Getopt::Std(3perl)					 Perl Programmers Reference Guide					Getopt::Std(3perl)

NAME

       getopt, getopts - Process single-character switches with switch clustering

SYNOPSIS

	   use Getopt::Std;

	   getopt('oDI');    # -o, -D & -I take arg.  Sets $opt_* as a side effect.
	   getopt('oDI', \%opts);    # -o, -D & -I take arg.  Values in %opts
	   getopts('oif:');  # -o & -i are boolean flags, -f takes an argument
			     # Sets $opt_* as a side effect.
	   getopts('oif:', \%opts);  # options as above. Values in %opts

DESCRIPTION

       The getopt() function processes single-character switches with switch clustering.  Pass one argument which is a string containing all
       switches that take an argument.	For each switch found, sets $opt_x (where x is the switch name) to the value of the argument if an
       argument is expected, or 1 otherwise.  Switches which take an argument don't care whether there is a space between the switch and the
       argument.

       The getopts() function is similar, but you should pass to it the list of all switches to be recognized.	If unspecified switches are found
       on the command-line, the user will be warned that an unknown option was given.  The getopts() function returns true unless an invalid
       option was found.

       Note that, if your code is running under the recommended "use strict 'vars'" pragma, you will need to declare these package variables with
       "our":

	   our($opt_x, $opt_y);

       For those of you who don't like additional global variables being created, getopt() and getopts() will also accept a hash reference as an
       optional second argument.  Hash keys will be x (where x is the switch name) with key values the value of the argument or 1 if no argument
       is specified.

       To allow programs to process arguments that look like switches, but aren't, both functions will stop processing switches when they see the
       argument "--".  The "--" will be removed from @ARGV.

"--help" and "--version"
       If "-" is not a recognized switch letter, getopts() supports arguments "--help" and "--version".  If "main::HELP_MESSAGE()" and/or
       "main::VERSION_MESSAGE()" are defined, they are called; the arguments are the output file handle, the name of option-processing package,
       its version, and the switches string.  If the subroutines are not defined, an attempt is made to generate intelligent messages; for best
       results, define $main::VERSION.

       If embedded documentation (in pod format, see perlpod) is detected in the script, "--help" will also show how to access the documentation.

       Note that due to excessive paranoia, if $Getopt::Std::STANDARD_HELP_VERSION isn't true (the default is false), then the messages are
       printed on STDERR, and the processing continues after the messages are printed.	This being the opposite of the standard-conforming
       behaviour, it is strongly recommended to set $Getopt::Std::STANDARD_HELP_VERSION to true.

       One can change the output file handle of the messages by setting $Getopt::Std::OUTPUT_HELP_VERSION.  One can print the messages of "--help"
       (without the "Usage:" line) and "--version" by calling functions help_mess() and version_mess() with the switches string as an argument.

perl v5.14.2							    2010-12-30							Getopt::Std(3perl)