CHANGELOG.md

Changelog

All notable changes to this project are documented below. This file follows the "Keep a Changelog" format and the project follows Semantic Versioning.

For details on the project and examples, see the repository README and the docs/ folder.

[0.7.0] - 2025-10-01

Changed

• Code Simplification: Refactored internal implementation to reduce complexity and remove duplicate code patterns without losing any functionality.
• Helper Functions: Introduced helper functions for common operations like TArgValue initialization and array management to reduce repetitive code.
• Cleaner Type Parsing: Split the complex ParseValue method into focused type-specific parsing functions for better maintainability.
• Simplified Tokenizer: Extracted helper functions in ArgTokenizer to improve code readability and reduce complexity.
• Streamlined Methods: Consolidated duplicate initialization patterns in AddXXX methods and simplified array operations throughout the codebase.

Fixed

• Improved Error Messages: Fixed misleading error messages for missing required positional arguments. Now correctly shows "Missing required positional argument: filename" instead of "Missing required option: --filename" for better user experience and consistency with CLI conventions.

Note: This release contains internal simplifications, refactoring, and improved error messaging. All public APIs remain unchanged and fully backward compatible.

[0.6.1] - 2025-10-01

Changed

• Internal Code Simplification: Removed unused internal methods IsHelpRequested() and NormalizeToken() to reduce code complexity and improve maintainability (~80 lines of dead code removed).
• Documentation Updates: Updated internal code comments to better reflect the separation of concerns between ArgParser and ArgTokenizer.
• Maintainability: All changes are internal only - no public API changes, full backward compatibility maintained.

[0.6.0] - 2025-10-01

Changed

• Code Simplification: Refactored ArgParser.pas to reduce code duplication between ParseCommandLine and ParseCommandLineKnown by extracting common -- separator logic into a shared helper method SplitArgsAroundSeparator.
• Code Cleanup: Removed redundant ParseKnown wrapper method that only delegated to ParseKnownArgs.
• ArgTokenizer Improvement: Extracted PowerShell quirk handling (appending tokens starting with '.') into a reusable helper function AppendDotTokenIfPresent to eliminate code duplication.
• Maintainability: No functional changes - all existing behavior preserved while making the codebase cleaner and easier to maintain.

[0.5.0] - 2025-09-29

Added

• ArgTokenizer.pas: Added explanatory comments to TokenizeArgs describing the combined-short splitting heuristic (small all-alpha groups <= 3 are split) and the PowerShell dot-join quirk where a following token beginning with '.' is reattached for short-inline values.
• ArgParser.pas: Introduced a per-parser configuration field FSplitCombinedShorts (initialized from the legacy module-global SplitCombinedShorts) so callers can control combined-short splitting on a per-instance basis.
• ArgParser.pas: Added SetAllowMultiple(const LongOpt: string; const Value: Boolean) helper to enable accumulation behavior for repeated options.
• Tests: Added and updated tokenizer and parser unit tests covering combined-shorts, short-inline values, PowerShell '.' reattachment, single - and negative-number handling, --name=value splitting, -- separator leftovers, and accumulation of repeated options.

Changed

• ArgParser.pas: Calls to the tokenizer temporarily set the module-global SplitCombinedShorts from the parser instance field and restore it afterwards to preserve backward compatibility while enabling per-instance control.

Notes

Default behavior is unchanged: combined-short splitting remains enabled by default. Callers who need conservative behavior can set FSplitCombinedShorts to False on their TArgParser instance. Documentation: help output is documented to show that ShowHelp appends " (required)" to any option or positional marked as required.

[0.4.0] - 2025-09-28

Added / Changed

• Extracted tokenization into a new ArgTokenizer unit and introduced focused unit tests for token shapes. This makes normalization rules (e.g., --name=value, positional marking, and raw-token preservation) easier to maintain and test.
• Parse now consumes token objects produced by TokenizeArgs, reducing complexity in ArgParser.pas and improving separation of concerns.
• Added SplitCombinedShorts configuration to ArgTokenizer.pas to control how short groups like -abc are handled (split into separate flags vs inline remainder).
• Tests added for tokenizer edge-cases (cohorts, short-inline values, PowerShell '.'-append quirk).

Notes

• This release is primarily a refactor and test coverage improvement; behavior is compatible with previous releases except where noted.

[0.3.0] - 2025-09-27

Added / Changed

• Fast option lookup (FLookup) to map -x / --name switches to internal option records. This improves parsing performance and centralizes option registration.
• Positional arguments are strictly positional by default: AddPositional arguments are matched only by their position in the argument list and are no longer automatically registered as --name switches. This reduces ambiguity and better matches common CLI expectations.
• Documentation updates across README.md, docs/cheat-sheet.md, and the beginner's guide to explain the lookup behavior and the new positional semantics.

Fixed

• Fixed a small bug in GetAllArray and simplified AddPositional position index logic for maintainability.

Notes

• These changes are backward-compatible for most common use cases. Advanced callers that relied on positional arguments being accessible via --name should update their call sites to add an explicit option if they still need the named form.

[0.2.0] - 2025-09-26

Added

• Positional arguments support via AddPositional with ordered matching and NArgs for fixed or variable consumption (NArgs = -1).
• ParseCommandLineKnown(out Leftovers) helper which supports the -- separator and returns leftover tokens for forwarding to subcommands.
• Allow multiple occurrences for options (accumulation) and GetAll* accessors to retrieve all values in order (e.g., GetAllString, GetAllArray).
• Boolean negation using --no-<option> to explicitly set boolean flags to false.

Changed / Fixed

• ParseCommandLine now detects a -- separator and leftovers are available via the Leftovers property.
• SetError no longer frees resources automatically; this preserves the error message so callers can print it before calling ShowUsage.
• Parsing no longer auto-displays help; callers should check the help flag after parsing and call ShowHelp/ShowUsage and exit. This avoids surprising resource finalization during parsing.
• Fixed shell-related short-inline value handling (PowerShell dot-join cases where -finput.txt could be split into -finput and .txt).
• Fixed memory leaks on error paths: ShowUsage and ShowHelp now free internal resources after printing usage/help.

[0.1.0] - 2025-09-19

Initial public release (split out from TidyKit).

Added

• Examples and documentation
• Core features:
  • Define short (-f) and long (--file) options
  • Parse string, integer, float, boolean, and array value types
  • Support for --name=value format for all option types
  • Enhanced boolean options supporting --verbose=true/false syntax
  • Automatic generation of usage and help text
  • Callback support for immediate action on parsed arguments
  • Methods to retrieve parsed values by option name
• Comprehensive unit tests
• README.md with quick start guide and API reference
• Example applications demonstrating usage
• MIT License

Changed

• Project renamed from ParseArgs to ArgParser; documentation updated accordingly.