is working,
but apparently subject to up to a week's delay.) So here it is again:
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We've been using something which sounds similar to "getopt" called
"scanargs," originally from Ampex on an old conference tape and
enhanced by us.  It's public domain, and we'll send it and its man page
to anyone.  [Perhaps we can put it at some central sites to facilitate
Usenet access.] It certainly makes it trivial to add/change flags (try
adding flags to 'who' someday if you want a thrill!)...  It handles
optional and required arguments, be they flags, strings, floating and
integer numbers, or some combinations of those.  It's flexible about
argument format & order and can distinguish floating from integer from
string args, for example.  If the args don't match up it generates a
standard "Usage" message that provides a degree of user help.  [The
usage message is built into the format control, so they are more likely to
remain in sync.]  And it's quite easy to use.  Motherhood & apple pie.

Now to get hold of a getopt manual page...
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	jay lepreau
	decvax!{harpo,randvax}!utah-cs!lepreau, lepreau@utah-20