You can tell your app to allow configure files with set_config("--config"). There are arguments: the first is the option name. If empty, it will clear the config flag. The second item is the default file name. If that is specified, the config will try to read that file. The third item is the help string, with a reasonable default, and the final argument is a boolean (default: false) that indicates that the configuration file is required and an error will be thrown if the file is not found and this is set to true.
Sometimes configuration files are used for multiple purposes so CLI11 allows options on how to deal with extra fields
app.allow_config_extras(true);will allow capture the extras in the extras field of the app. (NOTE: This also sets the allow_extras in the app to true)
app.allow_config_extras(false);will generate an error if there are any extra fields
for slightly finer control there is a scoped enumeration of the modes or
app.allow_config_extras(CLI::config_extras_mode::ignore);will completely ignore extra parameters in the config file. This mode is the default.
app.allow_config_extras(CLI::config_extras_mode::capture);will store the unrecognized options in the app extras fields. This option is the closest equivalent to app.allow_config_extras(true); with the exception that it does not also set the allow_extras flag so using this option without also setting allow_extras(true) will generate an error which may or may not be the desired behavior.
app.allow_config_extras(CLI::config_extras_mode::error);is equivalent to app.allow_config_extras(false);
If it is needed to get the configuration file name used this can be obtained via
app.get_config_ptr()->as<std::string>() or
app["--config"]->as<std::string>() assuming --config was the configuration option name.
Here is an example configuration file, in TOML format:
# Comments are supported, using a #
# The default section is [default], case insensitive
value = 1
str = "A string"
vector = [1,2,3]
# Section map to subcommands
[subcommand]
in_subcommand = Wow
[subcommand.sub]
subcommand = true # could also be give as sub.subcommand=trueSpaces before and after the name and argument are ignored. Multiple arguments are separated by spaces. One set of quotes will be removed, preserving spaces (the same way the command line works). Boolean options can be true, on, 1, y, t, +, yes, enable; or false, off, 0, no, n, f, -, disable, (case insensitive). Sections (and . separated names) are treated as subcommands (note: this does not necessarily mean that subcommand was passed, it just sets the "defaults". If a subcommand is set to configurable then passing the subcommand using [sub] in a configuration file will trigger the subcommand.)
CLI11 also supports configuration file in INI format.
; Comments are supported, using a ;
; The default section is [default], case insensitive
value = 1
str = "A string"
vector = 1 2 3
; Section map to subcommands
[subcommand]
in_subcommand = Wow
sub.subcommand = trueThe main differences are in vector notation and comment character. Note: CLI11 is not a full TOML parser as it just reads values as strings. It is possible (but not recommended) to mix notation.
If it is desired that multiple configuration be allowed. Use
app.set_config("--config")->expected(1, X);Where X is some positive integer and will allow up to X configuration files to be specified by separate --config arguments.
To print a configuration file from the passed arguments, use .config_to_str(default_also=false, write_description=false), where default_also will also show any defaulted arguments, and write_description will include option descriptions and the App description
CLI::App app;
app.add_option(...);
// several other options
CLI11_PARSE(app, argc, argv);
//the config printout should be after the parse to capture the given arguments
std::cout<<app.config_to_str(true,true);if a prefix is needed to print before the options, for example to print a config for just a subcommand, the config formatter can be obtained directly.
auto fmtr=app.get_config_formatter();
//std::string to_config(const App *app, bool default_also, bool write_description, std::string prefix)
fmtr->to_config(&app,true,true,"sub.");
//prefix can be used to set a prefix before each argument, like "sub."The default config parser/generator has some customization points that allow variations on the TOML format. The default formatter has a base configuration that matches the TOML format. It defines 5 characters that define how different aspects of the configuration are handled
/// the character used for comments
char commentChar = '#';
/// the character used to start an array '\0' is a default to not use
char arrayStart = '[';
/// the character used to end an array '\0' is a default to not use
char arrayEnd = ']';
/// the character used to separate elements in an array
char arraySeparator = ',';
/// the character used separate the name from the value
char valueDelimiter = '=';These can be modified via setter functions
ConfigBase *comment(char cchar)Specify the character to start a comment blockConfigBase *arrayBounds(char aStart, char aEnd)Specify the start and end characters for an arrayConfigBase *arrayDelimiter(char aSep)Specify the delimiter character for an arrayConfigBase *valueSeparator(char vSep)Specify the delimiter between a name and value
For example to specify reading a configure file that used : to separate name and values
auto config_base=app.get_config_formatter_base();
config_base->valueSeparator(':');The default configuration file will read INI files, but will write out files in the TOML format. To specify outputting INI formatted files use
app.config_formatter(std::make_shared<CLI::ConfigINI>());which makes use of a predefined modification of the ConfigBase class which TOML also uses. If a custom formatter is used that is not inheriting from the from ConfigBase class `get_config_formatter_base() will return a nullptr if RTTI is on (usually the default), or garbage if RTTI is off, so some care must be exercised in its use with custom configurations.
You can invent a custom format and set that instead of the default INI formatter. You need to inherit from CLI::Config and implement the following two functions:
std::string to_config(const CLI::App *app, bool default_also, bool, std::string) const;
std::vector<CLI::ConfigItem> from_config(std::istream &input) const;The CLI::ConfigItems that you return are simple structures with a name, a vector of parents, and a vector of results. A optionally customizable to_flag method on the formatter lets you change what happens when a ConfigItem turns into a flag.
Finally, set your new class as new config formatter:
app.config_formatter(std::make_shared<NewConfig>());See examples/json.cpp for a complete JSON config example.
Configuration files can be used to trigger subcommands if a subcommand is set to configure. By default configuration file just set the default values of a subcommand. But if the configure() option is set on a subcommand then the if the subcommand is utilized via a [subname] block in the configuration file it will act as if it were called from the command line. Subsubcommands can be triggered via [subname.subsubname]. Using the [[subname]] will be as if the subcommand were triggered multiple times from the command line. This functionality can allow the configuration file to act as a scripting file.
For custom configuration files this behavior can be triggered by specifying the parent subcommands in the structure and ++ as the name to open a new subcommand scope and -- to close it. These names trigger the different callbacks of configurable subcommands.
The config file input works with any form of the option given: Long, short, positional, or the environment variable name. When generating a config file it will create a name in following priority.
- First long name
- Positional name
- First short name
- Environment name