This library, libae, is utility code that makes writing applications in C on Linux a dream!
Almost all functions follow the same pattern:
- They return a
booleanthat represents the success or failure of the function. - The first parameters is an
ae_res_t*namede. Error, informational, and warning messages are stored in this and can easily be logged. - The second paramter is named
self. This is analogous to thethispointer in C++. It is a pointer to the object instance you wish to work with.
This pattern is so prevalent in this library that I do not document these parameters when they are used in the typical manner (it would be highly redundant busy work).
Please note that the option parsing currently has a number of flaws! If you use it you very likely will need to debug in libae (please send patches).
The option parser in libae makes it easy to have a robust set of command line arguments. Help output is automatically generated from the options table. Handling common argument types is also provided while not restricting the user from more complex handling.
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Group - This is used for grouping common options in the help output.
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Help - This causes the help output to be printed to stdout and the program to exit with an exit code of 0.
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Version - This causes the program to output the version of the application to stdout and the program to exit with an exit code of 0.
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Flag - The command line argument is present or not present and sets a boolean accordingly. This is a simplified version of the Bit type.
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Int - The command line argument has a integer value.
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Double - The command line argument has a floating point value.
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String - The command line argument has a string value.
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Bit - The command line argument sets a bit in a bit flag. This avoids the need for numerous boolean variables.
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Counter - The command line argument operates a counter. An example would be providing multiple --verbose arguments with each one increasing the amount of output a program outputs.