libs/program_options/doc/program_options.xml

   1 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
   2 <!DOCTYPE library PUBLIC "-//Boost//DTD BoostBook XML V1.0//EN"
   3      "http://www.boost.org/tools/boostbook/dtd/boostbook.dtd">
   4 <library
   5     name="Program_options"
   6     dirname="program_options" id="program_options"
   7     last-revision="$Date$"
   8     xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude">
   9   <libraryinfo>
  10     <author>
  11       <firstname>Vladimir</firstname>
  12       <surname>Prus</surname>
  13     </author>
  14
  15     <copyright>
  16       <year>2002</year>
  17       <year>2003</year>
  18       <year>2004</year>
  19       <holder>Vladimir Prus</holder>
  20     </copyright>
  21
  22     <legalnotice>
  23       <para>Distributed under the Boost Software License, Version 1.0.
  24       (See accompanying file <filename>LICENSE_1_0.txt</filename> or copy at
  25       <ulink
  26       url="http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt">http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt</ulink>)
  27       </para>
  28     </legalnotice>
  29
  30
  31     <librarypurpose>
  32       Facilities to obtain configuration data from command line, config files
  33       and other sources</librarypurpose>
  34     <librarycategory name="category:data-structures"></librarycategory>
  35   </libraryinfo>
  36
  37   <title>Boost.Program_options</title>
  38
  39   <section>
  40     <title>Introduction</title>
  41
  42     <para>The program_options library allows program developers to obtain
  43     <emphasis>program options</emphasis>, that is (name, value) pairs from the user,
  44     via conventional methods such as command line and config file.</para>
  45
  46     <para>Why would you use such a library, and why is it better than parsing
  47     your command line by straightforward hand-written code?
  48       <itemizedlist>
  49         <listitem>
  50           <para>It's easier. The syntax for declaring options is simple, and
  51           the library itself is small. Things like conversion of option values to
  52           desired type and storing into program variables are handled
  53           automatically.
  54           </para>
  55         </listitem>
  56         <listitem>
  57           <para>Error reporting is better. All the problems with the command line are
  58             reported, while hand-written code can just misparse the input. In
  59             addition, the usage message can be automatically generated, to
  60             avoid falling out of sync with the real list of options.</para>
  61         </listitem>
  62         <listitem>
  63           <para>Options can be read from anywhere. Sooner or later the command
  64           line will be not enough for your users, and you'll want config files
  65           or maybe even environment variables. These can be added without significant
  66           effort on your part.
  67           </para>
  68         </listitem>
  69       </itemizedlist>
  70     </para>
  71
  72     <para>
  73       Now let's see some examples of the library usage in the <xref
  74       linkend="program_options.tutorial"/>.
  75     </para>
  76
  77   </section>
  78
  79   <xi:include href="tutorial.xml"/>
  80   <xi:include href="overview.xml"/>
  81
  82   <xi:include href="howto.xml"/>
  83   <xi:include href="design.xml"/>
  84   <xi:include href="acknowledgements.xml"/>
  85
  86   <xi:include href="autodoc.xml"/>
  87 </library>