%M C.USENIX.85.160
%T SETOPT: A UNIX Command Line Options Parser Generator
%A Perlman, Gary
%B Proceedings of the Winter USENIX Conference
%D 1985
%P 160-164
%K software engineering, user interfaces
%X SETOPT is a set of macros for generating C functions to parse command line
options for UNIX commands.  A simple language describes all the options allowed
with a program.  Each option is defined by its name, purpose, data type, size,
range, and other information.  This information helps generate program code to
standardize the interface between users and the program, and between the
programmer and the parser.  Programmers can assume a perfect user interacting
with their programs because on-line help and diagnostic messages tell users
what is available and makes sure that legal option values are supplied.  Extra
abilities include generating summary documents and menu/form-filling
interfaces.