Package org.apache.commons.cli.help

Class HelpFormatter

java.lang.Object

org.apache.commons.cli.help.AbstractHelpFormatter

org.apache.commons.cli.help.HelpFormatter

public class HelpFormatter
extends AbstractHelpFormatter

A default formatter implementation for standard usage.

Example:

 Options options = new Options();
 options.addOption(OptionBuilder.withLongOpt("file").withDescription("The file to be processed").hasArg().withArgName("FILE").isRequired().create('f'));
 options.addOption(OptionBuilder.withLongOpt("version").withDescription("Print the version of the application").create('v'));
 options.addOption(OptionBuilder.withLongOpt("help").create('h'));

 String header = "Do something useful with an input file";
 String footer = "Please report issues at https://example.com/issues";

 HelpFormatter formatter = new HelpFormatter();
 formatter.printHelp("myapp", header, options, footer, true);
 

This produces the following output:

     
 usage: myapp -f <FILE> [-h] [-v]
 Do something useful with an input file

  -f,--file <FILE>   The file to be processed
  -h,--help
  -v,--version       Print the version of the application

 Please report issues at https://example.com/issues
 
 

Since:

1.10.0

Nested Class Summary

Nested Classes

Modifier and Type	Class	Description
static class	HelpFormatter.Builder	A builder for the HelpFormatter.

Field Summary

Fields

Modifier and Type	Field	Description
static final int	DEFAULT_COLUMN_SPACING	The default number of spaces between columns in the options table: 5.
static final int	DEFAULT_LEFT_PAD	Default padding to the left of each line: 1.
static final int	DEFAULT_WIDTH	Default number of characters per line: 74.

Fields inherited from class org.apache.commons.cli.help.AbstractHelpFormatter

DEFAULT_COMPARATOR, DEFAULT_OPTION_GROUP_SEPARATOR, DEFAULT_SYNTAX_PREFIX

Constructor Summary

Constructors

Modifier	Constructor	Description
protected	HelpFormatter(HelpFormatter.Builder builder)	Constructs the Help formatter.

Method Summary

Modifier and Type	Method	Description
static HelpFormatter.Builder	builder()	Constructs a new builder.
TableDefinition	getTableDefinition(Iterable<Option> options)	Gets the table definition for the options.

Methods inherited from class org.apache.commons.cli.help.AbstractHelpFormatter

getComparator, getHelpAppendable, getOptionFormatBuilder, getOptionFormatter, getOptionGroupSeparator, getSerializer, getSyntaxPrefix, printHelp, printHelp, printOptions, printOptions, printOptions, setSyntaxPrefix, sort, sort, toArgName, toSyntaxOptions, toSyntaxOptions, toSyntaxOptions, toSyntaxOptions

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait

Field Details

DEFAULT_WIDTH

public static final int DEFAULT_WIDTH

Default number of characters per line: 74.

See Also:

• Constant Field Values

DEFAULT_LEFT_PAD

public static final int DEFAULT_LEFT_PAD

Default padding to the left of each line: 1.

See Also:

• Constant Field Values

DEFAULT_COLUMN_SPACING

public static final int DEFAULT_COLUMN_SPACING

The default number of spaces between columns in the options table: 5.

See Also:

• Constant Field Values

Constructor Details

HelpFormatter

protected HelpFormatter(HelpFormatter.Builder builder)

Constructs the Help formatter.

Parameters:

builder - the Builder to build from.

Method Details

builder

public static HelpFormatter.Builder builder()

Constructs a new builder.

Returns:

a new builder.

getTableDefinition

public TableDefinition getTableDefinition(Iterable<Option> options)

Gets the table definition for the options.

Specified by:

getTableDefinition in class AbstractHelpFormatter

Parameters:

options - the collection of Option instances to create the table from.

Returns:

A TableDefinition to display the options.